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Charles Belden (screenwriter)
Charles Spencer Belden (April 21, 1904 – November 3, 1954) was an American screenwriter and journalist, known for writing screenplays to several Charlie Chan films in the 1930s, notably ''Charlie Chan at the Opera'' (1936). His 1932 short story "The Wax Works" served as the basis for the 1933 film ''Mystery of the Wax Museum''. He was married to stage actress Beth Milton in the early 1930s and to actress Joan Marsh who had starred in ''Charlie Chan on Broadway'' (1937), from 1938 to 1943. He was born in Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ..., and died in the Motion Picture Country Hospital, Los Angeles, at the age of 50. Screenplays Charles S. Belden was a prolific screenwriter. While most known for the House of Wax franchise, he wrote other scr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television commercials, video games, and the growing area of online web series. Terminology In the silent era, screenwriters were denoted by terms such as photoplaywright, photoplay writer, photoplay dramatist, and screen playwright.Maras, Steven. ''Screenwriting: History, Theory and Practice'', Wallflower Press, 2009, pp. 82–85. Screenwriting historian Steven Maras notes that these early writers were often understood as being the authors of the films as shown, and argues that they could not be precisely equated with present-day screenwriters because they were responsible for a technical product, a brief "Film scenario, scenario", "treatment", or "synopsis" that is a written synopsis of what is to be filmed. Profession Screenwriting is a contra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Screenplay
A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. A screenplay is a form of narration in which the movements, actions, expressions and dialogue of the characters are described in a certain format. Visual or cinematographic cues may be given, as well as scene descriptions and scene changes. History In the early silent era, before the turn of the 20th century, "scripts" for films in the United States were usually a synopsis of a film of around one paragraph and sometimes as short as one sentence.Andrew Kenneth Gay"History of scripting and the screenplay"at Screenplayology: An Online Center for Screenplay Studies. Retrieved 15 December 2021. Shortly thereafter, as films grew in length and complexity, film scenarios (also called "treatments" or "synopses"Steven Maras. ''Screenwri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu Police Department, Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu. Many stories feature Chan traveling the world beyond Hawaii as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes. Chan first appeared in Biggers' novels and then was featured in a number of media. Over four dozen films featuring Charlie Chan were made, beginning in 1926. The character, featured only as a supporting character, was first portrayed by East Asian actors, and the films met with little success. In 1931, for the first film centering on Chan, ''Charlie Chan Carries On (film), Charlie Chan Carries On'', the Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish people, Swedish actor Warner Oland; the film became popular, and Fox went on to produce 15 more Chan films wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chan At The Opera
''Charlie Chan at the Opera'' is considered by many to be the best Warner Oland Charlie Chan film, probably due to the presence of Boris Karloff as the principal suspect, as well as faux operatic music composed by Oscar Levant. This is the 13th film starring Oland as Chan; it was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone for 20th Century-Fox in 1936. Oland and Demarest also appeared in ''The Jazz Singer'' (1927). Plot Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) gets a chance to watch a popular opera performance. For seven years, opera star Gravelle (Boris Karloff) has been locked in an insane asylum, his identity a mystery – even to himself. But when his memory unexpectedly returns, he begins to recall that his wife and her lover tried to murder him – and now he's determined to make them face the music. Gravelle escapes from the asylum and makes his way to the San Marco opera house and begins hiding out in the various rooms and passageways. Soon, members of the opera company are being murdered one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Of The Wax Museum
''Mystery of the Wax Museum'' is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery- horror film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell, and Frank McHugh. It was produced and released by Warner Bros. and filmed in two-color Technicolor; '' Doctor X'' and ''Mystery of the Wax Museum'' were the last two dramatic fiction films made using this process."Notes" Plot In in 1921, Ivan Igor operates a |
Bakersfield Californian
''The Bakersfield Californian'' is a daily newspaper serving Bakersfield, California and surrounding Kern County in the state's San Joaquin Valley. History ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is the direct descendant of Kern County's first newspaper, ''The Weekly Courier'', which was first published on Aug. 18, 1866, in Havilah, California. At that time, Havilah, a small mining town about 50 miles northeast of the present site of Bakersfield, was the center of the 1864 gold rush, which brought the first major population influx to Kern County. The newspaper's name was later changed to ''The Havilah Weekly Courier''. As the mineral wealth of the area became depleted and the population moved southward toward Bakersfield, the newspaper also moved to Bakersfield in 1872, becoming ''The Kern County Weekly Courier''. In 1876, the ''Courier'' merged with another Bakersfield newspaper, ''The Southern Californian'', to form ''The Kern County Californian''. Its name was changed to ''The Dail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Marsh
Joan Marsh (July 10, 1914 – August 10, 2000) was an American child actress in silent films between 1915 and 1921. Later, during the sound era, she resumed her acting career and performed in a variety of films during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years Marsh, born Dorothy D. Rosher, was the daughter of Lolita and Charles Rosher. She was born in Porterville California. Her parents later divorced. Career In 1915, Marsh made her first film appearance, an uncredited one, in the short ''The Mad Maid of the Forest'', which her father was filming.Katz, Ephraim and Nolen, Ronald. The Film Encyclopedia', pp. 1166-67 (HarperCollins 2013). Later that same year she was also cast in ''Hearts Aflame'' and then billed as Dorothy Rosher. In 1917 she appeared too in '' A Little Princess'' and in no less than five other productions in 1918, including the comedy-drama '' Women's Weapons'' for Paramount Pictures. After these minor roles as a baby and toddler, Marsh finally became a star in Mary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chan On Broadway
''Charlie Chan on Broadway'' is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Warner Oland, Keye Luke and Joan Marsh.Backer p.113 This is the 15th film starring Oland as Charlie Chan and produced by 20th Century Fox. Plot While Charlie Chan and his number one son, Lee, are aboard a New York-bound transatlantic liner returning from Germany in their previous adventure ('' Charlie Chan at the Olympics''), they have a run-in with a mysterious woman, named Billie Bronson, who secretes a package in the trunk of the Chans. After the liner docks, Chan and Lee are met at the pier by Inspector Nelson and two rival reporters, Joan Wendall and Speed Patton. Billie, who left the country hurriedly a year ago when sought as a material witness in a political scandal, has returned to "blow the lid off the town". She follows the Chans to their hotel and attempts to regain her package from the trunk, only to be interrupted by Lee. She then goes to the "Hottentot Club", where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse bedroom community of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. The township is the home of Montclair State University, the state's second-largest university. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 40,921, an increase of 3,252 (+8.6%) from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census count of 37,669, which in turn reflected a decline of 1,308 (−3.4%) from the 38,977 counted in the 2000 United States census, 2000 census. As of 2010, it was the List of municipalities in New Jersey, 60th-most-populous municipality in New Jersey. History Montclair was initially formed as a Township (New Jersey), township on April 15, 1868, from portions of Bloomfield, New Jersey, Bloomfield Township, so that a second rai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motion Picture Country Hospital
The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as temporary financial assistance, case management, and residential living. Origin Mary Pickford conceived the idea of a fund to help those in the motion picture industry who were out of work and struggling and, in 1921, the Motion Picture Relief Fund was founded with Joseph Schenck as president, Pickford as vice-president and the Reverend Neal Dodd as administrator. During the 1930s, the untimely deaths of several former Hollywood stars who ended up destitute shook the community. These included Roscoe ("Fatty") Arbuckle, John Bowers, Karl Dane, Florence Lawrence, Marie Prevost and Lou Tellegen. In 1940, Jean Hersholt, then president of the Motion Picture Relief Fund, found of walnut and orange groves in the southwest end of the San Fernando ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1904 Births
Events January * January 7 – The distress signal ''CQD'' is established, only to be replaced 2 years later by ''SOS''. * January 8 – The Blackstone Library is dedicated, marking the beginning of the Chicago Public Library system. * January 12 – The Herero Wars in German South West Africa begin. * January 17 – Anton Chekhov's last play, ''The Cherry Orchard'' («Вишнëвый сад», ''Vishnevyi sad''), opens at the Moscow Art Theatre directed by Constantin Stanislavski, 6 month's before the author's death. * January 23 – The Ålesund fire destroys most buildings in the town of Ålesund, Norway, leaving about 10,000 people without shelter. * January 25 – Halford Mackinder presents a paper on "The Geographical Pivot of History" to the Royal Geographical Society of London in which he formulates the Heartland Theory, originating the study of geopolitics. February * February 7 – The Great Baltimore Fire in Baltimore, Maryland, destroys over 1,500 build ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1954 Deaths
Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head office of IBM. * January 10 – BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland Comet jet plane, disintegrates in mid-air due to metal fatigue, and crashes in the Mediterranean near Elba; all 35 people on board are killed. * January 12 – 1954 Blons avalanches, Avalanches in Austria kill more than 200. * January 15 – Mau Mau rebellion, Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya. * January 17 – In Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, Milovan Đilas, one of the leading members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, is relieved of his duties. * January 20 – The US-based National Negro Network is established, with 46 member radio stations. * January 21 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the , is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
