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Michael Shayne
Michael "Mike" Shayne is a fictional private detective character created during the late 1930s in a series of novels written by writer Brett Halliday, a pseudonym of Davis Dresser. The character appeared in a series of seven films starring Lloyd Nolan for Twentieth Century Fox, five films from the low-budget Producers Releasing Corporation with Hugh Beaumont, a radio series under a variety of titles between 1944 and 1953, a television pilot broadcast in 1958, and later in 1960–1961 in a 32-episode NBC television series starring Richard Denning in the title role. Character biography Shayne debuted in the novel ''Dividend on Death'' first published in 1939, written by Dresser as Halliday. Fifty Shayne novels were published in hardcover written by Dresser (until 1958) and a variety of ghost-writers. Twenty-seven more were published as paperback originals for a total of seventy-seven. There are also 300 short stories (although many of these are condensed from, or were expanded ...
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Time To Kill (1942 Film)
''Time to Kill'' is an American mystery film directed by Herbert I. Leeds. It is the first screen adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel '' The High Window'', which was remade five years later as '' The Brasher Doubloon''. The detective was changed from Philip Marlowe to Michael Shayne for this version, with Lloyd Nolan playing the part and Heather Angel in a rare turn as leading lady. It is also the final Michael Shayne film starring Lloyd Nolan made at Fox, who closed down their popular B movie unit which included Mr. Moto, Charlie Chan, and the Cisco Kid. In 1946 the series would be reborn at Producers Releasing Corporation with Hugh Beaumont taking over the role. Plot Cast In order of billing: * Lloyd Nolan as Michael Shayne * Heather Angel as Myrle Davis * Doris Merrick as Linda Conquest Murdock * Ralph Byrd as Lou Venter, bodyguard * Richard Lane as Lt. Breeze * Sheila Bromley as Lois Morny * Morris Ankrum as Alexander Morny * Ethel Griffies as Mrs. Murdock * Jam ...
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Short Story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, Myth, mythic tales, Folklore genre, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables, and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century. Definition The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella, novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques. The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story remains problematic. A classic definition ...
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Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action film, action adventures, western film, westerns, Historical drama, historical films, crime film, crime dramas, science fiction films, and fantasy films. Films in which Kilmer appeared grossed more than $3.85 billion worldwide. In 1992, film critic Roger Ebert remarked, "if there is an award for the most unsung leading man of his generation, Kilmer should get it". Kilmer started his film career in the comedy films ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), before transitioning to dramatic films. He rose to prominence for playing Top Gun#Cast, Iceman in ''Top Gun'' (1986), Jim Morrison in ''The Doors (film), The Doors'' (1991), Doc Holliday in ''Tombstone (film), Tombstone'' (1993), and Batman, Batman / Bruce Wayne in ''Batman For ...
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Robert Downey Jr
Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965), also known as RDJ, is an American actor. One of the highest-grossing actors of all time, his films as a leading actor have grossed over $14 billion worldwide. In 2008, Downey was named by ''Time'' magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and from 2013 to 2015, he was listed by ''Forbes'' as Hollywood's highest-paid actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. At the age of five, Downey made his acting debut in his father Robert Downey Sr.'s 1970 film '' Pound''. He subsequently worked with the Brat Pack in the teen films '' Weird Science'' (1985) and '' Less than Zero'' (1987). Downey's portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 biopic ''Chaplin'' garnered him a BAFTA Award for Best Actor and his first Academy Award nomination. Following a stint at the Corcoran Substance Ab ...
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Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' is a 2005 American neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Shane Black (in his directorial debut), and starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, and Corbin Bernsen. The script is partially based on the Brett Halliday novel ''Bodies Are Where You Find Them'' (1941), and interprets the classic hardboiled literary genre in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. The film was produced by Joel Silver, with Susan Levin and Steve Richards as executive producers. Shot in Los Angeles between February 24 and May 3, 2004, the film debuted at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2005, and was released in the United States on October 21, 2005. It received positive reviews from critics, and grossed approximately $16 million worldwide, although profit of only $800,000. Plot When a burglary goes south, Harry Lockhart tries to hideout in a building, where he unintentionally stumbles onto a screen test in New York City. By showing re ...
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Shane Black
Shane Black (born December 16, 1961) is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor, known for his distinctive style of Action film, action and action comedy films. He is the original creator of the ''Lethal Weapon (franchise), Lethal Weapon'' franchise, and has also written such films as ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), ''The Last Boy Scout'' (1991), ''Last Action Hero'' (1993), and ''The Long Kiss Goodnight'' (1996). As an actor, Black is best known for his role as List of Predator characters#Hawkins, Hawkins in ''Predator (film), Predator'' (1987). He made his directorial debut with the film ''Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'' in 2005. Black went on to write and direct ''Iron Man 3'' (2013), ''The Nice Guys'' (2016), and ''The Predator (film), The Predator'' (2018). Early life and education Black was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Paul and Patricia Ann Black. His father was in the printing business, and helped Black develop his interest in hardboiled fiction ...
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Twentieth Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. It is headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles, which is leased from Fox Corporation. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by this studio in theatrical markets. For over 80 years, 20th Century has been one of the major film studios, major American film studios. It was formed in 1935 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation by the merger of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures, and one of the original "studio system, Big Five" among eight majors of Hollywood's Cinema of the United States#Classical Hollywood cinema and the Golden Age of Hollywood, Golden Age. In 1985, the studio remov ...
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Michael Shayne, Private Detective
''Michael Shayne, Private Detective'' is a 1940 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Lloyd Nolan, Marjorie Weaver and Joan Valerie.Backer p.106 It is based on Brett Halliday's novel '' The Private Practice of Michael Shayne''. It was the first in a series of Michael Shayne films starring Nolan. Plot In this film, much of the main plot has already happened or happens off-camera. We see a subplot that out-of-work private detective Mike Shayne is hired by his friend, wealthy racing executive Hiram Brighton, to, while he's out of town, watch over his spirited daughter Phyllis, who gambles her money away and has begun dating underworld character Harry Grange, to the consternation of the father. The key plot involves wealthy but shady Elliott Thomas who owned a horse, Banjo Boy. The odds were 15 to 1 against that horse winning. Thomas had a run of bad luck and needed a quick infusion of cash. In south America he found a champion to switch with the same marking ...
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Frank Belknap Long
Frank Belknap Long Jr. (April 27, 1901 – January 3, 1994) was an American writer of horror fiction, fantasy, science fiction, poetry, gothic romance, comic books, and non-fiction. Though his writing career spanned seven decades, he is best known for his horror and science fiction short stories, including contributions to the Cthulhu Mythos alongside his friend, H. P. Lovecraft. During his life, Long received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement (at the 1978 World Fantasy Convention), the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement (in 1987, from the Horror Writers Association), and the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award (1977). Biography Early life He was born in Manhattan, New York City on April 27, 1901. He grew up in the Harlem area of Manhattan. His father was a prosperous dentist and his mother was May Doty. The family resided at 823 West End Avenue in Manhattan. Long's father was a keen fisher and hunter, and Long accompanied the family on annual summer vacati ...
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Renown Publications
Renown may refer to: * Celebrity, fame and broad public recognition Companies * Renown (company), a Japanese clothing brand * Renown Health, a healthcare network in Nevada, US * Renown Pictures, a British film company Transport Ships * ''Renown'' (1794 ship), an American whaler * ''Renown'' (German Barque), a 19th-century sailing cargo ship * ''Renown''-class battlecruiser, two Royal Navy ships of World War I * HMS ''Renown'', several ships of the Royal Navy Other * AEC Renown, three different bus chassis manufactured by the Associated Equipment Company between 1925 and 1967 * LNWR ''Renown'' Class, a series of British steam locomotives 1897–1924 * Triumph Renown, a car manufactured by Triumph 1946–1954 * Wright Renown The Wright Renown is a Low-floor bus, low floor single-decker bus body built on Volvo B10BLE chassis by Wrightbus in Ballymena, Northern Ireland. Design Launched as the successor to the Wright Liberator body on the Volvo B10L chassis in 1997, .. ...
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Movie
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since the 1930s, synchronized with sound and (less commonly) other sensory stimulations. Etymology and alternative terms The name "film" originally referred to the thin layer of photochemical emulsion on the celluloid strip that used to be the actual medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion-picture, including "picture", "picture show", "moving picture", "photoplay", and "flick". The most common term in the United States is "movie", while in Europe, "film" is preferred. Archaic terms include "animated pictures" and "animated photography". "Flick" is, in general a slang term, first recorded in 1926. It originates in the verb flicker, owing to the flickering appearance of early films ...
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Comic Book
A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and written narrative, usually dialogue contained in word balloons emblematic of the comics art form. ''Comic Cuts'' was a British comic published from 1890 to 1953. It was preceded by ''Ally Sloper's Half Holiday'' (1884), which is notable for its use of sequential Cartoon, cartoons to unfold narrative. These British comics existed alongside the popular lurid "penny dreadfuls" (such as ''Spring-heeled Jack''), boys' "story papers" and the humorous ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' magazine, which was the first to use the term "cartoon" in its modern sense of a humorous drawing. The first modern American comic book, American-style comic book, ''Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics'', was released in the US in 1933 and was a reprinting of earlier newsp ...
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