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Murder My Sweet
''Murder, My Sweet'' (released as ''Farewell, My Lovely'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1944 American film noir, directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor and Anne Shirley (in her final film before retirement). The film is based on Raymond Chandler's 1940 novel '' Farewell, My Lovely''. It was the first film to feature Chandler's primary character, the hard-boiled private detective Philip Marlowe. ''Murder, My Sweet'' is, along with ''Double Indemnity'' (released five months prior), one of the first noir films, and a key influence in the development of the genre. Plot With his eyes bandaged, private detective Philip Marlowe is interrogated by police lieutenant Randall about two murders. Marlowe tells how he was hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to locate Malloy's former girlfriend Velma Valento. They go to Florian's, the nightclub where Velma last worked as a singer, but no one remembers her. Marlowe tracks down Jessie Florian, the alcoholic widow of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He is known for his antihero roles and film noir appearances. He received nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1992. Mitchum is rated number 23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema. Mitchum rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for '' The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945). His best-known films include ''Out of the Past'' (1947), '' Angel Face'' (1953), '' River of No Return'' (1954), '' The Night of the Hunter'' (1955),'' Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison'' (1957), '' Thunder Road'' (1958), '' The Sundowners'' (1960), '' Cape Fear'' (1962), '' El Dorado'' (1966), '' Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), '' The Friends of Eddie Coyle'' (1973), and '' Farewell, My Lovely'' (1975). He is also known for h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackjack (weapon)
A baton (also truncheon, nightstick, billy club, billystick, cosh, ''lathi'', or simply stick) is a roughly cylindrical Club (weapon), club made of wood, rubber, plastic, or metal. It is carried as a Use of force, compliance tool and self-defense, defensive weapon by Law enforcement officer, law-enforcement officers, Prison officer, correctional staff, Security guard, security guards and military personnel. The name baton comes from the French ''bâton'' (stick), derived from Old French ''Baston'', from Latin ''bastum''. As a weapon a baton may be used defensively (to Blocking (martial arts), block) or offensively (to Strike (attack), strike, jab, or bludgeon), and it can aid in the application of armlocks. The usual striking or bludgeoning action is not produced by a simple and direct hit, as with an ordinary blunt object, but rather by bringing the arm down sharply while allowing the truncheon to pivot nearly freely forward and downward, so moving its tip much faster than it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Falcon Takes Over
''The Falcon Takes Over'' (also known as ''The Falcon Steps Out''), is a 1942 black-and-white mystery film directed by Irving Reis. Although the film features the Falcon and other characters created by Michael Arlen, its plot is taken from the Raymond Chandler novel '' Farewell, My Lovely'', with the Falcon substituting for Chandler's archetypal private eye Philip Marlowe and the setting of New York City replacing Marlowe's Los Angeles beat. The B film was the third, following '' The Gay Falcon'' and '' A Date with the Falcon'' (1941), to star George Sanders as the character Gay Lawrence, a gentleman detective known by the sobriquet the Falcon.Barra, Alle"Reinventing the American mystery story."''The New York Times'', September 1, 2002. Retrieved: September 4, 2016. Plot Brutish prison escapee Moose Malloy (Ward Bond) forces "Goldie" Locke ( Allen Jenkins) to drive him to Club 13, a posh nightclub, where Moose hopes to be reunited with his old girlfriend Velma. After bashing hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928. RCA executive David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone, and in early 1929 production began under the RKO name (an initialism of Radio-Keith-Orpheum). Two years later, another Kennedy concern, the Pathé studio, was folded into the operation. By the mid-1940s, RKO was controlled by investor Floyd Odlum. RKO has long been renowned for its cycle of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid- to late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dewey Robinson
Dewey Robinson (August 17, 1898 – December 11, 1950) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 250 films made between 1931 and 1952. Career Dewey Robinson was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1898, and made his Broadway debut in 1922 in the melodrama ''The Last Warning'', which ran for seven months and 238 performances. Several years later, in 1925, he appeared in a comedy, ''Solid Ivory'', his final Broadway production. In 1931, Robinson, a big, barrel-chested man at who easily conveyed physical menace, made his first film when he played a waiter in George Cukor's ''Tarnished Lady'', starring Tallulah Bankhead. That performance did not receive screen credit, and this was often the case over Robinson's career, although he was in the billed main cast in '' Murder on the Campus'' (1934), '' Navy Secrets'' (1939) and '' There Goes Kelly'' (1945). Because of his size and physical presence, Robinson worked often during periods when gangster movies we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Indrisano
Johnny Indrisano (November 1, 1905 — July 6, 1968) was an American welterweight boxer whose career spanned the period from 1923 to 1934. He later became a film stunt performer and a film and TV actor. Career Indrisano was born in Boston. He defeated two world welterweight champions; Lou Brouillard (in two out of three Boxing, bouts) and Jackie Fields. However, Indrisano never received a match for the world welterweight title. Indrisano retired with a record of thirty seven wins (two wins by knockout) and nine defeats. After his retirement from boxing, Indrisano had a career as a referee, stunt man, and actor in films such as ''Some Like It Hot'' and ''Guys and Dolls (film), Guys and Dolls''. He appeared in The Bowery Boys films (''Live Wires (1946 film), Live Wires'', ''Mr. Hex'', and ''Trouble Makers (1948 film), Trouble Makers''), a number of Joe Palooka movies, and three Elvis Presley films (''Jailhouse Rock (film), Jailhouse Rock'', ''King Creole'', and ''It Happened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esther Howard
Esther Howard (April 4, 1892 – March 8, 1965) was an American stage and film character actress who played a wide range of supporting roles, from man-hungry spinsters to amoral criminals, appearing in 108 films in her 23-year screen career. Early life Howard was born in Butte, Montana on April 4, 1892 to Martha Esther Howard (''née'' Boggs) and James Howard Jr., a music teacher who was employed as the conductor of the Butte Opera House. Her paternal grandfather, James Howard Sr., was a prominent physician from California who had established a medical practice in Butte and Dillon, Montana, and at one time served as the coroner of Silver Bow County. When Howard was five years old, her family relocated to Boston, Massachusetts, where her father had lived prior to relocating to Montana. In Boston, Howard attended the Girls' Latin School. Career Howard began her stage career performing in stock theater in Lynn, Massachusetts, before making her Broadway debut in 1917 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ralf Harolde
Ralf Harolde (born Ralph Harold Wigger, May 17, 1899 – November 11, 1974) was an American character actor who often played gangsters. Between 1920 and 1963, he appeared in 99 films, including ''Smart Money (1931 film), Smart Money'' with Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney, ''Jimmy the Gent (film), Jimmy the Gent'' with James Cagney and Bette Davis, ''Night Nurse (1931 film), Night Nurse'' with Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable, ''I'm No Angel'' with Mae West, ''Baby Take a Bow'' with Shirley Temple, ''A Tale of Two Cities (1935 film), A Tale of Two Cities'' with Ronald Colman, ''Our Relations'' with Laurel and Hardy, and ''Murder, My Sweet'' with Dick Powell. Harolde was born Ralph Wigger in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, William Wigger, operated a tobacco store in Pittsburgh. When Harolde finished grade school, he began working at a bank in Pittsburgh and taking night classes at Allegheny High School. He later was secretary to the director of the Sarah Heinz House ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Douglas (actor)
Donald Douglas (born Douglas William Kinleyside, 24 August 1905 – 31 December 1945) was a Scottish-American actor who performed in films, on the stage and in radio. Early life Douglas was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 24 August 1905, and was christened at a church in Twickenham, England. He was the son of William Young Kinleyside, a businessman and lawyer. Business brought his father to New York City on several occasions, and eventually, five-year old Douglas, with his sister Hazel, were brought to America as second cabin class passengers, on board the British steamer ''Mauritania'', which sailed from the Port of Liverpool on 29 October 1910, and arrived at the Port of New York, 4 November. He became an American citizen in 1939. Career Stage Adopting the stage name "Don Douglas", he became a singer and actor in musical shows such as ''Footlites''. In 1928, his big break came when he won glowing revues for his performance in '' The Desert Song'' in the Orpheum Theatre i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Walton (actor)
Douglas Walton (born John Douglas Duder; October 17, 1909 – November 15, 1961) was a Canadian-born American actor who worked in American films during the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in 60 films between 1931 and 1950. Life and career Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 17, 1909, Walton began his acting career in the theatres of Chicago and New York City. Tall, blond and elegant, Walton played many aristocratic, intellectual or sophisticated English or European men in films such as '' The Count of Monte Cristo'' in 1934; '' Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935), in which Walton memorably played the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley in the film's prologue; the Clark Gable version of '' Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1935); and director John Ford's '' Mary of Scotland'' (1936) starring Katharine Hepburn, in which Walton gave his perhaps best performance as the effeminate and cowardly "Lord Darnley".McPeak, William"Mini-Biography"/ref>Erickson, Hal"Douglas Walton: Biography"on AllMo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miles Mander
Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor, writer, director and producer in the post-war period of early British cinema during the 1920s to mid-1930s, as well as a playwright and novelist. From a privileged upper middle-class background, as a young man Mander engaged in motor sports, aviation and ballooning. In World War I he served in France with tethered Kite balloon, kite balloons used for military observation. From 1920 to 1936 Mander was involved in the British film industry in various capacities. He acted in both silent and sound films and was involved with several film production companies. He began writing screenplays and directing in the mid-1920s, working on early sound films. Mander directed his first feature film in 1928. With the advent of sound films he established an international reputation as a character actor. After directing ''The Flying Doctor'' in Australia in 1936, Mander lived and wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Mazurki
Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990, born Markiian Yulianovych Mazurkevych) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. Although educated as an attorney, his hulking 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence, craggy face, and croaking voice had him often typecast as brainless athletes, tough guys, thugs, and gangsters. Memorable roles included Moose Malloy in ''Murder, My Sweet'' (1944), Splitface in ''Dick Tracy'' (1945), Yusuf in ''Sinbad the Sailor'' (1947), and "The Strangler" in '' Night and the City'' (1950). He was the founder and first president of the Cauliflower Alley Club. Early years Mazurki was born Markiian Yulianovych Mazurkevych in the village of Kupczyńce (in present-day Kupchyntsi, Ternopil Raion), near what was then Tarnopol, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Ternopil, Ukraine). Mazurki attended high school at the LaSalle Institute in Troy, New York. Upon graduation, he changed his name to "Mike". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
