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Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948 Film)
''Letter from an Unknown Woman'' is a 1948 American drama romance film released by Universal-International and directed by Max Ophüls (listed as Max Opuls in the opening credits sequence). It was based on the novella of the same name by Stefan Zweig. The film stars Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians, and . In 1992, ''Letter from an Unknown Woman'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Plot In early twentieth century Vienna, Lisa (Joan Fontaine), a teenager living in an apartment building, becomes fascinated by a new tenant, concert pianist Stefan Brand (Louis Jourdan). Stefan is making a name for himself through energetic performances. Lisa becomes obsessed with Stefan, staying up late to listen to him play, and sneaking into his apartment and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Ophüls
Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made nearly 30 films, the latter ones being especially notable: ''La Ronde (1950 film), La Ronde'' (1950), ''Le Plaisir'' (1952), ''The Earrings of Madame de…'' (1953) and ''Lola Montès'' (1955). He was credited as Max Opuls on several of his American films, including ''The Reckless Moment'', ''Caught (1949 film), Caught'', ''Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948 film), Letter from an Unknown Woman'', and ''The Exile (1947 film), The Exile''. The annual Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in Saarbrücken is named after him. Life Youth and early career Max Ophüls was born in Saarbrücken, Germany, the son of Leopold Oppenheimer, a Jewish textile manufacturer and owner of several textile shops in Germany, and his wife Helene Oppenheimer (née Bamber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2021 Cannes Film Festival
The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after the COVID-19 pandemic in France scuttled plans to have him head the jury of the 2020 Cannes Film Festival. The Official Selection was announced on 3 June 2021. French film director Leos Carax's musical film ''Annette'' was the opening film of the festival. Arthur Harrari's '' Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle'' opened the Un Certain Regard section. The Honorary Palme d'Or was awarded to American actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster, and Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio. The Palme d'Or went to ''Titane'', directed by Julia Ducournau, who became the second female director to win the award and the first to win not jointly with another director (in 1993 Jane Campion had won jointly with Chen Kaige). At the awards ceremony on 17 July 2021, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts. Definition The Italian term is a feminine of ''novello'', which means ''new'', similarly to the English word ''news''. Merriam-Webster defines a novella as "a work of fiction intermediate in length and complexity between a short story and a novel". No official definition exists regarding the number of pages or words necessary for a story to be considered a novella, a short story or a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association defines a novella's word count to be between 17,500 and 40,000 words. History The novella as a literary genre began developing in the Italian literature of the early Renaissance, principally Giovanni Boccaccio, author of ''The Decameron'' (1353). ''The Decameron'' featured 100 tales (named nov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Varno
Roland Varno (March 15, 1908 – May 24, 1996) was an American character actor from Utrecht, Netherlands. Varno's father was a tea planter, Martin Fredrick Vuerhard, and his mother was a concert pianist. Although they hoped for him to have a military career, he began acting when he was 16 years old, the youngest member of the royal Dutch theater at that time. After he graduated from college in Leyden, he traveled and continued to study dramatics. He went to Hollywood after a talent scout for MGM saw him in a German film in 1931. Varno worked in vaudeville, performing and designing scenery. He appeared in dozens of films in the 1930s and 1940s. During World War II, Varno served in the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency.Dutch actor Rolan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ilka Grüning
Ilka Grüning (born Ilka Henriette Grunzweig; 4 September 1876 – 11 November 1964) was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933. A respected and famous actress of her time in the German-language area, she was forced to play bit parts in Hollywood. Career German career At age 17, Ilka Grüning made her stage debut in '' Miss Julie'' and quickly became a famous stage actress. Grüning's first film, at age 43, was a German silent movie called ''Todesurteil'' in 1919. Next, she starred with Conrad Veidt in ''Peer Gynt''. Later that year, she and Veidt appeared in '' Die sich verkaufen''. She continued making silent movies in Germany into the 1920s. In 1920, she appeared in the film ''Die Bestie im Menschen'' based on the novel ''La Bête humaine'' by Émile Zola. This were two of 11 films she appeared in that y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Elliott (actor)
John Hugh Elliott (July 5, 1876 – December 12, 1956) was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in over 300 films during his career. He worked sporadically during the silent film era, but with the advent of sound his career took off, where he worked constantly for 25 years, finding a particular niche in "B" westerns. His versatility allowed him to play both "good guys" and "bad guys" with equal aplomb, working right up until his death in 1956. Early life Elliott was born on July 1876 in Keosauqua, Iowa to Sarah E. Norris and Jehue S. Elliott. He was the third of four children, and the only boy; his two older sisters were named Elizabeth and Fanny, with his younger sister named Nina. In February 1897, when Elliott was 20, his mother, his sister Fanny came down with typhoid fever. Elliott would be the only one of the three to survive. Two months later, on April 14, Elliot married Cleo Kelly, despite her parents' objections to her marrying an actor. Career Elliot b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Blythe
Betty Blythe (born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter; September 1, 1893 – April 7, 1972) was an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as ''The Queen of Sheba'' (1921). She appeared in 63 silent films and 56 talkies over the course of her career. Early life She was born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter in Los Angeles, where she attended Westlake School for Girls, and the University of Southern California. Betty had already shortened her name to Betty Blythe when she and three other women posed for a photo shoot of the newest swim fashion for women, a bathing suit. Prior to then, women were expected to wear stockings with full dresses or skirts into the water. Career Blythe began her stage work in such theatrical pieces as ''So Long Letty'' and ''The Peacock Princess''. She worked in vaudeville as the "California Nightingale" singing songs such as "Love Tales from Hoffman". In 1915, she had an unbilled part in '' Bella Donna'' for Famous Players ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Waldis
Otto Waldis (born Otto Glucksmann-Blum, May 20, 1901 – March 25, 1974) was an Austrian-American character actor in films and television from the 1930s through the 1960s. He was also billed as Otto Blum. Years in Germany Waldis was born Otto Glucksmann-Blum in 1901 in Vienna. He was a student during World War I and initially studied to be a naval engineer. When Germany had no navy after the war, he shifted his attention to acting in the 1920s. Rudolph Schildkraut saw him perform and encouraged him to pursue a theatrical career. Billed as Otto Valdis, he performed Shakespeare and classic German plays. He also directed plays. Waldis began made his film debut in a small role in director Fritz Lang's classic thriller '' M'' (1931) starring Peter Lorre. After he began acting regularly in films, he had the lead in ''The Broken Pitcher'', which received first prize in an international competition in 1934. Emigration and work in Hollywood The Jewish actor fled from Europe because ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erskine Sanford
Erskine Sanford (November 19, 1885 – July 7, 1969) was an American actor on the stage, radio and motion pictures. Long associated with the Theatre Guild, he later joined Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre company and appeared in several of Welles's films, including ''Citizen Kane'' (1941), in which he played Herbert Carter, the bumbling, perspiring newspaper editor. Biography Erskine Sanford was born in Trinidad, Colorado, and was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City. Beginning his acting career with Minnie Maddern Fiske's company, he made his professional debut in ''Leah Kleschna''. He appeared in ''The Blue Bird'' and ''The Piper'' (1910–11) at the New Theatre in New York City, and in Shakespearean repertory with Ben Greet. For some 15 years he was associated with the Theatre Guild, playing roles on Broadway and on tour, including performances of '' Porgy'' and ''Strange Interlude'' on the London stage. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, Sanford first met Orson Welles in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Freeman
Howard Freeman (December 9, 1899 – December 11, 1967) was an American actor of the early 20th century, and film and television actor of the 1940s through the 1960s. Biography Freeman was born in Helena, Montana, and began working as a stage actor in his 20s. He did not enter the film industry until he was over 40, in 1942, when he played a small uncredited role in ''Inflation''. Despite his late start in film acting, Freeman would build himself a fairly substantial career in that field that would last over twenty three years. From 1943 onward he worked on a regular basis, sometimes in uncredited roles, but more often than not in small but credited bit or supporting parts. He appeared in ten films in 1943, and another eighteen from 1944 through 1945. In 1946 Freeman would appear in twelve films, the most notable of which was his first film of that year, ''Abilene Town'', starring Randolph Scott and Lloyd Bridges, and ''California'', starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ray M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Smith (actor)
Arthur Gordon Smith (March 23, 1899 – February 24, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor, best known for playing supporting roles in Hollywood productions of the 1940s. Life and career Born in Chicago, he was a member of the Group Theatre and performed in many of their productions, including '' Rocket to the Moon'', ''Awake and Sing!'', '' Golden Boy'' and ''Waiting for Lefty'', all by Clifford Odets; ''House of Connelly'' by Paul Green; and Sidney Kingsley's '' Men in White.'' The gray-haired actor usually played studious and dignified types in films, such as doctors or butlers. Smith appeared in many noirish films, including '' Body and Soul'' (1947) and ''In a Lonely Place'' (1950). He had a key role as a federal agent in 1947's ''Ride the Pink Horse'', starring and directed by Robert Montgomery. Two of these films, ''In a Lonely Place'' and ''Ride a Pink Horse'', were based on novels by Dorothy B. Hughes. Smith was one of the victims of the Hollyw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in the late 18th century in England, duels were more commonly fought using pistols. Fencing and shooting continued to co-exist throughout the 19th century. The duel was based on a Code of conduct, code of honor. Duels were fought not so much to kill the opponent as to gain "satisfaction", that is, to restore one's honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one's life for it, and as such the tradition of dueling was originally reserved for the male members of nobility; however, in the modern era, it extended to those of the upper classes generally. On occasion, duels with swords or pistols were fought between women. Legislation against dueling goes back to the medieval period. The Fourth Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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