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David Davies (Welsh Actor)
David Lewis Davies (3 April 1906 – June 1974), was a Welsh stage and film actor. At 6' 4" he was often cast as a heavy, police officer or in a military or authoritarian role, such as Mr. Arrow, the first mate and enforcer outwitted by Long John Silver in Disney's 1950 ''Treasure Island''. Davies appeared mainly in British film and television programmes, and was in demand for films set in Wales, such as ''The Three Weird Sisters'' (1948), ''The Last Days of Dolwyn'' (1949), ''Tiger Bay'' (1959) and ''Only Two Can Play'' (1962). Career Davies was born in the town of Brynmawr, Brecknockshire, South Wales, in 1906. He moved to Essex where he became a policeman in 1927 for the Southend Borough Constabulary, which later amalgamated into Essex Police in 1969. He was forced into medical retirement with a duodenal ulcer on 27 April 1937. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Only Two Can Play
''Only Two Can Play'' is a 1962 British comedy film starring Peter Sellers, based on the 1955 novel ''That Uncertain Feeling (novel), That Uncertain Feeling'' by Kingsley Amis. Sidney Gilliat directed the film from a screenplay by Bryan Forbes. The film is set in the fictional South Wales town of Aberdarcy, and largely filmed in and around Swansea, Amis's stated model for Aberdarcy. It was the first comedy to receive an X rating#United Kingdom, X certificate in the United Kingdom. Plot John Lewis (Sellers) is a poorly paid and professionally frustrated librarian and occasional drama critic, whose affections fluctuate between glamorous Liz (Mai Zetterling), and his long-suffering wife Jean (Virginia Maskell). When a better paid job becomes vacant, Lewis is reluctant to apply, but is persuaded to do so by Jean. Then, he meets the obviously attractive Elizabeth Gruffydd-Williams (Liz), a designer with the local community theatre, amdram company and wife of a local councillor. Liz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Angel With The Trumpet (1950 Film)
''The Angel with the Trumpet'' is a 1950 British drama film directed by Anthony Bushell and starring Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney, and Norman Wooland. It was based on a novel by Ernst Lothar. The film follows the rise and fall of an Austrian aristocrat, and her eventual death following the Anschluss. The film was a remake of a 1948 Austrian film '' Der Engel mit der Posaune''. Plot Henrietta Stein, daughter of a Jewish academic, is the mistress of the Habsburg Crown Prince who cannot marry her. She chooses instead a loveless marriage with Francis Alt, the head of the Alt Viennese piano manufacturing firm. Only their mutual friend Baron Hugo Tran knows of their feelings. On the day of her marriage, the Prince kills himself in despair. Francis and Henrietta raise their three children in the family home, uninterrupted until twelve years later, the Baron visits her in Vienna and they have an affair. Henrietta plans to leave her husband. The affair is interrupted when her brother-in-l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gideon's Way
''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, based on novels by John Creasey (writing as 'J. J. Marric'). The series was made at Elstree Studios in twin production with ''The Saint'' television series, which was likewise produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman. The show did not acknowledge any help from Scotland Yard or any other police force or advisor. Synopsis Daphne Anderson starred as Gideon's wife, Kate; their three children were played by Giles Watling as younger son Malcolm, Richard James as elder son Matthew (who seemed to have a lot of new girlfriends), and Andrea Allan as daughter Pru. Unusually for police stories, Gideon was shown as a family man at home—though urgent phone calls from his bosses tend to disrupt family plans too often. However, he did admit in "State Visit" that his wife had walked out on him for a while years ago, when he put the job first and her second. They live in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (TV Series)
''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes broadcast weekly between 1955 and 1959 on ITV. It starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood, and Alan Wheatley as his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham. The show followed the legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers. The programme was produced by Sapphire Films Ltd for ITC Entertainment, filmed at Nettlefold Studios with some location work, and was the first of many pre-filmed shows commissioned by Lew Grade. In 1954, Grade was approached by American producer Hannah Weinstein to finance a series of 39 half-hour episodes, at a budget of £10,000 an episode, of a series she wished to make called ''The Adventures of Robin Hood''. She had already signed Richard Green ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben-Hur (1959 Film)
''Ben-Hur'' is a 1959 American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. A remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title, it was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel '' Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ''. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg, but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. ''Ben-Hur'' had the largest budget ($15.175 million), as well as the largest sets built, of any film produced at the time. Costume designer Elizabeth Haffenden oversaw a staff of 100 wardrobe fabricators to make the costumes, and a workshop employing 200 artists and workmen provided the hundreds of friezes and statues needed in the film. Filming commenced on May 18, 1958, and wrapped on January 7, 1959, with shooting lasting for 12 to 14 hours a day and six days a week. Pre-production began in Italy at Cinecittà around October 1957, and post-produc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The 39 Steps (1959 Film)
''The 39 Steps'' is a 1959 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Kenneth More and Taina Elg. Produced by Betty Box, it is a remake of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film, loosely based on the 1915 novel '' The Thirty-Nine Steps'' by John Buchan. In the film, diplomat Richard Hannay returns home to London, only to become inadvertently embroiled in the death of a British spy investigating the head of an organisation planning to sell the secret of a British ballistic missile. Hannay thus travels to Scotland to escape the police, and attempts to complete the spy's work. It is the first colour version of the Buchan tale, and, unlike the mainly studio-bound original, features extensive location shooting. Several large set pieces (such as Hannay's escape from the train on the Forth Bridge and the music hall finale) and much of the dialogue are taken from the original film. As with the Hitchcock version, the scenario was contemporary rather than the pre-Great War sett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Was Monty's Double (film)
''I Was Monty's Double'' (aka ''Hell, Heaven or Hoboken'') is a 1958 film made by Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC). It was directed by John Guillermin. The screenplay was adapted by Bryan Forbes from the autobiography of M. E. Clifton James, an actor who pretended to be General Montgomery as a decoy during the Second World War. Plot A few months before the D-Day landings during the Second World War, the British government decides to launch a campaign of disinformation; spreading a rumour that the landings just might take place at a location other than Normandy. The details of the operation (actually, there were several such operations) are handed to two intelligence officers, Colonel Logan ( Cecil Parker) and Major Harvey (John Mills). They are initially unable to devise such a plan – but one night, Harvey sees an actor at a London theatre, putting on a convincing impression of General Bernard Montgomery. Logan and Harvey discover that the actor is M. E. Clifton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Long Arm (film)
''The Long Arm'' (USA: ''The Third Key'') is a 1956 British film noir police procedural crime film starring Jack Hawkins. The film, which was based on a screenplay by Robert Barr and Janet Green, was directed by Charles Frend and produced by Michael Balcon. It was shot on location in London and Snowdonia in North Wales. Two years later Hawkins played a similar role in John Ford's ''Gideon's Day'', a film based on books by John Creasey. Plot When police respond to a burglar alarm at premises in Long Acre, Central London, they find nothing amiss after meeting the nightwatchman, who allows them to search the premises. However, the next day the safe, which had been opened with a key, is found empty. Supt Tom Halliday (Jack Hawkins) and his new Detective Sergeant Ward ( John Stratton), begin searching for the fraudulent nightwatchman. Halliday eventually concludes that the false nightwatchman has committed 14 safe-breaking jobs across the country, all on the same type of safe, and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forbidden Cargo (1954 Film)
''Forbidden Cargo'' is a 1954 British crime film directed by Harold French and starring Nigel Patrick, Elizabeth Sellars and Jack Warner. It was shot at Pinewood Studios with sets designed by the art director John Howell. Location shooting took place in London and Cannes. Plot A customs officer captures a gang of drugs smugglers, assisted by a birdwatcher. Cast * Nigel Patrick as Inspector Michael Kenyon * Elizabeth Sellars as Rita Compton * Terence Morgan as Roger Compton * Greta Gynt as Madame Simonetta * Jack Warner as Major Alec White * Theodore Bikel as Max * Joyce Grenfell as Lady Flavia Queensway * James Gilbert as Agent Larkins * Eric Pohlmann as Steven Lasovich * Martin Boddey as Sub-Director Holt * Michael Hordern as Director of Customs * Jacques B. Brunius as Det. Pierre Valance * Ronald Adam as Mr. Bennett * Ballard Berkeley as Cooper * Campbell Gray as Luigi * Campbell Singer as Sergeant Dodson, River Police * Hal Osmond as Bag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murder At Scotland Yard
''Murder at Scotland Yard'' is 1953 British crime film directed by Victor M. Gover and starring Tod Slaughter, Patrick Barr and Tucker McGuire. It is a sequel to the 1952 film ''King of the Underworld (1952 film), King of the Underworld''Richards p.158 and depicts the continuing battle between the master criminal Terence Reilly and Inspector Morley of Scotland Yard. Reilly has escaped from prison and Morley is called in to recapture him. It was made at Bushey Studios. It was Slaughter's last feature film. Cast * Tod Slaughter as Terence Reilly * Patrick Barr as Inspector Morley * Tucker McGuire as Eileen Trotter * Dorothy Bramhall as Maria Flame * Tom Macaulay as Inspector Grant References Bibliography * Richards, Jeffrey (ed.) ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929-1939''. I.B. Tauris, 1998 External links * 1953 films 1953 crime films 1950s English-language films Films set in London Films directed by Victor M. Gover British sequel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tod Slaughter
Norman Carter Slaughter (19 March 1885 – 19 February 1956), also known as Tod Slaughter, was an English actor, best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Early life Slaughter was born on 19 March 1885 in Gosforth and attended the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. The eldest surviving son of 12 children, he made his way onto the stage in 1905 at West Hartlepool. In 1913, he became a lessee of the Hippodrome theatres in the Richmond and Croydon areas of London. After a brief interruption to serve in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I, he returned to the stage. Career Early career During Slaughter's early career, his stage name was "N. Carter Slaughter" and he primarily played the conventional leading man or character roles. After the war, he ran the Theatre Royal, Chatham before taking over the Elephant and Castle Theatre in London for a memorable few years from 1924 onwards that have since passed i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Story Of Robin Hood And His Merrie Men
''The Story of Robin Hood'' is a 1952 action-adventure film produced by RKO- Walt Disney British Productions, based on the Robin Hood legend, made in Technicolor and filmed in Buckinghamshire, England. It was written by Lawrence Edward Watkin and directed by Ken Annakin. It is the second of Disney's complete live-action films, after ''Treasure Island'' (1950), and the first of four films Annakin directed for Disney. Plot Young Robin Hood, in love with Maid Marian, enters an archery contest with his father at the King's palace. On the way home his father is killed by henchmen of Prince John. Robin takes up the life of an outlaw, gathering together his band of merry men with him in Sherwood Forest, to avenge his father's death and to help the people of the land whom Prince John is over taxing. Cast * Richard Todd as Robin Hood * Joan Rice as Maid Marian * Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham * James Hayter as Friar Tuck * James Robertson Justice as Little John * Martita Hun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
