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Jimmie Dodd
James Wesley Dodd (March 28, 1910 – November 10, 1964) was an American actor, singer and songwriter best known as the master of ceremonies for the popular 1950s Walt Disney television series ''The Mickey Mouse Club,'' as well as the writer of its well-known theme song "The Mickey Mouse Club March." A different version of this march, much slower in tempo and with different lyrics, became the ''alma mater'' that closed each episode. Dodd grew up in Cincinnati where he was an outstanding amateur tennis player, even reaching the Round of 16 twice at his hometown tournament, now known as the Cincinnati Masters. Later, a heart ailment made him ineligible to serve in combat in World War II, but he and his wife Ruth traveled extensively entertaining the troops. Career Dodd moved from Cincinnati to Florida, where he worked in radio before moving to California to become a songwriter. Of the estimated 400 songs he wrote, his best-known are ''Amarillo'', ''He Was There'', ''I L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mickey Mouse Club
''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised for four seasons, from 1955 to 1959, by ABC. This original run featured a regular, but ever-changing cast of mostly teen performers. ABC broadcast reruns weekday afternoons during the 1958–1959 season, airing right after '' American Bandstand''. The show was revived three times after its initial 1955–1959 run on ABC, first from 1977 to 1979 for first-run syndication as ''The New Mickey Mouse Club'', then from 1989 to 1996 as ''The All-New Mickey Mouse Club'' (also known to fans as ''MMC'' from 1993 to 1996) airing exclusively on cable television's The Disney Channel, and again in 2017 with the moniker ''Club Mickey Mouse'' airing exclusively on internet social media. It ended in 2018. The character of Mickey Mouse appeared in every sho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Tigers (film)
''Flying Tigers'' (a.k.a. ''Yank Over Singapore'' and ''Yanks Over the Burma Road'') is a 1942 American black-and-white war film drama from Republic Pictures that was produced by Edmund Grainger, directed by David Miller, and stars John Wayne, John Carroll, and Anna Lee. ''Flying Tigers'' dramatizes the exploits of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), Americans who fought the Japanese in China, serving with the Chinese Nationalist forces, during World War II. The movie portrays them as fighting before U.S. entry into the war but, in point of fact, they did not see action until after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is unabashedly a wartime propaganda film that was well received by a 1940s audience looking for a patriotic "flagwaver". Plot Jim Gordon leads the Flying Tigers, a squadron of volunteer American pilots who fly Curtiss P-40C fighters against Japanese aircraft in the skies over China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The pilots are a mixed bunch, motivated by money (t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Winning Team
''The Winning Team'' is a 1952 biographical film directed by Lewis Seiler. It is a fictionalized biography of the life of major league pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander (1887–1950) starring Ronald Reagan as Alexander, Doris Day as his wife, Aimee, and Frank Lovejoy as baseball star Rogers Hornsby. It includes his heroic performance in three games in the 1926 World Series against the New York Yankees, where the 7th inning strikeout of Tony Lazzeri is used as the game-ending, Series-winning pitch. The film earned an estimated $1.7 million at the North American box office in 1952.'Top Box-Office Hits of 1952', ''Variety'', January 7, 1953 Plot This movie starts with "Alex" (Ronald Reagan) working as a telephone lineman in Elba, Nebraska. While speaking with his boss, a man comes up to them and lets them know that there is an exhibition baseball game between the local farmers and those of a minor league baseball team. Grover Cleveland Alexander "Alex" runs to where that game ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. When the Dodgers signed Robinson, it heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949—the first black player so honored. Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship. In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams; h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jackie Robinson Story
''The Jackie Robinson Story'' is a 1950 biographical film directed by Alfred E. Green (who had directed ''The Jolson Story'', "one of the biggest hits of the 40s") and starring Jackie Robinson as himself. The film focuses on Robinson's struggle with the abuse of bigots as he becomes the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. The film is among the list of films in the public domain in the United States. However a new copyrighted "restored and in color" version was released in conjunction with the Jackie Robinson Foundation in 2008. Plot The film begins with Robinson as a boy. He is given a worn-out baseball glove by a stranger impressed by his fielding skills. As a young man, he becomes a multi-sport star at UCLA, but as he nears graduation, he worries about his future. His older brother Mack was also an outstanding college athlete and graduate, but the only job he could get was that of a lowly street cleaner. When America enters World War I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quicksand (1950 Film)
''Quicksand'' is a 1950 American film noir that stars Mickey Rooney and Peter Lorre and portrays a garage mechanic's descent into crime. It was directed by Irving Pichel shortly before he was included in the Hollywood blacklist (which was instituted by the House Un-American Activities Committee to block screenwriters with suspected Communist affiliation from obtaining employment). The film provided Rooney with an opportunity to play against type, performing in a role starkly different from his earlier role as the innocent "nice guy" in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, MGM's popular Andy Hardy film series.Erickson, Glenn (2000)"DVD Savant Review: ''Quicksand''" November 17, 2000. DVD Talk, El Segundo, California. Retrieved July 20, 2013.Thompson, Nathaniel (2013)"Quicksand (1950)" article, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Atlanta, Georgia; Warner Bros. Entertainment. Retrieved October 9, 2019. Plot Dan Brady (Mickey Rooney), a young auto mechanic in California, "borrows" $20 ($ today) from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era. At the height of a career marked by declines and comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized mainstream America's self-image. At the peak of his career between ages 15 and 25, he made 43 films, and was one of MGM's most consistently successful actors. A versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney "the best there has ever been". Clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles in ''National Velvet'' and '' The Human Comedy'', said Rooney was "the cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). She attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Renowned for her versatility, she received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Special Tony Award. Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which she won for her 1961 live recording titled ''Judy at Carnegie Hall''. Garland began performing as a child with her two older sisters, in a vaudeville group " The Gumm Sisters" and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM. Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collaborated w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and numerous recordings. As a dancer, he was known for his uncanny sense of rhythm, creativity, and tireless perfectionism. Astaire's most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, whom he co-starred with in 10 Hollywood musicals during the classic age of Hollywood cinema. Astaire and Rogers starred together in ''Top Hat'' (1935), '' Swing Time'' (1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937). Astaire's fame grew in films like ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), '' Easter Parade'' (1948), '' The Band Wagon'' (1953), '' Funny Face'' (1957), and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). The American Film Institute named Astaire the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Easter Parade (film)
''Easter Parade'' is a 1948 American Technicolor musical film starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford and Ann Miller. The music by Irving Berlin includes some of Astaire and Garland's best-known songs, including " Easter Parade", " Steppin' Out with My Baby", and " We're a Couple of Swells". Gene Kelly was originally cast opposite Judy Garland, but he broke his ankle. The part was then offered to Fred Astaire, who had retired two years earlier. Astaire, who was very eager to work again, consulted Kelly about the offer, and Kelly was happy to support his decision to take the role. Garland and Astaire were a successful team, and Astaire was restored to his status as a top MGM star. A critical and commercial success, ''Easter Parade'' was the highest-grossing musical film of 1948, and the second-highest grossing MGM musical of the 1940s, after ''Meet Me in St. Louis''. Plot In 1912, Broadway star Don Hewes buys Easter presents for his sweetheart ("Happy Easter"), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Tigers
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), and was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. Their Curtis P-40B Warhawk aircraft, marked with Chinese colors, flew under American control. Recruited under President Franklin Roosevelt's authority before Pearl Harbor, their mission was to bomb Japan and defend the Republic of China, but many delays meant the AVG first flew in combat after the US and Japan declared war. The group consisted of three fighter squadrons of around 30 aircraft each that trained in Burma before the American entry into World War II to defend the Republic of China against Japanese forces. The AVG were officially members of the Republic of China Air Force. The group had contracts with salaries ranging from $ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China's Little Devils
''China's Little Devils'' (aka ''Little Devils'') is a 1945 war film, directed by Monta Bell and starring Harry Carey, Paul Kelly and "Ducky" Louie. It is one of a number of Hollywood films dealing with the exploits of the Flying Tigers that began with the Republic Pictures production ''Flying Tigers'' (1942). Plot After being shot down, "Big Butch" Dooley ( Paul Kelly), a Flying Tigers pilot lands his Curtiss P-40 Warhawk in the ruins of a Chinese village. After he rescues a wounded boy, orphaned by the war, Dooley takes him back to his unit. The young orphan is adopted by the Flying Tigers, and is called "Little Butch" Dooley. Big Butch and the other Tigers realize that the boy needs a proper education and send him to the Temple Missionary School run by "Doc" Temple (Harry Carey). Little Butch organizes the other refugee children and trains them in fighting the invading Japanese. Leading the children, dubbed "Little Devils," in nightly raids, Little Dutch takes over a store ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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