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Dead Of Night
''Dead of Night'' is a 1945 black and white British anthology horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes and Michael Redgrave. The film is best remembered for the concluding story featuring Redgrave and an insane ventriloquist's malevolent dummy. ''Dead of Night'' is a rare British horror film of the 1940s; horror films were banned from production in Britain during the war. It had an influence on subsequent British films in the genre. Both of John Baines' stories were reused for later films and the ventriloquist dummy episode was adapted into the pilot episode of the long-running CBS radio series ''Escape''. While primarily in the horror genre, the film has shades of the comedy that would make the studio's name. Plot Walter Craig arrives at a country cottage in Kent, where he is greeted by his host Elliot Foley. Crai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alberto Cavalcanti
Alberto de Almeida Cavalcanti (February 6, 1897 – August 23, 1982) was a Brazilian-born film director and film producer, producer. He was often credited under the single name "Cavalcanti". Early life Cavalcanti was born in Rio de Janeiro, the son of a prominent mathematician. He was a precociously intelligent child and, by the age of 15, was studying law at university, but was expelled following an argument with a professor. His father sent him to Geneva, Switzerland, on condition that he did not study law or politics. Cavalcanti chose to study architecture instead. At 18, he moved to Paris to work for an architect, later switching to working in interior design. After a visit to Brazil, he took up a position at the Brazilian consul (representative), consulate in Liverpool, England. Cavalcanti corresponded with Marcel L'Herbier, a leading light in France's avant-garde film movement, which led to a job offer from L'Herbier for Cavalcanti to work as a scenic design, set desig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eagle-Lion Films
Eagle-Lion Films was a British-American film production company owned by J. Arthur Rank intended to distribute British productions in the United States. In 1947, it acquired Robert R. Young's PRC Pictures, a small American production company, to produce low-budget features to accompany its British releases. The studio, which was located at 7324 Santa Monica Boulevard (one block away from the Samuel Goldwyn Studios), became a producer of B-movies. Eagle-Lion was also a film distribution company under the name of Eagle-Lion Distributors Limited in the United Kingdom and Eagle-Lion Films Inc. in the United States. In 1954, the film lot was purchased by the Ziv Company for production of its syndicated television programs. It has long since been demolished. History The company was founded in September 1946. From 1946 to 1949, Eagle-Lion was under the control of Arthur B. Krim who, in addition to releasing films by Rank and reissues of David O. Selznick, films produced his own B-m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pall Mall Magazine
''The Pall Mall Magazine'' was a monthly British literary magazine published between 1893 and 1914. Begun by William Waldorf Astor as an offshoot of ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', the magazine included poetry, short stories, serialized fiction, and general commentaries, along with extensive artwork. It was notable in its time as the first British magazine to "publish illustrations in number and finish comparable to those of American periodicals of the same class" much of which was in the late Pre-Raphaelite style. It was often compared to the competing publication ''The Strand Magazine''; many artists, such as illustrator Sidney Paget and author H. G. Wells, sold freelance work to both. During its run, the magazine published many of the most significant artists of the day, including illustrators George Morrow and Edmund Joseph Sullivan, poets Algernon Charles Swinburne and Rudyard Kipling, and authors such as Julian Osgood Field, Bernard Capes, Charlotte O'Conor Eccles, Jack London, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Merrall
Mary Merrall (5 January 1890 – 31 August 1973), born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work. Stage career Merrall's stage career started in her teens, making her first stage appearance in 1907, as Queenie Merrall, and for the rest of her life she remained a well-known and respected stage actress. Although she was based in London, she often appeared in other prestigious venues in the UK such as the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Among her most famous stage roles were Lady Macbeth in a controversial but influential 1928 modern-dress production by Barry Jackson which opened in Birmingham before transferring to London's Royal Court Theatre, and Mrs. Danvers in Daphne du Maurier's ''Rebecca'' at the Strand Theatre in 1940. Her stage career also took her to the United States, where she appeared in ''Canaries Sometimes Sing'' (Frederick Lonsdale) in New York and Chicago in 1930. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Kelly
Julie Aileen Kelly (1 November 1913 – 22 October 1991), known professionally as Judy Kelly, was an Australian-born British actress. She arrived in Britain in 1932 after winning a competition organised by the Australian British Empire Films, which included 3 months tuition at the British International Studios at Elstree. She appeared in a number of films for British International Pictures during the 1930s. She was sometimes cast as a love interest for the comedian Leslie Fuller, and also appeared alongside the musical stars Gene Gerrard and Stanley Lupino. She appeared in the 1941 stage musical '' Lady Behave''. Other wartime stage roles include Vernon Sylvaine's ''Women Aren't Angels'' and ''Warn That Man''. Her final film was a supporting role in the comedy ''Warning to Wantons'' in 1949. Partial filmography * '' Adam's Apple'' (1928) - Vamp * '' Money Talks'' (1932) - His Daughter Rosie * ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933) - Lady Rochford (uncredited) * ''Crime on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renee Gadd
Renee Gadd (1908–2003) was an Argentine-born British film actress. She acted mostly in British films. Early life Gadd was born on a ranch in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1908 to immigrants from Jersey. Her father Talbot Gadd was a railway executive who abandoned the family, after which they moved to England in 1913. Gadd lived with her aunt and began to study dancing, working as a chorus girl in Brighton by the age of fourteen. In 1924, she was cast in a production of ''Hassan'' by the powerful theatrical agent Basil Dean, after which she appeared in several musical comedies, then straight plays after becoming a member of a Shakespearian company at Stratford-on-Avon. She enjoyed a series of successful West End roles. During this same period she acted, and had an affair, with Fred Astaire. Film career In 1931 Gadd signed a contract with British International Pictures and spent two years making films for them. Finding the various comedy films she was cast in uninspiring she behaved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hide-and-seek
Hide-and-seek (sometimes known as hide-and-go-seek) is a popular children's game in which at least two players (usually at least three) conceal themselves in a set environment, to be found by one or more seekers. The game is played by one chosen player (designated as being "it") counting to a predetermined number with eyes closed while the other players hide. After reaching this number, the player who is "it" calls "Ready or not, here I come!" or "Coming, ready or not!" and then attempts to locate all concealed players. The game can end in one of several ways. The most common way of ending is the player chosen as "it" locates all players; the player found first is the loser and is chosen to be "it" in the next game. The player found last is the winner. Another common variation has the seeker counting at "home base"; the hiders can either remain hidden or they can come out of hiding to race to home base; once they touch it, they are "safe" and cannot be tagged. The game is an ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the French department of Pas-de-Calais across the Strait of Dover. The county town is Maidstone. It is the fifth most populous county in England, the most populous non-Metropolitan county and the most populous of the home counties. Kent was one of the first British territories to be settled by Germanic tribes, most notably the Jutes, following the withdrawal of the Romans. Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, the oldest cathedral in England, has been the seat of the Archbishops of Canterbury since the conversion of England to Christianity that began in the 6th century with Saint Augustine. Rochester Cathedral in Medway is England's second-oldest cathedral. Located between London and the Strait of Dover, which separates England from mainla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Escape (radio Program)
''Escape'' is an American radio drama. It was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure radio dramas, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like '' Suspense'' (a sister program that often used the same actors and scripts), it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, ''Escape'' enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's ''Night on Bald Mountain'' with this introduction, as intoned by William Conrad and later Paul Frees: :"Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... ''Escape!''" Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add: :"''Escape''! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ventriloquism
Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice. History Origins Originally, ventriloquism was a religious practice. The name comes from the Latin for 'to speak from the stomach: (belly) and (speak). The Greeks called this gastromancy ( grc-gre, εγγαστριμυθία). The noises produced by the stomach were thought to be the voices of the unliving, who took up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then interpret the sounds, as they were thought to be able to speak to the dead, as well as foretell the future. One of the earliest recorded group of prophets to use this technique was the Pythia, the priestess at the temple of Apollo in Delphi, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sally Ann Howes
Sally Ann Howes (20 July 1930 – 19 December 2021) was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. In 1963, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in ''Brigadoon''. Childhood and early film career Family Howes was born on 20 July 1930 in St John's Wood, London, the daughter of British comedian/actor/singer/variety star Bobby Howes (1895–1972) and actress/singer Patricia Malone (1899–1971). She was the granddaughter of Capt. J.A.E. Malone (died 1928), London theatrical director of musicals, and she had an older brother, Peter Howes, a professional musician and music professor. Her great-grandfather, Captain Joseph Malone, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1854 at the Charge of the Light Brigade. Her uncle, Pat Malone, was an actor on stage, films, and television. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Googie Withers
Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 191715 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. She was a well-known actress and star of British films during the Second World War and postwar years. She often starred in British productions, primarily in films with actor and producer John McCallum, whom she married, and together they emigrated in the late 1950s to her husband's native Australia, where they became best known in theatre, although she would play prison governor Faye Boswell in the TV series ''Within These Walls'' during the 1970s and continued to feature in films. Biography Withers was born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan), to Edgar Withers, a captain in the Royal Navy, and a mother of Dutch French German descent, Lizette Wilhelmina Katarina.Brian McFarlane, ''Assured lady of the screen took no nonsense'', obi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
