|
AVCO Embassy Pictures
Embassy Pictures Corporation (also and later known as Avco Embassy Pictures as well as Embassy Films Associates) was an American independent film production and distribution studio responsible for such films as ''The Graduate'', '' The Producers'', ''The Fog'', ''The Howling'', ''Escape from New York'', and ''This Is Spinal Tap''. History Founding The company was formed in 1942 by Joseph E. Levine, initially to distribute foreign films in the United States. The company entered film production in 1945, co-producing with Maxwell Finn the documentary ''Gaslight Follies'', a compilation of silent film clips narrated by Ben Grauer. Success Embassy found success in 1956 bringing the Japanese film ''Godzilla'' to the American general public (in a re-edited version), acquiring the rights for $12,000 and spending $400,000 promoting it under the title ''Godzilla, King of the Monsters!'', and earning $1 million in theatrical rentals. They then made a $100,000 deal to bring the French- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG) was an entertainment production company and distribution studio founded by Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis. The company is notable for producing '' Manhunter'', '' Blue Velvet'', the horror films ''Near Dark'' and ''Evil Dead II'', ''King Kong Lives'' (the sequel to De Laurentiis' remake of ''King Kong''), and ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'', as well as distributing '' The Transformers: The Movie''. The company's main studios were located in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is now EUE/Screen Gems Studios. The studio's first releases were in 1986. It went bankrupt two years later after '' Million Dollar Mystery'', among other films, failed at the box office. Carolco Pictures acquired DEG in 1989. History In 1983, Dino De Laurentiis produced '' Firestarter'' in Wilmington. The governor of North Carolina, Jim Hunt, claimed that the filming increased economic activity in the state. Hunt used incentives and loans to allow De Lauren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Is Spinal Tap
''This Is Spinal Tap'' (also known as ''This Is Spınal Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi'') is a 1984 American mockumentary film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer as members of the fictional British heavy metal music, heavy metal band Spinal Tap (band), Spinal Tap, one of England's "loudest bands", with Reiner as Martin "Marty" Di Bergi, a documentary filmmaker who follows them on their American tour. The film satire (film and television), satirizes the behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands and the Hagiography, hagiographic tendencies of Rockumentary, rock documentaries such as ''The Song Remains the Same (film), The Song Remains the Same'' (1976) and ''The Last Waltz'' (1978), and follows the similar ''All You Need Is Cash'' (1978) by the Rutles. Most of its dialogue was improvised and dozens of hours were filmed. ''This Is Spinal Tap'' was released to criti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titanus
Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome. Lombardo ran the studios until his death in 1951. His son, Goffredo Lombardo (1920–2005) and later his grandson, Guido Lombardo have continued to run the company. The company has been responsible for hundreds of Italian productions. Titanus made many peplum films and comedies featuring Totò and Franco and Ciccio. The film ''The Shortest Day'' was not only a parody of '' The Longest Day'' but featured a galaxy of stars who made the film to help the studio. The studio made numerous international co-productions with American (''Sodom and Gomorrah'', ''The Angel Wore Red'') and French (''Plein Soleil'') film studios. After the arrival of the French new wave films, Titanus launched a "youth operation", which gave young film artists a chan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hercules Unchained
''Hercules Unchained'' ( it, Ercole e la regina di Lidia , "Hercules and the Queen of Lydia") is a 1959 Italian-French epic fantasy feature film starring Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina in a story about two warring brothers and Hercules' tribulations in the court of Queen Omphale. The film is the sequel to the Reeves vehicle ''Hercules'' (1958) and marks Reeves' second – and last – appearance as Hercules. The film's screenplay, loosely based upon various Greek mythology and plays by Aeschylus and Sophocles, was written by Ennio De Concini and Pietro Francisci with Francisci directing and Bruno Vailati and Ferruccio De Martino producing the film. Plot While travelling, Hercules is asked to intervene in a quarrel between two brothers, Eteocles and Polynices, over who should rule Thebes. Before he can complete this task, Hercules drinks from a magic spring and is hypnotized by a harem girl who dances the "Dance of Shiva", loses his memory and becomes the captive of Queen Omphale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sword-and-sandal
Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum (pepla plural), is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as ''Samson and Delilah'' (1949), ''Quo Vadis'' (1951), ''The Robe'' (1953), ''The Ten Commandments'' (1956), '' Ben-Hur'' (1959), ''Spartacus'' (1960), and ''Cleopatra'' (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films. The term "peplum" (a Latin word referring to the Ancient Greek garment ''peplos''), was introduced by French film critics in the 1960s. The terms "peplum" and "sword-and-sandal" were used in a condescending way by film critics. Later, the terms were embraced by fans of the films, similar to the terms "spaghetti Western" or "shoot-'em-ups". In their English versions, peplum films ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sound Effects
A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditionally, in the twentieth century, they were created with Foley (filmmaking), foley. In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point ''without'' the use of dialogue or music. The term often refers to a process applied to a recording, without necessarily referring to the recording itself. In professional motion picture and television production, dialogue, music, and sound effects recordings are treated as separate elements. Dialogue and music recordings are never referred to as sound effects, even though the processes applied to such as reverberation or flanging effects, often are called "sound effects". This area and sound design have been slowl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production, often in concert with sound design, in which additional or supplementary recordings are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack. The process usually takes place on a dub stage. After sound editors edit and prepare all the necessary tracks—dialogue, automated dialogue replacement (ADR), effects, Foley, and music—the dubbing mixers proceed to balance all of the elements and record the finished soundtrack. Dubbing is sometimes confused with ADR, also known as "additional dialogue replacement", "automated dialogue recording" and "looping", in which the original actors re-record and synchronize audio segments. Outside the film industry, the term "dubbing" commonly refers to the replacement of the actor's voices with those of different performers speaking another language, which is called "revoicing" in the film industry. The te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The company is known for its film studio division the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, the Warner Animation Group, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Among its other assets, stands the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios. Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Ben Hardaway, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Reeves
Stephen Lester "Steve" Reeves (January 21, 1926 – May 1, 2000) was an American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist. He was famous in the mid-1950s as a movie star in Italian-made sword-and-sandal films, playing the protagonist as muscular characters such as Hercules, Goliath, and Sandokan. At the peak of his career, he was the highest-paid actor in Europe. Though best known for his portrayal of Hercules, he played the character only twice: in ''Hercules'' (1958), and in its 1959 sequel ''Hercules Unchained''. By 1960, Reeves was ranked as the number-one box-office draw in 25 countries around the world. Early life Born in Glasgow, Montana, in 1926, Reeves moved to California at age 10 with his mother Goldie Reeves after his father Lester Dell Reeves died in a farming accident. Reeves developed an interest in bodybuilding at Castlemont High School and trained at Ed Yarick's gym in Oakland, California. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hercules (1958 Film)
''Hercules'' ( it, Le Fatiche di Ercole, lit=The Labours of Hercules) is a 1958 Italian sword-and-sandal film based upon the Hercules and the Quest for the Golden Fleece myths. The film stars Steve Reeves as the titular hero and Sylva Koscina as his love interest Princess Iole. ''Hercules'' was directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Federico Teti. The film spawned a 1959 sequel, ''Hercules Unchained'' ( it, Ercole e la Regina di Lidia), that also starred Reeves and Koscina. ''Hercules'' made Reeves an international film star and effectively paved the way for the dozens of 1960s peplum (or "sword and sandal") films featuring bodybuilder actors as mythological heroes and gladiators battling monsters, despots, and evil queens. Plot Hercules is on the road to the court of King Pelias of Iolcus to tutor Pelias' son Prince Iphitus in the use of arms. Pelias' beautiful daughter Princess Iole updates Hercules on the history of her father's rise to power and the theft of the king ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attila (1954 Film)
''Attila'' ( it, Attila, il flagello di Dio; french: Attila fléau de Dieu) is a 1954 Italian-French co-production, directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti for Lux Film. Based on the life of Attila the Hun, it stars Anthony Quinn as Attila and Sophia Loren as Honoria, with French leading man, Henri Vidal, as the Hun's antagonist, Flavius Aetius. Irene Papas, in the second of three contract pictures for Lux Film, plays one of Attila's wives, Grune. Ettore Manni, Christian Marquand, and Claude Laydu are among the supporting cast of mostly French and Italian actors. American Scott Marlowe (1932–2001) made his screen debut in the film. Along with ''The Pride and the Passion'' and ''Houseboat (film), Houseboat'', it was one of Loren's biggest box-office successes during the 1950s. Filmed immediately following the breakthrough Italo-American co-production, ''Ulysses (1954 film), Ulysses'' (Lux Film / Ponti-DeLaurentiis / Paramount Pictures, 1954), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theatrical Rental
A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is frequently used, especially in the context of the film industry, as a synonym for the amount of business a particular production, such as a film or theatre show, receives. The term is also used to refer to a ticket office at an arena or a stadium. ''Box office'' business can be measured in the terms of the number of tickets sold or the amount of money raised by ticket sales (revenue). The projection and analysis of these earnings is greatly important for the creative industries and often a source of interest for fans. This is predominant in the Hollywood movie industry. To determine if a movie made a profit, it is not correct to directly compare the box office gross with the production budget, because the movie theater keeps nearly half of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_poster.jpg "Click for more on -> Sword-and-sandal")
