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Beryl And The Croucher
"Beryl and the Croucher" is a short story by the British writer Thomas Burke which was part of his 1916 collection ''Limehouse Nights''. A washed-up boxer, known as "the Croucher" for his distinctive fighting style, having fought his last fight sinks into dissipation and crime in the East End of London. His only hope to recover his former sense of self-worth is a former lover named Beryl. Adaptation In 1949 the story was turned into a film '' No Way Back'' directed by Stefan Osiecki and starring Terence de Marney, Eleanor Summerfield and Jack Raine. The plot was moved to a contemporary setting and was part of the Spiv cycle In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed d ... of films of the late 1940s.Chibnall & Murphy p.60 References Bibliography * Chibnall, Steve & Murphy, Rob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, mythic tales, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century. Definition The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a novel, but typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel or novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common pool of literary techniques. The short story is sometimes referred to as a genre. Determining what exactly defines a short story has been recurrently problematic. A classic definition of a short story ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Burke (author)
Thomas Burke (29 November 1886 – 22 September 1945) was a British author. He was born in Clapham Junction, London. His first successful publication was ''Limehouse Nights'' (1916), a collection of stories centred on life in the poverty-stricken Limehouse district of London. Many of Burke's books feature the Chinese character Quong Lee as narrator. "The Lamplit Hour", an incidental poem from ''Limehouse Nights'', was set to music in the United States by Arthur Penn in 1919. That same year, American film director D. W. Griffith used another tale from the collection, "The Chink and the Child" as the basis of his screenplay for the movie ''Broken Blossoms''. Griffith based his film ''Dream Street'' (1921) on Burke's "Gina of Chinatown" and "Song of the Lamp". Life Burke was born Sydney Thomas Burke on 29 November 1886 in Clapham Junction. Burke's father died when he was barely a few months old and he was eventually sent to live with his uncle in Poplar. At the age of ten he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Limehouse Nights
''Limehouse Nights'' is a 1916 short story collection by the British writer Thomas Burke. The stories are set in and around the Chinatown that was then centred on Limehouse in the East End of London. The book was a popular success and features several of Burke's best-known stories such as "The Chink and the Child" and " Beryl and the Croucher". Film adaptations Four films have been based upon stories collected in ''Limehouse Nights''. The story "The Chink and the Child" was turned into the 1919 film '' Broken Blossoms'' directed by D.W. Griffith and its 1936 remake. The story "Twelve Golden Curls" became the film '' Curlytop'' in 1924. "Beryl and the Croucher" was filmed in 1949 as '' No Way Back'' and set in the contemporary East End as part of the Spiv cycle of films made in the years following the Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boxer (boxing)
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring. Although the term "boxing" is commonly attributed to "western boxing", in which only the fists are involved, boxing has developed in various ways in different geographical areas and cultures. In global terms, boxing is a set of combat sports focused on striking, in which two opponents face each other in a fight using at least their fists, and possibly involving other actions such as kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and headbutts, depending on the rules. Some of the forms of the modern sport are western boxing, bare knuckle boxing, kickboxing, muay-thai, lethwei, savate, and sanda. Boxing techniques have been incorporated into many martial arts, military systems, and other combat sports. While hum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East End Of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have universally accepted boundaries to the north and east, though the River Lea is sometimes seen as the eastern boundary. Parts of it may be regarded as lying within Central London (though that term too has no precise definition). The term "East of Aldgate Pump" is sometimes used as a synonym for the area. The East End began to emerge in the Middle Ages with initially slow urban growth outside the eastern walls, which later accelerated, especially in the 19th century, to absorb pre-existing settlements. The first known written record of the East End as a distinct entity, as opposed to its component parts, comes from John Strype's 1720 ''Survey of London'', which describes London as consisting of four parts: the City of London, Westminster, So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Way Back (1949 Film)
''No Way Back'' is a 1949 British crime film directed by Stefan Osiecki and starring Terence De Marney, Eleanor Summerfield and Jack Raine. The screenplay concerns an injured boxer who sinks into bad company when his fighting career comes to an end leading to a spiral of crime. It was made at Nettlefold Studios in Walton-on-Thames. Plot Johnnie Thompson, a veteran and popular boxer known as "The Croucher" for his distinctive fighting style, enters the ring against a much younger opponent Tommy McGovern. Despite his years of hard living, Thompson remains confident of winning but soon finds himself in trouble. Drawing on all his reserves he is able to knock his opponent down but not out. McGovern gets up and then knocks Thompson out for a ten count. Thompson still hopes to continue his career and regain his title, but a visit to the Doctor's informs him that the sight in one of his eyes has gone. He realises he will be unable to fight on and retires. His promoter explains that he s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stefan Osiecki
Stefan Osiecki (23 February 1902 – 7 May 1977) was a Polish painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri .... References 1902 births 1977 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Polish painters Polish male painters Olympic competitors in art competitions Artists from Warsaw {{Poland-painter-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence De Marney
Terence Arthur De Marney (1 March 190825 May 1971) was a British film, stage, radio and television actor, as well as theatre director and writer. Career Actor The son of Violet Eileen Concanen and Arthur De Marney, and the grandson of noted Victorian lithographer Alfred Concanen, his career in the theatre began in 1923 and continued almost without interruption, taking in film, radio and television parts. He toured with Mrs Patrick Campbell in '' The Last of Mrs. Cheyney''. In 1930 he played Gustave in ''The Lady of the Camellias'', and toured South Africa as Raleigh in ''Journey's End''. In 1934 he played Tybalt in ''Romeo and Juliet'' at the Open Air Theatre, and Giovanni in '' 'Tis Pity She's a Whore'' at the Arts. Thrillers tended to be his stock in trade, appearing in a revival of Sutton Vane's ''Outward Bound'' during the 1930s, as well as Agatha Christie's ''Ten Little Indians'' and ''Dear Murderer''. In later years he appeared in a revival of Gerald Du Maurier's ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eleanor Summerfield
Eleanor Audrey Summerfield (7 March 1921 – 13 July 2001) was an English actress who appeared in many plays, films and television series. She is known for her roles in ''Laughter in Paradise'' (1951), ''Final Appointment'' (1954), ''Odongo'' (1956), ''Dentist in the Chair'' (1960), ''On the Fiddle'' (1961), '' The Running Man'' (1963) and ''Some Will, Some Won't'' (1970). Early life and career She was born as Eleanor Audrey Summerfield in St Pancras, London on 7 March 1921. Summerfield trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1937. She made her screen debut in the 1946 television drama ''A Phoenix Too Frequent'', which was based on a play of the same name. Her first stage show was ''Her Excellency'' at the London Hippodrome in 1949. In the mid-1960s, Summerfield played P.G. Wodehouse's fictional character Aunt Dahlia on the black-and-white television series ''The World of Wooster'' (1965–1967) aired on BBC 1. Summerfield was also a regular member in the panel game '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Raine
Thomas Foster "Jack" Raine (18 May 1897 – 30 May 1979) was an English stage, television and film actor. He was a leading man of the British cinema in the late twenties and early thirties in such films as ''The Hate Ship'' (1929), '' Raise the Roof'', '' Suspense'', '' Night Birds'' and '' The Middle Watch'' (all 1930), before moving down the cast list and becoming a character actor. Throughout the thirties and forties he appeared in numerous supporting roles, usually as sturdy figures of authority, including '' The Ghoul'' (1933), '' The Clairvoyant'' (1934), ''Holiday Camp'', ''Mine Own Executioner'' (both 1947) and '' Easy Money'' (1948). He also played Sir Graham Forbes in the first two Paul Temple films '' Send for Paul Temple'' (1946) and ''Calling Paul Temple'' (1948). One of his last British films was a rare co-starring role of this era in the 'B' movie '' No Way Back'' (1949), opposite Terence De Marney, in which he played against type as a small time gangster. Like a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spiv Cycle
In the United Kingdom, the word spiv is slang for a type of petty criminal who deals in illicit, typically black market, goods. The word was particularly used during the Second World War and in the post-war period when many goods were rationed due to shortages. According to Peter Wollen, "The crucial difference between the spiv and the classic Hollywood gangster was the degree of sympathy the spiv gained as an intermediary in the transfer of black market goods to ... a grateful mass of consumers."Peter Wollen (2002) ''Paris Hollywood - Writings on Film'' pp185–6 Origins The origin of the word is obscure. According to Eric Partridge the word was originally racecourse slang, but had become widely accepted by 1950. It appeared in a paperback crime novel in 1934.Axel Bracey (1934) ''School for Scoundrels'' (Rich and Cowan) The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that it may come from: *''spiffy'', meaning smartly dressed; *''spiff'', a bonus for salespeople (especially dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
