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I Wake Up Screaming
''I Wake Up Screaming'' (originally titled ''Hot Spot'') is a 1941 film noir. It is based on the novel of the same name by Steve Fisher, adapted by Dwight Taylor. The film stars Betty Grable, Victor Mature and Carole Landis, and features one of Grable's few dramatic roles. Plot The story proceeds largely through a series of flashbacks, beginning with New York sports promoter Frankie Christopher being interrogated at a police station about the murder of a young actress, Vicky Lynn. Christopher recounts first meeting Vicky as a waitress at a restaurant when he was there with two friends, fading actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans. Christopher takes up a dare from his friends to turn Vicky into a star with their help. Christopher succeeds, but Vicky betrays him by signing with a Hollywood producer. At the apartment she shares with her sister Jill, she finally tells Christopher she is leaving him while she is packing. Christopher reacts angrily, and the next morning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Sperling
Milton Sperling (July 6, 1912 – August 26, 1988) was an American film producer and screenwriter for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., where he had his own independent production unit, United States Pictures. Biography After leaving the City College of New York, Sperling entered the film industry by working at Paramount Pictures, Paramount's Astoria Studios as a shipping clerk. He later became a personal secretary for Darryl F. Zanuck and Hal Wallis at Warner Bros. in 1931. After Zanuck resigned his position as Head of Production of Warner Bros. studios in 1933 and was offered a position with Twentieth Century Pictures (later merged with Fox Pictures), Sperling became an assistant to Edward Small, an independent film producer who released his Reliance Pictures and Edward Small Productions through United Artists. Sperling learned as much about an independent low-budget film production unit as he had about high-budget major studio films from Zanuck and Wallis at Warner Bros. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morris Ankrum
Morris Ankrum (born Morris Nussbaum; August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor. Early life Born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, Ankrum originally began a career in academics. After graduating from The University of Southern California with a law degree, he went on to an associate professorship in economics at the University of California, Berkeley. While at Berkeley he became involved in the drama department and eventually began teaching drama and directing at the Pasadena Playhouse. From 1923 to 1939 he acted in several Broadway stage productions, including ''Gods of the Lightning'', ''The Big Blow'', and ''Within the Gates''. Film career Before signing with Paramount Pictures in the 1930s, Nussbaum had already changed his last name to Ankrum. Upon signing with the studio, he chose to use the name "Stephen Morris" before changing it to Morris Ankrum in 1939. Ankrum was cast in supporting roles as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes and villains like Fu Manchu. Many stories feature Chan traveling the world beyond Hawaii as he investigates mysteries and solves crimes. Chan first appeared in Biggers' novels and then was featured in a number of media. Over four dozen films featuring Charlie Chan were made, beginning in 1926. The character, featured only as a supporting character, was first portrayed by East Asian actors, and the films met with little success. In 1931, for the first film centering on Chan, '' Charlie Chan Carries On'', the Fox Film Corporation cast Swedish actor Warner Oland; the film became popular, and Fox went on to produce 15 more Chan films with Oland in the title role. After Oland's death, American actor Sidney ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Valley Serenade
''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers. It also features Dorothy Dandridge, performing "Chattanooga Choo Choo", which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996, and was awarded the first Gold Record for sales of 1.2 million. 20th Century Fox re-released the film in 1946 and in 1954 to tie-in with the biopic ''The Glenn Miller Story''. Plot Ted Scott ( John Payne) is a band pianist whose publicity manager decides that, for good press, the band should adopt a foreign refugee. The band goes to Ellis Island to meet the girl and soon discovers that the refugee isn't a 10-year-old child, but a young woman, Karen Benson (Sonja Henie). The surprise comes right before the band is to travel to Sun Valley, Idaho, for a Christmas event. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Chan At The Opera
''Charlie Chan at the Opera'' is considered by many to be the best Warner Oland Charlie Chan film, probably due to the presence of Boris Karloff as the principal suspect, as well as faux operatic music composed by Oscar Levant. This is the 13th film starring Oland as Chan; it was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone for 20th Century-Fox in 1936. Oland and Demarest also appeared in The Jazz Singer (1927). Plot Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) gets a chance to watch a popular opera performance. For seven years, opera star Gravelle (Boris Karloff) has been locked in an insane asylum, his identity a mystery – even to himself. But when his memory unexpectedly returns, he begins to recall that his wife and her lover tried to murder him – and now he's determined to make them face the music. Gravelle escapes from the asylum and makes his way to the San Marco opera house and begins hiding out in the various rooms and passageways. Soon, members of the opera company are being murdered one by o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vicki (film)
''Vicki'' is a 1953 American film noir directed by Harry Horner and starring Jeanne Crain and Jean Peters. It was based on the novel ''I Wake Up Screaming,'' written by Steve Fisher. Plot Vicki Lynn (Jean Peters) is a waitress who is transformed into a fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliott Reid). When Vicki is murdered, detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to blame the crime on Christopher. In fact, the cop knows who the real killer is, but he is so hopelessly in love with the dead girl Vicki, who herself despised him, that he intends to railroad an innocent man to the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister Jill (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the real killer, Harry Williams (Aaron Spelling) and exposes the crooked cop Cornell, who had manipulated Williams into murdering Vicki. Cast * Jeanne Crain as Jill Lynn * Jean Peters as Vicki Lynn * Elliott Reid as Steve Christopher * Richard Boone as Lt. Ed Cornell * Max Showalter as Larry Evans ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco Examiner
The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst, and flagship of the Hearst Corporation chain, the ''Examiner'' converted to free distribution early in the 21st century and is owned by Clint Reilly Communications, which bought the newspaper at the end of 2020 along with the ''SF Weekly''. History Founding The ''Examiner'' was founded in 1863 as the ''Democratic Press'', a pro-Confederacy, pro-slavery, pro-Democratic Party paper opposed to Abraham Lincoln, but after his assassination in 1865, the paper's offices were destroyed by a mob, and starting on June 12, 1865, it was called ''The Daily Examiner''. Hearst acquisition In 1880, mining engineer and entrepreneur George Hearst bought the ''Examiner''. Seven years later, after being elected to the U.S. Senate, he gave it to his son, William Randolph Hearst, who wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976) was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films including '' Pépé le Moko'' (1937), '' La grande illusion'' (1937), ''Le Quai des brumes'' (1938), '' La bête humaine'' (1938), '' Le jour se lève'' (1939), and ''Le plaisir'' (1952). During his career he had twice won both the Silver Bear for Best Actor from the Berlin International Film Festival and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Venice Film Festival respectively. Gabin was made a member of the Légion d'honneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema. Biography Early life Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe owner and cabaret entertainer whose stage name was Gabin, which is a first name in French. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise (now Val-d'Oise) département, about 22 mi (35 km) north o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice Faye
Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as '' On the Avenue'' (1937) and '' Alexander's Ragtime Band'' (1938). She is often associated with the Academy Award–winning standard " You'll Never Know", which she introduced in the 1943 musical film '' Hello, Frisco, Hello''. She left her career as a film actress and became known for her role on the radio show '' The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show''. Life and career 1915–1933: Early life and career beginnings Alice Jeanne Leppert was born on May 5, 1915, in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, the daughter of Alice (''née'' Moffit), who worked for the Mirror Chocolate Company, and Charles Leppert, a police officer. She had an older brother, Charles. Faye was raised an Episcopalian. Faye's entertainment career began in vaudeville as a chorus girl. She failed an audition for the '' Earl Carrol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinie Conklin
Heinie Conklin (born Charles John Conklin; July 16, 1880July 30, 1959) was an American actor and comedian whose career began in the silent film era. Early years Conklin was born Charles John Conklin on July 16, 1880, in San Francisco, California. He attended San Francisco's public schools. Career In vaudeville, Conklin headlined shows on the Keith and Orpheum circuits. He was billed as Charles Conklin until 1927. He began working in films in 1915 after 17 years on stage and in vaudeville. One of the original Keystone Kops, Conklin wore makeup of heavy eyebrow lining and a thin, upside-down, painted-on variation of Kaiser Wilhelm's mustache. In areas where anti-German sentiments still ran high during the post-World War I era, Conklin was billed as Charlie Lynn. One of Conklin's first talking pictures was ''All Quiet on the Western Front'' as a hospital patient. For the rest of his career in talking pictures, he had small roles in 2-reelers which starred The Three Stooges, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Blystone
William Stanley Blystone (August 1, 1894 – July 16, 1956) was an American film actor who made more than 500 films appearances between 1924 and 1956. He was sometimes billed as William Blystone or William Stanley. Early years Blystone was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He was a steel production engineer and worked in ore mines before he became an actor. Career Blystone is best known for his appearance in Charlie Chaplin's '' Modern Times'', playing Paulette Goddard's father, and several short films starring The Three Stooges. Some of his more memorable roles were in the films '' Half Shot Shooters'', '' False Alarms'', '' Goofs and Saddles'', '' Three Little Twirps'' and ''Slaphappy Sleuths''. His final appearance with the trio was '' Of Cash and Hash'' in 1955. He also appeared in several Laurel and Hardy films. Personal life and death Blystone was married to Hollywood starlet Alma Tell. They had no children. Blystone's brother John G. Blystone was a film director in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
May Beatty
May Beatty (4 June 1880–1 April 1945) was a New Zealand singer and stage and screen actress. She was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 4 June 1880. Biography Beatty began her performing career at age seven, touring with Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company. Her first performances in England were in 1908. In 1923 she toured Australia with Hugh J. Ward's company, performing in musical comedies. Beatty was married to Edward Lauri and had one daughter, Bonnie Beatty, a screen actress. She died in Hollywood. Partial filmography * ''Vanity Street'' (1932) * ''Horse Play'' (1933) * ''Rainbow Over Broadway'' (1933) * ''Our Betters'' (1933) * '' Love Is Dangerous'' (1933) * ''Mad Love'' (1935) * '' Becky Sharp'' (1935) * '' The Widow from Monte Carlo'' (1935) * '' The Girl Who Came Back'' (1935) * '' Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (1936) * '' Private Number'' (1936) * '' Lloyd's of London'' (1936) * '' If I Were King'' (1938) * ''I Am a Criminal ''I Am a Criminal'' is a 1938 Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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