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Lancer Spy
''Lancer Spy'' is a 1937 American thriller film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Dolores Del Rio and George Sanders. Its plot concerns an Englishman who impersonates a German officer and a female German spy who falls in love with him. Plot Cast Production ''Lancer Spy'' was based on a story written by Marthe McKenna, a Belgian woman who was a spy for England during World War I. She had previously written the 1932 memoir ''I Was a Spy'', the basis of a 1933 film of the same title. Gregory Ratoff signed a contract with 20th Century Fox to write, produce and direct. The film was originally to star Michael Whalen in the part that was eventually played by George Sanders. French actor Germaine Aussey was to have made her American debut in the film but was replaced by Dolores del Río soon after filming began in May 1937. Peter Lorre was cast after his success in '' Think Fast, Mr Moto''. Fox bought his contract from the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. Colin Clive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff (born Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner; russian: Григорий Васильевич Ратнер, tr. ; April 20, c. 1893 – December 14, 1960) was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was best known for his role as producer "Max Fabian" in ''All About Eve'' (1950). Biography Ratoff was born in Samara, Russia, to Jewish parents. His mother was Sophie (née Markison) who claimed to have been born on September 1, 1878, but was married on June 14, 1894, when she would have been 15, to Benjamin Ratner (born 1864), with whom she had four children, the eldest of whom was Grigory, whose date of birth she gave as April 7, 1895 but later April 20 was cited as Gregory Ratoff's birthdate, and the year given as 1893, 1896 and 1897, variously. Sophie Ratner later adopted her son's stage surname (Ratoff) when she herself became a naturalized United States citizen. Sophie Ratoff died on August 27, 1955. Her date of birth is given as September ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lester Matthews
Arthur Lester Matthews (6 June 1900 – 5 June 1975) was an English actor. In his career, the handsome Englishman made more than 180 appearances in film and on television. He was erroneously credited in later years as Les Matthews. Matthews played supporting roles in films like ''The Raven'' and ''Werewolf of London'' (both 1935), but his career deteriorated into bit parts. He died on 5 June 1975, the day before his 75th birthday, in Los Angeles. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Partial filmography * ''The Man at Six'' (1931) (also known as ''The Gables Mystery'') – Campbell Edwards * ''Creeping Shadows'' (1931) – Brian Nash * '' The Old Man'' (1931) as Keith Keller * ''Carmen'' (1931) – Zuniga * ''The Wickham Mystery'' (1932) – Charles Wickham * ''The Indiscretions of Eve'' (1932) – Ralph * '' Fires of Fate'' (1932) – Lt. Col Egerton * ''Her Night Out'' (1932) – Gerald Vickery * ''She Was Only a Village Maiden'' (1933) – Frampton * '' Called Bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1930s Spy Thriller Films
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1937 Films
The year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first American full-length animated film, ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1937 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 29 – ''The Good Earth'' premieres in the U.S. * April 16 – '' Way Out West'' premieres in the US. * May 7 – ''Shall We Dance'' premieres in the US. * May 11 – ''Captains Courageous'' premieres in New York. The film is released nationwide on June 25. * Monogram Pictures, who had merged with Republic Pictures two years earlier, decide to separate and distribute their own films again. * June 7 – Jean Harlow, one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the decade, dies aged 26 at Good Samaratan Hospital in Los Angeles. The official cause of death is listed as cerebral edema, a complication of kidney failure. * June 11 – '' A Day at the Races'' premieres in the U.S. * July ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Clive
Colin Clive (born Colin Glenn Clive-Greig; 20 January 1900 – 25 June 1937) was a British stage and screen actor. His most memorable role was Henry Frankenstein, the creator of the monster, in the 1931 film ''Frankenstein'' and its 1935 sequel, ''Bride of Frankenstein''. Early life Clive was born in Saint-Malo, France, to an English colonel, Colin Philip Greig, and his wife, Caroline Margaret Lugard Clive. He attended Stonyhurst College and subsequently Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where an injured knee disqualified him from military service and contributed to his becoming a stage actor."Colin Clive," ''The Stage'' (1 July 1937), p. 7. bituary/ref> He was a member of the Hull Repertory Theatre Company for three years. Clive created the role of Steve Baker, the white husband of racially mixed Julie LaVerne, in the first London production of ''Show Boat''; the production featured Cedric Hardwicke and Paul Robeson. Clive first worked with James Whale in the Savoy Theatre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaumont-British
The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France. Film production Gaumont-British was founded in 1898 as the British subsidiary of the French Gaumont Film Company. It became independent of its French parent in 1922 when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British. In 1927 the Ideal Film Company, a leading silent film maker, merged with Gaumont. The company's Lime Grove Studios was used for film productions, including Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of '' The 39 Steps'' (1935), while its Islington Studios made Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938). In the 1930s, the company employed 16,000 people. In the United States, Gaumont-British had its own distribution operation for its films until December 1938, when it outsourced distribution to 20th Century Fox. In 1941 the Rank Organisation bought Gaumont-British and its sister com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Think Fast, Mr Moto
''Think Fast, Mr. Moto'' is a 1937 film directed by Norman Foster and featuring a mysterious Japanese detective named Mr. Moto. It is the first of eight films in the Mr. Moto series, all based on the character Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand. The film stars Peter Lorre as the title character, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck and Sig Ruman. Mr. Moto works to stop a secret smuggling operation. Plot The film opens with Mr. Moto in disguise as a street salesmen and selling goods to passers-by. He sees a man leaving a shop with a tattoo of the British Flag on his arm. Moto enters the shop to sell a rare diamond to the owner. However, Moto sees a body stuffed into a wicker basket in the store, and using his mastery of judo takes down the shopkeeper. Later, he reserves a berth on a freighter headed for Shanghai. Also on the freighter is Bob Hitchings Jr., son of the owner of the freighter. Before leaving, Hitchings Sr. gives his son a confidential letter for the head of the Shangh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Germaine Aussey
Germaine Aussey (born Germaine Adrienne Agassiz, December 18, 1909 in Paris – March 15, 1979 in Geneva) was a French actress who worked with, among others, René Clair, Julien Duvivier, Paul Fejos, Jean Grémillon, Marc Allégret, and Sacha Guitry. She was, from 1940-1945, married to circus impresario John Ringling North. The union ended in divorce. Selected filmography * '' The Train of Suicides'' (1931) * ''Here's Berlin'' (1932) * '' Bach the Millionaire'' (1933) * ''The Concierge's Daughters'' (1934) * '' Speak to Me of Love'' (1935) * '' Princesse Tam-Tam'' (1935) * '' Beloved Imposter'' (1936) * ''The Brighton Twins ''The Brighton Twins'' (French: ''Les jumeaux de Brighton'') is a 1936 French comedy film directed by Claude Heymann and starring Raimu, Michel Simon and Suzy Prim.Crisp p.407 It is based on the 1908 play of the same title by Tristan Bernard. ...'' (1936) * '' Adventure in Paris'' (1936) * '' Parisian Life'' (1936) * '' The Pearls of the Crow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Whalen (actor)
Joseph Kenneth Shovlin (June 30, 1902 – April 14, 1974), known as Michael Whalen, was an American actor who starred in B Movies and television, including ''Son of a Badman'' and ''Wee Willie Winkie''. Selected filmography References External links * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whalen, Michael American male television actors Actors from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania American male film actors Male actors from Pennsylvania 1902 births 1974 deaths 20th-century American male actors ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Was A Spy
''I Was a Spy'' is a 1933 British thriller film directed by Victor Saville and starring Madeleine Carroll, Herbert Marshall, and Conrad Veidt. Based on the 1932 memoir ''I Was a Spy'' by Marthe Cnockaert, the film is about her experiences as a Belgian woman who nursed German soldiers during World War I while passing intelligence to the British. ''I Was a Spy'' was also the first film dubbed in Poland (while there were earlier examples of films dubbed in Polish, they were recorded in Paramount studio in Joinville, France), released in 1935 as ''Siostra Marta jest szpiegiem'', starring Lidia Wysocka as Martha Cnockhaert's voice. The screenplay was written by Edmund Gwenn. Plot In German-occupied Belgium in 1914, a local woman nurses injured German soldiers while passing information to the British. Cast * Madeleine Carroll as Marthe Cnockaert * Herbert Marshall as Stephan * Conrad Veidt as Commandant Oberaertz * Edmund Gwenn as Burgomaster * Gerald du Maurier as Doctor * Donald ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marthe Cnockaert
Marthe Mathilde Cnockaert (28 October 1892 – 8 January 1966), later Marthe McKenna, was a Belgian spy for the United Kingdom and its allies during the First World War. She later became a novelist, and is credited with writing over a dozen spy novels in addition to her memoirs and short stories. Early life Cnockaert was born in the village of Westrozebeke in the Belgian province of West Flanders, to Felix Cnockaert and his wife Marie-Louise Vanoplinus. She began studying at the medical school at Ghent University, but her studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I.Deborah E. Van SetersMcKenna, Marthe (1892–c.1969) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 30 December 2011. World War I In August 1914, German troops razed the village, burning her home down and temporarily separating her family. Having trained as a nurse, Cnockaert gained a job at a German military hospital located in the village, where she was valued for h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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