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Frank Lawton
Frank Lawton Mokeley (30 September 1904 – 10 June 1969) was an English actor. His parents were stage players Daisy May Collier and Frank Lawton (I). His first major screen credit was ''Young Woodley'' (1930). In the mid-1930s, Lawton appeared in some Hollywood films, most significantly as the adult David Copperfield in MGM's classic literature adaptation of ''David Copperfield'' (1935). However, Lawton never made his big breakthrough in Hollywood and returned to British film and theatre. He was married to actress Evelyn Laye from 1934 until his death in 1969 aged 64. They acted together several times, including in the TV series '' My Husband and I''. During World War II, he joined the British Army in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and rose to the rank of major. He was assigned as a liaison officer to the U.S. Army and ultimately was awarded the Legion of Merit, Degree of Legionnaire for his service. In the West End, he appeared in Alex Atkinson Alex Atkinson (1916–1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evelyn Laye
Evelyn Laye (née Elsie Evelyn Lay; 10 July 1900 – 17 February 1996) was an English actress who was active on the London light opera stage, and later in New York and Hollywood. Her first husband, actor Sonnie Hale, left her for Jessie Matthews, earning much public sympathy for Laye. Her second husband was actor Frank Lawton, with whom she often appeared in stage productions. Early years Laye was born as Elsie Evelyn Lay in Bloomsbury, London, and known informally as Boo. Her parents were both actors and her father a theatre manager. Career Lay made her first stage appearance in August 1915 at the Theatre Royal, Brighton as Nang-Ping in ''Mr. Wu'', and her first London appearance at the East Ham Palace on 24 April 1916, aged 15, in the revue ''Honi Soit'', in which she subsequently toured. For the first few years of her career she mainly played in musical comedy and operetta, including ''The Beauty Spot'' in 1917 and '' Going Up'' in 1918. Among her successes dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cavalcade (1933 Film)
''Cavalcade'' is a 1933 American epic pre-Code drama film directed by Frank Lloyd. The screenplay by Reginald Berkeley and Sonya Levien is based on the 1931 play of the same title by Noël Coward. The film stars Diana Wynyard and Clive Brook. The story presents a view of English life during the first third of the 20th century from New Year's Eve 1899 to New Year's Day 1933, from the point of view of well-to-do London residents Jane and Robert Marryot, their children, their close friends, and their servants. Several historical events affect the lives of the characters or serve as background for the film, including the Second Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'', and World War I. Throughout the film, the passage of years is indicated by dates on title cards, with a Medieval cavalcade marching in the background. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Plot On the last day of 1899, Jane and Robert Marry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doublecross (1956 Film)
'Doublecross' is a 1956 British crime film directed by Anthony Squire and starring Donald Houston, Fay Compton and William Hartnell. It was also known as ''Queer Fish''. Plot The story takes place in a Cornish fishing town in the 1950s. Local fisherman assemble in a local pub, apparently to practise their bell-ringing. They are approached by two foreign men (and one woman) who are interested in making use of a boat and ask questions about going to the French coast. Albert Pascoe agrees to take them to France for £100, half paid in advance. They sail off on a moonlit night on a trip that will take until the next afternoon. Meanwhile, back in the village, Albert's smaller rowing boat is found with four large poached salmon in it. A friend hides them from the authorities. Police get involved when it is revealed that one of the foreign men is a murderer. Albert overhears the two foreign men and woman (wife of one of the men) discussing that one of the men Dmitri Krassin had t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Above Us The Waves
''Above Us the Waves'' is a 1955 British war film about human torpedo and midget submarine attacks in Norwegian fjords against the German battleship ''Tirpitz''. Directed by Ralph Thomas, it is based on two true-life attacks by British commando frogmen, first using Chariot manned torpedoes in Operation Title in 1942, and then X-Craft midget submarines in Operation Source in 1943. Filmed at Pinewood Studios, England, with outdoor scenes in Guernsey, some of the original war equipment was used in the film. Plot The Royal Navy (RN) is concerned about attacks on convoys by German submarines while having to keep "half the fleet" guarding against the German battleship . ''Tirpitz'' is 60 miles from the sea inside a Norwegian fjord, and attempts by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to sink her have failed. Commander Fraser (Mills) is determined to prove that attack by human torpedoes is practical, despite scepticism from RN higher echelons. Fraser assembles and trains a force of British c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rough Shoot
''Rough Shoot'', released in the USA as ''Shoot First'', is a 1953 British thriller film directed by Robert Parrish and written by Eric Ambler, based on the 1951 novel by Geoffrey Household. The film stars Joel McCrea, in his only postwar non-Western role, with Evelyn Keyes as the leading lady, and featuring Herbert Lom, Marius Goring and Roland Culver. The scenario is set in Cold War England when tensions ran high regarding spying. Plot A U.S. Army colonel Robert Taine (Joel McCrea) living in the English countryside shoots at a man he takes to be a poacher on Taine's rented property in Dorset. The man named Reimann (Denis Lehre), has been mortally wounded but Robert is unaware that a foreign spy named Hiart (Marius Goring) simultaneously shot Reimann. Believing he has killed the poacher, Robert hides Reimann's body under a shrub. Robert encounters Hiart and his driver, Diss (Karel Stepanek) looking for the body. Later that night, Hiart's colleague, Magda Hassingham ( Pat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Winslow Boy (1948 Film)
''The Winslow Boy'' is a 1948 British drama film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's 1946 play ''The Winslow Boy''. It was made by De Grunwald Productions and distributed by the British Lion Film Corporation. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald with Teddy Baird as associate producer. The adapted screenplay was written by de Grunwald and Rattigan based on Rattigan's play. The music score was by William Alwyn and the cinematography by Freddie Young. The film stars Robert Donat, Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Margaret Leighton with Basil Radford, Kathleen Harrison, Francis L. Sullivan, Marie Lohr and Jack Watling (who was also in the original West End theatre production). Also in the cast are Stanley Holloway, Mona Washbourne, Ernest Thesiger, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Lewis Casson, Cyril Ritchard and Dandy Nichols. Neil North, who plays the title role, also appeared in the 1999 film adaptation directed by David Mamet. Background Set against the strict codes of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Went The Day Well?
''Went the Day Well?'' is a 1942 British war film adapted from a story by Graham Greene and directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. It was produced by Michael Balcon of Ealing Studios and served as unofficial propaganda for the war effort. The film shows a Southern English village taken over by German paratroopers, reflecting the greatest potential nightmare for the British public of the time, although the threat of German invasion had largely receded by that point. The film is notable for its unusually frank, for the time, depiction of ruthless violence. Plot The story is told in flashback by a villager (Mervyn Johns). During the Second World War, a group of seemingly authentic British soldiers arrive in the small, fictitious English village of Bramley End. It is the Whitsun weekend, life is even quieter than usual and there is almost no road traffic. At first they are welcomed by the villagers, until doubts set in about their true purpose and identity. After they are revealed to be Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Four Just Men (1939 Film)
''The Four Just Men'', also known as ''The Secret Four'', is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones, Edward Chapman and Frank Lawton. It is based on the 1905 novel '' The Four Just Men'' by Edgar Wallace. There was a previous silent film version in 1921. This version was produced by Ealing Studios, with sets designed by Wilfred Shingleton. ''The Four Just Men'' was re-released in 1944 with an updated ending featuring newsreel of Winston Churchill and the Allied war effort as a fulfilment of the ideals of the Four. The adviser on the House of Commons of the United Kingdom scenes was Aneurin Bevan. Premise The Four Men are British World War I veterans who unite to work in secret against enemies of the country. They aren't above a spot of murder or sabotage to achieve their ends, but they consider themselves true patriots. Cast * Hugh Sinclair – Humphrey Mansfield * Griffith Jones – James Brodie * Francis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mill On The Floss (film)
''The Mill on the Floss'' is a 1936 British drama film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Frank Lawton, Victoria Hopper, Geraldine Fitzgerald and James Mason. It was based on the 1860 novel ''The Mill on the Floss'' by George Eliot. The film was made at Shepperton Studios. Although he is not credited in the film, Basil Dean, who was married to the leading lady Victoria Hopper, was heavily involved in the planning and the production of the film. Cast * Frank Lawton as Philip Wakem * Victoria Hopper as Lucy Deane * Fay Compton as Mrs Tulliver * Geraldine Fitzgerald as Maggie * Griffith Jones as Stephen Guest * Mary Clare as Mrs Moss * James Mason as Tom Tulliver * Athene Seyler as Mrs Pullet * Sam Livesey as Mr Tulliver * Amy Veness as Mrs Deane * Felix Aylmer as Mr Wakem * Eliot Makeham as Mr Pullet * William Devlin as Bob Jakin * Ivor Barnard as Mr Moss * David Horne as Mr Deane * O. B. Clarence as Mr. Gore * W.E. Holloway as D. Stelling * Arthur West Payne as Young Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Devil-Doll
''The Devil-Doll'' (1936) is a horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. The film was adapted from the novel ''Burn Witch Burn!'' (1932) by Abraham Merritt. It has become a cult film.Paul Simpson, "The Rough Guide to Cult Movies: The Good, The Bad and the Very Weird", Rough Guides UK, 2010. A French scientist is worried about human overpopulation. He creates a formula able to shrink humans, in order for the planet's resources to last longer. He dies shortly after a prison escape, and his former cellmate decides to use the formula in a revenge scheme. The former prisoner targets the people who had originally framed him for bank robbery and murder. Plot Paul Lavond (Barrymore), who was wrongly convicted of robbing his own Paris bank and killing a night watchman more than seventeen years ago, escapes Devil's Island with Marcel (Henry B. Walthall), a scientist who is trying to create a formula to reduce people to one-sixth of their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Invisible Ray (1936 Film)
''The Invisible Ray'' is a 1936 American science-fiction horror film directed by Lambert Hillyer. It stars Boris Karloff as Dr. Janos Rukh, a scientist who comes in contact with a meteorite composed of an element known as "Radium X". After exposure to its rays begins to make him glow in the dark, his touch becomes deadly, and he begins to be slowly driven mad. Alongside Karloff, the film's cast includes Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Violet Kemble Cooper, and Nydia Westman. Prior to production, Universal Pictures was originally developing the film ''Bluebeard'' for Karloff and Lugosi. When that production did not start, Universal wanted a release by the end of 1935 with Karloff and Lugosi, and hired director Stuart Walker and screenwriter John Colton to make the film ''The Invisible Ray''. As Walker was dissatisfied with Colton's script, he requested a three-day delay before production was set to begin and after being denied this, he lef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Copperfield (character)
David Copperfield is the protagonist after which the 1850 Charles Dickens novel ''David Copperfield'' was named. The character is widely thought to be based on Dickens himself, incorporating many elements of his own life. Origin Scholars believe that David Copperfield's childhood, career, friendships and love life were influenced by Dickens's experiences, especially his time working in a factory as a child. David's involvement with the law profession and later his career as a writer mirror the experiences of Dickens. Many of David's acquaintances are based on people Dickens actually knew. David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, is believed to be based upon Maria Beadnell, whom Dickens loved in his early youth. David's friend since boyhood and his second wife, Agnes Wickfield, the real heroine of the novel, is based on Dickens' sisters-in-law Mary and Georgina Hogarth; both of whom were very close to Dickens. Dickens keenly felt his deprived education during his time at the blacking fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
