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Sons Of The Pioneers
The Sons of the Pioneers are one of the United States' earliest Western singing groups. Known for their vocal performances, their musicianship, and their songwriting, they produced innovative recordings that have inspired many Western music performers and remained popular through the years. Since 1933, through many changes in membership, the Sons of the Pioneers have remained one of the longest-surviving country music vocal groups. Origins In the spring of 1931, Ohio-born Leonard Slye, the cowboy singer who would later change his name to Roy Rogers, arrived in California and found work as a truck driver, and later as a fruit picker for the Del Monte company in California's Central Valley. He entered an amateur singing contest on a Los Angeles radio show called Midnight Frolics and a few days later got an invitation to join a group called the Rocky Mountaineers. In September 1931, Canadian-born Bob Nolan answered a classified ad in the ''Los Angeles Herald-Examiner'' that read, " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbow Over Texas
''Rainbow Over Texas'' is a 1946 American Western film in which Roy Rogers plays himself as a famous cowboy-singer returning to Texas. Directed by Frank McDonald from a story by Max Brand, it co-stars George "Gabby" Hayes and Dale Evans. The self-portrayal of Roy Rogers as a more glamorous version of himself in ''Rainbow Over Texas'' revealed the great lengths to which Hollywood film studios would go in promoting their own film stars and made patently clear the self-referential advertising employed by studio productions in order to garner greater box office sales. Since that time, "rainbow over Texas" has become a colloquialism for anyone who self-aggrandizes their own life in mythic and fantastical terms. For example, an individual who confabulates their previous experiences or resume out of either ignorance or self-importance is likened to a "rainbow over Texas". The movie was shot on location near 426 W. Potrero Road in Thousand Oaks, California.Schneider, Jerry L. (2015). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tumbling Tumbleweeds
"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" is a song composed by Bob Nolan. Although one of the most famous songs associated with the Sons of the Pioneers, the song was composed by Nolan in the 1930s, while working as a caddy and living in Los Angeles. Originally titled "Tumbling Leaves," the song was reworked into the title "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" and into fame with the 1935 Gene Autry film of the same name. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time. Cover versions * The Sons of the Pioneers first recorded the song for Decca on August 8, 1934 and it enjoyed chart success that year. Their 1934 recording was selected by the Library of Congress as a 2010 addition to the National Recording Registry, which selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Their 1946 version of the song was featured in the 1998 film '' The Big Lebowski'', though it did not appear on the soundtrack release. * Gene Autry r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Gilmore
Arthur Wells Gilmore, known as Art Gilmore (March 18, 1912 – September 25, 2010) was an American actor and announcer heard on radio and television programs, children's records, movies, trailers, radio commercials, and documentary films. He also appeared in several television series and a few feature films. Biography Reared in Tacoma, Washington, Gilmore attended Washington State University in 1931, where he was a member of the Chi chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity and a member of the Alpha Omicron chapter of Theta Chi fraternity. In 1935, he was hired to work as an announcer for Seattle's KOL Radio. In 1936, he became a staff announcer for the Warner Brothers' radio station KFWB in Hollywood and then moved to the CBS-owned station KNX as a news reader. During World War II, he served as a fighter-director U.S. Navy officer aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. Leaving the Navy, he decided to become a professional singer and returned to Hollywood. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Corporation Of America
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Company. In 1932, RCA became an independent company after the partners were required to divest their ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit. An innovative and progressive company, RCA was the dominant electronics and communications firm in the United States for over five decades. RCA was at the forefront of the mushrooming radio industry in the early 1920s, as a major manufacturer of radio receivers, and the exclusive manufacturer of the first superheterodyne sets. RCA also created the first nationwide American radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The company was also a pioneer in the introduction and development of television, both black and white and especially color television. During this pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ding Dong Williams
''Ding Dong Williams'' is a 1946 American comedy film directed by William Berke, and written by Brenda Weisberg and M. Coates Webster. The film stars Glen Vernon (under his real name, Glenn Vernon), Marcy McGuire, Felix Bressart, Anne Jeffreys, and James Warren. It was released on April 15, 1946 by RKO Radio Pictures. Plot Hollywood's Sunrise Studios is producing a film about a heartbroken composer who creates a modern rhapsody. The head of the music department, Hugo Meyerhold (Felix Bressart), and his young secretary Angela Jones (Marcy McGuire) engage jive clarinetist Ding Dong Williams (Glenn Vernon). However, Ding Dong's musical skills are limited to improvisation; he can't read or write music and just plays music the way he feels at the moment. Angela tries various schemes to induce Ding Dong to play something sad and soulful, including a fake romance with the studio's cowboy star, but all of her attempts fail. Ding Dong, dressed down by the studio boss and disillusioned by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum (KAO) theater chain and Joseph P. Kennedy's Film Booking Offices of America (FBO) studio were brought together under the control of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in October 1928. RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the company's sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone, and in early 1929 production began under the RKO name (an abbreviation of Radio-Keith-Orpheum). Two years later, another Kennedy holding, the Pathé studio, was folded into the operation. By the mid-1940s, RKO was controlled by investor Floyd Odlum. RKO has long been renowned for its cycle of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid-to-late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hollywood Canteen (film)
''Hollywood Canteen'' is a 1944 American musical romantic comedy film starring Joan Leslie, Robert Hutton, Dane Clark and features many stars (appearing as themselves) in cameo roles. and produced by Warner Bros. The film was written and directed by Delmer Daves and received three Oscar nominations. Plot Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at the Hollywood Canteen before returning to active duty in the South Pacific. Slim Green ( Robert Hutton) is the millionth GI to enjoy the Canteen, and consequently wins a date with Joan Leslie. The other GI, Sergeant Nolan ( Dane Clark) gets to dance with Joan Crawford. Canteen founders Bette Davis and John Garfield give talks on the history of the Canteen. The soldiers enjoy a variety of musical numbers performed by a host of Hollywood stars, and also comedians, such as Jack Benny and his violin. Cameo appearances The film's setting is the Hollywood Canteen, a free entertainment club open to servicemen. The Canteen was created as ... [...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] |
Casa Loma Orchestra
The Casa Loma Orchestra was an American dance band active from 1929 to 1963. Until the rapid multiplication in the number of swing bands from 1935 on, the Casa Loma Orchestra was one of the top North American dance bands. With the decline of the big band business following the end of World War II, it disbanded in 1947. However, from 1957 to 1963, it re-emerged as a recording session band in Hollywood, made up of top-flight studio musicians under the direction of its most notable leader of the past, Glen Gray. The reconstituted band made a limited number appearances live and on television and recorded fifteen LP albums for Capitol Records before Gray died in 1963. The band recorded and released the original version of the jazz and big band standard "Sunrise Serenade" in 1938 with Frankie Carle on piano. History The band assembled in 1927 as the Orange Blossoms, one of several Detroit groups that came out of the Jean Goldkette office. The band adopted the name "Casa Loma" by the ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glen Gray
Glenn Gray Knoblauch (June 7, 1900 – August 23, 1963), known professionally as Glen Gray, was an American jazz saxophonist and leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra.'' The Mississippi Rag'', "Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra," George A. Borgman, October 2006, page 1 Early years Gray was born to Lurdie P. and Agnes (Gray) Knoblauch in Roanoke, Illinois, United States. His father was a saloon keeper and railroad worker who died when Glen was two years of age. He had an older sister. His widowed mother married George H. DeWilde, a coal miner, and moved her family to Roanoke. Gray graduated from Roanoke High School, in 1917 where he played basketball and acquired his nickname, "Spike". Career Gray attended the American Conservatory of Music in 1921 but left during his first year to go to Peoria, Illinois, to play with George Haschert's orchestra. From 1924 to 1929, he played with several orchestras in Detroit, Michigan. Gray served as leader of the Casa Loma Orchestra tho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Pictures
Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City and a movie ranch in Encino. It was best known for specializing in Westerns, serials, and B films emphasizing mystery and action. Republic was also notable for developing the careers of John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers. It was also responsible for the financing and distribution of a few A films directed by John Ford during the 1940s and early 1950s and one Shakespeare film, ''Macbeth'' (1948), directed by Orson Welles. Under Herbert J. Yates, Republic was considered a mini-major film studio. Company history Created in 1935 by Herbert J. Yates, a longtime investor in film (having invested in 20th Century Pictures at its founding in 1933) and owner of the film processing laboratory Consolidated Film Industries, Republic was ini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Starrett
Charles Robert Starrett (March 28, 1903 – March 22, 1986) was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the ''Durango Kid'' westerns. Starrett still holds the record for starring in the longest series of theatrical features: 131 westerns, all produced by Columbia Pictures. Early years Starrett was born in Athol, Massachusetts, where his grandfather had built a prosperous tool works. He attended Worcester Academy, then graduated from Dartmouth College. Career A graduate of Worcester Academy in 1922, Starrett went on to study at Dartmouth College. While on the Dartmouth football team he was hired to play a football extra in the film ''The Quarterback'' (1926). Bitten by the acting bug, Starrett played minor roles in films and leading roles in stage plays. In 1928, he was a member of the Walker Company, a repertory theatre troupe headed by Stuart Walker. He played the romantic lead in his first movie, '' Fast and Loose'' (1930), which starred Frank Morgan, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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