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Stepping Sisters
''Stepping Sisters'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Seymour Felix and starring Louise Dresser, Minna Gombell and Jobyna Howland.Solomon p.331 Premise A trio of former burlesque dancers now living in high society try to prevent their past occupation from being discovered. Main cast * Louise Dresser as Mrs. Cissie Ramsey née Black * Minna Gombell as Rosie La Marr * Jobyna Howland as Lady Chetworth-Lynde aka Queenie * William Collier Sr. as Herbert Ramsey * Stanley Smith as Jack Carleton * Barbara Weeks as Norma Ramsey * Howard Phillips as Warren Tremaine * Ferdinand Munier as Ambassador Leonard * Mary Forbes as Mrs. Tremaine * Robert Greig as Jepson * Pietro Sosso as Butler * Franklin Pangborn as Gason * Arthur Housman as Max * Max Wagner Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seymour Felix
Seymour Felix (October 23, 1892 – March 16, 1961) was an American director, performer, and choreographer best known for his work in early Broadway musicals. Seymour was born on October 23, 1892 in New York City. He began his show business career as a professional dancer in vaudeville at the age of 15. In the 1920s he became a dance director in New York, creating and staging dance numbers for such shows as '' Hit the Deck'' (1927), ''Whoopee!'' (1928), and '' Rosalie'' (1928). In 1929, he moved to Hollywood to begin staging musical films. Although he did direct two films, ''Girls Demand Excitement'' (1931) and '' Stepping Sisters '' (1932), he enjoyed his greatest successes as a choreographer in both New York and Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, he choreographed his most notable films such as ''The Great Ziegfeld'' (1936), ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' (1938), ''Rose of Washington Square'' (1939), ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942, which he choreographed with LeRoy Prinz and Jack Boyle) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pre-Code Hollywood
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known as the "Hays Code", in mid-1934. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor, and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934, with the establishment of the Production Code Administration (PCA). Before that date, film content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion, than by strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers. As a result, some films in the late 1920s and early 1930s depicted or implied innuendo, sexual innuendo, miscegenation, romantic and sexual relationships between white and black people, mild profanity, Recreational drug use, illegal drug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1932 Comedy Films
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1932 Films
The following is an overview of 1932 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1932 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events The Film Daily Yearbook listed the following as the ten leading headline events of the year. * Sidney Kent leaves Paramount Pictures and joins Fox Film. * Merlin H Aylesworth succeeds Hiram S Brown as president of RKO. * Jesse L. Lasky leaves Paramount and becomes an independent producer for Fox. * Sam Katz leaves Paramount. * James R Grainger leaves Fox and is succeeded by John D Clark, formerly of Paramount. * Publix and Fox decentralization of cinemas. * New industry program, including standard exhibition contract along lines of 5-5-5, proposed by Motion Picture Theater Owners of America and Allied. * Joe Brandt retires from Columbia Pictures joins World-Wide and later resigns again. * Two Radio City theaters open, under dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Wagner
Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 films in his career, most without receiving screen credit.Erickson, HaBiography (Allmovie)/ref> In 1927, he was a leading witness in the well-publicized manslaughter trials of actor Paul Kelly and actress/screenwriter Dorothy Mackaye. Biography Wagner was one of five children, all boys, of William Wallace Wagner, a railroad conductor, and Edith Wagner, a writer who provided dispatches for the ''Christian Science Monitor'' during the Mexican Revolution. When he was 10 years old, his father was killed by rebels and the family moved to Salinas, California, where he met John Steinbeck, who became a lifelong friend. Steinbeck based the character of the boy in his novel ''The Red Pony'' on Wagner. Three of Wagner's brothers were working in Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Housman
Arthur Housman (October 10, 1889 – April 8, 1942) was an American actor in films during both the silent film era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Career Arthur Housman was one of the first screen comedians known to the public by name, and one of the first to be part of a movie comedy team. He was a slapstick comic and light leading man for the pioneer Edison studio in New York. In 1913-14 the Edison company cast Housman opposite character actor William Wadsworth as the comedy team "Waddy and Arty." As a member of Edison's stock company, Housman participated in Edison's experimental production of talking pictures. Edison had engineered a way to synchronize dialogue and music (via phonograph records) with the visual action on film, and produced such novelties as ''Musical Blacksmiths'' (a male chorus) and ''Nursery Favorites''. Housman appeared in several reels, including ''The Edison Minstrels'' (as the interlocutor making the spoken announcements) and ''Jack's Joke''. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Franklin Pangborn
Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' International House'', ''The Bank Dick'', and ''Never Give a Sucker an Even Break''. For his contributions to motion pictures, Pangborn received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street on February 8, 1960. Early years Pangborn was born in Newark, New Jersey. During World War I, he served for 14 months with the 312th Infantry in Europe. Career An encounter with actress Mildred Holland when he was 17 led to Pangborn's first professional acting experience. He was working for an insurance company when she learned about his ambitions for acting and offered him an extra's position with her company at $12 per week, initially during his two weeks' vacation. That opportunity grew into four years' touring with Holland and her troupe. Fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Greig
Robert Greig (December 27, 1879 – June 27, 1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler. Born Arthur Alfred Bede Greig, he was the nephew of Australian politician and solicitor William Bede Dalley. He was commonly known as "Bob". Career Greig was born near Melbourne, in 1878. He married fellow actor Beatrice Denver Holloway in 1912. After a successful career in Melbourne, he and his wife sailed for the United States, and he made his Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in 1928 in an operetta, ''Countess Maritza''. His next production was the Marx Brothers' comedy ''Animal Crackers (musical), Animal Crackers'', in which he portrayed "Hives" the butler. He reprised the role in the Animal Crackers (1930 film), 1930 film version, which was his movie debut and set the pattern for much of his career, as he was often cast as a butler or other servant.Erickson, HaBiography (Allmovie)/ref> He performe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Forbes
Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1919 and 1958. ancestry.com; accessed 25 September 2015. Forbes was born in Hornsey, England. She made her first public appearance on the concert platform giving recitals. Her acting debut was in 1908 on the London stage at |
Barbara Weeks (film Actress)
Barbara Weeks (born Susan Kingsley; July 4, 1913 – June 24, 2003) was an American film actress who performed primarily in Hollywood productions of the 1930s. Early years Weeks was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, and attended Melrose High School. Her mother was an actress, and "from the time Barbara was 3 years old her ambition was to be an actress, too." She entered acting through her participation in the ''Ziegfeld Follies'', when she was cast in ''Whoopee''. "I was scared to death," Weeks said of meeting Florenz Ziegfeld. "His office was an oblong room and you had to walk and walk to get to his desk. He was seated behind his desk, where on top were an assortment of toy elephants. I'll never forget that meeting." After the show closed, Weeks and other cast members, including star Eddie Cantor and Ethel Shutta, were brought to Hollywood to make the film version. Weeks felt it did not translate well, in spite of its smash hit success. "The audience has a lot to do with it. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Smith (actor)
Stanley Smith (1903 – 1974) was a film actor and singer. He had leading roles opposite various other stars and featured in several musicals. He was born in Kansas City. He co-starred opposite Clara Bow in ''Love Among the Millionaires''. He married Mary Lawlor in the finale of '' Good News''. He signed with Paramount Pictures. Filmography * ''The Sophomore'' (1929) *'' Sweetie'' (1929) *''Honey (1930) *''Paramount on Parade'' (1930) *''Love Among the Millionaires'' (1930) *'' King of Jazz'' (1930) *''Soup to Nuts'' (1930), the original film featuring the Three Stooges *'' Follow the Leader'' (1930) *'' Good News'' (1930) *''Queen High'' (1930) *''Hot Saturday'' (1932) *'' Stepping Sisters'' (1932) *'' Hard to Handle'' (1933), vocalist in the band *''Reform Girl ''Reform Girl'' is a 1933 American crime drama film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Noel Francis, Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher and Hale Hamilton.Pitts p.436 Shortly after being released from reform school, a you ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Collier Sr
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''Wilhelm'' and Old Norse ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name should be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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