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High Sierra (film)
''High Sierra'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh, written by William R. Burnett and John Huston from the novel by Burnett, and starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart. Its plot follows a career criminal who becomes involved in a jewel heist in a resort town in California's Sierra Nevada, along with a young former taxi dancer (Lupino). Parts of the film were shot on location at Whitney Portal, halfway up Mount Whitney. The screenplay was co-written by John Huston, Bogart's friend and drinking partner, adapted from the novel by William R. Burnett (also known for, among others, '' Little Caesar'' and '' Scarface''). The film cemented a strong personal and professional connection between Bogart and Huston, and provided the breakthrough in Bogart's career, transforming him from supporting player to leading man. The film's success also led to a breakthrough for Huston, providing him with the leverage he needed to make the transition from screenwriter to director, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raoul Walsh
Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He was known for portraying John Wilkes Booth in the silent film ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) and for directing such films as the widescreen epic ''The Big Trail'' (1930) starring John Wayne in his first leading role, ''The Roaring Twenties'' starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, '' High Sierra'' (1941) starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart, and ''White Heat'' (1949) starring James Cagney and Edmond O'Brien. He directed his last film in 1964. His work has been noted as influences on director such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Jack Hill, and Martin Scorsese. Biography Walsh was born in New York as Albert Edward Walsh to Elizabeth T. Bruff, the daughter of Irish Catholic immigrants, and Thomas W. Walsh, an Englishman. Walsh was pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Caesar (film)
''Little Caesar'' is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film distributed by Warner Brothers, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and starring Edward G. Robinson, Glenda Farrell, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. The film tells the story of a hoodlum who ascends the ranks of organized crime until he reaches its upper echelons. The storyline was adapted from the novel of the same name by William R. Burnett. ''Little Caesar'' was Robinson's breakthrough role and immediately made him a major film star. The film is often listed as one of the first fully-fledged gangster films and continues to be well received by critics. In 2000, ''Little Caesar'' was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation. The Library of Congress maintains a print. Plot Small-time criminals Caesar Enrico "Rico" Bandello and his friend Joe Massara move t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barton MacLane
Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC television comedy series ''I Dream of Jeannie'', with Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman. Early life MacLane was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on Christmas Day, 1902. He attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he excelled at American football. His first movie role, in ''The Quarterback'' (1926), was a result of his athletic ability. He then attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career He made his Broadway debut in 1927, playing the assistant district attorney in Bayard Veiller's '' The Trial of Mary Dugan''. He then performed in the 1928 Broadway production of '' Gods of the Lightning'' and was part of the original cast of ''Subway Express'' as Officer Mulvaney in 1929. He appeared in the Marx Brothers' 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minna Gombell
Minna Marie Gombell (''née'' Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress. Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father was a medical doctor who came to the United States from Germany in 1880. Her mother was from Baltimore and of German descent. Life and work Gombell was active in stock theater, starring with troupes in Albany, Atlanta, Cleveland, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. Her Broadway credits include ''Indiscretion'' (1928), ''The Great Power'' (1928), ''Ballyhoo'' (1926), ''Alloy'' (1924), ''Mr. Pitt'' (1923), ''Listening in'' (1922), ''On the Hiring Line'' (1919), ''The Indestructible Wife'' (1917), ''Six Months' Option'' (1917), and ''My Lady's Garter'' (1915). She had a successful stage career from 1912 as Winifred Lee before being signed by the Fox Film Corporation in the late 1920s. Her first film was ''Doctors' Wives'' (1931) in which she pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Cowan
Jerome Palmer Cowan (October 6, 1897 – January 24, 1972) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early years Cowan was born in New York City, the son of William Cowan, a confectioner of Scottish descent, and Julia Cowan, née Palmer. Stage At 18, Cowan joined a travelling stock company, shortly afterwards enlisting in the United States Navy during World War I. After the war he returned to the stage and became a vaudeville headliner, then gained success on the New York stage. His Broadway debut was in ''We've Got to Have Money'' (1923). His other Broadway credits include ''Frankie and Johnnie'' (1930), ''Just to Remind You'' (1931), ''Rendezvous'' (1932), ''The Little Black Book'' (1932), ''Marathon'' (1933), '' Both Your Houses'' (1933), '' As Thousands Cheer'' (1933), ''Ladies' Money'' (1934), ''Paths of Glory'' (1935), ''Boy Meets Girl'' (1935), '' My Three Angels'' (1953), ''Lunatics and Lovers'' (1954), '' Rumple'' (1957), and '' Say, Darling'' (1958). Film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Travers
Travers John Heagerty (5 March 1874 – 18 October 1965), known professionally as Henry Travers, was an English film and stage character actor. His best known role was the guardian angel Clarence Odbody in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life''. He also received an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942). Travers specialized in portraying slightly bumbling but friendly and lovable older men. Early life Travers was born in Prudhoe, Northumberland, and was the son of Daniel Heagerty, a doctor originally from Ireland, and Ellen Gillman Hornibrook. His mother was a native of County Cork, Ireland, and was previously married to William H. Belcher, a merchant seaman. He died in 1869. Travers had a half-brother, Samuel William Belcher, by his mother's previous marriage. He also had another brother, Daniel George Belsaigne Heagerty, and a sister, Mary Sophia Maude Heagerty. Travers grew up in Berwick-upon-Tweed, and many biographies wrongly report h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Hull
Henry Watterson Hull (October 3, 1890 – March 8, 1977) was an American character actor perhaps best known for playing the lead in Universal Pictures's '' Werewolf of London'' (1935). For most of his career, he was a lead actor on stage and a character actor on screen. Early years Hull was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the youngest of four children born to William Madison Hull, a theater manager and his wife, Elinor Bond Vaughn. He was named for his godfather, Pulitzer Prize-winning Louisville journalist Henry Watterson. William Hull had been a drama critic in Louisville, and became a press agent for David Belasco after the family moved to New York City in 1902. Hull attended DeWitt Clinton High School and the High School of Commerce. Hull studied engineering at Columbia and was graduated from Cooper Union. In 1910, the family settled in Barkhamsted, Connecticut. Career Stage Impressed by his brother Shelly's acting career, in 1912, Henry joined the Greek Repertory Company ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Leslie
Joan Leslie (born Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel; January 26, 1925 – October 12, 2015) was an American actress and vaudevillian, who during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in such films as '' High Sierra'' (1941), ''Sergeant York'' (1941), and ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942). Early life Joan Agnes Theresa Sadie Brodel was born on January 26, 1925, in Highland Park, Michigan, the youngest child of John and Agnes Brodel. John was a bank clerk and Agnes was a pianist. Joan's two older sisters, Betty (born 1919) and Mary Brodel (1916–2015), shared their mother's musical interest and started to learn how to play instruments, such as the saxophone and the banjo, at an early age. They began performing in front of audiences in acts that included singing and dancing. Leslie joined the duo at two and a half years of age. She was soon able to play the accordion. With her father losing his job in the mid-1930s, the Great Depression caused financial difficulties for the family. As a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Kennedy
John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the original casts of Arthur Miller plays on Broadway.James C. McKinley Jr., "Arthur Kennedy, Actor, 75, Dies; Was Versatile in Supporting Roles", The New York Times, 7 Jan 1990, p 30, via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2007) accessed 13 November 2011. He won the 1949 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Miller's '' Death of a Salesman''. He also won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for the 1955 film '' Trial'', and was a five-time Academy Award nominee. Early life and education Kennedy was born on February 17, 1914, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Helen (née Thompson) and John Timothy "J.T." Kennedy, a dentist. He attended South High School, Worcester and Worcester Academy. He studied d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clubbed Foot
''Clubbed'' is a 2008 British drama film about a 1980s factory worker who takes up a job as a club doorman, written by Geoff Thompson and directed by Neil Thompson. Plot In 1984, Danny - a lonely factory worker intimidated by life - is battered and humiliated in front of his kids in a random act of violence. His already bleak existence sinks further into the abyss. On the verge of total breakdown, he decides to fight back. He meets a group of nightclub doormen who take him in and give him the confidence to stand his ground. As he is drawn deeper into their world, he becomes embroiled with the local gangland boss, setting in motion a chain of events with shockingly brutal consequences. Cast * Colin Salmon as Louis * Natalie Gumede as Jo * Mel Raido as Danny * Shaun Parkes as Rob * Scot Williams as "Sparky" * Maxine Peake as Angela * Will Poulter as Sparky's Baby Son * Neil Morrissey as Simon * Ronnie Fox as Hennessy * Charlie Clark as Illisa * Katherine McGolpin as Kay * Ant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxi Dance Hall
A taxi dance hall is a type of dance hall where dancers, usually young women, called taxi dancers are paid to dance with usually male patrons. The owners of a taxi dance hall provide music and a dance floor for their patrons and taxi dancers. In the United States during the 1920s and 1930s, when taxi dancing was at its peak, patrons of taxi dance halls would typically buy dance tickets for ten cents each. When they presented a ticket to a taxi dancer, she would dance with them for the length of a single song. Taxi dancers earned a commission on every dance ticket that they collected. The ''ticket-a-dance'' system was the centerpiece of the taxi dance halls. Taxi dance halls are vividly represented on the ouverture of Henry Miller novel '' Sexus'', where the narrator falls in love with a taxi dancer after meeting her on a Thursday night, circa 1928. Origins and development The taxi dance hall is a uniquely American institution that was first introduced in 1913 within San Francisco' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
