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Sylvia Sydney
Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen, and film actress whose career spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ''Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams'' in 1973. She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's 1988 film ''Beetlejuice'', for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. Early life Sidney was born Sophia Kosow in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Rebecca (née Saperstein), a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian-Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915, and she was adopted by her stepfather Sigmund Sidney, a dentist. Her mother became a dressmaker and renamed herself Beatrice Sidney. Now using the surname Sidney, Sylvia became an actress at the age of 15 as a way of overcoming shy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bennett Cerf
Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his weekly television appearances for over 17 years on the panel game show ''What's My Line?'' Early life and education Cerf was born on May 25, 1898, in Manhattan, New York City, to a Jewish family of Alsatian and German ethnicity. Cerf's father Gustave Cerf was a lithographer; his mother, Frederika Wise, was heiress to a tobacco-distribution fortune. She died when Bennett was 16; shortly afterward, her brother Herbert moved into the Cerf household and became a strong literary and social influence on the teenager. Cerf graduated from Townsend Harris Hall Prep School in Hamilton Heights in 1916, the same public school as publisher Richard Simon, author Herman Wouk, and playwright Howard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known. He appeared in over one hundred films, starring in over eighty, among them Alfred Hitchcock's espionage thriller '' Foreign Correspondent'' (1940), Preston Sturges' comedy classics '' Sullivan's Travels'' (1941), and '' The Palm Beach Story'' (1942), the romance film '' Bird of Paradise'' (1932), the adventure classic '' The Most Dangerous Game'' (1932), Gregory La Cava's bawdy comedy ''Bed of Roses'' (1933), George Stevens' six-time Academy Award nominated romantic comedy '' The More the Merrier'' (1943), William Wyler's '' These Three'', '' Come and Get It'' (both 1936) and '' Dead End'' (1937), Howard Hawks' ''Barbary Coast'' (1935), and a number of Westerns, including '' Wichita'' (1955) as Wyatt Earp and Sam Peckinpah' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine (1936 Film)
''The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' is a 1936 American adventure romance western film based on the 1908 novel of the same name. It was the second full-length feature film to be shot in three-strip Technicolor and the first in color to be shot outdoors, with the approval of the Technicolor Corporation. The picture was directed by Henry Hathaway starring Fred MacMurray, Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. Much of it was shot at Big Bear Lake in southern California. ''The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' was the fourth feature film adaptation of John Fox Jr.'s 1908 novel, including 1916 and 1923 silent versions. As with the novel, the film makes extensive use of Appalachian English in the dialogue. Plot Deep in the region of the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield, a feud between the Kentucky clans of the Tollivers and the Falins has been ongoing for as long as anyone can recall. After an engineer, Jack Hale, arrives with coal and railroad interests, he saves the life of Dave Tolliver, whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead End (1937 Film)
''Dead End'' is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by William Wyler. It is an adaptation of the Sidney Kingsley 1935 Broadway play of the same name. It stars Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Wendy Barrie, and Claire Trevor. It was the first film appearance of the acting group known as the Dead End Kids. Plot In the slums of New York City, on the East River just below the Queensboro Bridge, wealthy people live in opulent and luxurious apartments because of the picturesque views of the river, while the destitute and poor live nearby in crowded, cockroach-infested tenements. At the end of the street is a dock on the East River; to the left are the luxury apartments, and to the right are the slums. The Dead End Kids, led by Tommy Gordon, are a gang of street urchins who are already well on the path to a life of petty crime. Members of the gang besides Tommy include Dippy, Angel, Spit, T.B., and Milty, the new kid on the block in search of friends. Spit is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Only Live Once (1937 Film)
''You Only Live Once'' is a 1937 American Police procedural, crime drama film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. Considered an early film noir, the film was the second directed by Lang in the United States. At least 15 minutes were trimmed from the original 100-minute version of the film due to its then unprecedented violence. Despite the removal of such scenes, the film is widely considered an early film noir classic. The film is also known for being one of the first box-office bombs. Plot Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who feels he is reformed and deserves a break, but he has doubts that he will get one. Initially, his doubts seem unfounded as his life goes well; he is married to Joan (the woman who waited for him and who has always believed in him), her boss (Stephen the public defender) has helped him to get a steady job, and he has the wherewithal to buy a house with Joan. But this new life starts to fall apart, when he is summarily fired be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fury (1936 Film)
''Fury'' is a 1936 American crime film directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of an innocent man ( Spencer Tracy) who narrowly escapes being burned to death by a lynch mob and the revenge he then seeks. It was Lang's first American film. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the movie stars Sylvia Sidney and Tracy, with a supporting cast featuring Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot, Edward Ellis and Walter Brennan. Loosely based on the events surrounding the Brooke Hart murder in San Jose, California, the film was adapted by Bartlett Cormack and Lang from the story "Mob Rule" by Norman Krasna. In 1995, it was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Plot summary En route to meet his fiancée Katherine Grant, gas-station owner Joe Wilson is arrested on flimsy circumstantial evidence for the kidnapping of a child. Gossip soon travels around the small town, grow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 63. One of the best-known ''émigrés'' from Germany's school of German expressionist cinema, Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. He has been cited as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. Lang's work spans five decades, from the Expressionist silent films of his first German creative period to his short stay in Paris and his work as a Hollywood director to his last three films made in Germany. Lang's most celebrated films include the futuristic science-fiction film ''Metropolis (1927 film), Metropolis'' (1927) and the influential ''M (1931 film), M'' (1931), a film noir precursor. His 1929 film ''Woman in the Moon'' showcased the use of a mult ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabotage (1936 Film)
''Sabotage'', released in the United States as ''The Woman Alone'', is a 1936 British spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, and John Loder. It is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel '' The Secret Agent'', about a woman who discovers that her husband is a terrorist agent. ''Sabotage'' should not be confused with Hitchcock's film ''Secret Agent'', which was also released in 1936, but which instead is loosely based on two stories in the 1927 collection '' Ashenden: Or the British Agent'' by W. Somerset Maugham. It also should not be confused with Hitchcock's unrelated 1942 American film '' Saboteur''. In 2017, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for '' Time Out'' magazine ranked the film 44th best British film ever. In 2021, ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked the film at No. 3 on its list of "The 100 best British films of all time". Plot In London, sand is put into the bearings of an electrical g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", Hitchcock became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, List of cameo appearances by Alfred Hitchcock, his cameo appearances in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director, despite five nominations. Hitchcock initially trained as a technical clerk and copywriter before entering the film industry in 1919 as a title card designer. His directorial debut was the British–German silent film ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Street Scene (1931 Film)
''Street Scene'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor. With a screenplay by Elmer Rice adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, ''Street Scene'' takes place on a New York City street from one evening until the following afternoon. Except for one scene which takes place inside a taxi, Vidor shot the entire film on a single set depicting half a city block of house fronts. The film stars Estelle Taylor, David Landau, Sylvia Sidney, William Collier Jr., and Beulah Bondi (her screen debut). The music score is by Alfred Newman, his first complete film score. Newman composed the eponymous title theme, in the style of George Gershwin's '' Rhapsody in Blue''. The theme has been used in other movies, including '' Cry of the City'', '' Kiss of Death'', '' I Wake Up Screaming'', '' Where the Sidewalk Ends'', '' The Dark Corner'', '' Gentleman's Agreement'' and as the overture to ''How to Marry a Millionaire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Streets (1931 Film)
''City Streets'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code romantic melodrama directed by Rouben Mamoulian from a story by Dashiell Hammett and stars Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas. The story concerns a racketeer's daughter, Nan, who is in love with a shooting gallery showman, who is known as The Kid. Despite her prodding, The Kid has no ambitions about joining the rackets and making enough money to support her in the lifestyle to which she is accustomed. Her father implicates her in a murder, and she is sent to prison. Her father then convinces The Kid to join the gang to free Nan. In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Gangster Films list. Plot Nan Cooley (Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of racketeer Pop Cooley ( Guy Kibbee), is in love with The Kid ( Gary Cooper), a shooting gallery showman. Cooley tries but fails to urge him to join the gang to earn enough money to support her in the lifestyle to which she is accustomed. Soon, her father k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An American Tragedy (film)
''An American Tragedy'' (1931) is an American pre-Code drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg and produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel '' An American Tragedy'' and its 1926 stage adaptation, which were inspired by the historic 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake in upstate New York.''The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931-1940'' by the American Film Institute, c. 1993. Dreiser's novel would again be adapted by Paramount as the 1951 film '' A Place in the Sun''. Plot Clyde Griffiths, a bellhop at a fancy hotel in Kansas City, is the neglected son of street evangelists. He is dating one of the hotel's maids, though he yearns for a place in society. One night, he and some friends are involved in a drunk-driving crash in which a little girl is killed. They all flee the scene, and Clyde eventually ends up as a bellboy at a hotel in Chicago. When Clyde's wealthy uncle, Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
