Stephen C. Apostolof
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Stephen C. Apostolof
Stephen C. Apostolof (February 25, 1928 – August 14, 2005), sometimes credited under aliases A.C. Stephen(s) or Robert Lee, was a Bulgarian-American filmmaker specializing in low-budget exploitation and erotic films, who gained a cult following for a wide variety of films that range from erotic horror (''Orgy of the Dead'') and suburban exposé ('' Suburbia Confidential'') to western-themed costume pictures ('' Lady Godiva Rides'') and ''Mission Impossible''-type capers such as (''Hot Ice''). Apostolof had gained a reputation for creating high-quality mass entertainment with minimal budgets. He was also one of the few directors to work steadily with the infamous Ed Wood and such sexploitation icons as Marsha Jordan and Rene Bond in the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Apostolof was born in the Black Sea town of Burgas, Bulgaria, to Hristo Apostolov, a can manufacturer, and his wife Polyxena. Apostolof had a brother, Stavri, and two sisters, Vesa and Lila. The Apostolofs were an arti ...
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Burgas
Burgas ( bg, Бургас, ), sometimes transliterated as ''Bourgas'', is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the fourth-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, and Varna, with a population of 202,694 inhabitants, while 277,922 live in its urban area. It is the capital of Burgas Province and an important industrial, transport, cultural and tourist centre. The city is surrounded by the Burgas Lakes and located at the westernmost point of the Black Sea, at the large Burgas Bay. LUKOIL Neftochim Burgas is the largest oil refinery in southeastern Europe and the largest industrial enterprise. The Port of Burgas is the largest port in Bulgaria, and Burgas Airport is the second most important in the country. Burgas is the centre of the Bulgarian fishing and fish processing industry.Norman Polmar: ''The Naval Institute guide to the Soviet Navy'', 5. Ausgabe, United States Naval Institute, Naval Institute Press, 1991, p. 447 ...
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Bank Of America
The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank was founded in San Francisco. It is the second-largest banking institution in the United States, after JPMorgan Chase, and the second largest bank in the world by market capitalization. Bank of America is one of the Big Four banking institutions of the United States. It serves approximately 10.73% of all American bank deposits, in direct competition with JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo. Its primary financial services revolve around commercial banking, wealth management, and investment banking. One branch of its history stretches back to the U.S.-based Bank of Italy, founded by Amadeo Pietro Giannini in 1904, which provided various banking options to Italian immigrants who faced service discrimination. Originally headquartered ...
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I Married A Communist
''I Married a Communist'' is a Philip Roth novel concerning the rise and fall of Ira Ringold, known as "Iron Rinn." The story is narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, and is one of a trio of Zuckerman novels Roth wrote in the 1990s depicting the postwar history of Newark, New Jersey and its residents. Ira and his brother Murray serve as two immense influences on the school-age Zuckerman, and the story is told as a contemporary reminiscence between Murray and Nathan on Ira's life. Although a communist, Ira became a star in radio theater. Personal conflicts with McCarthyite politicians, a gossip columnist, and his daughter-addled and manipulative wife all combine to destroy Ira and many of those around him. Contents The novel tells the story of a great betrayal: Ira Ringold, laborer, upstanding communist and then media star, is socially annihilated by his wife Eve in the book, 'My Husband, the Communist'; in the paranoia of the 1950s 'McCarthy' era, almost nobody dares to show solidar ...
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Red Scare
A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which are referred to by this name. The First Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War I, revolved around a perceived threat from the American labor movement, anarchist revolution, and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare, which occurred immediately after World War II, was preoccupied with the perception that national or foreign communists were infiltrating or subverting American society and the federal government. The name refers to the red flag as a common symbol of communism. First Red Scare (1917–1920) The first Red Scare in the United States accompanied the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent communist revolutions in Europe and beyond. Citizens of the United States in the years of World War I (1914-1918) ...
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John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Golden Age, especially in Western and war movies. His career flourished from the silent era of the 1920s through the American New Wave, as he appeared in a total of 179 film and television productions. He was among the top box-office draws for three decades, and he appeared with many other important Hollywood stars of his era. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Wayne as one of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema. Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, but grew up in Southern California. After losing his football scholarship to the University of Southern California from a bodysurfing accident, he began working for the Fox Film Corporation. He appeared mostly in small parts, but his first leading role came in Raoul Wal ...
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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 initial ...
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Sunset Gower Studios
Sunset Gower Studios is a television and movie studio at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street in Hollywood, California. Established in 1912, it continues today as Hollywood's largest independent studio and an active facility for television and film production on its twelve soundstages. History The Poverty Row area of Hollywood, bounded by Sunset Boulevard on the North, Gower Street on the West, and Beachwood Drive on the East, was a collection of small warehouses and offices where independent film makers gathered to buy "short ends" of film from the major studios, in order to create their "great American dreams". In 1922, Harry Cohn of Cohn-Brandt-Cohn (CBC) Film Sales Corporation rented 6070 Sunset Blvd in Poverty Row. Following success and a move into feature films, in 1926, CBC (under its new name of Columbia Pictures), acquired a Gower Street property with stages previously used by California Studios. In 1928, Columbia's official address became 1438 Gower Street ...
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Night Of The Ghouls
''Night of the Ghouls'' is a horror film written and directed by Ed Wood. The film was shot between April and May 1958. Cast member Paul Marco recalled that the film had a preview screening in 1959 at the Vista Theatre in Hollywood, after which it disappeared from sight until 1984, when it was finally released on home video by enterpreneur Wade Williams. The film features some reoccurring cast members and characters from Wood's 1955 ''Bride of the Monster'', including Tor Johnson reprising his role of Lobo and Paul Marco again playing the character of Kelton the cop, while the Amazing Criswell plays himself in the frame story of the film.Craig (2009), p. 178-199 Another returning character is Police Captain Robbins of Homicide, although the character was played by Harvey B. Dunn in ''Bride'', and by Johnny Carpenter in ''Night''. Plot At the beginning, Criswell rises from a coffin and narrates the events of the film. Then a montage starts showing juvenile delinquency, stre ...
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Plan 9 From Outer Space
''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' is a 1957 American independent science fiction-horror film produced, written, directed, and edited by Ed Wood. The film was shot in black-and-white in November 1956 and had a theatrical preview screening on March 15, 1957, at the Carlton Theatre in Los Angeles (the onscreen title at this time read ''Grave Robbers from Outer Space''). It went into general release on July 22, 1959, in Texas and several other southern states re-titled ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'', before being sold to television in 1961. The film stars Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, and "Vampira" (Maila Nurmi) and is narrated by Criswell. It also posthumously bills Bela Lugosi (silent footage of the actor had been shot by Wood for another, unfinished film prior to Lugosi's death in August 1956, and was inserted into ''Plan Nine'' later). Other guest-stars are Hollywood veterans Lyle Talbot, who claimed that he never refused any acting job, and former cowboy star Tom Keene ...
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Bride Of The Monster
''Bride of the Monster'' is a 1955 American science fiction horror film, co-written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood Jr., and starring Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson with a supporting cast featuring Tony McCoy and Loretta King. The film is considered to have Wood's biggest budget ($70,000). Production commenced in 1954 but, due to further financial problems, was not completed until 1955. It was released in May 1955, initially on a double bill with ''Macumba''. Plot In a stretch of woods, two hunters are caught in a thunderstorm. They decide to seek refuge in Willows House, supposedly abandoned and haunted. They find Willows House occupied, and the current owner repeatedly denies them hospitality. They attempt to force their entry into the house, but a giant octopus is released from its tank and sent after them. One of the fleeing hunters is killed by the octopus, while the giant captures the other. The owner is a scientist, Dr. Eric Vornoff, and the giant is his mute assis ...
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Tor Johnson
Karl Erik Tore Johansson (19 October 1902 or 1903; sources differ – 12 May 1971), better known by the stage name Tor Johnson, was a Swedish professional wrestler and actor. As an actor, Johnson appeared in many B-movies, including some famously directed by Ed Wood. In professional wrestling, Johnson was billed as Tor Johnson and Super Swedish Angel. Early life Johnson was born on 19 October 1902 in Brännkyrka, Stockholms län, Sweden, the son of Karl Johan Johansson and Lovisa Kristina Pettersson. His death certificate and grave list 1903 as the year of his birth, contradicting published genealogy records. Career Johnson stood 6'3" and weighed at his heaviest. He had a full head of blonde hair, but shaved it to maintain an imposing and villainous appearance in his wrestling and acting work. He began getting bit parts in films upon moving to California, usually as the strongman or weightlifter, as early as 1934. His film career ended in the early 1960s, after he appeared in ...
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Journey To Freedom
''Journey to Freedom'' is a 1957 American film. The story follows a Bulgarian who escapes from behind the Iron Curtain through Istanbul, Paris and Toronto to seek freedom in Los Angeles, California, but is doggedly pursued by Communist agents. Written and produced by Apostolof and purportedly semi-autobiographical, for his first film project he sought out exploitation veteran Dertano and the one-eyed cinematographer William C. Thompson to create "SCA Productions". The anti-Communist tone is comparable to other films of the Red Scare: ''I Married a Communist'' (1949), '' The Red Menace'' (1949) and '' Big Jim McLain'' (1952). The film featured Tor Johnson, the Swedish wrestler best known for appearing in Edward D. Wood Jr.'s movies. It was shot in the Sunset Gower Studios and picked up for distribution by Republic Pictures shortly before they suspended feature film production. Cast * Jacques Scott as Stephan Raikin * Geneviève Aumont as Nanette * George Graham as J ...
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