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1963 In Film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events, including the big-budget epic '' Cleopatra'' and two films with all-star casts, '' How the West Was Won'' and ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World''. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1963 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 9 – Joseph Vogel resigns as president of MGM and is replaced by Robert O'Brien. * February 20 – The classic epic western '' How the West Was Won'' premieres in the United States. It is an instant success with both audiences and critics and becomes the biggest moneymaker for MGM since '' Ben-Hur''. * June 12 – '' Cleopatra'', starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton, premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Its staggering production costs nearly bankrupted Twentieth Century Fox and the adulterous affair between Taylor and Burton made the publicity even worse. ''Cleopatra'' marked the only instance that a film would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleopatra (1963 Film)
''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American epic historical drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Appian. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role. Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Landau are featured in supporting roles. It chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra, the young queen of Egypt, to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome. Walter Wanger had long contemplated producing a biographical film about Cleopatra. In 1958, his production company partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to produce the film. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million. Rouben Mamoulian was hired as director, and the script underwent numerous revisions from Nigel Balchin, Dale W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Come Blow Your Horn (film)
''Come Blow Your Horn'' is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Bud Yorkin from a screenplay by Norman Lear, based on the 1961 play of the same name by Neil Simon. The film stars Frank Sinatra, Lee J. Cobb, Molly Picon, Barbara Rush, and Jill St. John. Plot Buddy Baker is bored living with his parents. He goes to the big-city apartment of older brother Alan, who works for their father's artificial-fruit company but never lets business interfere with a good time. A confirmed bachelor, Alan is all too willing to teach his younger brother a few tricks, improve his wardrobe, even introduce him to Peggy, a girl with an apartment upstairs. Alan's steadiest companion is Connie, but even she's running out of patience with his lack of interest in settling down. A jealous husband accuses Alan of running around with his wife and beats him up. Alan begins rethinking his life. He proposes marriage to Connie and then intervenes when he hears that his own parents are contemplating a divorc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Letter To Three Wives
''A Letter to Three Wives'' is a 1949 American romantic comedy-drama which tells the story of a woman who mails a letter to three women, telling them she has left town with the husband of one of them, but not saying which one. It stars Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Paul Douglas (in his film debut), Kirk Douglas, and Jeffrey Lynn. Thelma Ritter as "Sadie" and Celeste Holm (the voice of "Addie Ross", the unseen woman who wrote the letter) are both uncredited. The film was adapted by Vera Caspary and written for the screen by Joseph L. Mankiewicz from '' A Letter to Five Wives'', a story by John Klempner that appeared in ''Cosmopolitan'', based on a 1945 novel by Klempner. It was directed by Mankiewicz, who directed ''All About Eve'' the following year. The film won the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture. Plot Just as they are about to take a group of underprivileged children on a river ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph L
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic countries. In Portuguese and Spanish, the name is "José". In Arabic, including in the Quran, the name is spelled '' Yūsuf''. In Persian, the name is "Yousef". The name has enjoyed significant popularity in its many forms in numerous countries, and ''Joseph'' was one of the two names, along with ''Robert'', to have remained in the top 10 boys' names list in the US from 1925 to 1972. It is especially common in contemporary Israel, as either "Yossi" or "Yossef", and in Italy, where the name "Giuseppe" was the most common male name in the 20th century. In the first century CE, Joseph was the second most popular male name for Palestine Jews. In the Book of Genesis Joseph is Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first son, and k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Box Office Bombs
In the film and media industry, if a film released in theatres fails to break even by a large amount, it is considered a box office bomb (or box office flop), thus losing money for the distributor, studio, and/or production company that invested in it. Due to the secrecy surrounding costs and profit margins in the film industry, figures of losses are usually rough estimates at best, and there are often conflicting estimates over how much a film has lost. To accommodate this uncertainty, the losses are presented as ranges where this is the case, and the list is ordered alphabetically in the absence of a definitive order. Because the films on the list have been released over a large span of time, currency inflation is a material factor, so losses are adjusted for inflation using the United States Consumer Price Index to enable comparison at equivalent purchasing power. Some films on this list grossed more than their production budgets yet are still regarded as flops. This can be d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twentieth Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by 20th Century Studios and Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (Buena Vista Home Entertainment) distributes the films produced by 20th Century Studios in home media under the 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment banner. For over 80 years – beginning with its founding in 1935 and ending in 2019 (when it became part of Walt Disney Studios), 20th Century Fox was one of the then Major film studio, "Big Six" major American film studios. It was formed in 1935 from the merger of the Fox Film, Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures and was originally known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable performance of Hamlet in 1964. He was called "the natural successor to Olivier" by critic Kenneth Tynan. A heavy drinker, Burton's perceived failure to live up to those expectations disappointed some critics and colleagues and added to his image as a great performer who had wasted his talent. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. Burton was nominated for an Academy Award seven times, but never won an Oscar. He was a recipient of BAFTAs, Golden Globes, and Tony Awards for Best Actor. In the mid-1960s, Burton ascended into the ranks of the top box office stars. By the late 1960s, Burton was one of the highest-paid actors in the world, receiving fees of $1 million or more plus a share of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what was his breakthrough role. He won his first Tony Award for his performance as Henry VIII in the play ''Anne of the Thousand Days'' in 1949. He won his second Tony for the role of Professor Henry Higgins in the stage production of ''My Fair Lady'' in 1957. In addition to his stage career, Harrison also appeared in numerous films. His first starring role was opposite Vivien Leigh in the romantic comedy '' Storm in a Teacup'' (1937). Receiving critical acclaim for his performance in ''Major Barbara'' (1941), which was shot in London during the Blitz, his roles since then included '' Blithe Spirit'' (1945), '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946), ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' (1947), ''Cleopatra'' (1963), ''My Fair Lady'' (1964), reprising his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world's highest paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh- greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema. Born in London to socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the Universal Pictures film ''There's One Born Every Minute'' (1942), but the studio ended her contract after a year. She was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became a popular teen star after appearing in ''National Velvet'' (1944). She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s, when she starred in the comedy ''Father of the Bride'' (195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben-Hur (1959 Film)
''Ben-Hur'' is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. A remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title, it was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ''. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg, but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. ''Ben-Hur'' had the largest budget ($15.175 million), as well as the largest sets built, of any film produced at the time. Costume designer Elizabeth Haffenden oversaw a staff of 100 wardrobe fabricators to make the costumes, and a workshop employing 200 artists and workmen provided the hundreds of friezes and statues needed in the film. Filming commenced on May 18, 1958, and wrapped on January 7, 1959, with shooting lasting for 12 to 14 hours a day and six days a week. Pre-production began in Italy at Cinecittà around October 1957, and post-produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert O'Brien (executive)
Robert H. O'Brien (1907–1997) was a businessman and Hollywood executive who was president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the 1960s. He took over the position in the wake of the debacle of ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1962). Under O'Brien's regime, in partnership with head of production Robert M. Weitman, MGM produced its last run of classic films, including ''Dr Zhivago'' (1965), ''The Dirty Dozen'' (1967) and '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968). A series of flop films such as ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' and ''Ice Station Zebra ''Ice Station Zebra'' is a 1968 American espionage thriller film directed by John Sturges and starring Rock Hudson, Patrick McGoohan, Ernest Borgnine, and Jim Brown. The screenplay is by Alistair MacLean, Douglas Heyes, Harry Julian Fink, and W ...'' saw him removed from his position as president in 1969. He was replaced by Louis F. Polk Jr. and was instead appointed chairman. In May 1969 as MGM was headed towards a $6 million loss for the first half of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Vogel (executive)
Joseph Richard Vogel (September 7, 1895 – March 1, 1969) was an American executive best known for his stint at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including a reign as president from 1956–63. Biography Vogel was born in New York and attended Townsend Harris High School. He started working part-time as an usher at the Loew's Palace Theatre in Brownsville, Brooklyn and at age 18 was appointed manager of the Fulton Theatre for Loew's. He became the manager of Loew's State Theatre in New York City when it opened in August 1921. He worked his way up Loew's Theatres and by 1934 was in charge of all their theatres outside New York. In 1939 he became a director of Loew's Inc. and by 1945 became director for all their theatres. In 1954 following a government decree separating Loew's production and distribution actives from the exhibition company, Vogel was elected president of Loew's Theatres Inc. MGM presidency In October 1956 Vogel replaced Arthur M. Loew, son of founder Marcus Loew, as pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
