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Associated British
Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned approximately 500 cinemas in Britain by 1943, and in the 1950s and 60s owned a station on the ITV television network. The studio was partly owned by Warner Bros. from about 1940 until 1969; the American company also owned a stake in ABPC's distribution arm, Warner-Pathé, from 1958. It formed one half of a vertically integrated film industry duopoly in Britain with the Rank Organisation. History From 1927 to 1945 The company was founded during 1927 by Scottish solicitor John Maxwell after he had purchased British National Pictures Studios and its Elstree Studios complex and merged it with his ABC Cinemas circuit, renaming the company British International Pictures. The Wardour Film Company, with Maxwell as chairman, was the distributor of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Film
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackmail (1929 Film)
''Blackmail'' is a 1929 British crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. Based on the 1928 play of the same name by Charles Bennett, the film is about a London woman who is blackmailed after killing a man who tries to rape her. After starting production as a silent film, British International Pictures decided to adapt ''Blackmail'' into a separate sound film. It became the first successful European talkie; a silent version was released for cinemas not equipped for sound (at 6,740 feet), with the sound version (7,136 feet) released at the same time. Both versions are held in the British Film Institute collection. ''Blackmail'' is frequently cited as the first British sound feature film. It was voted the best British film of 1929 in a UK poll the year it was released. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for '' Time Out'' magazine ranked ''Blackmail'' as the 59th best Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ealing Films
Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever since. It is the oldest continuously working studio facility for film production in the world, and the current stages were opened for the use of sound in 1931. It is best known for a series of classic films produced in the post-WWII years, including ''Saraband for Dead Lovers'' (1948), ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), ''Passport to Pimlico'' (1949), ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). The BBC owned and filmed at the Studios for forty years from 1955 until 1995. Since 2000, Ealing Studios has resumed releasing films under its own name, including the revived '' St Trinian's'' franchise. In more recent times, films shot there include ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2002) and ''Shaun of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ice Cold In Alex
''Ice Cold in Alex'' is a 1958 British war film set during the Western Desert campaign of World War II based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival. Under the title ''Desert Attack'', a shortened 79-minute version of the film was released in the United States in 1961. Film critic Craig Butler later referred to the shortened version as nonsensical. This review states the length of ''Desert Attack'' as 64 minutes. Subsequent reviews indicate a length of 79 minutes. Plot Captain Anson, the officer commanding a British RASC Motor Ambulance Company in Tobruk, is suffering from battle fatigue and alcoholism. Ahead of the Axis capture of Tobruk by the German Afrika Korps, Anson and most of his unit are ordered to evacuate to Alexandria. During the evacuation Anson, MSM Tom Pugh and two nurses, Sister Diana Murdoch and Sister Denise Norton, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Anderson (director)
Michael Joseph Anderson Sr (30 January 1920 – 25 April 2018) was an English film and television director. His career spanned nearly 50 years across three countries, working at various times in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. His most critically and commercially successful works include the World War II film '' The Dam Busters'' (1955), the dystopian sci-fi film '' Logan's Run'' (1976), and the comedy adventure epic '' Around the World in 80 Days'' (1956), which won the 1957 Academy Award for Best Picture. Anderson received nominations for the Best Director Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Director for ''Around the World in 80 Days''. He was twice nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (for ''Logan's Run'' and for the Ray Bradbury miniseries ''The Martian Chronicles''), and for a Directors Guild of America Award and the Palme d'Or. In 2012, he received the Directors Guild of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award. Anderson was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dam Busters (film)
''The Dam Busters'' is a 1955 British epic docudrama war film starring Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave, that was directed by Michael Anderson. Adapted by R. C. Sherriff from the books '' The Dam Busters'' (1951) by Paul Brickhill and '' Enemy Coast Ahead'' (1946) by Guy Gibson, the film depicts the true story of Operation Chastise in which the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder, and Sorpe dams in Nazi Germany with Barnes Wallis's ''bouncing bomb''. ''The Dam Busters'' was acclaimed by critics, who widely praised its acting (especially Todd's and Redgrave's), Anderson's direction, its superlative special effects photography by Gilbert Taylor and soundtrack score by Eric Coates (especially the stirring '' The Dam Busters March'' theme tune). The film was Britain's biggest box-office success of 1955. A much-loved British classic, ''The Dam Busters'' has since been cited as one of the best British war films and one of the greatest films of the 20th century. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), as well as life president of the Premier League club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea. He joined the Royal Air Force during World War II and served in the Royal Air Force Film Production Unit, film unit, going on several Strategic bombing, bombing raids over continental Europe and filming the conflict from the Tail gunner, rear gunner's position. He was the older brother of broadcaster and nature presenter Sir David Attenborough and motor executive John Attenborough. He was married to actress Sheila Sim from 1945 until his death. As an actor, Attenborough is best remembered for his film roles in ''Brighton Rock (1948 film), Brighton Rock'' (1948), ''I'm All Right Jack'' (1959), ''The Great Escape (film), The Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Todd
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in the 1949 film '' The Hasty Heart''. His other notable roles include Jonathan Cooper in '' Stage Fright'' (1950), Wing Commander Guy Gibson in '' The Dam Busters'' (1955), Sir Walter Raleigh in '' The Virgin Queen'' (1955), and Major John Howard in ''The Longest Day'' (1962). He was previously a Captain in the British Army during the Second World War, fighting in the D-Day landings as a member of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. Early life and career Richard Todd was born in Dublin. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe-Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Gotfurt
Frederick Gotfurt (born Fritz Männe Gottfurcht, 8 August 1901 – 22 February 1973) was a German-British writer, scenario editor, producer and executive. In the 1940s and 1950s he was scenario editor at Associated British Picture Corporation and was heavily relied upon by head of production Robert Clarke. He has been called a key creative influence at that company - in particular his interest in the character of "the outsider" seen displayed in '' Last Holiday'' (1950) and '' Portrait of Clare'' (1950).Sue Harper, Vincent Porter ''British Cinema of the 1950s: The Decline of Deference'' Oxford University Press, 2003 p79 Select Credits * '' The Girl in the Taxi'' (1937) *'' Temptation Harbour'' (1947) *'' A Lady Mislaid'' (1958) (adapted from Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969), was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Clark (film Executive)
Robert Clark (1904–1984) was a Scottish film executive best known for being head of production at Associated British Picture Corporation in the late 1940s and 1950s. It was a successful time for the company, films including '' The Dam Busters'' (1955). Among Clark's achievements were negotiating a contract with Warner Bros, and signing Audrey Hepburn and Richard Todd to long-term contracts before they were stars. He also financed early films of J. Lee Thompson and Michael Anderson. Biography Clark was born in 1904 in Paisley, the last of thirteen children in a working-class family. His parents were members of the religious order the Plymouth Brethren who were opposed to cinema going. Clark attended school until he was fourteen years old, then was articled to a solicitor in Glasgow, John Maxwell. While working, Clark also studied law at Glasgow University and became a full qualified solicitor. Maxwell was interested in the film industry, buying up cinemas and establishing a Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is unique in being both a garden city and a new town and exemplifies the physical, social and cultural planning ideals of the periods in which it was built. History Welwyn Garden City was founded by Sir Ebenezer Howard in 1920 following his previous experiment in Letchworth Garden City. Howard had called for the creation of planned towns that were to combine the benefits of the city and the countryside and to avoid the disadvantages of both. It was designed to be 'The Perfect Town'. The Garden Cities and Town Planning Association had defined a garden city as "a town designed for healthy living and industry of a size that makes possible a full measure of social life but not larger, surrounded by a rural belt; the whole of the land being in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
