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Roy Douglas
Richard Roy Douglas (12 December 1907 – 23 March 2015) was an English composer, pianist and arranger. He worked as musical assistant to Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, and Richard Addinsell, made well-known orchestrations of works such as ''Les Sylphides'' (based on piano pieces by Chopin) and Addinsell's ''Warsaw Concerto'', and wrote a quantity of original music. Life Roy Douglas was born at Royal Tunbridge Wells. He was self-taught in music. He gained experience writing film scores with ''Karma'' (1933) and ''Dick Turpin'' (1933). He assisted people such as Mischa Spoliansky on ''The Ghost Goes West'' (1935), Arthur Benjamin on '' Wings of the Morning'' (1937), Anthony Collins on ''Sixty Glorious Years'' (1938), Nicholas Brodzsky on ''Freedom Radio'' (aka ''A Voice in the Night'', 1941) and '' Tomorrow We Live'' (aka ''At Dawn We Die'', 1943), Noël Coward in ''In Which We Serve'' (1942), John Ireland in '' The Overlanders'' (1946), and Walter Goehr in ''Great Ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Sylphides
''Les Sylphides'' () is a short, non-narrative ''ballet blanc'' to piano music by Frédéric Chopin, selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. The ballet, described as a "romantic reverie","Ballet Theater", until 1955. A compact disk of ABT's production, with Mikhail Baryshnikov as the dreamer, is available from Kultor, entitled "American Ballet Theatre at the Met – Mixed Bill (1985)". See Olga Maynard's definitive account, based on information from Fokine's son Vitale Fokine: "Les Sylphides", ''Dance Magazine'' Portfolio: December 1971, advertised separately by some online booksellers. is frequently cited as the first ballet to be simply about mood and dance. ''Les Sylphides'' has no plot but instead consists of several white-clad sylphs dancing in the moonlight with the "poet" or "young man" dressed in white tights and a black tunic. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with Chopin's music orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. The town was a spa in the Restoration and a fashionable resort in the mid-1700s under Beau Nash when the Pantiles, and its chalybeate spring, attracted visitors who wished to take the waters. Though its popularity as a spa town waned with the advent of sea bathing, the town still derives much of its income from tourism. The town has a population of around 56,500, and is the administrative centre of Tunbridge Wells Borough and in the parliamentary constituency of Tunbridge Wells. History Iron Age Evidence suggests that Iron Age people farmed the fields and mined the iron-rich rocks in the Tunbridge Wells area, and excavations in 1940 and 1957–61 by James Money at High Rocks uncovered the remains of a defensive hill-fort. It is tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomorrow We Live (1943 Film)
''Tomorrow We Live'' (released as ''At Dawn We Die'' in the US), is a 1943 British film directed by George King and starring John Clements, Godfrey Tearle, Greta Gynt, Hugh Sinclair and Yvonne Arnaud. The film was made during the Second World War, and the action is set in a small town in German-occupied France. It portrays the activities of members of the French Resistance and the Germans' tactic of taking and shooting innocent hostages in reprisal for acts of sabotage. The opening credits acknowledge "the official co-operation of General de Gaulle and the French National Committee". Dorothy Hope is credited with "original story". Plot A young French idealist (John Clements), who gives his name as Jean Baptiste, arrives in "St Pierre-le-Port", a small town near Saint-Nazaire, a major port and base of operations for the German Navy, particularly their U-boats, on the Atlantic coast. Baptiste tells a member of the French Resistance that "I come from Saint-Nazaire. I've details o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Love On The Dole (film)
''Love on the Dole'' is a 1941 British drama film starring Deborah Kerr and Clifford Evans. It was adapted from the novel of the same name by Walter Greenwood. It was the first English-made feature film to show English police wielding batons against a crowd. Plot The film is set in Hanky Park, part of Salford, in 1930 at the height of the Great Depression. The film centres on the Hardcastle family. Mr Hardcastle is a miner; his son, Harry, is an apprentice at a local engineering firm and Sally, his daughter, works at a cotton mill. As the depression takes hold, Mr Hardcastle's mine is put on a three-day week and Harry becomes unemployed when his apprenticeship ends. The family’s plight is made worse by reductions in means tested unemployment benefits (the dole), whilst the unexpected pregnancy of Harry’s girlfriend, Helen, causes further tensions. Sally is courting factory worker and Labour Party activist Larry Meath, but their marriage plans are put in doubt when Lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dangerous Moonlight
''Dangerous Moonlight'' (US: ''Suicide Squadron'') is a 1941 British film, directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Anton Walbrook. Among the costumes, the gowns were designed by Cecil Beaton. The film is best known for its score written by Richard Addinsell, orchestrated by Roy Douglas, which includes the ''Warsaw Concerto''. ''Dangerous Moonlights love-story plot, told mainly in flashbacks, revolves around the fictional composer of the ''Warsaw Concerto'', a piano virtuoso and "shell-shocked" combat pilot, who meets an American war correspondent in Warsaw, and later returns from America to join the RAF in England to continue to fight against the Germans and their occupation of Poland.Jahiel, Edwin"Dangerous Moonlight (UK, 1941)."''Movie Reviews by Edwin Jahiel''. Retrieved: 7 May 2012. Plot During the German invasion of Poland, Polish airman and piano virtuoso Stefan Radecki (Anton Walbrook) meets American reporter Carole Peters (Sally Gray). He volunteers to fly a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Bill And Son
''Old Bill and Son'' is a 1941 British black-and-white comedy war film directed by Ian Dalrymple. Centred on the First World War cartoon figure Old Bill and his escapades in the early Phoney War of World War II and with that character's creator Bruce Bairnsfather as one of its screenwriters, it stars Morland Graham, John Mills, Mary Clare and Ronald Shiner as Herbert 'Bert' Smith. It is executive produced by Alexander Korda for Legeran Films. Plot Old Bill, an old First World War soldier, argues with his son Young Bill about the latter not holding down a job. Soon afterwards the Second World War breaks out and Young Bill and the family lodger Sally both join up. Envious of them and despite his wife Maggie's entreaties not to, Old Bill attempts to join up but is turned down at the recruiting office and by his old commanding officer, who Old Bill had hoped would pull strings for him. He is finally successful, joining the Royal Pioneer Corps, and both he and his son are sent to Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaslight (1940 Film)
''Gaslight'' (released in the United States as ''Angel Street'') is a 1940 British psychological thriller film directed by Thorold Dickinson which stars Anton Walbrook and Diana Wynyard, and features Frank Pettingell. The film adheres more closely to the original play upon which it is based – Patrick Hamilton's ''Gas Light'' (1938) – than does the 1944 MGM remake. The play had been performed on Broadway as ''Angel Street'', so when the MGM remake was released in the United States, it was given the same title as the American production. Plot In Pimlico, London, Alice Barlow ( Marie Wright) is murdered by an unknown man, who then ransacks her house, ripping her furniture apart as if desperately searching for something. The house remains empty for many years, until newlyweds Paul and Bella Mallen move in. Bella (Diana Wynyard) soon finds herself misplacing small objects; and, before long, Paul (Anton Walbrook) has her believing she is losing her sanity. B. G. Rough (Frank P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lion Has Wings
''The Lion Has Wings'' is a 1939 British, black-and-white, documentary-style, propaganda film, propaganda war film that was directed by Adrian Brunel, Brian Desmond Hurst, Alexander Korda and Michael Powell. The film was produced by London Film Productions and Alexander Korda Film Productions and 'was preparing the nation (for war) and shining a light on the power of the RAF'. ''The Lion Has Wings'' was made at the outbreak of World War II and was released to cinemas very quickly. It helped convince the British government of film's value for disseminating both propaganda and information. Plot ''The Lion Has Wings'' is recounted in various 'chapters' with a linking story revolving around a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer, played by Ralph Richardson, his wife and his family. The film opens with a newsreel-style documentary comparing life in Britain to life in Nazi Germany, narrated by E.V.H. Emmett in the upbeat and patriotic narrative style common to such newsreels in Bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria The Great
''Victoria the Great'' is a 1937 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Anton Walbrook and Walter Rilla. When Laurence Housman's play ''Victoria Regina'' was banned by the Lord Chamberlain (in 1935 the royal family could not be shown on the British stage), its subsequent Broadway success prompted King Edward VIII to commission producer Herbert Wilcox to turn it into a film, commemorating the centenary of Victoria's reign. The film biography of Queen Victoria concentrates initially on the early years of her reign with her marriage to Prince Albert and her subsequent rule after Albert's death in 1861. It was released in the year of King George VI's coronation, which was also the centennial of Victoria's own accession to the throne. The movie was so successful that a sequel appeared the following year, ''Sixty Glorious Years''. Plot In June 1837, 18-year-old Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent ascends the throne as Queen Victoria following the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dark Journey (film)
''Dark Journey'' is a 1937 British spy film directed by Victor Saville and starring Conrad Veidt and Vivien Leigh. Written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis, the film is about two secret agents on opposite sides during World War I who meet and fall in love in neutral Stockholm. It was shot at Denham Studios, with sets designed by the art director Andrej Andrejew assisted by Ferdinand Bellan. The film's costumes were by René Hubert. Plot In the spring of 1918, a German U-boat stops a Dutch freighter on its way to Stockholm, Sweden during the final year of World War I. The Germans board the ship, identify one man as a Belgian spy, and take him prisoner. One of the passengers questioned is an attractive Swiss dress shop owner named Madeleine Goddard ( Vivien Leigh) who is returning to Stockholm from a business trip to Paris, where she purchased dresses for her boutique. After returning to Stockholm, Madeleine, who is a German spy, meets with her contacts and provides informat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Expectations (1946 Film)
''Great Expectations'' is a 1946 British drama film directed by David Lean, based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens and starring John Mills and Valerie Hobson. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Anthony Wager, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness. The script is based on a slimmed-down version of Dickens' novel. It was written by David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Cecil McGivern, Ronald Neame and Kay Walsh, after Lean had seen an abridged 1939 stage version of the novel, written by Alec Guinness. In the stage version, Guinness had played Herbert Pocket while Martita Hunt played Miss Havisham, roles that they reprised for the film. However, the film was not a strict adaptation of the play. The film was produced by Ronald Neame and photographed by Guy Green. It was the first of two films Lean directed based on Dickens' novels, the other being his 1948 adaptation of '' Oliver Twist''. John Bryan and Wilfred Shinglet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Goehr
Walter Goehr (; 28 May 19034 December 1960) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Goehr was born in Berlin, where he studied with Arnold Schoenberg and embarked on a conducting career, before being forced as a Jew to seek employment outside Germany after working for Berlin Radio in 1932. He was invited to become music director for the Gramophone Company (later EMI), so he moved to London. In 1937, he conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the premiere recording of Bizet's Symphony in C. During his years as a staff conductor for EMI, he conducted the orchestra for many recordings, including accompaniments for arias sung by Beniamino Gigli, Richard Tauber and Joseph Schmidt. In more popular items, his name appears on the record labels as 'G. Walter' or 'George Walter'. In addition, he conducted for many concerto recordings, including some by Benno Moiseiwitsch, Myra Hess and others. After the war he conducted for several smaller recording companies based in Europe, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
