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Robert Lees
Robert Lees (July 10, 1912 – June 13, 2004) was an American television and film screenwriter. Lees was best known for writing comedy, including several Abbott and Costello films. Life and career Born in San Francisco, California, Lees graduated from Lowell High School in 1929. He started in show business as a dancer before becoming a writer for MGM Studios, where he was paired with writer Frederic Rinaldo. Their first screenplay was for the 1936 short film, ''The Perfect Set-Up''. The short film was the first in the "Crime Does Not Pay" series. The series, which was produced by MGM in the 1930s and 1940s, were based on real life crime cases. Lees and Rinaldo continued to work on comedy shorts including, ''A Night At The Movies'', starring Robert Benchley, and ''Penny Wisdom''. The duo also worked on the 1937 films, ''Decathlon Champions'' and ''Candid Cameramaniacs'' from the Pete Smith Specialty series. In 1939, Lees and Rinaldo were nominated for an Academy Award for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of California cities by population, fourth most populous in California and List of United States cities by population, 17th most populous in the United States, with 815,201 residents as of 2021. It covers a land area of , at the end of the San Francisco Peninsula, making it the second most densely populated large U.S. city after New York City, and the County statistics of the United States, fifth most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. Among the 91 U.S. cities proper with over 250,000 residents, San Francisco was ranked first by per capita income (at $160,749) and sixth by aggregate income as of 2021. Colloquial nicknames for San Francisco include ''SF'', ''San Fran'', ''The '', ''Frisco'', and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Black Cat (1941 Film)
is a 1941 American comedy horror and mystery film directed by Albert S. Rogell and starring Basil Rathbone. The film was a hybrid of style: being inspired by comedy "old dark house" films of the era as well as the 1843 short story "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe. It stars Basil Rathbone as Montague Hartley, the head of a greedy family who await the death of Henrietta Winslow (played by Cecilia Loftus) so that they can inherit her fortune. When she is found murdered, an investigation begins into who might be the culprit. Alongside Rathbone and Loftus, the film's cast includes Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, and Bela Lugosi. Initially set to start filming in January 1941, the film was delayed twice with the script being re-written by comedy writers Robert Lees and Frederic I. Rinaldo and having some last minute cast changes. It officially began filming on February 17 and finished filming on March 10. It was released to lukewarm reviews from ''The Hollywood Reporter'', ''The F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange which allocates products to everyone in the society.: "One widespread distinction was that socialism socialised production only while communism socialised production and consumption." Communist society also involves the absence of private property, social classes, money, and the state. Communists often seek a voluntary state of self-governance, but disagree on the means to this end. This reflects a distinction between a more libertarian approach of communization, revolutionary spontaneity, and workers' self-management, and a more vanguardist or communist party-driven approach through the development of a constitutional socialist state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
McCarthy Era
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term originally referred to the controversial practices and policies of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s. It was characterized by heightened political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals, and a campaign spreading fear of alleged communist and socialist influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents. After the mid-1950s, McCarthyism began to decline, mainly due to Joseph McCarthy's gradual loss of public popularity and credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false, and sustained opposition from the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren on human rights ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Movie Studio
A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production company. Most firms in the entertainment industry have never owned their own studios, but have rented space from other companies. There are also privately held company, independently owned studio facilities, who have never produced a motion picture of their own because they are not entertainment companies or motion picture companies; they are companies who sell only studio space. Beginnings In 1893, Thomas Edison built the first movie studio in the United States when he constructed the Edison's Black Maria, Black Maria, a tarpaper-covered structure near his laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, West Orange, New Jersey, and asked circus, vaudeville, and dramatic actors to perform for the camera. He distributed these movies at vaudevil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hollywood Blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying employment to entertainment industry professionals believed to be or to have been Communists or sympathizers. Actors, screenwriters, directors, musicians, and other American entertainment professionals were barred from work by the studios. This was usually done on the basis of their membership in, alleged membership in, or sympathy with the Communist Party USA, or on the basis of their refusal to assist Congressional investigations into the party's activities. Even during the period of its strictest enforcement, from the late 1940s through to the late 1950s, the blacklist was rarely made explicit or easily verifiable, as it was the result of numerous individual decisions by the studios and was not the result of official legal action. Neverthel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin And Lewis
Martin and Lewis were an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. They met in 1945 and debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946; the team lasted ten years to the day. Before they teamed up, Martin was a nightclub singer, while Lewis performed a comedy act lip-synching to records. They performed in nightclubs, and, starting in 1949, on radio. Later they branched out into television and films. In their early radio days they performed as ''Martin and Lewis'' but later became hugely popular as ''Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis''. These full names helped them launch successful solo careers after parting. Nightclubs In 1944, Dean Martin met a young Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946, when Lewis suggested to the club owner that Martin would be a good replacement for the scheduled singer who was unavailable. The duo was n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbott And Costello Meet The Invisible Man
''Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man'' is a 1951 American science fiction comedy film directed by Charles Lamont and starring the team of Abbott and Costello alongside Nancy Guild. The film depicts the misadventures of Lou Francis and Bud Alexander, two private detectives investigating the murder of a boxing promoter. The film was part of a series in which the duo meet classic characters from Universal's stable, including Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Keystone Kops. Plot Lou Francis and Bud Alexander have just graduated from a private detective school. Tommy Nelson, a middleweight boxer, comes to them with their first case. Tommy recently escaped from jail after being accused of murdering his manager, and asks the duo to accompany him on a visit to his fiancée, Helen Gray. He wants her uncle, Dr. Philip Gray, to inject him with a special serum which will render Tommy invisible, and hopes to use the newfound invisibility to investigate his manager's murder and prove his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein
''Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein'' is a 1948 American horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton. The film features Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) who has become partners with Dr. Sandra Mornay (Lenore Aubert), as Dracula requires a "simple, pliable" brain to reactivate Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange). Dracula discovers that the "ideal" brain belongs to Wilbur Grey (Lou Costello) who is wooed by Mornay to the operating table, despite the warnings of Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.). The film was developed and began being made against the wishes of Abbott and Costello, with Costello specifically not liking the script. The film was made under difficulty according to director Barton who found Abbott and Costello often absent or not working on the set. On the film's release, it was one of Universal-Internationals' biggest films of the year and led to several follow-up films involving Abbott and Costello meeting other horror film actors and creatures. The film was well r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wistful Widow Of Wagon Gap
''The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap'' is a 1947 black-and-white comedy Western film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It was released on October 8 and distributed by Universal-International. Plot Chester Wooley and Duke Egan are traveling salesmen who make a stopover in Wagon Gap, Montana while en-route to California. During the stopover, a notorious criminal, Fred Hawkins, is murdered, and the two are charged with the crime. They are quickly tried, convicted, and sentenced to die by hanging. The head of the local citizen's committee, Jim Simpson, recalls a law whereby the survivor of a gun duel must take responsibility for the deceased's debts and family. The law spares the two from execution, but Chester is now responsible for the widow Hawkins and her seven children. They go to her farm, where Chester is worked by Mrs. Hawkins from dawn to dusk. To make matters worse, Chester must work at the saloon at night to repay Hawkin's debt to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buck Privates Come Home
''Buck Privates Come Home'' is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring the team of Abbott and Costello. It was released by Universal-International and is a sequel to their earlier film ''Buck Privates'' (1941). This film marks the final role of veteran actor Nat Pendleton and the film debut of Russ Conway (in the role of an unnamed medic). Plot After serving in Europe during World War II, Herbie Brown and Slicker Smith return to the United States aboard a troop ship. Also on board is their old nemesis, Sgt. Collins. As the ship nears New York, Collins and his superiors search the men's belongings for contraband. Herbie accidentally activates a time bomb, made to look like a camera, that he picked up as a souvenir and has to throw it out the porthole. A six-year-old French orphan, Evey, whom Herbie and Slicker befriended, is found in Herbie's duffle bag. She is handed over to Lt. Sylvia Hunter, who delivers her to immigration officials in New York. Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
