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Patricia Laffan
Patricia Alice Laffan (19 March 1919 – 10 March 2014) was an English stage, film, television and radio actress, and also, after her retirement from acting, an international fashion impresario. She was five feet, six inches tall, with dark reddish-brown hair and green eyes. She is best known for her film roles as the Empress Poppaea in ''Quo Vadis'' (1951) and the alien Nyah in ''Devil Girl from Mars'' (1954). Her biography, ''Devil Girl Remembered'', was written by Andrew Ross in 2021. Early life Patricia Laffan was the daughter of Irish-born Arthur Charles Laffan (1870–1948) and London-born Elvira Alice Vitali (1896–1979). She described her father as 'a successful rubber planter in Malaya'. Her parents returned to the British Isles shortly before the birth of their daughter in London. On seeing the MGM film ''The Broadway Melody'' (1929) at the age of ten, Patricia decided she wanted to act. She was educated at schools in Folkestone, Kent, and at the Institut Françai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quo Vadis (1951 Film)
''Quo Vadis'' (Latin for "Where are you going?") is a 1951 American religious epic historical film set in ancient Rome during the final years of Emperor Nero's reign, based on the 1896 novel of the same title by Polish Nobel Laureate author Henryk Sienkiewicz. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and filmed in Technicolor, it was directed by Mervyn LeRoy from a screenplay by S. N. Behrman, Sonya Levien, and John Lee Mahin. It is the fourth screen adaptation of Sienkiewicz's novel. The film stars Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn, and Peter Ustinov, and features Patricia Laffan, Finlay Currie, Abraham Sofaer, Marina Berti, Buddy Baer, and Felix Aylmer. Future Italian stars Sophia Loren and Bud Spencer appeared as uncredited extras. The score is by Miklós Rózsa and the cinematography by Robert Surtees and William V. Skall. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on November 2, 1951. The story, set between 64 and 68 AD, combines both historical and fictional events a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hay Fever (play)
alt=middle-aged white woman in large sun-hat, with young adult male and female kneeling to each side ''Hay Fever'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924. Its first production was in the West End in 1925 with Marie Tempest as Judith Bliss. A cross between high farce and a comedy of manners, the play is set in an English country house in the 1920s, and deals with the four eccentric members of the Bliss family and their outlandish behaviour when they each invite a guest to spend the weekend. The self-centred behaviour of the hosts finally drives their guests to flee while the Blisses are so engaged in a family row that they do not notice their guests' furtive departure. The play's original production opened in London in 1925 and ran for 337 performances. Coward wrote the piece with Tempest in mind for the central role of Judith. In later productions the part has been played by actresses including Constance Collier, Edith Evans, Constance Cummings, Rosemary Harris, Judi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Guilaroff
Sydney Guilaroff (November 2, 1907 – May 28, 1997) was a British-American hair stylist during Hollywood's Golden Age, and the first to receive on-screen credit in films. He worked for more than 40 years at Metro Goldwyn Mayer studios, on more than 1,000 films. He was instrumental in creating many of the hairstyles that became signature looks for film stars. Early life Guilaroff was born in London, England to Eugene Abraham Guilaroff and Annie Guilaroff née Snitkin, Russian Jewish immigrants who later settled in Canada. They lived in both the cities of Winnipeg and Montreal. His sisters, Olga and Vera, became prominent in the theater. At age 14, Guilaroff left Canada for New York City and found work in the stockroom of Gimbels department store. An on-the-job accident required him to leave, and at times his financial situation forced him to sleep on benches in Central Park. His fortunes changed when he was hired as a beautician's assistant. His menial responsibilities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herschel McCoy
Herschel McCoy (August 6, 1912 – February 3, 1956) was an American motion picture costume designer with credits on more than 150 feature films from 1936 to 1955. He was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. McCoy's early efforts were largely focused on B movies, such as several entries in the Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto canons. He had just graduated to major studio productions like an uncredited assist on ''Joan of Arc'' (1948), ''Quo Vadis'' (1951), and ''Dream Wife'' (1953) when he died suddenly in 1956 at the age of 43. For the last two films, McCoy was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. McCoy's drawings for twenty-two of his designs are in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Page Museum). LACMA was found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awards and nominations, numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Award, BAFTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Award, Emmy Awards, an Olivier Award and a Grammy Award. Ustinov received two Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in ''Spartacus (film), Spartacus'' (1960), and ''Topkapi (film), Topkapi'' (1964). He also starred in notable films such as ''Quo Vadis (1951 film), Quo Vadis'' (1951), ''The Sundowners (1960 film), The Sundowners'' (1960), ''Billy Budd (film), Billy Budd'' (1962), and ''Hot Millions'' (1968). He voiced John, King of England, Prince John and Richard I of England, King Richard in the Walt Disney Animation, Walt Disney Animated film ''Robin Hood (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68. Nero was born at Antium in AD 37, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (father of Nero), Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger (great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus). Nero was three when his father died. By the time Nero turned eleven, his mother married Emperor Claudius, who then Adoption in ancient Rome, adopted Nero as his heir. Upon Claudius' death in AD 54, Nero ascended to the throne with the backing of the Praetorian Guard and the Senate. In the early years of his reign, Nero was advised and guided by his mother Agrippina, his tutor Seneca the Younger, and his praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, but sought to rule independently and rid himself of restraining influences. The power ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Technicolor
Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and-white films running through a special camera (3-strip Technicolor or Process 4) started in the early 1930s and continued through to the mid-1950s, when the 3-strip camera was replaced by a standard camera loaded with single-strip "monopack" color negative film. Technicolor Laboratories were still able to produce Technicolor prints by creating three black-and-white matrices from the Eastmancolor negative (Process 5). Process 4 was the second major color process, after Britain's Kinemacolor (used between 1909 and 1915), and the most widely used color process in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Technicolor's #Process 4: Development and introduction, three-color process became known and cele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M-G-M
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was founded on April 17, 1924, and has been owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon since 2022. MGM was formed by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company. It hired a number of well-known actors as contract players—its slogan was "more stars than there are in heaven"—and soon became Hollywood's most prestigious filmmaking company, producing popular musical films and winning many Academy Awards. MGM also owned film studios, movie lots, movie theaters and technical production facilities. Its most prosperous era, from 1926 to 1959, was bracketed by two productions of '' Ben Hur''. It divested itself of the Loews movie theater chain and, in 1956, expa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hangman's Wharf
''Hangman's Wharf'' is a 1950 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Cecil H. Williamson and starring John Witty, Genine Graham and Campbell Singer. It was written by John Beldon and Williamson based on Beldon's 1948 BBC radio serial ''Hangman's Wharf''. The story concerns a doctor called out for an emergency on a ship docked in the River Thames, where he is framed for murder. Plot Doctor David Galloway takes over a practice in Shadwell, and is called to the ship ''Villefranche'', docked at Hangman's Wharf. On his arrival the ship's owner, Sir Brian Roderick, immediately orders him to leave. Galloway is subsequently suspected of the murder of Winston Merrick, but the ''Villefranche'' and Roderick have disappeared, and so has Galloway's alibi. With the help of reporter Alison Maxwell, Galloway sets about proving his innocence. Cast * John Witty as Doctor David Galloway * Genine Graham as Alison Maxwell * Patience Rentoul as Mrs Williams * Gerald Nodin as S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Lovell
Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University, but gave up medicine for the stage in the 1920s. Criterion DVD commentary for '' 49th Parallel'' by Bruce Eder. On stage he appeared as Henry VIII in '' The Queen Who Kept Her Head''. In 1941 he starred in Vernon Sylvaine's '' Warn That Man!'', then reprised his role for the 1943 film adaptation. Lovell married Margot Ruddock, an actress, singer and poet, with whom he had a daughter, Simone Lovell. This relationship broke down when Ruddock began an affair with W. B. Yeats in 1934, the year her daughter was born. In 1947 he married Tamara Desni; they divorced in 1951. Selected filmography * '' Love, Life and Laughter'' (1934) – Saville (uncredited) * '' Warn London'' (1934) – Prefect * '' The Third Clue'' (1934) – Robinson – Butle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death In High Heels
''Death in High Heels'' is a 1947 British second feature ('B') crime film directed by Lionel Tomlinson (credited as "Tommy Tomlinson") and starring Don Stannard, Elsa Tee and Veronica Rose. It was based on the 1941 novel of the same title by Christianna Brand. The screenwriter's name is unknown. It was a very early Hammer Films (here Marylebone-Hammer) production and was released through Exclusive Films, Hammer's original incarnation. Its brief running time causes it to barely qualify as a feature in some reference books. It is today considered a lost film. Plot Magda Doon, who works at a luxury Bond Street dress shop, is murdered. It turns out that the poison which killed her was in fact intended for her unpopular colleague Agnes Gregory. Detective Charlesworth investigates, finding that every member of the staff seems to have something to hide. Cast * Don Stannard as Detective Charlesworth * Elsa Tee as Victoria David * Veronica Rose as Agnes Gregory * Denise Anthon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
