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Sun Valley Serenade
''Sun Valley Serenade'' is a 1941 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Sonja Henie, John Payne, Glenn Miller, Milton Berle, and Lynn Bari. It features the Glenn Miller Orchestra as well as dancing by the Nicholas Brothers. It also features Dorothy Dandridge, performing "Chattanooga Choo Choo", which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996, and was awarded the first Gold Record for sales of 1.2 million. 20th Century Fox re-released the film in 1946 and in 1954 to tie-in with the biopic ''The Glenn Miller Story''. Plot Ted Scott ( John Payne) is a band pianist whose publicity manager decides that, for good press, the band should adopt a foreign refugee. The band goes to Ellis Island to meet the girl and soon discovers that the refugee isn't a 10-year-old child, but a young woman, Karen Benson (Sonja Henie). The surprise comes right before the band is to travel to Sun Valley, Idaho, for a Christmas event. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milton Sperling
Milton Sperling (July 6, 1912 – August 26, 1988) was an American film producer and screenwriter for 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., where he had his own independent production unit, United States Pictures. Biography After leaving the City College of New York, Sperling entered the film industry by working at Paramount's Astoria Studios as a shipping clerk. He later became a personal secretary for Darryl F. Zanuck and Hal Wallis at Warner Bros. in 1931. After Zanuck resigned his position as Head of Production of Warner Bros. studios in 1933 and was offered a position with Twentieth Century Pictures (later merged with Fox Pictures), Sperling became an assistant to Edward Small, an independent film producer who released his Reliance Pictures and Edward Small Productions through United Artists. Sperling learned as much about an independent low-budget film production unit as he had about high-budget major studio films from Zanuck and Wallis at Warner Bros. Zanuck hired Sperli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chattanooga Choo Choo
"Chattanooga Choo Choo" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and composed by Harry Warren. It was originally recorded as a big band/ swing tune by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra and featured in the 1941 movie '' Sun Valley Serenade''. It was the first song to receive a gold record, presented by RCA Victor in 1942, for sales of 1.2 million copies. Background The song was an extended production number in the 20th Century Fox film '' Sun Valley Serenade''. The Glenn Miller recording, RCA Bluebird B-11230-B, became the No. 1 song across the United States on December 7, 1941, and remained at No. 1 for nine weeks on the ''Billboard Best Sellers'' chart. The flip side of the single was "I Know Why (And So Do You)", which was the A side. The song opens up with the band, sounding like a train rolling out of the station, complete with the trumpets and trombones imitating a train whistle, before the instrumental portion comes in playing two parts of the main melody. This is followed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1940 Winter Olympics
The 1940 Winter Olympics, which would have been officially known as the and as Sapporo 1940 (札幌1940), were to have been celebrated from 3 to 12 February 1940 in Sapporo, Japan, but the games were eventually cancelled due to the onset of World War II. Sapporo subsequently hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, becoming the first city in Asia to host the Winter Olympics. History Sapporo was selected to be the host of the fifth edition of the Winter Olympics, scheduled 3–12 February 1940, but Japan gave the Games back to the IOC in July 1938, after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. The IOC then decided to give the Winter Olympics to St. Moritz, Switzerland, which had hosted it in 1928. However, the Swiss organizers believed that ski instructors should be considered professionals. The IOC was not of that mind, and the Games were withdrawn again. In the spring of 1939, the IOC gave the 1940 Winter Olympics, now scheduled for 2–11 February, to Garmisch-Part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gretchen Fraser
Gretchen Kunigk Fraser (February 11, 1919 – February 17, 1994) was an American alpine ski racer. She was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in skiing. She was also the skiing stand-in for ice skater Sonja Henie in the movies '' Thin Ice'' (1937) and ''Sun Valley Serenade'' (1941). Background Born in Tacoma, Washington, Gretchen Kunigk was the daughter of German and Norwegian immigrants, Willibald and Clara Kunigk. Her Norwegian-born mother was a skier and Gretchen first skied at age 13, at Paradise Valley on the south slopes of Mount Rainier in December 1932. Under the tutelage of Otto Lang she became a proficient ski racer and later competed on the ski team at the University of Puget Sound. Career In 1938, she traveled to Sun Valley to compete in the second Harriman Cup, a new international event featuring the best racers in the world. She met 1936 Olympian and Northwest ski champion Donald Fraser (1913–1994) of the University of Washington on the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpine Skiing At The Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1936, when a combined event was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. From 1948 to 1980, the Winter Olympics also served as the World Championships in Olympic years, with separate competitions held in even-numbered non-Olympic years. During this period, the Olympic medalists received an additional medal of the same metal from the International Ski Federation (FIS). The giant slalom was introduced at the 1950 World Championships and at the Olympics in 1952; both programs dropped the combined event, but it returned in 1954 at the World Championships as a "paper" race, using the results of the slalom, giant slalom, and downhill. At the Olympics from 1956 through 1980, World Championship medals were awarded by the FIS in the combined event. It returned as a stand-alone event (one run of downhill, two runs of slalom) at the Olympics in 1988, which also debuted the one-run super-G. The combined event was run ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Modernaires
The Modernaires was an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s alongside Glenn Miller. Career The Modernaires began in 1934 as "Don Juan, Two and Three," a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New York. The members were Hal Dickinson, Chuck Goldstein, and Bill Conway. (Jay Warner, in his book ''American Singing Groups: A History from 1940s to Today'', wrote, "They called themselves Three Weary Willies". He added that the trio performed as Don Juan and Two and Three when they "headed for New York in the mid-'30s".) After singing on radio station WGR in Buffalo, New York, for "the enormous sum of $10 a month", the trio went to New York City and gained an engagement of 26 weeks on CBS network radio. The group's first engagement was at Buffalo's suburban Glen Falls Casino, with the Ted Fio Rito Orchestra. Fio Rito also used them on electrical transcription recordings. They then joined the Ozzie Nelson Band, and became known as "The Thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Almira Sessions
Almira Sessions (September 16, 1888 – August 3, 1974) was an American character actress of stage, screen and television. Born in Washington, D.C., her career took her through all the acting mediums of the 20th century. She appeared in over 500 films and television shows. She worked into her 80s, finally retiring shortly before her death in 1974 in Los Angeles. Early life and career Sessions was born into a very well-known family in Washington D.C. on September 16, 1888. A debutante, she followed her coming out party with her introduction into the acting profession, appearing in a 1909 performance of the comic operetta ''The Sultan of Sulu'' by George Ade and Nathaniel D. Mann. Her early career was spent performing in cabarets before she moved to New York City, where she began performing on the stage and on Bob Hope's radio show. During the 1930s she appeared in many stage productions, including several Broadway productions. Film and television While appearing on the stage i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William B
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 b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Davis
Josephine "Joan" Davis (June 29, 1907 – May 22, 1961) was an American comedic actress whose career spanned vaudeville, film, radio, and television. Remembered best for the 1950s television comedy ''I Married Joan'', Davis had a successful earlier career as a B-movie actress and a leading star of 1940s radio comedy. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, she was the only child of LeRoy Davis and Nina Mae (née Sinks) Davis, who were married in St. Paul on November 23, 1910."Joan was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 29, 1907. Joan's birth certificate is interesting in that it was altered some 32 years after it was originally filed. It has been stamped with a notation along the bottom edge, reading “Amended by State Registrar pursuant to affidavit filed on _____,” with the date 2-11-44 written by hand. Asterisks indicate three areas of the document that were amended. The birth date, originally recorded as July 4, 1912, was crossed out by hand and changed to June 29. No middle name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley is a resort city in the western United States, in Blaine County, Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in the Wood River valley. The population was 1406 at the 2010 census, down from 1427 in 2000.Spokesman-Review – 2010 census – Sun Valley, Idaho; accessed January 7, 2012 The elevation of Sun Valley (at the Lodge) is . Among skiers, the term "Sun Valley" refers to the , which consists of |
Ellis Island
Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 million immigrants arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey were processed there under federal law. Today, it is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and is accessible to the public only by ferry. The north side of the island is the site of the main building, now a national museum of immigration. The south side of the island, including the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is open to the public only through guided tours. In the 19th century, Ellis Island was the site of Fort Gibson and later became a naval magazine. The first inspection station opened in 1892 and was destroyed by fire in 1897. The second station opened in 1900 and housed facilities for medical quarantines and processing immigrants. After 1924, Ellis Island ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
