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Golddiggers Of 1933
''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is a pre-Code Warner Bros. musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics), staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell, and features Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks and Ginger Rogers. The story is based on the play ''The Gold Diggers'' by Avery Hopwood, which ran for 282 performances on Broadway in 1919 and 1920. The play was made into a silent film in 1923 by David Belasco, the producer of the Broadway play, as '' The Gold Diggers'', starring Hope Hampton and Wyndham Standing, and again as a talkie in 1929, directed by Roy Del Ruth. That film, ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'', which starred Nancy Welford and Conway Tearle, was one of the biggest box office hits of that year, and ''Gold Diggers of 1933'' was one of the top-grossing films of 1933.TCNotes/ref> This version of Hopwood's play was written by James Seymour and Er ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Markson
Ben Markson (August 6, 1892 – October 20, 1971) was an American screenwriter active from the very beginning of the sound film era through the end of the 1950s. During his 30-year career he was responsible for the story and/or screenplay of 45 films, as well as writing the scripts for several episodic television shows in the 1950s. Life and career Markson was born on August 6, 1892 in Creston, Iowa. Prior to writing screenplays, Markson worked as a journalist, and then was part of the publicity department for Paramount Pictures. He would break into the film industry as the co-screenwriter on the 1928 film ''The River Pirate'', a silent film with sound sequences starring Victor McLaglen. In the pre-code era of the early 1930s, Markson was known for his racy scripts. Some of his early successes include: ''The Half-Naked Truth'', a 1932 comedy directed by Gregory La Cava and starring Lupe Vélez and Lee Tracy; ''Is My Face Red?'' (1932), which Markson and co-screenwriter Casey Robi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, film content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers. As a result, some films in the late 1920s and early 1930s depicted or implied innuendo, sexual innuendo, miscegenation, romantic and sexual relationships between white and black people, mild profanity, Recreational drug use, illegal drug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold Diggers Of Broadway
''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Winnie Lightner and Nick Lucas. Distributed by Warner Bros., the film is the second all-talking, all-Technicolor feature-length film (after ''On with the Show!'', also released that year by Warner Bros). ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' became a box office sensation, making Winnie Lightner a worldwide star and boosting guitarist crooner Nick Lucas to further fame as he sang two songs that became 20th-century standards: "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" and "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine." Based on the 1919 play '' The Gold Diggers''—which was also turned into a silent film of the same name in 1923—''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' utilized showgirls, Technicolor, and sound as its main selling points. It was chosen as one of the ten best films of 1929 by '' Film Daily''. As with many early Technicolor films, no complete print survives, although the last twenty minutes do, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the producer. By the early 1920s, he had moved over to features including ''Asleep at the Switch'' (1923), ''The Hollywood Kid'' (1924), '' Eve's Lover'' (1925) and ''The Little Irish Girl'' (1926). Following several more titles, many now lost, he directed ''The First Auto'' (1927), a charming look at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. Also once believed lost, the film's almost entirely unsynchronised soundtrack features several elaborate sound effects for the time. Del Ruth directed another half dozen projects before the musical ''The Desert Song'' (1929), the first color film ever released by Warner Bros. That same year, Del Ruth directed ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' (1929), Warner's second two-strip Tec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wyndham Standing
Charles Wyndham Standing''Silent Film Necrology'', 2nd Edition by Eugene Michael Vazzana, c. 2001 page 497 (23 August 1880 – 1 February 1963) was an English film actor. Early years Standing was born in London, England and died in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of veteran actor Herbert Standing and the brother of actors Sir Guy Standing, Jack Standing, Herbert Standing Jr. and Percy Standing. He was also the uncle of Joan Standing and Kay Hammond,. and actor Charles Wyndham was his uncle. Career Standing, a popular leading man in the silent film era, appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1948. He and Ronald Colman starred in the original classic '' The Dark Angel'' (1925), a film once lost but recently rediscovered. He delivered a memorable performance in '' Hell's Angels'' (1930) as the commanding officer who gets fed up with the cowardly antics of Ben Lyon and James Hall before sending them off on a deadly bombing mission. Filmography * ''Busin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hope Hampton
Hope Hampton (Mae Elizabeth Hampton; February 19, 1897 – January 23, 1982) was an American silent motion picture actress and producer, who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of siren and flapper types in silent-picture roles during the 1920s. She also at one time was an aspiring opera singer. Early life Texas-born, Philadelphia-bred beauty contest winner Hampton was discovered by U.S. silent cinema pioneer Jules Brulatour while working as an extra for director Maurice Tourneur. She made her screen debut in 1920's ''A Modern Salome'', and went on to feature prominently in several Brulatour-financed films. Her last starring role was in '' The Road to Reno'' (1938) with Randolph Scott and Glenda Farrell. In 1923, Hampton wed her manager Brulatour, and they remained married until his death in 1946. Later life Hampton was trained as an opera singer by voice teacher Estelle Liebling, the teacher of Beverly Sills. After retiring from motion pictures at the dawn o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gold Diggers (1923 Film)
''The Gold Diggers'' is a Warner Bros. silent comedy film directed by Harry Beaumont with screenplay by Grant Carpenter based on the play '' The Gold Diggers'' by Avery Hopwood which ran for 282 performances on Broadway in 1919 and 1920. Both the play and the film were produced by David Belasco. The film stars Hope Hampton, Wyndham Standing, and Louise Fazenda. It was also the (uncredited) film debut of Louise Beavers. The story of ''The Gold Diggers'' was filmed again as a talkie in 1929 as ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'', which is now lost, and also in 1933 as ''Gold Diggers of 1933'', with musical numbers created by Busby Berkeley. Three other sequels followed: ''Gold Diggers of 1935'' (1935), ''Gold Diggers of 1937'' (1936), and ''Gold Diggers in Paris'' (1938). Plot Wally Saunders ( Johnny Harron) wants to marry chorus girl Violet Dayne (Anne Cornwall), but his uncle, Stephen Lee (Wyndham Standing) thinks that all chorines are gold diggers (people who date others to get m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Belasco
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of many actors, including James O'Neill, Mary Pickford, Lenore Ulric, and Barbara Stanwyck. Belasco pioneered many innovative new forms of stage lighting and special effects in order to create realism and naturalism.Osnes, Beth, and Gill, Sam. ''Acting: An International Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO (2001) p. 34Marker, Lise-Lone, ''David Belasco: Naturalism in the American Theater'', Princeton Univ. Press (1975) Early years David Belasco was born in 1853 in San Francisco, California, the son of Abraham H. Belasco (1830–1911) and Reyna Belasco (née Nunes, 1830–1899), Sephardic Jews who had immigrated to the United States from London's Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community during the California Gold Rush. He began working as a youth in a San ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (film), ''Kitty Foyle'' (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO Pictures, RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century. Rogers was born in Independence, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. She and her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, when she was nine years old. In 1925, she won a Charleston dance contest that helped her launch a successful vaudeville career. After that, she gained recognition as a Broadway theatre, Broadway actress for her stage debut in ''Girl Crazy''. This led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, which ended after five films. Rogers had her first successful film roles as a supporting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ned Sparks
Ned Sparks (born Edward Arthur Sparkman, November 19, 1883 – April 3, 1957) was a Canadian-born character actor of the American stage and screen. He was known for his deadpan expression and comically nasal, monotone delivery. Life and career Sparks was born in Guelph, Ontario, but moved to St. Thomas, Ontario, where he grew up. He left home at 16 and attempted prospecting in the Klondike Gold Rush. After running out of money, he began performing. Billed as a "Singer of Sweet Southern Songs" and costumed in a straw hat, short pants and bare feet, he won a spot as a singer on a traveling musical company's tour. At 19, he returned to Canada and briefly attended a Toronto seminary. He then worked for the railroad and in theater in Toronto. In 1907, he moved to New York City to try his hand in the Broadway theatre, where he appeared in his first show in 1912. On Broadway, Sparks developed his trademark deadpan expression while portraying a hotel clerk in the play ''Little Miss B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Kibbee
Guy Bridges Kibbee (March 6, 1882 – May 24, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Kibbee was born in El Paso, Texas. His father was editor of the '' El Paso Herald-Post'' newspaper, and Kibbee learned how to set type at age 7. At the age of 14, he ran away to join a traveling show. His younger brother was actor Milton Kibbee. Career Kibbee began his entertainment career on Mississippi riverboats. He became an actor in traveling stock companies. He began to lose his hair at 19. In his early days on stage, he was a romantic leading man. In 1930, he made his debut on Broadway in the play ''Torch Song'', which won acclaim in New York and attracted the interest of Hollywood. Shortly afterwards, Paramount Pictures signed Kibbee, and he moved to California. He later became part of Warner Bros.'s stock company, contract actors who cycled through different productions in supporting roles. Kibbee's specialty was daft and jovial characters; he is perhaps best rememb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers". The musical film was a natural development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater; performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if a live audience were watching. In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s, musicals gained popularity with the public and are exemplified by the films of Busby Ber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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