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Famous Film Festival
''Famous Film Festival'' was American television's first prime-time movie series. It aired Sunday nights 7:30-9:00 pm (EST) on ABC during the 1955-56 television season, switching to Saturday nights (7:30-9 pm) during its second and final season, 1956-57. In 1955, ABC obtained permission to broadcast 35 British movies, the rights of which were owned by English film mogul J. Arthur Rank. Titles of these included ''The Man in Grey'' (1943), ''The Lavender Hill Mob'' (1951), ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1945), '' The Red Shoes'' (1948), and ''Hamlet'' (1948). However, many of these, such as ''Hamlet'', ran two full hours or longer, and were either drastically cut to fit a ninety-minute time slot or shown in two installments a week apart. (It was not until November 3, 1956, with CBS's first presentation of MGM's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939), that an uncut film lasting more than ninety minutes was telecast in one evening on a television network.) ABC broadcast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afternoon Film Festival
''Afternoon Film Festival'' was a series of British theatrical feature-films aired by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network from January 1956 through the summer of 1957 each weekday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm (EST). This anthology was the first (and probably the only) instance of a major over-the-air (non-cable) American television network broadcasting a package of theatrical movies as part of its Monday-through-Friday daytime television programming. Consisting mostly of films from the 1940s and early 1950s, ''Afternoon Film Festival'' was actually an offshoot from ABC's prime-time movie series ''Famous Film Festival'', which began in the fall of 1955 on Sunday evenings and featured a package of 35 British titles leased from J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors in England at a cost of $45,700 each. ABC signed Allyn Edwards—and later, the veteran actor Donald Woods—to host each ''Afternoon'' feature, and on Monday, January 16, 1956, the anthology premiered with Alfred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blue Lagoon (1949 Film)
''The Blue Lagoon'' is a 1949 British coming-of-age romance and adventure film directed and co-produced by Frank Launder (with Sidney Gilliat) and starring Jean Simmons and Donald Houston. The screenplay was adapted by John Baines, Michael Hogan, and Frank Launder from the 1908 novel '' The Blue Lagoon'' by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The original music score was composed by Clifton Parker and the cinematography was by Geoffrey Unsworth. The film tells the story of two young children shipwrecked on a tropical island paradise in the South Pacific. Emotional feelings and physical changes arise as they grow to maturity and fall in love. The film has major thematic similarities to the Biblical account about Adam and Eve. Plot In 1841, 8-year-old Emmeline Foster and 10-year-old Michael Reynolds, two British children, are the survivors of a shipwreck in the South Pacific. After days afloat, they are marooned on a lush tropical island in the company of kindly old sailor Paddy ... [...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] |
The Woman In Question
''The Woman in Question'' (released in the United States as ''Five Angles on Murder'') is a 1950 British Murder-mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum. After a woman is murdered, the complex and very different ways in which she is seen by several people are examined. It was loosely adapted into the 1954 Indian film ''Andha Naal''. Plot English widow Agnes Huston is found murdered at her house. As Superintendent Lodge and Inspector Butler question her friends and neighbours, flashback scenes play out widely differing interpretations of the dead woman and her behaviour. Neighbour Mrs. Finch tells Lodge that Agnes was a gentlewoman and her sister Catherine Taylor is rude and obnoxious. According to Mrs. Finch, the two sisters once had an argument about Agnes’ husband having an affair with Catherine. Catherine then left after hurting Agnes’ feelings. A few days later Catherine and her boyfriend Bob Baker forced their wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whisky Galore! (1949 Film)
''Whisky Galore!'' is a 1949 British comedy film produced by Ealing Studios, starring Basil Radford, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood and Gordon Jackson. It was the directorial debut of Alexander Mackendrick; the screenplay was by Compton Mackenzie, an adaptation of his 1947 novel '' Whisky Galore'', and Angus MacPhail. The story—based on a true event—concerns a shipwreck off a fictional Scottish island, the inhabitants of which have run out of whisky because of wartime rationing. The islanders find out the ship is carrying 50,000 cases of whisky, some of which they salvage, against the opposition of the local Customs and Excise men. It was filmed on the island of Barra; the weather was so poor that the production over-ran its 10-week schedule by five weeks, and the film went £20,000 over budget. Michael Balcon, the head of the studio, was unimpressed by the initial cut of the film, and one of Ealing's directors, Charles Crichton, added footage and re-edited the film before it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caesar And Cleopatra (film)
''Caesar and Cleopatra'' is a 1945 British Technicolor film directed by Gabriel Pascal and starring Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains. Some scenes were directed by Brian Desmond Hurst, who took no formal credit. The picture was adapted from the play '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' (1901) by George Bernard Shaw, produced by Independent Producers and Pascal Film Productions and distributed by Eagle-Lion Distributors. Upon release, ''Caesar and Cleopatra'' failed to earn back its colossal budget. John Bryan was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction. Plot Aging Julius Caesar takes possession of the Egyptian capital city of Alexandria and tries to resolve a feud between the young princess Cleopatra and her younger brother Ptolemy. Caesar develops a special relationship with Cleopatra and teaches her how to use her royal power. Cast * Vivien Leigh as Cleopatra * Claude Rains as Caesar * Stewart Granger as Apollodorus * Flora Robson as Ftatateeta * Francis L. Sullivan as Pothinus * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Rake's Progress (film)
''The Rake's Progress'' is a 1945 British comedy-drama film. In the United States, the title was changed to ''Notorious Gentleman''. The film caused controversy with U.S. censors of the time, who trimmed scenes for what was considered graphic amoral and sexual content. Plot The plot follows the career of upper-class cad Vivian Kenway (Rex Harrison). He is sent down from Oxford University for placing a chamber pot on the Martyrs' Memorial. Sent to South America after his father pulls a favour from a friend, he is fired for heckling the managing director while drunk. A friend offers him a job, but he responds by seducing his wife and is found out. His jobs decline, as he moves from employment as racing driver to shop assistant to dancing partner. He lives a life of womanising and heavy drinking and constantly runs up large debts, which his family has to pay. One girl tries to kill herself. Driving while drunk and taking risks, he crashes and causes the death of his father, Colo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madonna Of The Seven Moons
''Madonna of the Seven Moons'' is a 1945 British drama film directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Phyllis Calvert, Stewart Granger and Patricia Roc. The film was produced by Rubeigh James Minney, with cinematography from Jack Cox and screenplay by Roland Pertwee. It was one of the Gainsborough melodramas. Plot A buried trauma from the past holds the key to the disappearance of a respectable married woman. Maddalena has a dual personality which leads her to forsake her husband and daughter, to flee to the house of the Seven Moons in Florence as the mistress of a jewel thief. Cast * Phyllis Calvert as Maddalena Labardi * Stewart Granger as Nino Barucci * Patricia Roc as Angela Labardi * Peter Glenville as Sandro Barucci * John Stuart as Giuseppe Labardi * Nancy Price as Mama Barucci * Reginald Tate as Doctor Charles Ackroyd * Jean Kent as Vittoria * Peter Murray-Hill as Jimmy Logan * Dulcie Gray as Nesta Logan * Alan Haines as Evelyn * Hilda Bayley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appointment With Venus (film)
''Appointment with Venus'' is a 1951 film adaptation of the 1951 Jerrard Tickell novel of the same name. It was directed by Ralph Thomas, produced by Betty E. Box and its screenplay was written by the novelist Nicholas Phipps. The film was based on the evacuation of Alderney cattle from the Channel Island during World War II. In the United States the film was re-titled ''Island Rescue''. Plot In 1940, after the fall of France, the fictitious Channel Island of Armorel is occupied by a small garrison of German troops under the benign command of Hauptmann Weiss. The hereditary ruler, the Suzerain, is away in the British Army, leaving the Provost in charge. Back in London, the Ministry of Agriculture realise that during the evacuation of the island, Venus, a prize pedigree pregnant cow, was left behind. They petition the War Office to do something urgently due to the value of the cow's bloodline, and Major Morland is assigned the task of rescuing Venus. The Suzerain's sister ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Clouded Yellow
''The Clouded Yellow'' is a 1950 British mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty E. Box for Carillon Films. A dismissed secret service agent falls in love with a disturbed young woman who is wrongly accused of murder and the two go on the run, pursued by the police, the secret service, and the real murderer. Plot A successful member of the UK Secret Intelligence Service during the Second World War, ex-Major David Somers is dismissed following the failure of a mission. The only work he can find is cataloguing butterflies at the country house of Nicholas and Jess Fenton. (The "clouded yellow" is a rare species of butterfly.) Somers and Sophie Malraux, Jess's niece, become attracted to each other. After the murder of Hick, a local gamekeeper and Jess's lover, suspicion wrongly falls on Sophie. She is considered mentally fragile because of the apparent suicide of her parents when she was six, the memory of which she has suppressed. Somers helps Sophie to evade a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam And Evelyne
''Adam and Evelyne'', released in the U.S. as ''Adam and Evalyn'', is a 1949 romance film starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons. According to Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, this suited the stars, as they were romantically involved at the time, despite their age difference. They married the next year. Plot When jockey Chris Kirby (Fred Johnson) is fatally injured in a horse race, he gets his best friend, gambler Adam Black (Stewart Granger), to promise to take care of his teenage daughter, Evelyne (Jean Simmons), who has been raised apart from her father. Unbeknownst to Adam, Evelyne had been led to believe that Adam is her father in correspondence between parent and child. Adam is unable to tell her the truth; his butler and friend Bill Murray (Edwin Styles) tries and fails as well. Finally, Adam's sometime girlfriend Moira (Helen Cherry) breaks the news to the girl. Adam sends Evelyne to an exclusive boarding school. When she has grown up, she reappears unexp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
