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Gladys Blake
Gladys Blake (born Gladys Timmons; May 12, 1910 – May 21, 1983) was an American character actress from the 1930s to the 1950s. Biography Blake was born on January 12, 1910, in Luray, Virginia. Her mother, Ada Timmons, died when Gladys was less than a year old. At fourteen, she entered the theater world in a stock company, before moving on to vaudeville. In vaudeville, she met her husband, Lee Gresham, and the two formed an act together. While performing in Los Angeles, they were noticed by producer Edward Small, which led to her beginning in the film industry. Blake made her film debut in a small role in ''I Have Lived'' (1933), directed by Richard Thorpe. She had her first featured role later that same year in ''Rainbow over Broadway'', which Thorpe also directed. Over her 20-year career, she appeared in over 100 films. She was noted for playing very talkative supporting roles. Appearing mostly in supporting or bit parts, she was occasionally given a featured role, as i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Career Girl (1944 Film)
Career Girl may refer to: *Career woman * ''Career Girl'' (1944 film), an American film by Wallace Fox *''Career Girls ''Career Girls'' is a 1997 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh which tells the story of two women, who reunite after six years apart. The film stars Katrin Cartlidge and Lynda Steadman. The women were originally thro ...'', a 1997 British and French film by Mike Leigh * ''Career Girl'' (1960 film), an American film featuring June Wilkinson * ''Career Girl'' (2015 film), a Polish film {{disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national old-time radio, radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist. Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10, when he became part of a traveling medicine show. He then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, and then entered into vaudeville in 1934. The "Doughnut Dunkers" pantomime sketch, which he wrote together with his wife, launched a career for him in vaudeville, radio, and films. His radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on ''The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour'', which led to his becoming the host of ''Avalon Time'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
By Appointment Only (1933 Film)
''By Appointment Only'' is a 1933 American pre-Code film directed by Frank R. Strayer. Plot Successful doctor Michael Travers juggles a busy schedule of patients, one of whom is the mother of 14-year-old Judy. After Judy's mother dies, Travers and his fiancé, Diane Manners, take responsibility for Judy's care. Upon returning from a three-year trip to Europe, Travers finds himself falling in love with Judy, despite her engagement to Diane's younger brother, Dick. Tensions rise as the four become aware of each other's feelings. Travers finally realizes how things must be, and the film ends with the marriage of Judy and Dick. Cast *Lew Cody as Dr. Michael Travers *Aileen Pringle as Diane Manners *Sally O'Neil as Judy Carroll *Edward Morgan as Richard "Dick" Manners *Edward Martindel as Judge Barry Phelps *Wilson Benge as Withers, the Butler *Marceline Day as Miss Brown aka Brownie *Claire McDowell as Mrs. Mary Carroll *Pauline Garon as Gwen Reid *Gladys Blake Gladys Blake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leadership The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, and academic communities. The board of trustees is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Kathleen Kennedy and the board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President (corporate title), President and CEO, film historian Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens Jr. (from the organization's inception in 1967 until 1980) and Jean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007). History The American Film Institute was founded by a 1965 presidential mandate announced in the White House Rose Garden, Rose Garden of the White House by Lyndon B. Johnson—to establish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Morgan
Dennis Morgan (born Earl Stanley Morner; December 20, 1908 – September 7, 1994) was an American actor-singer. He used the acting pseudonym Richard Stanley before adopting the name under which he gained his greatest fame. According to one obituary, he was "a twinkly-eyed handsome charmer with a shy smile and a pleasant tenor voice in carefree and inconsequential Warner Bros musicals of the forties, accompanied by Jack Carson.""Obituary: Too slick to play Rick", ''The Guardian'', October 18, 1994. Another said, "for all his undoubted star potential, Morgan was perhaps cast once too often as the likeable, clean-cut, easy-going but essentially uncharismatic young man who typically loses his girl to someone more sexually magnetic." David Shipman said he "was comfortable, good-looking, well-mannered: the antithesis of the gritty Bogart." Life and career Early life Morgan was born in the village of Prentice in Price County, in northern Wisconsin, the son of Grace J. (née Vand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her roles, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking, young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Great Depression, Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "Box Office Pois ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Woman Is Dangerous
''This Woman Is Dangerous'' is a 1952 American film noir and crime drama by Warner Bros. starring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Dennis Morgan in a story about a gun moll's romances with two different men against the background of her impending blindness. The screenplay by Geoffrey Homes and George Worthing Yates was based on a story by Bernard Girard. The film was directed by Felix E. Feist and produced by Robert Sisk. Plot A gangster woman, Beth Austin, plagued by headaches, is rapidly losing her eyesight, as her eye doctor tells her. Criminals dressed as police raid a gambling house where Beth is visiting, and rifle the safe; it is revealed that she planned for the raid to happen. She intends to visit a famous eye clinic in Indiana, as she tells her gangster boyfriend Matt Jackson, who is suspicious about her reasons for leaving. Dr. Ben Halleck tells her the operation is very risky and unlikely to succeed; she tells him to go ahead. Matt, traveling in Louisiana in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Greatest Show On Earth (film)
''The Greatest Show on Earth'' is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring and Charlton Heston as the circus manager. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his makeup, and Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles. In addition to the actors, the real Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus' 1951 troupe appears in the film with its complement of 1,400 people, hundreds of animals and 60 railroad cars of equipment and tents. The actors learned their circus roles and participated in the acts. The film's storyline is supported by lavish production values, actual circus acts and documentary-style views into the complex logistics behind big-top circuses. The film won two Academy Awards for Best Pictur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Yellow Cab Man
''The Yellow Cab Man'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Jack Donohue and starring Red Skelton, Gloria DeHaven and Edward Arnold. A brief sequence of distorted visual effects in the film is the work of the photographer Weegee, who also makes a cameo appearance as a cab driver. Plot The inventor of unbreakable glass ("Elastiglass") tries to sell it to a taxicab company, hoping that they will make unbreakable windshields. Cast * Red Skelton as Augustus 'Red' Pirdy * Gloria DeHaven as Ellen Goodrich (as Gloria De Haven) * Edward Arnold as Martin Creavy * Walter Slezak as Dr. Byron Dokstedder * James Gleason as Mickey Corkins * Jay C. Flippen as Hugo * Paul Harvey as Pearson Hendricks * Herbert Anderson as Willis Tomlin (as Guy Anderson) * John Butler as Gimpy * John Indrisano Johnny Indrisano (November 1, 1905 — July 6, 1968) was an American welterweight boxer whose career spanned the period from 1923 to 1934. He later became a film stunt performer and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On The Town (film)
''On the Town'' is a 1949 American Technicolor musical film with music by Leonard Bernstein and Roger Edens and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green. It is an adaptation of the Broadway stage musical of the same name produced in 1944 (which itself is an adaptation of the Jerome Robbins ballet, titled '' Fancy Free'', also produced in 1944), although many changes in the script and score were made to the original stage version; for instance, most of Bernstein's score was dropped in favor of new songs by Edens, who felt that the majority of Bernstein's music was too complex and too operatic for film audiences. This caused Bernstein to boycott the film. The film was directed by Gene Kelly (who also choreographed) and Stanley Donen, in their directorial debut, and stars Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Betty Garrett, and Ann Miller, featuring Jules Munshin and Vera-Ellen. It was a product of the Arthur Freed unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and is notable for its combination of studio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Naughty Nineties
''The Naughty Nineties'' is a 1945 American film directed by Jean Yarbrough and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was written by Edmund L. Hartmann, John Grant, Edmund Joseph and Hal Fimberg. The film is noteworthy for containing a filmed version of the duo's famous " Who's on First?" routine. This version is shown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Plot The time is the 1890s. Captain Sam, owner of the showboat ''River Queen'', travels along the Mississippi River bringing honest entertainment to each town. At a stop in Ironville, he meets Crawford, Bonita, and Bailey, who are wanted by the local sheriff. Against the advice of his daughter Caroline, his lead actor Dexter Broadhurst, and his chief roustabout Sebastian Dinwiddle, the Captain joins them for a card game at a local gambling house. The Captain is plied with alcohol until he is intoxicated and gets involved in a crooked card game where he loses controlling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claude Raines
William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British and American actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and is considered one of the screen's great character stars who played cultured villains during the Golden Age of Hollywood. From McFarlane's ''Encyclopedia of British Film''. London: Methuen/BFI, 2003, p. 545 The son of a stage actor, Rains began acting on stage in his native London in the 1900s. He became a leading thespian on the West End theatre, West End, and an acting teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He moved to the United States in the late 1920s and became a successful Broadway theatre, Broadway star, before making his American film debut as Griffin (The Invisible Man), Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man (1933 film), The Invisible Man'' (1933). He went on to play prominent rol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
