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Chicago (1927 Film)
''Chicago'' is a 1927 American silent crime comedy-drama film produced by Cecil B. DeMille and directed by Frank Urson. The first film adaptation of Maurine Dallas Watkins' play of the same name, the film stars Phyllis Haver as Roxie Hart, a fame-obsessed housewife who kills her lover in cold blood and, after trying to coerce her husband into taking the blame, is put on trial for murder. Plot The plot of the film is drawn from the 1926 play ''Chicago'' by Maurine Dallas Watkins which was in turn based on the true story of Beulah Annan, fictionalized as Roxie Hart (Phyllis Haver), and her spectacular murder of her boyfriend. The silent film adds considerably to the material in Watkins' play, some additions based on the original murder, and some for Hollywood considerations. The murder, which occurs in a very brief vignette before the play begins, is fleshed out considerably. Also, Roxie's husband Amos Hart has a much more sympathetic and active role in the film than he does eithe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Urson
Frank John Urson (March 21, 1887 – August 17, 1928) was an American silent film Film director, director and cinematographer from Chicago, Illinois. Originally a photographer, he moved on to cinematography and film directing for the Thanhouser Company in New Rochelle, New York. He is also credited with acting in one film, ''Her Gallant Knights'', which starred William Garwood in 1913. Urson directed ''Changing Husbands''. He is perhaps best known for his 1927 film ''Chicago (1927 film), Chicago'', produced by Cecil B. DeMille. Biography He was born on March 21, 1887, in Chicago, Illinois. Urson died on August 17, 1928, at age 41 from drowning in Indian Lake (Michigan), Indian Lake, Michigan. Partial filmography *''Stranded (1916 drama film), Stranded'' (1916, cinematographer) *''Nina, the Flower Girl'' (1917, cinematographer) *''You're Fired (1919 film), You're Fired'' (1919, cinematographer) *''The Valley of the Giants (1919 film), The Valley of the Giants'' (1919, cinematogra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roxie Hart
Roxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional character. She is the main character of the 1926 play ''Chicago'' and its various remakes and derivatives. Development The playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was inspired by the trials, both of which ended in acquittals, of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner (for separate crimes), which she covered for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Annan's story served as the basis for the play: she had killed her paramour Harry Kalstedt and was able to convince her auto mechanic husband Albert to pay for her successful defense, only to dump him the day after the trial. For the play, Annan was fictionalized as Roxie Hart, Kalstedt became Fred Casely, and Albert became Amos Hart. Some of the details of Gaertner's crime, including her past as a vaudeville singer (Annan was a bookkeeper) and blaming of her misdeed on getting drunk, were also applied to the Roxie character. The 1975 musical adaptation bases Hart's mannerisms on Helen Morgan. Character background ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Kander
John Harold Kander (born March 18, 1927) is an American composer, known largely for his work in the musical theater. As part of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb (with lyricist Fred Ebb), Kander wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including ''Cabaret'' (1966) and ''Chicago'' (1975), both of which were later adapted into acclaimed films. He and Ebb also wrote the standard " New York, New York" (also known as "Theme from ''New York, New York''"). Early life John Kander, the second son of Harold and Bernice (Aaron) Kander, was born on March 18, 1927, in Kansas City, Missouri. He has stated that he grew up in a loving, middle-class Jewish family and maintained a lifelong close relationship with his older brother, Edward, who became a sales manager at a brokerage house in the city. John attributes his early interest in music (starting at age four) to the family's love of singing around the piano. His first composition was a Christmas carol, written during second-grade mathematics cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago (musical)
''Chicago'' is a 1975 American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. Set in Chicago in the jazz age, the musical is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals and the crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal". The original Broadway production opened in 1975 at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for 936 performances, until 1977. Bob Fosse directed and choreographed the original production, and his style is strongly identified with the show. It debuted in the West End in 1979, where it ran for 600 performances. ''Chicago'' was revived on Broadway in 1996, and a year later in the West End. The 1996 Broadway production holds the record as the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. It is the second longest-running show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gosfilmofond
Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and other materials, engaged in collecting, creative production, cultural and educational, research, methodological and informational activities in the field of cinematography. The collection includes some historic American films. The Director-General is Nikolay Malakov. History The idea of creating a national film archive was actively discussed by filmmakers in 1920s. The basis of Gosfilmofond was a unique collection of old films, rescued by film historian Sergei Komarov. It was a collection of silent films, which, by the efforts of Komarov, were moved to the State Technical College of Cinematography. Later these films became a part of Gosfilmofond Collection. On October 2, 1935, the Organizational Bureau decided to create a film-negative fund ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of storing several hours of high-definition video (HDTV 720p and 1080p). The main application of Blu-ray is as a medium for video material such as feature films and for the physical distribution of video games for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The name "Blu-ray" refers to the blue laser (which is actually a violet laser) used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs. The polycarbonate disc is in diameter and thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Conventional or pre-BD-XL Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual-layer discs (50 GB) being the industry standard for feature-l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UCLA Film And Television Archive
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archive screens over 400 films and videos a year, primarily at the Billy Wilder Theater, located inside the Hammer Museum in Westwood, California. (Formerly, it screened films at the James Bridges Theater on the UCLA campus). The archive is funded by UCLA, public and private interests, and the entertainment industry. It is a member of the International Federation of Film Archives. The Archive is a division of the UCLA Library. As of January 2021, its collection hosted more than 500,000 items, including approximately 159,000 motion picture titles and 132,000 television titles, more than 27 million feet of newsreels, more than 222,000 broadcast recordings and more than 9,000 radio transcription discs. History The Archive hosted virtual screenin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velma Kelly
Velma Kelly is one of the main characters in the successful 1975 Broadway musical ''Chicago''. Kelly is based on the character "Velma", who first appeared in the 1926 play, also called ''Chicago'', who was in-turn inspired by the life of Belva Gaertner. Character background Kelly is a nightclub singer/vaudevillian who had mediocre success as part of an acrobatics double act with her sister Veronica until, when she catches Veronica with her husband Charlie while on tour, she presumably kills them both (though she denies remembering it). She is sent to the Cook County Jail where she hires the best soliciting lawyer, Billy Flynn, a master of turning cases into a media circus to free his clients. The attention prompts an offer from the William Morris Agency to pay her more than fourteen times what she had made as her share of the proceeds from the double act with Veronica—once she is acquitted. Kelly's plans are upended when Roxie Hart, a failed vaudeville aspirant accused of murd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarence Burton
Clarence Forrest Burton (May 10, 1882 – December 2, 1933) was an American silent film actor. Biography Burton was born in Fort Lyon, in Benton County, Missouri and started in show business at the age of 5, playing stock and musical comedy in road productions. He was signed into films in late 1912 and starred in 132 films between 1913 and 1932. By late 1920, Burton had become heavy enough to be considered unsuited for his typical villainous roles in films. A trainer supervised a program of exercise and diet until Burton had lost enough weight to be cast in the Paramount film ''The Jacklins''. He died of a heart attack in 1933 at the age of 51 in Hollywood, California. His interment was located at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, but was removed on September 6, 1950. Partial filmography * '' The Werewolf'' (1913) * '' The Sign of the Spade'' (1916) * ''The Twinkler'' (1916) as Boss Corregan * ''Beloved Rogues'' (1917) as Jack Kennedy * ''My Fighting Gentleman'' (1917) as Isiah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warner Richmond
Warner Richmond (born Werner Paul Otto Raetzmann; January 11, 1886 – June 19, 1948) was an American stage and film actor. He began his career as a stock theatre actor and appeared in films in both the silent film and sound eras. His career spanned four decades. He is possibly best recalled for appearances in Westerns in his later career in sound films. Between 1912 and 1946, he appeared in more than 140 films. Early life Warner Richmond was born in Racine, Wisconsin as Werner Paul Otto Raetzmann, one of seven children born to Wilhelm ("William") Raetzmann and Emilie ("Amelia") Licht. Richmond's father was a German immigrant from Hanover who worked as a printer in Reedsburg. His mother was Wisconsin-born and raised, and of German immigrant parents. Growing up in rural Wisconsin, he became an expert horseman, and this skill would later earn him roles in western movies. As a young man, he moved to Chicago and lived with his brother Ewald and worked as traveling salesman of mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene Pallette
Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, Pallette became a stout character actor. He had a deep voice, which some critics have likened to the sound of a croaking frog, and is probably best-remembered for comic character roles such as Alexander Bullock ( Carole Lombard's character's father) in '' My Man Godfrey'' (1936), Friar Tuck in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and his similar role as Fray Felipe in '' The Mark of Zorro'' (1940). He also co-starred in '' Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'' (1939) and '' Heaven Can Wait'' (1943). Early life He was born in Winfield, Kansas, the son of William Baird Pallette and Elnora "Ella" Jackson. His parents had been actors in their younger years, but by 1889 Pallette's father was an insurance salesman. His sister was Beulah L. Pal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Flynn (Chicago)
William Flynn is a fictional character from the 1926 play ''Chicago'', written by Maurine Dallas Watkins, and its various derivative works and remakes. Character background Billy Flynn is one of the city of Chicago's most effective defense attorneys; he can win any trial and usually represents women who have murdered their lovers. He has never lost a case involving a female defendant in his whole career, but in turn charges high fees for his services ($5,000), demands payment in full up-front, and never takes ''pro bono'' work. In rare cases, such as Roxie Hart's, he will take a discount rate in exchange for a cut of proceeds from selling ephemera and media rights fees related to the case. In the play, he defends Hart and her rival Velma Kelly, winning both cases. Most of Billy Flynn's clients actually did commit the murder they are accused of; therefore he usually attempts to conjure a defense of self-defense or insanity. He will often turn trials into a media circus and pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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