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Clive Donner
Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010)Ronald Bergan]Obituary: Clive Donner ''The Guardian'', 7 September 2010 was a British film Film director, director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as ''The Caretaker (film), The Caretaker'', ''Nothing but the Best (film), Nothing but the Best'', ''What's New Pussycat?'', and ''Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (film), Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush''. He also directed television film, television movies and Television advertisement, commercials through the mid-1990s. Early career Donner was born in West Hampstead, London. His father was a concert violinist and his mother ran a dress shop; his grandparents were Polish-Jewish immigrants. Donner began his filmmaking career while attending Kilburn Polytechnic. He began working in the film industry as a cutting-room assistant at Denham Studios, having gained the job after joining his father, who was at the studio to record the soundtrack for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to television programmes, commercials, and pop promos. It is well known as the home of the ''James Bond'' and ''Carry On'' film franchises. History Pinewood Studios was built on the estate of Heatherden Hall, a large Victorian country house which was purchased by Canadian financier, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Chiswick, Lt. Col. Grant Morden (1880–1932). He added refinements such as a ballroom, a Turkish bath and an indoor squash court. Due to its seclusion, it was used as a discreet meeting place for high-ranking politicians and diplomats; the agreement to create the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed there. In 1934, building tycoon Charles Boot (1874–1945) bought the land and turned it into a country club. The ballroom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Lewis (actor)
Ronald Glasfryn Lewis (11 December 1928 – 11 January 1982), was an actor, best known for his appearances in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life and career Lewis was born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan, the son of an accountant. He moved with his family to London when he was seven. During the war he was evacuated back to south Wales, where he attended Bridgend Grammar School. There he played Bassanio in the school production of ''The Merchant of Venice''. He decided to become an actor after seeing George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan'' at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Cardiff. He studied at RADA, graduating in 1953. Early roles Lewis's first professional role was in Oscar Wilde's ''An Ideal Husband'' (1950) in repertory at Worthing. He was in ''The Square Ring'' at Hammersmith. Lewis had an uncredited bit part in ''Valley of Song'', set in Wales. He was credited for the film version of ''The Square Ring'' (1953), for Ealing; '' The Beachcomber'' (1954), as a native is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belinda Lee
Belinda Lee (15 June 193512 March 1961) was an English actress. A profile for the British Film Institute's Screenonline website asserts: "of all the Rank Organisation's starlets, Belinda Lee stands out as the most notorious, yet paradoxically anonymous, British actress of the 1950s." Often cast in demure roles in her early career, she was able to demonstrate her dramatic abilities, but she found more constant employment when she began to play "sexpot" roles. Typecast as one of several "sexy blondes", she was often compared, unfavourably, to the popular Diana Dors. Typical of these roles was a supporting part in the Benny Hill film '' Who Done It?'' (1956). Early life and career Lee was born in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, Great Britain, to Robert Lee, a former British Army captain and owner of the Rosemullion Hotel, and Stella Mary Graham, a florist. She studied at St. Margaret's, a boarding school in Exeter in Devon, and then at the Tudor Arts Academy in Surrey. She was a self ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Secret Place (film)
''The Secret Place'' is a 1957 British crime film that was the directorial debut of Clive Donner. It stars Belinda Lee, Ronald Lewis, and David McCallum in a supporting role. Plot In this crime melodrama, set in a badly bombed district in the East End of London after the war, a gang carries out a diamond robbery and an adolescent boy, Freddie Haywood, discovers their loot hidden in his home. Freddie has a crush on a kiosk attendant, Molly Wilson, who is engaged to Gerry Carter, a member of the gang. After the robbery, from a jeweller's in Hatton Garden, Gerry hides the diamonds inside Molly's record player. Not knowing this, Molly gives the player to Freddie as a thankyou gift. Freddie discovers the diamonds and the gang go after him. Cast * Belinda Lee as Molly Wilson * Ronald Lewis as Gerry Carter * Michael Brooke as Freddie Haywood * Michael Gwynn as Steve Warring * Geoffrey Keen as Mr Haywood * David McCallum as Mike Wilson * Maureen Pryor as Mrs Haywood * George Selway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Harvey
Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in the United Kingdom after World War II. In a career that spanned a quarter of a century, Harvey appeared in stage, film and television productions primarily in the United Kingdom and the United States.Laurence Harvey, Stage, Film Actor By Jean R. Hailey. ''The Washington Post and Times-Herald'' 27 November 1973: C10. Harvey was known for his clipped, refined accent and cool, debonair screen persona. His performance in '' Room at the Top'' (1959)Obituary ''Variety'', 28 November 1973, p. 62. resulted in an Academy Award nomination. That success was followed by the roles of William Barret Travis in '' The Alamo'' and Weston Liggett in ''Butterfield 8'', both films released in the autumn of 1960. He also appeared as the brainwashed Sergeant Raym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Am A Camera (film)
''I Am a Camera'' is a 1955 British comedy-drama film based on the 1945 book ''The Berlin Stories'' by Christopher Isherwood and the 1951 I Am a Camera, eponymous play by John Van Druten. The film is a fictionalized account of Isherwood's time living in Berlin between the World Wars. Directed by Henry Cornelius, from a script by John Collier (fiction writer), John Collier, ''I Am a Camera'' stars Laurence Harvey as Isherwood and Julie Harris (American actress), Julie Harris recreating her Tony Awards, Tony Award-winning performance as Sally Bowles. The film was critically unsuccessful upon its release in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and it was subjected to restrictive ratings. Long overshadowed by ''Cabaret'', the Cabaret (musical), 1966 stage and Cabaret (1972 film), 1972 film adaptation of the same source material, contemporary critics have noted the historic interest of this earlier presentation. Plot In contemporary London, Christopher Isherwood attends a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. After studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner, Peck began appearing in stage productions, acting in over 50 plays and three Broadway productions. He first gained critical success in ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' (1944), a John M. Stahl–directed drama which earned him his first Academy Award nomination. He starred in a series of successful films, including romantic-drama ''The Valley of Decision'' (1944), Alfred Hitchcock's '' Spellbound'' (1945), and family film ''The Yearling'' (1946). He encountered lukewarm commercial reviews at the end of the 1940s, his performances including ''The Paradine Case'' (1947) and ''The Great Sinner'' (1948). Peck reached global recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing back ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Million Pound Note
''The Million Pound Note'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ronald Neame and starring Gregory Peck, Ronald Squire, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Jane Griffiths. It is based on the 1893 Mark Twain short story ''The Million Pound Bank Note'', and is a precursor to the 1983 film ''Trading Places''. It was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location around London. The film's sets were designed by the art directors John Box and Jack Maxsted. It was released by Rank's General Film Distributors. The American release was handled by United Artists under the alternative tile ''Man with a Million''. Plot In 1903, American seaman Henry Adams is stranded penniless in Britain and gets caught up in an unusual wager between two wealthy, eccentric brothers, Oliver and Roderick Montpelier. They persuade the Bank of England to issue a one million pound banknote, which they present to Adams in an envelope, only telling him that it contains some money. Oliver asserts that the mere existence of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genevieve (film)
''Genevieve'' is a 1953 British comedy film produced and directed by Henry Cornelius and written by William Rose. It stars John Gregson, Dinah Sheridan, Kenneth More and Kay Kendall as two couples comedically involved in a veteran automobile rally. Plot Two veteran cars and their crews are participating in the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Alan McKim (John Gregson), a young barrister, and his wife, Wendy (Dinah Sheridan), drive ''Genevieve'', a 1904 Darracq. Their friend Ambrose Claverhouse (Kenneth More), a brash advertising salesman, his latest girlfriend, fashion model Rosalind Peters (Kay Kendall), and her pet St. Bernard ride in a 1905 Spyker. The journey to Brighton goes well for Claverhouse, but the McKims' trip is complicated by several breakdowns, and they arrive very late. As Alan cancelled their accommodation in their usual plush hotel during a fit of pique, they are forced to spend the night in a dingy run-down hotel (with a cameo performance by Joyc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1949), in which he played nine different characters, ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and '' The Ladykillers'' (1955). He collaborated six times with director David Lean: Herbert Pocket in '' Great Expectations'' (1946), Fagin in '' Oliver Twist'' (1948), Col. Nicholson in ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957), for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Actor and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor, Prince Faisal in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), General Yevgraf Zhivago in ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), and Professor Godbole in ''A Passage to India'' (1984). In 1970 he played Jacob Marley's ghost in Ronald Neame's '' Scrooge''. He also portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in George Lucas's origi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Card (1952 Film)
''The Card'' is a 1952 British comedy film version of the 1911 novel by Arnold Bennett. In America, the film was titled ''The Promoter''. It was adapted by Eric Ambler and directed by Ronald Neame. It stars Alec Guinness, Glynis Johns, Valerie Hobson, and Petula Clark. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound. It is mainly faithful to the novel, omitting some minor incidents. Plot The film follows the adventures and misadventures of Edward Henry (Denry) Machin, an ambitious young man from a poor background. Denry surreptitiously changes his poor grades to qualify for entry to a "school for the sons of gentlemen". At the age of 16, he becomes a junior clerk to Mr. Duncalf, the town clerk and a solicitor. He meets the charming and socially well-connected Countess of Chell, a client of Duncalf's, and is given the job of sending out invitations to a grand municipal ball. He "invites" himself, and wins a £5 bet that he will ask the countess to dance. This earn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
