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Brighton Rock (novel)
'' Brighton Rock'' is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1938 and later adapted for film and theatre. The novel is a murder Thriller (genre), thriller set in 1930s Brighton. The first of Greene's works to explore Catholic themes and moral issues, its treatment of class privilege and the problem of evil is paradoxical and ambivalent. Plot There is an incidental link between this novel and Greene's earlier ''A Gun for Sale'' (1936), in that the murder of the gang boss Kite, mentioned in ''A Gun For Sale'', allows the seventeen-year-old antisocial personality disorder, sociopath Pinkie to take over his gang and thus sets the events of ''Brighton Rock'' in motion. The murder of Kite had been brought about because of a report by Charles "Fred" Hale in the ''Daily Messenger'' about his slot machine racket. Now Hale has been sent to Brighton to distribute cards anonymously for a newspaper competition and realises that he is being hunted by Pinkie's mob. Hale meets middle-aged Ida A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic literary revival, Catholic novels, and of thrillers (or "entertainments" as he termed them). He was shortlisted for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Through 67 years of writing, which included over 25 novels, he explored the conflicting moral and political issues of the modern world. ''The Power and the Glory'' won the 1941 Hawthornden Prize and ''The Heart of the Matter'' won the 1948 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black. Greene was awarded the 1968 Shakespeare Prize and the 1981 Jerusalem Prize. Several of his stories have been filmed, some more than once, and he collaborated with filmmaker Carol Reed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Kerr
Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, generally on the subject of theater and cinema. Biography Kerr was born in Evanston, Illinois, and earned both a B.A. and M.A. from Northwestern University., after graduation from St. George High School, also in Evanston. He was a regular film critic for the St. George High School newspaper while a student there, and was also a critic for the Evanston ''News Index''. He was the editor of the high school newspaper and yearbook. He taught speech and drama at The Catholic University of America. After writing criticism for '' Commonweal'' he became a theater critic for the '' New York Herald Tribune'' in 1951. When that paper folded, he then began writing theater reviews for ''The New York Times'' in 1966, writing for the next seventeen years. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bryony Lavery
Bryony Lavery (born 1947) is a British dramatist, known for her successful and award-winning 1998 play '' Frozen''. In addition to her work in theatre, she has also written for television and radio. She has written books including the biography ''Tallulah Bankhead'' and ''The Woman Writer's Handbook''. She taught playwriting at the University of Birmingham. Biography Lavery grew up in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Having begun her career as an actress, she decided that she wanted to write plays with better parts for women. Early in her career she founded a theatre company called ''Les Oeufs Malades'' (The Bad Eggs) with actors Gerard Bell and Jessica Higgs. She also founded Female Trouble, More Female Trouble, and served as artistic director of Gay Sweatshop. Her plays have a feminist undertone. She has written such plays as ''More Light'', which has only one male speaking role, with almost entirely female casts. By 2002, she had written more than twenty plays. In addition, she ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West End theatres. Building The building that now houses the theatre was originally constructed in 1837 for the newly formed Islington Literary and Scientific Society. It included a library, reading room, museum, laboratory, and a lecture theatre seating 500. The architects were the fashionable partnership of Robert Lewis Roumieu and Alexander Dick Gough. The library was sold off in 1872 and the building was disposed of in 1874 to the Wellington Club (Almeida Street then being called Wellington Street) which occupied it until 1886. In 1885 the hall was used for concerts, balls, and public meetings. The Salvation Army bought the building in 1890, renaming it the Wellington Castle Barracks (Wellington Castle Citadel from 1902). To suit the buildin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Black (lyricist)
Donald Blackstone (born 21 June 1938), known professionally as Don Black, is an English lyricist. His works have included numerous musicals, movie, television themes and hit songs. He has provided lyrics for John Barry, Charles Strouse, Matt Monro, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Quincy Jones, Hoyt Curtin, Lulu, Jule Styne, Henry Mancini, Meat Loaf, Michael Jackson, Elmer Bernstein, Michel Legrand, Hayley Westenra, Ennio Morricone, A. R. Rahman, Marvin Hamlisch and Debbie Wiseman. AllMusic stated that "Black is perhaps best-known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and for the James Bond theme songs he co-wrote with composer John Barry: '' Thunderball'', '' Diamonds Are Forever'' and '' The Man with the Golden Gun''." Early life He was born Donald Blackstone in London, the youngest of five children of Russian Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Morris and Betsy (née Kersh) Blackstone. His father worked as a garment presser and his mother in a clothes shop and during his chil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast (3 November 1933 – 30 January 2011) was an English composer and conductor of film music. Born in York, Barry spent his early years working in cinemas owned by his father. During his national service with the British Army in Cyprus, Barry began performing as a musician after learning to play the trumpet. Upon completing his national service, he formed a band in 1957, the John Barry Seven. He later developed an interest in composing and arranging music, making his début for television in 1958. He came to the notice of the filmmakers of the first James Bond film '' Dr. No'', who were dissatisfied with a theme for James Bond given to them by Monty Norman. Noel Rogers, the head of music at United Artists, approached Barry. This started a successful association between Barry and the Bond series that lasted for 25 years. He composed the scores for eleven of the ''James Bond'' films between 1963 and 1987, as well as arranging and performing the " James ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Winifred Catherine Savage Denison (''née'' Bailey; 20 November 1915 – 15 November 2011), known professionally as Dulcie Gray, was a British actress, mystery writer and lepidopterist. While at drama school in the late 1930s she met a fellow student, Michael Denison. They married in 1939 and were together for 59 years before his death in 1998. The couple's professional careers were intertwined; in their early years they appeared in several films together and throughout their careers they frequently acted on stage together. Although she was well known for her starring roles in films of the late 1940s and early 1950s, most of Gray's career was in the theatre. Her range was extensive, and she appeared in Shakespeare, farce, thrillers, classics by Sheridan, Wilde, Chekhov, Shaw and Coward, absurdist drama, and numerous new plays. In the 1980s she became well known to British television viewers when she starred in a long-running soap opera, '' Howards' Way''. Alongsi ... [...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] |
West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre represents the highest level of Theatre of the United Kingdom, commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Prominent screen actors, Cinema of the United Kingdom, British and World cinema, international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are approximately 40 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre—built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan—was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. Society of London Theatre, The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced that 201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, '' The Notorious Mrs. Ebbsmith'', was an early success at the theatre. In its early years, the Garrick appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama. The theatre later became associated with comedies, including '' No Sex Please, We're British'', which played for four years from 1982 to 1986. History There was previously another theatre that was sometimes called the Garrick in London, in Leman Street, opened in 1831 and demolished in 1881.Allingham, Philip V"Theatres in Victorian London" The Victorian Web, 29 November 2015 The new Garrick Theatre was financed in 1889 by the playwright W. S. Gilbert, the author of over 75 plays, including the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas. It was designed by Walter Emden, with C. J. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brighton Rock (play)
''Brighton Rock'' is a 1943 British play by Frank Harvey that ran for a hundred performances at the Garrick Theatre in the West End.Wearing p.105 Richard Attenborough and Dulcie Gray starred in the original theatrical production, and there had previously been one-week try-outs at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool and Bristol Hippodrome. Inspired by the 1938 novel of the same name by Graham Greene, the play portrays the downfall of an ambitious young criminal in Brighton. Gray's performance as the luckless waitress Rose led to her being offered a contract with Gainsborough Pictures. However, she was passed over for the role of Rose in the 1947 film version of ''Brighton Rock'', in favour of Carol Marsh. Others in the cast included William Hartnell, Norman Pierce, Harcourt Williams and Hermione Baddeley Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English actress of theatre, film, and television. She typically played brash, vulgar charact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Harvey (English Screenwriter)
Frank Harvey (11 August 1912 – 6 November 1981)J. B. and R. B., "Mr Frank Harvey", ''The Times'', 14 November 1981, p. 8. was an English screenwriter and playwright who jointly won a BAFTA Award with John Boulting and Alan Hackney for '' I'm All Right Jack'' in 1960. During his career he was nominated for a second BAFTA for Private's Progress. Biography He was born on 11 August 1912 in Manchester, Lancashire, and died on 6 November 1981 in Ottery St. Mary, Devon. He was the third of three generations of writers who all took the non-de plume 'Frank Harvey', with both his grandfather, originally John Ainsworth Hilton, and his father taking the name when writing and performing for the stage. His father, Harvey Ainsworth Hilton (1885–1965), was born in London, England, where he married Grace Ackerman, before moving with his family to Australia in 1914 and staying there until 1926. As Frank Harvey, Harvey Hilton was an actor and a playwright, producing four plays includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
