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Gizmo!
''Gizmo!'' is a 1977 documentary film produced and directed by Howard Smith about improbable inventions, and uses old newsreel footage about these inventions. Early examples of parkour and buildering are also featured, including footage of an urban acrobat, John Ciampa (the "Brooklyn Tarzan"), Frank "Cannonball" Richards and a stuntman, Arnim Dahl Arnim Dahl (March 12, 1922 in Stettin – August 3, 1998 in Wedel) was a German Stuntman. Life His father Hermann Dahl was a former German champion in springboard diving. Following in his father’s footsteps, Dahl was the 1938 German yo .... External links *"Gizmo!" description and review [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ciampa
John Ciampa (1922–1970) was an Italian-American acrobatic stuntman and entertainer known by the stage names of the Human Fly, the Flying Phantom and the Brooklyn Tarzan. As a child, Ciampa had been fascinated by the acrobatic agility of film stars such as Errol Flynn and Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and by the character of Tarzan of the Apes as portrayed by Elmo Lincoln and later Johnny Weissmuller. Inspired by his screen heroes, Ciampa began to climb trees and buildings in his Brooklyn neighborhood at a young age, persisting with the activity into his teenage years and early adulthood. Career in the entertainment business By 1942 Ciampa's unusual hobby had gained him some local notoriety. Coincident with the release of the feature film Tarzan's New York Adventure, Ciampa was featured in a Paramount Pictures newsreel exhibiting some of his feats of acrobatic buildering and freestyle tree climbing. A bricklayer by profession, Ciampa also worked in the entertainment business ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Smith (director)
Howard Smith (December 10, 1936 – May 1, 2014) was an American Oscar-winning film director, producer, journalist, screenwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. Biography Smith was born in Brooklyn in 1936 and raised in Newark, New Jersey where his parents, Charles and Sadie (née Heitner) Smith, owned a cigar store. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He was interested in inventions when he was a youngster. He graduated from Weequahic High School in 1955 and attended Pace College in New York City but left to write poetry. Smith started his career as a photographer. His work appeared in ''Life'', ''Newsweek'' and many other national publications. Journalist Several years later, Smith pursued journalism from another perspective and became a writer for more than thirty years. His articles appeared in newspapers and magazines ranging from ''Playboy'' to ''The New York Times''; from the ''Ladies Home Journal'' to ''The Village Voice''. He wrote regularly for the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank "Cannonball" Richards
Frank Anson Richards also known as Frank "Cannonball" Richards and Cannonball Richards (February 20, 1887February 7, 1969) was an American sideshow, carnival and vaudeville performer whose act involved taking heavy blows to his stomach. Richards began by letting people (including heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey) punch him in the gut. Dempsey hit him in the stomach a reported total of seventy-five times. He then progressed to letting people jump on his belly, being struck by a Lumber#Dimensional lumber, two-by-four, being struck by a sledgehammer, and finally being shot by a 104-lb. (47 kg) round shot, cannonball from a 12 foot (3.6m) compressed air cannon. Richards limited his cannonball act to twice per day, as performing it more often was too painful. Early life Frank Anson Richards was born to Richard Jones Richards and Ellen Elizabeth Richards on February 20, 1887, in Minneapolis, Kansas, Minneapolis, Kansas. He had two siblings, sister Rose May Richards and brother E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Documentary Film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in terms of "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries". Early documentary films, originally called "actuality films", lasted one minute or less. Over time, documentaries have evolved to become longer in length, and to include more categories. Some examples are Educational film, educational, observational and docufiction. Documentaries are very Informational listening, informative, and are often used within schools as a resource to teach various principles. Documentary filmmakers have a responsibility to be truthful to their vision of the world without intentionally misrepresenting a topic. Social media platfor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, information, and entertainment for millions of moviegoers. Newsreels were typically exhibited preceding a feature film, but there were also dedicated newsreel theaters in many major cities in the 1930s and ’40s, and some large city cinemas also included a smaller theaterette where newsreels were screened continuously throughout the day. By the end of the 1960s television news broadcasts had supplanted the format. Newsreels are considered significant historical documents, since they are often the only audiovisual record of certain cultural events. History Silent news films were shown in cinemas from the late 19th century. In 1909 Pathé started producing weekly newsreels in Europe. Pathé began producing newsreels for the UK in 1910 and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parkour
Parkour () is an athletic training discipline or sport in which practitioners (called ''traceurs'') attempt to get from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, without assisting equipment and often while performing artistic-gymnastic maneuvers. With roots in military obstacle course training and martial arts, parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, plyometrics, rolling, gymnastics, and quadrupedal movement—whatever is suitable for a given situation. Parkour is an activity that can be practiced alone or with others, and is usually carried out in urban spaces, though it can be done anywhere. It involves seeing one's environment in a new way, and envisioning the potential for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features. Although practitioners of Parkour often perform flips and other acrobatic movements, these are not considered a part of Parkour proper. The practice of similar movements had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buildering
Buildering (also known as edificeering, urban climbing, structuring, skywalking, boulding, or stegophily) describes the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures. The word "buildering", sometimes misspelled bildering, combines the word ''building'' with the climbing term ''bouldering''. If done without ropes or protection far off the ground, buildering is extremely dangerous. It is often practiced outside legal bounds, and is thus mostly at night. Night climbing is a particular branch of buildering which has been practiced for many years in a variety of locations, especially at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, England. Night climbing, as distinct from buildering, is performed mainly by undergraduates under cover of darkness. The term "night climbing" has replaced the older term "roof climbing". The philosophy behind night climbing has undergone great change during the 21st century, with urban disciplines such as parkour having a heavy i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acrobatics
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro dance, circus, and gymnastics, and to a lesser extent in other athletic activities including ballet, slacklining and diving. Although acrobatics is most commonly associated with human body performance, the term is used to describe other types of performance, such as aerobatics. History Acrobatic traditions are found in many cultures, and there is evidence that the earliest such traditions occurred thousands of years ago. For example, Minoan art from c. 2000 BC contains depictions of acrobatic feats on the backs of bulls. Ancient Greeks practiced acrobatics, and the noble court displays of the European Middle Ages would often include acrobatic performances that included juggling. In China, acrobatics have been a part of the culture si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stuntman
A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed to a daredevil, who performs for a live audience. When they take the place of another actor, they are known as stunt doubles. Overview A stuntman or stuntwoman typically performs stunts intended for use in a film or dramatized television. Stunts seen in films and television include car crashes, falls from great height, drags (for example, behind a horse), and explosions. There is an inherent risk in the performance of all stunt work. There is maximum risk when the stunts are performed in front of a live audience. In filmed performances, visible safety mechanisms can be removed by editing. In live performances the audience can see more clearly if the performer is genuinely doing what they claim or appear to do. To reduce the risk of injury ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnim Dahl
Arnim Dahl (March 12, 1922 in Stettin – August 3, 1998 in Wedel) was a German Stuntman. Life His father Hermann Dahl was a former German champion in springboard diving. Following in his father’s footsteps, Dahl was the 1938 German youth champion in springboard diving. Dahl was a bricklayer and carpenter before his service in World War II. After his military service, Dahl returned to Hamburg in 1946, and performed as a clown and circus artist. He already showed talent in tightrope walking, which would later make him famous. Starting in 1949, he became a stuntman. In 1952 he was hired by German director Kurt Hoffmann for the comedy '' Klettermaxe'' (translated “Climber”), where Dahl would be the stunt double for the film’s lead actor Albert Lieven. Dahl became the first German stuntman in the postwar era. He was featured in about 40 productions, playing the stunt double for actors like Heinz Rühmann, Curd Jürgens and Kirk Douglas. In 1959, Dahl found internation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1977 Films
The year 1977 in film involved some significant events. Highest-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1977 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * February 23 – During a press conference at Sardi's in Manhattan, it is officially announced that Christopher Reeve will be playing the role of Superman. * March 28 – At the 49th Academy Awards, ''Rocky'' picks up the Academy Award for Best Picture. Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway, and Beatrice Straight all win Oscars for their performances in ''Network'' for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, while Jason Robards wins for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''All the President's Men.'' He will win again the following year, becoming the only person to win two consecutive Best Supporting Actor awards. * May 25 – ''Star Wars (film), Star Wars'' opens in theatres and becomes the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing film of the year. The film revolutionises th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
