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Kings Row
''Kings Row'' is a 1942 film starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan and Betty Field that tells a story of young people growing up in a small American town at the turn of the twentieth century. The picture was directed by Sam Wood. The film was adapted by Casey Robinson from a best-selling 1940 novel of the same name by Henry Bellamann. The musical score was composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and the cinematographer was James Wong Howe. The supporting cast features Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Judith Anderson and Maria Ouspenskaya. Plot In the small midwestern town of Kings Row, five children grow up together in the 1890s: Parris Mitchell, a polite, clever little boy who lives with his grandmother; pretty blonde Cassandra Tower, daughter of the secretive Dr. Alexander Tower and a mother that is seen only through the upstairs window; the orphaned but wealthy and fun-loving Drake McHugh who is best friends with Parris; Louise Gordon, daughter of the town physicia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Wood
Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (film), A Day at the Races'', ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film), Goodbye, Mr. Chips'', ''The Pride of the Yankees'', and ''For Whom the Bell Tolls (film), ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'''' and for his uncredited work directing parts of ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind''. He was also involved in a few acting and writing projects. As a youth, Wood developed an enthusiasm for physical fitness that persisted into his senior years and influenced his interest in making sports-themed films. Wood advanced from making largely competent yet routine pictures in the 1920s and 1930s to directing several highly regarded works during the 1940s at the peak of his abilities, among them ''Kings Row'' (1942) and ''Ivy (1947 film), Ivy'' (1947). Wood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety Film Reviews
''Variety Film Reviews'' is the 24-volume hardcover reprint of feature film reviews by the weekly entertainment tabloid-size magazine '' Variety'' from 1907 to 1996. Film reviews continued to be published in the weekly magazine after the reprints were discontinued. Original series From 1983 to 1985, Garland Publishing, was responsible for the first sixteen volumes of this series. Garland is now wholly owned by Routledge, which has since been purchased by Taylor & Francis. Their first 15 volumes consisted of review reprints. Their 16th volume is an alphabetical index of more than 50,000 titles. Perhaps 10% are alternate titles and original foreign titles, so 45,000 review reprints is a realistic estimate for the first 15 volumes. Bi-annual supplements The eight additional bi-annual volumes (for 1981–1996) have at least 15,000 additional reprinted film reviews, making an estimated total of 60,000 or more film reviews in the 24-volume series. Volume 18 has the title index for 1981� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minor Watson
Minor Watson (December 22, 1889 – July 28, 1965) was a prominent character actor. He appeared in 111 movies made between 1913 and 1956. His credits included '' Boys Town'' (1938), '' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942), ''Kings Row'' (1942), '' Guadalcanal Diary'' (1943), '' Bewitched'' (1945), '' The Virginian'' (1946), and '' The Jackie Robinson Story'' (1950) Early years Watson was the son of Mrs. Alice Rodgers. He attended St. John's Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin, and Shurtleff College in Alton, Illinois. He said that, as a member of Sigma Phi at Shurtleff, he was encouraged to pursue a career in drama. Film Watson began his film career with Essanay Studios in 1913. He was described as "the new recruit that plays lover parts." In his forty-three-year movie career, Watson appeared in 115 features and short films. Stage Watson made seventeen appearances on Broadway in his career, including new plays by George M. Cohan, Robert E, Sherwood, S. N. Behrm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ilka Grüning
Ilka Grüning (born Ilka Henriette Grünzweig; 4 September 1876 – 11 November 1964) was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933. A respected and famous actress of her time in the German-language area, she was forced to play bit parts in Hollywood. Career German career At age 17, Ilka Grüning made her stage debut in ''Miss Julie'' and quickly became a famous stage actress. Grüning's first film, at age 43, was a German silent movie called ''Todesurteil'' in 1919. Next, she starred with Conrad Veidt in ''Peer Gynt (1919 film), Peer Gynt''. Later that year, she and Veidt appeared in ''Die sich verkaufen''. She continued making silent movies in Germany into the 1920s. In 1920, she appeared in the film ''Die Bestie im Menschen'', based on the novel ''La Bête humaine'' by Émile Zola. This were two of 11 films ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Cossart
Ernest Cossart (born Emil Gottfried von Holst, 24 September 1876 – 21 January 1951) was an English-American actor. After a stage career in England, he moved to the US, appearing on Broadway theatre, Broadway and all around the country. In the 1930s and 1940s, he appeared in films, specializing in playing butlers, valets, and similar roles, but playing a range of other parts. Life and career Cossart was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the younger of the two children of Adolph von Holst (1846–1901), a professional musician, and his first wife, Clara (née Lediard; 1841–1882).Matthews, Colin"Holst, Gustav" Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 March 2013 The elder child, Gustavus, later known as Gustav Holst, became a leading English composer. Emil attended Pate's Grammar School, Cheltenham Grammar School and Dean Close School, and then became a clerk in a wine company's office. When he decided to pursue an acting career, he took the stage name Erne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Davenport (actor)
Harold George Bryant Davenport (January 19, 1866August 9, 1949) was an American film and stage actor who worked in show business from the age of six until his death. After a long and prolific Broadway career, he came to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he often played grandfathers, judges, doctors, and ministers. His roles include Dr. Meade in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and Grandpa in '' Meet Me in St. Louis'' (1944). Bette Davis once called Davenport "without a doubt . .the greatest character actor of all time." Early life Harry Davenport was born January 19, 1866, in Boston. Harry came from a long line of stage actors; his father was thespian Edward Loomis Davenport and his mother, Fanny Vining Davenport, was an English actress and a descendant of the renowned 18th-century Irish stage actor Jack Johnson. His sister was actress Fanny Davenport. Career He made his stage debut - at the third Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia - at the age of five in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaaren Verne
Kaaren Verne (6 April 1918 – 23 December 1967) was a German-born actress, long based in the United States. Sometimes billed as Karen Verne, she was originally a stage actress and member of the Berlin State Theatre. Life and career Verne was born in Berlin and christened Ingeborg Greta Katerina Marie-Rose Klinckerfuss. Related to the Bechstein family, her first marriage took place when she was 18. She fled the Nazis in 1938 and made her English language film début in the 1939 British film '' Ten Days in Paris''. When British film production stopped during World War II, she emigrated to the USA. At first, the studios tried to downplay her German heritage by briefly changing her professional name to ''Catherine Young'', but after America's entry into World War II, the publicity value of a Teutonic actress who had turned her back on Nazism was too good to avoid. Verne was married three times, to: * Musician Arthur Young (30 August 1936 – May 1945; divorced); 1 son, Alastair ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Coleman
Nancy Coleman (December 30, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American film, stage, television and radio actress. After working on radio and appearing on the Broadway stage, Nancy Coleman moved to Hollywood to work for Warner Bros. studios. Early life Coleman was born December 30, 1912, in Everett, Washington, where her father, Charles Sumner Coleman, was editor of ''The Daily Herald''. Her mother, Grace Sharplass Coleman, was "an accomplished violinist." The family lived in Everett, Washington, where she graduated with honors from Everett High School. She attended the University of Washington in Seattle where she majored in English and was a member of the Alpha Lambda chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta. After graduating, she was accepted at Columbia University's Teacher's College in New York. She attended the university, but dropped out, moving to San Francisco, California, where she worked as an elevator operator at a department store. Career Early in her career as an actress, Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arleen Joyce
Joyce Arleen (born Joyce Arleen Novotny; May 20, 1931 – February 17, 2023), also credited as Arleen Joyce and Mary Thomas, was an American actress. Early life Born in Hackensack, New Jersey on May 20, 1931, Arleen was a native of Garfield. Her parents were Joseph and Mary Novotny. Her sister was Dorothy Joyce, who would appear in ''The Blue Bird'' (1940) and ''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' (1960). Career In 1939, Arleen signed with Charles R. Rogers for a seven-year option for the Paramount film ''The Star Maker''."More Moppets". '' Variety''. Jan 18, 1939. p. 12. That same year, Arleen, going by the name Mary Thomas, appeared in '' Our Neighbors – The Carters''. A '' Variety'' review commented that her performance was "excellent throughout, especially capable in scenes in which she decides to be adopted by the rich city friends","Pictures: Film Reviews - Our Neighbors – The Carters". ''Variety''. Nov 8, 1939. p. 18. and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that she wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Croft
Douglas Croft (born Douglas Malcolm Wheatcroft, August 12, 1926 – October 24, 1963) was an American teen actor who is best remembered for being the first person to portray the DC Comics character Robin, the Boy Wonder, as well as his secret identity Dick Grayson, in the 1943 serial ''Batman'' when he was 16 years old. Early life Croft was born Douglas Malcolm Wheatcroft on August 12, 1926, in Seattle, Washington. His mother, Beatrice Hayden, married the silent film actor Stanhope Nelson Wheatcroft. They divorced in 1922, and his mother moved to San Francisco. His parents' divorce was a bitter one, and about the time he was born in August 1926, Stanhope Wheatcroft attempted to have Beatrice declared dead so that he could stop paying alimony. Acting career Croft was living with his mother in Los Angeles in 1941. Fascinated by movie stars, a talent agent spotted him loitering near a studio and signed him up. About September 1941, he began using the stage name "Douglas Croft" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotty Beckett
Scott Hastings Beckett (October 4, 1929 – May 10, 1968) was an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in the ''Our Gang'' shorts and later costarred on '' Rocky Jones, Space Ranger''. Early life and career Born in Oakland, California, Beckett got his start in show business at age three when the family moved to Los Angeles and a casting director heard him singing by chance. He was at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital visiting his father, who was recovering from an illness. A studio casting director noticed the child and told his parents he had movie potential. He auditioned, and landed a part in ''Gallant Lady'' (1933), alongside Dickie Moore. The same year, his father died. In 1934, he joined ''Our Gang'', in which Moore had appeared from 1932 to 1933. ''Our Gang'' Beckett appeared as a regular in the ''Our Gang'' short subjects series from 1934 to 1935. In it, he played George "Spanky" McFarland's best friend and partner in mischief. His trademark look was a crooke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Todd (American Actress)
Ann Todd (born Ann Todd Phillips, later Ann Basart or Ann Phillips Basart; August 26, 1931 – February 7, 2020) was an American child actress. She was credited in four films as Ann E. Todd. As an adult, she became a music reference librarian at University of California, Berkeley. Early years Todd was born in 1931 in Denver, Colorado, to Burrill L. and Alberta C. (née Mayfield) Phillips. She had a younger brother, Stephen (1937–1986). She was a distant relative of Mary Todd Lincoln. Due to the privations of the Great Depression, she was raised by her maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ulysses Mayfield, her adoptive name was Ann Todd Mayfield. (A Newspaper Enterprise Association story published June 13, 1940, refers to Mrs. A.U. Mayfield as Todd's mother.) In 1942, Todd was hospitalized in critical condition when blood poisoning developed after she cut her foot playing a game in her backyard. (Wayback Machine Archive) Film career Todd made her acting debut in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
