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Behind The Screen
''Behind the Screen'' is a 1916 American silent short comedy film written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and also starring Eric Campbell and Edna Purviance. The film is in the public domain. Plot The film takes place in a silent movie studio. Charlie Chaplin plays stagehand named David who has an enormous supervisor named Goliath (Eric Campbell). David is overworked but is still labelled as a loafer by the lazy Goliath and his supervisor. A country girl (Edna Purviance) arrives at the studio in hopes of becoming an actress, but is quickly turned away by Goliath. Most of the other stagehands go on wildcat strike to protest their sleep being interrupted during their lunch break. Only David and Goliath remain on the job. The girl returns and stealthily dresses in one of the striking stagehand's work clothes. Disguised as a man, she gets a job as a stagehand too. David discovers that the new stagehand is actually a female. When he gives her a series of quick kis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry's most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from his childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both accolade and controversy. Chaplin's childhood in London was one of poverty and hardship. His father was absent and his mother struggled financiallyhe was sent to a workhouse twice before the age of nine. When he was 14, his mother was committed to a mental asylum. Chaplin began performing at an early age, touring music halls and later working as a stage actor and comedian. At 19, he was signed to the Fred Karno company, which took him to the United States. He was scouted for the film industry and began appearing in 1914 for Keystone Studios. He soon intr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Austin
Albert Austin (13 December 1882 – 17 August 1953) was an English actor, film star, director, and script writer, remembered for his work in Charlie Chaplin films. Biography Austin was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, and was a music hall performer before going to the United States with Chaplin, both as members of the Fred Karno troupe in 1910. Known for his painted handlebar moustache and acerbic manner, he worked for Chaplin's stock company and played supporting roles in many of his films, often as a foil to the star and working as his assistant director. After the development of sound films, he moved into scriptwriting, directing, and acting, chiefly in comedy shorts. Among other things, he assisted Chaplin in developing the plot of '' The Adventurer'' (1917). However, he only received screen credit as a collaborator once, for '' City Lights'' (1931). As an actor, he appeared in Chaplin's comedies for the Mutual Film Corporation. Later he had two brief, uncre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chaplin Filmography
Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) was an English internationally renowned Academy Award-winning comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who was best known for his career in Hollywood motion pictures from his debut in 1914 until 1952, he however subsequently appeared in two films in his native England. During his early years in the era of silent film, he rose to prominence as a worldwide cinematic idol renowned for his tramp persona. In the 1910s and 1920s, he was considered the most famous person on the planet. Chaplin was born in Walworth, South London, and began acting on stage at the age of five when his mother's voice cracked. In 1913, while on tour in the United States with Fred Karno's comedy group, he accepted a contract to work for Keystone Film Company. During his time at Keystone, he began writing and directing some of the films in which he starred. Chaplin signed with the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in 1915, and the year after with the Mutual Film Corporation. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928. RCA executive David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone, and in early 1929 production began under the RKO name (an initialism of Radio-Keith-Orpheum). Two years later, another Kennedy concern, the Pathé studio, was folded into the operation. By the mid-1940s, RKO was controlled by investor Floyd Odlum. RKO has long been renowned for its cycle of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid- to late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winston Sharples
Winston Singleton Sharples (March 1, 1909 – April 3, 1978) was an American composer known for his work with animated short subjects, especially those created by the animation department at Paramount Pictures. In his 35-year career, Sharples scored more than 700 cartoons for Paramount and Famous Studios, and composed music for two Frank Buck films, '' Wild Cargo'' (1934) and '' Fang and Claw'' (1935). Early years Sharples was born in Fall River, Massachusetts to William, a machinist, and Mary Sharples. He began singing in vaudeville shows at the Loew's Poli Theatre in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the age of eight. He taught himself to play the piano, forming a band that played at Ivy League college dances throughout New England. He graduated from Classical High School in Springfield in 1925. Performer After high school, he formed the Burney Boys Orchestra, playing piano and orchestrating music for the group. The band played around the country. Sharples appeared on radio fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Rodemich
Eugene Frederick Rodemich (April 13, 1890 in St Louis, Missouri – February 27, 1934 in New York) was a pianist and orchestra leader, who composed the music for numerous films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, mostly cartoons and live-action short subjects produced by The Van Beuren Corporation and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. Early life Rodemich was born in St. Louis, son of a dentist, Dr. Henry Rodemich, and wife Barbara (nee Mahiger) Rodemich. Henry and Barbara also had a daughter, Estelle. After Barbara's death in 1897, Henry married Rosele Fairchild with whom he had two children, Emmet and L'rene. Gene Rodemich began his musical career in and near his home town as a pianist, later becoming conductor of a dance orchestra. An entrepreneur, he formed the Rodemich Orchestra Exchange, through which he put together small bands of St. Louis-area musicians to play for wedding receptions and other social functions. Wanting to try his chances as an accompanist and bandleader i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van Beuren Studios
The Van Beuren Corporation was a New York City-based animation studio that produced theatrical cartoons as well as live-action short-subjects from the 1920s to 1936. History In 1920, the Keith-Albee organization formed Fables Pictures for the production of the Aesop's Film Fables cartoon series with Paul Terry, who himself owned 10 percent of the studio. Producer Amedee J. Van Beuren bought out the studio in 1928, retaining Terry and renaming the business after its new owner. Van Beuren released Terry's first sound cartoon '' Dinner Time'' (1928) (a month before Disney's ''Steamboat Willie'') through Pathé Exchange, which later became part of RKO Pictures. Terry ran the animation studio while Van Beuren focused on other parts of the business. In 1929, Terry quit to start his own Terrytoons studio and John Foster took over the animation department. Van Beuren released his films through RKO Radio Pictures. The early sound Van Beuren cartoons are almost identical to the late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Moving Picture World
The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. In 1911, the magazine bought out ''Views and Film Index''. Its reviews illustrate the standards and tastes of film in its infancy, and shed light on story content in those early days. By 1914, it had a reported circulation of approximately 15,000. The publication was founded by James Petrie (J.P.) Chalmers, Jr. (1866–1912), who began publishing in March 1907 as ''The Moving Picture World and View Photographer''. In December 1927, it was announced that the publication was merging with the '' Exhibitors Herald'', when it was reported the combined circulation of the papers would be 16,881. In 1931, a subsequent merger with the '' Motion Picture News'' occurred, creating the '' Motion Picture Herald''. A Spanish language Spanish ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in Los Angeles, to cover the film industry, motion-picture industry. ''Variety'' website features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, plus a credits database, production charts and film calendar. History Founding ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville, with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. He subsequently decided to start his own publication that, he said, would "not be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father-in-law, he launched ''Variety'' as publisher and editor. In additi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Celluloid Closet (film)
''The Celluloid Closet'' is a 1996 American documentary film directed and co-written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, and executive produced by Howard Rosenman. The film is based on Vito Russo's 1981 book '' The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies'', and on lecture and film clip presentations he gave from 1972 to 1982. Russo had researched the history of how motion pictures, especially Hollywood films, had portrayed gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters. ''The Celluloid Closet'' was given a limited release in select theatres, including the Castro Theatre in San Francisco in April 1996, and then shown on cable channel HBO as part of its series '' America Undercover''. Overview The documentary interviews various men and women connected to the Hollywood industry to comment on various film clips and their own personal experiences with the treatment of LGBT characters in film. From the sissy characters to the censorship of the Hollywood Production Code ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unknown Chaplin
''Unknown Chaplin'' is a three-part 1983 British documentary series about the career and methods of the silent film luminary Charlie Chaplin, using previously unseen film for illustration. The series consist of three episodes, with title ''My Happiest Years'', ''The Great Director'' and ''Hidden Treasures''. The film was directed and written by film historians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. They were granted access to unseen material from Chaplin's private film archive by his widow Oona O'Neil Chaplin. Episode one of the series was also based on a large cache of pirated outtakes from the Mutual Film Corporation period of Chaplin's career (1916-1917), made available by the film collector Raymond Rohauer. The documentary also includes interviews with Chaplin's second wife Lita Grey, his son Sydney Earl Chaplin, and his surviving co-stars Jackie Coogan, Dean Riesner, Georgia Hale, and Virginia Cherrill. The series gives unparalleled insight into Chaplin's working method ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career. Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting in films in the Biograph Company of New York City in 1908, and later opened Keystone Studios in Edendale, Los Angeles, Edendale, California in 1912. Keystone possessed the first fully enclosed film stage, and Sennett became famous as the originator of slapstick routines such as pie-throwing and car-chases, as seen in the Keystone Cops films. He also produced short features that displayed his Sennett Bathing Beauties, Bathing Beauties, many of whom went on to develop successful acting careers.D’haeyere, Hilde. "Splashes of Fun and Beauty: Mack Sennett’s Bathing Beauties." ''Slapstick Comedy'', edited by Rob King and Tom Paulus, Routledge USA, 2010, pp. 207–25. Basinger, Jeanine (2012). ''Silent Stars'', p. 205. Alfred A. Knopf. After ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
