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The Two-Headed Spy
''The Two-Headed Spy'' is a 1958 British spy thriller film directed by Andre de Toth and starring Jack Hawkins, Gia Scala, Erik Schumann, Donald Pleasence and Alexander Knox. The film, which has elements of film noir and is set in the Second World War, was based on a story by J. Alvin Kugelmass called ''Britain's Two-Headed Spy'' and is notable for having been scripted by blacklisted writers. Plot In 1939, Alex Schottland, a colonel in charge of supplies in the German Army, is a long-entrenched British agent planted toward the end of the First World War. He is growing weary of being a spy, but is urged to continue by his friend and fellow British agent, Cornaz, who is posing as an antique dealer. In 1941 Schottland passes on information that Germany is about to invade the Soviet Union. Captain Reinisch, a Gestapo agent and Schottland's suspicious aide, discovers that Schottland has changed his original name and is of British ancestry. However, his superiors already know about ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andre De Toth
Endre Antal Miksa de Toth, known as Andre de Toth (; May 15, 1913 – October 27, 2002), was a Hungarian-American film director, born and raised in Makó, Austria-Hungary. He directed the 3D film House of Wax (1953 film), ''House of Wax'' (1953), despite being unable to see in 3D himself, having lost an eye at an early age. Upon naturalization as a United States citizen in 1945, he took "Endre Antal Miksa de Toth" as his legal name. Early life Born in 1913 as Sasvári farkasfalvi tóthfalusi Tóth Endre Antal Mihály, de Toth earned a degree in law from the Eötvös Loránd University, Royal Hungarian Pázmány Péter Science's University in Budapest in the early 1930s. He garnered acclaim for plays written as a college student, acquiring the mentorship of Ferenc Molnár and becoming part of the theater scene in Budapest. Career De Toth moved on from there to the film industry and worked as a writer, assistant director, editor and sometime actor. In 1939, just before World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Army (1935–1945)
The German Army (, ; ) was the Army, land forces component of the ''Wehrmacht'', the regular armed forces of Nazi Germany, from 1935 until it effectively ceased to exist in 1945 and then was formally dissolved in August 1946. During World War II, a total of about 13.6 million Wehrmacht foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts served in the German Army. Only 17 months after Adolf Hitler announced the German rearmament programme in 1935, the army reached its projected goal of 36 Division (military), divisions. During the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938 four additional corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Armed Forces, Austrian Army after the Anschluss, annexation of Austria by Germany in March. During the period of its expansion under Hitler, the German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I, combining ground and air units into combined arms forces. Coupled with operational and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenneth Griffith
Kenneth Griffith (born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths, 12 October 1921 – 25 June 2006) was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure, especially when presenting documentaries which have been called "among the most brilliant, and controversial, ever made in Britain". Early life He was born Kenneth Griffiths in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. His parents separated and left Tenby six months after his birth, leaving him with his paternal grandparents, Emily and Ernest, who adopted him. His grandparents were staunch Wesleyan Methodists who taught him to question everything; he attended the local Wesleyan Methodist chapel three times every Sunday, and became a lively rugby union scrum-half. He passed the 11-plus and attended Greenhill Grammar School in Tenby, where he met English literature teacher Evelyn Ward, who recognised his writing and acting talent. Before Kenneth left school, his headmaster J. T. Griffith suggested that he dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Bayldon
Albert Geoffrey Bayldon (7 January 1924 – 10 May 2017) was an English actor. After playing roles in many stage productions, including the works of William Shakespeare, he became known for portraying the title role of the children's series '' Catweazle'' (1969–70). Bayldon's other long-running parts include the Crowman in '' Worzel Gummidge'' (1979–81) and Magic Grandad in the BBC television series ''Watch'' (1995). Early life Bayldon was born 7 January 1924 in Leeds and attended Bridlington School and Hull College of Architecture. Following service in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he appeared in amateur theatricals and then trained at the Old Vic Theatre School. Career Bayldon enjoyed a substantial stage career, including work in the West End and for the RSC. He made several film appearances in the 1960s and 1970s, including '' King Rat'' (1965), '' To Sir, with Love'' (1967), '' Casino Royale'' (as Q) (1967), the Envy segment of '' The Magnificent Seven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Naismith
Laurence Naismith (born Lawrence Johnson; 14 December 1908 – 5 June 1992) was an English actor. He made numerous film and television appearances, including starring roles in the musical films '' Scrooge'' (1970) and the children's ghost film '' The Amazing Mr. Blunden'' (1972). He also had memorable roles as Captain Edward Smith of the RMS ''Titanic'' in '' A Night to Remember'' (1958), the First Sea Lord in '' Sink the Bismarck!'' (1960), and Argus in '' Jason and the Argonauts'' (1963). Early life and career Naismith was born as Lawrence Johnson on 14 December 1908 in Thames Ditton, Surrey. He attended All Saints Choir School, Margaret Street, London, and was a chorus member for a 1927 production of the George Gershwin musical '' Oh, Kay!.'' He later worked in repertory theatre and ran a repertory company of his own. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Underdown
Charles Edward Underdown (3 December 190815 December 1989) was an English theatre, cinema and television actor. Early Life Underdown was the son of Harry Charles Baillie Underdown and Rachel Elizabeth Orr. Born in London, he was educated at Eton College. There his looks resulted in him being nominated 'Pop Bitch' – the prettiest boy available to the senior students of Pop, the Eton Society. Notable work Underdown's early theatre credits include: Noël Coward's '' Words and Music'' and '' Tonight at 8.30''; Cole Porter's '' Nymph Errant''; Moss Hart & Irving Berlin's '' Stop Press''; and ''Streamline''.University of Bristol Theatre Collection Database (2011). at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/theatrecollection, accessed 26 September 2011. His film credits include: '' They Were Not Divided'', '' Beat the Devil'', '' Wings of the Morning'', '' The Rainbow Jacket'', '' The Woman's Angle'', '' Her Panelled Door'', '' The Camp on Blood Island'', '' Dr. Terror's House of Horrors'', '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a admiral (Germany), German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military intelligence, military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Canaris turned against Hitler and committed acts of both passive and active resistance during World War II following the Invasion of Poland, German invasion of Poland in 1939. Being the head of Nazi Germany, Nazi Germany's military-intelligence agency, he was in a key position to participate in resistance and sabotage the Nazi war effort. As the war turned against Germany, Canaris and other military officers expanded their German resistance to Nazism, clandestine opposition to the leadership of Nazi Germany. By 1945, his acts of resistance and sabotage against the Nazi regime came to light and Canaris was hanged in Flossenbürg concentration camp for high treason as the Allied forces advanced through Southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Hudd
Walter Hudd (20 February 1897 – 20 January 1963) was a British actor and director. Stage career Hudd made his stage debut in ''The Manxman'' in 1919, and later toured as part of the Fred Terry Company; first attracting serious attention playing Guildenstern in a 1925 modern dress ''Hamlet''. He also later directed plays at Stratford-on-Avon, including ''Richard II'', ''Twelfth Night'' (also appearing as Malvolio) and '' Doctor Faustus'' (all 1947). His West End appearances included ''The Way Things Happen'' (Ambassadors Theatre 1923), '' The Ghost Train'' (Prince of Wales Theatre 1925), ''The Grain of Mustard Seed'' (Ambassadors Theatre 1930), '' Mile Away Murder'' (Duchess Theatre 1937), ''Geneva'' (Saville Theatre 1938), '' Thunder Rock'' (St Martin's Theatre 1941), '' A Month in the Country'' (New Theatre 1949), ''The Waltz of the Toreadors'' (Criterion Theatre 1956) and '' The Potting Shed'' (Globe Theatre 1958). He made his sole Broadway appearance in the Theatre Gui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Aylmer
Sir Felix Edward Aylmer Jones (21 February 1889 – 2 September 1979) was an English stage actor who also appeared in the cinema and on television. Aylmer made appearances in films with comedians such as Will Hay and George Formby. Early life Felix Edward Aylmer Jones was born in Corsham, Wiltshire, the second of six children (five sons and a daughter) of Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Aylmer Jones, of the Royal Engineers, and his wife Lilian, née Cookworthy. He was educated at King James's Grammar School, Almondbury, near Huddersfield, where he was a boarder from 1897 to 1900, Magdalen College School, and Exeter College, Oxford, where he was a member of Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS). He trained under the Victorian-era actress and director Rosina Filippi before securing his first professional engagement at the London Coliseum in 1911. He appeared in the world premiere of '' The Farmer's Wife'' by Eden Phillpotts at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1917. Bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during the World War II, Second World War, taking place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The offensive was intended to stop Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to Encirclement, encircle and destroy each of the four Allied armies and force the western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favor. The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence based on the favorable defensive terrain and faulty intelligence about Wehrmacht intentions, poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era, major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a brief period under Heinrich Himmler, Kaltenbrunner was the third Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), which included the offices of Gestapo, Kripo and SD, from January 1943 until the end of World War II in Europe. Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and the SS in 1931, and by 1935 he was considered a leader of the Austrian SS. In 1938, he assisted in the ''Anschluss'' and was given command of the SS and police force in Austria. In January 1943, Kaltenbrunner was appointed chief of the RSHA, succeeding Reinhard Heydrich, who was assassinated in May 1942. A committed antisemite, Kaltenbrunner played a pivotal role in orchestrating the Holocaust and Nazi genocide intensified under his leadership. He oversaw the coordin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oberkommando Der Wehrmacht
The (; abbreviated OKW [oː kaːˈve] Armed Forces High Command) was the Command (military formation), supreme military command and control Staff (military), staff of Nazi Germany during World War II, that was directly subordinated to Adolf Hitler. Created in 1938, the OKW replaced the Ministry of the Reichswehr, Reich Ministry of War and had nominal oversight over the individual high commands of the Wehrmacht, country's armed forces: the army (), navy () and air force (). With the start of World War II, tactical control of the Waffen-SS was also exercised by it. There was no direct chain of command between the OKW and the other High Commands. Rivalry with the different services' commands, mainly with the Oberkommando des Heeres, Army High Command (OKH), prevented the OKW from becoming a unified German General Staff in an effective command hierarchy, chain of command, though it did help coordinate operations among the three services. During the war, the OKW acquired more and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
