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Eagle-Lion
Eagle-Lion Films was the name of two distinct, though related, companies. In 1944, UK film magnate J. Arthur Rank created an American distribution company with the name to handle his British films. The following year, under a reciprocal distribution arrangement with Rank, the U.S. company Pathé Industries, which already owned the small Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) studio, established an Eagle-Lion Films production subsidiary, while Rank's American business dropped the name. PRC, with its existing distribution exchanges, handled releases in the U.S. When PRC shut down in 1948, its distribution exchanges were assumed by Eagle-Lion Films. In 1950, Pathé merged Eagle-Lion with an independent reissues distributor, Film Classics, to create Eagle-Lion Classics. The latter was acquired by and merged into United Artists a year later. Rank also released films in the United Kingdom through Eagle-Lion Distributors Limited. History Pathé Industries' Eagle-Lion Films subsidiary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathé Exchange
Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's silent film, silent era. Known for its trailblazing newsreel and wide array of short film, shorts, it grew out of the American division of the major French studio Pathé, Pathé Frères, which began distributing films in the United States in 1904. Ten years later, it produced the enormously successful ''The Perils of Pauline (1914 serial), The Perils of Pauline'', a twenty-episode serial film, serial that came to define the genre. The American operation was incorporated as Pathé Exchange toward the end of 1914 and spun off as an independent entity in 1921; the Merrill Lynch investment firm acquired a controlling stake. The following year, it released Robert J. Flaherty's groundbreaking documentary ''Nanook of the North''. Other notable feature releases included the controversial drama ''Sex (1920 film), Sex'' (1920) and director/ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
B-movies
A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, somewhat similar to B-sides in recorded music. However, the production of such films as "second features" in the United States largely declined by the end of the 1950s. This shift was due to the rise of commercial television, which prompted film studio B movie production departments to transition into television film production divisions. These divisions continued to create content similar to B movies, albeit in the form of low-budget films and series. Today, the term "B movie" is used in a broader sense. In post-Golden Age usage, B movies can encompass a wide spectrum of films, ranging from sensationalistic exploitation films to independent arthouse productions. In either usage, most B movies represent a particular genre: the Western wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Producers Releasing Corporation
Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoestring film producers based their operations. However, PRC was more substantial than the usual independent companies that made only a few low-budget movies and then disappeared. PRC was an actual Hollywood studio – albeit the smallest – with its own production facilities and distribution network, and it even accepted imports from the UK. PRC lasted from 1939 to 1947, churning out low-budget B movies for the lower half of a double bill or the upper half of a neighborhood theater showing second-run films. The studio was originally located at 1440 N. Gower St. (on the lot that eventually became part of Columbia Pictures) from 1936 to 1943. PRC then occupied the former Grand National Pictures physical plant a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of ''Film noirs, film noir'' and Western film, Westerns, and for his Epic film, historical epics. Mann started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a talent scout and casting director. He then became an assistant director, most notably working for Preston Sturges. His directorial debut was ''Dr. Broadway'' (1942). He directed several feature films for numerous production companies, including RKO Pictures, Eagle-Lion Films, Universal Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). His first major success was ''T-Men'' (1947), garnering notable recognition for producing several films in the ''film noir'' genre through modest budgets and short shooting schedules. As a director, he often collaborated with cinematographer John Alton. During the 1950s, Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Noose Hangs High
''The Noose Hangs High'' is a 1948 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The film is a remake of the Universal Pictures film, '' For Love or Money''. Plot Ted Higgins and Tommy Hinchcliffe work for the Speedy Service Window Washing Company. They run into a bookie named Nick Craig, who, after mistaking them for employees of the Speedy Messenger Service, sends them to Mr. Stewart's office to collect $50,000 owed to him. But Stewart has plans of his own: he hires two thugs to rob Ted and Tommy of the money he has just paid. Tommy flees from the robbers and takes refuge in a room with a gaggle of women who are mailing face powder samples. He hides the money in an envelope and addresses it to Craig, but it is accidentally switched with an envelope containing a powder sample. Ted and Tommy return to Craig's office and explain what happened; they assure him that the cash will arrive in the mail the next day. When face powder (instead of cash) arrives in the mail, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Small
Edward Small (born Edward Schmalheiser, February 1, 1891 – January 25, 1977) was an American film producer from the late 1920s through 1970, who was enormously prolific over a 50-year career. He is best known for the movies ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1934), '' The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1939), '' The Corsican Brothers'' (1941), ''Brewster's Millions'' (1945), '' Raw Deal'' (1948), ''Black Magic (1949)'', '' Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957) and '' Solomon and Sheba'' (1959). Early life and career Small was born on February 1, 1891, to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, the son of Rose (née Lewin) and Philip Schmalheiser. His mother was born in Prussia and his father was born in Austria; he had three sisters and two brothers. He began his career as a talent agent in New York City. In 1917, he moved his agency to Los Angeles where his acting clients included a young Hedda Hopper. His first production appears to have been the wartime propaganda film, '' Who's Your Neighbor?'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-Men
''T-Men'' is a 1947 semidocumentary and police procedural style film noir about United States Treasury agents. The film was directed by Anthony Mann and shot by noted noir cameraman John Alton. The production features Dennis O'Keefe, Mary Meade, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, June Lockhart and Charles McGraw. A year later, director Mann used the film's male lead, Dennis O'Keefe, in '' Raw Deal.'' The film was endorsed by the U.S. Treasury Department: the opening credits are displayed over an image of the department's seal, then former Chief Coordinator of the department's six agencies Elmer Lincoln Irey delivers a monologue describing the objectives of those agencies and lauding their accomplishments. He describes the movie as a composite case from its files entitled "The Shanghai Paper Case". Plot In order to convict a counterfeiting ring, two United States Treasury agents are chosen to go undercover and infiltrate the Vantucci gang in Detroit. Dennis O'Brien and Antho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon City (film)
''Canon City'' is a 1948 American film noir crime film written and directed by Crane Wilbur. The drama features Scott Brady, Jeff Corey, and Whit Bissell, along with prison warden Roy Best playing himself. The film takes its name from Canon City, Colorado. Plot This account of a violent prison break is a semi-documentary that opens with a newsreel-type tour of the prison. Led by Carl Schwartzmiller (Jeff Corey), 12 convicts plan their escape but prisoner Jim Sherbondy ( Scott Brady) is reluctant to go along with the group. Cast * Scott Brady as Sherbondy * Jeff Corey as Schwartzmiller * Whit Bissell as Heilman * Stanley Clements as New * Charles Russell as Tolley * DeForest Kelley as Smalley * Ralph Byrd as Officer Gray * Mabel Paige as Mrs. Oliver * Roy Best as himself (as Warden Roy Best) * Virginia Mullen as Mrs. Smith Background The film is based on a prison break that occurred at the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility at Canon City, Colorado, on 30 Dece ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aubrey Schenck
Aubrey Schenck (August 26, 1908, New York City – April 14, 1999, Murrieta, California) was an American film producer from the 1940s through the 1970s. Biography The son of George Schenck, a Russian immigrant theatrical manager, and Mary Schenck, Schenck was a nephew of Joseph and Nicholas Schenck. Father to George Schenck and grandfather to Kirk Schenck. He graduated from Boys High School and Cornell University, and was a practicing attorney in New York City. Among Schenck's clients was 20th Century Fox that led him to be a personal assistant to Spyros Skouras. When Schenck submitted a script for a film, Schenck told Skouras he'd prefer to produce the film himself rather than be paid a fee. The film, '' Shock!'' (1946) starring Vincent Price, was a moderate success and launched Schenck's career as a movie producer.Weaver, Tom ''Aubrey Schennck Interview'' pp. 270-276 ''It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition'' McFarland, October ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bryan Foy
Bryan Foy (December 8, 1896 – April 20, 1977) was an American film producer and film director, director. He produced more than 200 films between 1924 and 1963. He also directed 41 films between 1923 and 1934. He headed the B picture unit at Warner Bros. where he was known as "the keeper of the B's". Biography He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 8, 1896. He was the eldest son of the vaudeville star Eddie Foy and appeared with his father in the vaudeville act "Eddie Foy and The Seven Little Foys." The act broke up when Bryan Foy left to join the U.S. Army in World War I in 1918, after which his remaining siblings continued performing with their father under the title, "Eddie Foy and the Younger Foys", through 1923, when their father retired. Contrary to their stated retirement, the Foy family still worked together in entertainment as Brian Foy directed them in a 1928 Vitaphone Varieties short. He was also a songwriter, and by 1916 had several published songs, inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Artists
United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks as a venture premised on allowing actors to control their own financial and artistic interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios. After numerous ownership and structural changes and revamps, United Artists was acquired by media conglomerate Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) in 1981 for a reported $350 million ($ billion today). On September 22, 2014, MGM acquired a controlling interest in One Three Media and Lightworkers Media and merged them to revive the television production unit of United Artists as United Artists Media Group (UAMG). MGM itself acquired UAMG on December 14, 2015, and folded it into MGM Television, their own television division. MGM briefly revived the United Artists brand as United Artist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
