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Skeet Surfin'
''Top Secret!'' is a 1984 action comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker ( ZAZ) and Martyn Burke. It stars Val Kilmer (in his film debut) and Lucy Gutteridge alongside a supporting cast featuring Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, and Jeremy Kemp. The film parodies various film styles such as musicals starring Elvis Presley, spy films of the Cold War era and World War II films. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. Plot Nick Rivers, an American rock star ("Skeet Surfin), travels to East Germany to perform at a cultural festival, which secretly serves the East German government as a diversion for a military operation with the intent of reuniting Germany under their rule. At a dinner, Nick encounters Hillary Flammond, a member of the local resistance movement who is attempting to avoid the authorities. He pretends to be her date to get to know her, and performs an impromptu song and dance (" Tutti Frutti"), m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Abrahams
James Steven Abrahams (May 10, 1944 – November 26, 2024) was an American film director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Life and career James Steven Abrahams was born on May 10, 1944, to a Jewish family in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the son of Louise M. (née Ogens), an educational researcher, and Norman S. Abrahams, a lawyer. He attended Shorewood High School. He had a home in Eagle River, Wisconsin, where he spent summers from the time he was a child. Retrieved 2018-11-01. He is best known for the spoof movies that he co-wrote and produced with brothers Jerry Zucker an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zucker, Abrahams And Zucker
Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (abbreviated to ZAZ) was an American comedy filmmaking trio consisting of Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker who specialised in writing slapstick comedy films during the 1980s. Members of the team have often collaborated with writer Pat Proft. History David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker knew each other as children while growing up in Shorewood, Wisconsin and while attending Shorewood High School, which is sometimes referenced in their work. While attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the trio founded a small theater known as The Kentucky Fried Theater in 1971 which led to their sketch comedy film '' The Kentucky Fried Movie'' in 1977. This was followed by the trio's breakout hit ''Airplane! ''Airplane!'' (alternatively titled ''Flying High!'') is a 1980 American disaster film, disaster comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker, David and Jerry Zucker in their List of directo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christopher Villiers
Christopher Francis Villiers (born 7 September 1960) is a British actor, screenwriter and producer. Biography Villiers was born in London, the son of Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Wing commander David Hugh Villiers (1921–1962) and his second wife, Elizabeth Barbara, daughter of Leonard Hobbins. His sister, Cat Villiers, is a film producer; brother Jay Villiers is also an actor. A direct descendant of the politician and diplomat Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, he is a second great-grandson of the Right Reverend Henry Montagu Villiers, Bishop of Durham from 1860 to 1861, whose brothers were George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, and Charles Pelham Villiers. Through Henry Montagu Villiers' mother, the brothers descend from Oliver Cromwell. He was educated at Stowe School. In 1983, he played Tom Bertram in a television serial adaptation of Jane Austen's ''Mansfield Park''. Villiers may be best known for his former role on ''Emmerdale'', in which he played Grayson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy regime in France during the World War II, Second World War. Resistance Clandestine cell system, cells were small groups of armed men and women (called the Maquis (World War II), Maquis in rural areas) who conducted guerrilla warfare and published Underground press, underground newspapers. They also provided first-hand intelligence information, and escape networks that helped Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers and airmen trapped behind Axis powers, Axis lines. The Resistance's men and women came from many parts of French society, including émigrés, academics, students, aristocrats, conservative Catholic Church in France, Roman Catholics (including clergy), Protestantism in France, Protestants, History of the Jews in F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Are You Lonesome Tonight?
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (sometimes stylized as Are You Lonesome To-night?) is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927, first by Charles Hart, but also with successful versions by Vaughn De Leath, Henry Burr, and the duet of Jerry Macy and John Ryan. In 1950, the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top twenty on ''Billboard''s Pop Singles chart. In April 1960, after Elvis Presley's two-year service in the United States Army, he recorded the song at the suggestion of his manager Colonel Tom Parker; "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was Parker's wife, Marie Mott's, favorite song. Its release was delayed by RCA Victor executives, who thought the song did not fit Presley's new (and publicized) style. When "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was released in November 1960, it was an immediate success in the U.S., topping ''Billboard's'' Pop Singles chart and reaching number three on the R&B chart. A month after the song's release, it t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member states—30 European and 2 North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is . The organization's strategic concepts include Deterrence theory, deterrence. NATO headquarters, NATO's main headquarter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tutti Frutti (song)
"Tutti Frutti" ( Italian for "all fruits") is a song written by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie, recorded in 1955, which was Richard's first major hit. With its energetic refrain, often transcribed as "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!" (a verbal rendition of a drum pattern that Little Richard had imagined),White, Charles (2003), pp. 49–51 ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press. and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also for rock and roll itself. The song introduced several of rock music's most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume, powerful vocal style, and distinctive beat and rhythm. In 2007, an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists ranked "Tutti Frutti" at No. 1 on '' Mojos "The Top 100 Records That Changed The World" and hailed the recording as "the sound of the birth of rock and roll". In 2009, the U.S. Library of Congres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally viewed as a communist state and described itself as a Socialist state, socialist "workers' and peasants' state". The Economy of East Germany, economy of the country was Central planning, centrally planned and government-owned corporation, state-owned. Although the GDR had to pay substantial war reparations to the Soviets, its economy became the most successful in the Eastern Bloc. Before its establishment, the country's territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the Berlin Declaration (1945), Berlin Declaration abolishing German sovereignty in World War II. The Potsdam Agreement established the Soviet occupation zone in Germany, Soviet-occupied zone, bounded on the east b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term ''Cold war (term), cold war'' is used because there was no direct fighting between the two superpowers, though each supported opposing sides in regional conflicts known as proxy wars. In addition to the struggle for ideological and economic influence and an arms race in both conventional and Nuclear arms race, nuclear weapons, the Cold War was expressed through technological rivalries such as the Space Race, espionage, propaganda campaigns, Economic sanctions, embargoes, and sports diplomacy. After the end of World War II in 1945, during which the US and USSR had been allies, the USSR installed satellite state, satellite governments in its occupied territories in Eastern Europe and N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spy Film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a film genre, genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond in film, James Bond films). Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, le Carré, Ian Fleming (Bond) and Len Deighton. It is a significant aspect of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema, with leading British directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed making notable contributions and many films set in the Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service. Spy films show the espionage activities of government agents and their risk of being discovered by their enemies. From the Nazi espionage thrillers of the 1940s to the James Bond films of the 1960s and to the high-tech blockbusters of today, the spy film has always been popular with audiences worldwide. Offering ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elvis Presley On Film And Television
Elvis Presley was an American entertainer and Laurel Award winning actor who achieved great initial success as a singer and stage performer. He publicly expressed an early career goal of following in the footsteps of his role models James Dean and Marlon Brando to become a top dramatic actor. His manager Colonel Tom Parker's persistent lobbying of William Morris Agency president Abe Lastfogel for a Presley screen test paid off on March 26, 1956, when the singer auditioned at Paramount for a supporting role in '' The Rainmaker''. Although not chosen for the part, he signed a contract with Paramount producer Hal Wallis on April 25 that also allowed him to make films with other studios. His feature debut was in '' Love Me Tender'' in 1956 for 20th Century Fox, which was the biggest acting debut of all time, with the commercial success of the soundtrack EP being a bellwether for the next three Presley films, '' Loving You'', '' Jailhouse Rock,'' and '' King Creole.'' Presley r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Kemp
Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries '' The Winds of War'' and '' War and Remembrance'', the film ''The Blue Max'', and the television series '' Z-Cars''. Early life Kemp was born 3 February 1935 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the son of engineer Edmund Reginald Walker and Elsa May, daughter of Dr. James Kemp, of Sheffield. Edmund Walker was of a Yorkshire landed gentry family that had owned at various times Aldwick Hall at Rotherham, Silton Hall at Northallerton, Ravensthorpe Manor, and Mount St John, at Thirsk."Jeremy Kemp Biography (1935–)" Film Reference. Retrieved 27 January 2017. Kemp attended Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire from 1943 to 1953. He studie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
