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The Racket (1951 Film)
''The Racket'' is a 1951 black-and-white film noir drama directed by John Cromwell with uncredited directing help from Nicholas Ray, Tay Garnett, and Mel Ferrer. The production features Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, and William Conrad. Future '' Perry Mason'' regular cast members William Talman and Ray Collins appear in key roles. The film, a remake of the 1928 film '' The Racket'', is indirectly based on a play by Bartlett Cormack. ( Edward G. Robinson played the racketeer in the original Broadway production.) Plot The plot is very close to the original play and the 1928 movie. Racketeer and mobster Nick Scanlon has managed to buy several of the local government and law-enforcement officials of a large midwestern American city. However, he can't seem to touch the incorruptible police captain Tom McQuigg, who refuses all attempts at bribery. The city's prosecuting attorney, Welsh, and a state police detective, Turk, are crooked and make McQuigg's job as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cromwell (director)
John Cromwell (born Elwood Dager; December 23, 1886 – September 26, 1979) was an American film and stage director and actor. His films spanned the early days of sound to film noir in the early 1950s, by which time his directing career was almost terminated by the Hollywood blacklist. Early life and education Born as Elwood Dager in Toledo, Ohio to an affluent Anglo-Scottish family, executives in the steel and iron industry, Cromwell graduated from private high school at Howe Military Academy in 1905, but never pursued higher education. Early acting career, 1905–1912 Upon leaving school, Cromwell immediately began his stage career touring with stock companies in Chicago, then made his way to New York City in his early 20s. Billed as Elwood Dager in his youth, he changed his name to John Cromwell at the age of 26 following a 1912 New York stage appearance. Cromwell made his Broadway debut in the role of John Brooke in '' Little Women'' (1912), an adaptation of Louisa May A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Conrad
William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr., September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer, and director whose entertainment career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television, peaking in popularity when he starred in the detective series ''Cannon''. A radio writer and actor, he moved to Hollywood after serving in World War II as a fighter pilot, and played a series of character roles in films, beginning with the film noir ''The Killers'' (1946). He originated the role of Marshal Matt Dillon for the radio series ''Gunsmoke'' (1952–1961) and narrated the television adventures of '' Rocky and Bullwinkle'' (1959–1964), '' Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties'' (1959–1964), '' The Fugitive'' (1963–1967), and '' Hoppity Hooper'' (1964–1967). Finding fewer onscreen roles in the 1950s, he changed from actor to producer-director with television work, narration, and a series of Warner Bros. films in the 1960s. Conrad found stardom as a detective ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Tremayne
Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was a British-born American actor who performed in Vaudeville, film, theatre, radio and television. Early life Tremayne was born in Balham, London. He moved with his family at the age of four to Chicago, Illinois, where he began in community theater. His mother, Dolly Tremayne, was a British actress. He danced as a vaudeville performer and worked as an amusement park barker. He began working in radio when he was 17 years old. Tremayne studied Greek drama at Northwestern University and anthropology at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles. Career In 1974, Tremayne commented, "I've been in more than 30 motion pictures, but it's from radio ... that most people remember me." His radio career began in 1931, and during the 1930s and 1940s, Tremayne was often heard in more than one show per week. Replacing Don Ameche, he starred in '' The First Nighter Program'' from 1936 to 1942. He starred in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Sande
Walter Sande (July 9, 1906 – February 22, 1972) was an American character actor, known for numerous supporting film and television roles. Films Born in Denver, Colorado, he was one of those stern, heavyset character actors in Hollywood no person could recognize by name. Sande showed an early interest in music as a youth and by his college years managed to start his own band. This led to a job as musical director for 20th Century-Fox's theater chain, which, in turn, led him to acting in films beginning in 1937. Usually providing atmospheric bits with no billing, he made an initial impression in serial cliffhangers as a third-string heavy with the popular ''The Green Hornet Strikes Again!'' and '' Sky Raiders''. His first top featured role, however, would come with '' The Iron Claw'' as Jack "Flash" Strong, a photographer who, uncharacteristically for Walter, served as a comic sidekick to our serial hero. Best of all would be his role in another serial as Red Pennington, the am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Huston
Virginia Huston (April 24, 1925 – February 28, 1981) was an American actress. Early years Huston was born in Wisner, Nebraska, the daughter of Marcus and Mary Agnes Houston, and she had two brothers. Once she began her acting career, she changed the spelling of her last name to match that of Walter and John Huston. She attended Duchesne Catholic School for Girls in Omaha and appeared in stage productions as a student there. When Huston was 12, she first appeared on radio in an episode of '' Calling All Cars''. Huston gained early experience on stage by appearing in plays presented by the Omaha Community Playhouse. Film Huston's first film was ''Desirable Woman''. She appeared in many 1940s and 1950s film noir and adventure films. Signing with RKO in 1945, her first film was opposite George Raft in '' Nocturne'' (1946). Her singing voice in the nightclub was redubbed by a singer. Huston was the ninth actress to play Jane, appearing in '' Tarzan's Peril'' (1951). (Another ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Hutton (actor)
Robert Hutton (born Robert Bruce Winne; June 11, 1920 – August 7, 1994) was an American actor. Early life Robert Bruce Winne was born in Kingston, New York, and he grew up in Ulster County, New York. He was the son of a hardware merchant and a cousin of the F. W. Woolworth Company, Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. He attended Blair Academy, a small boarding school in Blairstown, New Jersey. Career Before he ventured into films, Hutton acted at the Woodstock Playhouse in Woodstock, New York for two seasons. His film debut as Robert Hutton came in ''Destination Tokyo'' (1943). Hutton resembled actor Jimmy Stewart: during World War II when Stewart enlisted in the Army Air Forces in March 1941, Hutton benefited from "victory casting" in roles that would ordinarily have gone to Stewart. His final film was ''The New Roof'' (1975). After leaving Warner Brothers’ studios Hutton continued working in movies, TV shows and as a writer and director in England for several y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joyce MacKenzie
Joyce Elaine MacKenzie (October 13, 1925 – June 10, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in films and television from 1946 to 1961. She might be best remembered for being the eleventh actress to portray Jane. She played the role opposite Lex Barker's Tarzan in '' Tarzan and the She-Devil'' (1953). Early life through World War II MacKenzie was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Norman MacKenzie. She was active in sports in high school, winning an award for "her all-round sports ability." During World War II, MacKenzie worked as a carpenter's helper in shipyards in San Francisco. Her opportunity for acting came when she was discovered on her job as cashier at the Pasadena Playhouse in the summer of 1948. Film actor MacKenzie starred in a film noir, '' Destination Murder'' (1950). She appeared with James Stewart in the western '' Broken Arrow'' (also 1950), as the wife of Robert Mitchum in the crime drama '' The Racket'' (1951) and as a publisher's daughter trying to wrest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Habeas Corpus In The United States
In United States law, ''habeas corpus'' () is a recourse challenging the reasons or conditions of a person's confinement under color of law. A petition for ''habeas corpus'' is filed with a court that has jurisdiction over the custodian, and if granted, a writ is issued directing the custodian to bring the confined person before the court for examination into those reasons or conditions. United States law affords persons the right to petition the federal courts for a writ of ''habeas corpus''. Individual states also afford persons the ability to petition their own state court systems for ''habeas corpus'' pursuant to their respective constitutions and laws when held or sentenced by state authorities. Federal ''habeas'' review did not extend to those in state custody until almost a century after the nation's founding with the Habeas Corpus Act of 1867. During the Civil War and Reconstruction, as later during the war on terror, the right to petition for a writ of ''hab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nightclub Singer
A nightclub act is a production, usually of nightclub music or comedy, designed for performance at a nightclub, a type of drinking establishment, by a nightclub performer such as a nightclub singer or nightclub dancer, whose performance may also be referred to as a ''nightclub act''. A scheduled performance, such as a wedding gig, is a club date.Church , Joseph (2015). ''Music Direction for the Stage: A View from the Podium'', pp. 57–58. Oxford University. . Acts may resemble revues and, "a good part of the music heard in nightclubs is standard (music), standard traditional pop, popular song (jazz standards and the so-called Great American Songbook) and theatre music, theater music repertoire...comedy songs, novelty songs, and the occasional torch song." "Cabaret, literally, is a subset of nightclub performance...In actual modern usage the terms 'nightclub' and 'cabaret' are virtually interchangeable." The role (fiction), role of the female nightclub singer occurs frequ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadway Theater
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatre'' as the proper noun in their names. Many performers and trade groups for live dramatic presentations also use the spelling ''theatre''. or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous with the district, it is closely identified with Times Square. Only three theaters are located on Broadway itself: the Broadway Theatre, Palace Theatre (New York City), Palace Theatre, and Winte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward G
Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Saxon England, but the rule of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties had effectively ended its use amongst the upper classes. The popularity of the name was revived when Henry III named his firstborn son, the future Edward I, as part of his efforts to promote a cult around Edward the Confessor, for whom Henry had a deep admiration. Variant forms The name has been adopted in the Iberian peninsula since the 15th century, due to Edward, King of Portugal, whose mother was English. The Spanish/Portuguese forms of the name are Eduardo and Duarte. Other variant forms include French Édouard, Italian Edoardo and Odoardo, German, Dutch, Czech and Romanian Eduard and Scandinavian Edvard. Short forms include Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, Teddy a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Racket (1928 Film)
''The Racket'' is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Thomas Meighan, Marie Prevost, Louis Wolheim, and George E. Stone. The film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Tom Miranda, and was distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was adapted from Cormack's 1927 Broadway play '' The Racket''. Plot Chicago Police Department officer James "Mac" McQuigg tries to keep the peace in Chicago during the Prohibition gang wars but is hampered by massive corruption. After a shootout McQuigg manages to arrest mob boss Nick Scarsi's henchman Spike Corcoran, the political boss "The Old Man" arranges to have all charges dropped. After a birthday party for Nick Scarsi's younger brother Joe Scarsi ends in a shootout in which Nick Scarsi kills Corcoran, McQuigg arrests Nick Scarsi for murder but is forced to release him after being unable to find the murder weapon. Although McQuigg vows to bring down Nick Scarsi, he gets ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
