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Penthouse (film)
''Penthouse'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code crime film starring Warner Baxter as a lawyer and Myrna Loy as a call girl who helps him with a murder case. The film features Charles Butterworth as the butler, Mae Clarke as the murder victim, Phillips Holmes as the suspected murderer, and C. Henry Gordon as the gangster who arranged the murder. It was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, based on a novel by Arthur Somers Roche. The film was later remade as the more sanitized ''Society Lawyer'' (1939), without the risqué pre-Code dialogue. Plot Attorney Jack Durant (Warner Baxter) successfully defends racketeer Tony Gaziotti (Nat Pendleton) against a high-profile murder charge and waives his fee. His staid law firm feels his taking the racketeer on as a client reflects badly on them; when he refuses to give up his exciting new line of work, they go their separate ways. His upper class girlfriend Sue Leonard (Martha Sleeper) turns down his pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Somers Roche
Arthur Somers Roche (April 27, 1883 – February 17, 1935) was an American author of novels, short stories, and two plays. Biography Arthur Somers Roche was born April 27, 1883, in Somerville, Massachusetts. He attended Holy Cross College from 1899 to 1901, then studied law at Boston University, graduating in 1904. Roche initially practiced law, but after 18 months, he switched careers and entered the newspaper business with ''The New York World''. In 1910, he began to write fiction, contributing stories to magazines. His first story sold for $6, the second, for $25, after which he began to command higher prices for his output. In 1916, his first novel, ''Loot,'' was published. Two years later, in September 1918, he was commissioned a captain in the Military Intelligence Division of the United States Army. Roche was married twice. His first wife was Ethel Kirby Nowell of New York; she died in 1915. He then married Ethel Pettit of Stuttgart, Arkansas in 1917. Roche died February ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, film content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers. As a result, some films in the late 1920s and early 1930s depicted or implied sexual innuendo, romantic and sexual relationships between white and black people, mild profanity, illegal drug use, promiscuity, prostitution, infidelity, abortion, intense violence, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
After The Thin Man
''After the Thin Man'' is a 1936 American murder mystery comedy film directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring William Powell, Myrna Loy and James Stewart. A sequel to the 1934 feature ''The Thin Man'', the film presents Powell and Loy as Dashiell Hammett's characters Nick and Nora Charles. The film also features Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia, Jessie Ralph, Alan Marshal and Penny Singleton (billed under her maiden name as Dorothy McNulty). Plot Nick and Nora Charles return from vacation on New Year's Eve to their home in San Francisco, where Nora's stuffy family expects the couple to join them for a formal dinner. Nick is disliked by Nora's aunt Katherine, the family matriarch, as his immigrant heritage and experience as a "flatfoot" are considered beneath Nora's station. Nora's cousin Selma tells Nora that her husband Robert has been missing for three days. David Graham is Selma's earlier fiancé and an old friend of Nora's family. He offers to pay Robert $25,000 to leave and g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Thin Man
''The Thin Man'' (1934) is a detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in a condensed version in the December 1933 issue of ''Redbook''. It appeared in book form the following month. A film series followed, featuring the main characters Nick and Nora Charles, and Hammett was hired to provide scripts for the first two. Plot The story is set in New York City during the Christmas season of 1932, in the last days of Prohibition in the United States. The main characters are Nick Charles, a former private detective, and Nora, his socialite wife. Nick, the son of a Greek immigrant, now spends most of his time in San Francisco managing his former father-in-law's businesses in between heavy drinking sessions. While in a New York speakeasy, Charles meets Dorothy, the now grown-up daughter of a former client, Clyde Wynant, who says she is trying to contact the father she has not seen since his divorce. Two days later, Nick sees a newspaper report of the shooting of Wynant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Robe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Kennedy (actor)
Thomas Aloyisus Kennedy (July 15, 1885 – October 6, 1965) was an American actor known for his roles in Hollywood comedies from the silent days, with such producers as Mack Sennett and Hal Roach, mainly supporting lead comedians such as the Marx Brothers, W. C. Fields, Mabel Normand, Shemp Howard, Laurel and Hardy, and the Three Stooges. Kennedy also played dramatic roles as a supporting actor. Career For over 50 years, from 1915 to 1965, he appeared in over 320 films and television series, often uncredited. His first film was a short black and white comedy ''His Luckless Love''. He was in all nine Torchy Blane films as Gahagan, the poetry-spouting cop whose running line was, "What a day! What a day!" He continued making films right up until his death, his last film being a Western titled ''The Bounty Killer'' (1965). Tom Kennedy has been erroneously listed in several film sources as the brother of slow-burning comedian Edgar Kennedy. Though the two men were not related, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theresa Harris
Theresa Harris (December 31, 1906 – October 8, 1985) was an American television and film actress, singer and dancer. Early life Harris was born on New Year's Eve 1906 (some sources indicate 1909) in Houston, Texas, to Isaiah and Mable Harris, both of whom were former sharecroppers from Louisiana. Harris' family relocated to Southern California when she was 11 years old. After graduating Jefferson High School, she studied at the UCLA Conservatory of Music and Zoellner's Conservatory of Music. She then joined the Lafayette Players, an African American musical comedy theatre troupe. Career She made her film debut in 1929 in ''Thunderbolt'', singing the song "Daddy Won't You Please Come Home". As she entered the 1930s, she played, often without credit, maids to characters acted by Ginger Rogers, Bette Davis, Sylvia Sidney, Frances Dee, Myrna Loy, Jean Harlow, Thelma Todd, Kay Francis, and Barbara Stanwyck. She also floated around studios doing bit-parts, usually at Warner Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel S
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venerated as a prophet in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In addition to his role in the Hebrew scriptures, Samuel is mentioned in Jewish rabbinical literature, in the Christian New Testament, and in the second chapter of the Quran (although Islamic texts do not mention him by name). He is also treated in the fifth through seventh books of ''Antiquities of the Jews'', written by the Jewish scholar Josephus in the first century. He is first called "the Seer" in 1 Samuel 9:9. Biblical account Family Samuel's mother was Hannah and his father was Elkanah. Elkanah lived at Ramathaim in the district of Zuph. His gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Hatton
Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. However, Hatton had become enamored of being on stage after he acted in a school play, and he left home to go into acting as a career. Hatton was part of a vaudeville act that went to Hollywood in 1911. There, he established a successful silent film career, including a stint being paired in 1920s comedies with Wallace Beery. During the sound era, though, his career soon skidded and he usually played smaller supporting roles, including the tobacco-chewing, rowdy character Rusty Joslin in ''The Three Mesquiteers'' Western B picture series. By the 1950s, Hatton's acting roles expanded into television, where he appeared in various series, including the '' Adventures of Superman''. He has a star in the Motion Picture section of the Hollywood Walk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One Way Ride
A one-way ride, also known by the phrase taking someone for a ride, is slang in the underworld for an execution method. The usual plan is for the victims, who are lured or forced into a car, to be driven to a remote location where they are killed (either en route or after their arrival) where their bodies are dumped. History First coming into use during Prohibition, the phrase was reportedly first used by Northside Gang member Hymie Weiss who was last seen driving off with Steve Wisniewski, a local criminal who had recently hijacked a Northside beer shipment, in July 1921. This method was used in countless gangland executions throughout the period, particularly by the Northsiders and the Chicago Outfit, as the bodies of mobsters and other underworld figures would be found in remote locations outside Chicago throughout the 1920s and 1930s. In popular culture * A one-way ride has often been depicted in gangster movies such as '' The Godfather II'' (1974), '' The Long Good Frida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Emmett O'Connor
Robert Emmett O'Connor (March 18, 1885 – September 4, 1962) was an Irish-American actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1919 and 1950. He is probably best remembered as the warmhearted bootlegger Paddy Ryan in '' The Public Enemy'' (1931) and as Detective Sergeant Henderson pursuing the Marx Brothers in '' A Night at the Opera'' (1935). He also appeared as Jonesy (the older Paramount gate guard) in Billy Wilder's 1950 film ''Sunset Boulevard''. He also made an appearance at the very beginning and very end of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon short '' Who Killed Who?'' (1943). Selected filmography *''Pay Your Dues'' (1919 short) *''His Royal Slyness'' (1920 short) (uncredited) *'' Never Weaken'' (1921 short) (uncredited) *''Tin Gods'' (1926) - Second Foreman *'' The Love of Sunya'' (1927) - Detective with Umbrella (uncredited) *'' The Noose'' (1928) - Jim Conley *'' Dressed to Kill'' (1928) - Detective Gilroy *'' Four Walls'' (1928) - Sullivan *'' The Singing Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elevator Operator
An elevator operator (North American English), liftman (in Commonwealth English, usually lift attendant), or lift girl (in British English), is a person specifically employed to operate a manually operated elevator. Description Being an effective elevator operator required many skills. Manual elevators were often controlled by a large lever. The elevator operator had to regulate the elevator's speed, which typically required a good sense of timing to consistently stop the elevator level with each floor. In addition to their training in operation and safety, department stores later combined the role of operator with greeter and tour guide, announcing product departments, floor by floor, and occasionally mentioning special offers. Remaining examples Buildings With the advent of user-operated elevators such as those utilizing push buttons to select the desired floor, few elevator operators remain. A few older buildings still maintain working manually operated elevators and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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