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Terror By Night
''Terror by Night'' is a 1946 Sherlock Holmes crime drama directed by Roy William Neill and starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. The story revolves around the theft of a famous diamond aboard a train. The film's plot is a mostly original story not directly based on any of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes tales, but it uses minor plot elements of "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle," "The Adventure of the Empty House," "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax," and "The Sign of Four". The film is one of four films in the series which are in the public domain. Plot In London, Vivian Vedder verifies that a carpenter has completed a coffin for her recently deceased mother's body, which she is transporting to Scotland by train. She boards the train that evening, as do Lady Margaret Carstairs, who owns and is transporting the famous ''Star of Rhodesia'' diamond; Lady Margaret's son, Roland; Sherlock Holmes, whom Roland has hired to protect the diamond; Inspector Lestrade, who is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy William Neill
Roy William Neill (born Roland de Gostrie, 4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was an Irish-born American film director best known for producing and directing almost all of the Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series), Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 1946 and released by Universal Pictures. Biography With his father as the captain, Roy William Neill was List of people born at sea, born on a ship off the coast of Ireland. Neill lived in the United States for most of his career and was an American citizen. He began directing silent films in 1917 and went on to helm 111 films, 55 of them silent. He was also credited in some works as R. William Neill, Roy W. Neill, and Roy Neill. Neill was known for his striking visual style: meticulously lit scenes, careful compositions, and layered shadows that would become the tone of ''film noir'' in the late 1940s (his last film, ''Black Angel (1946 film), Black Angel'' (1946), is considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inspector Lestrade
Detective Inspector G. Lestrade ( or ) is a fictional character appearing in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the 1887 novel ''A Study in Scarlet''. His last appearance is in the 1924 short story " The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", which is included in the collection '' The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes''. Lestrade is a determined but conventional Scotland Yard detective who consults Holmes on many cases, and is the most prominent police character in the series. Lestrade has been played by many actors in adaptations based on the Sherlock Holmes stories in film, television, and other media. Appearances in canon Lestrade is also mentioned in the novel '' The Sign of the Four'' (1890), though he doesn't appear in it. Fictional character biography History and personality Lestrade mentions his "twenty years' experience" in the police force in ''A Study in Scarlet''. In the story, Hol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adaptations Of Sherlock Holmes
The stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have been very popular as adaptations for the stage, and later film, and still later television. The four volumes of the ''Universal Sherlock Holmes'' (1995) compiled by Ronald B. De Waal lists over 25,000 Holmes-related productions and products. They include the original writings, "together with the translations of these tales into sixty-three languages, plus Braille and shorthand, the writings about the Writings or higher criticism, writings about Sherlockians and their societies, memorials and memorabilia, games, puzzles and quizzes, phonograph records, audio and video tapes, compact discs, laser discs, ballets, films, musicals, operettas, oratorios, plays, radio and television programs, parodies and pastiches, children's books, cartoons, comics, and a multitude of other items — from advertisements to wine — that have accumulated throughout the world on the two most famous characters in literature." Board games The boa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sherlock Holmes (1939 Film Series)
A series of fourteen films based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories was released between 1939 and 1946; the British actors Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce played Holmes and Dr. John Watson, respectively. The first two films in the series were produced by 20th Century Fox and released in 1939. The studio stopped making the films after these, but Universal Pictures acquired the rights from the Doyle estate and produced a further twelve films. The films from Fox had large budgets, high production values and were set in the Victorian era. Universal produced them as B pictures with lower budgets and updated the films' settings to the then-present time of the Second World War, with Holmes fighting the Nazis. Both Rathbone and Bruce continued their roles when the series changed studios, as did Mary Gordon, who played the recurring character Mrs Hudson. In the 1970s four of the Universal-produced films fell into the public domain when their copyright was not renewe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Cording
Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career Cording was born Hector William Cording on 26 April 1891 in Wellington, Somerset. He was brought up and was educated at Rugby, and he was a member of the British Army in World War I. In 1919, he became steward for a British steamship line whose ships, such as the ''Vauban'' and the ''Calamares'', which he had worked on, frequently called at the Port of New York. After a number of trips, he resigned and decided to stay in the United States. He later settled permanently in Los Angeles, where he began a film career. His first role was as a henchman in ''The Knockout'' (1925), followed by similar roles over the next few years. Cording appeared in many Hollywood films from the 1920s to the 1950s. With an imposing six-foot height, stocky build ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skelton Knaggs
Skelton Barnaby Knaggs (27 June 1911 – 30 April 1955) was an English stage actor who also appeared in films, especially in horror films. Biography Knaggs was born in the Hillsborough district of Sheffield, England. Knaggs moved to London where he trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and subsequently became a Shakespearean actor. In addition to appearing on stage in Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'', Knaggs appeared in a few British films, including an uncredited role as a German orderly in Michael Powell's '' The Spy in Black''. At some point he moved to Los Angeles, California, and found work as a character actor in Hollywood. Diminutive and distinctive-looking, with a strongly featured pock-marked face and charismatically voiced with an English Midlands provincial accent, he was cast in sinister roles, often in horror films. These ranged from uncredited bit parts to prominent roles in the Sherlock Holmes thriller '' Terror by Night'', the all-star mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Hamer
Gerald Hamer (16 November 1886 – 6 July 1972) ftvdb.bfi.org.uk; accessed 27 June 2015. was a British actor, born at , as Geoffrey Earl Watton to John Watton and Evelyn Clara (née Earl). Hamer worked in the United States, where he played primarily British characters in films. He made a number of appearances in the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Bevan
Billy Bevan (born William Bevan Harris; 29 September 1887 – 26 November 1957) was an Australian-born vaudevillian who became an American film actor. He appeared in more than 250 American films from 1916 to 1952. He died just before new audiences discovered him in Robert Youngson's silent-comedy compilations. The Youngson films mispronounce his name as "Be-VAN"; Bevan himself offered the proper pronunciation in a ''Voice of Hollywood'' reel in 1930: "Bevan" rhyming with "seven". Career Bevan was born in the country town of Orange, New South Wales, Australia. He went on the stage at an early age, traveled to Sydney and spent eight years in Australian light opera, performing as Willie Bevan. He sailed to America with the Pollard’s Lilliputian Opera Company in 1912, and later toured Canada. Bevan broke into films with the Sigmund Lubin studio in 1916. When the company disbanded, Bevan became a supporting actor in Mack Sennett movie comedies. An expressive pantomimist, Beva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Forbes
Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films from 1919 to 1958. ancestry.com; accessed 25 September 2015. Forbes was born in Hornsey, England. She made her first public appearance on the concert platform giving recitals. Her acting debut was in 1908 on the London stage at [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederick Worlock
Frederick Worlock (December 14, 1886 – August 1, 1973) was a British-American actor. He is known for his work in various films during the 1940s and 1950s, and as the voice of Horace in ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961) and again uncreditly in '' The Sword in the Stone'' (1963). Career On stage, he made his début in 1906 in ''Henry V'' in Bristol and acted in four productions in London before moving to the United States in the 1920s, where he appeared in Broadway productions between 1923 and 1954. From 1938 to 1966, Worlock appeared as a supporting actor in films including '' Man Hunt'', ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'', ''How Green Was My Valley'', '' The Imperfect Lady'', ''Singapore'', '' The Lone Wolf in London'', '' Love from a Stranger'', '' Ruthless'', ''Joan of Arc'', ''Spartacus'', ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (voice-over), '' The Sword in the Stone'' (Uncredited voice over), and '' Spinout''. He appeared in a number of the Sherlock Holmes films starring B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renee Godfrey
Renee Godfrey (born Renee Vera Haal; September 1, 1919 – May 24, 1964) was an American stage and motion picture actress and singer. Early life Godfrey was born September 1, 1919, in New York, with Dutch and French ancestry as the daughter of Emil Haall, a Dutch diamond merchant, and his wife. Career Beginning at age 11, she worked as a model, and as a sophomore in high school she switched to night classes so that she could model during the day. She posed for artist John La Gatta and photographers Edward Steichen, Victor Keppler, John Hutchins, and others. She appeared in advertisements that were published nationally, and she had the most-photographed hands and legs in New York. When a film executive saw her image on a billboard, that led the way to her work in motion pictures. Godfrey was featured on both radio and television programs in Britain. She initially entered films at RKO, working as Renee Haal, and made her début in Sam Wood's '' Kitty Foyle'' (1940). Also in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Hoey
Dennis Hoey (born Samuel David Hyams, 30 March 1893 – 25 July 1960) was a British film and stage actor, best remembered for playing Inspector Lestrade in six films of Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. Early life Hoey was born Samuel David Hyams in London to Ellis and Leah (Green) Hyams, both of Russian Jewish descent, who ran a bed and breakfast in Brighton, East Sussex. Hoey received his formal education at Brighton College, and originally planned to be a teacher. He served in the British Army during World War I. After a career as a singer, which included entertaining British troops during his war service, he moved into theatre-acting in 1918, and later into cinema films. In 1931, Hoey moved to the United States and commenced a career in Hollywood. Film Hoey's first film was '' Tell England''. He is best known for playing Inspector Lestrade in six Universal's Sherlock Holmes series. He also portrayed the master of Harrow in '' The Foxes of Harrow'' and appeared ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
