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Edward L. Alperson
Edward Lee Alperson (November 13, 1895 – July 3, 1969) was an American film producer who started Grand National Films Inc. and later released his productions through 20th Century Fox. He was the father of Edward L. Alperson Jr. (April 3, 1925 – October 31, 2006). Biography Alperson was born on November 13, 1895, in Omaha, Nebraska. He started his Hollywood career as a film salesman for B. P. Schulberg's Preferred Pictures Corporation. Prior to the firm's 1925 bankruptcy, Alperson joined the film distribution section of Warner Bros. in 1924. During his time at Warners Alperson developed a close friendship with Spyros Skouras, then the head of Warner Bros. Theaters, eventually becoming his assistant. In 1934 Alperson formed Grand National Distributors initially to distribute films from independent producers and British films to be released in America. However, in 1936 he expanded Grand National into Grand National Pictures to produce its own films and acquired the stu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United States cities by population, 41st-most-populous city, Omaha had a population of 486,051 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The eight-county Omaha–Council Bluffs metropolitan area, which extends into Iowa, has approximately 1 million residents and is the Metropolitan statistical area#United States, 55th-largest metro area in the United States. Omaha is the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha's pioneer period began in 1854, when the city was founded by speculators from neighboring Council Bluffs, Iowa. The city was founded along the Missouri River, and a crossing called Lone Tree Ferry earned the city its nickname, the "Gateway to the West". Omaha introduced this new West to the world in 1898, when it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angels With Dirty Faces
''Angels with Dirty Faces'' is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers. It stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, The Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and George Bancroft. The screenplay was written by John Wexley and Warren Duff based on the story by Rowland Brown. The film chronicles the relationship of the notorious gangster William "Rocky" Sullivan with his childhood friend and now-priest Father Jerry Connolly. After spending three years in prison for armed robbery, Rocky intends to collect $100,000 from his co-conspirator Jim Frazier, a mob lawyer. All the while, Father Connolly tries to prevent a group of youths from falling under Rocky's influence. Brown wrote the scenario in August 1937. After pitching the film to a number of studios, he made a deal with Grand National Pictures, who wanted Cagney to star in the lead role. However, the film never came to fruition, owing to Grand National's financial troubles that led to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1969 Deaths
1969 (Roman numerals, MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1960s decade. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 – Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. * January 14 – USS Enterprise fire, An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 28 and injures 314. * January 16 – First successful docking of two crewed spacecraft in orbit and the first transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another (by a space walk) between Soviet craft Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 4. * January 18 – Failure of Soyuz 5's service module to separ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1895 Births
Events January * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of treason. * January 6 – The Wilcox rebellion, an attempt led by Robert Wilcox to overthrow the Republic of Hawaii and restore the Kingdom of Hawaii, begins with royalist troops landing at Waikiki Beach in O'ahu and clashing with republican defenders. The rebellion ends after three days and the remaining 190 royalists are taken prisoners of war. * January 12 – Britain's National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty is founded by Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley. * January 13 – First Italo-Ethiopian War: Battle of Coatit – Italian forces defeat the Ethiopians. * January 15 – A warehouse fire and dynamite explosion kills 57 people, including 13 firefighters in Butt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mirisch Productions
The Mirisch Company was an American film production company owned by Walter Mirisch and his brothers, Marvin and Harold Mirisch. The company also had sister firms known at various times as Mirisch Production Company, Mirisch Pictures Inc., Mirisch Films, and The Mirisch Corporation. History Walter Mirisch began to work as a producer at Monogram Pictures beginning with '' Fall Guy'' (1947), the profitable '' Bomba, the Jungle Boy'' series, '' Wichita'' (1955), and '' The First Texan'' (1956), by which time the company was known as Allied Artists. Walter Mirisch was in charge of production at the studio when it made '' Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' (1956) and '' Love in the Afternoon'' (1957). The Mirisch Company was founded in 1957 at which time it signed a 12-picture deal with United Artists (UA) that was extended to 20 films two years later. Its first production was '' Man of the West'' (1958) starring Gary Cooper. UA acquired the company on March 1, 1963, but the Miris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irma La Douce (musical)
''Irma la douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 1956 French musical with music by Marguerite Monnot and lyrics and book by Alexandre Breffort. The musical premiered in Paris in 1956, and was subsequently produced in the West End in 1958 and on Broadway, by David Merrick, in 1960. The English lyrics and book (1958) are by Julian More, David Heneker, and Monty Norman. Productions The musical premiered at the Théâtre Gramont in Paris on November 12, 1956, where it ran for four years. It was produced in the West End at the Lyric Theatre, opening on July 17, 1958, running for 1,512 performances, for three years."Sweet Irma in a Wicked World" ''Life Magazine'', November 14, 1960. The West End production was directed by |
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hollywood cinema. He received seven Academy Awards (among 21 nominations), a BAFTA Award, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or and two Golden Globe Awards. Wilder was born in Sucha Beskidzka, Austria-Hungary (the town is now in Poland). After moving to Berlin in his early adulthood, Wilder became a screenwriter. The rise of the Nazi Party and antisemitism in Germany saw him move to Paris. He then moved to Hollywood in 1934, and had a major hit when he, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated film ''Ninotchka'' (1939). Wilder established his directorial reputation and received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director with the film noir ''Double ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Human Vapor
is a 1960 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the third and final film in the Transforming Human Series. In the film, a scientific experiment goes awry and turns its subject into an unstoppable gaseous mutant who takes advantage of his abilities and commits ruthless crimes. Plot While investigating a mysterious bank robbery, Detective Okamoto encounters dancer Fujichiyo Kasuga and her servant, Jiya. Okamoto's girlfriend, newspaper reporter Kyoko Kono, begins investigating the case as well. Shortly thereafter, another bank is robbed, with the culprit mysteriously evading all security measures, surviving gunfire from a police officer, and killing the officer and an employee before vanishing. Kyoko informs Okamoto that Fujichiyo is from a wealthy and respected family, but has not performed in some time. He also learns from his superior Tabata that the bank victims died ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Last War (1961 Film)
is a 1961 Japanese epic ''tokusatsu'' science fiction disaster film directed by Shūe Matsubayashi, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho, it was Toho's second highest-grossing film in Japan that year. Plot The film begins with a narration over shots of a modern-day Tokyo, noting that 16 years have passed since the end of World War II, and Japan has achieved rapid recovery. Mokichi Tamura works as a driver for a press center, hoping for happiness for his family. His daughter, Saeko, is in love with a merchant, Takano, who has been at sea for a long time. When he returns, the young couple agrees to get married with the consent of Saeko's father. Meanwhile, tensions between the Federation and the Alliance (fictional stand-ins for the United States/NATO and the USSR/Warsaw Pact, respectively) build, especially after an intelligence-gathering vessel is captured. A new Korean War breaks out across the 38th parallel, with the Federation and Alli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
September Storm
''September Storm'' is a 1960 American 3-D adventure film directed by Byron Haskin and starring Joanne Dru and Mark Stevens. Filmed in 3-D and DeLuxe Color and presented in CinemaScope, it is notable as the only U.S. feature film made in 3-D between ''Revenge of the Creature'', which was released in the spring of 1955 and marked the end of the 1950s 3-D movie fad in the U.S., and '' The Bubble'', which premiered in late 1966 and introduced the economical "over-and-under" single-strip format used by most of the 3-D films of the 1970s through early-2000s. Plot American fashion model Anne Traymore, swimming off the isle of Majorca, loses a bracelet, which the handsome Manuel del Rio Montoya returns to her. She believes he owns a beautiful yacht called ''The Swan'', but he merely works on it for the wealthy Rene LeClerc. A couple of fortune hunters, Balfour and Williams, claim they know where $3 million in gold doubloons can be found, but need a boat. They offer a share to Anne and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Beauty (1946 Film)
''Black Beauty'' is a 1946 American drama film directed by Max Nosseck and starring Mona Freeman, Richard Denning, and Evelyn Ankers. It is based on Anna Sewell's 1877 novel of the same name. Plot The story picks up in 1880s England, when Duchess, the mare of a widower, a country squire, called Wendon (Charles Evans) is about to foal. He has forbidden his adolescent daughter Anne ( Mona Freeman) to watch, but the girl sneaks into the stables and watches anyway. Anne gets the colt on her birthday and because of its colour she names it Black Beauty. Anne grows very affectionate towards the horse as they grow up together during the years. One day a young man from America, Bill Dixon ( Richard Denning), comes to visit the neighbors on the next farm, and he notices Black Beauty. He can't stay for tea because he is leaving for America, but two years later he sends Anne a gift and a letter from Bill, saying that he will be back soon. Anne then starts riding her horse and teachin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Razor's Edge
''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. Maugham is the narrator whose narration takes the form of relating his conversations and reactions to the characters. He finds Larry both mystifying and compelling. The story begins through the eyes of Larry's friends and acquaintances as they witness his personality change after the war. His rejection of conventional life and search for meaningful experience allows him to thrive while the more materialistic characters suffer reversals of fortune. The novel's title comes from a translation of a verse in the ''Katha Upanishad'', paraphrased in the book's epigraph as: "The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard." The book has twice been adapted into film; first in 1946 starring Tyrone Power and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
