|
Mr. Soft Touch
''Mr. Soft Touch'' is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Gordon Douglas and Henry Levin and starring Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes. The film is also known as ''House of Settlement''. Plot Polish American Joe Miracle (Mirakowski) returns from fighting in World War II, only to find his San Francisco nightclub under the control of the mob, and his friend and partner Leo missing and presumed murdered. To get even, he robs $100,000 from his former business, planning to leave the country as soon as possible. He goes to the apartment of Victor Christopher, Leo's brother, where he picks up a ticket Victor and his wife Clara had purchased for him. However, he discovers to his dismay that they could only book him on a ship that sails for Yokohama on Christmas Eve, the next night. He has to hide until then. When the police come to stop Victor from ringing a bell and disturbing the neighbors, Joe pretends to be him in order to spend the night safely in jail. However, Jenny Jones ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gordon Douglas (director)
Gordon Douglas Brickner (December 15, 1907 – September 29, 1993) was an American film director and actor, who directed many different genres of films over the course of a five-decade career in motion pictures. Early life Born Gordon Douglas Brickner in New York City, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in some films directed by Maurice Costello. He also worked at MGM as a book-keeper. Career Hal Roach and ''Our Gang'' As a teenager, Douglas got a job at the Hal Roach Studios, working in the office and appearing in bit parts in various Hal Roach films. He made walk-on appearances in at least three ''Our Gang'' shorts: ''Teacher's Pet (1930 film), Teacher's Pet'' (1930), ''Big Ears (film), Big Ears'' (1931) and ''Birthday Blues'' (1932). By 1934, Douglas was assistant to director Gus Meins and served as assistant director on Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's 1934 film ''Babes in Toyland (1934 film), Babes in Toyland'' and on the ''Our Gang'' comedies made between 1934 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Claus
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve of toys and candy or coal or nothing, depending on whether they are "naughty or nice". In the legend, he accomplishes this with the aid of Christmas elf, Christmas elves, who make the toys in Santa's workshop, his workshop, often said to be at the North Pole, and Santa Claus's reindeer, flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air. The modern figure of Santa is based on folklore traditions surrounding Saint Nicholas (European folklore), Saint Nicholas, the English figure of Father Christmas and the Folklore of the Low Countries, Dutch figure of ''Sinterklaas''. Santa is generally depicted as a portly, jolly, white-bearded man, often with spectacles, wearing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Christmas Films
Many Christmas stories have been adapted to feature films and TV specials, and have been broadcast and repeated many times on television; since the popularization of home video in the 1980s, their many editions are sold and re-sold every year during the holiday shopping season. Theatrical Christmas-themed films which received a theatrical release. File:It's a Wonderful Life.png, ''It's a Wonderful Life'' File:Meet Me In St Louis Judy Garland Margaret O'Brien 1944.jpg, ''Meet Me in St. Louis'', Judy Garland Margaret O'Brien 1944 File:IngridBergmanTheBellsofSaintMarysTrailerScreenshot1945.jpg, Ingrid Bergman, '' The Bells of Saint Marys'', 1945 File:The Bishop's Wife (1948 poster).jpg, ''The Bishop's Wife'', 1948 ''A Christmas Carol'' adaptations ''The Nutcracker'' adaptations Christmas action films Christmas horror films Christmas Thriller films Short films Made-for-television and direct-to-video These are films that were made for television (including streamin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Muller
Eddie Muller (born October 15, 1958) is an American writer based in San Francisco. He is known for writing books about movies, particularly film noir, and is the host of Noir Alley on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Early life and education Muller is the son of a famous San Francisco boxing writer of the same name. Muller studied with filmmaker George Kuchar at the San Francisco Art Institute in the late 1970s. Career Muller is the founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation and is co-programmer of the San Francisco Noir City film festival. Muller is considered a noir expert and is called on to write and talk about the film genre, notably on wry commentary tracks for Fox's film noir series of DVDs and introducing Turner Classic Movies's weekly "Noir Alley" movie block. Every Saturday, Noir Alley visits classic noir films featuring some of the best set-ups and shake downs involving iconic antiheroes and the unforgettable, fatalistic dames they fall for. Laura Sheppard, dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown Atlanta, Midtown business district of Atlanta, Georgia. The channel's programming consists mainly of Golden age (metaphor), classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. (covering films released before 1950), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (covering films released before May 1986), and the North American distribution rights to films from RKO Pictures. However, Turner Classic Movies also licenses films from other studios and occasionally shows more recent films. The channel is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta (as Turner Classic Movies), Latin America, France, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, the Nordic countrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Trowbridge
Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1915 and 1958. Biography Trowbridge was born in Veracruz, Mexico, where his father served in the diplomatic corps of the United States and his grandfather was the American consul-general. He ran a coffee plantation in Hawaii and worked in architecture before venturing into acting. He was a cousin of author John Townsend Trowbridge. Trowbridge's Broadway credits include ''Dinner at Eight'' (1932), ''Ladies of Creation'' (1931), ''Congai'' (1928), ''The Behavior of Mrs. Crane'' (1927), ''We Never Learn'' (1927), ''Craig's Wife'' (1925), ''It All Depends'' (1925), ''The Backslapper'' (1924), ''The Locked Door'' (1924), ''Sweet Seventeen'' (1923), ''The Lullaby'' (1923), ''The Last Warning'' (1922), ''The Night Call'' (1921), ''Just Because'' (1921), ''The Broken Wing'' (1920), ''Why Worry?'' (1918), ''This Way Out'' (1917), ''Come Out of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Shannon (actor)
Harry Shannon (June 13, 1890 – July 27, 1964) was an American character actor. He often appeared in Western films. Biography Shannon was born on a farm in Saginaw, Michigan. After beginning his career in live theater and vaudeville, be switched to the film industry in the 1930s. His Broadway credits included ''Mrs. O'Brien Entertains'' (1939), ''Washington Jitters'' (1938), ''Under Glass'' (1933), ''Pardon My English'' (1933), ''Free For All'' (1931), ''Simple Simon'' (1931), ''Jonica'' (1930), ''Hold Everything'' (1928), and ''Oh, Kay!'' (1926). Although he appeared most frequently in Westerns, such as villain cowboy Dad "Jobe Craig" in S3E27's "Meeting at Mimbres" in the 1961 western ''Bat Masterson'', his best-known film role was perhaps as Charles Foster Kane's rough father in ''Citizen Kane'' (1941). Among his other films were ''Someone to Remember'' (1943), ''Alaska Highway'' (1943), ''San Quentin'' (1946), ''Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' (1948) and ''Witness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lora Lee Michel
Lora Lee Michel (born Virginia Joy Willeford, September 13, 1940) is an American former child actress. She appeared in several feature films during the Golden Age of Hollywood in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1950, she was the focus of a custody dispute in Beverly Hills, California, in which she alleged that her adoptive mother had beaten and starved her. She came to public attention again in 1963 when she and her third husband were sentenced in federal court for stealing a car and driving it across state lines. After her release from prison, she disappeared. It is believed she died from cancer in 1979. Early life and family Michel was born in La Grange, Texas, on September 13, 1940, to Willie Walker Willeford and Lena Smith Brunson. Brunson gave Michel and two other younger siblings up for adoption when Michel was five years old. She was adopted by Otto and Lorraine Michel in Schulenburg, Texas. As of 2014, Michel has one living sister, Barbara Michel Wright. Career Michel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Bohnen
Roman Aloys Bohnen (November 24, 1901 – February 24, 1949) was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the films ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939), '' The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), and ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946). Early life and education Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Bohnen attended the University of Minnesota, where he was a cheerleader. He was the son of Karl Bohnen, a portrait painter. The family was financially hard-pressed during his youth. After graduating in 1923 with a B.A., Roman served his acting apprenticeship in theater companies in St. Paul and Chicago, eventually spending five years with the Goodman Theatre. At the Goodman, he met fellow actor Hildur Ouse, who became his wife. Career Group Theatre The Bohnens moved to New York City, where he made his Broadway debut in 1931 in ''As Husbands Go''. Bohnen, In the summer of 1932, at the behest of his friend from the Goodman Theatre Art Smith, he was invited to join the Group The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Clements
Stanley Clements (born Stanislaw Klimowicz; July 16, 1926 – October 16, 1981) was an American actor and comedian, best known for portraying "Stash" in the East Side Kids film series, and group leader Stanislaus "Duke" Coveleskie in The Bowery Boys film series. Life and career Stanley Clements was born in Long Island, New York. Young "Stosh" (the Polish diminutive nickname for "Stanislau") realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and after he graduated from Brooklyn's P.S. 49 in 1938, for the next two years he toured in vaudeville and found work in radio. He then joined the touring company of the ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour''. His career stalled in 1940, and Clements was reduced to panhandling for a time to survive. In 1941, he was signed to a contract by 20th Century-Fox and appeared in juvenile/teen roles in several B films for the studio. East Side Kids In 1942 he was loaned to Monogram Pictures. Among his friends he was known offscreen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clara Blandick
Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress. She played Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, she often played eccentric elderly matriarchs. Early life She was born Clara Blanchard Dickey, the daughter of Isaac B. and Hattie (née Mudgett) Dickey, aboard the ''Willard Mudgett'' – an American ship captained by her father (named after one of her maternal relatives), and docked in Victoria Harbour, British Hong Kong. She was delivered by Captain William H. Blanchard, whose ship, ''Wealthy Pendleton'', was anchored nearby. His wife, Clara Pendleton Blanchard, was also present. To thank the Blanchards, Captain and Mrs. Dickey named their daughter Clara Blanchard Dickey. When she became successful as an actress, she took the first syllable of "Blanchard" and the first syllable of "Dickey" to create her stage name, "Clara Blandick". Whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
