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Make Me A Star (film)
''Make Me a Star'' is a 1932 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Joan Blondell, Stuart Erwin and ZaSu Pitts. The film is a remake of the 1924 silent film '' Merton of the Movies'', based upon the 1922 novel of that name, and the 1923 play adapted from the novel by George S. Kaufman, and Marc Connelly. It was remade again in 1947. Plot A small-town delivery boy Merton Gill (Stuart Erwin) arrives in Hollywood, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and complete with a diploma from the National Correspondence Academy of Acting. Crashing the gates of Majestic Pictures Merton manages to fumble his one line bit in the latest Buck Benson (George Templeton) western and is fired on the spot. allmovie.com; accessed September 23, 2015. Cast * |
William Beaudine
William Washington Beaudine (January 15, 1892 – March 18, 1970) was an American film actor and director. He was one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out films in remarkable numbers and in a wide variety of genres. Life and career Born in New York City, Beaudine began his career as an actor in 1909 with American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. He married Marguerite Fleischer in 1914 and they stayed married until his death. Her sister was the mother of actor Bobby Anderson (actor and production associate), Bobby Anderson. Beaudine's brother Harold Beaudine was a director of short action-filled comedy films. In 1915 he was hired as an actor and director by the Kalem Company. He was an assistant to director D.W. Griffith on ''The Birth of a Nation'' and ''Intolerance (film), Intolerance''. By the time he was 23 Beaudine had directed his first picture, a short called ''Almost a King'' (1915). He would continue to direct shorts exclusively until 1922, when he shifted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silent Film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when necessary, be conveyed by the use of title cards. The term "silent film" is something of a misnomer, as these films were almost always accompanied by live sounds. During the silent era that existed from the mid-1890s to the late 1920s, a pianist, theater organist—or even, in large cities, a small orchestra—would often play music to accompany the films. Pianists and organists would play either from sheet music, or improvisation. Sometimes a person would even narrate the inter-title cards for the audience. Though at the time the technology to synchronize sound with the film did not exist, music was seen as an essential part of the viewing experience. "Silent film" is typically used as a historical term to describe an era of cinema pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", "Louise", " Mimi", and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and for his films, including ''The Love Parade'', ''The Big Pond'', ''The Smiling Lieutenant'', '' One Hour with You'' and ''Love Me Tonight''. His trademark attire was a boater hat and tuxedo. Chevalier was born in Paris. He made his name as a star of musical comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic and a singer in ''l'Alcazar'' in Marseille, for which he received critical acclaim by French theatre critics. In 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to London, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Brook
Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the United States in 1924, Brook became one of the major stars for Paramount Pictures in the late silent era. During 1928–29 he successfully made the transition to sound and continued to be featured in many of Hollywood's most prestigious films, including a number of literary adaptations. In the mid-1930s he returned to England, where he appeared regularly in leading film roles for a further decade. Early life Brook was born in Islington, London, the son of George Alfred Brook and Charlotte Mary Brook. He attended Dulwich College because of his father's desire for him to be a lawyer, but family financial problems caused him to leave at age 15. He then studied elocution at a polytechnic. He served in the Artists' Rifles in the First World War, rising to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat'' (1944). She also had a brief but successful career on radio and made appearances on television. In all, Bankhead amassed nearly 300 film, stage, television and radio roles during her career. She was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972 and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 1981. Bankhead was a member of the Bankhead and Brockman family, a prominent Alabama political family. Her grandfather and her uncle were U.S. senators, and her father was Speaker of the House of Representatives. Bankhead's support of liberal causes, including the budding civil rights movement, brought her into public conflict with her family and southern contemporaries, who championed white supremacy and racial segregation. She also supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Apfel
Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927. Biography Apfel was born in Cleveland, Ohio. After a number of years in commerce, he decided to adopt the stage as a profession.Carolyn Lowrey (1920) ''The First One Hundred Noted Men and Women of the Screen'', Moffat, Yard and Company, New York He secured his first professional engagement in 1900, in his hometown. He rose rapidly and soon held a position as director and producer and was at the time noted as being the youngest stage director in America. He spent eleven years on the stage on Broadway then joined the Edison Manufacturing Company. Apfel first directed for Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911–12, where he made the innovative short film '' The Passer-By'' (1912). He also did some experimental work at Edison's laboratory in Orange, on the Edison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Hardy (actor)
Samuel B. Hardy (March 21, 1883 – October 16, 1935) was an American stage and film actor who appeared in feature films during the silent and early sound eras. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Hardy attended Yale but left there to become an actor on stage. He entered the world of film with Biograph Studios. Hardy appeared in about 85 movies between 1915 and 1935, he was often in comedic roles. His best-known role to modern audiences is perhaps Charles Weston, the theatrical agent, in the 1933 film classic ''King Kong''. Hardy appeared opposite Marie Cahill in the 1910 play ''Judy Forgot'' and the 1915 film adaptation. Hardy became ill while he was working in the film ''Shoot the Chutes'', starring Eddie Cantor. He did not survive emergency surgery at a hospital and died of intestinal problems. Partial filmography * ''Judy Forgot'' (1915) - Freddy * ''Over Night'' (1915) - Percy Darling * '' At First Sight'' (1917) - Hartly Poole * ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1918) - Simon Legree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Donnelly
Ruth Donnelly (May 17, 1896 – November 17, 1982) was an American film and stage actress. Early years and family Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Donnelly was the daughter of Harry Augustus and Bessie B. Donnelly. Her uncle, Frederick W. Donnelly, was the longtime mayor of Trenton, New Jersey. According to a 1915 article in ''The Day Book'', the young Donnelly was forced to leave Sacred Heart Convent in New Jersey because she repeatedly broke into laughter at inappropriate times. Career Donnelly began her stage career at the age of 17 in ''The Quaker Girl''. Actress Rose Stahl took the teen under her wing and, after giving her training and a year's experience in the chorus, placed the then 18-year-old in the play ''Maggie Pepper''. Her Broadway debut brought her to the attention of George M. Cohan, who proceeded to cast her in numerous comic-relief roles in such musicals as '' Going Up'' (1917). Though she made her first film appearance in 1914, her Hollywoo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Hoyt
Arthur Hoyt (March 19, 1874 – January 4, 1953) was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films. Career Born in Georgetown, Colorado, in 1874, Hoyt made his Broadway debut in 1905 in ''The Prince Consort''. He also appeared in Ferenc Molnár's ''The Devil'' in 1908, and made his final Broadway appearance in ''The Great Name'' in 1911. Hoyt made the silent comedy short ''The Scrub Lady'' in 1914, but his film acting career did not begin in earnest until 1916 when he appeared in another short, ''The Heart of a Show Girl''. From that time until 1944, each year a film was released in which Hoyt had acted – and frequently up to a dozen or so. Hoyt had large roles in such silent films as '' The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (1921), '' Souls for Sale'' (1923), and '' The Lost World'' (1925). He also directed two silent features, '' Station Content'' starring Gloria Swanson and ''Hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Jerome Eddy
Helen Jerome Eddy (February 25, 1897 – January 27, 1990) was a motion picture actress from New York City. She was noted as a character actress who played genteel heroines in films such as ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' (1917). Early years Eddy was born in New York City on February 25, 1897, and was raised in Los Angeles, California. As a youth, she acted in productions put on by the Pasadena Playhouse. She became interested in films through the studio of Siegmund Lubin, which was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In her youth they opened a backlot in her Los Angeles neighborhood. Career Lubin's studio rejected a scenario that Eddy wrote at age 17, "but decided to capitalize on her face", using her in vamp roles in "lurid melodramas". Eddy's first movie was ''The Discontented Man'' (1915). Soon after, she left Lubin and joined Paramount Pictures. At this time she began to play the roles for which she is best remembered. Other films in which the actress participated includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Florence Roberts
Florence Roberts (March 16, 1861/1864 – June 6, 1940(photo included) was an American actress of the stage and in motion pictures. Stock company actress Born in New York City, she began acting onstage there. Her career began at the Brooklyn Opera House in ''Hoop of Gold''. She secured her first stage role with the Denman Thompson Company and played leads with the N.B. Curtis Company. This experience led to appearances on Broadway. She once starred in ''Zala'', a production of David Belasco. She headed a stock company in Philadelphia, for a period of 15 years. The actress made three world tours in stock. There was a South African repertoire and a tour of Australia with the Henry Duffy players. She also played in stock companies in Boston and other cities. In the early 1900s, she made annual tours under the direction of Frederick Belasco. Film career Roberts' success in motion pictures began with a Mack Sennett comedy. The film producer saw her on the stage in ''Your Uncle Du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Sellon
Charles A. Sellon (August 24, 1870 – June 26, 1937) was an American stage and film actor. Sellon appeared in more than 100 films and stage acts between 1901 and 1935. He played the blind Mr. Muckle in W. C. Fields' comedy ''It's a Gift'' (1934) and the wheelchair-using uncle in '' Bright Eyes'' (1934) with Shirley Temple. His other films included ''The Mighty'', ''The Painted Desert'', and ''Tracked in the Snow Country''. On Broadway, Sellon appeared in ''The Challenge'' (1919), ''Roads of Destiny'' (1918), ''The Pawn'' (1917), and ''The Cat and the Fiddle'' (1907). Sellon was married to Florence E. Willis from 1896 until his death. They had one child together: a son, Robert Charles Sellon. Partial filmography * '' The Bad Man'' (1923) * '' South Sea Love'' (1923) * '' Flowing Gold'' (1924) * '' Merton of the Movies'' (1924) * '' Sundown'' (1924) * '' The Monster'' (1925) * '' Private Affairs'' (1925) * ''The Lucky Devil'' (1925) * ''The Calgary Stampede'' (1925) * '' T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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