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Raising The Wind (1961 Film)
''Raising the Wind'' (US: ''Roommates'') is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser, Eric Barker and Sid James. The storyline, screenplay and musical score of the film were by Bruce Montgomery. ''Raising the Wind'' uses a cast of actors drawn from the '' Carry On'' and ''Doctor'' films that were popular at the time, although it is not an official member of either series. It is set in an elite music school. The title is typical British comedy double entendre of the period: normally connected to the act of belching, but here also referring to the woodwind section of an orchestra. Synopsis Mervyn, Malcolm, Alex, Miranda and Jill are music students at the (fictional) London Academy of Music and the Arts. They decide to share a flat to pool their meagre grants and to find a place to practise. They suffer the put-downs of the acerbic Sir Benjamin Boyd, who conducts the student orchestr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Thomas
Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director best known for the long-running ''Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' series'' of British film comedies. Early life Born in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Thomas was educated in Bristol and London, and was training in medicine when World War II began. He served four years in the British Army during the war, and upon his return to civilian life thought it too late to continue his medical studies. Career Thomas began his film career at Denham Film Studios, Denham Studios, eventually becoming an assistant film editor beginning with Laurence Olivier's ''Hamlet (1948 film), Hamlet'' (1948). His editing work included many films directed by his older brother, Ralph Thomas. His directorial debut was the short film ''Circus Friends'' (1956), produced by the Children's Film Foundation. His first feature was the thriller ''Time Lock'' the following year. Beginning with the far ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinfonia Of London
Sinfonia of London is a symphony orchestra based in London, England, conducted by John Wilson. The present orchestra, re-established by Wilson in 2018, is the third of three distinct ensembles to bear this name. Building on Sinfonia of London's significance historically as a recording orchestra, the present ensemble released 17 albums within the first five years of its re-establishment, many of which were recipients of industry awards. In 2021, the orchestra made its live debut at the BBC Proms, and has returned every year since, as well as performing live tours across the United Kingdom. In its current incarnation, Sinfonia of London consists of top-tier musicians, including principals and leaders from various UK and international orchestras, distinguished soloists, and members of notable chamber groups. This has led to the ensemble being frequently described as a “supergroup” or “super-orchestra” by UK classical music journalists. Previous orchestras First Sinfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Hickson
Joan Bogle Hickson (5 August 1906 – 17 October 1998) was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series '' Miss Marple''. She also narrated a number of ''Miss Marple'' stories on audiobooks. Biography Born in Kingsthorpe, Northampton, Hickson was a daughter of Edith Mary (née Bogle) and Alfred Harold Hickson, a shoe manufacturer. After boarding at Oldfield School in Swanage, Dorset, she went on to train at RADA in London. She made her stage debut in 1927, then worked for several years throughout the United Kingdom, achieving success playing comedic, often eccentric characters in the West End of London. She played the role of the cockney maid Ida in the original production of '' See How They Run'' at the Q Theatre in 1944, and then at the Comedy Theatre in January 1945. She made her first film appearance in 1934. The numerous supporting roles she played during her career included se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lance Percival
John Lancelot Blades Percival (26 July 1933 – 6 January 2015), known as Lance Percival, was an English actor, comedian and singer, best known for his appearances in satirical comedy television shows of the early 1960s and his ability to improvise comic calypsos about current news stories. He later became successful as an after-dinner speaker. Biography Percival was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, and was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset, where he learnt to play the guitar. He then did national service with the Seaforth Highlanders as a lieutenant and was posted to Egypt. In 1955 he emigrated to Canada where he worked as an advertising copywriter, writing jingles for radio. He also formed a calypso group as "Lord Lance" which toured the US and Canada.Lance Percival Guardian Obituary Retrieved 9 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victor Maddern
Victor Jack Maddern (16 March 1928 – 22 June 1993) was an English actor. He was described by ''The Telegraph'' as having "one of the most distinctive and eloquent faces in post-war British cinema." Life and career Born in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, Maddern attended Beal Grammar Boys school and afterwards joined the Merchant Navy at the age of 15 and served in the Second World War from 1943 until its end and was medically discharged in 1946. He subsequently trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He made his first screen appearance in '' Seven Days to Noon'' in 1950, playing a reluctant soldier obliged to shoot a psychotic scientist. One of his earliest stage roles was as Sam Weller in '' The Trial of Mr Pickwick'' (1952). Appearing as Helicon in a production of Albert Camus' play ''Caligula'' (1964), Maddern was singled out for critical praise, and in '' My Darling Daisy'' (1970) portrayed the notorious Frank Harris. He also did two stints in the highly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jill Ireland
Jill Dorothy Ireland (24 April 1936 – 18 May 1990) was an English actress and singer. Early life Ireland was born in Hounslow, South West London, England. She was the daughter of a wine importer. She was educated at Chatsworth Junior School in Hounslow. She lived at 'Chertsey' on Maswell Park Road in Hounslow. Career Ireland began acting in the mid-1950s with small roles in films such as '' Simon and Laura'' (1955) and ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1956). She appeared with first husband David McCallum in ''Robbery Under Arms'' and five episodes of '' The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'': "The Quadripartite Affair" (season 1, episode 3, 1964), "The Giuoco Piano Affair" (season 1, episode 7, 1964), "The Tigers Are Coming Affair" (season 2, episode 8, 1965), and a two-parter " The Five Daughters Affair" (season 3, episodes 28 & 29, 1967). She appeared in 16 films with second husband Charles Bronson between 1970 and 1987, and was involved in two of Bronson’s other films as a producer. The l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Keen
Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early life Keen was born in Wallingford, Berkshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom he made his stage debut in 1932. After a year in repertory he stayed for a year in Cannes before being accepted for a place at the London School of Economics. In a last-minute change of mind, he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal after only one year. He had just joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1939 when the war started. Keen enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, though also managed to appear in an Army instructional film for Carol Reed. Career Keen made his full film debut in 1946 in ''Ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esma Cannon
Esma Ellen Charlotte Littmann (''née'' Cannon; 27 December 1905 – 18 October 1972), credited as Esme or Esma Cannon, was an Australian-born character actress who moved to Britain in the early 1930s. Although she frequently appeared on television in her latter years, Cannon is best remembered as a film actress, with a lengthy career in British productions from the 1930s to the 1960s. Career After early experience at Minnie Everett's School of Dancing in Sydney, Cannon began acting on the stage at the age of four in ''Madama Butterfly''. She appeared in productions for both the J. C. Williamson and Tait companies – including the early prominent role of Ruth Le Page in ''Sealed Orders'' at the Theatre Royal in 1914, and played Baby in an adaptation of '' Seven Little Australians'' the same year. She was given children's parts well into adulthood. In an interview with the ''Australian Women's Weekly'' published in 1963, she claimed it was the theatrical impresario Percy Hutchin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Thompson (actor)
James Edward Thompson (30 October 1925 – 21 April 2005) was an English actor, writer and director. Biography He was born 30 October 1925 in Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire and educated at St. Peter's School in York. As a young man he began his career in repertory theatre in Yorkshire and he toured with a theatrical company headed by Jean Forbes-Robertson. After his national service, he moved to London, and his early appearances on the West End stage were in intimate revue. In 1956, he became known for his impersonation of the American pianist and entertainer, Liberace, in the revue, ''For Amusement Only'', at the Apollo Theatre. Thompson was called in the 1959 libel action brought by the pianist against the Daily Mirror, and was himself subsequently sued by Liberace. Thompson settled out of court, making a donation to an actors’ charity. In 1959, he and his wife, Nina, co-authored a musical comedy, ''The Quiz Kid'', which was presented at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jennifer Jayne
Jennifer Jayne (14 November 1931 – 23 April 2006) was an English film and television actress born in Yorkshire to theatrical parents. Born Jennifer Jayne Jones, she adopted her stage name of Jennifer Jayne to avoid confusion with the Hollywood actress Jennifer Jones. Career Her film debut was a minor walk-on in ''Once a Jolly Swagman'' (1948), followed by '' The Blue Lamp'' (1949). Both of these starred Dirk Bogarde and she also appeared in the mystery '' Black Widow'', in 1951, with Anthony Forwood. After guest appearances in the television series ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1955), '' The Adventures of Sir Lancelot'' (1956), and '' Sword of Freedom'' (1957), she was cast as the hero's wife in the next historical adventure series from the film-making division of Lew Grade's ATV, '' The Adventures of William Tell'' (1958). She was a romantic lead in '' Raising the Wind'' (1961), set in a music academy and in ''Band of Thieves'' (1962), a musical comedy; she was als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Massie
Paul Massie (born Arthur Dickinson Massé; July 7, 1932June 8, 2011) was a Canadian actor and academic. He later became a theater professor for the University of South Florida during the 1970s. He remained with the faculty until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1996. Massie won a BAFTA Award in 1959 for Most Promising Newcomer for his role in the Anthony Asquith movie '' Orders to Kill'' (1958) in which he played an American bomber pilot in Nazi-occupied France. Also in 1958 he acted in the Peter Hall production of Tennessee Williams' play ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' at the Comedy Theatre in London, with Kim Stanley and Leo McKern also in the cast. Massie played the characters of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for the 1960 Hammer horror movie '' The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll''. Unusually, he played Jekyll in make-up as an older bearded man, and his villainous counterpart Hyde as his young, handsome self. He also appeared in the thriller movie ''Sapphire'' (1959), and '' The Rebe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Region of Amsterdam, urban area and 2,480,394 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its canals of Amsterdam, large number of canals, now a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of secular art production. In the 19th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
