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Illegal (1955 Film)
''Illegal'' is a 1955 American film noir directed by Lewis Allen. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe and Jayne Mansfield. It is the third film adaptation of the 1929 play "The Mouthpiece" by Frank J. Collins, following ''The Mouthpiece'' and ''The Man Who Talked Too Much''. Plot Victor Scott is a district attorney with a spectacular courtroom style. He acknowledges having risen from the slums and needing to win every case. He is assisted by attorney Ellen Miles, who is not quite as relentless, but is devoted to her D.A. boss. They have had a long relationship: in the past, Scott was encouraged and mentored by Ellen's own father, who, on his deathbed, got Scott to promise to protect Ellen. It is hinted Ellen would have welcomed a romantic relationship, but instead Scott encourages her to marry a co-worker, Ray Borden. Scott prosecutes a sensational murder case (that of Gloria Benson, whose murder opens the film) and the jury hands down a guilty verdict. The judg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Allen (director)
Lewis Allen (25 December 1905 – 3 May 2000) was a British-born director whose credits included classic television series and a diverse range of films. Allen worked mainly in the United States, working on Broadway theatre, Broadway and directing 18 feature films between 1944 and 1959. From the mid-1950s he moved increasingly into television and worked on a number of the most popular shows of the time in the US. Career Allen was born in the small Shropshire town of Oakengates and attended Tettendan Hall in Staffordshire. On leaving school he joined the Merchant Navy (United Kingdom), Merchant Navy for four years.Obituary: Lewis Allen Vallance, Tom. The Independent 11 May 2000: 6. After leaving the service he became, briefly, an actor, before moving into London theatrical management, first for Raymond Massey and later for Gilbert Miller. Broadway In 1935 he began working on Broadway. His credits include directing the U.S. premieres of J.B. Priestley's ''Laburnum Grove (play), La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Dekker
Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in ''Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bunch''. Early life and career Dekker was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the only child of Thomas and Grace Ecke Van Dekker. He attended Richmond Hill High School, where he appeared in stage productions. He then attended Bowdoin College, where he majored in pre-med with plans to become a doctor. On the advice of a friend, he decided to pursue acting as a career instead. He made his professional acting debut with a Cincinnati stock company in 1927. Within a few months, Dekker was featured in the Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's play ''Marco Millions''. After a decade of theatrical appearances, Dekker transferred to Hollywood in 1937 and made his first film, 1937's ''The Great Garrick''. He spent most of the rest of his acting career in the cinema but al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Girl Can't Help It
''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay adapted by Tashlin and Herbert Baker from an uncredited 1955 short story, "Do Re Mi" by Garson Kanin. Filmed in DeLuxe Color, the production was originally intended as a vehicle for the American sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, with a satirical subplot involving teenagers and rock 'n' roll music. The unintended result has been called the "most potent" celebration of rock music ever captured on film. The original music score, including the title song performed by Little Richard, was by Bobby Troup, with an additional credit to Ray Anthony for the tune "Big Band Boogie". Plot A slot machine mobster, Marty "Fats" Murdock, wants his blonde girlfriend, Jerri Jordan, to be a singing star, despite her seeming lack of talent. He hires alcoholic press ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having either fascist or communist ties. It became a standing (permanent) committee in 1945, and from 1969 onwards it was known as the House Committee on Internal Security. When the House abolished the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee. The committee's anti-communist investigations are often associated with McCarthyism, although Joseph McCarthy himself (as a U.S. Senator) had no direct involvement with the House committee. McCarthy was the chairman of the Government Operations Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate, not the House. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miracle In The Rain
''Miracle in the Rain'' is a United States home front during World War II-themed novella by veteran screenwriter Ben Hecht, published in the April 3, 1943 issue of ''The Saturday Evening Post'' weekly magazine then, within six months, issued in booklet form and, thirteen years later, following four live television productions (in 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1953) which reduced the story to plot essentials, was adapted by him into a Warner Bros. feature film released on March 31, 1956. Film version Hecht's 1956 screenplay is directed by Rudolph Maté and stars Jane Wyman as a lonely New York City office worker and Van Johnson as the happy-go-lucky soldier whom she meets during a downpour. Character actress Eileen Heckart, who plays Jane Wyman's office friend, and Arte Johnson, who achieved TV fame twelve years later on ''Laugh-In'', are seen here in their debut performances on the big screen. The music is by Franz Waxman and the black-and-white cinematography is by Russell Metty. A su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roxanne Arlen
Roxanne Arlen (January 10, 1931 – February 22, 1989) was an American film and stage actress and model active in the 1950s and 1960s. Filmography Feature films *''The Loved One'' (1965) as Wispering Glades hostess *'' A House Is Not a Home'' (1964) as Hattie's girl *''Gypsy (1962) as Electra *'' Bachelor Flat'' (1962) as Mrs. Roberts *''Slim Carter'' (1957) as Cigarette girl *''The Big Caper'' (1957) as Doll *''The Young Stranger'' (1957) as Carhop *''The Best Things in Life Are Free'' (1956) as Perky Nichols *'' Everything but the Truth'' (1956) as Blonde *''Miracle in the Rain'' (1956) as Red-headed secretary *''Bundle of Joy'' (1956) as Blonde *''Hot Rod Girl'' (1956) as Long Play *''Son of Sinbad'' (1955) as Raider *''Battle Cry'' (1955) as Blonde *''Illegal Illegal, or unlawful, typically describes something that is explicitly prohibited by law, or is otherwise forbidden by a state or other governing body. Illegal may also refer to: Law * Violation of law * Crime, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DeForest Kelley
Jackson DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 – June 11, 1999), known to colleagues as "Dee", was an American actor, screenwriter, poet, and singer. He was known for his roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the in the television and film series '' Star Trek'' (1966–1991). Early life Kelley was born in Toccoa, Georgia, the son of Clora (née Casey) and Ernest David Kelley, a Baptist minister of Irish and southern ancestry. Kelley was named after pioneering electronics engineer Lee de Forest. He later named his ''Star Trek'' character's father "David" after his own father. Kelley had an older brother, Ernest Casey Kelley. Kelley was immersed in his father's mission (church) in Conyers, Georgia, and told his father that failure would mean "wreck and ruin". Before the end of his first year at Conyers, Kelley was regularly putting to use his musical talents, and often sang solo in morning church services. Kelley wanted to become a doctor like his uncle, but his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawrence Dobkin
Lawrence Dobkin (September 16, 1919 – October 28, 2002) was an American television director, character actor and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. Dobkin was a prolific performer during the Golden Age of Radio. He narrated the western '' Broken Arrow'' (1950). His film performances include ''Never Fear'' (1949), ''Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957) and ''North by Northwest'' (1959). Before the closing credits of each episode of the landmark ABC television network series '' Naked City'' (1958–1963), he said, "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them." Early years Dobkin was born in New York City. Radio Dobkin understudied on Broadway. When he returned to network radio he was one of five actors who played the detective Ellery Queen in ''The Adventures of Ellery Queen''. In ''The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe'' (1950–1951), Dobkin played detective Archie Goodwin opposite Sydney Greenstreet's Nero Wolfe. While playi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Addison Richards
Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richards was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Addison Richards. His grandfather was a mayor of Zanesville. Following his father's death in 1942, the family moved to California. Richards was cast in many television series, including the syndicated 1950s crime drama, ''Sheriff of Cochise'', starring John Bromfield. From 1955 to 1961, he appeared in six episodes in different roles on the NBC anthology series, ''The Loretta Young Show''. In 1956 Richards appeared as Doc Jennings in an uncredited role in the western movie ''The Fastest Gun Alive'' starring ''Glenn Ford''. However, he often had more substantial supporting roles in films, especially Westerns, including playing George Armstrong Custer in ''Badlands of Dakota'' (1941) and the marshal in ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay Adler
Jay Adler (August 4, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American actor in theater, television, and film. Early life Born in New York City, he was the eldest son of actors Jacob and Sara Adler, and the brother of five actor siblings, including stage actor Luther and drama coach Stella. The Adlers were a Jewish-American acting dynasty in New York City's Yiddish Theater District and they played a significant role in theater from the late 19th century to the 1950s. Stella Adler became the most influential member of their family. Career Adler's Broadway credits included ''Cafe Crown'' (1942), ''Blind Alley'' (1940, 1935), Prelude'' (1936), and ''Man Bites Dog'' (1933). In 1934, Adler joined with Harry Thomashefsky and Boris Bernardi to form the Theater Mart Group, "a cooperative group of players and staff connected with the stage", in New York City. Plans called for production of plays like those done by the city's Group Theatre. During a long acting career of minor character ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Ellenstein
Robert Ellenstein (June 18, 1923 – October 28, 2010) was an American actor. The son of Meyer C. Ellenstein, a Newark dentist, Ellenstein grew up to see his father become a two-term mayor from 1933 to 1941. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II: earning a Purple Heart during his service. He attended New York University and graduated with honors from the University of Iowa. He began acting, directing and teaching in Cleveland, Ohio. Film and television career A veteran of the "Golden Age" of live television (he played Quasimodo in a live ''Robert Montgomery Presents'' (1950) version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"), for the same show played the lead in "A Case of Identity", later turned into the film ''The Wrong Man'' (1956), he was the first actor to play Albert Einstein on television. Ellenstein made his first film in 1954 (MGM's ''Rogue Cop''), he was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North by Northwest''. In 1961, he played the mobster Legs Dia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Merlin
Jan Merlin (born Jan Wasylewski, April 3, 1925 – September 20, 2019) was an American character actor, television writer, and author. Early years Born Jan Wasylewski and reared in New York City, Merlin was of Polish ancestry. He attended the Grace Church School for Boys before dropping out to join the Navy. He later graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Navy and became a torpedoman. Career After Merlin's discharge, he worked in summer stock beginning in 1946, and then enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater, making his Broadway debut in 1949 in '' Mister Roberts'' starring Henry Fonda. His professional acting career, which spanned more than five decades, included performances in stage plays on and off Broadway, radio dramas, live and filmed episodes of television series, and more than 30 feature motion pictures. His most recent performances were in live radio dramas broa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
