|
L'Idiote
''L'Idiote'' (''The Idiot'') is a comic mystery play by Marcel Achard. It was first performed in France under that name at the Théâtre Antoine in Paris in 1960-1962. An English version was staged on Broadway in 1961–62 with the title ''A Shot in the Dark'', adapted by Harry Kurnitz and directed by Harold Clurman. The cast included Julie Harris, Walter Matthau, and William Shatner as an incompetent Examining Magistrate. Matthau's performance earned him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. When adapted to film in 1964, it was extensively rewritten in order to replace the Examining Magistrate with the inept police Inspector Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, who had earlier originated the character in ''The Pink Panther''.Blake Edwards DVD director's commentary, ''The Pink Panther'' (1964), MGM Movie Legends DVD release 2007 Plot The plot concerns a free-spirited, guileless and amoral young woman, Josefa (Julie Harris in the original Broadway production), who works ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau (; born Walter John Matthow; October 1, 1920 – July 1, 2000) was an American actor, comedian and film director. He is best known for his film roles in '' A Face in the Crowd'' (1957), ''King Creole'' (1958) and as a coach of a hapless little league team in the baseball comedy ''The Bad News Bears'' (1976). He also starred in 10 films alongside Jack Lemmon, including ''The Odd Couple'' (1968), ''The Front Page'' (1974) and '' Grumpy Old Men'' (1993). Matthau won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Billy Wilder film ''The Fortune Cookie'' (1966). Matthau is also known for his performances in Stanley Donen's romance ''Charade'' (1963), Gene Kelly's musical '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1969), Elaine May's screwball comedy '' A New Leaf'' (1971) and Herbert Ross' ensemble comedy ''California Suite'' (1978). He also starred in ''Plaza Suite'', ''Kotch'' (both 1971), ''Charley Varrick'' (1973), ''The Sunshine Boys'' (1975), and ''Hopscotch'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcel Achard
Marcel Achard (5 July 1899 – 4 September 1974) was a French playwright and screenwriter whose popular sentimental comedies Garzanti p. 3 maintained his position as a highly recognizable name in his country's theatrical and literary circles for five decades.New York Times He was elected to the Académie française in 1959. Themes and variations within a philosophical outlook A native of the Rhône département's Urban Community of Lyon, France's second largest metropolitan area, Marcel-Auguste Ferréol was born in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, one of the city's suburbs, and adopted his pen name at the start of his writing career in the early 1920s. Able to absorb knowledge quickly, he became, in 1916, in the midst of World War I, a village schoolteacher at the age of 17. In 1919, a few months after the end of the war, the 20-year-old aspiring writer arrived in Paris and found jobs as a prompter at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier and as a journalist for various publications, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Shot In The Dark (1964 Film)
''A Shot in the Dark'' is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards in Panavision. It is the second installment in ''The Pink Panther'' film series, with Peter Sellers reprising his role as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté. Clouseau's blundering personality is unchanged, but it was in this film that Sellers began to give him the idiosyncratically exaggerated French accent that was to later become a hallmark of the character. The film also marks the first appearances of Herbert Lom as his long-suffering boss, Commissioner Dreyfus, as well as André Maranne as Dreyfus's assistant François and Burt Kwouk as Clouseau's stalwart manservant Cato, all three of whom would become series regulars. Elke Sommer portrays the murder suspect, Maria Gambrelli. The character of Gambrelli would return in ''Son of the Pink Panther'' (1993), this time played by Claudia Cardinale, who appeared as Princess Dala in ''The Pink Panther'' (1963). Graham Stark, who portrays police of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Saks
Gene Saks (born Jean Michael Saks; November 8, 1921 – March 28, 2015) was an American director and actor. An inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame, his acting career began with a Broadway debut in 1949. As a director, he was nominated for seven Tony Awards, winning three for his direction of ''I Love My Wife'', ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' and '' Biloxi Blues''. He also directed a number of films during his career. He was married to Bea Arthur from 1950 until 1978, and subsequently to Keren Saks from 1980 to his death in 2015. Early life Saks was born in New York City, the son of Beatrix (née Lewkowitz) and Morris J. Saks. Saks first became involved in theater as a student at Hackensack High School. He studied at Cornell University. Upon graduation, he served in the United States Navy during World War II, taking part in the Normandy landings. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Chief Inspector Clouseau in '' The Pink Panther'' series. Born in Southsea, Portsmouth, Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres. He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader's wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain and the Far East. After the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ''ShowTime'', and eventually became a regular performer on vario ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman (September 18, 1901 – September 9, 1980) was an American theatre director and drama critic. In 2003, he was named one of the most influential figures in U.S. theater by PBS."About Harold Clurman" ''American Masters'', PBS, 2 Dec 2003, accessed 15 Nov 2010 He was one of the three founders of New York City's Group Theatre (1931–1941). He directed more than 40 plays in his career and, during the 1950s, was nominated for a as director for several productions. In addition to his directing career, he was drama cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julie Harris (actress)
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play. Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wishes of her mother, who wanted her to be a society debutante. Harris was acclaimed for her performance as an isolated 12-year-old girl in the 1950 play ''The Member of the Wedding'', a role she reprised in the 1952 film of the same name, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1951, her range was demonstrated as Sally Bowles in the original production of ''I Am a Camera'', for which she won her first Tony award. She subsequently appeared in the 1955 film version. Harris gave acclaimed performances in films including '' The Haunting'' (1963), and '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), in which she played opposite Marlon Brando. In addition to her Tony award for ''I Am a Camera'' (1951), she won Tonys for '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Award For Best Featured Actor In A Play
The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, to "honor the best performances and stage productions of the previous year." Originally called the Tony Award for Actor, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic), the award was first presented to Arthur Kennedy at the 3rd Tony Awards for his portrayal of Biff Loman in Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman''. Before 1956, nominees' names were not made public; the change was made by the awards committee to "have a greater impact on theatregoers". In 1976, when the award's name changed to its current name, Edward Herrmann, portraying Frank Gardner in George Bernard Shaw's ''Mrs. Warren's P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pink Panther (1963 Film)
''The Pink Panther'' is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and distributed by United Artists. It was written by Maurice Richlin and Blake Edwards. It is the first installment in ''The Pink Panther'' franchise. Its story follows inspector Jacques Clouseau as he travels from Rome to Cortina d'Ampezzo to catch a notorious jewel thief known as "The Phantom" before he is able to steal a priceless diamond known as "The Pink Panther". The film stars David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert Wagner, Capucine and Claudia Cardinale. The film was produced by Martin Jurow and was initially released on December 18, 1963 in Italy followed by the United States release on March 18, 1964. It grossed $10.9 million in the United States and Canada. It was positively reviewed and has an 89% approval rating based on 34 votes on Rotten Tomatoes. In 2010, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, as being "culturally, hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inspector Clouseau
Inspector Jacques Clouseau (), later granted the rank of Chief Inspector, is a fictional character in Blake Edwards' farcical ''The Pink Panther'' series. He is portrayed by Peter Sellers in the original series, and also by Alan Arkin in the 1968 film ''Inspector Clouseau'' and, in a cameo, by Roger Moore (credited as Turk Thrust II) in the 1983 film ''Curse of the Pink Panther''. In the 2006 remake and its 2009 sequel, Clouseau is portrayed by Steve Martin. Clouseau's likeness also appears in the Pink Panther animated cartoon shorts and segments, where he is known as simply "the Inspector". More recent animated depictions from the 1970s onward were redesigned to more closely resemble Sellers, and later Martin. Character Overview Clouseau is an inept and incompetent police detective in the French Sûreté, whose investigations quickly turn to chaos. His absent-mindedness almost always leads to destruction of property: while interviewing witnesses in ''The Pink Panther St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Shatner
William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), ''Enterprise'' in the Where No Man Has Gone Before, second pilot of the Star Trek: The Original Series, first ''Star Trek'' television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh ''Star Trek'' feature film, ''Star Trek Generations'' (1994). Shatner began his screen acting career in Canadian films and television productions before moving into guest-starring roles in various US television shows. He appeared as James Kirk in all the episodes of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', 21 of the 22 episodes of ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'', and the first seven List of Star Trek films, ''Star Trek'' movies. He has written a series of books chronicling his experiences before, during and after his time in a Starfl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
