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Background (1953 Film)
''Background'' (U.S. ''Edge of Divorce'') is a 1953 British domestic drama film dealing with the effects of divorce, directed by Daniel Birt and starring Valerie Hobson, Philip Friend and Norman Wooland. It was based on the 1950 play of the same title by Warren Chetham-Strode, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. It was made at Southall Studios, with sets designed by the art director Michael Stringer. A contemporary review in the ''Glasgow Herald'' gave the film a muted response, describing Hobson as "shrill" and Wooland as "too sympathetic", adding : " A heroic effort is made to apportion the blame fairly...yet intrinsically, one has to admit, the film has no great success." Plot John and Barbie Lomax (Friend and Hobson) have been married for almost 20 years, but the marriage has seemingly reached breaking point. After leaving the army, John has been working hard on making a career for himself as a barrister, which takes up all of his time and attention, leaving ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daniel Birt
Daniel Birt (23 June 1907 – 15 May 1955) was an English film director and editor. Career Birt began his career as an editor in 1932 with an assistant credit on ''The Lucky Number'' and went on to edit 12 films during the 1930s. World War II brought a career hiatus and Birt didn't return to the film industry until the late 1940s. Having worked as supervising editor on ''Green Fingers'' and ''The Ghosts of Berkeley Square'', he was given his first directorial assignment in 1947 - ''The Three Weird Sisters'', a pseudo-Gothic tale set in a decaying Welsh mansion. This was followed in 1948 by ''No Room at the Inn'' (co-scripted, like the previous film, by Dylan Thomas), a powerful and unsparing film dealing with child cruelty in an evacuee household during the war. Birt directed a further ten films in the crime/thriller genre, mostly second features, before his early death, aged 47, in May 1955. He also directed three episodes of the first series of the ITV television drama ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Spenser
Jeremy Spenser (born Jeremy John Dornhurst de Saram 16 July 1937) is a British actor who made his screen debut aged 11 in ''Anna Karenina'' (1948). The following year he played in the black comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' as the young Louis Mazzini. He played the young King Nicolas in ''The Prince and the Showgirl'' with Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe and in ''Ferry to Hong Kong'' with Orson Welles. In the 1960s, the role offers began to slow down. His last film role was in 1966's ''Fahrenheit 451'' directed by François Truffaut. A little later Spenser retired from acting. Personal life Jeremy Spenser is the brother of British actor, director, producer and writer David Spenser. Selected filmography * ''Anna Karenina'' (1948) - Giuseppe * ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949) - Young Louis (uncredited) * '' The Spider and the Fly'' (1949) - Jacques, boy in church * ''Prelude to Fame'' (1950) - Guido Ferugia * ''The Dancing Years'' (1950) - Maria's Son * '' Portrait of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 Drama Films
Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia. ** The Central Intelligence Agency, CIA-sponsored Robertson Panel first meets to discuss the Unidentified flying object, UFO phenomenon. * January 15 – Georg Dertinger, foreign minister of East Germany, is arrested for spying. * January 19 – 71.1% of all television sets in the United States are tuned into ''I Love Lucy'', to watch Lucy give birth to Little Ricky, which is more people than those who tune into Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration the next day. This record has yet to be broken. * January 20 – Dwight D. Eisenhower is First inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, sworn in as the 34th President of the United States. * January 24 ** Mau Mau Upr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 Films
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1953 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 16 – A new Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. is incorporated following a Consent Judgment to divest their Stanley Warner Theaters. * February 5 – Walt Disney's production of J.M. Barrie's ''Peter Pan'', starring Bobby Driscoll and Kathryn Beaumont, premieres to astounding acclaim from critics and audiences and quickly becomes one of the most beloved Disney films. This is the last Disney animated movie released in partnership RKO Pictures, becoming the last ever smash hit movie of the later company before it bankrupted in 1959. * July 1 – ''Stalag 17'', directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, premieres and is considered by the critics and audiences to be one of the greatest WWII Prisoner of War films ever made. Holden wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based in Los Angeles, to cover the motion-picture industry. ''Variety.com'' features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, cover stories, videos, photo galleries and features, plus a credits database, production charts and calendar, with archive content dating back to 1905. History Foundation ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. As a result, he decided to start his own publication "that ouldnot be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Butcher
Edward Ernest Butcher (7 April 1885 – 8 June 1965) was a British actor, on stage from 1935, and with many film and TV appearances. He was the second husband of the actress Muriel George, and stepfather to her son, the critic John Davenport. He appeared in the original production of J.B. Priestley's play ''When We Are Married'' at St. Martin's Theatre London, in 1938; and reprised his performance in the film version, in 1943. Selected filmography * ''Key to Harmony'' (1935) * ''The Small Man'' (1936) * '' Talking Feet'' (1937) * ''The Song of the Road'' (1937) * ''Stepping Toes'' (1938) * '' Me and My Pal'' (1939) * '' Black Eyes'' (1939) * '' Pack Up Your Troubles'' (1940) * ''Freedom Radio'' (1941) * ''Old Mother Riley in Business'' (1941) * '' 'Pimpernel' Smith'' (1941) * ''When We Are Married'' (1943) * ''Candles at Nine'' (1944) * '' It's in the Bag'' (1944) * ''Tawny Pipit'' (1944) * ''It Happened One Sunday'' (1944) * '' The Years Between'' (1946) * '' Easy Money' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Hicks
Barbara Hicks (12 August 1924 – 6 September 2013) was an English film actress. She appeared in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film ''Brazil'' and Merchant Ivory Productions's 1992 Bafta award-winning ''Howards End''. Biography Hicks was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, and lived at Little Maplestead, Essex. She was educated at Adcote School, Shropshire. After training at the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art, she made her first appearance on stage in 1948 at the Royal Court, Liverpool in Leo Marks’ ''Written for a Lady'', which transferred to the Garrick Theatre, and became her West End debut. She was married for 40 years to Lieutenant Colonel Peter Taylor (25 January 1913 – 26 March 2010). He was an outstanding front line commander who won two MCs in Italy in 1944. Hicks appeared in ''Happy Birthday, Sir Larry'', a National Theatre birthday tribute to Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lloyd Lamble
Lloyd Nelson Lamble (8 February 1914 – 17 March 2008) was an Australian actor who worked in theatre, television, radio and film. He lived and worked for most of his life in the United Kingdom. Biography Personal life Lloyd Lamble was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to William Henry Sylvester Lamble and Francis Alma Spencer Lamble (née Potter). He was the youngest of four children, all boys.Lamble, Lloyd Nelson. ''Hi Diddle Dee Dee: An Actor’s Life For Me.'' Typescript autobiography of Lloyd Lamble. 1994. (Manuscript sighted in the National Library of Australia, 29 November 2008) His father William Lamble was a viola player in the Sisserman String QuartetPersonal communication: Lloyd Nelson Lamble to Tim LambleCaptioned photo from unidentified newspaper in possession of Tim Lamble and in symphony orchestras in Melbourne; secretary of the Musicians' Union of Australia; a music teacher, pianist, organist, choirmaster and composer. His grandfather was a music professor. Lloyd was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joss Ambler
Joss Ambler (23 June 1900 – 1959) was an Australian-born British film and television actor. He usually played somewhat pompous and irascible figures of authority, particularly in comedy films. He was an effective foil to George Formby in both '' Trouble Brewing'' (as Lord Redhill) and '' Come On George!'' (as Sir Charles), and similarly to Will Hay in ''The Black Sheep of Whitehall ''The Black Sheep of Whitehall'' (the opening credits read ''Black Sheep of Whitehall'') is a 1942 British black-and-white comedy war film, directed by Will Hay and Basil Dearden, starring Will Hay, John Mills, Basil Sydney and Thora Hird in h ...'', (as a government minister). Filmography References External links * 1900 births 1959 deaths Australian male film actors Australian male television actors British male film actors British male television actors 20th-century British male actors 20th-century Australian male actors Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Date of d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Wattis
Richard Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor, co-starring in many popular British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Richard Cameron Wattis was born on 25 February 1912 in Wednesbury, Staffordshire, the elder of two sons born to Cameron Tom Wattis and Margaret Janet, née Preston. He attended King Edward's School and Bromsgrove School, after which he worked for the electrical engineering firm William Sanders & Co (Wednesbury) Ltd. His uncle, William Preston (1874–1941), was the managing director and was the Conservative MP for Walsall from 1924 to 1929. Career After leaving the family business, Wattis became an actor. His debut was with Croydon Repertory Theatre, and he made many stage appearances in the West End in London. His first appearance in a film was ''A Yank at Oxford'' (1938), but war service interrupted his career as an actor. He served as a second lieutenant in the Small Arms Section of Special Operations Executive at S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Melford
John Kenneth George Melford Smith (5 September 1899 – 22 October 1972) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography Melford was the younger brother of screenwriter and film director Austin Melford. On stage from the age of 12, Melford made his film debut in 1931. As well as appearing in various films and television shows, he also played Menelaus in the ''Doctor Who'' story ''The Myth Makers''. His daughter Jill Melford was an actress. Selected filmography * '' The Sport of Kings'' (1931) - Sir Reginald Toothill * ''Night of the Garter'' (1933) - Kenneth Warwick * ''Department Store'' (1935) - Bob Burge Goodman * ''Look Up and Laugh'' (1935) - Journalist * '' Honeymoon for Three'' (1935) - Raymond Dirk * '' Birds of a Feather'' (1936) - Rudolph * '' Find the Lady'' (1936) - Schemer Doyle * ''If I Were Rich'' (1936) - Albert Mott * ''Luck of the Turf'' (1936) - Sid Smith * ''Radio Lover'' (1936) - Reggie Clifford * ''Jump for Glory'' (1937) - Thompson * ''Let's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louise Hampton
Louise Hampton (23 December 1879 – 10 February 1954) was a British actress. Although her career began when she was a child, it was for "the pathos and dignity of her elderly, motherly roles""Obituary: Louise Hampton", ''The Stage'', 18 February 1954, p. 11 that she was best known. Life and career Early years Hampton was born in Stockport, Cheshire, the daughter of the actor Henry Hampton and his wife, Margaret, ''née'' Douglas. She made her stage debut at the age of four at the Queen's Theatre, Manchester as Henri, the child in ''Belphegor''.Parker, Gaye and Herbert, pp. 1071–1072 In 1899 she married the actor Edward Thane (1873–1954)."Louise Hampton" Ancestry UK. Retrieved 22 July 2021 In 1911 she toured Australia under the management of |
