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A Foreign Affair
''A Foreign Affair'' is a 1948 American romantic comedy- drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jean Arthur, Marlene Dietrich, and John Lund. The screenplay by Wilder, Charles Brackett, and Richard L. Breen is based on a story by David Shaw adapted by Robert Harari. The film is about a United States Army captain in post-World War II Berlin, occupied by the Allies during the early days of the Cold War, who is torn between an ex-Nazi cafe singer and the United States congresswoman investigating her. Though a comedy, the film has a serious and cynical political tone, attesting to the fascination of both Wilder and American audiences with the multiple legacies of Berlin. Plot In 1947, a United States congressional committee which includes prim Phoebe Frost of Iowa arrives in post-World War II Berlin to visit the American troops stationed there. Phoebe hears rumors that cabaret torch singer Erika von Schlütow, suspected of being the former mistress of either Herm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Hollywood cinema. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director eight times, winning twice, and for a screenplay Academy Award 13 times, winning three times. Wilder became a screenwriter while living in Berlin. The rise of the Nazi Party and antisemitism in Germany saw him move to Paris. He then moved to Hollywood in 1933, and had a major hit when he, Charles Brackett and Walter Reisch wrote the screenplay for the Academy Award-nominated film ''Ninotchka'' (1939). Wilder established his directorial reputation and received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director with the film noir adaptation of the novel '' Double Indemnity'' (1944), for which he co-wrote the screenplay with Raymond Chandler. Wilder won th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allied-occupied Germany
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France) asserted joint authority and sovereignty at the 1945 Berlin Declaration. At first, defining Allied-occupied Germany as all territories of the former German Reich before Nazi annexing Austria; however later in the 1945 Potsdam Conference of Allies, the Potsdam Agreement decided the new German border as it stands today. Said border gave Poland and the Soviet Union all regions of Germany (eastern parts of Pomerania, Neumark, Posen-West Prussia, Free City of Danzig, East-Prussia & Silesia) east of the Oder–Neisse line and divided the remaining "Germany as a whole" into the four occupation zones for administrative purposes under the three Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) and the Soviet Union. Althou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Fenton (actor)
Frank Fenton Moran (April 9, 1906 – July 24, 1957), known as Frank Fenton, was an American stage, film and television actor. Early years Born Francis Fenton Moran,''Los Angeles Times'', January 5, 1937, Pg. 15 the Georgetown University graduate lettered as a tackle on the school's football team. He also was active in Georgetown's undergraduate dramatic club, for which he directed and wrote plays. Career Fenton started his career on stage in New York, acting on Broadway in ''An American Tragedy'' (1926) billed as Frank Moran. As Frank Fenton, he starred in the Broadway versions of ''Susan and God'' with Gertrude Lawrence and as George Kittredge in '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1939) alongside Katharine Hepburn. His other Broadway credits include ''Stork Mad'', ''O Evening Star'', ''Dead End'', and ''The O'Flynn''. He also appeared on stage in London, and toured with Katherine Cornell in ''Romeo & Juliet'' and other plays. Fenton's film debut came in '' The Navy Comes Through ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Raffetto
Michael Raffetto (born Elwyn Creighton Raffetto; December 31, 1899 – May 31, 1990) was an American radio actor who starred as Paul Barbour (1932–1956) in the NBC Radio series ''One Man's Family'' and as Jack Packard in '' I Love a Mystery'' during the heyday of radio in the 1930s and 1940s. Early life Elwyn Creighton Raffetto was born in Placerville, California, the son of John Augustus Raffetto, a hotelier, and Adela Creighton. (His grandparents, Domenico Raffetto and Anna Pensa, came first to nearby Newtown, California, from Ognio, a mountain village northeast of Genoa.) He graduated cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley's Boalt Hall in 1925. He practiced law in San Francisco until 1928, when he directed drama at Berkeley as well as Los Angeles' Greek Theatre Career Raffetto pitched a program concept to NBC Radio's Tom Hutchinson in San Francisco. He went on to star, direct, and produce the show, called '' Arm of the Law''. Soon af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Meredith (actor)
Charles Meredith (August 27, 1894 – November 28, 1964) was an American film and television actor. Biography Meredith was born in Knoxville, Pennsylvania. He was a popular silent film leading man and played opposite such actresses as Blanche Sweet, Mary Miles Minter, Florence Vidor, and others in romantic drama and comedy films. In 1924, he left his film career for work on the stage. He returned to film in 1947 where he played a number of small character roles. Toward the end of his career, he turned to television as well, notably as Secretary Drake in the ''Rocky Jones, Space Ranger'' (1954) series. He also appeared in three episodes of ''The Lone Ranger'', each time as a doctor, including the "Cannonball McKay" (1949) episode (1/16) as Doc Tate. He died, aged 70 in 1964, in Los Angeles, California. Partial filmography * '' The Other Half'' (1919) - Donald Trent * ''Poor Relations'' (1919) - Monty Rhodes * ''Luck in Pawn'' (1919) - Richard Standish Norton * ''The T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Murphy (actor)
William Murphy was an American film actor active from the 1940s through the 1970s. A long-time friend of John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, Williams also spent many nights with Elvis Presley and his entourage the "Memphis Mafia". He reportedly regarded Hollywood as "an open invitation to party all night long". Played “Lt. Edlridge” on "Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centers on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central chara ..." in the 1959 episode “Blue Horse” (S4E38). Death Murphy died on November 6, 1989 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 67. He had 6 children and was married once. Filmography References Guralnick, Peter. ''Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley'', p. 72. External links * American male film actors 1922 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American male actors [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Prager
Stanley Prager (January 8, 1917 – January 18, 1972) was an American actor and a television and theatre director. Life and career Born in New York City, Prager began his career as the stage manager for the Broadway production ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' in 1942. He spent the remainder of the decade acting in mostly B-movies, with occasional roles in better films such as '' A Bell for Adano'', '' Gun Crazy'', '' In the Meantime, Darling'', and '' A Foreign Affair''. After his name appeared on the Hollywood blacklist, Prager returned to Broadway as a performer in ''Two on the Aisle'', '' Two's Company'', ''Room Service'', and ''The Pajama Game''. He switched gears and began directing with Neil Simon's ''Come Blow Your Horn'' in 1961. Additional theatre directing credits include '' Bravo Giovanni'', '' Minnie's Boys'', '' Don't Drink the Water'', and '' 70, Girls, 70''. Prager's television directing credits include ''The Love Song of Barney Kempinski'' for ''ABC Stage 67'', ''Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millard Mitchell
Millard Mitchell (August 14, 1903 – October 13, 1953) was an American character actor whose credits include roughly 30 feature films and two television appearances. He appeared as a bit player in eight films between 1931 and 1936. Mitchell returned to film work in 1942 after a six-year absence. Between 1942 and 1953, he was a successful supporting actor. For his performance in the film ''My Six Convicts'' (1952), Mitchell won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. He is also remembered for his role as Col. Rufus Plummer in Billy Wilder's ''A Foreign Affair'' (1948), as Gregory Peck's commanding officer in the war drama '' Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949), High-Spade Frankie Wilson in ''Winchester '73'' (1950), as the fictional movie mogul R.F. Simpson in the musical comedy ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), and as a hapless old prospector in ''The Naked Spur'' (1953). Mitchell appeared frequently on Broadway, often playing a fast-talking Broadway char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organisation. On 20 April 1934, oversight of the Gestapo passed to the head of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS), Heinrich Himmler, who was also appointed Chief of German Police by Hitler in 1936. Instead of being exclusively a Prussian state agency, the Gestapo became a national one as a sub-office of the (SiPo; Security Police). From 27 September 1939, it was administered by the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). It became known as (Dept) 4 of the RSHA and was considered a sister organisation to the (SD; Security Service). During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials. History After A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, information, and entertainment for millions of moviegoers. Newsreels were typically exhibited preceding a feature film, but there were also dedicated newsreel theaters in many major cities in the 1930s and ’40s, and some large city cinemas also included a smaller theaterette where newsreels were screened continuously throughout the day. By the end of the 1960s television news broadcasts had supplanted the format. Newsreels are considered significant historical documents, since they are often the only audiovisual record of certain cultural events. History Silent news films were shown in cinemas from the late 19th century. In 1909 Pathé started producing weekly newsreels in Europe. Pathé began producing newsreels for the UK in 1910 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the Chancellor of Germany, chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated European theatre of World War II, World War II in Europe by invasion of Poland, invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his Military career of Adolf Hitler, service in the German Army in Worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 1945. He was one of Adolf Hitler's closest and most devoted acolytes, known for his skills in public speaking and his deeply virulent antisemitism, which was evident in his publicly voiced views. He advocated progressively harsher discrimination, including the extermination of the Jews in the Holocaust. Goebbels, who aspired to be an author, obtained a Doctor of Philology degree from the University of Heidelberg in 1921. He joined the Nazi Party in 1924, and worked with Gregor Strasser in its northern branch. He was appointed '' Gauleiter'' of Berlin in 1926, where he began to take an interest in the use of propaganda to promote the party and its programme. After the Nazis came to power in 1933, Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry quickly g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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