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Lured Into Marriage
''Lured'' is a 1947 film noir directed by Douglas Sirk and starring George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn, and Boris Karloff. The film is a remake of Robert Siodmak's 1939 French film '' Pièges'' (titled ''Personal Column'' in the United States). The film's sets were designed by the art director Nicolai Remisoff. Plot Sandra Carpenter ( Lucille Ball) is an American who had come to London in order to perform in a show, but is now working as a taxi dancer. She is upset to find out that friend and fellow dancer Lucy Barnard ( Tanis Chandler) is missing and also believed to be the latest victim of the notorious "Poet Killer," who lures victims with ads in newspapers' personal columns, afterwards sending poems to taunt the police. Scotland Yard Inspector Harley Temple ( Charles Coburn) believes the killer to be influenced by the 19th-century French poet Charles Baudelaire. He asks if Sandra would be willing to work undercover to help find her missing friend and the ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for Hollywood in 1937 after his Jewish wife was persecuted by the Nazis. In the 1950s, he achieved his greatest commercial success with film melodramas '' Magnificent Obsession'', '' All That Heaven Allows'', ''Written on the Wind'', '' A Time to Love and a Time to Die'', and ''Imitation of Life''. While those films were initially panned by critics as sentimental women's pictures, they are today widely regarded by film directors, critics, and scholars as masterpieces. His work is seen as "critique of the bourgeoisie in general and of 1950s America in particular", while painting a "compassionate portrait of characters trapped by social conditions". Beyond the surface of the film, Sirk worked with complex mises-en-scène and lush Technicolor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxi Dancer
A taxi dancer is a paid dance partner in a partner dance. Taxi dancers are hired to dance with their customers on a dance-by-dance basis. When taxi dancing first appeared in taxi-dance halls during the early 20th century in the United States, male patrons typically bought dance tickets for a small sum each. When a patron presented a ticket to a chosen taxi dancer, she danced with him for the length of a song. She earned a commission on every dance ticket earned. Though taxi dancing has for the most part disappeared in the United States, it is still practised in some other countries. Etymology The term "taxi dancer" comes from the fact that, as with a taxi-cab driver, the dancer's pay is proportional to the time he or she spends dancing with the customer. Patrons in a taxi-dance hall typically purchased dance tickets for ten cents each, which gave rise to the term "dime-a-dance girl". Other names for a taxi dancer are "dance hostess" and "taxi" (in Argentina). In the 1920s and 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew is a Fictional character, fictional character appearing in several Mystery fiction, mystery book series, movies, and a TV show as a teenage amateur sleuth. The books are ghostwriter, ghostwritten by a number of authors and published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. Created by the publisher Edward Stratemeyer as the female counterpart to his Hardy Boys series, the character first appeared in 1930 in the ''Nancy Drew Mystery Stories'' series, which lasted until 2003 and consisted of 175 novels. Over the decades, the character has evolved in response to changes in American culture and tastes. Beginning in 1959, the books were extensively revised and shortened, partly to lower the printing costsRehak (2006), 243. with arguable success.Rehak (2006), 248. In the revision process, the heroine's original character was changed to be less unruly and violent.Lapin (1989). In the 1980s, an older and more professional Nancy emerged in a new series, ''The Nancy Drew Fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Annette Warren
Annette Warren (born July 11, 1922) is an American vocalizer and popular jazz and song stylist best known for dubbing the singing voices of such stars as Lucille Ball in '' Sorrowful Jones'' (1949) and '' Fancy Pants'' (1950), and Ava Gardner in the 1951 film version of ''Show Boat''. She was still actively performing in 2017 at the age of 95. Early life Warren was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 11, 1922. She was discovered in 1945 by vocal coach and arranger Phil Moore, who arranged her first recordings. She made her radio debut October 4, 1946, on Meredith Willson's '' Sparkle Time'' program on CBS. Career Warren headlined clubs and theaters in London and across the U.S., including the Bon Soir, the Blue Angel and the St. Regis Hotel Maisonette in New York City and Ye Little Club in Beverly Hills. She co-starred as Mrs. Peachum in the off-Broadway revival of ''The Threepenny Opera'' with Jerry Orbach, Ed Asner and Beatrice Arthur and was also seen in the musical ''Liv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nightclub Singer
A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may also be referred to as a ''nightclub act''. A scheduled performance, such as a wedding gig, is a club date.Church , Joseph (2015). ''Music Direction for the Stage: A View from the Podium'', pp. 57–58. Oxford University. . Acts may resemble revues and, "a good part of the music heard in nightclubs is standard popular song (jazz standards and the so-called Great American Songbook) and theater music repertoire...comedy songs, novelty songs, and the occasional torch song." "Cabaret, literally, is a subset of nightclub performance...In actual modern usage the terms 'nightclub' and 'cabaret' are virtually interchangeable." The role of the female nightclub singer occurs frequently in fiction: books, movies, television, and even songs; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Napier
Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later, in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for portraying Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler in the 1960s live-action ''Batman'' television series. Early life and career Napier was a first cousin-once removed of Neville Chamberlain, Britain's prime minister from 1937 to 1940. He was educated at Packwood Haugh School and, after leaving Clifton College, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1925. He was engaged by the Oxford Players, where he worked with the likes of John Gielgud and Robert Morley. As Napier recalled, his “ridiculously tall” 6′ 6″ height played a crucial part in his securing the position and also almost losing it. J. B. Fagan had dismissed Tyrone Guthrie because he was too tall for most parts. Napier was interviewed (an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Coote
Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of ''My Fair Lady''. Biography Coote was born in London and educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex. He began his stage career at the age of 16, performing in Britain, South Africa, and Australia before arriving in Hollywood in the late 1930s. He played a succession of pompous British types in supporting roles, including a brief but memorable turn as Sgt. Bertie Higginbotham in '' Gunga Din'' (1939). His acting career was interrupted by his service as a squadron leader in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He played Bob Trubshawe in Powell and Pressburger's '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946), chosen for the first-ever Royal Film Performance on 1 November 1946, before he returned to Hollywood, where his films included '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Mowbray
Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in World War I, being awarded the Military Medal and the French Croix de Guerre for bravery in action. He applied for transfer to the Royal Air Force, which was granted just six days before the war ended. This placed him in London on Armistice Day. His service came to an end when the Royal Air Force wanted another seven years from him. Career Mowbray began his stage career in London in 1922, as an actor and stage manager. In 1923 he arrived in the United States and was soon acting with New York stock companies. He debuted on Broadway in ''The Sport of Kings'' (1926); in 1929 he wrote, directed and starred in the unsuccessful ''Dinner Is Served''. Mowbray made his film debut in '' God's Gift to Women'' (1931) playing a butler, a role in which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cedric Hardwicke
Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and his film work included leading roles in several adapted literary classics. Early life Hardwicke was born in Lye, Worcestershire (now West Midlands) to Edwin Webster Hardwicke and his wife, Jessie (née Masterson). He attended Bridgnorth Grammar School in Shropshire. He intended to train as a doctor but failed to pass the necessary examinations."Hardwicke, Sir Cedric Webster" ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edition, Oxford University Press, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Calleia
Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport Service during World War I, he travelled to the United States and began his career on the stage, initially in musical comedy, but later in original Broadway productions such as '' Broadway'' (1926), ''The Front Page'' (1928), '' The Last Mile'' (1930), and ''Grand Hotel'' (1930). Calleia became a star with the play ''Small Miracle'' (1934), his first real role as a villain, and he was put under contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Calleia excelled as the villain in Hollywood films, but he fought against typecasting and created a succession of darkly mysterious characters edged with humor in films such as '' Algiers'' (1938), '' Five Came Back'' (1939), '' Golden Boy'' (1939), '' The Glass Key'' (1942) and ''Gilda'' (1946). During World War II ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Zucco
George Zucco (11 January 1886 – 27 May 1960) was a British character actor who appeared in plays and 96 films, mostly American-made, during a career spanning over two decades, from the 1920s to 1951. In his films, he often played a suave villain, a member of nobility, or a mad doctor. Early life and family Zucco was born in Manchester, Lancashire, on 11 January 1886. His mother Marian (née Rintoul) ran a dressmaking business; it is claimed she was a former lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, but this is untrue, as the honour was only accessible to titled ladies of high rank (duchesses, marchionesses, countesses, viscountesses, and baronesses). His father, George De Sylla Zucco, was a Greek merchant from Corfu who became a naturalised British subject in 1865. Zucco debuted on the Canadian stage in 1908 in a stock theater company. In 1910, he entered the United States for the first time from Canada, bound for Seattle, Washington, where he soon appeared in plays such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited from Romantics, but are based on observations of real life. His most famous work, a book of lyric poetry titled '' Les Fleurs du mal'' (''The Flowers of Evil''), expresses the changing nature of beauty in the rapidly industrializing Paris during the mid-19th century. Baudelaire's highly original style of prose-poetry influenced a whole generation of poets including Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud and Stéphane Mallarmé, among many others. He is credited with coining the term modernity (''modernité'') to designate the fleeting, ephemeral experience of life in an urban metropolis, and the responsibility of artistic expression to capture that experience. Marshall Berman has credited Baudelaire as being the first Modernist. Early life Bau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
