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Sol Wurtzel
Solomon Max Wurtzel (September 12, 1890 – April 9, 1958) was an American film producer. Life and career Born in New York City, the second of five brothers; his parents were both Polish Jews from the village of Ulanow (Surname ''Wurtzel'' is a variant spelling of German and Yiddish ''wurzel'', ''root'' in English). Wurtzel worked as an executive assistant to William Fox, founding owner of the Fox Film Corporation. In 1911, Wurtzel hired Alan E. Freedman as a bookkeeper for Fox's fledgling film processing laboratory. Freedman would remain for over 50 years, eventually turning the operation into the gargantuan "Color by DeLuxe" DeLuxe Laboratories. In 1917, Fox sent Wurtzel to California to oversee the studio's West Coast productions. Early in Wurtzel's career, he shepherded Fox's Hollywood studio through the Spanish Flu pandemic. He developed a formula for creating consistently profitable B movies that are heralded today. During his 34 year career at Fox and 20th Centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
The Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary is a Jewish cemetery located at 6001 West Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. Many Jews from the entertainment industry are buried here. The cemetery is known for Al Jolson's elaborate tomb (designed by Los Angeles architect Paul Williams (architect), Paul Williams), a 75-foot-high pergola and monument atop a hill above a water cascade, all visible from the adjacent Interstate 405 (California), San Diego Freeway.Edmon J. Rodmon"You ain't heard Kol Nidre yet" ''Washington Jewish Week'', September 13, 2012. History Built on 35 acres of rolling hills in an undeveloped area near Inglewood, California, Inglewood, the cemetery was originally founded as B'nai B'rith Memorial Park in 1941 by Lazare F. Bernhard and Robert S. Groman, Robert S. and Harry Groman, founders of Groman Mortuaries in 1936 and sons of Charles Groman, who co-founded the first licensed Jewish mortuary west of Chicago, Glasband-Groman-Glasband, before it was renamed "Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards cerem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shtetl
A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The term is used in the contexts of peculiarities of former East European Jewish societies as islands within the surrounding non-Jewish populace, and bears certain socio-economic and cultural connotations.Marie Schumacher-Brunhes"Shtetl" ''European History Online'', published July 3, 2015 Shtetls (or shtetels, shtetlach, shtetelach or shtetlekh) were mainly found in the areas that constituted the 19th-century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire as well as in Congress Poland, Austrian Galicia, Kingdom of Romania and in the Kingdom of Hungary. In Yiddish, a larger city, like Lviv or Chernivtsi, is called a ' ( yi, שטאָט), and a village is called a ' ( yi, דאָרף). "Shtetl" is a diminutive of ' with the meanin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, North Macedonia to the south, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, and Montenegro to the southwest, and claims a border with Albania through the Political status of Kosovo, disputed territory of Kosovo. Serbia without Kosovo has about 6.7 million inhabitants, about 8.4 million if Kosvo is included. Its capital Belgrade is also the List of cities in Serbia, largest city. Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the territory of modern-day Serbia faced Slavs#Migrations, Slavic migrations in the 6th century, establishing several regional Principality of Serbia (early medieval), states in the early Mid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas
''Chetniks! The Fighting Guerrillas'' is a war film made by Twentieth Century Fox in 1943. The film starred Philip Dorn, Anna Sten, and Martin Kosleck. The film was originally titled ''The Seventh Column''. It was directed by Louis King and is based on a story by Jack Andrews, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The film was produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and Bryan Foy. The film was announced in ''Boxoffice'' magazine in the May 30, 1942 issue: "'The Seventh Column,' a story based on exploits of General Draža Mihailović, Yugoslav guerilla leader." The movie appears in the American Film Institute (AFI) catalogue for American feature films made between 1941–1950''. The movie was advertised in an original print ad as follows: "Announcing -- The most stirring picture released this year! Thrill follows thrill in this living drama...that flames out of today's electrifying headlines! This very moment...a Nazi troop train is being destroyed...! Live, love, fight with Draja Mihailovitch an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Big Noise (1944 Film)
''The Big Noise'' is a 1944 comedy film starring the comedic duo Laurel and Hardy. It was produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and directed by Mal St.Clair. Plot While cleaning the office of a detective agency, janitors Laurel and Hardy answer a telephone call from an inventor who claims to have created a destructive bomb he calls "The Big Noise." Posing as detectives, the duo move into the inventor's home, where they must contend with his eccentric behavior, oddball widowed aunt (who takes a fancy to Hardy) and his misbehaving nephew. The inventor's neighbors are crooks who are eager to steal the new bomb. Laurel and Hardy hide the bomb in a concertina and steal an airplane to bring it to Washington. However, the airplane is a remote control target used by the U.S. Army for gunnery training. Laurel and Hardy barely escape by parachuting to safety over the Pacific Ocean, and they dispose of the bomb by dropping it on a Japanese submarine. Cast Production ''The Big Noise'' was the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jitterbugs
''Jitterbugs'' is a 1943 Laurel and Hardy feature film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel and directed by Mal St.Clair. Plot Stan and Ollie are musicians travelling across the country as "The Original Zoot Suit Band". En route to their next gig, their car runs out of gas and they are rescued by Chester Wright, an inventor who has perfected a pill which will turn water into gas (in reality he is a small-time con man who simply switches a water canister with a canister of gas when the duo aren't looking). The trio make a plan to travel to the next town "Midvale" and after using Stan and Ollie's music to attract a crowd Chester takes the opportunity to sell his "miracle pill" to the masses and make a fortune. As Stan and Ollie play, Chester makes the acquaintance of a young choir singer named Susan. The trio's sales pitch is initially a success but their scam is soon uncovered when a customer returns after having poured the "gasoline" into the fuel tank of his car and ended up in a nasty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A-Haunting We Will Go (1942 Film)
''A-Haunting We Will Go'' is a 1942 Laurel and Hardy feature film released by 20th Century Fox and directed by Alfred L. Werker. The story is credited to Lou Breslow and Stanley Rauh. The title is a play on the song "A-Hunting We Will Go". Plot Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are two hobos roaming the Arizona countryside. After being arrested for loitering, they spend a night in jail in town. When they are released the day after they are ordered to leave town immediately. Since the men lack every kind of transportation, they come up with the desperate idea of traveling as escort to a coffin and an undertaker's railroad transport of a corpse out of town to Dayton, Ohio. The corpse will still be in the coffin, of course, but they at least get the transport for free. Stan and Oliver are happily unaware that the men who have hired them, Frank Lucas and Joe Morgan, are gangsters, working as henchmen for their boss Darby Mason, who is wanted by the law. Mason's real name is Norton, but t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Guns
''Great Guns'' is a 1941 film directed by Monty Banks, and produced by Sol M. Wurtzel for 20th Century Fox starring Laurel and Hardy. It is also known as ''Forward March''. Plot The young, spoiled but feeble Daniel Forrester IV (Dick Nelson), a very rich eligible bachelor, gets his draft notice from the US Army and is beside himself with joy, because now he has a chance to prove he does not have the weak constitution his aunts Martha (Mae Marsh) and Agatha (Ethel Griffies) believe him to have. Daniel performs well at his army physical and is enrolled in the army soon afterward. To look after Daniel during his service, his chauffeur Ollie (Oliver Hardy) and gardener Stan (Stan Laurel) join the army at the same time. They all go to basic military training at legendary Fort Merritt in Texas. Daniel finds the army to his liking, performing excellently at the exercises, but Stan and Ollie are less happy with their new duties. Their drill sergeant, Hippo (Edmund MacDonald), consider ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurel And Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "sound film, talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer Marvin Hatley, T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats. Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dangerous Years
''Dangerous Years'' is a 1947 American drama film produced by Sol M. Wurtzel, directed by Arthur Pierson, starring Billy Halop and Ann E. Todd. Marilyn Monroe makes her first onscreen appearance as Evie, the waitress in the restaurant scenes. Plot The God-fearing residents of Middleton are worried that the Gopher Hole, a new roadhouse restaurant outside of town, will bring their teenage kids to ruin. Jeff Carter, a local teacher who also runs a youth club for the boys, takes a closer look at the place to see if the worries are justified. Jeff discovers that a group of boys from town, including Willy Miller, Gene Spooner and the tough Danny Jones, are robbing a warehouse in town. Jeff tries to stop them, but in the struggle is shot and killed by Danny. The boys flee, using Willy's father's delivery truck, but the truck is recognized by a witness working at the warehouse. The boys hide out at the Gopher Hole, joining a game of cards and acting as if they have been there all nigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution. She was a top-billed actress for a decade, and her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $ billion in ) by the time of her death in 1962. Long after her death, Monroe remains a major icon of pop culture. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her sixth on their list of the greatest female screen legends from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Multiple film critics and media outlets have cited Monroe as one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Monroe spent most of her childhood in a total of 12 foster homes and an orphanage; she married at age sixteen. She was working in a factory during World War II when she met a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
