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Hank Moonjean
Hank Moonjean (January 19, 1930 – October 7, 2012) was an American film producer, executive producer, and associate producer. His production credits included ''Dangerous Liaisons'', '' Child's Play'', and ''The Great Gatsby'' and several movies featuring Burt Reynolds. Moonjean and film producer Norma Heyman jointly received an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination for the 1988 dramatic film, ''Dangerous Liaisons''. Life and career Moonjean, who was Armenian American, was born in Evanston, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Southern California (USC). Soon after graduation from USC, he answered an employment ad for an interpreter at MGM Studios, and later became an uncredited assistant director for the 1954 film, '' Bhowani Junction'', directed by George Cukor. He worked for MGM for eight years. He became a second director for numerous MGM films while at the studio: ''Blackboard Jungle'', '' The Prodigal'', ''It's Always Fair Weather'', '' Love Me or Leave M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wilmette to the north, and Lake Michigan to the east. Evanston had a population of 78,110 . Founded by Methodist business leaders in 1857, the city was incorporated in 1863. Evanston is home to Northwestern University, founded in 1851 before the city's incorporation, one of the world's leading research universities. Today known for its socially liberal politics and ethnically diverse population, Evanston was historically a dry city, until 1972. The city uses a council–manager system of government and is a Democratic stronghold. The city is heavily shaped by the influence of Chicago, externally, and Northwestern, internally. The city and the university share a historically complex long-standing relationship. History Prior to the 1830s, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MGM Studios
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 and based in Beverly Hills, California. MGM was formed by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company. It hired a number of well known actors as contract players—its slogan was "more stars than there are in heaven"—and soon became Hollywood's most prestigious film studio, producing popular musical films and winning many Academy Awards. MGM also owned film studios, movie lots, movie theaters and technical production facilities. Its most prosperous era, from 1926 to 1959, was bracketed by two productions of '' Ben Hur''. After that, it divested itself of the Loews movie theater chain, and, in the 1960s, diversified into television production. In 1969, Kirk Kerkorian bought 40% ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The End (1978 Film)
''The End'' is a 1978 American black comedy, black comedy film directed by and starring Burt Reynolds, written by Jerry Belson, and with music composed by Paul Williams (songwriter), Paul Williams. The film also stars Dom DeLuise along with Sally Field, Strother Martin, David Steinberg, Joanne Woodward, Norman Fell, Myrna Loy, Kristy McNichol, Pat O'Brien (actor), Pat O'Brien, Robby Benson and Carl Reiner. Reynolds later said he "loved" the film. "Nobody wanted to do it. They allowed me to do ''The End'' if I did ''Hooper (film), Hooper'', which made a fortune for Warner Brothers. But ''The End'' eventually made $40 million." Plot Wendell "Sonny" Lawson, an unscrupulous real-estate promoter, learns that he has a fatal blood disease and decides to kill himself rather than enduring a slow, painful death. He takes the time to meet with several friends and family members for the last time, while hiding the fact about his suicide attempt. Sonny ends up in a mental institution, where he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raintree County (film)
''Raintree County'' is a 1957 American epic historical romance film adapted from the 1948 novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. The film was directed by Edward Dmytryk and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Set in the American South against the backdrop of the Antebellum South and the American Civil War, the film tells the story of a small-town Midwestern teacher and poet named John Shawnessy, who meets and marries a beautiful Southern belle named Susanna Drake; however, her emotional instability leads to the destruction of their marriage. The leading roles are played by Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint, and Lee Marvin. In July 1947, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had purchased the film rights of Ross Lockridge Jr.'s unpublished manuscript for ''Raintree County'' for $150,000. Carey Wilson was immediately signed as producer, and prominent actors were considered for leading roles. In January 1948, the book was released and became a national bestseller. In the following year, film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tea And Sympathy (film)
''Tea and Sympathy'' is a 1956 American drama film and an adaptation of Robert Anderson's 1953 stage play of the same name directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by Pandro S. Berman for MGM in Metrocolor. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch and the cinematography by John Alton. Deborah Kerr, John Kerr (no relation) and Leif Erickson reprised their original Broadway roles. Edward Andrews, Darryl Hickman, Norma Crane, Tom Laughlin, and Dean Jones were featured in supporting roles. Plot Seventeen-year-old Tom Robinson Lee ( John Kerr), a new senior at a boy's prep school, finds himself at odds with the machismo culture of his class in which the other boys love sports, roughhouse, fantasize about girls, and worship their coach, Bill Reynolds ( Leif Erickson). Tom prefers classical music, reads '' Candida'', goes to the theater, and generally seems to be more at ease in the company of women. The other boys torment Tom for his "unmanly" qualities and call him "sister boy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Catered Affair
:''The article is about the stage musical. For the 1956 film, see The Catered Affair.'' ''A Catered Affair'' is a musical with a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by John Bucchino. It is based on both the 1956 film ''The Catered Affair'' written by Gore Vidal and the original 1955 teleplay by Paddy Chayefsky, set in 1953 in the Bronx. This is the first of Bucchino's scores produced on Broadway. Production The show premiered on September 20, 2007 at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre in tryouts, with the official opening on September 30, running through November 11. The show began previews on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on March 25, 2008 and opened officially on April 17. The production closed on July 27, 2008 after 116 performances and 27 previews. John Doyle directed the production, which stars Fierstein, Faith Prince and Tom Wopat. This production received 12 Drama Desk Award nominations, the most of any show from the 2007–08 season. Plot synopsis In the B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I'll Cry Tomorrow
''I'll Cry Tomorrow'' (1955) is a biopic that tells the story of Lillian Roth, a Broadway star who rebels against the pressure of her domineering mother and struggles with alcoholism after the death of her fiancé. It stars Susan Hayward, Richard Conte, Eddie Albert, Margo, and Jo Van Fleet. The screenplay was adapted by Helen Deutsch and Jay Richard Kennedy from the 1954 autobiography by Lillian Roth, Mike Connolly and Gerold Frank. It was directed by Daniel Mann. The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Helen Rose, and had three other Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress for Susan Hayward. It was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Eight-year-old Lillian Roth (Carole Ann Campbell) constantly is pushed by her domineering stage mother Katie (Jo Van Fleet) to audition and act, even though she is merely a child. One day, Katie secures an opportunity in Chicago, which leads to Lillian, now older (Susan Hayward), to having a successfu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tender Trap (film)
''The Tender Trap'' (1955) is a CinemaScope Eastman Color comedy directed by Charles Walters and starring Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, and Celeste Holm. Based on the 1954 play ''The Tender Trap'' by Max Shulman and Robert Paul Smith, it marked Sinatra's return to MGM some six years after '' On the Town''. A second film under a new contract with the studio, ''Guys and Dolls'', was actually released ahead of ''The Tender Trap'' by one day on November 3, 1955. The film earned an Oscar nomination in the category of Best Original Song for "(Love Is) the Tender Trap" (music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn). The song proved a hit for Sinatra, one he would continue to sing throughout his career. It is performed in a pre-credits sequence by Sinatra, sung in the film by Reynolds in a lackluster version that Sinatra corrects, and yet again at the end of the film by Sinatra, Reynolds, Holm and Wayne. Plot Charlie Y. Reader is a 35-year-old theatrical agen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love Me Or Leave Me (film)
''Love Me or Leave Me'' is a 1955 American biographical romantic musical drama film recounting the life story of Ruth Etting, a singer who rose from dancer to movie star. Nominated for six Academy Awards, the picture stars Doris Day as Etting, James Cagney as gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder, her first husband and manager, and Cameron Mitchell as pianist/arranger Johnny Alderman, her second husband. ''Love Me or Leave Me'' was written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart and directed by Charles Vidor. Plot After kicking a customer for his unwelcome attention, 1920s Chicago nightclub singer and dime-a-dance girl Ruth Etting is in jeopardy of losing her job when Martin Snyder intervenes on her behalf. Snyder, known as "The Gimp" to some because of his game leg, owns a laundry business and runs a protection racket, wielding considerable clout. Etting is desperate to get into show business. Snyder gets her a job dancing in a floor show, then pays for a singing coach, Johnny Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's Always Fair Weather
''It's Always Fair Weather'' is a 1955 MGM musical satire scripted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also wrote the show's lyrics, with music by André Previn and starring Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse, Dolores Gray, and dancer/choreographer Michael Kidd in his first film acting role. The film, co-directed by Kelly and Stanley Donen, was made in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor. Although well-received critically at the time, it was not a commercial success, and is widely regarded as the last of the major MGM dance-oriented musicals. In recent years, it has been recognized as a seminal film because of the inventiveness of its dance routines. ''It's Always Fair Weather'' is noted for its downbeat theme, which may have hurt it at the box office, and has been called a rare "cynical musical". Plot Three ex-G.I.s, Ted Riley, Doug Hallerton and Angie Valentine have served in World War II together and become best friends. At the beginning of the film, set in October 1945, they m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Prodigal
''The Prodigal'' is a 1955 Eastmancolor biblical epic CinemaScope film made by MGM starring Lana Turner and Edmund Purdom. It was based on the New Testament parable about a selfish son who leaves his family to pursue a life of pleasure. The film also features James Mitchell, Louis Calhern, Joseph Wiseman, Cecil Kellaway, Audrey Dalton, and Walter Hampden. Dancer Taina Elg made her film debut in ''The Prodigal''. Plot ''In the times before Christianity, only a few people believed in one God. Most people believed in many gods. It was mainly the believers in Jehovah who stood against a multitude of some 65,000 strange and different gods. Of these, two of the most notorious were Baal and Astarte, the male and the female. Gods of the flesh, not of the soul. They were supposed to renew the fertility of the earth every year. In exchange, they demanded of their believers the sacrifice of money, jewelry and human life. Out of these times comes our story, based upon the Parable of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackboard Jungle
''Blackboard Jungle'' is a 1955 American social drama film about an English teacher in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel ''The Blackboard Jungle'' by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks. It is remembered for its innovative use of rock and roll in its soundtrack, for casting grown adults as high school teens, and for the unique breakout role of a black cast member, film icon Sidney Poitier, as a rebellious yet musically talented student. In 2016, ''Blackboard Jungle'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Factual background Hunter's novel was based on his early job as a teacher at Bronx Vocational High School, now known as Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education High School in the South Bronx. Hunter, then known as Salvatore Lombino, took the teaching job in 1950 after graduating from H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
