|
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made sarcastic quips when the leading characters fell short of her high standards. Early life Wickes was born to Frank Wickenhauser and his wife Mary Isabella (née Shannon) in St. Louis, Missouri of German, Scottish, and Irish extraction, and raised Protestant. Her parents were theater buffs, and took her to plays from the time that she could stay awake through a matinee. An excellent student, she skipped two grades and graduated at 16 from Beaumont High School. She was accepted into Washington University in St. Louis, where she joined the debate team and the Phi Mu sorority, and was initiated into Mortar Board in 1929. She graduated in 1930 with a double major in English literature and political science. Although she had planned a career ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows
''Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows'' is a 1968 American comedy film directed by James Neilson and starring Rosalind Russell, Stella Stevens and Binnie Barnes. Written by Blanche Hanalis, the film is based on a story by Jane Trahey about an old-line mother superior who is challenged by a modern young nun when they take the girls of St. Francis Academy on a bus trip across the United States. The film is a sequel to '' The Trouble with Angels'' (1966). Russell, Barnes, Mary Wickes and Dolores Sutton all reprise their roles as nuns from the original film. Plot The conservative Mother Superior and the glamorous, progressive young Sister George shepherd a busload of Catholic high-school girls across the country to an interfaith youth rally in Santa Barbara, California. As they debate expressions of faith and the role of the church during the tumultuous times, they must also contend with the antics of two rebellious, troublemaking students, Rosabelle and Marvel Anne. During their j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Now, Voyager
''Now, Voyager'' is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty. Prouty borrowed her title from the Walt Whitman poem "The Untold Want", which reads in its entirety, In 2007, ''Now, Voyager'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film ranks number 23 on '' AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Passions'', a list of the top love stories in American cinema. Film critic Steven Jay Schneider suggests the film continues to be remembered for not only its star power, but also the "emotional crescendos" engendered in the storyline. Plot Charlotte Vale is an unattractive, drab, repressed spinster whose life is brutally dominated by her mother (Gladys Cooper), an aristocratic Boston dowager whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosemary Clooney
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song " Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", " Hey There", " This Ole House", and " Sway". She also had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney's career languished in the 1960s, partly because of problems related to depression and drug addiction, but revived in 1977, when her '' White Christmas'' co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002. Early life Rosemary Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky, the daughter of Marie Frances (née Guilfoyle) and Andrew Joseph Clooney. She was one of five children. Her father was of Irish and German descent, and her mother was of English and Irish ancestry. She was raised Catholic. When Clooney was 15, her moth ... [...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 Clar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1926 to 1977. He made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed, such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Dick Haymes, Elvis Presley, and John Lennon. ''Yank'' magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. In 1948, ''Music Digest'' estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Christmas (film)
''White Christmas'' is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, " White Christmas", introduced by Crosby in the 1942 film ''Holiday Inn''. Produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is notable for being the first to be released in VistaVision, a widescreen process developed by Paramount that entailed using twice the surface area of standard 35mm film; this large-area negative was also used to yield finer-grained standard-sized 35mm prints. Plot On Christmas Eve in Europe in 1944, at the height of World War II, former Broadway star Captain Bob Wallace and aspiring performer Private Phil Davis entertain the 151st division with a soldier's show. The men have just received word their beloved Major General Thomas F. Waverly has been relieved of his command. Waverly arrives and d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon (film)
''By the Light of the Silvery Moon'' is a 1953 American musical film.'' Variety'' film review; March 25, 1953, page 6.'' Harrison's Reports'' film review; March 28, 1953, page 50. It is the sequel to '' On Moonlight Bay''. Like its predecessor, the movie is based loosely on the Penrod stories by Booth Tarkington. Plot ''By the Light of the Silvery Moon'' relates the further adventures of the Winfield family in small town Indiana as daughter Marjorie Winfield's ( Doris Day) boyfriend, William Sherman (Gordon MacRae), returns from the Army after World War I. Bill and Marjorie's on-again, off-again romance provides the backdrop for other family crises, caused mainly by son Wesley's ( Billy Gray) wild imagination. Primary cast * Doris Day as Marjorie Winfield * Gordon MacRae as William 'Bill' Sherman * Billy Gray as Wesley Winfield * Leon Ames as George Winfield * Rosemary DeCamp as Alice Winfield * Mary Wickes as Stella * Russell Arms as Chester Finley * Maria Palmer as Renee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On Moonlight Bay (film)
''On Moonlight Bay'' is a 1951 American musical film directed by Roy Del Ruth which tells the story of the Winfield family at the turn of the 20th century. The movie is based loosely on the '' Penrod'' stories by Booth Tarkington. There was a 1953 sequel, '' By the Light of the Silvery Moon''. Plot In a small Indiana town in the mid-1910s, the Winfield household have just moved into a larger house in a nicer neighborhood. The family includes: the father George, who is a banker, his wife Alice, their grown tomboyish daughter Marjorie (nicknamed “Margie”), their mischievous precocious trouble-making son Wesley, and their exasperated housekeeper Stella. No one but George is happy about the move, until Marjorie meets their new neighbor, William Sherman, home on a break from his studies at Indiana University. The two are immediately attracted to each other, which makes Margie change her focus from baseball to trying to become a proper young woman as perceived by society at the time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doris Day
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time" with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. She left Brown to embark on a solo career and recorded more than 650 songs from 1947 to 1967. Day was one of the biggest film stars of the 1950s–1960s. Day's film career began during the Golden Age of Hollywood with the film '' Romance on the High Seas'' (1948). She starred in films of many genres, including musicals, comedies, dramas, and thrillers. She played the title role in '' Calamity Jane'' (1953) and starred in Alfred Hitchcock's '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'' (1956) with James Stewart. Her best-known films are those in which she co-starred with Rock Hudson, chief among them 1959's '' Pillow Talk'', for which she was nominated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who Done It? (1942 Film)
''Who Done It?'' is a 1942 American comedy-mystery film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It is noteworthy as their first feature that contains no musical numbers. Plot Chick Larkin and Mervyn Milgrim both work at the soda counter of a local radio station's headquarters. Their true passion, however, is to become writers on a radio mystery show. They attend a broadcast of the radio program ''Murder at Midnight'' along with one of the writers, Jimmy Turner, and the producer, Jane Little. As the show begins, the network president, Colonel J.R. Andrews, is mysteriously electrocuted. Seeing this as an opportunity to become radio writers, Chick and Mervyn impersonate detectives and attempt to solve the crime with the help of Juliette Collins, who works for the station. Meanwhile, Moran and Branningan, two real detectives, consider the 'fake' detectives to be prime suspects. A prolonged chase ensues throughout the studio, and the body of Dr. Marek, An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lou Costello
Louis Francis Cristillo (March 6, 1906 – March 3, 1959), professionally known as Lou Costello, was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine " Who's on First?". Abbott and Costello, who teamed in burlesque in 1936, were among the most popular and highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. During a national tour in 1942, they sold $85 million in war bonds in 35 days. By 1955, their popularity waned from overexposure, and their film and television contracts lapsed. Their partnership ended in 1957. Early life Louis Francis Cristillo was born on March 6, 1906, in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of Helen Rege and Sebastiano Cristillo, a silk weaver and insurance sales agent. His father was Italian, from CasertaCostello, Chris and Raymond Strait."Lou's On First." New York: St. Martin's Press. in Campania, Italy, and his mother was an American of Italian, French and Irish ancestry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bud Abbott
William Alexander "Bud" Abbott (October 2, 1897 – April 24, 1974) was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the straight man half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Early life Abbott was born in Asbury Park, New Jersey on October 2, 1897, into a show business family.The year of birth has been reported as 1895, 1896, 1897, and 1898 in different sources. The 1895 date was perpetuated by sources copying from earlier sources. His birth certificate and World War I draft card both use "October 2, 1897". His parents, Rae Fisher and Harry Abbott, had met while working for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. She was a bareback rider of German Jewish background and he was a concessionaire and forage agent. Bud was the third of the couple's four children. When Bud was a toddler, the family relocated to Harlem, then to the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, and his father became a longtime advance man for the Columbia Burlesque Wheel. During the summer, when burlesqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
