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Millard Kaufman
Millard Kaufman (March 12, 1917 – March 14, 2009) was an American screenwriter and novelist. His works include the Academy Award-nominated ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955). He was also one of the creators of Mr. Magoo. Early life Kaufman was born and raised in Baltimore and graduated from the Baltimore City College (high school). He eventually graduated from Johns Hopkins University after work as a merchant seaman. After that, he moved to New York City, taking a job as copyboy for the ''New York Daily News''. At some point, he married Lorraine Paisley. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, Marines in 1942, served on Guadalcanal, landed at Battle of Guam (1944), Guam with the 1st Marine Brigade (Provisional) where he wrote an article for the Marine Corps Gazette about the battle, then participated in the Battle of Okinawa, Okinawa with the 6th Marine Division. Screenwriting While serving in the Pacific, Kaufman had contracted malaria and dengue fever, and upon hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bad Day At Black Rock
''Bad Day at Black Rock'' is a 1955 American neo-Western film directed by John Sturges with screenplay by Millard Kaufman. It stars Spencer Tracy and Robert Ryan with support from Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin. The film is a crime drama set in 1945 that contains elements of the revisionist Western genre. In the plot, a one-armed stranger (Tracy) comes to a small desert town and uncovers an evil secret that has corrupted the entire community. The film was based on a short story called "Bad Time at Honda" by Howard Breslin, published by ''The American Magazine'' in January 1947. Filming began in July 1954 and the movie went on national release in January 1955. It was a box office success and was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1956. In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Plot In late 1945, one-armed John J. Macreedy gets off a train at the isolated Californian dese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1949 In Film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1949 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events *April 26–June 21 – Ealing comedies ''Passport to Pimlico'', '' Whisky Galore!'' and ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' are released in the UK, leading to 1949 being remembered as one of the peak years of the Ealing comedies. *November 15 – Following the prior year's Supreme Court decision in ''United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'', Paramount Pictures is split into two separate companies with the creation of Paramount Pictures Corporation for production-distribution and United Paramount Theaters for the theater operations. *December 21 – Cecil B. DeMille's ''Samson and Delilah'', starring Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, and Henry Wilcoxon, receives its televised world premiere at the Paramount and Rivoli theatres in New York City. The film opens in Los Angeles on Januar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1957 In Film
The year 1957 in film involved some significant events. ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' topped the year's box office in North America, France, and Germany, and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1957 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Top-grossing films by country The highest-grossing 1957 films in various countries. Events * February 1 – RKO ceases domestic distribution of feature films which is taken over by Universal Pictures. * May – Ingmar Bergman's ''The Seventh Seal'' wins the Special Jury Prize at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. * June 6 – Jerry Lewis appears in his first film without Dean Martin in ''The Delicate Delinquent''. * June – United Artists rejoins the Motion Picture Association of America, following an expansion of the MPAA code appeals board members. The board had previously denied ''The Man With the Golden Arm'' a Production Code seal in 1955, leading UA to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raintree County (film)
''Raintree County'' is a 1957 American epic historical romance film adapted from the 1948 novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. The film was directed by Edward Dmytryk and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Set in the American South against the backdrop of the Antebellum South and the American Civil War, the film tells the story of a small-town Midwestern teacher and poet named John Shawnessy, who meets and marries a beautiful Southern belle named Susanna Drake; however, her emotional instability leads to the destruction of their marriage. The leading roles are played by Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint, and Lee Marvin. In July 1947, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had purchased the film rights of Ross Lockridge Jr.'s unpublished manuscript for ''Raintree County'' for $150,000. Carey Wilson was immediately signed as producer, and prominent actors were considered for leading roles. In January 1948, the book was released and became a national bestseller. In the following year, film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Film Producer
A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, directing, editing, and arranging financing. The producer is responsible for finding and selecting promising material for development. Unless the film is based on an existing script, the producer hires a screenwriter and oversees the script's development. These activities culminate with the pitch, led by the producer, to secure the financial backing that enables production to begin. If all succeeds, the project is "greenlighted". The producer also supervises the pre-production, principal photography and post-production stages of filmmaking. A producer is also responsible for hiring a director for the film, as well as other key crew members. Whereas the director makes the creative decisions during the production, the producer typically ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1962 In Film
The year 1962 in film involved some very significant events, with ''Lawrence of Arabia'' winning seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1962 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * February – Warner Bros. buy the film rights for ''My Fair Lady'' for the unprecedented sum of $5.5 million plus 47¼% of the gross over $20 million. * May – The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government. * June 18 – MCA Inc. finalize their merger with Decca-Universal. * July 25 – Darryl F. Zanuck, one of the founders of 20th Century Fox, becomes president, replacing Spyros Skouras. Skouras becomes chairman of the board. * August 5 – Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe is found dead of a drug overdose. * September 7 – Filming of Sergei Bondarchuk's ''War and Peace'' begins and will continue for another 5 years. * October 5 – '' Dr. No'' launch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convicts 4
''Convicts 4'', also known as ''Reprieve,'' is a 1962 prison film drama starring Ben Gazzara and directed by Millard Kaufman. The film is a fictionalized version of the life of death row convict John Resko, who wrote his autobiography: ''Reprieve''. The film was initially released as ''Reprieve'' to "poor box office," and was released again as ''Convicts 4'', also without commercial success. Factual background On February 5, 1931, Resko and an accomplice, Frank Mayo, killed a grocer, Samuel Friedberg, during an attempted robbery of his store at 885 East 167th Street in the Bronx. Resko confessed to the crime. Both men were sentenced to death, and the jury recommended clemency for Resko, who was 19 and had a wife and infant daughter. The jury recommended clemency, with the foreman saying that he was a tool "in the hands of a hardened criminal." Resko's sentence was commuted by then-Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt to life imprisonment after he testified against Mayo, who was execu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1955 In Film
The year 1955 in film involved some significant events. __TOC__ Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top-grossing hits of 1955 in the United States. Top-grossing films by country The highest-grossing 1955 films from countries outside of North America. Events * January 7 – U.K. release of the Halas and Batchelor film animation of George Orwell's ''Animal Farm'' (completed April 1954), the first full-length British-made animated feature on general theatrical release. *February 24 - 12th Golden Globe Awards announced: ''On The Waterfront'', Marlon Brando, & Judy Garland win * March 18 – The film adaptation of Evan Hunter's novel ''Blackboard Jungle'' previews in New York City, featuring the single "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets over the opening credits, the first use of a rock and roll song in a major film. Teenagers jump from their seats to dance to it. * June 1 – Premiere of Billy Wilder's film of ''The Seven Year Itch'' featuring an iconic scene of Marily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Take The High Ground!
''Take the High Ground!'' is a 1953 American war film directed by Richard Brooks and starring Richard Widmark and Karl Malden as drill sergeants who must transform a batch of everyday civilians into soldiers during the Korean War. Plot In May 1953, a new group of Army recruits at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, encounter their drill sergeants, SSG. Laverne Holt (Karl Malden) and the deeply troubled SFC. Thorne Ryan (Richard Widmark). After Ryan's caustic appraisal of the recruits, Holt vows to make soldiers out of them during their sixteen weeks of basic training. The two men served together in Korea and are combat veterans; Ryan, though, resents his stateside duty and repeatedly applies for a transfer back to the Korean front. One night, the men cross the border to Mexico for recreation. In a bar, Ryan and Holt see a beautiful woman, Julie Mollison ( Elaine Stewart), buying drinks for a group of young recruits, including some of their own. Later that evening, the two sergeants esc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards cerem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1953 In Film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1953 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events * January 16 – A new Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. is incorporated following a Consent Judgment to divest their Stanley Warner Theaters. * February 5 – Walt Disney's production of J.M. Barrie's ''Peter Pan'', starring Bobby Driscoll and Kathryn Beaumont, premieres to astounding acclaim from critics and audiences and quickly becomes one of the most beloved Disney films. This is the last Disney animated movie released in partnership RKO Pictures, becoming the last ever smash hit movie of the later company before it bankrupted in 1959. * July 1 – ''Stalag 17'', directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden, premieres and is considered by the critics and audiences to be one of the greatest WWII Prisoner of War films ever made. Holden wins the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gun Crazy
''Gun Crazy'' (also known as ''Deadly Is the Female'') is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced by Frank and Maurice King. The screenplay by blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo—credited to Millard Kaufman because of the blacklist—and by MacKinlay Kantor was based upon a short story by Kantor published in 1940 in ''The Saturday Evening Post''. In 1998, ''Gun Crazy'' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Plot Teenager Barton "Bart" Tare gets caught breaking a hardware store window to steal a gun. He is sent to reform school for four years despite the supportive testimony of his friends Dave and Clyde, his older sister Ruby and others. They claim he would never kill any living creature, even though he has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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