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Mickey's Gala Premier
''Mickey's Gala Premier'' is a Walt Disney cartoon produced in 1933, directed by Burt Gillett, and featuring parodies of several famous Hollywood film actors from the 1930s. It was the 58th Mickey Mouse short film, and the eighth of that year. Some sources claim this cartoon is called ''"Mickey's Gala Premiere"'', but ''" Premier"'' can be clearly read from the title card. Plot A new Mickey Mouse cartoon is having its premiere in the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Several Hollywood celebrities all arrive in limousines to attend this special event. Outside The Keystone Cops ( Ben Turpin, Ford Sterling, Mack Swain, Harry Langdon and Chester Conklin) are guarding the traffic. Wallace Beery, Marie Dressler, Lionel Barrymore, John Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore step out of the first limousine, all costumed as in the film '' Rasputin and the Empress'' (1932). Then Laurel and Hardy leave the car and close the door behind them. Inside The Marx Brothers all stick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Gillett
Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 – December 28, 1971) was a Film director, director of animation, animated films. He is noted for his Silly Symphonies work for Walt Disney Pictures, Disney, particularly the 1932 short film ''Flowers and Trees'' and the 1933 short film ''Three Little Pigs (film), Three Little Pigs'', both of which were awarded the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and both of which were selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry. Early life He was born in Elmira, New York. His animation career started around 1916 when he was employed by the International Film Service, an early animation studio under the ownership of William Randolph Hearst and the supervision of Gregory La Cava. The studio had been formed in 1915 and first employed experienced animators Frank Moser (artist), Frank Moser and Bill Nolan (animator), William Nolan. Within a year the veterans had been joined by several new recruits. Gillett was probably recruited along with notab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ford Sterling
Ford Sterling (born George Stitch; November 3, 1883 – October 13, 1939) was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops. Early years Sterling was born George Stitch in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on November 3, 1883, He left home at age 12 to join a repertory company. Career Sterling joined a circus, working with an aerial act, after which he performed as an acrobatic clown with another circus for five years. He then went to New York City, where he became featured in a musical show. Director Mack Sennett saw him there and offered him a job. Sterling began his career in silent films in 1911 with Biograph Studios. When Sennett left to set up Keystone Studios in 1912, Sterling followed him. There, he performed various roles, such as 'Chief Teeheezel' in the Keystone Cops series of slapstick comedies in a successful career that spanned twenty-five years. From 1913 and throughout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Cantor
Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of his hits include " Makin' Whoopee", "Ida (Sweet as Apple Cider)", " If You Knew Susie", " Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me", “ Mandy”, " My Baby Just Cares for Me”, "Margie", and " How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree)?" He also wrote a few songs, including " Merrily We Roll Along", the '' Merrie Melodies'' Warner Bros. cartoon theme. His eye-rolling song-and-dance routines eventually led to his nickname "Banjo Eyes". In 1933, artist Frederick J. Garner caricatured Cantor with large round eyes resembling the drum-like pot of a banjo. Cantor's eyes became his trademark, often exaggerated in illustrations, and leading to his appearance on Broadway in the musical '' Banjo Eyes'' (1941). He helped to develop the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven for Little Girls", and for his films, including '' The Love Parade'', '' The Big Pond'', '' The Smiling Lieutenant'', '' One Hour with You'', and '' Love Me Tonight''. His trademark attire was a boater hat and tuxedo. Chevalier was born in Paris. He made his name as a star of musical comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic and a singer in ''l'Alcazar'' in Marseille, for which he received critical acclaim by French theatre critics. In 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to Londo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act known for their anarchic humor, rapid-fire wordplay, and visual gags. They achieved success in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in 14 motion pictures. The core group consisted of brothers Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, and Groucho Marx; earlier in their career, they were joined by younger brothers Gummo and Zeppo. They are considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century, a recognition underscored by the American Film Institute (AFI) selecting five of their fourteen feature films to be among the top 100 comedy films (with two in the top fifteen) and including them as the only group of performers on AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema. Their performing lives, heavily influenced by their mother, Minnie Marx, started with Groucho on stage at age 14, in 1905. He was joined, in succession, by Gummo and Harpo. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurel And Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "sound film, talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer Marvin Hatley, T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats. Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rasputin And The Empress
''Rasputin and the Empress'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Richard Boleslawski and written by Charles MacArthur. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the film is set in Imperial Russia and stars the Barrymore siblings (John, as Prince Chegodieff; Ethel, as Czarina Alexandra; and Lionel Barrymore, as Grigori Rasputin). It is the only film in which all three siblings appear together. The film's inaccurate portrayal of Prince Felix Yusupov and his wife Princess Irina (renamed "Prince Chegodieff" and "Princess Natasha") resulted in a historically significant lawsuit against MGM and gave rise to the "all persons fictitious disclaimer", which has since become standard in Hollywood works of fiction. Plot The highly fictionalized story takes place in the Russian Empire during the last years of the reign of Czar Nicholas II and the Czarina Alexandra. Reform-minded Prince Paul has long been concerned about the plight of the common people and knows a revolution is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarded as "The First Lady of the American Theatre". She received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, winning for ''None but the Lonely Heart (film), None but the Lonely Heart'' (1944). Early life Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore (whose real name was Herbert Blythe) and Georgiana Drew. She was named for her father's favorite character in William Makepeace Thackeray's ''The Newcomes.'' She was the sister of actors John Barrymore, John and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore and great-aunt of actress Drew Barrymore. She was a granddaughter of actress and theater manager Louisa Lane Drew and niece of Broadway theatre, Broadway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly attempted a career as an artist, but appeared on stage together with his father Maurice in 1900, and then his sister Ethel the following year. He began his career in 1903 and first gained attention as a stage actor in light comedy, then high drama, culminating in productions of ''Justice'' (1916), ''Richard III'' (1920), and ''Hamlet'' (1922); his portrayal of Hamlet led to him being called the "greatest living American tragedian". After a success as ''Hamlet'' in London in 1925, Barrymore left the stage for 14 years and instead focused entirely on films. In the silent film era, he was well received in such pictures as ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' (1920), ''Sherlock Holmes'' (1922) and '' The Sea Beast'' (1926). During this period, he gain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blyth; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' A Free Soul'' (1931) and is known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film '' It's a Wonderful Life''. He is also particularly remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in annual broadcasts of ''A Christmas Carol'' during his last two decades. He is also known for playing Dr Leonard Gillespie in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's nine Dr Kildare films, a role he reprised in a further six films focusing solely on Gillespie and in a radio series titled ''The Story of Dr Kildare''. He was a member of the theatrical Barrymore family. Early life Lionel Barrymore was born Lionel Herbert Blyth in Philadelphia, the son of actors Georgiana Drew Barrymore and Maurice Barrymore (born Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blyth). He was the elder brother ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Dressler
Leila Marie Koerber (November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934), known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage- and screen-actress and comedian, popular in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood in early silent film, silent and Great Depression, Depression-era film. After leaving home at the age of 14, Dressler built a career on stage in traveling theatre troupes, and learned to appreciate her talent in making people laugh. In 1892, she started a career on Broadway theatre, Broadway that lasted into the 1920s, performing comedic roles that allowed her to Improvisational theatre , improvise to get laughs. She soon transitioned into screen acting and made several shorts, but mostly worked in New York City on stage. During World War I, along with other celebrities, she helped sell Liberty bonds. In 1914, she played the title role in the first full-length screen comedy, Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914 film), ''Tillie's Punctured Romance'' (1914), opposite Charl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wallace Beery
Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in '' Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in '' Grand Hotel'' (1932), as the pirate Long John Silver in '' Treasure Island'' (1934), as Pancho Villa in '' Viva Villa!'' (1934), and his title role in '' The Champ'' (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr. For his contributions to the film industry, Beery was posthumously inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early life Beery was born the youngest of three boys on April 1, 1885, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
