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George Nicholls Jr.
George Nicholls Jr. (May 5, 1897 – November 13, 1939), also known as George Nichols Jr., was an American director and editor during the 1930s. Born to show business parents, and son of prolific actor and director George Nichols, he entered the film industry at the tail end of the silent film era, working as an editor for the Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. After moving to RKO Pictures in 1933, Nicholls shortly began directing films by the end of the year. His career was cut short when he died in a car accident while driving to the location of his final film. Life and career Born George Alberti Nichols on May 5, 1897, in San Francisco, his father was the American actor and director George Nichols, and his mother was the actress Viola Alberti. While his father was working at Biograph Studios, Nicholls made his film debut, acting in shorts during the 1910s. In 1912, as a child actor he had the lead in the comedy short ''Pa's Medicine'' at the Thanhouser Film Corporation, a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of California cities by population, fourth most populous in California and List of United States cities by population, 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of , at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the County statistics of the United States, fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $160,749) and sixth by aggregate income as of 2021. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include ''SF'', ''San Fran'', ''The '', ''Frisco'', and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thornton Freeland
Thornton Freeland (February 10, 1898 – May 22, 1987) was an American film director who directed 26 British and American films in a career that lasted from 1924 to 1949. Early success He was born in Hope, North Dakota in 1898 and originally worked as an assistant director during the silent era. In 1929 he directed his first film, the comedy ''Three Live Ghosts''. He enjoyed an early success with the Eddie Cantor Technicolor musical '' Whoopie!'' (1930) and much of his subsequent work was in musicals and comedies. In 1933, he directed ''Flying Down to Rio'' which launched the screen partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers although it had originally been designed as a starring vehicle for the Mexican actress Dolores del Río. The following year Freeland made a film version of the long-running Broadway revue ''George White's Scandals''. Britain In 1935 Freeland went to London to make the musical comedy '' Brewster's Millions'' starring Jack Buchanan. He was to work in Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Meek
Thomas Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903. Meek is perhaps best known for his roles in the films '' You Can't Take It with You'' (1938) and ''Stagecoach'' (1939). He posthumously received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. Early years Meek was born in Glasgow to Matthew and Annie Meek. In the 1890s, the Meek family emigrated to Canada and then to the United States. By 1900, they were living in Philadelphia where Meek was employed as a dry goods salesman, according to the United States census of that year with Meek later working on stage. Career Meek's Broadway credits include ''Take My Tip'' (1932), ''After Tomorrow'' (1931), ''Oh, Promise Me'' (1930), ''Broken Dishes'' (1929), in which he starred with a young Bette Davis, ''Jonesy'' (1929), ''Mr. Moneypenny'' (1928), ''The Ivory Door'' (1927), ''My Princess'' (1927), ''Spread Eagle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Ellis (actor)
Edward Mayne Ellis (November 12, 1870 – July 26, 1952) was an American actor. He is best known for playing the title role in ''The Thin Man'', as well as in ''A Man to Remember''. Early life Ellis was born in Coldwater, Michigan, the second child of Edward C. Ellis, a playwright and actor and Ruth McCarthy Ellis, an actress. He was the younger brother of stage actress and writer Edith Ellis. Career He made his first stage appearance in 1879 in Chicago. He was an actor, playwright and producer on Broadway before going into films. His first adult performance was in ''Mary and John'' in 1905. He toured all over America and also played in England. Edward Ellis was a dramatic author and also wrote the playscript for the 1934 play ''Affair of a Gentleman''. In films, he played mostly supporting roles, his only leading roles being in ''Main Street Lawyer'' (1939) and in ''A Man to Remember'' (1938) and ''Three Sons'' (1939), a remake of Lionel Barrymore's ''Sweepings'' (1933). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Mack
Helen Mack (born Helen McDougall; November 13, 1913 – August 13, 1986) was an American actress. She started her career as a child actress in silent films, moving to Broadway plays and touring one of the vaudeville circuits. Her greater success as an actress was as a leading lady in the 1930s. She made the transition to performing on radio and then into writing, directing, and producing shows during the Golden Age of Radio. She later wrote for Broadway, stage and television. Her career spanned the infancy of the motion picture industry, the beginnings of Broadway, the final days of vaudeville, the transition to sound movies, the Golden Age of Radio, and the rise of television. Youth and stage Mack was born in Rock Island, Illinois, the daughter of William George McDougall, a barber, and Regina (née Lenzer) McDougall, who had a repressed desire to become an actress. She attended the Professional Children's School of New York City. Her friend Vera Gordon helped her along a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931), and remains best known to modern audiences for the role of villainous Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life''. He is also particularly remembered as Ebenezer Scrooge in annual broadcasts of ''A Christmas Carol'' during his last two decades. He is also known for playing Dr. Leonard Gillespie in MGM's nine Dr. Kildare films, a role he reprised in a further six films focusing solely on Gillespie and in a radio series titled ''The Story of Dr. Kildare''. He was a member of the theatrical Barrymore family. Early life Lionel Barrymore was born Lionel Herbert Blythe in Philadelphia, the son of actors Georgiana Drew Barrymore and Maurice Barrymore (born Herbert Arthur Chamberlayne Blythe). He was the elder brother of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Return Of Peter Grimm (1935 Film)
''The Return of Peter Grimm'' is a 1935 American drama film directed George Nicholls, Jr. from a screenplay by Francis Edward Faragoh based upon the 1911 Broadway play of the same name by David Belasco. Produced by Kenneth Macgowan and released by RKO Radio Pictures on September 13, 1935, it stars Lionel Barrymore, Helen Mack, Edward Ellis, and Donald Meek. Previously filmed by Fox Film Corporation in 1926 as a silent film, '' The Return of Peter Grimm''. A business owner disbelieves in the afterlife, until he dies and returns as a ghost. When he learns that his intended heir plans to sell the business, the ghost tries to sabotage the heir's arranged marriage. Plot The owner of a thriving, generations-old nursery business, Peter Grimm is determined to marry off Catherine, an orphan he has raised to young womanhood, to his nephew Frederik. Catherine, who does not love Frederik, reluctantly agrees to marry him just to please her benefactor. Meanwhile, James, Grimm's secretary, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Brown (actor)
Thomas Edward Brown (January 6, 1913 – June 3, 1990) was an American actor and model. Biography Brown was born in New York City, the son of William Harold "Harry" Brown and Marie Francis Brown. As a child model from the age of two years, Brown posed as Buster Brown, the Arrow Collar Boy and the Buick boy. Brown was educated at the New York Professional Children's School. He was carried on stage in his mother's arms when he was only six months old. As an actor, he is probably best remembered for playing the title role in ''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack'' and as Gilbert Blythe in ''Anne of Green Gables'' (1934). Later he appeared on the television shows ''Gunsmoke'', '' Mr. Adams and Eve'', ''General Hospital'' and ''Days of Our Lives''. He also had a recurring role as Lt. Rovacs in '' Mr. Lucky''. He enlisted in the United States Army in World War II where in three years he rose from private to lieutenant serving in France as a paratrooper where he was awarded a French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Shirley (actress)
Anne Shirley (born Dawn Evelyn Paris; April 17, 1918 – July 4, 1993) was an American actress. Beginning her career as a child actress under the stage name Dawn O'Day, she adopted the stage name of Anne Shirley, after playing the title character in the film adaptation of '' Anne of Green Gables'' in 1934, after which she achieved a successful career in supporting roles. Among her films is '' Stella Dallas'' (1937), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Although Shirley left the acting profession in 1944, at the age of 26, she remained in Los Angeles, where she died at the age of 75. Early life Born in New York City, as a baby she began modeling, and made her film debut with a featured role in 1922's ''Moonshine Valley''. Shirley began acting at the age of five as the live action "Alice" in Walt Disney's pre- Mickey Mouse silent animated series "Alice in Cartoonland". She had a highly successful child star career in Pre-Code movies, appea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne Of Green Gables (1934 Film)
''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1934 film directed by George Nicholls, Jr., based upon the 1908 novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. Dawn O'Day, who portrayed the title character in the film, changed her stage name to Anne Shirley, which she was billed as for this and all subsequent roles. The film was a surprise hit, becoming one of four top-grossing films RKO made that year as noted in ''The R.K.O. Story'', published by Arlington House. A sequel, ''Anne of Windy Poplars'', was released in 1940. Plot Anne Shirley is an orphan who has been adopted by farmer Matthew Cuthbert (O.P. Heggie) and his sister, Marilla (Helen Westley). Although the pair were expecting a young boy to help on their farm, Anne endears herself to them and to the local villagers. She befriends Diana Barry and most of the children at her school except for Gilbert Blythe after he calls her 'carrots' and she smashes her slate over his head. She and Diana have a bet that Anne ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wanda Tuchock
Wanda Tuchock (March 20, 1898 – February 10, 1985) was an American advertising copywriter, screenwriter, director, and producer during the early 20th century. She was credited with writing for over thirty films, and was one of the at least three women in the 1930s to be credited as a director on a Hollywood film. Early life Tuchock was born on March 20, 1898 in Pueblo, Colorado. She attended the University of California at Los Angeles. Career Tuchock began her career as an advertising copy editor. In 1927, at the age of 30, she entered the silent film industry. She only had one silent film credit; she was "one of the few women who began her career in the silent era and was able to maintain her career in Hollywood during the early sound years". She was one of the few female screenwriters who worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the early 1930s. At RKO Radio Pictures she became one of only a small number of women in the 1930s, next to Dorothy Arzner and Dorothy Davenport, to be cre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finishing School (1934 Film)
''Finishing School'' is a 1934 pre-Code romantic drama film starring Frances Dee Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. Her first film was the musical ''Playboy of Paris'' (1930). She starred in the film '' An American Tragedy'' (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 ... as a young woman who gets into trouble after being sent to a finishing school by her neglectful parents. This film was condemned by the Legion of Decency. Plot Virginia Radcliff is enrolled at the exclusive Crockett Hall finishing school by her mother, with the acquiescence of her wealthy businessman father. Miss Van Alstyne, the head of the school, informs her new student of Crockett Hall's strict rules of ladylike conduct, but Virginia's new roommate, Cecilia Ferris, soon sets her straight. Van Alstyne and the rest of her staff do not really care what they do as long as it does not become public and stain the reputation of the school. On the weeke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
