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Gretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin (7 July 1911 – 11 July 2005) was an English actress and dancer with a career in show business spanning over 70 years. She was born in Covent Garden, Central London. She played Ethel Skinner in the long-running BBC 1 soap opera ''EastEnders'' on a regular basis from 1985 until 1988. After this she returned to the show intermittently. These appearances became briefer and more widely spaced. Her final appearance was in 2000, when her character was killed off. Early life Gretchen Franklin was born into a theatrical family, the only child of her parents Gordon and Violet Franklin. Her father had a song-and-dance act, while her grandfather was a well-known music-hall entertainer at the turn of the 20th century. Her younger cousin was the comedian Clive Dunn (1920-2012). She entered show business as a teenager, making her début as a pantomime chorus girl in Bournemouth. In 1929, she took dancing lessons at the ''Theatre Girls Club'' in Soho in London's West End ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Skinner
Ethel Skinner is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', played by Gretchen Franklin. Ethel also features in a 1988 ''EastEnders'' special episode, entitled "CivvyStreet", set on Albert Square during World War II, in which she is played by Alison Bettles. Ethel is an ''EastEnders'' original character and in the early years she can always be found wandering the neighbourhood with her adored pug Willy. She and Dot Cotton (June Brown) are lifelong friends, and although they wind each other up, they are completely dependent on each other. Ethel trusts Dot so much that she even asks her to help her die in 2000 after she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Storylines Backstory Ethel Skinner is one of the original characters that appears in the first episode of ''EastEnders'' in 1985 and her early history is depicted in the 1986 authorised novel ''The Flower of Albert Square'', which directly contradicts the later ''EastEnders'' flashback episode, "CivvyStreet". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermione Gingold
Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character. Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and early 1930s. After a successful career as a child actress, she established herself on the stage as an adult, playing in comedy, drama and experimental theatre, and radio broadcasting. She found her milieu in revue, which she played from the 1930s to the 1950s, co-starring several times with the English actress Hermione Baddeley. Later she played formidable elderly characters in such films and stage musicals as '' Gigi'' (1958), '' Bell, Book and Candle'' (1958), ''The Music Man'' (1962) and '' A Little Night Music'' (1973). From the early 1950s Gingold lived and made her career mostly in the U.S. Her American stage work ranged from '' John Murray Anderson's Almanac'' (1953) to '' Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verdict (play)
''Verdict'' is a 1958 play by British mystery writer Agatha Christie. It is unusual for Agatha Christie plays in more than one way: for example, it is an original play, not based on a story or novel; and though there is a murder in the story, it is a melodrama more than a typical 'whodunnit' mystery as the murder takes place on stage. It was first produced by Peter Saunders and directed by Charles Hickman, with decor by Joan Jefferson Farjeon. The play premiered at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton on 25 February 1958, before moving to the Novello Theatre, Strand Theatre, London on 22 May 1958. It ran for 250 performances. In 1987 the play ran in the Arena Players Main Stage Theater in East Farmingdale, New York, and in May 2009 it premiered with an international cast in Luxembourg's Abbaye de Neumunster. Plot summary Karl Hendryk is a professor who was forced to flee his (unspecified) home country with his wife Anya after he gave refuge to the family of a colleague who had bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ragtime (film)
''Ragtime'' is a 1981 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the 1975 historical novel ''Ragtime'' by E.L. Doctorow. The film is set in and around turn-of-the-century New York City, New Rochelle, and Atlantic City, and includes fictionalized references to actual people and events of the time. The film stars James Cagney, Mary Steenburgen, Howard Rollins, Brad Dourif, James Olson and Elizabeth McGovern, features the final film appearances of Cagney and Pat O'Brien, and features early appearances in small parts by Jeff Daniels, Fran Drescher, Samuel L. Jackson, Ethan Phillips and John Ratzenberger. Plot At the turn of the 20th century, architect Stanford White unveils a nude statue atop Madison Square Garden, modeled after former chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit. After learning of this, Nesbit's husband, billionaire industrialist Harry Kendall Thaw, becomes convinced White has corrupted her and publicly shoots him dead. An upper-class family resides in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quincy's Quest
''Quincy's Quest'' is a 1979 British family film directed by Robert Reed, and starring Tommy Steele, Mel Martin and Charles Morgan. A version was first shown on television on 23 December 1962 as ''The Tommy Steele Show: Quincy's Quest''. Plot summary In a department store the unwanted toys are set to be destroyed. One of the rejects, a doll named Quincy, goes on a quest to find the store Santa Claus who is the only person who can save them. Cast * Tommy Steele ... Quincy * Mel Martin ... Rebecca * Charles Morgan ... Narrator * Frederick Schiller ... Smithy * Lila Kaye ... Griselda / Mrs. Claus * Tony Aitken ... Teddy / Father Christmas * Lance Percival ... Jack * Aubrey Woods ... Mr. Perfect * Matt Zimmerman ... Conn * Leo Dolan ... Soldier * Willoughby Goddard ... General * James Woolley ... Aide de Camp * Gretchen Franklin ... Witch * Roy Kinnear ... Top * Patsy Kensit Patricia Jude Kensit (born 4 March 1968) is an English actress and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Three Musketeers (1973 Live-action Film)
''The Three Musketeers'' (also known as ''The Three Musketeers (The Queen's Diamonds)'') is a 1973 swashbuckler film based on the 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is directed by Richard Lester from a screenplay by George MacDonald Fraser, and produced by Ilya Salkind. It stars Michael York, Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, and Richard Chamberlain as the titular musketeers, with Raquel Welch, Geraldine Chaplin, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Lee, Simon Ward, Georges Wilson and Spike Milligan. The film adheres closely to the novel, and also injects a fair amount of humor. It was originally proposed in the 1960s as a vehicle for The Beatles, whom Lester had directed in '' A Hard Day's Night'' and ''Help!''. It was shot by David Watkin, with an eye for period detail, in Madrid and Segovia, Spain. The fight scenes were choreographed by master swordsman William Hobbs. The musical score was composed by Michel Legrand. ''The Three Musketeers'' premi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Night Visitor
''The Night Visitor'' (Swedish title: ''Papegojan'') is a 1971 Swedish psychological thriller film in English, starring Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Trevor Howard, Per Oscarsson, Rupert Davies and Andrew Keir, and directed by Laslo Benedek. Plot Salem is an insane asylum inmate after being forced to take an insanity plea when wrongly convicted of murdering his farmhand. Salem escapes confinement from the fortress-like asylum in the dead of winter. Driven insane from being institutionalized for the last two years, he reaches his family farm, now run by his younger sisters Emma and Ester and the latter's husband Dr. Anton Jenks, who accused Salem of the murder. As revenge, Salem kills the people he believes responsible for his unfair conviction and subsequent confinement. He starts with Emma, arranging the murder to appear that Anton is the killer. A local police inspector begins to see foul play and resolves to uncover the truth of the murders and Salem's conviction. Salem has b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twisted Nerve
''Twisted Nerve'' is a 1968 psychological thriller film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Hywel Bennett, Hayley Mills, Billie Whitelaw and Frank Finlay. The film follows a disturbed young man, Martin, who pretends, under the name of Georgie, to be intellectually impaired in order to be near Susan—a girl with whom he has become infatuated. Martin kills those who get in his way. Plot Martin plays catch with his older brother Pete, who has severe learning difficulties and has been sent to live in a special boarding school in London, by their mother. Martin is the only remaining figure in Pete's family life; their father died years ago and their mother has a new life with her new husband, a wealthy banker. Martin expresses concern for his brother's well-being to the school's physician, who is comfortable with Pete's situation, though he makes it clear that Pete cannot be expected to live much longer. After the title sequence, Martin is shown in a toy store, gazing at Susan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Murder Game (1965 Film)
''The Murder Game'' is a 1965 British crime film starring Ken Scott, Marla Landi, Trader Faulkner, Conrad Phillips and directed by Sidney Salkow. The film was distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox. It was the last film directed by Sidney Salkow. Plot While on his honeymoon, a husband discovers the plan of his bigamous wife with her first husband to murder him for his money and he plans counter measures to throw the blame on them. Cast * Ken Scott as Steve Baldwin * Marla Landi as Marie Aldrich * Trader Faulkner as Chris Aldrich * Conrad Phillips as Peter Shanley * Gerald Sim as Larry Landstrom * Duncan Lamont as Inspector Telford * Peter Bathurst as Dr. Knight * Ballard Berkeley as Sir Colin Chalmers * Victor Brooks as Rev Francis Hood * Dyan Cannon * John Dunbar as Parkhill * Gretchen Franklin as Landlady * Clement Freud as Croupier * Jimmy Gardner as Arthur Gillett * Rosamund Greenwood as Mrs. Potter * Derek Partridge Derek Partridge (born 29 June 1935) is a British ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flame In The Streets
''Flame in the Streets'' is a 1961 film directed by Roy Ward Baker and based on the 1958 play '' Hot Summer Night'' by Ted Willis. It opened at the Odeon Leicester Square in London's West End on 22 June 1961. The film depicts an interracial romance in post-war Britain, and a street brawl taking place during Guy Fawkes Night (5 November). The film was made in CinemaScope. Synopsis Racial tensions manifest themselves at home, work and on the streets during Bonfire Night, with prejudice and violence directed against the burgeoning West Indian community of post-war Britain. Trade union leader Jacko Palmer fights for the rights of a black worker but struggles with the news that his own daughter, Kathie, is planning to marry a West Indian, much against his own logic and the hysterical prejudice of his wife Nell. Cast * John Mills as Jacko Palmer * Sylvia Syms as Kathie Palmer * Brenda De Banzie as Nell Palmer * Earl Cameron as Gabriel Gomez * Johnny Sekka as Peter Lincoln * Ann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cloak Without Dagger
''Cloak Without Dagger'' is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Joseph Sterling and starring Philip Friend, Mary Mackenzie and Leslie Dwyer. It was released in the USA as ''Operation Conspiracy'' Plot A fashion reporter is united with a former boyfriend, after a chance meeting, and helps him to track down an enemy spy. Cast * Philip Friend as Major Felix Gratton * Mary Mackenzie as Kyra Gabaine * Leslie Dwyer as Fred Borcombe * Allan Cuthbertson as Colonel Packham * John G. Heller as Peppi Gilroudian Dress Designer * Chin Yu as Yan Chu * Bill Nagy as Mario Oromonda * Patrick Jordan as Captain Willis * Marianne Stone as Mrs. Markley * Frank Thornton as Mr. Markley * Gerrey Levey as Night club entertainer * Boris Ranevsky as Antoine * María Mercedes as Spanish girl * Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Before I Wake (1955 Film)
''Before I Wake'' is a 1955 British mystery film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Mona Freeman, Jean Kent and Maxwell Reed. It was shot at Walton Studios in Surrey, with sets designed by the art director Scott MacGregor. It was released in the United States under the alternative title of ''Shadow of Fear''. This was director Rogell's final film. Synopsis Returning home to England from the United States following news of her father's sudden death in a boating accident, April Haddon meets her stepmother Florence for the first time. The former nurse of her mother, she had married April's father after her death. April finds that in the few years she has been away her stepmother has completely changed the house, the old furnishings replaced with modernist art and the old family housekeepers replaced by a maid with loyalty to her new mistress. When her father's will is read, it becomes clear that the redrawn will Florence had been expecting had never been completed and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
