Girls About Town (film)
''Girls About Town'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea. Plot Wanda Howard (Kay Francis) and Marie Bailey (Lilyan Tashman) go out with two balding, middle-aged businessmen from out of town (for $500 apiece) to help Jerry Chase (Alan Dinehart) close a sale. However, the women, who share a luxurious suite in an apartment building, have their African-American maid Hattie (Louise Beavers) disguise herself as their mother, waiting at the window, to avoid having to invite the men inside. Wanda is getting tired of how she makes a living, but she and Marie go aboard a yacht the next night to divert rich practical joker Benjamin Thomas (Eugene Pallette) and his handsome business associate Jim Baker (Joel McCrea). Jim knows that the women are paid "entertainment", but quickly finds himself falling for Wanda anyway, and vice versa. (When Jerry pays her for her efforts, Wanda tears up the check.) Once Jim realiz ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head of Production, assigned Cukor to direct several of RKO's major films, including ''What Price Hollywood?'' (1932), '' A Bill of Divorcement'' (1932), ''Our Betters'' (1933), and '' Little Women'' (1933). When Selznick moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1933, Cukor followed and directed '' Dinner at Eight'' (1933) and ''David Copperfield'' (1935) for Selznick, and ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1936) and '' Camille'' (1936) for Irving Thalberg. He was replaced as one of the directors of ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), but he went on to direct '' The Philadelphia Story'' (1940), ''Gaslight'' (1944), ''Adam's Rib'' (1949), '' Born Yesterday'' (1950), '' A Star Is Born'' (1954), ''Bhowani Junction'' (1956), and won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
George Barbier (actor)
George W. Barbier (November 19, 1864 – July 19, 1945) was an American stage and film actor who appeared in 88 films. Early life and education Barbier was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He entered the Crozer Theological Seminary in Upland, Pennsylvania to study for the ministry but gave it up to go on the stage. Career Barbier began his career in light opera and spent several years in repertory and stock companies. He eventually played on Broadway, where he appeared in seven productions between 1922 and 1930, among them ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', The Front Page and ''The Man Who Came Back''. He signed a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1929 and later worked as a character actor for most of the major studios. His first film was ''The Big Pond'' (1930). The weighty, white-haired Barbier often played pompous, but mostly kind-hearted businessmen or patriarchs in supporting roles. George Barbier appeared in 88 films until his death in 1945. Personal life Barbier ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
American Romantic Comedy Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
American Black-and-white Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
1930s English-language Films
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
1931 Romantic Comedy Films
Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. * January 25 – Mohandas Gandhi is again released from imprisonment in India. * January 27 – Pierre Laval forms a government in France. February * February 4 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin gives a speech calling for rapid industrialization, arguing that only strong industrialized countries will win wars, while "weak" nations are "beaten". Stalin states: "We are fifty or a hundred years behind the advanced countries. We must make good this distance in ten years. Either we do it, or they will crush us." The first five-year plan in the Soviet Union is intensified, for the industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. * February 10 – O ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
1931 Films
The following is an overview of 1931 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1931 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 5: RKO acquires the producing and distribution arm of Pathé for $4.6 million. * June 20: Monogram Pictures releases its first film, ''Ships of Hate''. * July 7: Anti-competitive practices disclosed about certain distributors and producers in Canada. * November 17: E. R. Tinker elected president of Fox Films replacing Harley L. Clarke. * December 14: RKO refinancing plan approved. Best money stars ''Variety'' reported the following as the biggest male stars in the U.S. in alphabetical order although grouped George Arliss and Ronald Colman together as having equal ranking. The following were the biggest women names in the U.S. in alphabetical order but again grouped two actresses together to denote they were ranked t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The House That Shadows Built
''The House That Shadows Built'' (1931) is a feature compilation film from Paramount Pictures, made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the studio's founding in 1912. The film was a promotional film for exhibitors and never had a regular theatrical release. The film includes a brief history of Paramount, interviews with various actors, and clips from upcoming projects (some of which never came to fruition). The title comes from a biography of Paramount founder Adolph Zukor, ''The House That Shadows Built'' (1928), by William Henry Irwin. Marx Brothers segment The film is best known for a six-minute segment starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx and Zeppo Marx), with Ben Taggart playing Mr. Lee, Theatrical Producer, which was intended to promote their forthcoming 1931 film '' Monkey Business'' (Clark also played the role of the frustrated Passport Official in ''Monkey Business'' and would later appear in the war scene in '' Duck Soup''). The segment, c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as '' The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national " newspaper of record". For print it is ranked 18th in the world by circulation and 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 1896, through a dual-class share structure after its shares became publicly traded. A. G. Sulzberger, the paper's publisher and the company's chairman, is the fifth generation of the family to head the pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Mordaunt Hall
Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.Mordaunt Hall, Wrote of Screen , ''New York Times'', July 4, 1973, p. 18. His writing style was described in his ''Times'' obituary as "chatty, irreverent, and not particularly analytical. €¦The interest of other critics in analyzing cinematographic techniques was not for him." Biography Born Frederick William Mordaunt Hall in[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Judith Wood
Judith Wood (born Helen Johnson, August 1, 1906 – April 6, 2002) was an American film actress. Early years The daughter of cartoonist Merle Johnson, she was born in New York City. Wood moved to Hollywood, California to pursue an acting career in the late 1920s. She studied art at Skidmore College for a year, then traveled with her mother to Paris, where she continued to study art for two years. Besides learning art, she became fluent in French during her stay in Paris. After returning to New York, she was a model for illustrations in magazines and for advertisements in addition to designing for theatrical productions. She changed her name to Judith Wood and was first credited with this name in '' The Vice Squad'' (1931). Career Wood's first role was in the 1929 film ''Gold Diggers of Broadway''. In this first film, as well as in the four in which she would star during 1930, Wood was credited under her birth name. Her first film of 1931 was '' It Pays to Advertise'', whi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Claire Dodd
Claire Dodd (born Dorothy Arlene Dodd; December 29, 1911 – November 23, 1973) was an American film actress. Life and work Dorothy Arlene Dodd was born on December 29, 1911, in Baxter, Iowa, to Walter Willard Dodd, a farmer whose family were early Jasper County pioneers, and his wife, Ethel Viola (née Cool) Dodd, daughter of Baxter Postmaster Peter J. Cool. Her parents married on June 28, 1911. The family moved frequently while she was growing up, living in Denver, Kansas City, Phoenix, St. Louis, and Missoula, Montana, among other places. Her parents separated in Montana. Young Dorothy went to California around 1927 where she worked as a model in Los Angeles and auditioned for minor film roles. While working as a model in Los Angeles, she was cast in a small part in Eddie Cantor's movie ''Whoopee!'', which was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld. Ziegfeld offered Dodd a part in his next Broadway musical, ''Smiles''. She joined the Ziegfeld Follies and moved to New York ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |