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London Entertains
''London Entertains'' is a 1951 British quasi-documentary film that combines a travelogue around London with film of various variety stars including The Goons and Bobby Breen. The film was conceived by Jimmy Grafton and produced and directed by Edwin John Fancey. The film uses the pretext of girls returning from a Swiss finishing school and setting up an agency called ''At Your Service'' to show tourists to London around the sites of the 1951 Festival of Britain. They are aided by BBC radio presenter Eamonn Andrews who uses his show-business contacts to get the girls in to see variety shows. Entertainment locations visited include the Windmill Theatre and ''Grafton's'', the public house owned by the film's writer Jimmy Grafton, where ''The Goon Show'' (then known as ''Crazy People'') was recorded. The film also includes footage of actress Gloria Swanson touring the construction site of the Royal Festival Hall and the Southbank Centre. The actresses playing the girls were membe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edwin John Fancey
Edwin John Fancey (1902–1980) was a British film producer and film distributor, distributor.Chibnall & McFarlane p.117 He owned the production company E.J. Fancey Productions, and the distribution company DUK (film distributor), DUK. He specialised largely in producing B-film, supporting films and short subjects, often edited from or compiled from material appearing in earlier films produced by others, such as musical numbers or comedy routines. Selected filmography Producer * ''The Balloon Goes Up'' (1942) * ''Up with the Lark'' (1943) * ''Soho Conspiracy'' (1950) * ''Hangman's Wharf'' (1950) * ''London Entertains'' (1951) * ''Down Among the Z Men'' (1952) * ''Behind the Headlines (1953 film), Behind the Headlines'' (1953) * ''Forces' Sweetheart (film), Forces' Sweetheart'' (1953) * ''Flannelfoot'' (1953) * ''Calling All Cars (1954 film), Calling All Cars'' (1954) * ''Johnny on the Spot'' (1954) * ''Action Stations (film), Action Stations'' (1956) * ''Flight from Vienna (film), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Grafton
James Douglas Grafton, (19 May 1916 – 2 June 1986) was a producer, writer and theatrical agent. He served in World War II as an officer in the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment and was awarded the Military Cross for his actions during Operation Market Garden. After the war he worked within his family publican business, taking over as manager at Grafton's pub in London while also acting as a part-time scriptwriter. The pub served as a meeting place for many comedians, including Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine. Grafton was instrumental in ensuring the quartet were hired by the BBC for their new programme, eventually called ''The Goon Show''. Grafton also acted as a script editor for the first three series of the show. He continued with scriptwriting for other artistes and acted as Harry Secombe's agent for over 25 years. He died in 1986, at the age of 70. Biography Grafton was born on 19 May 1916 in Westminster, London; he had a twin br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eamonn Andrews
Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ Authority), which oversaw the introduction of a state television service in the Republic of Ireland. Early life Andrews was born in Synge Street, Dublin, and educated at Synge Street CBS. He began his career as a clerk in an insurance office. He was a keen amateur boxer and won the Irish junior middleweight title in 1944. Broadcasting career By 1944 he was the Hon. Secretary of St. Andrew's Boxing Club. In 1946 he became a full-time freelance sports commentator, working for Radio Éireann, Ireland's state broadcaster. In 1950, he began presenting programmes for the BBC, being particularly well known for boxing commentaries, and soon became one of television's most popular presenters. The following year, the game show ''What's My Line?'' be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Goons
''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1951, was titled ''Crazy People''; subsequent series had the title ''The Goon Show''. The show's chief creator and main writer was Spike Milligan, who performed the series alongside Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and (for the first two series) Michael Bentine. The scripts mixed ludicrous plots with surreal humour, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. There were also light music interludes. Some of the later episodes feature electronic effects devised by the fledgling BBC Radiophonic Workshop, many of which were reused by other shows for decades. Elements of the show satirised contemporary life in 1950s Britain, parodying aspects of show business, commerce, industry, art, politics, diplomacy, the police, the military, educ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby Breen
Isadore Borsuk (November 4, 1927 – September 19, 2016), better known as Bobby Breen, was a Canadian-born American actor and singer. He was a popular male child singer during the 1930s and reached major popularity with film and radio appearances. Early life Breen was born Isadore Borsuk on November 4, 1927 (according to some sources he was born in 1928) in Montréal, Canada, the son of Hyman (Chaim) and Rebecca Borsuk. His parents were poor Jewish immigrants from present-day Ukraine. They, along with Breen's three older siblings (Gertrude, Sally, and Michael), migrated from Kiev to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1927. Soon after, they relocated to Toronto. His singing talent as a boy soprano was discovered at age three by his sister Sally, herself an aspiring musical student who was several years his senior. While their parents did not show any particular interest, Sally decided to help him achieve stardom. With the assistance from her music teacher, Breen got a chance to perform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finishing School
A finishing school focuses on teaching young women social graces and upper-class cultural rites as a preparation for entry into society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the education, with classes primarily on deportment and etiquette, with academic subjects secondary. It may consist of an intensive course, or a one-year programme. In the United States it is sometimes called a charm school. Graeme Donald claims that the educational ladies' salons of the late 19th century led to the formal, finishing institutions evidenced in Switzerland around that time. At their peak, thousands of wealthy young women were sent to the dozens of finishing schools available. A primary goal was to teach students to acquire husbands. The 1960s marked the decline of the finishing school. This can be attributed to the shifting conceptions of women's role in society, as well as succession issues within the typically family-run schools and so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Festival Of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: Labour cabinet member Herbert Morrison was the prime mover; in 1947 he started with the original plan to celebrate the centennial of the Great Exhibition of 1851. However, it was not to be another World Fair, for international themes were absent, as was the British Commonwealth. Instead the 1951 festival focused entirely on Britain and its achievements; it was funded chiefly by the government, with a budget of £12 million. The Labour government was losing support and so the implicit goal of the festival was to give the people a feeling of successful recovery from the war's devastation, as well as promoting British science, technology, industrial design, architecture and the arts. The Festival's centrepiece was in London on the South Bank ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre in Great Windmill Street, London, was a variety and revue theatre best known for its nude ''tableaux vivants'', which began in 1932 and lasted until its reversion to a cinema in 1964. Many prominent British comedians of the post-war years started their careers at the theatre. As the Palais de Luxe Great Windmill Street took its name from a windmill that stood there from the reign of King Charles II until the late 18th century. In 1909 a cinema, the Palais de Luxe, opened on the site. It stood on the corner of a block of buildings that included the Apollo and Lyric theatres, where Archer Street joined Great Windmill Street, just off Shaftesbury Avenue. The building complex incorporates Piccadilly Buildings, an 1897 building which housed the offices of British Mutoscope and Biograph Company, an early producer of films. The Palais de Luxe was one of the first places where early silent films were shown. As larger cinemas were opened in the West End, busin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloria Swanson
Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 return in Billy Wilder's ''Sunset Boulevard'', which also earned her a Golden Globe Award. Swanson was born in Chicago and raised in a military family that moved from base to base. Her infatuation with Essanay Studios actor Francis X. Bushman led to her aunt taking her to tour the actor's Chicago studio. The 15-year-old Swanson was offered a brief walk-on for one film, beginning her life's career in front of the cameras. Swanson was soon hired to work in California for Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios comedy shorts opposite Bobby Vernon. She was eventually recruited by Famous Players-Lasky/Paramount Pictures, where she was put under contract for seven years. With the company she became a global superstar. She starr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I listed building, the first post-war building to become so protected (in 1981). The London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the London Sinfonietta, Chineke! and Aurora are resident orchestras at Southbank Centre. The hall was built as part of the Festival of Britain for London County Council, and was officially opened on 3 May 1951. When the LCC's successor, the Greater London Council, was abolished in 1986, the Festival Hall was taken over by the Arts Council, and managed together with the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room (opened 1967) and the Hayward Gallery (1968), eventually becoming an independent arts organisation, now known as the Southbank Centre, in April 1998. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the National Poetry Library, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room), together with the Hayward Gallery, and is Europe’s largest centre for the arts. It attracted 4.36 million visitors during 2019. Over two thousand paid performances of music, dance and literature are staged at Southbank Centre each year, as well as over two thousand free events and an education programme, in and around the performing arts venues. In addition, three to six major art exhibitions are presented at the Hayward Gallery yearly, and national touring exhibitions reach over 100 venues across the UK. Location Southbank Centre's site, which formerly extended to 21 acres (85,000 m2) from County Hall to Waterloo Bridge, is fronted by The Queen’s Walk. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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