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Railroaded!
''Railroaded!'' is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by Anthony Mann starring John Ireland, Sheila Ryan, Hugh Beaumont and Jane Randolph. It was loosely based on the real-life case of Majczek and Marcinkiewicz, the same case that inspired '' Call Northside 777'' (1948). Plot Clara Calhoun is a beautician with a shop in New York. Her shop is in fact a front for a bookmaking operation. One evening when she closes up for the night, she gives a silent signal to two masked gunmen lurking outside. These two bandits then burst into the shop and hold up both Calhoun and her unsuspecting assistant, Marie Westin. The money they steal is betting money from the illegal operation. During the robbery, a policeman on patrol in the neighborhood hears Westin's screams. He sees the hold up and tries to interrupt the robbery. As the policeman intervenes, he shoots one of the robbers, "Cowie" Kowalski, but is then shot and killed by the other robber, Duke Martin. The two robbers then es ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Mann
Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of ''Film noirs, film noir'' and Western film, Westerns, and for his Epic film, historical epics. Mann started as a theatre actor appearing in numerous stage productions. In 1937, he moved to Hollywood where he worked as a talent scout and casting director. He then became an assistant director, most notably working for Preston Sturges. His directorial debut was ''Dr. Broadway'' (1942). He directed several feature films for numerous production companies, including RKO Pictures, Eagle-Lion Films, Universal Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). His first major success was ''T-Men'' (1947), garnering notable recognition for producing several films in the ''film noir'' genre through modest budgets and short shooting schedules. As a director, he often collaborated with cinematographer John Alton. During the 1950s, Man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane Randolph
Jane Randolph (née Roemer; October 30, 1914 – May 4, 2009), was an American film actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Alice Moore in the 1942 horror film ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat People'', and its sequel, ''The Curse of the Cat People'' (1944). Biography Early life Randolph was born October 30, 1914 in Youngstown, Ohio, and grew up in Kokomo, Indiana, where her hobbies included playing golf and flying airplanes. She attended DePauw University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She also studied at an acting school operated by Max Reinhardt. Randolph is the first cousin once removed of the writer John McPhee. Film career Randolph moved to Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood in 1939 in an attempt to start a movie career. She was eventually picked up by Warner Bros. and appeared in bit movie roles in 1941. Her screen debut came in ''Manpower (1941 film), Manpower'' in 1941. In 1942, RKO picked up the contract of the poised actress and she received a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ireland
John Benjamin Ireland (January 30, 1914 – March 21, 1992) was a Canadian-American actor and film director. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in New York City, he came to prominence with film audiences for his supporting roles in several high-profile Western films, including ''My Darling Clementine'' (1946), '' Red River'' (1948), ''Vengeance Valley'' (1951), and '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jack Burden in ''All the King's Men'' (1949), making him the first British Columbia-born actor to receive an Oscar nomination. Ireland's other film roles include '' A Walk in the Sun'' (1945), ''Joan Of Arc'' (1948), ''Spartacus'' (1960), ''55 Days at Peking'' (1963), '' The Fall of the Roman Empire'' (1964), '' The Adventurers'' (1970), and ''Farewell, My Lovely'' (1975). He also appeared in many television series, notably '' The Cheaters'' (1960–62). In the late 1960s and 1970s, he worked in Italian cinema, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keefe Brasselle
Keefe Brasselle (February 7, 1923 – July 7, 1981) was an American film actor, television actor/producer, and author. He is best remembered for the starring role in '' The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953). Early years and career He was born Henry Keefe Brassil, the son of an Irish father, Henry Richard Brassil, a hotel manager in Cleveland, Ohio; and Madelaine Antonelli, an Italian nightclub singer from New York. Keefe was raised by his mother and her second husband, Harold Prindle, in New York; Prindle trained Keefe for a career in show business. Brasselle joined the U. S. Army in 1942 and appeared in a few motion pictures without screen credit. Just a few days after separating from the Army in September 1944, he auditioned for the juvenile lead opposite singing star Gloria Jean in the waterfront mystery '' River Gang'' (filmed in 1944, released 1945). MacGillivray, Scott and MacGillivray, Jan. ''Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven'', iUniverse, Bloomington, IN, 2005, p. 172. . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermine Sterler
Minna Stern (20 March 1894 – 25 May 1982), known professionally as Hermine Sterler, was a German-American actress whose career spanned both the silent and the talkie film eras on two continents. Career Sterler, who appeared in several Hollywood films, was once affiliated with the Burgtheater in Vienna. She debuted in 1918 at the Residenztheater Hannover and later performed in Berlin, where she appeared at the Kleinen Theater ("Little Theater"). She played a saloon lady and, from 1921, often appeared in German silent film. She flourished as a character actor in roles of young wives and mothers. In 1930, she appeared as Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna in '' Rasputin, Demon with Women''. In 1933, a German government decree was enacted by Joseph Goebbels under the auspices of a newly created agency called Die Reichskulturkammer. The decree stipulated that Jewish actors were, among other things, prohibited from performing on German stage. Sterler, who was a Jew, relocated to Vi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peggy Converse
Peggy Converse (April 3, 1905 – March 2, 2001) born Velma Randall, was an American stage, film, and television actress whose lengthy career spanned seven decades. Career Converse began acting at the age of 16 in Los Angeles. She played ingénue parts in the 1920s and 1930s in Broadway productions of ''Infernal Machine'' and ''The Comedy of Good and Evil''. She toured the country, playing 100 roles in productions in over 1000 theaters across the United States and Canada, often with her second husband, fellow actor Don Porter. Her film career started in 1942, with an uncredited part in '' My Sister Eileen'', and concluded with 1988's '' The Accidental Tourist''. She also made guest appearances on television shows from the 1950s to the 1980s, including the unaired pilot episode of ''Mister Ed''. She graduated from Stanford University in 1927. Personal life Her first husband was Edmund Converse, the founder of Bonanza Air Lines. After they divorced, she married Porter. Their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clancy Cooper
Clancy Cooper (July 23, 1906 – June 14, 1975) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1938 and 1962. He also guest-starred on numerous TV series, such as ''The Rifleman'', '' Lawman'', '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'', '' Maverick'', ''Gunsmoke'', and ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''; he also appeared on ''Sanford and Son'' as Kelly, an elderly friend of Fred Sanford, in the episode "The Copper Caper", the fourth episode in the first season of the series. He appeared as the Sheriff in ''The Lone Ranger (TV series)'' 1949 episode (1/15) "Old Joe's Sister". Cooper's Broadway credits as an actor included ''Eight O'Clock Tuesday'' (1941), ''Horse Fever'' (1940), ''Night Music'' (1940), ''The Man Who Killed Lincoln'' (1940), ''Summer Night'' (1939), ''Stop Press'' (1939), ''The Fabulous Invalid'' (1938), and ''Casey Jones'' (1938). He also directed plays. Selected filmography * '' Mr. Wong, Detective'' (1938) - Warehouse Man (uncredited) * ''Flying G-Men'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Beaumont
Eugene Hugh Beaumont (February 16, 1910 – May 14, 1982) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Ward Cleaver on the television series ''Leave It to Beaver'', originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, and as private detective Michael Shayne in a series of low-budget crime films in 1946 and 1947. Early life Beaumont was born in Lawrence, Kansas, to Ethel Adaline Whitney and Edward H. Beaumont, a traveling salesman whose profession kept the family on the move. After graduating from the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the class of 1930, he attended the University of Chattanooga, where he played football. He later studied at the University of Southern California and graduated with a master's degree in theology in 1946. Career Beaumont began his career in show business in 1931 by performing in theaters, nightclubs, and radio. He began acting in motion pictures in 1940, appearing in over three dozen films. Many of those roles were bit parts and mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheila Ryan
Sheila Ryan (born Katherine Elizabeth McLaughlin, June 8, 1921 – November 4, 1975) was an American actress who appeared in more than 60 movies. Career Born in Topeka, Kansas, Ryan went to Hollywood in 1939 at the age of 18. Her acting career began when she tried out for a role on a program at television station W6XAO (later KCBS) in Los Angeles, California. An article in a contemporary magazine reported, "She proved to be a perfect television type and was given a role at once." At age 19, Ryan was selected by a group of Hollywood directors as one of 13 "baby stars of 1940." She was signed by 20th Century Fox in 1940 and was credited in her early films as Bettie McLaughlin. Adopting the name Sheila Ryan, she starred in the crime drama '' Dressed to Kill'' the following year. Ryan appeared in other memorable films, including two Laurel and Hardy movies, '' Great Guns'' (1941) and '' A-Haunting We Will Go'' (1942), and the Busby Berkeley musical '' The Gang's All Here'' (1943). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gertrude Walker
Gertrude Winifred Walker (April 8, 1902 - June 18, 1995) was an American screenwriter, TV writer, and novelist known for her work on B movies at Republic Pictures. Biography Gertrude—the only child of Clinton "Razz" Walker and Gertrude White—grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and attended the Longfellow School. She graduated from Ohio State University, where she performed in plays, before deciding to move to Los Angeles. In Hollywood, Gertrude sought work as an actress, showgirl, and entertainment journalist at fan magazines. Her one credited acting role was in 1935's '' Mary Burns, Fugitive''; she also worked as a Ziegfeld Follies girl. Walker ended up on the writing staff at Republic Pictures, where she enjoyed the collegial atmosphere and working with writer Dane Lussier. As Walker later recounted, she was almost laid off from the studio in 1944—until her boss saw her script for ''Silent Partner'' (which she had written in three days) and was blown away. During her time later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1947 Films
The year 1947 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1947 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events *April 19 – Monogram Pictures release their first film under their Allied Artists banner, '' It Happened on Fifth Avenue''. *May 22 – ''Great Expectations'' is premiered in New York. *August 31 – The first Edinburgh International Film Festival opens at the Playhouse Cinema, presented by the Edinburgh Film Guild as part of the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts. Originally specialising in documentaries, it will become the world's oldest continually running film festival. *November 24 – The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress votes 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten". *November 25 – The Waldorf Statement is released by the executives of the United States motion picture industry, marking the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crime Film
Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), drama or gangster film, but also include Comedy film, comedy, and, in turn, is divided into many sub-genres, such as Mystery film, mystery, suspense or Film noir, noir. Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified crime film as one of eleven super-genres in his Screenwriters Taxonomy, claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres are action, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and western. Williams identifies drama in a broader category called "film type", mystery and suspense as "macro-genres", and film noir as a "screenwriter's pathway" explaining that these categories are additive rather than exclusionary. ''China ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
