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Malibu Beach Party
''Malibu Beach Party'' is a 1940 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on September 14, 1940. The short is a parody of the popular radio comedy series, ''The Jack Benny Show''. Synopsis An invitation goes out to Hollywood stars to a beach party at the Malibu beach home of "Jack Bunny," a parody of Jack Benny. Caricatured figures of Benny and Mary Livingstone welcome guests, many attired as characters from their recent film appearances. These include Bob Hope, Bette Davis (dressed as the Virgin Queen from ''The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex''), Andy Devine, Benny's co-star in ''Buck Benny Rides Again'', Spencer Tracy (as Henry Morton Stanley in '' Stanley and Livingstone''), Robert Donat as the title character of ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips''. Kay Kyser, in his professorial regalia from radio's ''Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge'', makes a brief appearance. On Jack Bunny's patio, a caricatured version of George Raft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Lescoulie
Jack Lescoulie (November 17, 1912 – July 22, 1987) was a radio and television announcer and host, notably on NBC's ''Today'' during the 1950s and 1960s; a newspaper source lists his date of birth as May 17, 1912. Lescoulie was also known for his voice impersonation of comedian Jack Benny. Early years Lescoulie was born in Sacramento, California. His parents were both in vaudeville along with their children; Lescoulie's first public performance was at age 7. His first media job was with KGFJ in Los Angeles, when he was still in high school. The young Lescoulie helped the radio station cover the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Lescoulie has a star for his work in television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Radio In 1933, Lescoulie had an orchestra that broadcast on KGFJ in Los Angeles. He was billed as the "Grouchmaster" on '' The Grouch Club'' (1938–40), a program in which people aired their complaints about anything, created by Nat Hiken, creator of ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (''Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng (August 21, 1905May 26, 1995), credited as I. Freleng early in his career, was an American animator, cartoonist, director, producer, and composer known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. In total he created more than 300 cartoons. He introduced and/or developed several of the studio's biggest stars, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam (to whom he was said to bear more than a passing resemblance), and Speedy Gonzales. The senior director at Warners' Termite Terrace studio, Freleng directed more cartoons than any other director in the studio (a total of 266), and is also the most honored of the Warner directors, having won five Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards. After Warner closed down the animation studio in 1963, Freleng and business partner David H. DePatie founded DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, which produced cartoons (including ''The Pink Panthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical films, suspense horror, and occasional comedies, although her greater successes were in romantic dramas. A recipient of two Academy Awards, she was the first thespian to accrue ten nominations. Bette Davis appeared on Broadway in New York, then the 22-year-old Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930. After some unsuccessful films, she had her critical breakthrough playing a vulgar waitress in ''Of Human Bondage'' (1934) although, contentiously, she was not among the three nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actress that year. The next year, her performance as a down-and-out actress in ''Dangerous'' (1935) did land Davis her first Best Actress nomination, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarface (1932 Film)
''Scarface'' (also known as ''Scarface: The Shame of the Nation'' and ''The Shame of a Nation'') is a 1932 American pre-Code gangster film directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Hawks and Howard Hughes. The screenplay, by Ben Hecht, is based loosely on the 1929 novel by Armitage Trail which was inspired by Al Capone. The film stars Paul Muni as Italian immigrant gangster Antonio "Tony" Camonte, a gangster who violently rises through the Chicago gangland, with a supporting cast that includes George Raft and Boris Karloff. Camonte's rise to power dovetails with his relentless pursuit of his boss's mistress while his own sister pursues his best hitman. In an overt tie to the life of Capone, one scene depicts a version of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. After Hughes purchased the rights to Trail's novel, Hughes quickly selected Hawks to direct and Hecht to write the film's screenplay. Beginning in January 1931, Hecht wrote the script over an eleven-day period. ''Scarface'' w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Raft
George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in ''Quick Millions (1931 film), Quick Millions'' (1931) with Spencer Tracy, ''Scarface (1932 film), Scarface'' (1932) with Paul Muni, ''Each Dawn I Die'' (1939) with James Cagney, ''Invisible Stripes'' (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, Billy Wilder's comedy ''Some Like It Hot'' (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon, and as a dancer in ''Bolero (1934 film), Bolero'' (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in ''They Drive by Night'' (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart. Raft said he never regarded himself as an actor. "I wanted to be me," he said. Early life and career George Raft was born in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen, New York City, to a family of German descent, the son ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kay Kyser's Kollege Of Musical Knowledge
''Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge'' is an American old-time radio musical quiz program starring Kay Kyser. It was broadcast on Mutual, NBC, and ABC beginning on February 1, 1938, and ending on July 29, 1949. Background In the latter half of the 1930s, leaders of big bands sought ways to differentiate their groups from others who played similar music. Successful variations on the standard format of just playing one song after another could quickly move bands from "being merely late-hour fillers" without sponsors to having sponsored broadcasts in better time slots. Tommy Dorsey began featuring amateur musicians, Benny Goodman moved his trio and quartet into the spotlight, and Kay Kyser added a quiz component. Some of the changes were less innovation than adaptation. An article in the trade publication ''Billboard'' noted that Dorsey's airing of amateurs followed the example of Major Bowes, and Kyser's contest was a variation on the '' Professor Quiz'' program. In October ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kay Kyser
James Kern Kyser (June 18, 1905 – July 23, 1985), known as Kay Kyser, was an American bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s. Early years James Kern Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Emily Royster Kyser (née Howell) and Paul Bynum Kyser.Annette Bochenek"Kay Kyser" August 1, 2022. ''Hometowns to Hollywood''. He was one of six children, and his mother was the first registered female pharmacist in state. Journalist and newspaper editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin. Kyser graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928, where he was senior class president and was a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity. Owing to his popularity and enthusiasm as a cheerleader, he was invited by Hal Kemp to take over as bandleader when Kemp ventured north to further his career. He began taking clarinet lessons but was better as an entertaining announcer than a musician. He adopted the initial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) and ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor. In his book, ''The Age of the Dream Palace'', Jeffrey Richards wrote that Donat was "British cinema's one undisputed romantic leading man in the 1930s". "The image he projected was that of the romantic idealist, often with a dash of the gentleman adventurer." Donat suffered from chronic asthma, which affected his career and limited him to appearing in only 20 films. Early life Friedrich Robert Donat was born and baptised in Withington, Manchester, the fourth and youngest son of Ernst Emil Donat, a civil engineer of German origin from Prussian Poland, and his wife, Rose Alice Green. He was of English, Polish, German and French descent and was educated at Manchester Central Grammar School for Boys. His older brother was Phili ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley And Livingstone
''Stanley and Livingstone'' is a 1939 American adventure film directed by Henry King and Otto Brower. It is loosely based on the true story of Welsh reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest to find Dr. David Livingstone, a Scottish missionary presumed lost in Africa, who finally met on November 10, 1871. Spencer Tracy plays Stanley, while Cedric Hardwicke portrays Livingstone. Other cast members include Nancy Kelly, Richard Greene, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn and Henry Hull. Plot Henry Stanley is a fearless newspaper reporter ready to do whatever it takes to get a story, regardless of any danger to his life. Colonel Grimes tells two peace commissioners sent from Washington DC that he cannot permit them to try to contact the Indians of the Wyoming Territory of 1870, as it would be suicidal, only to have Stanley emerge from the wilderness, escorted by a band of the natives and his guide, Jeff Slocum (Walter Brennan). When Stanley returns to New York City, his employer, ''New York ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ... and his search for missionary and explorer David Livingstone, whom he later claimed to have greeted with the now-famous line: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?". Besides his discovery of Livingstone, he is mainly known for his search for the sources of the Nile and Congo River, Congo rivers, the work he undertook as an agent of Leopold II of the Belgians, King Leopold II of the Belgians which enabled the occupation of the Congo (area), Congo Basin region, and his command of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations. During his career, he appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen's greatest actors. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Tracy first discovered his talent for acting while attending Ripon College, and he later received a scholarship for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He spent seven years in the theatre, working in a succession of stock companies and intermittently on Broadway. His breakthrough came in 1930, when his lead performance in ''The Last Mile'' caught the attention of Hollywood. After a successful film debut in John Ford's ''Up the River'' (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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