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Christmas Eve (1947 Film)
''Christmas Eve'' is a 1947 American portmanteau comedy drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and starring George Raft, George Brent and Randolph Scott. It is based on a story by Laurence Stallings and Richard H. Landau. An independent production by Benedict Bogeaus it was distributed by United Artists. It was re-released under the alternative title ''Sinner's Holiday''. It was one of several films Raft made with Edwin Marin and Benedict Bogeaus. Plot Phillip Hastings is the greedy nephew of eccentric Matilda Reed and seeks to have her judged incompetent so he can administer her wealth. In an informal meeting with Philip and Dr. Doremus, Judge Alston rules that she will be saved if her three long-lost adopted sons, whom she can trust, appear for a Christmas Eve reunion. Separate stories reveal with the help of Private Detective Gimlet that: * Michael is a bankrupt playboy loved by loyal Ann Nelson; * Mario is a seemingly shady character tangling with a Nazi war criminal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Film Poster
A film poster is a poster used to promote and advertise a film primarily to persuade paying customers into a theater to see it. Studios often print several posters that vary in size and content for various domestic and international markets. They normally contain an image with text. Today's posters often feature printed likenesses of the main actors. Prior to the 1980s, illustrations instead of photos were far more common. The text on film posters usually contains the film title in large lettering and often the names of the main actors. It may also include a tagline, the name of the director, names of characters, the release date, and other pertinent details to inform prospective viewers about the film. Film posters are often displayed inside and on the outside of movie theaters, and elsewhere on the street or in shops. The same images appear in the film exhibitor's pressbook and may also be used on websites, DVD (and historically VHS) packaging, flyers, advertisements in newspap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ann Harding
Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. Harding was a regular on Broadway and on tour in the 1920s. In the 1930s Harding, was one of the first actresses to gain fame in the new medium of " talking pictures," and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1931 for her work in ''Holiday.'' Harding was born Dorothy Walton Gatley and was the daughter of a prominent United States Army officer. She was raised primarily in East Orange, New Jersey and graduated from East Orange High School. Having gained her initial acting experience in school drama classes, she decided on a career as an actress and moved across the Hudson River to New York City. Due to her father's opposition to her career choice, she adopted the stage name Ann Harding. After initial work as a script reader, Harding began to win roles on Broadway and in small semiprofessional theaters, prim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
John Litel
John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Back in the U.S. after the war, Litel enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his stage career. Career His Broadway credits include ''Sweet Aloes'' (1935), ''Hell Freezes Over'' (1935), ''Life's Too Short'' (1935), ''Strange Gods'' (1932), ''Before Morning'' (1932), ''Lilly Turner'' (1932), ''Ladies of Creation'' (1931), ''Back Seat Drivers'' (1928), ''The Half Naked Truth'' (1926), ''The Beaten Track'' (1925), ''Thoroughbreds'' (1924), and ''Irene'' (1919). In 1929, he began appearing in films. Part of the "Warner Bros. Stock Company" beginning in the 1930s, he appeared in dozens of Warner Bros. films and was in over 200 films during his entire career. He often played supporting roles such as hard-nosed cops and di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Molly Lamont
Molly Lamont (22 May 1910 – 7 July 2001) was a South African-British film actress. Life and career Margorie Edith Lamont was born in Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa. She was active in sports as a young woman. She moved to England after winning a beauty contest in her teens. As part of the contest, she was offered a film test by British International Pictures. She began her career in British films in 1930 and for several years played small, often uncredited roles. Her roles began to improve by the mid-1930s, whilst resident in London. She later moved to Hollywood where she got a contract under RKO, played roles such as Cary Grant's fiancée in '' The Awful Truth'' (1937). Her other appearances include such popular films as '' The White Cliffs of Dover'' and '' Mr. Skeffington'' (both 1944). Lamont retired from acting in 1951 with more than fifty films to her credit. She married an aerospace industry pioneer, Edward Antoine Bellande, on April 1, 1937. They remained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Dennis Hoey
Dennis Hoey (born Samuel David Hyams, 30 March 1893 – 25 July 1960) was a British film and stage actor, best remembered for playing Inspector Lestrade in six films of Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Early life Hoey was born Samuel David Hyams in London to Ellis and Leah (Green) Hyams, both of Russian Jewish descent, who ran a bed and breakfast in Brighton, East Sussex. Hoey received his formal education at Brighton College, and originally planned to be a teacher. He served in the British Army during World War I. After a career as a singer, which included entertaining British troops during his war service, he moved into theatre-acting in 1918, and later into cinema films. In 1931, Hoey moved to the United States and commenced a career in Hollywood. Film Hoey's first film was '' Tell England''. He is best known for playing Inspector Lestrade in six Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. He also portrayed the master of Harrow in '' The Foxes of Harrow'' and appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Marie Blake
Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald (August 21, 1895 – January 14, 1978), also known as Blossom Rock, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage, film and television. During her career she was also billed as Marie Blake or Blossom MacDonald. Her younger sister was screen actress and singer Jeanette MacDonald. Rock is best known for her role as " Grandmama" on the 1960s macabre/black comedy sitcom ''The Addams Family''. Personal life Blossom Rock was born on August 21, 1895, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the second of three daughters born to Anna May (née Wright) and Daniel McDonald. The family later changed the spelling of their last name to MacDonald. As a youth, Blossom first performed in vaudeville with her younger sister, Jeanette. She had an elder sister, Elsie Wallace MacDonald, who had also been a vaudeville performer and then operated a dance school until 1962. She married actor Clarence Warren Rock, on September 26, 1926, in Manhattan, and they performed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Claire Whitney
Claire Whitney (May 6, 1890 – August 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actress who appeared in 111 films between 1912 and 1949. Only 21 of these films survive, as most have been lost. Whitney gained early acting experience with a stock theater company in Massachusetts, following which she toured the United States in a vaudeville production of ''Little Mother''. Whitney made her first film in 1913 for Solax and continued making films until 1921, mainly for Fox Film Corporation. Whitney came back to films in 1926 with a role in ''The Great Gatsby'' which would be her final silent film. She continued working in film between 1931 and 1949 when she retired. Whitney's Broadway credits include ''Broadway Interlude'' (1934), ''Page Pygmalion'' (1932), ''An Innocent Idea'' (1920), and ''The Net'' (1919). On March 20, 1920, Whitney's marriage to Jean Léon Ferdinand van Hoegaerden, an actor also known as John Sunderland, was annulled after he admitted having a wife a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Douglass Dumbrille
Douglass Rupert Dumbrille (October 13, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a Canadian actor who appeared regularly in films from the early 1930s. Life and career Douglass Dumbrille ( ) was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a young man, he was employed as a bank clerk in Hamilton while pursuing an interest in acting. He eventually left banking for the theatre, finding work with a stock company that led him to Chicago, Illinois, and another that toured the United States. In 1913, the East Coast film industry was flourishing and that year he appeared in the film ''What Eighty Million Women Want'', but it would be another 11 years before he appeared on screen again. In 1924, he made his Broadway debut and worked off and on in the theatre for several years while supplementing his income by selling such products as car accessories, tea, insurance, real estate, and books. During the Great Depression, Dumbrille resumed his screen career in Hollywood, where he specialized in playing seconda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Dolores Moran
Dolores Jean Moran (January 27, 1926 – February 5, 1982) was an American film actress and model. Early years Moran was born named Jaqueline in Stockton, California, the daughter of James G. Moran and his wife, Esther Moran and attended elementary and secondary schools there. She won the Northern California Oratorical Contest and starred in school plays. Film career In 1942, aged 16, Moran, was signed by Warner Bros. to a seven-year contract, with her parents' permission. Moran's brief career as a film actress began with uncredited roles in such films as ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) as "the Pippirino" (with whom George blows off a date to go out with Mary). By 1943, she had become a pin-up girl appearing on the cover of such magazines as ''Yank''. She was given supporting roles in films, such as ''Old Acquaintance'' (1943) with Bette Davis. Warner Bros. attempted to increase interest in her, promoting her along with Lauren Bacall as a new screen personality when Baca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Virginia Field
Virginia Field (born Margaret St. John Field (sometimes mis-transcribed Margaret Cynthia Field); 4 November 1917 – 2 January 1992) was a British-born film actress. Early years Virginia was an only child, born in London. Her father was Sir John Field, the judge of Leicester County Court Circuit. Her mother was a cousin of Confederate States of America, Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and her aunt was British stage actress and director Auriol Lee. She was educated in Paris, Vienna, and the South of France, and then returned to England, where she studied for the stage. In Vienna, she acted for Max Reinhardt, and on returning to Britain, she was given her first film role whilst in her teens in ''The Lady is Willing (1934 film), The Lady is Willing'', followed by a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood contract. Film Field went to the US to appear in David O. Selznick's ''Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936 film), Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1936). In the late 1930s, she appeared i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell (August 30, 1906 – December 25, 1979) was an American actress who performed in film and television for 50 years. Blondell began her career in vaudeville. After winning a beauty pageant, she embarked on a film career, establishing herself as a Pre-Code Hollywood, Pre-Code staple of Warner Bros. Pictures in wisecracking, sexy roles, appearing in more than 100 films and television productions. She was most active in film during the 1930s and early 1940s, and during that time co-starred with Glenda Farrell, a colleague and close friend, in nine films. Blondell continued acting on film and television for the rest of her life, often in small, supporting roles. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ''The Blue Veil (1951 film), The Blue Veil'' (1951). In 1958, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Mrs. Farrow in ''The Rope Dancers''. Near the end of her lif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Joe Sawyer
Joe Sawyer (born Joseph Sauers; August 29, 1906 – April 21, 1982) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1927 and 1962, and was sometimes billed under his birth name. Early life Sawyer was born August 29, 1906, as ''Joseph Sauer'' in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. His parents were German. In his 20s he went to Los Angeles to pursue a career in films. Career Sawyer gained acting experience in the Pasadena Playhouse. Productions in which he performed there included '' Quinneys'', ''The Wolves'', and ''White Wings''. Popular roles that he portrayed included Sergeant Biff O'Hara in the '' Rin Tin Tin'' television program, a film, and on radio. On ''Stories of the Century'' in 1954, he portrayed Butch Cassidy, a role which he repeated in the 1958 episode "The Outlaw Legion" of the syndicated western series '' Frontier Doctor''. Sawyer also appeared on ABC's, '' Maverick'', '' Sugarfoot'', ''Peter Gunn'', and '' Surfside 6'' as well as NBC's '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
