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Opening And Closing Sequences Of The Prisoner
The opening and closing sequences of the TV series ''The Prisoner'' are considered iconic. The music over the opening and closing credits, as broadcast, was composed by Ron Grainer, a composer whose other credits include the theme music for ''Doctor Who''. The music Ron Grainer's theme was chosen after two other composers, Robert Farnon and Wilfred Josephs, created themes that were rejected by series executive producer Patrick McGoohan. Farnon's theme was rejected for being a virtual copy from the film ''The Big Country'' (1958). Josephs' discordant theme got as far as being applied to early edits of "Arrival" and "The Chimes of Big Ben", and can be heard on the recovered early edits of the two episodes that have subsequently been released to DVD. (Prior to this, Josephs' melody was used as incidental music on the broadcast versions of "Arrival".) Farnon's theme remained unheard until it was unearthed for ''Don't Knock Yourself Out'', a DVD featurette created for the 2007 DVD re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Car
The Benz Patent-Motorwagen ("patent motorcar"), built in 1885 by the German Carl Benz, is widely regarded as the world's first practical modern automobile and was the first car put into series production. It was patented and unveiled in 1886. The original cost of the vehicle in 1886 was 600 imperial German marks, approximately 150 US dollars (). Karl's wife Bertha demonstrated its feasibility in a trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888, shortly before it became the first commercially available automobile in history in the late summer of 1888. Due to the creation of the Patent-Motorwagen, Benz has been hailed as the father and inventor of the automobile. Development and specifications After developing a successful gasoline-powered two-stroke piston engine in 1873, Benz focused on developing a motorized vehicle while maintaining a career as a designer and manufacturer of stationary engines and their associated parts. The Benz Patent-Motorwagen was a motor tricycle wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. Originally known as ''Buckingham House'', the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became known as The Queen's House. During the 19th century it was enlarged by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, who constructed three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rover (The Prisoner)
Rover is a plot device from the 1967 British television program ''The Prisoner'', and was a crucial tool used to keep 'prisoners' from escaping the Village. It was depicted as a floating white balloon that could coerce, and, if necessary, incapacitate or kill recalcitrant inhabitants of the Village. It also had the ability to subdivide. Several aspects of the Rover device were left unexplained and to the imagination of the viewer. The name "Rover" was only used once in the entire series (in the episode " The Schizoid Man"). The novel ''The Prisoner: Number Two'' by David McDaniel, based upon the series, uses the name Guardian. Portrayal Description Rover was depicted as a large white inflatable balloon, not quite fully inflated, with a flexible skin. Rover would often produce a muffled roar sound when attacking. It would also sometimes emit a strange light display or luminescence from its interior. Once released, Rover could bounce and glide across the land and sea for a long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Girl Who Was Death
"The Girl Who Was Death" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series, ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Terence Feely and directed by David Tomblin and was the sixteenth produced. It was broadcast in the UK on ITV (Scottish Television) on Thursday 18 January 1968 (and a day later on ATV Midlands and Grampian) and aired in the United States on CBS on 7 September 1968. The episode starred Patrick McGoohan as Number Six and Kenneth Griffith in the first of two episodes he appeared in. According to several sources, including ''The Prisoner'' by Robert Fairclough, this episode was adapted from an unused, two-part script originally commissioned for ''Danger Man''. Plot summary A cricket match ends in a player (Colonel Hawke-Englishe) being assassinated with a bomb disguised as a cricket ball. Number Six is on an operational assignment, but it is unclear whether this is "real time", pre- The Village, or possibly another induced hallucination. Secret messag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many Happy Returns (Prisoner Episode)
"Many Happy Returns" is an episode of the allegorical British science fiction TV series ''The Prisoner''. It was written by Anthony Skene, and directed by Patrick McGoohan (using the pseudonym Joseph Serf). The thirteenth episode produced, it was the seventh episode to be broadcast in the UK on ITV (ATV Midlands and Grampian) on Friday 10 November 1967, and first aired in the United States on CBS on Saturday 20 July 1968. The episode stars Patrick McGoohan as Number Six and features as Number Two Georgina Cookson. The episode was the last that series co-creator and script editor George Markstein worked on, due to creative differences between him and McGoohan over how the series should end. Plot summary Number Six awakens to find the Village completely deserted, along with water and electricity shut off as well. He sees this as an opportunity to escape. He takes numerous photos before assembling a raft and taking flight by sea for 25 days. He takes careful notes as to headings ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Wyngarde
Peter Paul Wyngarde (born Cyril Goldbert, 23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018) was a British television, stage and film actor from the late 1940s to the mid 1990s. He was best known for portraying the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two television series: '' Department S'' (1969–70) and '' Jason King'' (1971–72). His flamboyant dress sense and stylish performances led to success, and he was considered a style icon in Britain and elsewhere in the early 1970s. Background and early life Peter Wyngarde's birth name was Cyril Goldbert. His full name may have been Cyril Louis Goldbert. According to his own account, he was born on 23 August 1933 to a French mother and a British father at an aunt's home in Marseille, France. Like many actors and other celebrities, Wyngarde changed his name and claimed to be younger than he was. He also cited a false family background by changing his father's name and profession and both his parents' nationalities an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Gordon
Colin Gordon (27 April 1911 – 4 October 1972) was a British actor born in Ceylon. Biography He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of ''Toad of Toad Hall''. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory Company in Brixton. He served in the army during the Second World War for six years. Film career Gordon had a long career in British cinema and television from the 1940s to the 1970s, often playing government officials. His films include ''The Pink Panther'' and '' Casino Royale'' (both with Peter Sellers, alongside whom he made five films). In the ITC series ''The Prisoner'' (1967) he portrayed Number Two twice, in " A. B. and C." and later in " The General". Gordon was a regular in another ITC production, '' The Baron'', playing civil servant Templeton-Green opposite Steve Forrest. He also starred in ''The Invisible Man (1958 TV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Morris
Mary Lilian Agnes Morris (13 December 1915 – 14 October 1988) was a Fijian born British actress. Life and career Morris was the daughter of Herbert Stanley Morris, a botanist, and his wife, Sylvia Ena de Creft-Harford. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Morris made her debut in ''Lysistrata'' at the Gate Theatre, London in 1935. She performed with Leslie Howard in ''"Pimpernel" Smith'' (1941) and Anna Petrovitch in the Ealing Studios, Ealing war movie ''Undercover (1943 film), Undercover'' (1943) as the wife of a Serbian guerrilla leader. On television, she played Professor Madeleine Dawnay in the science-fiction television drama ''A for Andromeda'' (and its sequel, ''The Andromeda Breakthrough''), Queen Margaret in the BBC's ''An Age of Kings'' (a version of Shakespeare's History Plays), Lady Macbeth in the 1960 radio production of Macbeth, and Cleopatra in ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (as part of the BBC's adaptation of Shakespeare's Roman plays, ''The Spread of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo McKern
Reginald "Leo" McKern, Order of Australia, AO (16 March 1920 – 23 July 2002) was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in ''Help! (film), Help!'' (1965), Thomas Cromwell in ''A Man for All Seasons (1966 film), A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), Tom Ryan in ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), Paddy Button in ''The Blue Lagoon (1980 film), The Blue Lagoon'' (1980), Dr. Grogan in ''The French Lieutenant's Woman (film), The French Lieutenant's Woman'' (1981), Father Imperius in ''Ladyhawke (film), Ladyhawke'' (1985), and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Rumpole of the Bailey, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in the British television series ''Rumpole of the Bailey''. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the The Omen, first and Damien: Omen II, second instalments of The Omen (film series), ''The Omen'' series and Number Two (The Pris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Rietti
Robert Rietti, (born Lucio Rietti; 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015), was an actor, and Oscar-nominated director of Anglo-Italian descent. With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in the American, British and Italian entertainment industries. He was particularly prominent in post-production dubbing both foreign and domestic, often overseeing the English-language dubbing of foreign actors' dialogue. He is known for his dubbing work in the ''James Bond'' series, ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Once Upon a Time in America'', and ''The Guns of Navarone''. He is often credited under the variant name spelling Robert Rietty. Early life Born in 1923, Rietti was the younger of two sons of Italian-Jewish actor Victor Rietti and Rachel Rosenay. In 1932, at the age of nine, he joined his father's company ''Teatro Italiano'', making his stage debut in ''Mysterious Currents''. His father (under whom Ida Lupino and June Duprez had studied acting) developed his son ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Tomblin
David Tomblin, OBE (18 October 1930 – 20 July 2005) was a film and television producer, assistant director, and director. As a producer, he was best known for ''The Prisoner'' TV series. As a first assistant director, he worked on a number of high-profile films, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series and the 1978 ''Superman'', and with commercially and critically successful directors including Richard Attenborough, Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack. As a director, he was best known for work on Gerry Anderson's productions, including '' Space: 1999''. Early life and career Tomblin was born in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England. He began working in film as a runner at the age of 14.Pirani, Adam "David Tomblin A.D. to Indy Jones", ''Starlog #86'' pp.44-46,58, September 1984. He worked on numerous productions, and (with an interruption for National Service in the Royal Marines), became a First Assistant Director in 1954. As well as films, he worked on a number of Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knockout Gas
The term incapacitating agent is defined by the United States Department of Defense as: :"An agent that produces temporary physiological or mental effects, or both, which will render individuals incapable of concerted effort in the performance of their assigned duties." It describes an agent which renders a person unable to harm themselves or others, regardless of consciousness. Lethal agents are primarily intended to kill, but incapacitating agents can also kill if administered in a potent enough dose, or in certain scenarios. The term "incapacitation," when used in a general sense, is not equivalent to the term "disability" as used in occupational medicine and denotes the inability to perform a task because of a quantifiable physical or mental impairment. In this sense, any of the chemical warfare agents may incapacitate a victim; however, by the military definition of this type of agent, incapacitation refers to impairments that are temporary and nonlethal. Thus, riot-control ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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