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They Flew Alone
''They Flew Alone'' (released in the US as ''Wings and the Woman'') is a 1942 British biopic about aviator Amy Johnson directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Robert Newton and Edward Chapman. It was distributed in the UK and the US by RKO Radio Pictures. Plot The film chronicles the life of Amy Johnson, the British pilot who had gained world attention in the 1930s for her exploits, among them two solo record flights from London to Cape Town in South Africa, and who had joined the Air Transport Auxiliary at the outbreak of the Second World War. It was intended to be both a film honouring Johnson, who had died in 1941 during a ferry flight of an Airspeed Oxford, and a propaganda call to arms at the height of the war years. Cast * Anna Neagle as Amy Johnson * Robert Newton as Jim Mollison * Edward Chapman as Mr. Johnson * Nora Swinburne as ATA Commandant * Joan Kemp-Welch as Mrs. Johnson * Brefni O'Rorke as Mac * Charles Carson as Lord Wakefield * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Wilcox
Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wife Anna Neagle. Early life Wilcox's mother was from County Cork, Ireland, and Wilcox considered himself Irish, but he was born in Norwood, south London.7 Dagmar Villas, Gipsy Road. ''Mr Michael Thornton'' re Mr Herbert Wilcox. ''The Times'', Thursday, 19 May 1977; p. 18; Issue 60007; col F His family moved to Brighton when Wilcox was eight years old; he was one of five children. His family were poor and Wilcox had to do a number of part-time jobs, including some work as a chorus boy at the local Hippodrome. His mother died of tuberculosis when she was 42. Wilcox left school before the age of fourteen to find work. Shortly afterwards, his father died at the age of 42. Wilcox began earning money as a professional pool player at the Metropo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Transport Auxiliary
The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation set up at the start of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. The ATA ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance units (MUs), scrapyards, and active service squadrons and airfields, but not to naval aircraft carriers. It also flew service personnel on urgent duty from one place to another and performed some air ambulance work. Notably, around 10% of its pilots were women, and from 1943 they received equal pay to their male colleagues, a first for the British government. Mission The initial plan was that the ATA would carry personnel, mail and medical supplies, but the pilots were immediately needed to work with the Royal Air Force (RAF) ferry pools transporting aircraft. By 1 May 1940 the ATA had taken over transporting all military aircraft from factories to maintenance units to have g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Horne (actor)
David Edgar Alderson Horne (14 July 1898 in Balcombe, Sussex – 15 March 1970 in Marylebone, London) was an English film and stage actor. Biography British actor and playwright David Horne began his film career in the 1930s, after a distinguished early career in the theatre. He was generally seen portraying pompous, self-satisfied characters. He never managed to rise to the "star" level in his silver screen acting career, but he was an indispensable character actor, and played many utility parts such as desk clerks, newspaper editors, police officials, lawyers and doctors. He continued his theatre work until his death in 1970. Filmography * ''Lord of the Manor'' (1933) as General Sir George Fleeter (film debut) * '' General John Regan'' (1933) as Maj. Kent * '' Badger's Green'' (1934) as Major Forrester * ''The Case for the Crown'' (1934) as James Rainsford * '' That's My Uncle'' (1935) as Col. Marlowe * ''The Village Squire'' (1935) as Squire Hollis * '' Late Extra'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliot Makeham
Harold Elliott Makeham (22 December 1882 – 8 February 1956) was an English film and television actor. Career Makeham was born in London, England. Between 1931 and 1956, Makeham appeared, primarily in character roles, in 115 films and in 11 television productions. He played a small number of leading roles in the 1930s, but was more regularly seen in cameos as harassed officials or henpecked husbands. Personal life Married three times, Makeham's third wife was British character actress, Betty Shale. Selected filmography * '' Rome Express'' (1932) - Mills * ''I'm an Explosive'' (1933) - Prof. Whimperly * '' Forging Ahead'' (1933) - Abraham Lombard * '' The Lost Chord'' (1933) - Bertie Pollard * ''I Lived with You'' (1933) - Mr. Wallis * ''I Was a Spy'' (1933) - Pharmacist (uncredited) * '' Friday the Thirteenth'' (1933) - Henry Jackson * '' The Roof'' (1933) - John Rutherford * ''The Laughter of Fools'' (1933) - John Gregg * '' Home, Sweet Home'' (1933) - James Merrick * '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martita Hunt
Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havisham in David Lean's '' Great Expectations''. Biography Early life Hunt was born in Buenos Aires on 30 January 1900 to English parents Alfred and Marta (née Burnett) Hunt. She spent the first 20 years of her life in Argentina before she travelled with her parents to the United Kingdom to attend Queenwood Ladies' College in Eastbourne and then to train as an actress. Early theatrical career Hunt began her acting career in repertory theatre at Liverpool before moving to London. She first appeared there in the Stage Society's production of Ernst Toller's ''The Machine Wreckers'' at the Kingsway Theatre in May 1923. From 1923 to 1929, she appeared as the Principessa della Cercola in W. Somerset Maugham's '' Our Betters'' (Globe, 1924) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield
Charles Cheers Wakefield, 1st Viscount Wakefield, GCVO, CBE (12 December 1859 – 15 January 1941), was an English businessman who founded the Castrol lubricants company, was lord mayor of London and was a significant philanthropist. Early life and family Wakefield was born in Cheshire, the son of John Wakefield, and his wife Margaret, née Cheers, and was educated at the Liverpool Institute. He married Sarah Frances Graham. Business career Wakefield patented the Wakefield lubricator for steam engines in the 1890s. In 1899 he founded the Wakefield Oil Company, but subsequently changed its name to Castrol. The name Castrol was chosen because of the castor oil that was added to the company's lubricating oils. This title has since become a household name in the United Kingdom. The Castrol brand lubricants produced by Wakefield's company were used in the engines of motor cars, aeroplanes, and motorcycles. A Castrol endorsement contract and the generous patronage of Wakefiel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Carson (actor)
Charles Carson (16 August 1885 – 5 August 1977) was a British actor. A civil engineer before taking to the stage in 1919, his theatre work included directed plays for ENSA during WWII. Selected filmography * '' The Loves of Ariane'' (1931) – The Professor * '' Dreyfus'' (1931) – Col. Picquart * ''Many Waters'' (1931) – Henry Delauney * '' The Chinese Puzzle'' (1932) – Armand de Rochecorbon * ''Monsieur Albert'' (1932) – Mr. Robertson * '' Men of Tomorrow'' (1932) – Senior Proctor * ''Leap Year'' (1932) – Sir Archibald Mallard * '' There Goes the Bride'' (1932) – M. Marquand (uncredited) * '' Marry Me'' (1932) – Korten * '' The Blarney Stone'' (1933) – Sir Arthur * '' The Shadow'' (1933) – Sir Edward Hulme KC * '' The Perfect Flaw'' (1934) – Henry Kearns * ''Trouble in Store'' (1934, short) – Sanderson * '' Whispering Tongues'' (1934) – Roger Mayland * '' The Broken Melody'' (1934) – Colonel Dubonnet * '' No Escape'' (1934) – Mr. Arnold * '' B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brefni O'Rorke
Brefni O'Rorke (26 June 1889 – 11 November 1946) was an Irish actor, both on the stage and in movies. Early life O'Rorke was born as William Francis Breffni O'Rorke at 2 Esplande Villas in Dollymount, Clontarf, Dublin on 26 June 1889, and baptised at Clontarf Parish Church on 1 August 1889. His father, Frederick O'Rorke, was a cork merchant, and his mother, Jane Caroline O'Rorke, née Morgan, was an actress. He had an older brother, Frederick, who was twelve years older than him. Career O'Rorke began studying acting with his mother and made his professional début in 1912 at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in a production of Shaw's '' John Bull's Other Island''. While still living in Dublin, he met and married in 1916 Alice Cole, a chorus-girl turned actress, who had divorced her first husband and immigrated from South Africa with her young son. Thus O'Rorke became the stepfather of Cyril Cusack. Other theatre roles included the title role in '' Finn Varra Maa'' (1917), a musical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Kemp-Welch
Joan Kemp-Welch (23 September 19065 July 1999) was a British stage and film actress, who later went on to become a television director. After making her stage debut in 1926 at the Q Theatre, Kemp-Welch made her film debut in 1933 and appeared in fifteen films over the next decade largely in supporting or minor roles. Occasionally she played more substantial parts as in ''Hard Steel'' and '' They Flew Alone'' (both 1942). Post-Second World War, she moved into television working as both a producer and director of television plays and episodes of television series. In 1959 she was one of the winners at the Society of Film and Television Arts Television Awards. She also won the ''Prix Italia'' for her TV version of Harold Pinter's '' The Lover'' in 1963; and in the same year was the first woman to receive the Desmond Davis BAFTA for creative work in television. In 1964 she directed ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' for ITV's '' Play of the Week''. The same year she directed four Noël ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nora Swinburne
Leonora Mary Johnson (24 July 1902 – 1 May 2000), known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English actress who appeared in many British films. Early years Swinburne was born in Bath, Somerset, the daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson and his wife Leonora Tamar (née Brain). She was educated at Rosholme College, Weston-super-Mare, and studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. As a member of Clive Currie's Young Players in 1914, she appeared at the Grand, Croydon, Court and Little Theatres, during that year. In 1914, she attended an audition with the ballerina Phyllis Bedells and later Anna Pavlova who considered her too young, even if very talented, for the corps de ballet. Nora instead joined the Italia Conti school where she obtained her first real part as a child actress in ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. She performed in the show in London and in all the big cities of Britain for eighteen shillings (90p) a week. At the end of 1915 she gained a place ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Mollison
James Allan Mollison MBE (19 April 1905 – 30 October 1959) was a Scottish pioneer aviator who, flying solo or with his wife, Amy Johnson, set many records during the rapid development of aviation in the 1930s. Early years Born on 19 April 1905 in Glasgow, the only child of Hector Alexander Mollison, a consultant engineer, and Thomasina Macnee Addie (''d''. 1965). He was educated at The Glasgow Academy and Edinburgh Academy. He was attracted at an early age to flying. Obtaining his Royal Air Force (RAF) Short Service Commission at 18, he was the youngest officer in the service, and upon completion of training was posted to India, flying on active service in Waziristan.Aitken 1991, p. 343. Aviation career At the age of 22, Mollison became a flying instructor at Central Flying School (CFS), again setting the record for being the youngest in this role. Shortly after, he transferred to the RAF Reserve and devoted his time to civil aviation. In 1928–29, he worked as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented. Propaganda can be found in news and journalism, government, advertising, entertainment, education, and activism and is often associated with material which is prepared by governments as part of war efforts, political campaigns, health campaigns, revolutionaries, big businesses, ultra-religious organizations, the media, and certain individuals such as soapboxers. In the 20th century, the English term ''propaganda'' was often associated with a manipulative approach, but historically, propaganda has been a neutral descriptive term of any material that promotes certain opinions or ideologies. Equivalent non-English terms have also l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
