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Martin Benson (actor)
Martin Benjamin Benson (10 August 1918 – 28 February 2010) was a British character actor who appeared in films, theatre and television. He appeared in both British and Hollywood productions. Early life Benson was born in the East End of London, into a Jewish family, the son of a Russian-Jewish grocer and his Polish-Jewish wife who had left Russia at the revolution. After attending Tottenham Grammar School on a scholarship, he served in the 2nd Searchlight, Royal Artillery, during World War II. Stationed in Cairo, Egypt, he and Arthur Lowe founded the repertory company Mercury Theatre in Alexandria. Career He is remembered for his role as the Kralaholme in the original London production of ''The King and I'', a role he recreated in the Oscar-winning film version. Appearing in films for over six decades, Benson played mostly supporting characters or villains. His films include ''The Blind Goddess'' (1948), ''Wheel of Fate'' (1953), ''Interpol'' (1957), ''The Strange Wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Markyate
Markyate is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, close to the border with Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Geography The name of the village has had several former variants, including ''Markyate Street'', ''Market Street'' and ''Mergyate''. Markyate historically straddled Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire until boundary changes in 1897 placed it entirely in Hertfordshire. Markyate is close to the source of the River Ver, which has occasionally flooded the centre of the village, though the watercourse is often dry during parts of the year. Markyate forms part of the borough of Dacorum (administered from Hemel Hempstead), but has Luton (01582) phone numbers and a St Albans postal code (AL3). Although historically a rural and agricultural area, it is now a dormitorvillagefor Luton and the surrounding region, as it is a short distance from junction 9 of the M1 motorway. The village lies near the junction of the A5183 Watling Street (formerly the A5 until de-trunkin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Joan (1972 Film)
Pope Joan (''Ioannes Anglicus'', 855–857) was, according to legend, a woman who reigned as pope for two years during the Middle Ages. Her story first appeared in chronicles in the 13th century and subsequently spread throughout Europe. The story was widely believed for centuries, but most modern scholars regard it as fictional. Most versions of her story describe her as a talented and learned woman who disguised herself as a man, often at the behest of a lover. In the most common accounts, owing to her abilities she rose through the church hierarchy and was eventually elected pope. Her sex was revealed when she gave birth during a procession and she died shortly after, either through murder or of natural causes. The accounts state that later church processions avoided this spot and that the Vatican removed the female pope from its official lists and crafted a ritual to ensure that future popes were male. In the 16th century, Siena Cathedral featured a bust of Joan among other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it was later adapted to other formats, including novels, stage shows, comic books, a 1981 TV series, a 1984 text-based computer game, and 2005 feature film. ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' has become an international multi-media phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005. The first novel, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (1979), has been ranked fourth on the BBC’s The Big Read poll. The sixth novel, ''And Another Thing'', was written by Eoin Colfer with additional unpublished material by Douglas Adams. In 2017, BBC Radio 4 announced a 40th-anniversary celebration with Dirk Maggs, one of the original producers, in charge. The first of six new episod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sword Of Freedom
''Sword of Freedom'' was a 1958 drama adventure series for a family audience. Like several of its predecessors (most notably ''The Adventures of Robin Hood''), it was produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and fitted into the same swashbuckler genre as previous productions. It ran for 39 half-hour monochrome episodes. Plot Marco del Monte is a young Republican artist living in sixteenth century Renaissance Florence. The city is ruled by the tyrant Duke de Medici. Marco's girlfriend is Angelica, a beautiful former pickpocket. Sandro is Marco's friend and confidant. Machiavelli is the Duke's advisor, and Captain Rodrigo is the head of the Medici forces. The series depicts the struggles of the Republicans to combat the attempts of the Duke to strengthen his position and make himself a dictator. Cast and characters * Edmund Purdom as Marco del Monte * Adrienne Corri as Angelica * Roland Bartrop as Sandro * Martin Benson as the Duke de Medici * Kenneth Hyde as Machiavel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jack Benny Show
''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and television careers, a caricature of himself as a minimally talented musician and penny pincher who was the butt of all the jokes. Producer Hilliard Marks was the brother of Benny's wife Mary Livingstone. Format On both television and radio, ''The Jack Benny Program'' used a loose show-within-a-show format, wherein the main characters were playing versions of themselves. The show often broke the fourth wall, with the characters interacting with the audience and commenting on the program and its advertisements. In his first years on radio (c. 1932–1935), Jack Benny followed the format of many other radio comedians, standing at the microphone, telling jokes and stories, and introducing band numbers. As the characters of Jack and his cast becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goldfinger (film)
''Goldfinger'' is a 1964 spy film and the third instalment in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title character Auric Goldfinger, along with Shirley Eaton as the ill-fated Jill Masterson. ''Goldfinger'' was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman and was the first of four Bond films directed by Guy Hamilton. The film's plot has Bond investigating gold smuggling by gold magnate Auric Goldfinger and eventually uncovering Goldfinger's plans to contaminate the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox. ''Goldfinger'' was the first Bond blockbuster, with a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. Principal photography took place from January to July 1964 in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States. ''Goldfinger'' w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd, and Anthony Horowitz. The latest novel is ''With a Mind to Kill'' by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2022. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, and Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny. The character—also known by the code number 007 (pronounced "double-oh-seven")—has also been adapted for television, radio, comic strip, video games and film. The films are one of the longest continually running film series and have grossed over US$7.04 billion in total at the box office ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oddjob
Oddjob (often written as "Odd Job") is a fictional character in the espionage novels and films featuring James Bond. He is a henchman to the villain Auric Goldfinger in the 1959 James Bond novel '' Goldfinger'' and its 1964 film adaptation, making a cameo appearance in the mid-credits scene of ''Inspector Gadget'' (1999). In the film adaptation of ''Goldfinger'', he was played by the Japanese-American actor and professional wrestler Harold Sakata. Oddjob, who also appears in the ''James Bond'' animated series and in several video games, is one of the most popular characters in the Bond series. Appearances Novel Oddjob's real name is unknown. Goldfinger names him to describe his duties to his employer. A Korean, like all of Goldfinger's staff, he is extremely strong, as shown in one sequence where he breaks the thick oak railing of a staircase with a knife-hand strikes (colloquially known as 'karate chops') and shatters a mantel with his foot. When Bond expresses surprise at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Killers Of Kilimanjaro
''Killers of Kilimanjaro'' is a 1959 British CinemaScope adventure film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Robert Taylor, Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey and Donald Pleasence for Warwick Films. The film was originally known as ''Adamson of Africa''. Main cast * Robert Taylor as Robert Adamson * Anthony Newley as Hooky Hook * Anne Aubrey as Jane Carlton * Donald Pleasence as Captain * Grégoire Aslan as Ben Ahmed * Allan Cuthbertson as Saxton * Martin Benson as Ali * Orlando Martins as Chief * John Dimech as Pasha * Martin Boddey as Gunther Production Warwick Films had made three films in Africa, ''Safari'', ''Zarak'' and ''Odongo''. The movie was announced in July 1956 and inspired by the story of the Tsavo maneaters recounted in the 1954 book ''African Bush Adventures'' by J.A. Hunter and Daniel P. Mannix. It was based on a story by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume. (Warwick also announced they would make a second African film, the musical ''The Golden Fiddle'', which w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. She then became the world's highest paid movie star in the 1960s, remaining a well-known public figure for the rest of her life. In 1999, the American Film Institute named her the seventh- greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema. Born in London to socially prominent American parents, Taylor moved with her family to Los Angeles in 1939. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the Universal Pictures film ''There's One Born Every Minute'' (1942), but the studio ended her contract after a year. She was then signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and became a popular teen star after appearing in ''National Velvet'' (1944). She transitioned to mature roles in the 1950s, when she starred in the comedy ''Father of the Bride'' (195 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleopatra (1963 Film)
''Cleopatra'' is a 1963 American epic historical drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, with a screenplay adapted by Mankiewicz, Ranald MacDougall and Sidney Buchman from the 1957 book ''The Life and Times of Cleopatra'' by Carlo Maria Franzero, and from histories by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Appian. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role. Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, and Martin Landau are featured in supporting roles. It chronicles the struggles of Cleopatra, the young queen of Egypt, to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome. Walter Wanger had long contemplated producing a biographical film about Cleopatra. In 1958, his production company partnered with Twentieth Century Fox to produce the film. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million. Rouben Mamoulian was hired as director, and the script underwent numerous revisions from Nigel Balchin, Dale W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivanhoe (1952 Film)
''Ivanhoe'' is a 1952 British-American historical adventure epic film directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S. Berman for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was shot in Technicolor, with a cast featuring Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Finlay Currie, and Felix Aylmer. The screenplay is written by Æneas MacKenzie, Marguerite Roberts, and Noel Langley, based on the 1819 historical novel ''Ivanhoe'' by Sir Walter Scott. The film was the first in what turned out to be an unofficial trilogy made by the same director, producer, and star (Robert Taylor). The others were ''Knights of the Round Table'' (1953) and ''The Adventures of Quentin Durward'' (1955). All three were made at MGM-British Studios at Borehamwood, Herts, near London. In 1951, the year of production, one of the screenwriters, Marguerite Roberts, was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, and MGM received permission from the Screen Writers Guil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
