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His Excellency (1952 Film)
''His Excellency'' is a 1952 British comedy drama film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Eric Portman, Cecil Parker, Helen Cherry and Susan Stephen. It follows a blunt Yorkshireman and former trade union leader, who is sent to take over as Governor of a British-ruled island in the Mediterranean. It was based on the 1950 play of the same name by Dorothy Christie and Campbell Christie. The play was also filmed for Australian television in 1958. The film was produced at Ealing Studios under the general oversight of Michael Balcon. The sets were designed by the art director Jim Morahan. Location shooting took place in Sicily around Palermo. The film was scored by Ernest Irving who incorporated a number of themes by Handel. Cast Critical reception ''Britmovie'' quoted George Perry from his book ''Forever Ealing'', "''His Excellency'' retains a stagebound atmosphere. Its other great fault lies in the way it wastes the theme’s potential in a glib and artificial treatment. At ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Hamer
Robert Hamer (31 March 1911 – 4 December 1963) was a British film director and screenwriter best known for the 1949 black comedy ''Kind Hearts and Coronets''. Biography Hamer was born at 24 Chester Road, Kidderminster, along with his twin Barbara, the son of Owen Dyke Hamer, a bank clerk, and his wife, Annie Grace Brickell. He was educated at Rossall School, an independent school for boys near the town of Fleetwood in Lancashire, and won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he read the Economics tripos. Although claims have since been made that he was sent down (expelled),"Hamer, Robert (1911-63)" screenonline.org.uk. Accessed 4 October 2022. with several sources suggesting that he was suspended for homosexual activities, he did in fact graduate with a third-class degree in 1933. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The Sea has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about , representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from Morocco in Africa—is only wide. The Mediterranean Sea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Keen
Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early life Keen was born in Wallingford, Berkshire, England, the son of stage actor Malcolm Keen. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School. He then joined the Little Repertory Theatre in Bristol for whom he made his stage debut in 1932. After a year in repertory he stayed for a year in Cannes before being accepted for a place at the London School of Economics. In a last-minute change of mind, he entered the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the Bancroft Gold Medal after only one year. He had just joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1939 when the war started. Keen enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps, though also managed to appear in an Army instructional film for Carol Reed. Career Keen made his full film debut in 1946 in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Mango
Alec Mango (16 March 1911 – 7 November 1989) was an English actor. He is best known for portraying El Supremo in the 1951 ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'', he also appeared in ''South of Algiers'' (1953), ''The Strange World of Planet X'' (1958), ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' (1958), ''Danger Man'' (1961), and ''Frankenstein Created Woman'' (1967). He also appeared in the TV series, The Adventures of Robin Hood. One of his last TV appearances was Channel 4's TV Movie The Gourmet as Rossi on 4th of January 1987. Partial filmography * '' Fiddlers Three'' (1944) - Secretary (uncredited) * '' Snowbound'' (1948) - Italian Girl's Boyfriend (uncredited) * ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'' (1951) - El Supremo * ''His Excellency'' (1952) - Jackie * ''South of Algiers'' (1953) - Mahmoud * ''They Who Dare'' (1954) - Patroklis * ''Up to His Neck'' (1954) - Bandit General * '' Mask of Dust'' (1954) - Guido Rosetti * '' Lust for Life'' (1956) - Dr. Rey (uncredited) * ''Zarak'' (1956) - Akbar (m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Morton
Clive Morton (16 March 1904 – 24 September 1975) was an English actor best known for playing upper class Englishmen, he made many screen appearances, especially on television. In 1955, he appeared in Laurence Olivier's '' Richard III'' and is recalled by fans of ''Doctor Who'' for his role as prison governor George Trenchard in ''The Sea Devils'' in 1972. He played Commander Julius Rogue in the first series of the fondly-remembered children's TV series '' Rogue's Rock'' in 1974. One of his last roles was as an aged butler in an episode of ''Upstairs Downstairs''. :: Morton was also a Shakespearian actor and an Associate Artiste of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the 1964 'Histories' Repertoire he played the Bishop of Carlisle in Richard II, the Earl of Worcester in Henry IV and the ferocious Earl of Talbot in Henry VI. :: Morton was married to ''Fresh Fields'' actress Fanny Rowe. They acted together on stage in the 1955 J.B. Priestley play ''Mr. Kettle and Mrs. Moon''. Selec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Chapman (actor)
Edward Chapman (13 October 1901 – 9 August 1977) was an English actor who starred in many films and television programmes, but is chiefly remembered as "Mr. William Grimsdale", the officious superior and comic foil to Norman Wisdom's character of Pitkin in many of his films from the late 1950s and 1960s. Life and career Chapman was born in Harrogate, West Riding of Yorkshire, and was the uncle of actor/screenwriter John Chapman and actor Paul Chapman. On leaving school he became a bank clerk, but later began his stage career with the Ben Greet Players in June 1924 at the Nottingham Repertory Theatre, playing Gecko in George du Maurier's ''Trilby''. He made his first London stage appearance at the Court Theatre in August 1925 playing the Rev Septimus Tudor in ''The Farmer's Wife''. Among dozens of stage roles that followed, he played Bonaparte to Margaret Rawlings's Josephine in ''Napoleon'' at the Embassy Theatre in September 1934. In 1928 he attracted the attention of Alfr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737, he had a physical break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Film Score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question. Scores are written by one or more composers under the guidance of or in collaboration with the film's director or producer and are then most often performed by an ensemble of musicians – usually including an orchestra (most likely a symphony orchestra) or band, instrumental soloists, and choir or vocalists – known as playback singers – and recorded by a sound engineer. The term is less frequently applied to music written for other media such as live theatre, television and radio programs, and video game, and said music is typically referred to as either the soundtrack or incidental music. Film scores encompass an enormous variety of styles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old. Palermo is in the northwest of the island of Sicily, by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as ("flower"). Palermo then became a possession of Carthage. Two ancient Greeks, Greek ancient Greek colonization, colonies were established, known collectively as ; the Carthaginians used this name on their coins after the 5th centuryBC. As , the town became part of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, Empire for over a thousand years. From 831 to 1072 the city was under History of Islam in southern Italy, Arab ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Sicilian , demographics1_info1 = 98% , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , demographics1_title3 = , demographics1_info3 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code_type = ISO 3166 code , area_code = IT-82 , blank_name_sec1 = GDP (nominal) , blank_info_sec1 = €89.2 billion (2018) , blank1_name_sec1 = GDP per capita , blank1_info_sec1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Location Shooting
Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for example, scenes in the film ''The Interpreter'' were set and shot inside the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan), or it may stand in for a different locale (the films ''Amadeus'' and '' The Illusionist'' were primarily set in Vienna, but were filmed in Prague). Most films feature a combination of location and studio shoots; often, interior scenes will be shot on a soundstage while exterior scenes will be shot on location. Second unit photography is not generally considered a location shoot. Before filming, the locations are generally surveyed in pre-production, a process known as location scouting and recce. Pros and cons Location shooting has several advantages over filming on a studio set. First and foremost, the expense can often ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Morahan
Jim Morahan (26 December 1902 in Lambeth, London – 1976 in Sudbury, Suffolk) was a British art director. He began his career in film in 1936. He worked in a number of prominent British productions in the 1940s and 1950s, such as ''Scott of the Antarctic'' (1948), '' Whisky Galore!'' (1949), ''The Blue Lamp'' (1950), ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951), '' The Cruel Sea'' (1953), '' The Ladykillers'' (1955) and ''Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines'' (1965). He earned an Academy Award nomination in 1949 for ''Saraband for Dead Lovers''. Selected filmography Art director * '' Frieda'' (1947) * ''Saraband for Dead Lovers'' (1948) * ''Train of Events'' (1949) * ''The Blue Lamp'' (1950) * ''Cage of Gold'' (1950) * ''The Magnet'' (1950) * ''The Man in the White Suit'' (1951) * ''Pool of London'' (1951) * ''The Gentle Gunman'' (1952) * ''His Excellency'' (1952) * ''Mandy'' (1952) * '' The Cruel Sea'' (1953) * ''The Square Ring'' (1953) * '' The Ladykillers'' (1955) * ''Out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
