Banana Ridge (play)
''Banana Ridge'' is a farce by Ben Travers. It opened at the Strand Theatre on 27 April 1938 and ran for 291 performances. The play revolves round the question of the paternity of a young man, and the worry of each of the two principal characters that he may be the young man's father. Background In the 1920s and 30s Travers had written nine farces which, with three by other authors, were known collectively as the ''Aldwych farce''s. The series had run in uninterrupted succession at the Aldwych Theatre between 1923 and 1933 After this Travers attempted a serious play on a religious theme, but it was not a success. He did better with his next play, ''O Mistress Mine'' (1936), a romantic Ruritanian comedy. ''Banana Ridge'' was his return to the genre for which he was celebrated. It starred Robertson Hare, one of the best-loved members of the regular Aldwych team, and Alfred Drayton, an experienced and popular comic actor. Travers, who did not usually act, played the role of Wu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity or nonsense; satire, parody, and mockery of real-life situations, people, events, and interactions; unlikely and humorous instances of miscommunication; ludicrous, improbable, and exaggerated characters; and broadly stylized performances. Genre Despite involving absurd situations and characters, the genre generally maintains at least a slight degree of realism and narrative continuity within the context of the irrational or ludicrous situations, often distinguishing it from completely absurdist or fantastical genres. Farces are often episodic or short in duration, often being set in one specific location where all events occur. Farces have historically been performed for the stage and film. Historical context The term ''farce'' is der ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carla Lehmann
Carla Lehmann (26 February 1917 – 1 December 1990) was a Canadian-born stage, film and television actress. Career Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, Lehmann was the youngest of the five children of Dr Julius Lehmann and Elsa Hillerns. She was educated at Riverbend School (now Balmoral Hall), where she edited the school newspaper, and from the age of fifteen appeared at the Little Theatre, Winnipeg. Gaining a place to train for an acting career at RADA in London, she then joined the Croydon Repertory Company for a year before first appearing in the West End. Her stage work included appearances in several Aldwych farces. During the Second World War she starred in war films opposite Stewart Granger and James Mason. She also played in Cottage to Let opposite John Mills and Alistair Sim in 1941. Lehmann notably played Susan Foster in the film ''Candlelight in Algeria'' (1944) and Lady Mary Hannay in the BBC television series '' The Three Hostages'' (1952). Private l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1938 Plays
Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Safinaz Zulficar, who becomes Queen Farida, in Cairo. * January 27 – The Honeymoon Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York, collapses as a result of an ice jam. February * February 4 ** Adolf Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military. In addition, he dismisses political and military leaders considered unsympathetic to his philosophy or policies. General Werner von Fritsch is forced to resign as Commander of Chief of the German Army following accusations of homosexuality, and replaced by General Walther von ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lesley Storm
Lesley Storm was the pen-name of Mabel Cowie (1898–1975), also known by her married name of Mabel Clark. She was a Scottish writer, who wrote a number of plays, some of which were filmed. '' Black Chiffon'' and '' Roar Like a Dove'' were major hits. She also wrote several screenplays, including ''The Heart of the Matter'' (1953), based on the novel by Graham Greene, and '' The Spanish Gardener'', based on the 1950 novel of the same name by A.J. Cronin. She wrote some novels, the best known was ''Lady, What of Life?'' (Cassell, 1928). It depicted London social life in transition from Victorian to modern times. Selected filmography * '' East of Piccadilly'' (1940) * '' Banana Ridge'' (1942) * ''Unpublished Story'' (1942) * ''Alibi'' (1942) * '' Flight from Folly'' (1945) * '' Meet Me at Dawn'' (1947) * ''White Cradle Inn'' (1947) * '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948) * '' Adam and Evelyne'' (1949) * '' Golden Salamander'' (1950) * '' The Ringer'' (1952) * ''Personal Affair'' (195 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walter C
Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 1987), who previously wrestled as "Walter" * Walter, standard author abbreviation for Thomas Walter (botanist) ( – 1789) Companies * American Chocolate, later called Walter, an American automobile manufactured from 1902 to 1906 * Walter Energy, a metallurgical coal producer for the global steel industry * Walter Aircraft Engines, Czech manufacturer of aero-engines Films and television * ''Walter'' (1982 film), a British television drama film * Walter Vetrivel, a 1993 Tamil crime drama film * ''Walter'' (2014 film), a British television crime drama * ''Walter'' (2015 film), an American comedy-drama film * ''Walter'' (2020 film), an Indian crime drama film * '' W*A*L*T*E*R'', a 1984 pilot for a spin-off of the TV series ''M*A*S*H'' * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Banana Ridge (film)
''Banana Ridge'' is a 1942 British comedy film directed by Walter C. Mycroft and starring Robertson Hare, Alfred Drayton and Isabel Jeans. The film is based on a 1938 stage play of the same name by Ben Travers. It was made at Welwyn Studios. Michael Denison accompanied his wife Dulcie Gray for her screen test for the film, which led some years later to his casting in his breakthrough role in '' My Brother Jonathan''.Warren p.91 The film was a success at the box office. Hare and Drayton appeared together in another comedy '' Women Aren't Angels'' the following year. Two colleagues come to worry that a mysterious young man may be their son from liaisons with the same woman during the First World War. They are persuaded to give him a job at "Banana Ridge" one of the company's rubber plantations in the Malay States. The young man's romance with the bosses' daughter threatens this plan, as does his mother's plan to reveal who is his real father. Cast * Robertson Hare as W ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Julian Orchard
Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He appeared in four ''Carry On'' films: '' Don't Lose Your Head'' (1966), '' Follow That Camel'' (1967), '' Carry On Doctor'' (1967), and '' Carry On Henry'' (1971). Career Orchard was educated at Shrewsbury School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He appeared as the flamboyant Duke of Montague, a cousin of Prince Edward, in the ''Cinderella'' film, '' The Slipper and the Rose'' (1976). He had a regular slot on Spike Milligan's '' The World of Beachcomber'', a TV version of the " Beachcomber" pieces by J. B. Morton, appearing as the poet Roland Milk. His customary role was that of a gangling and effete – and sometimes effeminate – dandy. He played Snodgrass in the TV musical '' Pickwick'' for the BBC in 1969, and appeared ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Cole (actor)
George Edward Cole, OBE (22 April 1925 – 5 August 2015) was an English actor whose career spanned 75 years. He was best known for playing Arthur Daley in the long-running ITV comedy-drama show '' Minder'' and Flash Harry in the early '' St Trinian's'' films. Early life Cole was born in Tooting, London. He was given up for adoption at ten days of age and adopted by George and Florence Cole, a Tooting council employee and charwoman (cleaner) respectively. He attended secondary school in nearby Morden. He left school at 14 to be a butcher's boy and had an ambition to join the Merchant Navy but landed a part in a touring musical and chose acting as a career. He recalled during that year (1939) he was in Dublin on the day of Britain's entry into World War II when he witnessed an effigy of Neville Chamberlain being publicly burned without interference from the local police. Career Aged 15, Cole was cast in the film '' Cottage to Let'' (1941) opposite Scottish actor Alastair Sim ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in supporting roles. In 1939 he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of King Louis XVI in ''Marie Antoinette''. In ''Movie Encyclopedia'', film critic Leonard Maltin describes Morley as "recognisable by his ungainly bulk, bushy eyebrows, thick lips and double chin, ... particularly effective when cast as a pompous windbag." Ephraim Katz in his ''International Film Encyclopaedia'' describes Morley as "a rotund, triple-chinned, delightful character player of the British and American stage and screen." In his autobiography, ''Responsible Gentleman'', Morley said his stage career started with managements valuing his appearance for playing "substantial gentleman" roles – as a doctor, lawyer, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Palace. Its intended purpose was to showcase the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan, which became known as the Savoy operas. The theatre was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity. For many years, the Savoy Theatre was the home of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, which continued to be run by the Carte family for over a century. Richard's son Rupert D'Oyly Carte rebuilt and modernised the theatre in 1929, and it was rebuilt again in 1993 following a fire. It is a Grade II* listed building. In addition to '' The Mikado'' and other famous Gilbert and Sullivan premières, the theatre has hosted such premières as the first public performance in England of Oscar Wilde's ''Salome'' (1931) and N ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Atholl Fleming
Atholl Fleming MBE (6 December 1894 – 6 May 1972) was a British actor and an Australian radio personality. Early life He was the third of nine children of the Rev R. S. Fleming, a Scottish Baptist minister of Pitlochry and later Beckenham in Kent. After a fall as a child, he became deaf in his right ear. He was educated at the City of London School. He saw fighting in France during World War I with the Royal West Kent Regiment, notably the Battle of the Somme, and was wounded three times – a shrapnel wound to the head, a bayonet wound in the knee and gas injuries, which left him with a cough for the rest of his life. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Career After the War, he abandoned a career with the Bank of England for the stage, appearing in a number of Whitehall farces and dramas on BBC television at Alexandra Palace. He starred in '' People Like Us'' at The Strand in 1929. He toured Australia in 1932 with Dame Sybil Thorndike and Sir Lewis Casso ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Flemyng
Benjamin Arthur Flemyng (3 January 1912 – 22 May 1995), known professionally as Robert Flemyng, was a British actor. The son of a doctor, and originally intended for a medical career, Flemyng learned his stagecraft in provincial repertory theatre. In 1935 he appeared in a leading role in the West End, and the following year had his first major success, in Terence Rattigan's comedy ''French Without Tears''. Between then and the Second World War he appeared in London and New York in a succession of comedies. On the outbreak of war in 1939 Flemyng volunteered for the Royal Army Service Corps, and served with distinction, winning the Military Cross. After the war he continued to appear in light comedies, but also took on more serious roles in plays by T. S. Eliot, Graham Greene, John Whiting and others. He toured Australia, Britain, Canada, India, South Africa and the US in a wide range of parts, from comedy to classic drama. Flemyng's broadcasting was principally in two televisi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |