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At The Circus
''At the Circus'' is a 1939 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers ( Groucho, Harpo and Chico) released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they help save a circus from bankruptcy. The film contains Groucho Marx's classic rendition of " Lydia the Tattooed Lady". The supporting cast includes Florence Rice, Kenny Baker, Margaret Dumont, and Eve Arden. The songs, including "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", "Two Blind Loves", and "Step Up and Take a Bow", were written by the team of Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg, who'd recently furnished the songs for another MGM film that same year, ''The Wizard of Oz''. Plot Goliath, the circus strongman and the midget, Little Professor Atom, both employed by Wilson's Wonder Circus, are accomplices of bad guy John Carter who is trying to take over the circus from its owner Jeff Wilson. Julie Randall, Jeff's girlfriend, performs a horse act in the circus. Jeff has hidden $10,000 in cash, which he owes to Carter, in the cage of Gibraltar the gorilla. Whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Buzzell
Edward Buzzell (November 13, 1895 – January 11, 1985) was an American film actor and director whose credits include ''Child of Manhattan (film), Child of Manhattan'' (1933); ''Honolulu (1939 film), Honolulu'' (1939); the Marx Brothers films ''At the Circus'' (1939) and ''Go West (1940 film), Go West'' (1940); the musicals ''Best Foot Forward (1943 film), Best Foot Forward'' (1943), ''Song of the Thin Man'' (1947), and ''Neptune's Daughter (1949 film), Neptune's Daughter'' (1949); and ''Easy to Wed'' (1946). Born in Brooklyn, Buzzell appeared in vaudeville and on Broadway, and he was hired to star in the 1929 film version of George M. Cohan's ''Little Johnny Jones'' with Alice Day. Buzzell appeared in a few Vitaphone shorts and the two-strip Technicolor short ''The Devil's Cabaret'' (1930) as Satan's assistant. He wrote screenplays in the early 1930s and later produced the popular ''The Milton Berle Show'', which premiered on television in 1948. In 1926, Buzzell married ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus (performing Art)
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term "circus" also describes the field of performance, training, and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus. In 1768, Astley, a skilled equestrian, began performing exhibitions of trick horse riding in an open field called Ha'penny Hatch on the south side of the Thames River, England. In 1770, he hired acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers, and a clown to fill in the pauses between the equestrian demonstrations and thus chanced on the format which was later named a "circus". Performances develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Burke (actor)
James Michael Burke (September 24, 1886 – May 23, 1968) was an Irish-American film and television character actor born in New York City."New York, New York City Births, 1846-1909", FHL microfilm 1,322,214; New York Municipal Archives, Manhattan, New York, N.Y. FamilySearch. Retrieved February 20, 2019. Career Burke made his stage debut in New York around 1912 and went to Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood in 1933. He made over 200 film appearances during his career between 1932 and 1964, some of them uncredited. He was often cast as a police officer, usually a none-too-bright one, such as his role as Sergeant Velie in Columbia Pictures' Ellery Queen crime dramas in the early 1940s. Burke can also be seen in ''At The Circus'', ''The Maltese Falcon (1941 film), The Maltese Falcon'', ''Lone Star (1952 film), Lone Star'', and many other films. One of his memorable roles is his portrayal of a rowdy rancher in the 1935 comedy ''Ruggles of Red Gap''. In the early 1950s, Burke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Feld
Fritz Feld (October 15, 1900 – November 18, 1993) was a German-American film character actor who appeared in over 140 films in 72 years, both silent and sound. His trademark was to slap his mouth with the palm of his hand to create a "pop" sound. Early life and career Born to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany, Feld began his acting career in Germany in 1917, making his screen debut in ''Der Golem und die Tänzerin'' ('' The Golem and the Dancing Girl''). His early career in the United States included touring with Morris Gest's production of ''The Miracle'' in the mid-1920s. Feld filmed the sound sequences of the Cecil B. DeMille film '' The Godless Girl'' (1929), released by Pathé, without DeMille's supervision, since DeMille had already broken his contract with Pathé, and signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nat Pendleton
Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (August 9, 1895 – October 12, 1967) was an American Olympic wrestler, film actor, and stage performer. His younger brother, Edmund J. Pendleton (1899–1987), was a well-known music composer and choir master and organist for the American Church in Paris. Early life Nat Pendleton was born as Nathaniel Greene Pendleton in 1895 in Davenport, Iowa to Adelaide Elizabeth (née Johnson) Pendleton (1873–1960) and Nathaniel Greene Pendleton (1861–1914), an attorney, who was reportedly a descendant of American Revolutionary general Nathanael Greene."Nat Pendleton, Movie Character Actor, Dies", ''Los Angeles Times'', October 13, 1967, section II, p. 8. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. By March 1899, the Pendletons had moved to Cincinnati, and then later to New York. Nat went to Brooklyn's Poly Prep High School. Nat studied at Columbia University, graduating in 1916. Pendleton spoke four languages, received an economics degree, and, in 2006, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenny Baker (singer/actor)
Kenneth Laurence Baker (September 30, 1912 – August 10, 1985) was an American singer and actor who first gained notice as the featured singer on radio's ''The Jack Benny Program'' during the 1930s. Film Before he became a star, Baker sang as a member of the Vitaphone chorus at Warner Bros. At the height of his radio fame, and after leaving the Benny show in 1939 (succeeded by Dennis Day, whose tenor voice was very similar to Baker's), he appeared in 17 film musicals, including '' Mr. Dodd Takes the Air'' (1937), ''At the Circus'' (1939), and ''The Harvey Girls'' (1946). He also starred in the 1939 movie version of Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Mikado''. He later co-starred with Mary Martin in the original Broadway production of Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash's ''One Touch of Venus'' (1943). Radio Baker first appeared on Jack Benny's weekly radio program on November 3, 1935, having been hired to replace singer Frank Parker. Parker had been very popular on the Benny program, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS Normandie
SS ''Normandie'' was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line ''Compagnie Générale Transatlantique'' (CGT). She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, transatlantic crossing, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days, and remains the most powerful steam Turbo-electric transmission, turbo-electric-propelled passenger ship ever built. ''Normandie''s novel design and lavish interiors led many to consider her the greatest of ocean liners.''Floating Palaces.'' (1996) A&E. TV Documentary. Narrated by Fritz Weaver Despite this, she was not a commercial success and relied partly on government subsidy to operate. During service as the flagship of the CGT, she made 139 westbound transatlantic crossings from her home port of Le Havre to New York City. ''Normandie'' held the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing at several points during her service career, during which was her main rival. During the World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circus Train
A circus train is a method of travel for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1907. History United States Circuses in the United States began traveling by rail in the 1830s, but railroad circuses were smaller in scale than their wagon-drawn counterparts. The logistics of operating a railroad circus in the mid-19th century were complex and difficult: track gauges differed across the country, financing had to be secured to pay train crews up front, and loading and unloading railcars was a time-consuming, laborious process. In comparison, circuses that traveled by horse-drawn wagon could transport their wagons directly to showgrounds. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 marked a major milestone in the development of the American railroad, and with it the American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midget
Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with dwarfism, a medical condition with a number of causes, most often achondroplasia), ''midget'' long described anyone, or indeed any animal, exhibiting proportionate dwarfism. The word has a history of association with the Performance art, performance arts, as dwarfism, little people were often employed by acts in the circus, professional wrestling and vaudeville. The term may also refer to anything of much smaller than normal size, as a synonym for "miniature" or "mini", such as midget cell, midget crabapple, midget flowerpecker, midget submarine, MG Midget, Daihatsu Midget, and the Midget Mustang airplane; or to anything that regularly uses anything that is smaller than normal (other than a person), such as midget car racing and Quarter Mid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strongman (circus)
Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits. In modern strongman, athletes compete to score points based on their relative position in an event. An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'. They are often regarded as some of the strongest men of the world. Etymology Many sources state that strongman is a man who performs remarkable feats possessing enormous amounts of strength. In the 19th century, the term 'strongman' was referred to an exhibitor of strength during circus performances. History Modern strongman generally credits its origins to circus strongmen who became popular in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the first half of the 20th century, strongmen performed various feats of strength such as the bent press (not to be confused with th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wizard Of Oz (1939 Film)
''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left production to take over the troubled ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind''. It stars Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, and Margaret Hamilton (actress), Margaret Hamilton. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, while others made uncredited contributions. The music was composed by Harold Arlen and adapted by Herbert Stothart, with lyrics by Yip Harburg, Edgar "Yip" Harburg. ''The Wizard of Oz'' is celebrated for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical score, and memorable characters. It was a critical success and was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture, winning Academy Awa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yip Harburg
Edgar Yipsel Harburg (born Isidore Hochberg; April 8, 1896 – March 5, 1981) was an American popular song lyricist and librettist who worked with many well-known composers. He wrote the lyrics to the standards " Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" (with Jay Gorney), " April in Paris", and "It's Only a Paper Moon", as well as all of the songs for the film '' The Wizard of Oz'', including " Over the Rainbow". He was known for the social commentary of his lyrics, as well as his leftist leanings. He championed racial, sexual and gender equality and union politics. He also was an ardent critic of high society and religion. Early life and career Harburg, the youngest of four surviving children (out of ten), was born Isidore Hochberg on the Lower East Side of New York City on April 8, 1896.Yip Harburg: Biography from Answers.com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
