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John Gay (screenwriter)
John Gay (April 1, 1924 – February 4, 2017) was an American screenwriter, born in Whittier, California. Career Gay began his career writing episodes for television anthology series such as ''Lux Video Theatre'', '' Kraft Television Theatre'', and ''Goodyear Television Playhouse''. He made his film screenwriting debut in 1956 with ''Run Silent, Run Deep''. Additional screen credits include ''Separate Tables'', ''Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'', ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', ''The Hallelujah Trail'', '' No Way to Treat a Lady'', ''Soldier Blue'', ''Sometimes a Great Notion'', and '' A Matter of Time''. For television, Gay has adapted numerous literary classics, including ''The Red Badge of Courage'', ''Captains Courageous'', ''Les Misérables'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', '' Ivanhoe'', ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'', and ''Around the World in 80 Days''. He also wrote television biopics of Howard Hughes, George Armstrong Custer, Caryl Chessman, and Ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whittier, California
Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States census, 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in February 1898 and became a charter city in 1955. The city is named for the Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier and is home to Whittier College. Etymology In the founding days of Whittier, when it was a small isolated town, Jonathan Bailey and his wife, Rebecca, were among the first residents. They followed the Quaker religious faith and practice, and held religious meetings on their porch. Other early settlers, such as Aquila Pickering, espoused the Quaker faith. As the city grew, the citizens named it after John Greenleaf Whittier, a respected Quaker poet, and deeded a lot to him. Whittier wrote a dedication poem, and is honored today with statues and a small exhibit at the Whittie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1982 Film)
''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (sometimes known as simply ''Hunchback'') is a 1982 American romantic drama TV film based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel. Filming location was Pinewood Studios, England. It was directed by Michael Tuchner and Alan Hume and produced by Norman Rosemont and Malcolm J. Christopher. It starred Anthony Hopkins, Derek Jacobi, Lesley-Anne Down and John Gielgud. The film was produced as part of the long-running ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' series and was televised on CBS on February 4, 1982. Cast *Lesley-Anne Down as Esmeralda *Anthony Hopkins as Quasimodo *Derek Jacobi as Claude Frollo *David Suchet as Clopin Trouillefou *Gerry Sundquist as Pierre Gringoire *Tim Pigott-Smith as Phillipe *John Gielgud as Jacques Charmolue *Robert Powell as Captain Phoebus *Nigel Hawthorne as Magistrate at Esmeralda's trial *Roland Culver as Bishop of Paris *Rosalie Crutchley as Simone * David Kelly as Tavernkeeper *Joseph Blatchley as Albert *Dave Hill as Coppenhole *Donald Eccl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blind Faith (book)
''Blind Faith'' is a 1989 true crime book by Joe McGinniss, based on the 1984 case in which American businessman Robert O. Marshall was charged with (and later convicted of) the contract killing of his wife, Maria. The book was adapted into a television miniseries of the same name in 1990. Overview On the night of September 7, 1984, insurance broker Marshall and his wife, Maria, were traveling home from Atlantic City, New Jersey, when, according to Marshall, he pulled over at a picnic area with a flat tire. Marshall alleged that he was then knocked unconscious by a blow to the back of his head, and approximately $15,000 worth of casino winnings was stolen. He stated that he awoke to find his wife with two gunshot wounds, dead across the front seat. After a police investigation, Marshall was arrested on December 19, 1984. The prosecution theorized that Marshall had hired two men to kill his wife so that he could collect on a $1.5 million insurance policy. Marshall was convicted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatal Vision Controversy
The controversy over ''Fatal Vision'', journalist and author Joe McGinniss's best-selling 1983 true crime book, is a decades-long dispute spanning several court cases and discussed in several other published works. ''Fatal Vision'' focuses on Captain Jeffrey R. MacDonald, M.D. and the February 17, 1970 murders of his wife and their two children at their home on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 1979, MacDonald was convicted of all three murders and sentenced to life in prison. McGinniss was hired by MacDonald, prior to the start of the criminal trial, but he later became convinced that MacDonald was guilty, and the book supported MacDonald's conviction. The book sold well, and gave rise to a miniseries of the same name on NBC the next year. The book led to MacDonald suing McGinniss, a case that was settled out of court. The book and its conclusions were challenged by several subsequent publications. MacDonald murders and trial In the early morning hours of February 17, 1970, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shadow Of A Doubt
''Shadow of a Doubt'' is a 1943 American psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story for Gordon McDonell. In 1991, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film was also Alfred Hitchcock's favorite of all of his films. Plot Charles Oakley lives alone in a rooming house. One day, his landlady tells him that two men came looking for him; he sees the two men waiting on the street in front of his room, and he decides to leave town. Charlotte "Charlie" Newton is a bored teenage girl living in the idyllic town of Santa Rosa, California. She receives wonderful news: Her mother's younger brother (her eponym), Charles Oakley, is arriving for a visit. Her uncle arrives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inherit The Wind (1988 Film)
''Inherit the Wind'' is a 1988 American legal drama television film directed by David Greene and written by John Gay, based on the 1955 play of the same name by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. The film stars Kirk Douglas, Jason Robards, Darren McGavin and Jean Simmons. It aired on NBC on March 20, 1988. The original play was written as a parable which fictionalized the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial as a means of discussing the 1950s McCarthy trials. This version differed from the two previous films by attempting to make Brady more sympathetic and the storyline (according to its producers) "a bit more fair to both sides." When announced in early 1987, the film was to co-star Douglas and Gregory Peck, under the title ''The Monkey Trial''. Cast * Jason Robards as Henry Drummond * Kirk Douglas as Matthew Harrison Brady * Darren McGavin as E. K. Hornbeck * Jean Simmons as Lucy Brady * Kyle Secor as Bertram Cates * Michael Ensign as Rev. Brown Awards Emmy Awards *Won ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Witness For The Prosecution (1982 Film)
''Witness for the Prosecution'' is a 1982 American made-for-television drama film version of Agatha Christie's 1925 short story and 1953 play, and also a remake of the Billy Wilder film ''Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957). Plot summary Sir Wilfred Robarts, a famed barrister, has just been released from the hospital in which he stayed for two months following a heart attack. Returning to his practise of law, he takes the case of Leonard Vole, an unemployed man who is accused of murdering the elderly Emily French, who had bequeathed her estate to him. Vole claims he's innocent, although all evidence points to him as the killer, but his alibi witness, his cold German wife Christine, instead of entering the court as a witness for the defense, becomes the witness for the prosecution and defiantly testifies that her husband is guilty of the murder. Sir Wilfred represents Vole but retains his suspicions regarding the accused man's icy wife. Cast * Sir Ralph Richardson as Sir Wilfred ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dial M For Murder
''Dial M for Murder'' is a 1954 American crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, Anthony Dawson, and John Williams. Both the screenplay and the successful stage play on which it was based were written by English playwright Frederick Knott. The play premiered in 1952 on BBC Television, before being performed on stage in the same year in London's West End in June, and then New York's Broadway in October. Originally intended to be shown in dual-strip polarized 3-D, the film played in most theatres in ordinary 2-D due to the loss of interest in the 3-D process (the projection of which was difficult and error-prone) by the time of its release. The film earned an estimated $2.7 million in North American box office sales in 1954. Plot Tony Wendice, a retired English tennis player, is married to wealthy socialite Margot, who has been having an affair with American crime-fiction writer Mark Halliday. Unbeknownst to them, T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bunker (1981 Film)
''The Bunker'' is a 1981 American made-for-television historical war film produced by Time-Life Productions based on the 1975 book '' The Bunker'' by James P. O'Donnell. The film, directed by George Schaefer and adapted for the screen by John Gay, is a dramatisation depicting the events surrounding Adolf Hitler's last weeks in and around his underground bunker in Berlin before and during the Battle of Berlin. The film stars Anthony Hopkins as Hitler, plus an all star cast including Richard Jordan, Susan Blakely, and Cliff Gorman. Plot The film opens in 1945, with American correspondent James O'Donnell (James Naughton) gaining entry to the ''Führerbunker'' by bribing a Soviet sentry with a packet of cigarettes. The film then tells the story of the occupants of the bunker between January and May 1945 as an extended flashback. A number of historical events and the reactions of the bunker's residents are presented, including the encirclement of Berlin, Hitler's last meeting wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caryl Chessman
Caryl Whittier Chessman (May 27, 1921 – May 2, 1960) was a convicted robber, kidnapper and serial rapist who was sentenced to death for a series of crimes committed in January 1948 in the Los Angeles area. Chessman was charged with 17 counts and convicted under a loosely interpreted "Little Lindbergh law" – later repealed, but not retroactively – that defined kidnapping as a capital offense under certain circumstances. His case attracted worldwide attention, and helped propel the movement to end the use of capital punishment in the state of California. While in prison, Chessman was considered vexatious, with one judge writing in 1957, " hessman isplaying a game with the courts, stalling for time while the facts of the case grow cold." Chessman wrote four books, including his 1954 memoir ''Cell 2455, Death Row''. The book was adapted for the screen in 1955 and stars William Campbell as a character modelled after Chessman. He was executed in California's gas chamber in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, but as the Civil War was just starting, trained officers were in immediate demand. He worked closely with General George B. McClellan and the future General Alfred Pleasonton, both of whom recognized his qualities as a cavalry leader, and he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at age 23. Only a few days after his promotion, he fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, where he commanded the Michigan Cavalry Brigade and despite being outnumbered, defeated J. E. B. Stuart's attack at what is now known as the East Cavalry Field. In 1864, he served in the Overland Campaign and in Philip Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley, defeating Jubal Early at Cedar Creek. His division blocked the Army of Northern Virginia's final retreat an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in the world. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an important figure in the aviation industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness. As a film tycoon, Hughes gained fame in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood beginning in the late 1920s, when he produced big-budget and often controversial films such as ''The Racket (1928 film), The Racket'' (1928), ''Hell's Angels (film), Hell's Angels'' (1930), and ''Scarface (1932 film), Scarface'' (1932). He later acquired the RKO Pictures film studio in 1948, recognized then as one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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