Apocalypse Now, the acclaimed Vietnam War film directed
by Francis Ford Coppola, opened in theaters around the
United States on August 15, 1979.

The film was inspired in part by Joseph Conrad’s 1899
novella Heart of Darkness, among other sources.

The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), and
Best Supporting Actor (Duvall); it went on to win Best
Cinematography and Best Sound.

Apocalypse Now is today considered one of the greatest
films ever made.

Francis Ford Coppola

‘I love the smell Of Napalm in The Morning’… Robert
Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore.

Harrison Ford

Dennis Hopper

Laurence Fishburne

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980)

Director and producer Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as one
of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of
which are still widely watched today. Known as the "Master
of Suspense", his films garnered 46 Academy Award
nominations, including six wins.

    William David Friedkin (August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023)

   
LOS ANGELES (AP) — William Friedkin, the Oscar winning
director who became a top filmmaker in his 30s with the
gripping “The French Connection” and the horrifying “The
Exorcist” and struggled in the following decades to match
his early success has died. He was 87.

Friedkin died from heart failure and pneumonia at his home
in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

Friedkin (left) on set of The Exorcist.

Filmed in Portland, Oregon (2003).

On June 27, 1939, one of the most famous scenes in movie history 
was filmed: Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara parting in Gone with
the Wind. Director Victor Fleming also shot the scene using the
alternate line, “Frankly, my dear, I just don’t care,” in case the film censors objected to the word “damn.” The censors approved the
movie but fined producer David O. Selznick $5,000 for including
the curse.

Victor Lonzo Fleming
(February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949)

The landmark film "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was released on
this day in history, June 11, 1982.

With Steven Spielberg (below) as its director, the enduring
science-fiction film stars Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore,
Robert McNaughton and Dee Wallace.