Thames Silents
''Thames Silents'' is a series of releases (theatrical, broadcast and home video) of films from the silent era produced by the British ITV contractor Thames Television. Kevin Brownlow and David Gill were the two main people involved in the project. The collaboration between Brownlow and Gill had begun with the Thames documentary series '' Hollywood'' (1980), a thirteen part exploration of the silent era. It was an enormous success, and generated a degree of renewed interest in silent cinema. Subsequently, Thames screened the team's two subsequent television series, '' Unknown Chaplin'' and '' Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow'', plus the two part '' Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius'' examining silent comedy. In conjunction with several US organisations, the ''Thames Silents'' project restored full-length silent films, often released for limited cinema screenings. These began with Abel Gance's ''Napoléon'' (1927) in 1980, a French epic for which Brownlow has a special aff ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Silent Cinema
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of title cards. The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era that existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in large cities, a small orchestra—would often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation. Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rudolph Valentino
Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred in several well-known silent films including '' The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,'' '' The Sheik,'' ''Blood and Sand,'' '' The Eagle'', and '' The Son of the Sheik.'' Valentino was a sex symbol of the 1920s, known in Hollywood as the "Latin Lover" (a title invented for him by Hollywood moguls), the "Great Lover", or simply Valentino. His early death at the age of 31 caused mass hysteria among his fans, further cementing his place in early cinematic history as a cultural film icon. Early life Childhood and emigration Valentino was born in Castellaneta, Apulia, and named Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella. Birth name: Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi. His father, Giovanni Antonio G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Documentary Television Series
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *''Brit(ish)'', a 2018 memoir by Afua Hirsch *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) See also * Terminology of the British Isles * Alternative names for the British * English (other) * Britannic (other) * British Isles * Brit (other) * Bri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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FremantleMedia
Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in 1994. Pearson Television was renamed FremantleMedia on 20 August 2001, following the 2000 merger of Pearson Television and Bertelsmann's CLT-UFA to form the RTL Group. Fremantle owns non-scripted formats, including the British talent competitions '' Idols'' (created by Simon Fuller), ''Got Talent'' and ''The X Factor'' (both created by Simon Cowell), shows which have been sold around the world. Since 1994, Fremantle has distributed American game shows in the US and internationally. History Pearson Television (1994–2001) In 1994, after a bidding war, Pearson plc bought Thames Television and placed it under Pearson Television. In 1995, it acquired Australian company Grundy Television. ACI, a U.S.-based distributor of TV movies, was pu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Photoplay Productions
Photoplay Productions is an independent film company, based in the UK, under the direction of Kevin Brownlow and Patrick Stanbury. Is one of the few independent companies to operate in the revival of interest in the lost world of silent cinema and has been recognised as a driving force in the subject. In 2010, Photoplay Productions was the recipient of the Silent Film Festival Award Documentary production Photoplay Productions has been recognised as a driving force in the revival of interest in the lost world of silent cinema. Amongst its film history documentaries are: * D. W. Griffith: Father of Film, produced by Kevin Brownlow, David Gilll and Patrick Stanbury. Narrated by Sam Wanamaker. * I'm King Kong! - The Exploits of Merian C Cooper (2005) directed by Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird. Narrated by Alec Baldwin * Garbo (2005) directed by Kevin Brownlow and Christopher Bird. Narrated by Julie Christie * Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (1995) directed by Kevin B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carl Davis
Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany silent films. Davis's music is published by Faber Music. Early life and career Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Jewish parents, Sara (née Perlmutter) and Isadore Davis. He studied composition with Paul Nordoff and Hugo Kauder, and subsequently with Per Nørgard in Copenhagen. He attended Bard College, in New York. His early work in the US provided valuable conducting experience with organisations such as the New York City Opera and the Robert Shaw Chorale. In 1959 the revue ''Diversions'', of which he was co-author, won an off-Broadway award and subsequently travelled to the Edinburgh Festival in 1961. As a direct result of its success there, Davis was commissioned by Ned Sherrin to compose music for the original British vers ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Channel Four
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the television licence, licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, and a single commercial broadcasting network ITV (TV network), ITV. The network's headquarters are based in London and Leeds, with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. It is publicly owned and advertising-funded; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales, but many of its programmes were re-broadcast ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rex Ingram (director)
Rex Ingram (born Reginald Ingram Montgomery Hitchcock, 15 January 1892 – 21 July 1950) was an Irish film director, producer, writer, and actor. Director Erich von Stroheim once called him "the world's greatest director".Soares, André. ''Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro'', New York: Macmillan, 2002, p. 27; Early life Born in 58 Grosvenor Square, Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland, (where a plaque commemorates his birth), Ingram was educated at Saint Columba's College, near Rathfarnham, County Dublin. He spent much of his adolescence living in the Old Rectory, Kinnitty, Birr, County Offaly, where his father, Reverend Francis Hitchcock, was the Church of Ireland rector. Ingram emigrated to the United States in 1911. His brother Francis joined the British Army and fought during World War I, during which he was awarded the Military Cross. Career Ingram studied sculpture at the Yale University School of Art, where he contributed to campus humour magazine ''The Yale Record''. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Erich Von Stroheim
Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, actor and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of the silent era. His 1924 film '' Greed'' (an adaptation of Frank Norris's 1899 novel '' McTeague'') is considered one of the finest and most important films ever made. After clashes with Hollywood studio bosses over budget and workers' rights problems, Stroheim found it difficult to find work as a director and subsequently became a well-respected character actor, particularly in French cinema. For his early innovations as a director, Stroheim is still celebrated as one of the first of the auteur directors.Obituary '' Variety'', May 15, 1957, page 75. He helped introduce more sophisticated plots and noirish sexual and psychological undercurrents into cinema. He died of prostate cancer in France in 1957, at the age of 71. Beloved by Parisian neo-Surrealist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Douglas Fairbanks
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thief of Bagdad'', ''Robin Hood'', and '' The Mark of Zorro'', but spent the early part of his career making comedies. Fairbanks was a founding member of United Artists. He was also a founding member of The Motion Picture Academy and hosted the 1st Academy Awards in 1929. With his marriage to actress and film producer Mary Pickford in 1920, the couple became 'Hollywood royalty', and Fairbanks was referred to as "The King of Hollywood", a nickname later passed on to actor Clark Gable. Though he was considered one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the 1910s and 1920s, Fairbanks's career rapidly declined with the advent of the "talkies". His final film was '' The Private Life of Don Juan'' (1934). Early life Fairbanks was born Doug ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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ITV (TV Network)
ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. ITV was for four decades a network of separate companies which provided regional television services and also shared programmes between each other to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers, the fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc, which runs the ITV1 channel, and STV Group, which runs the STV channel. The ITV network is a separate entity from ITV plc, the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton Communications in 2004. ITV plc holds the Channe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |