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Henry F. Potter
Henry F. Potter (commonly referred to as Mr. Potter or just Potter) is a fictional character, a villainous robber baron and the main antagonist in the 1946 Frank Capra film '' It's a Wonderful Life.'' He was portrayed by the veteran actor Lionel Barrymore. Casting Lionel Barrymore was cast as Mr. Potter. Dan Duryea and Charles Bickford were also considered for the role. Although Barrymore won an Academy Award for Best Actor in ''A Free Soul'' in 1931, in the 1940s he was best known as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge in the CBS radio dramatizations of ''A Christmas Carol''. At the time of filming, Barrymore had become a wheelchair-user due to a hip injury and severe arthritis. Consequently, he played Potter as confined to a wheelchair due to polio; his wheelchair is pushed in all scenes by a wordless assistant played by Frank Hagney. Story line Within the events of the film's storyline, Mr. Potter serves as the film's antagonist. Elderly, disabled, and miserly, Potter owns most of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bank Run
A bank run or run on the bank occurs when many Client (business), clients withdraw their money from a bank, because they believe Bank failure, the bank may fail in the near future. In other words, it is when, in a fractional-reserve banking system (where banks normally only keep a small proportion of their assets as cash), numerous customers withdraw cash from deposit accounts with a financial institution at the same time because they believe that the financial institution is, or might become, insolvency, insolvent. When they transfer funds to another institution, it may be characterized as a capital flight. As a bank run progresses, it may become a self-fulfilling prophecy: as more people withdraw cash, the likelihood of default increases, triggering further withdrawals. This can destabilize the bank to the point where it runs out of cash and thus faces sudden bankruptcy. To combat a bank run, a bank may acquire more cash from other banks or from the central bank, or limit the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2023–present), and ''Disenchantment (TV series), Disenchantment'' (2018–2023), and the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012). ''The Simpsons'' is the List of longest-running scripted American primetime television series, longest-running American primetime television series in history, as well as the List of longest-running American television series, longest-running American animated series and sitcom. Born in Portland, Oregon, Groening made his first professional cartoon sale of ''Life in Hell'' to the avant-garde magazine Wet (magazine), ''Wet'' in 1978. At its peak, it was carried in 250 weekly newspapers and caught the attention of American producer James L. Brooks, who contacted Groening in 1985 about adapting it for animated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge Simpson, Marge, Bart Simpson, Bart, Lisa Simpson, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson, Maggie. Set in the fictional town of Springfield (The Simpsons), Springfield, in an unspecified location in the United States, it caricatures society, Western culture, television and the human condition. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a solicitation for a series of The Simpsons shorts, animated shorts with producer Brooks. He created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after his own family members, substituting Bart for his own name; he thought Simpson was a funny name in that it sounded similar to "simpleton". The shorts became a part of ''The Tracey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leadership The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, and academic communities. The board of trustees is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy (producer), Kathleen Kennedy and the board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President (corporate title), President and CEO, film historian Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens Jr. (from the organization's inception in 1967 until 1980) and Jean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007). History The American Film Institute was founded by a 1965 presidential mandate announced in the White House Rose Garden, Rose Garden of the White House by Lyndon B. Johnson—to establish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uncle Tom's Cabin
''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two Volume (bibliography), volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and Slavery in the United States, slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the American Civil War". Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Seminary, was part of the religious Beecher family and an active Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She wrote the sentimental novel to depict the reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian love could overcome slavery. The novel focuses on the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave around whom the stories of the other characters revolve. In the United States, ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' was the best-selling novel and the second best-selling book of the 19th century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grinch
The Grinch is a character created by children's author and cartoonist Dr. Seuss. He is best known as the titular main protagonist of the 1957 children's book ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' He has been portrayed and voiced by many actors, including Boris Karloff, Hans Conried, Bob Holt, Walter Matthau, Anthony Asbury, Jim Carrey, Rik Mayall, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Morrison, David Howard Thornton, and James Austin Johnson. Character description The Grinch is depicted as a green, furry, pot-bellied, pear-shaped, snub-nosed humanoid creature with a cat-like face and a cynical personality. In full-color adaptations, he is typically colored green. He has spent the past 53 years living in seclusion on a cliff overlooking the town of Whoville. In contrast to the cheerful Whos, the Grinch is misanthropic, ill-natured, and mean-tempered. The reason for this is a source of speculation; the consensus among the Whos is that he was born with a heart that they say was "two size ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment'' and authored several books including ''Talking Pictures'', which, along with other publications, drew early attention to the screenwriter, as opposed to the director. Personal life and background Corliss was born in 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,Profile filmreference.com; accessed September 6, 2014. the son of Elizabeth Brown (née McCluskey) and Paul William Corliss. He attended St. Joseph's College, Philadelphia (now |
Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not. Ancient signalling systems, although sometimes quite extensive and sophisticated as in China, were generally not capable of transmitting arbitrary text messages. Possible messages were fixed and predetermined, so such systems are thus not true telegraphs. The earliest true telegraph put into widespread use was the Chappe telegraph, an optical telegraph invented by Claude Chappe in the late 18th century. The system was used extensively in France, and European nations occupied by France, during the Napoleonic era. The electric telegraph started to replace the optical telegraph in the mid-19th century. It was first taken up in Britain in the form of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, initially used mostly as an aid to railw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarence Odbody
Clarence Odbody, also spelled Clarence Oddbody, (born May 1653, died 1745) is a guardian angel character in Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...'s 1946 film '' It's a Wonderful Life'', where he was portrayed by Henry Travers, and in the 1990 sequel, '' Clarence'', where he was played by Robert Carradine. Odbody is loosely based on "a stranger" in Philip Van Doren Stern's 1943 short story '' The Greatest Gift''. In 1977's '' It Happened One Christmas'', a remake of the 1946 film, a gender-reversed Clarence appeared as Clara Oddbody, played by Cloris Leachman. The 1986 musical '' A Wonderful Life'' features Odbody, who was played by David Hyde Pierce in its 2005 rendition. In the 1946 film Odbody is the implied subject when, in the well-known quote, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guardian Angel
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary deity, tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in Judaism#History, Ancient Judaism. In Christianity, the hierarchy of angels was extensively developed in the 5th century by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. The theology of angels and tutelary spirits has undergone many changes since the 5th century. The belief is that guardian angels serve to protect whichever person God assigns them to. The Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels is celebrated on 2 October. The idea of a guardian angel is central to the 15th-century book ''The Book of Abramelin, The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage'' by Abraham of Worms, a German Christian Kabbalah, Cabalist. In 1897, this book was translated into English by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (1854–1918), a co-founder of the He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
