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Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank (13 August 1913 – 13 October 1988) was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He is known for his partnership with Norman Panama and their work on films such as ''Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' (1948), '' White Christmas'' (1954), and ''The Court Jester'' (1956). He also directed films such as ''Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell'' and '' A Touch of Class'' (1973). Life and career Born to a Jewish family, Frank met his future collaborator Norman Panama in 1933 when they were both at the University of Chicago. After graduating, they formed a partnership in 1935 which endured for four decades; first writing for Milton Berle before becoming writers for Bob Hope's radio show. In 1941, they sold their first script to Paramount Pictures, ''My Favorite Blonde'' (1942), which starred Hope. They worked for Paramount for five years where, among others, they wrote ''Road to Utopia'' (1946), starring Hope and Bing Crosby, for which they received an Acade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_type2 = Counties , subdivision_name1 = Illinois , subdivision_name2 = Cook and DuPage , established_title = Settled , established_date = , established_title2 = Incorporated (city) , established_date2 = , founder = Jean Baptiste Point du Sable , government_type = Mayor–council , governing_body = Chicago City Council , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Lori Lightfoot ( D) , leader_title1 = City Clerk , leader_name1 = Anna Valencia ( D) , unit_pref = Imperial , area_footnotes = , area_tot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Road To Utopia
''Road to Utopia'' is a 1946 American semi-musical comedy film directed by Hal Walker and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. Filmed in 1943 but not released until 1946, ''Road to Utopia'' is the fourth film of the "''Road to …''" series. Written by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the film is about two vaudeville performers at the turn of the twentieth century who go to Alaska to make their fortune. Along the way they find a map to a secret gold mine. In 1947, ''Road to Utopia'' received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Plot A visible narrator introduces the film and explains that he will be interjecting to explain the inexplicable. Sal and Chester Hooton, an old married couple, are visited by their equally old friend Duke Johnson, and the three reminisce about their previous adventure in the Klondike. The film flashes back to the turn of the century. Hooton and Johnson are doing a variety act as "Prof Zambini and Ghost-O". Their tri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Facts Of Life (film)
''The Facts of Life'' is a 1960 romantic comedy starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball as married people who have an affair. Written, directed and produced by longtime Hope associates Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the film is more serious than many other contemporary Hope vehicles. The film features an opening animated title sequence created by Saul Bass. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design (for Edith Head and Edward Stevenson). Lucille Ball was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Comedy. Plot As the yearly vacation of six neighbors, the Gilberts, Masons and Weavers, approaches, Kitty Weaver and Larry Gilbert find themselves frustrated with the routine. When their spouses are kept away from the vacation, Kitty and Larry find themselves alone in Acapulco, with the Masons bedridden with illness. Forced together, Kitty and Larry fall in love. However, when the vacation is over, they face difficulties deciding whether to c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Li'l Abner (1959 Film)
''Li'l Abner'' is a 1959 musical comedy film based on the comic strip of the same name created by Al Capp and the successful Broadway musical of the same name that opened in 1956. The film was produced by Norman Panama and directed by Melvin Frank (co-writers of the Broadway production). It was the second film to be based on the comic strip, the first being RKO's 1940 film, ''Li'l Abner''. Plot It's a "typical day" in Dogpatch, U. S. A., a hillbilly town where Abner Yokum lives with his parents. Mammy Yokum insists on giving Abner his daily dose of "Yokumberry tonic", although he is fully-grown. He has a crush on Daisy Mae Scragg (although he resists marrying her) and she on him; Abner's rival for her affections is the World's Dirtiest Rassler, Earthquake McGoon. Sadie Hawkins Day is approaching. On this day the "girls chase the men and marries whomstever icthey catches," as Senator Jack S. Phogbound puts it. However, the citizens of Dogpatch find out that their town has be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norman Krasna
Norman Krasna (November 7, 1909 – November 1, 1984) was an American screenwriter, playwright, producer, and film director who penned screwball comedies centered on a case of mistaken identity. Krasna directed three films during a forty-year career in Hollywood. He garnered four Academy Award screenwriting nominations, winning once for 1943's ''Princess O'Rourke'', which he also directed. Biography Early life Krasna was born in Queens, New York City. He attended Columbia University and St John's University School of Law, working at Macy's Department Store during the day. He wanted to get into journalism and talked his way into a job as a copy boy for the Sunday feature department of the ''New York World'' in 1928. (He worked with Lewis Weitzenkorn who turned Krasna into a character in the play ''Five Star Final''.) He quit law school, worked his way up to being a drama critic, at first for ''The World'' then the ''New York Evening Graphic'' and ''Exhibitors Herald World''. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; yi, דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs. Kaye starred in 17 films, notably ''Wonder Man'' (1945), ''The Kid from Brooklyn'' (1946), ''The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'' (1947), '' The Inspector General'' (1949), ''Hans Christian Andersen'' (1952), '' White Christmas'' (1954), and ''The Court Jester'' (1955). His films were popular, especially for his performances of patter songs and favorites such as "Inchworm" and "The Ugly Duckling". He was the first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF in 1954 and received the French Legion of Honour in 1986 for his years of work with the organization. Early years David Daniel Kaminsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1911 (though he would later say 1913), to Ukrainian–Jewish immigrants Jacob and Clara (''n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knock On Wood (film)
''Knock on Wood'' is a 1954 American comedy film starring Danny Kaye and Mai Zetterling. Other actors in the film include Torin Thatcher, David Burns, and Leon Askin. The film was written and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, with songs by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine. Plot Jerry Morgan (Kaye) is a ventriloquist who is having trouble with love: just when his relationship with a woman gets around to marriage, his dummy turns jealous and spoils everything. Jerry's manager Marty threatens to quit unless Jerry sees a psychiatrist, Ilse Nordstrom (Zetterling), who tries to discover the source of his problem. The two of them eventually fall in love. At the same time, Jerry becomes unwittingly intertwined with spies and has to run from the police. In his escape, he finds himself impersonating a British car salesman, trying to demonstrate a new convertible with loads of bells and whistles. Later on, he finds himself on stage in the middle of the performance of an exotic ball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Reformer And The Redhead
''The Reformer and the Redhead'' is a 1950 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, and starring June Allyson and Dick Powell. Overview Kathleen Maguire (Allyson) is the daughter of a long-time zookeeper, Dr. Kevin G. Maguire (Cecil Kellaway), who is fired from his job for political reasons. She turns for help to a crusading young attorney, Andrew Rockton Hale (Powell). Trouble comes in the form of both political corruption and a loose lion. Cast * June Allyson as Kathleen Maguire * Dick Powell as Andrew Rockton Hale * David Wayne as Arthur Colner Maxwell * Cecil Kellaway as Dr. Kevin G. Maguire * Ray Collins as Commodore John Balwind Parker * Robert Keith as Tim Harveigh * Marvin Kaplan as Leon * Kathleen Freeman as Lily Rayton Parker * Wally Maher as Jerry Nolard Boyle * Alex Gerry as James I. Michell * Charles Evens as Mr. Eberle * Paul Maxey as Thompson Uncredited: * Matt Moore as butler * John Hamilton as p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daily Variety
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based in Los Angeles, to cover the film industry, motion-picture industry. ''Variety.com'' features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, cover stories, videos, photo galleries and features, plus a credits database, production charts and calendar, with archive content dating back to 1905. History Foundation ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. As a result, he decided to start his own publication "that [would] not be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,5 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 and based in Beverly Hills, California. MGM was formed by Marcus Loew by combining Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B. Mayer Productions, Louis B. Mayer Pictures into one company. It hired a number of well known actors as contract players—its slogan was "more stars than there are in heaven"—and soon became Hollywood's most prestigious film studio, producing popular musical films and winning many Academy Awards. MGM also owned film studios, movie lots, movie theaters and technical production facilities. Its most prosperous era, from 1926 to 1959, was bracketed by two productions of ''Ben-Hur (1959 film), Ben Hur''. After that, it divested itself of the Loews movie theater chain, and, in the 1960s, diversified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Return Of October
''The Return of October'' is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starring Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ... and Terry Moore. Plot Terry is a teenage girl whose Uncle Willy, a horse trainer, dreams of winning the Derby. He bets everything on his horse Sunset, then collapses and dies after it loses. Now living with wealthy Aunt Martha, the girl is convinced that Uncle Willy has been reincarnated as a horse named October. A psychology professor, Bentley Bassett, writes a book about Terry, which is used in a sanity hearing against her by crooked relatives who want dying Aunt Martha's money. Bassett uses college funds to help Terry buy the horse. They enter October in the Derby, where other bettors join them in cheering "Uncle Willy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It Had To Be You (1947 Film)
''It Had to Be You'' is a 1947 American comedy romance film directed by Don Hartman and Rudolph Maté and starring Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde. A marriage-shy sculptor meets the boy of her childhood dreams, now a firefighter. Plot summary In this fantasy, screwball romantic comedy, Victoria Stafford (Ginger Rogers), is a wealthy girl who has been engaged three times, and each time has backed out at the altar. On a train she meets the vision George McKesson (Cornel Wilde) dressed as an Indian, just like she envisioned her dream man when she was a child. He claims that he is a figment of her imagination and will disappear as soon as she stops thinking about him. He follows her home and causes much confusion within her family. Determined to wed her fourth fiancé, Oliver H.P. Harrington (Ron Randell), Victoria is on the verge of saying "yes" when she meets the real version of her "dream lover," Johnny Blaine (Cornel Wilde), a firefighter who is the physical incarnation of Georg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
