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Untamed (1929 Film)
''Untamed'' is a 1929 American pre-Code Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic drama film directed by Jack Conway and starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, Ernest Torrence, Holmes Herbert, Gwen Lee, and Lloyd Ingraham. The script was adapted by Sylvia Thalberg and Frank Butler, with dialogue by Willard Mack, from a story by Charles E. Scoggins. Made during MGM's transition from silent to sound movies, ''Untamed'' was Crawford's first non-musical talkie. It was the first role as a leading man for Montgomery, who made several silents before this film. Plot An oil prospector, Henry "Hank" Dowling (Lloyd Ingraham), has raised his free-spirited daughter, Alice "Bingo" Dowling (Joan Crawford), in the jungle of South America. He asks his friend, Ben Murchison ( Ernest Torrence), to come work with him on oil wells that have made him rich. Just as Ben arrives with his friend, Howard Presley ( Holmes Herbert), Hank is killed by a transient oil worker who has designs on Bingo. At a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Conway (film-maker)
Hugh Ryan "Jack" Conway (July 17, 1886 – October 11, 1952) was an American film director and film producer, as well as an actor of many films in the first half of the 20th century. Conway and director Edmund Goulding share the distinction of directing the most Best Picture-nominated films without ever being nominated for Best Director, with three apiece. Conway's nominated films were ''Viva Villa!'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', and ''Libeled Lady''. Conway was one of a team of MGM contract directors, who forsook any pretense to a specific individual style in favor of working within the strictures set forth by studio management. A thoroughly competent craftsman, he delivered commercially successful entertainment, on time, and within budget. Early life and career Conway was born as Hugh Ryan Conway, on July 17, 1886, in Graceville, Minnesota, USA. Conway started out as an actor, joining a repertory theater group straight out of high school. He then moved into films, and in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silent Film
A silent film is a film without 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 inter- 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, which existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in larger cities, an orchestra—would 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] |
Arthur Freed
Arthur Freed (September 9, 1894 – April 12, 1973) was an American lyricist and a Hollywood film producer. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, in 1951 for ''An American in Paris'' and in 1958 for '' Gigi''. Both films were musicals, and both were directed by Vincente Minnelli. In addition, he produced the film '' Singin' in the Rain'', the soundtrack for which primarily consisted of songs he co-wrote earlier in his career. In the decades following his death, Freed has become the subject of several sexual harassment allegations, most notably from actress Shirley Temple and actress and dancer Barrie Chase. Early life Freed was born to a Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina, and wrote poetry while a high schooler at Phillips Exeter Academy. After graduating in 1914, he began his career as a song-plugger and pianist in Chicago. After meeting Minnie Marx, he sang as part of the act of her sons, the Marx Brothers, on the vaudeville circuit, and also wrote mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nacio Herb Brown
Ignacio Herbert "Nacio Herb" Brown (February 22, 1896 – September 28, 1964) was an American composer of popular songs, movie scores and Broadway theatre music in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Amongst his most enduring work is the score for the 1952 musical film '' Singin' in the Rain''. Life and career Ignacio Herbert Brown was born in Deming, New Mexico, United States, to Ignacio and Cora Brown.1900 United States Federal Census He had an older sister, Charlotte. In 1901, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Manual Arts High School. His music education started with instruction from his mother, Cora Alice (Hopkins) Brown. Brown first operated a tailoring business (1916), and then became a financially successful realtor, but he always wrote and played music. After his first hit "Coral Sea" (1920) and a first big hit, "When Buddha Smiles" (1921), he eventually became a full-time composer. He joined The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publisher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Alter
Louis Alter (June 18, 1902 РNovember 3, 1980) was an American pianist, songwriter and composer. At 13, he began playing piano in theaters showing silent films. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Stuart Mason. Biography He was born on June 18, 1902, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Alter played in vaudeville houses as the accompanist for the headliners Ir̬ne Bordoni and Nora Bayes. He appeared with Bayes from 1924 until her death in 1928, touring the United States and abroad. Since he had previously written some songs for Broadway shows, Alter decided to concentrate on songwriting after her death. His first hit was " Manhattan Serenade" (1929), originally an instrumental that later became the theme music of the '' Easy Aces'' radio program. There are numerous recordings of "Manhattan Serenade" and it was featured prominently in Nancy Groce's book, ''New York: Songs of the City'' (Watson-Guptill, 1999). Alter recalled, "I was a great fan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theme Music
Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at some point during the program. The purpose of a theme song is often similar to that of a leitmotif. The phrase theme song or signature tune may also be used to refer to a signature song that has become especially associated with a particular performer or dignitary, often used as they make an entrance. Purpose From the 1950s onwards, theme music, and especially theme songs also became a valuable source of additional revenue for Hollywood film studios, many of which launched their own recording arms. This period saw the beginning of more methodical cross-promotion of music and movies. One of the first big successes, which proved very influential, was the theme song for ''High Noon'' (1952). Types Television Theme music has been a featur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brooklyn Eagle
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''Kings County Democrat'', later ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' before shortening title further to ''Brooklyn Eagle'') was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city and later borough of Brooklyn, in New York City, for 114 years from 1841 to 1955. At one point, the publication was the afternoon paper with the largest daily circulation in the United States. Walt Whitman, the 19th-century poet, was its editor for two years. Other notable editors of the ''Eagle'' included Democratic Party political figure Thomas Kinsella, seminal folklorist Charles Montgomery Skinner, St. Clair McKelway (editor-in-chief from 1894 to 1915 and a great-uncle of the ''New Yorker'' journalist), Arthur M. Howe (a prominent Canadian American who served as editor-in-chief from 1915 to 1931 and as a member of the Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board from 1920 to 1946) and Cleveland Rodgers (an authority on Whitman and close friend o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.Mordaunt Hall, Wrote of Screen , ''New York Times'', July 4, 1973, p. 18. His writing style was described in his ''Times'' obituary as "chatty, irreverent, and not particularly analytical. ��The interest of other critics in analyzing cinematographic techniques was not for him." Biography Born Frederick William Mordaunt Hall in |
Wilson Benge
George Frederick "Wilson" Benge (1 March 1875 – 1 July 1955) was an English actor who mostly featured in American films from the silent days. He appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1955. Along with actors Charles Coleman and Robert Greig, Benge was heavily typecast as butler or valet and was one of Hollywood's most familiar manservants in the 1930s and 1940s. He also appeared in several Laurel and Hardy comedies. He worked in films until his death. Selected filmography * ''Robin Hood'' (1922) * '' Alias Mary Flynn'' (1925) * '' Without Mercy'' (1925) * '' The Road to Yesterday'' (1925) * '' A Trip to Chinatown'' (1926) * '' The Clinging Vine'' (1926) * '' The Midnight Message'' (1926) * '' Fast and Furious'' (1927) * '' Do Detectives Think?'' (1927) * '' The Lone Eagle'' (1927) * '' The Battle of the Century'' (1927) * '' Alias the Deacon'' (1928) * '' That's My Daddy'' (1928) * '' You're Darn Tootin''' (1928) * '' A Gentleman Preferred'' (1928) * ''The Rush H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gertrude Astor
Gertrude Astor (born Gertrude Irene Eyster; November 9, 1887 – November 9, 1977) was an American motion picture character actress, who began her career playing trombone in a woman's band. Early years Astor was born on November 9, 1887, in Lakewood, Ohio. Her father was Glen Eyster, an assistant fire chief in Lima, Ohio. Career Astor joined a woman's band as a trombone player and toured the states. In New York she left the band to obtain film work and got a job as an extra before her career took off. In 1915, Astor gained a contract with Universal Studios. Between then and 1962, she appeared in over 250 movies. Her first known credit is in a Biograph short in 1915. She then became a contract player at Universal. A tall, angular and beautiful woman, Astor frequently towered over the leading men of the era; thus, she was frequently utilized in comedy roles as aristocrats, gold-diggers, and "heroine's best pal". Her best-known silent appearances were as the visiting st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Nugent
Edward James Nugent (February 7, 1904 – January 3, 1995) was an American film and stage actor. Biography Nugent was born on February 7, 1904, and acted in films between 1928 and 1937. When Nugent was a boy, he sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He performed in vaudeville before he began acting in Hollywood. He also acted on radio. He has no known relation to actor/writer Elliott Nugent or his father J. C. Nugent though he may have acted with them. Selected filmography * '' The Man in Hobbles'' (1928) - Jake Harris *'' Our Dancing Daughters'' (1928) - Freddie *'' A Single Man'' (1929) - Dickie *''The Flying Fleet'' (1929) - Midshipman Dizzy (uncredited) *'' The Bellamy Trial'' (1929) - Reporter *'' The Duke Steps Out'' (1929) - Tommy Wells *'' The Girl in the Show'' (1929) - Dave Amazon *'' Our Modern Maidens'' (1929) - Reg *'' Untamed'' (1929) - Paul *'' The Vagabond Lover'' (1929) - Sport *'' Loose Ankles'' (1930) - Andy Martin *'' Clancy in Wall Street'' (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Miljan
John Miljan (November 9, 1892 – January 24, 1960) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1924 and 1958. Biography Born in 1892, Miljan was the tall, smooth-talking villain in Hollywood films for almost four decades, beginning in 1923. This kind of smooth villainy was made famous by more established actors like Ward Crane and Miljan continued in the mold after Crane's death in 1928. Miljan made his first sound film in 1927 in the promotional trailer for ''The Jazz Singer'', inviting audiences to see the upcoming landmark film. In later years he played imposing, authoritative parts such as high-ranking executives and military officers. He is best remembered as General Custer in Cecil B. DeMille's film ''The Plainsman''. DeMille also cast him in two notable supporting roles in two of his biblical epics: the Tribe of Dan, Danite elder Lesh Lakish in ''Samson and Delilah (1949 film), Samson and Delilah'' (1949), and the blind Israelite grandfather in T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
