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Pool Of London (film)
''Pool of London'' is a 1951 British noir crime film directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Bonar Colleano, Earl Cameron (in his breakthrough role) and Susan Shaw. It was written by Jack Whittingham and John Eldridge. Set in post-war London, the film is of note for portraying the first interracial relationship in a British film. Plot ''The Dunbar'', a merchant ship, arrives in the Pool of London, bringing a crew of sailors eager to spend their shore leave in the bustling city. Among them are Dan MacDonald, a streetwise seaman, and Johnny Lambert, his more reserved Jamaican friend. While Dan seeks excitement and quick money, Johnny experiences London from a different perspective, forming a tentative friendship with Pat, a young white woman who shows him kindness despite the racial prejudices of the time. Dan is approached by a gang of criminals who offer him a large sum of money to smuggle stolen diamonds out of the country. Unaware of the full extent of their crimes, he agr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil Dearden
Basil Dearden (born Basil Clive Dear; 1 January 1911 – 23 March 1971) was an English film director. Early life Dearden was born as Basil Clive Dear at 5 Woodfield Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex to Charles James Dear, a steel manufacturer, and the former Florence Tripp. Career Deard graduated from theatre direction to film, working as an assistant to Basil Dean. He later changed his own name to Dearden to avoid confusion with his mentor. He wrote ''This Man Is News'' (1938), a hugely popular Quota Quickie, quota quickie and wrote and directed a film for TV ''Under Suspicion'' (1939). He was assistant director on ''Penny Paradise'' (1938), produced by Dean and directed by Carol Reed, and two George Formby comedies directed by Anthony Kimmins: ''George Takes the Air'' (1938), produced by Dean, and ''Come on George!'' (1939). Dearden was promoted to associate producer on two more George Formby films, which he also co-wrote: ''To Hell with Hitler'' (1940) aka ''Let George Do It'' an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renée Asherson
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was a British actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool Playhouse, and the Westminster Theatre. Her first stage appearance was on 17 October 1935, aged 20, and her first major film appearance was in ''The Way Ahead'' (1944). Her last film appearance was in '' The Others'' (2001). Early life Dorothy Renée Ascherson was born in Kensington, London, the younger daughter of shipowner Charles Stephen Ascherson (1877–1945) and Dorothy Lilian (; 1881–1975). Her father was of German-Jewish extraction. She was brought up in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, as well as Switzerland and Anjou. She later trained for the stage at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. Career Theatre Asherson made her first stage appearance on 17 October 1935, as a walk-on in John Gielgud's production of ''Romeo a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Kydd
Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British actor. Most of his film roles were very small but he appeared in more than 290 films, more than any other British actor, including 119 between 1946 and 1952. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He also played a recurring character in ''Coronation Street''. Kydd's first film was '' The Captive Heart'' (1946), in which he played a POW. Early life and career An army officer's son, Kydd was born on 15 February 1915 in Belfast, Ireland, and moved to London as a child. He was educated at Dunstable School in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. During the mid-1930s Kydd entered various talent contests and was spotted by Oscar Rabin who made him an MC for the Oscar Rabin Band and one of his "Hot Shots". He would warm up audiences with jokes, impressions (Maurice Chevalier was a favourite) and tap dance routines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beckett Bould
Beckett Bould (28 September 1880 – 25 September 1970) was a British actor. Bould was a schoolmaster for many years and started his screen career in 1932. He debuted on stage in 1940 at Henry Miller's Theatre and performed in 15 plays. Partial filmography * ''Black Diamonds'' (1932) — John Morgan * ''The Outcast'' (1934) — Minor Role (uncredited) * '' Wednesday's Luck'' (1936) — Minor Role (uncredited) * '' Holiday's End'' (1937) — Philpotts * '' South Riding'' (1938) — Foreman on Road Building Site (uncredited) * '' Old Mother Riley's Circus'' (1941) — Davis * ''The Day Will Dawn'' (1942) — Bergen, Spokesman of Langedal * '' Let the People Sing'' (1942) — Minor Role (uncredited) * '' The Shipbuilders'' (1943) * '' Loyal Heart'' (1946) — Burton * ''The October Man'' (1947) — Policeman at Left Luggage Office (uncredited) * ''Anna Karenina'' (1948) — Matvey * '' My Brother's Keeper'' (1948) — Inspector (uncredited) * '' Portrait of Clare'' (1950) — B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Benson (actor)
George Frederick Percy Benson (11 January 1911 – 17 June 1983) was a British actor of both theatre and screen, whose career stretched from the 1930s to the early 1970s. He was on stage from the late 1920s, and made his film debut in 1932 in '' Holiday Lovers'' written by Leslie Arliss. His most notable work as a comic actor included supporting roles with George Formby ('' Keep Fit'' - 1937) and Ronnie Barker ('' A Home of Your Own'' - 1964). Early life Benson was born in Cardiff and educated at Blundell's School, the son of Leslie Bernard Gilpin Benson and his wife Isita.Who's Who in the Theatre, 16th edition, 1977 The family moved to Weston-super-Mare around 1920 and to Bristol around 1925. He began acting at school in the Latin plays mounted annually at the school. He trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (where he was the Silver Medallist in 1930). Early career Much of Benson's early work was in revue, particularly those mounted in the 1930s by Andr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Bannen
Ian Edmund Bannen (29 June 1928 – 3 November 1999) was a Scottish actor with a long film, stage and TV career. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award for his performance in ''The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film), The Flight of the Phoenix'' (1965), the first Scottish actor to receive the honour. He was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, BAFTA Film Award for his performance in Sidney Lumet's ''The Offence'' (1973) and John Boorman's ''Hope and Glory (film), Hope and Glory'' (1987). Some of his more notable later films included ''Braveheart'' (1995) and ''Waking Ned Devine'' (1998). Bannen, an original member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, was renowned for his interpretations of William Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. He won the 1981 Critics' Circle Theatre Award, Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Brian Friel's Translations (play), ''Translations''. Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Phillips
Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. He appeared in the '' Carry On'' and ''Doctor in the House'' film series as well as the long-running BBC radio comedy series '' The Navy Lark''. On the stage, Phillips was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1977. In his later career, Phillips took on dramatic parts including a BAFTA-nominated role alongside Peter O'Toole in ''Venus'' (2006). He provided the voice of the Sorting Hat in three of the ''Harry Potter'' films. Early life Leslie Samuel Phillips was born in Tottenham on 20 April 1924, the third child of Cecelia Margaret (''née'' Newlove) and Frederick Samuel Phillips, who worked at Glover and Main, manufacturers of cookers in Edmonton. Phillips described his street as "beyond the sonic reach of the Bow Bells but within ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Hewett
Christopher George Hewett (5 April 1921 – 3 August 2001) was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Aloysius Belvedere on the ABC sitcom ''Mr. Belvedere''. Career Hewett was born in Worthing, Sussex to Christopher Fitzsimon Hewett (an army officer and a descendant of Daniel O'Connell), and his wife Eleanor Joyce Watts (an actress whose professional name was Rhoda Cleighton). He was educated at Beaumont College and at Wimbledon College, and at aged 7, made his acting debut in a Dublin stage production of ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. At age 16 Hewett joined the Royal Air Force, leaving in 1940. Hewett then joined the Oxford Repertory Company and made his West End theatre debut in 1943. He later appeared on Broadway in the musicals ''My Fair Lady'', '' First Impressions'', '' The Unsinkable Molly Brown'', '' Music Is'' and '' Kean'' and in the plays '' Sleuth'' and '' The Affair'', among others, and directed the 1960 Broadway revue '' Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfie Bass
Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He appeared in a variety of stage, film, television and radio productions throughout his career. Personal life Alfie Bass was born Abraham Basalinsky in Bethnal Green in London's East End. He was the youngest of ten children of Jacob Basalinsky, who had fled Jewish persecution in Russia, and his wife, Ada Miller. After leaving school, he worked in his father's trade as a cabinet-maker. During this time, he took part in amateur dramatics at a local boys' club. He was active in the labour movement and often attended union meetings. In 1936, he took part in the Battle of Cable Street, in which activists attempted to prevent a march through the East End by the British Union of Fascists. At the outbreak of World War II, he was rejected by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Longden
John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was a British film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including six films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son of a Methodist missionary, and was educated at Kingswood School, Bath, Somerset. Originally intending to be a mining engineer, he worked for two years in a coal mine in Yorkshire, where he started acting in amateur theatrical companies. An introduction to Seymour Hicks saw him start acting on the legitimate stage, beginning with a walk-on part in ''Old Bill, MP''. He played in ''My Old Dutch'' with Albert Chevalier, then spent time with the Liverpool and Birmingham repertory theatres. He also appeared in ''The Farmer's Wife'', produced by Barry Jackson at the Court Theatre in London for two years. About this time Longden began to appear in silent films. He signed a contract with Gaumont British Pictures to write and act, earning a notabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Golden (actor)
Michael Golden (15 August 1913 – 1983) was an Irish stage, film and television actor, mainly active in England. His stage work encompassed Shakespearean roles at Stratford in 1947; and as police inspectors in the original West End productions of Agatha Christie's plays ''Verdict'' and '' The Unexpected Guest'' in 1958. Selected filmography * ''A Canterbury Tale'' (1944) - Sergt. Smale * ''Send for Paul Temple'' (1946) - Dixie * '' Hungry Hill'' (1947) - Sam Donovan * ''Escape'' (1948) - Detective Penter * ''Calling Paul Temple'' (1948) - Frank Chester * ''Noose'' (1948) - Moggie * '' Another Shore'' (1948) - D.O. Broderick * ''The Blue Lamp'' (1950) - Mike Randall (uncredited) * ''Pool of London'' (1951) - Customs Officer Andrews * ''Cry, the Beloved Country'' (1951) - Second reporter (uncredited) * ''Salute the Toff'' (1952) - Benny Kless * ''The Gentle Gunman'' (1952) - Murphy * '' The Square Ring'' (1953) - Warren * '' Operation Diplomat'' (1953) - Harrison * '' 36 Hours ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice (15 June 1907 – 2 July 1975) was a British actor. He often portrayed pompous authority figures in comedies, including each of the seven films in the ''Doctor'' series. He also co-starred with Gregory Peck in several adventure movies, notably '' The Guns of Navarone''. Born in south-east London to a Scottish father, he became prominent in Scottish public life, helping to launch Scottish Television (STV) and serving as Rector of the University of Edinburgh (1957–60 and 1963–66). Early life Despite his later Scottish claims, James Norval Harald Justice was born on 15 June 1907 in Lee, a suburb of Lewisham in south-east London. He was the son of Aberdeen-born mining engineer James Norval Justice and Edith (née Burgess), Justice was educated at St Hugh's School, Bickley, Kent, and Marlborough College in Wiltshire. He later studied science at University College London, but left after a year and became a geology student at the University of Bonn, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |