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Hecht-Lancaster
Hecht-Hill-Lancaster was a production company formed by the actor Burt Lancaster in association with his agent, Harold Hecht, and James Hill. In 1948 Lancaster and Hecht formed Norma Productions (named after his wife), which later became Hecht-Lancaster. Hill joined in the mid-1950s. The company produced some of the most notable American films of the 1950s. In 1956 they renewed their deal with United Artists. In late 1957 they announced they would make ten films worth $14 million in 1958."Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Planning Record Year: Group Will Produce $14,000,000 Worth of Motion Pictures in 1958". Los Angeles ''Times'', December 16, 1957. p. B9. Filmography *''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' (1948), N *''The Flame and the Arrow'' (1950), N *''Ten Tall Men'' (1951), N *''The Crimson Pirate'' (1952), HL *''Apache'' (1954), HL *'' Vera Cruz'' (1954), HL *'' Marty'' (1955), HL *'' The Kentuckian'' (1955), HL *''Trapeze'' (1956), HHL *''The Bachelor Party'' (1957), HHL *''Sweet Smell o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Hecht
Harold Adolphe Hecht (June 1, 1907 – May 26, 1985) was an American film producer, dance director and talent agent. He was also, though less noted for, a literary agent, a theatrical producer, a theatre director and a Broadway actor. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the Screen Producers Guild. During his first stay in Hollywood in the early to mid-1930s, Hecht was one of the leading dance directors in the movie industry, working with the Marx Brothers, Mae West, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, W. C. Fields, Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevalier and Marion Davies. In 1947, he co-founded Norma Productions, an independent film production company, with his business partner and managed actor Burt Lancaster. From 1954 to 1959, the Norma Productions subsidiaries Hecht-Lancaster Productions and later Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions, were the biggest and most important independent production units in Hollywood. Following the end of the Hecht-Hill-Lancaste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in film and, later, television. He was a four-time nominee for the Academy Award for Best Actor (winning once), and he also won two BAFTA Awards and one Golden Globe Award for Best Lead Actor. The American Film Institute ranks Lancaster as of the greatest male stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Lancaster performed as a circus acrobat in the 1930s. After serving in World War II, the 33-year-old Lancaster landed a role in a Broadway play and drew the attention of a Hollywood agent. His breakthrough role was in the film noir ''The Killers'' in 1946 alongside Ava Gardner. A critical success, it launched both of their careers. Not long after in 1948, Lancaster starred alongside Barbara Stanwyck in the commercially and criticall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Hill (American Film Producer)
James Hill (August 1, 1916 – January 11, 2001) was an American film producer and screenwriter active from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and came to Hollywood as a writer, working on films and televisions shows for Warner Brothers Pictures and Columbia Broadcasting System. He was eventually teamed with film producer Harold Hecht and actor Burt Lancaster when the pair produced ''His Majesty O'Keefe'' for their own film production company, Norma Productions. The movie was filmed in 1952 in the Fiji Islands, but only released in 1954. In 1953, Hecht and Lancaster formed the imprint Hecht-Lancaster Productions and began producing films for United Artists, hiring Hill as producer for '' Vera Cruz'', '' The Kentuckian'' and ''Trapeze''. In early 1956, before ''Trapeze'' was released, Lancaster and Hecht announced in a press conference that Hill had been made an equal partner in their film production company; Hecht-Lancaster Productions would be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apache (film)
''Apache'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Burt Lancaster, Jean Peters and John McIntire. The film was based on the novel ''Broncho Apache'' by Paul Wellman, which was published in 1936. It was Aldrich's first color film. Plot Following the surrender of the great leader Geronimo, Massai — the last Apache warrior — is captured and sent on a prison train to a reservation in Florida. But he manages to escape in Oklahoma and heads back to his homeland to win back his woman and settle down to grow crops. His pursuers have other ideas, though. Cast * Burt Lancaster as Massai * Jean Peters as Nalinle * John McIntire as Al Sieber * Charles Buchinsky as Hondo * John Dehner as Weddle * Paul Guilfoyle as Santos * Ian MacDonald as Clagg * Walter Sande as Lieutenant Colonel Beck * Morris Ankrum as Dawson * Monte Blue as Geronimo Production In April 1952 Burt Lancaster announced he would star in a film based on the novel, to be produced by hims ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vera Cruz (film)
''Vera Cruz'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, featuring Denise Darcel, Sara Montiel, Cesar Romero, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson and Jack Elam. Set during the Franco-Mexican War, the film centers on a group of American mercenaries tasked with transporting a large shipment of Imperial gold to the port of Veracruz, but begin to have second thoughts about their allegiances. It was produced by Hecht-Lancaster Productions and released by United Artists on 25 December 1954. The picture's amoral characters and cynical attitude towards violence (including a scene where Lancaster's character threatens to murder child hostages) were considered shocking at the time and influenced future Westerns such as '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), '' The Professionals'' (1966), Sam Peckinpah's ''The Wild Bunch'' (1969), and the Spaghetti Western films of Sergio Leone, which often featured supporting cast members from '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Unforgiven (1960 Film)
''The Unforgiven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Huston and starring Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn. Filmed in Durango, Mexico, the supporting cast features Audie Murphy, Charles Bickford, Lillian Gish, John Saxon, Joseph Wiseman, Doug McClure and Albert Salmi. The story is based upon the 1957 novel by Alan Le May, author of ''The Searchers''. Uncommonly for its time, the film spotlights the issue of racism against Native Americans and people who were believed to have Native American blood in the Old West. The film is also known for its problems behind the scenes. Huston often said this was his least-satisfying movie. Plot The Zacharys are a thriving and respected family on the Texas frontier. Father Will Zachary was killed by Kiowa Indians, leaving his oldest son Ben (Burt Lancaster) head of the family. Ben and his mother Mattilda (Lillian Gish) are very protective of Rachel (Audrey Hepburn), who was adopted as an infant; she is doted on by the whole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marty (film)
''Marty'' is a 1955 American romantic drama film directed by Delbert Mann in his directorial debut. The screenplay was written by Paddy Chayefsky, expanding upon his 1953 teleplay of the same name, which was broadcast on The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse and starred Rod Steiger in the title role. The film stars Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair. In addition to winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, the film enjoyed international success, becoming the fourth American film to win the Palme d'Or. ''Marty'', '' The Lost Weekend'' (1945) and ''Parasite'' (2019) are the only three films to win both organizations' grand prizes. In 1994, ''Marty'' was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. Plot Marty Piletti is an Italian-American butcher who lives in The Bronx with his mother. Unmarried at 34, the good-natured but socially awkward Marty faces constant badgering from fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Kentuckian (1955 Film)
''The Kentuckian'' is a 1955 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Burt Lancaster, who also starred. This was one of only two films Lancaster directed (the other was '' The Midnight Man''), and the only one for which he has sole credit. It was Walter Matthau's film debut. The film is an adaptation of the novel ''The Gabriel Horn'' by Felix Holt. The film was shot in locations around Kentucky, including Cumberland Falls, the Levi Jackson Wilderness Road State Park near London, Owensboro, and Green River, and at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Village near Rockport, Indiana. A feature landmark is the natural arcSky Bridge. Plot Frontiersman Elias "Big Eli" Wakefield (Lancaster) decides to leave 1820s Kentucky and move to Texas with his son "Little Eli" (Donald MacDonald). Along the way, they run into two women who take a liking to the pair, indentured servant Hannah (Dianne Foster), who wants to go with them, and schoolteacher Susie (Diana Lynn), who would rather have Big E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Separate Tables (film)
''Separate Tables'' is a 1958 American drama film starring Rita Hayworth, Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Burt Lancaster, and Wendy Hiller, based on two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan that were collectively known by this name. Niven and Hiller won Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively for their performances. The picture was directed by Delbert Mann and adapted for the screen by Rattigan, John Gay and an uncredited John Michael Hayes. Mary Grant and Edith Head designed the film's costumes. Plot The film is set in the Hotel Beauregard in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. Major David Angus Pollock (David Niven) tries but fails to hide an article about himself in the ''West Hampshire Weekly News''. His attempt to keep the article from the eyes of the other guests at the residential hotel only succeeds in heightening their awareness of it, particularly the strict Mrs Railton-Bell ( Gladys Cooper) and the more relaxed and compassionate L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birdman Of Alcatraz (film)
''Birdman of Alcatraz'' is a 1962 American biographical drama film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster.''Variety'' film review; June 20, 1962, page 6.'' Harrison's Reports'' film review; June 23, 1962, page 94. It is a largely fictionalized version of the life of Robert Stroud, who was sentenced to solitary confinement after having killed a prison guard. A federal prison inmate, he became known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz" because of his studies of birds, which had taken place when he was incarcerated at Leavenworth Prison. He was allowed to keep birds in jail. When moved to Alcatraz, Stroud was never allowed to keep any birds. The film was adapted by Guy Trosper from the 1955 book by Thomas E. Gaddis. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role ( Burt Lancaster), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Telly Savalas), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Thelma Ritter), and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White. Plot Robert Stroud is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Young Savages
''The Young Savages'' is a 1961 American crime drama film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Burt Lancaster. It was written by Edward Anhalt from a novel by Evan Hunter. The supporting cast includes Dina Merrill, Shelley Winters, and Edward Andrews, and ''The Young Savages'' was the first film featuring Telly Savalas, who plays a police detective, foreshadowing his later role as ''Kojak''. Often categorized as a "thinking man's movie", it has received mixed reviews. Aspects of the film are inspired by the real-life Salvador Agron case. Plot Two Italian-American greasers, Danny diPace and Anthony "Batman" Aposto (Neil Nephew), and the Irish-American Arthur Reardon are members of a street gang named the Thunderbirds in New York City in East Harlem. They have an ongoing turf war with a Puerto Rican gang called the Horsemen. The three Thunderbirds unleash a knife attack on Roberto Escalante, a blind member of the Horsemen and stab him to death. They are caught and arre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Devil's Disciple (1959 Film)
''The Devil's Disciple'' is a 1959 British-American film adaptation of the 1897 George Bernard Shaw play '' The Devil's Disciple''. The Anglo-American film was directed by Guy Hamilton, who replaced Alexander Mackendrick, and starred Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. Lancaster and Douglas made several films together over the decades, including ''I Walk Alone'' (1948), ''Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), ''Seven Days in May'' (1964) and ''Tough Guys'' (1986). Plot Richard "Dick" Dudgeon ( Kirk Douglas) is apostate and outcast from his family in colonial Websterbridge, New Hampshire, who returns their hatred with scorn. After the death of his father, who was mistakenly hanged by the British as a rebel in nearby Springtown, Dick rescues his body from the gallows, where it had been left as an example to others, and has it buried in the parish graveyard in Websterbridge. He then returns to his childhood home to hear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
