Nicholas Musuraca
   HOME
*





Nicholas Musuraca
Nicholas Musuraca, A.S.C. (October 25, 1892 – September 3, 1975) was a motion-picture cinematographer best remembered for his work at RKO Pictures in the 1940s, including many of Val Lewton's series of B-picture horror films. Biography Born in 1892, Nicola Musuraca left his home in Riace, province of Reggio di Calabria, Italy, and emigrated to the United States in 1907. He and his father, Cosimo Musuraca, boarded the Italian steamer ''Re d'Italia'' in July 1907, sailing from Naples on July 18 and arriving at the Port of New York on August 3, 1907. There, they were transferred to Ellis Island with their fellow steerage passenger where they underwent federal immigrant inspection. Upon being admitted the father and son set out for Brooklyn to join Cosimo's brother, Francesco. He began his film career as the chauffeur for silent film producer J. Stuart Blackton. He worked behind the scenes on numerous silent and B-movie action films before becoming one of RKO Radio Picture ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Riace
Riace ( Calabrian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about south of Catanzaro and about northeast of Reggio Calabria. Riace borders the municipalities of Camini and Stignano. Art It is notable as the place where the ''Bronzi di Riace'' (Riace bronzes), bronze statues of warriors, were found in the sea in 1972. These Ancient Greek sculptures can be seen in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia (National Museum of Magna Graecia, i.e. the colonies of Greater Greece) in Reggio Calabria. Migration policy Riace attracted international attention through its policies on migrants under mayor Domenico Lucano during the European migrant crisis. As of January 2011, about 450 refugees from 20 countries had settled there among the 1,800 inhabitants, revitalising the village and preventing the closure of the village school. Lucano, came second runner-up in the 2010 World Mayor competition; the winner was ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Cat People (1942 Film)
''Cat People'' is a 1942 American horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced for RKO by Val Lewton. The film tells the story of Irena Dubrovna, a newly married Serbian fashion illustrator obsessed with the idea that she is descended from an ancient tribe of Cat People who metamorphose into black panthers when aroused. When her husband begins to show interest in one of his coworkers, Irena begins to stalk her. The film stars Simone Simon as Irena, and features Kent Smith, Tom Conway, and Jane Randolph in supporting roles. Production began in 1942, with Lewton being placed in charge of developing RKO's low-budget horror films. He brought together a team of filmmakers that he had worked with in the past, including Tourneur, editor Mark Robson and screenwriter DeWitt Bodeen. ''Cat People'' was the first film upon which the team worked. They were given the title by an RKO executive, who instructed them to develop a film from it. After researching various horror films and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Blood On The Moon
''Blood on the Moon'' is a 1948 RKO black-and-white "psychological" Western film noir starring Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston and Walter Brennan. Directed by Robert Wise, the cinematography is by Nicholas Musuraca. The movie was shot in California as well as some of the more scenic shots at Red Rock Crossing, Sedona, Arizona. The picture is based on the novel ''Gunman's Chance'' by Luke Short. Plot Drifter Jim Garry is summoned by his friend, smooth-talking Tate Riling. Garry rides into an Indian reservation and finds himself in the middle of a conflict between a cattle owner and some homesteaders. He meets cattle owner John Lufton, who asks Garry to deliver a note to his family. While delivering the message, Garry is confronted by Lufton's daughter Amy, and eventually meets his other daughter, Carol. The Luftons suspect that Garry is on Riling's side and are initially hostile, especially Amy. Riling tells Garry that he and his partner, Indian agent Ja ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Horror Film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apocalyptic events, and religious or folk beliefs. Cinematic techniques used in horror films have been shown to provoke psychological reactions in an audience. Horror films have existed for more than a century. Early inspirations from before the development of film include folklore, religious beliefs and superstitions of different cultures, and the Gothic and horror literature of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. From origins in silent films and German Expressionism, horror only became a codified genre after the release of ''Dracula'' (1931). Many sub-genres emerged in subsequent decades, including body horror, comedy horror, slasher films, supernatural horror and psychological horror. The genre has been produ ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

German Expressionism
German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central European culture in fields such as architecture, dance, painting, sculpture and cinema. This article deals primarily with developments in German Expressionist cinema before and immediately after World War I, approximately from 1910 to the 1930s. History The German Expressionist movement was initially confined to Germany due to the country's isolation during World War I. In 1916, the government banned foreign films, creating a sharp increase in the demand for domestic film production: from 24 films in 1914, to 130 films in 1918. With inflation also on the rise, Germans were attending films more freely because they knew that their money's value was constantly diminishing.Thompson, Kristin. Bordwell, David. ''Film History: An Intro ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Film Noir
Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ''film noir''. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key, black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. The term ''film noir'', French for 'black film' (literal) or 'dark film' (closer meaning), was first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, but was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era. Frank is believed to have been inspired by the French literary publishing imprint Série noire, founded in 1945. Cinema historians and critics defined the category ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Citizen Kane
''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American drama film produced by, directed by, and starring Orson Welles. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz. The picture was Welles' first feature film. ''Citizen Kane'' is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made. The ''Sight & Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For 50 consecutive years, it stood at number 1 in the British Film Institute's ''Sight & Sound'' decennial poll of critics, and it topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as its 2007 update. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and it won for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Mankiewicz and Welles. ''Citizen Kane'' is praised for Gregg Toland's cinematography, Robert Wise's editing, Bernard Herrmann's music, and its narrative structure, all of which have been considered innovative and precedent-setting. The quasi-biographi ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Gregg Toland
Gregg Wesley Toland, A.S.C. (May 29, 1904 – September 28, 1948) was an American cinematographer known for his innovative use of techniques such as deep focus, examples of which can be found in his work on Orson Welles' ''Citizen Kane'' (1941), William Wyler's ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946), and John Ford's ''The Grapes of Wrath'', and ''The Long Voyage Home'' (both, 1940). He is also known for his work as a director of photography for ''Wuthering Heights'' (1939), '' The Westerner'' (1940), ''Ball of Fire'' (1941), ''The Outlaw'' (1943), ''Song of the South'' (1946) and ''The Bishop's Wife'' (1947). Toland earned six Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, and won for his work on ''Wuthering Heights''. He was voted one of the top 10 most influential cinematographers in the history of film by the International Cinematographers Guild in 2003. Career Toland was born in Charleston, Illinois on May 29, 1904 to Jennie, a housekeeper, and Frank Toland. His m ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Eric Schaefer
Eric Schaefer, Ph.D., (born 1959) is a professor and film historian. He is an associate professor at Emerson College and interim chair of the visual and media arts department. He has a B.A. from Webster University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin. He is best known for his book on exploitation filmmaking, ''Bold! Daring! Shocking! True: A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959'', published by Duke University Press in 1999. He has been described as "the go-to academic source on the genre of exploitation films." He is a member of the Northeast Historic Film board of advisors and a member of the editorial board of the journal ''The Moving Image.'' Selected works * ''Bold! Daring! Shocking! True": A History of Exploitation Films, 1919-1959'' (1999) - Duke University Press. * "Plain Brown Wrapper: Adult Films for the Home Market, 1930-1970", ''In the Absence of Films: Towards a New Historiographic Practice'', Eric Smoodin and Jon Lewis, editors, Duke U ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

F Troop
''F Troop'' is a satirical American television sitcom Western about U.S. soldiers and Native Americans in the Wild West during the 1860s that originally aired for two seasons on ABC. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965, and concluded its run on April 6, 1967, with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was broadcast in black-and-white, and the second season was in color. The series relied heavily on character-based humor, verbal and visual gags, slapstick, physical comedy, and burlesque comedy. The series played fast and loose with historical events and persons, and often parodied them for comical effect. Some indirect references were made to the culture of the 1960s, such as a "Playbrave Club" (a parody of a Playboy Club) and two rock and roll bands (one which performs songs written in the 1960s). Setting and story ''F Troop'' is set at Fort Courage—a fictional United States Army outpost in the Old West, from near the end of the Americ ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Desilu
Desilu Productions () was an American television production company founded and co-owned by husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. The company is best known for shows such as ''I Love Lucy'', ''The Lucy Show'', ''Mannix'', ''The Untouchables (1959 TV series), The Untouchables'', ''Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series), Mission: Impossible'' and ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek''. Until 1962, Desilu was the second-largest independent television production company in the United States, behind MCA Inc., MCA's Universal Television, Revue Studios, until MCA bought Universal Pictures and Desilu became and remained the number-one independent production company, until being sold in 1968. Ball and Arnaz jointly owned the majority stake in Desilu from its inception until 1962, when Ball bought out Arnaz and ran the company by herself for several years. Ball had succeeded in making Desilu profitable again by 1968, when she sold her shares of Desilu to Gulf and Western Indust ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The company is known for its film studio division the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, the Warner Animation Group, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Among its other assets, stands the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios. Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Ben Hardaway, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]