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Ruth Chatterton
Ruth Chatterton (December 24, 1892 – November 24, 1961) was an American stage, film, and television actress, aviator and novelist. She was at her most popular in the early to mid-1930s, and in the same era gained prominence as an aviator, one of the few female pilots in the United States at the time. In the late 1930s, Chatterton retired from film acting but continued her career on the stage. She had several TV roles beginning in the late 1940s and became a successful novelist in the 1950s. Early life Chatterton was born in New York City on December 24, 1892 to Walter, an architect, and Lillian (née Reed) Chatterton. She was of English and French extraction. Her parents separated while she was young. Chatterton attended Mrs. Hagen's School in Pelham, New York. In 1908, Chatterton and her friends were attending a play in Washington, D.C. Chatterton later criticized the acting of the lead actress to her friends, who challenged her to become a stage actress herself or "shut ...
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Norwalk, Connecticut
, image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg , mapsize = 230px , map_caption = Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County and Connecticut , coordinates = , pushpin_map = USA#Connecticut , pushpin_label_position = top , pushpin_label = Norwalk , pushpin_map_caption = Location in the United States and Connecticut , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = U.S. state , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = County (United States), County , subdivision_name2 = Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield , subdivision_type3 = Councils of governments in Connecticut, Region , subdivision_name3 = Western Connecticut, Western CT , established_title = Settled , established_date = February 26, 1640 , established_title2 = Municipal corpor ...
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Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, film content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers. As a result, some films in the late 1920s and early 1930s depicted or implied sexual innuendo, romantic and sexual relationships between white and black people, mild profanity, illegal drug use, promiscuity, prostitution, infidelity, abortion, intense violence, an ...
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The Constant Wife
''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair. A “sparkling comedy of ill manners”, ''The Constant Wife'' features the resourceful and charming Constance Middleton, who has long known that her husband had been having an affair with her best friend, Marie-Louise. When the affair is publicly acknowledged, rather than reprimanding or divorcing him, she embraces the opportunity to create an independent life, starting a new job, paying her husband for room and board, and taking on her own lover. ''The Constant Wife'' was later published for general sale in April 1927. ''The Constant Wife'' was most recently on Broadway in 2005, where ''Variety'' described it as "an antecedent to the women of ''Sex and the City''”. The production's Kate Burton (Constance) and Lynn Redgrave (her mother) were nominated for T ...
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Leave Her To Heaven (play)
''Leave Her to Heaven'' is a 1940 play by the British writer John Van Druten.Bordman p.189 Actress Ruth Chatterton made her first appearance on Broadway in 15 years. She co-starred with Edmond O'Brien. It premiered at the Longacre Theatre on Broadway on 27 February 1940. Set in England, it was based on a true story about a woman who took her older husband's chauffeur as a lover, only for the younger man to kill her husband. It is unrelated to the film of the same title, which is based on a 1944 novel by Ben Ames Williams Ben Ames Williams (March 7, 1889 – February 4, 1953) was an American novelist and writer of short stories; he wrote hundreds of short stories and over 30 novels. Among his novels are ''Come Spring'' (1940), ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1944) .... References Bibliography * Gerald Bordman. ''American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969''. Oxford University Press, 1996. * Scott O'Brien. ''Ruth Chatterton, Actress, Aviator, Author''. BearM ...
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John Van Druten
John William Van Druten (1 June 190119 December 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observations of contemporary life and society. Biography Van Druten was born in London in 1901, son of a Dutch father named Wilhelmus van Druten and his English wife Eva. He was educated at University College School and read law at the University of London. Before commencing his career as a writer, he practised law for a while as a solicitor and university lecturer in Wales. He first came to prominence with '' Young Woodley'', a slight but charming study of adolescence, produced in New York in 1925. However, it was banned in London by the Lord Chamberlain's office owing to its then controversial portrayal of a schoolboy falling in love with his headmaster's wife. In Britain, it was first produced privately (by Phyllis Whitworth's Three Hundred Club) ...
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A Royal Divorce (1938 Film)
''A Royal Divorce'' is a 1938 British historical drama film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Ruth Chatterton, Pierre Blanchar and Frank Cellier. The film portrays the complex relationship between Napoleon I of France and his wife, Josephine Bonaparte from their first meeting until their divorce more than a decade later. Cast * Ruth Chatterton as Josephine de Beauharnais * Pierre Blanchar as Napoleon Bonaparte * Frank Cellier as Talleyrand * Carol Goodner as Mme. Tallien * Auriol Lee as Napoleon's Mother * George Curzon as Barras * Laurence Hanray as Klemens von Metternich * John Laurie as Joseph Bonaparte * Jack Hawkins as Captain Charles * Rosalyn Boulter as Hortense * Allan Jeayes as Marat * Moran Caplat as Eugene * Romilly Lunge as Junot * Hubert Harben as DeTracy * David Farrar as Louis Bonaparte Critical reception ''TV Guide'' called the film a "mediocre adaptation", while Allmovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online d ...
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Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood. He was awarded the 1973 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1947) and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1958). Early life Goldwyn was likely born in July 1879, although he claimed his birthday to be August 27, 1882. He was born as Szmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw to Polish Jewish Hasidic parents, Aaron Dawid Gelbfisz (1859–1894), a peddler, and his wife, Hanna Frymet (''née'' Fiszhaut ; 1860–1925). He left Warsaw penniless after his father's death and made his way to Hamburg. There he stayed with acquaintances of his family where he has trained as a glove maker. On November 26, 1898, Gelbfisz left Hamburg for Birmingham, England, wher ...
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Dodsworth (film)
''Dodsworth'' is a 1936 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, Paul Lukas, Mary Astor and David Niven. Sidney Howard based the screenplay on his 1934 stage adaptation of the 1929 novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis. Huston reprised his stage role. The center of the film is a study of a marriage in crisis. Recently retired auto magnate Samuel Dodsworth and his narcissistic wife Fran, while on a grand European tour, discover that they want very different things out of life, straining their marriage. The film was critically praised and nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Huston, and Best Director for Wyler (the first of his record twelve nominations in that category), and won for Best Art Direction. In 1990, ''Dodsworth'' was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. being deemed "culturally, historica ...
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Claire Dodd
Claire Dodd (born Dorothy Arlene Dodd; December 29, 1911 – November 23, 1973) was an American film actress. Life and work Dorothy Arlene Dodd was born on December 29, 1911, in Baxter, Iowa, to Walter Willard Dodd, a farmer whose family were early Jasper County pioneers, and his wife, Ethel Viola (née Cool) Dodd, daughter of Baxter Postmaster Peter J. Cool. Her parents married on June 28, 1911. The family moved frequently while she was growing up, living in Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix, St. Louis, and Missoula, Montana, among other places. Her parents separated in Montana. Young Dorothy went to California around 1927 where she worked as a model in Los Angeles and auditioned for minor film roles. While working as a model in Los Angeles, she was cast in a small part in Eddie Cantor's movie ''Whoopee!'', which was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld offered Dodd a part in his next Broadway musical, ''Smiles''. She joined the Ziegfeld Follies and moved to New Yor ...
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Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou (February 18, 1890 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies. He appeared in such films as Charlie Chaplin's ''A Woman of Paris'', where he played the lead role; Stanley Kubrick's ''Paths of Glory'' with Kirk Douglas; Ernst Lubitsch's '' The Marriage Circle''; '' The Sheik'' with Rudolph Valentino; ''Morocco'' with Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper; and '' A Star Is Born'' with Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, and was nominated for an Academy Award for '' The Front Page'' in 1931.Obituary ''Variety'', October 30, 1963, page 71. Early life Adolphe Jean Menjou was born on February 18, 1890, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a French father, Albert Menjou (1858–1917), and a mother from Ireland, Nora (''née'' Joyce, 1869–1953). His brother, Henry Arthur Menjou (1891–1956), was a year younger. He was raised Catholic, attended the Culver Military Academy, and graduated from Cornell University wit ...
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Journal Of A Crime
''Journal of a Crime'' is a 1934 American pre-Code crime drama film produced by First National Pictures. It was directed by William Keighley and stars Ruth Chatterton, Adolphe Menjou and Claire Dodd. The film is a remake of the 1933 French film ''Une vie perdue'',per TCM host, Ben Mankiewicz, introduction on September 22, 2012. written by Jacques Deval. Plot Francoise is a jealous wife who spies on her playwright husband Paul one evening after a play and overhears Paul and his lover Odette, the star of the show, quarreling. Odette demands that Paul leave Francoise, but he does not want to hurt his wife. Paul returns home at 3 a.m. and finds Francoise waiting for him. She pretends that she knows nothing of the affair and then attempts to seduce him but fails. Francoise consults a lawyer to prevent Paul from divorcing her, but she learns that she cannot legally compel Paul to remain in the marriage. That night at the theater, Paul tries to tell Odette why he was not able to tell F ...
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William Powell
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for '' The Thin Man'' (1934), ''My Man Godfrey'' (1936), and '' Life with Father'' (1947). Early life Born in Pittsburgh in 1892, William Powell was the only child of Nettie Manila (née Brady) and Horatio Warren Powell, who worked as an accountant."Obituaries: William Powell, star of 'Thin Man' films", ''Chicago Tribune'', March 6, 1984, p. N6. Retrieved via ProQuest Historical Newspapers through subscription access at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library, January 31, 2022. In 1907, young William moved with his family to Kansas City, Missouri, where he graduated from Central High School four years later. Career After hi ...
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