|
The Big Shot (1942 Film)
''The Big Shot'' (1942) is an American film noir crime drama film starring Humphrey Bogart as a crime boss and Irene Manning as the woman he falls in love with. Having finally reached stardom with such projects as '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941), this would be the last film in which former supporting player Bogart would portray a gangster for Warner Bros. (He would play a gangster one last time in his penultimate film, '' The Desperate Hours'', distributed by Paramount). Although ''The Big Shot'' entered production after ''Across the Pacific'', it was released nearly three months earlier. Considered one of Bogart's lesser-known works, contemporary reviews of ''The Big Shot'' describe it as an unexceptional throwback to his earlier gangster films, most likely trying to take advantage of the success of crime drama '' High Sierra'' (1941). It was released on DVD for the first time by Warner Archive early in 2015. Plot summary Three-time loser Duke Berne is dying in a prison hospital ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lewis Seiler
Lewis Seiler (September 30, 1890 – January 8, 1964) was an American film director. He directed more than 80 films between 1923 and 1958. Seiler was born in New York City and died in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography *''A Bankrupt Honeymoon'' (1926) *''The Great K & A Train Robbery'' (1926) *''No Man's Gold'' (1926) *''Wolf Fangs'' (1927) *''The Ghost Talks (1929 film), The Ghost Talks'' (1929) *''Girls Gone Wild (1929 film), Girls Gone Wild'' (1929) *''Frontier Marshal (1934 film), Frontier Marshal'' (1934) *''Charlie Chan in Paris'' (1935) *''He Couldn't Say No'' (1938) *''Crime School'' (1938) *''Heart of the North'' (1938) *''You Can't Get Away with Murder'' (1939) *''Hell's Kitchen (1939 film), Hell's Kitchen'' (1939) *''Dust Be My Destiny'' (1939) *''King of the Underworld (1939 film), King of the Underworld'' (1939) *''Tugboat Annie Sails Again'' (1940) *''Flight Angels'' (1940) *''It All Came True'' (1940) *''The Big Shot (1942 film), The Big Shot'' (1942) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Peters
Susan Peters (born Suzanne Carnahan; July 3, 1921 – October 23, 1952) was an American actress who appeared in over twenty films over the course of her decade-long career. Though she began her career in uncredited and ingénue roles, she would establish herself as a serious dramatic actress in the mid-1940s. Born in Spokane, Washington, Peters was raised by her widowed mother in Portland, Oregon, and, later, Los Angeles. Upon graduating from high school, she studied acting with Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt, and signed a contract with Warner Bros. Pictures. She appeared in numerous bit parts before earning a minor supporting role in ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940). She made her last film for Warner Bros. in 1942, the film noir '' The Big Shot'' opposite Humphrey Bogart and Richard Travis; after its release, Warner opted not to renew her contract. In 1942, Peters appeared in a supporting role in ''Tish'', which resulted in her signing a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Sale
Virginia Sale (May 20, 1899 – August 23, 1992) was an American character actress whose career spanned six decades, during most of which she played older women, even when she was in her twenties. Over the 46 years she was active as an actress, she worked in films, stage, radio and television. She was famous for her one-woman stage show, ''Americana Sketches'', which she did for more than 1,000 performances during a 15-year span. Married to actor and studio executive Sam Wren, she co-starred with him in one of the first television family comedies, ''Wren's Nest'', in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She gave birth to fraternal twins, Virginia and Christopher, in 1936. Later in her career she worked on television, and in commercials. She died from heart failure at the age of 93 at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in 1992. Early life Born on May 20, 1899, in Urbana, Illinois to Frank Orville and Lillie Belle (Partlow) Sale, she attended the University of Illinois for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Edmunds (actor)
William Edmunds (Michele Giuseppe Pellegrino; September 18, 1886 – December 7, 1981) was an Italian-American stage and screen character actor, typically playing roles with heavy accents (generally Italian, Spanish, and French), most notable as Mr. Giuseppe Martini in ''It's a Wonderful Life''. Early life Born the son of Donato Antonio Pellegrino and Maria Giovanna Ricigliano in San Fele, in the Italian region of Basilicata, he was christened Michele Frondino Pellegrino. He emigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings on the S/S ''Britannia'', which sailed from Naples, Italy, and arrived at the Port of New York in April 1897. As an adult, he became an actor on the New York stage. Career He received his first credited role in motion pictures in the Bob Hope vehicle ''Going Spanish'' (1934). He relocated to Hollywood in 1938 and had bit parts in films such as '' Idiot's Delight'' (1939), and larger roles such as '' House of Frankenstein'' (1944, as gypsy leader ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virginia Brissac
Virginia Brissac (June 11, 1883 – July 26, 1979) was a popular American stage actress who headlined theatre companies from Vancouver to San Diego during the heyday of West Coast Stock in the early 1900s. An ingénue and leading lady known for her natural style and charm on stage, Brissac played with equal success in both comedies and dramas and went on to have a long second career as a character actress in film and television. In addition to playing mothers, grandmothers, and confidants to film stars such as Bette Davis (in ''The Little Foxes'' and ''Dark Victory''), Tyrone Power (in ''Captain from Castile''), and John Wayne (in ''Operation Pacific''), Brissac was cast as farm women and rancher's wives ('' Jesse James'', '' The Daltons Ride Again'', ''State Fair''), aristocrats and society women (''The Phantom of the Rue Morgue'', ''Old Los Angeles'', ''Executive Suite''), and various nurses, seamstresses, and landladies. She is probably best remembered for her role as the gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hamilton (actor)
John Rummel Hamilton (January 16, 1887 – October 15, 1958) was an American actor who appeared in many movies and television programs, including the role as the blustery newspaper editor Perry White in the 1950s television program '' Adventures of Superman''. Biography John Hamilton was born in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania to John M. Hamilton and his wife Cornelia J. (Hollar) Hamilton. Hamilton was the youngest of four children, and his mother died eight days after his birth. Hamilton grew up in neighboring Southampton Township Pennsylvania, where his father worked as a store clerk. Hamilton's father was also appointed Shippensburg's trustee for the State Superintendent of Public Education, allowing Hamilton to attend college at Dickinson College and Shippensburg State Teacher's College. He opted to forgo teaching for a stage career, however. After becoming an actor, he worked in Broadway plays and in touring theatrical companies for many years prior to his 1930 movie debut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe King (actor)
Joe King ( – ) was an American actor of silent films and talkies as well as a director and writer. Biography King was born in Austin, Texas as Joseph Sayer King and acted in 211 films from 1912 to 1946. He appeared in his later years mainly in minor, uncredited roles. He directed two films, both in 1916 and wrote one script in 1915. Joe King was married to actress Hazel Buckham and he died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * '' The Battle of Gettysburg'' (1913) as Jack Lamar, the Confederate Brother * '' Her Bounty'' (1914, Short) as David Hale * '' The Pipes o' Pan'' (1914, Short) as Stephen Arnold * ''The Eternal Feminine'' (1915) as John Strong * ''Wild Winship's Widow'' (1917) * '' Big Timber'' (1917) * '' The Rose of Blood'' (1917) * '' Madame Du Barry'' (1917) * '' The Last Rebel'' (1918) * ''Everywoman's Husband'' (1918) * ''Shifting Sands'' (1918) * ''The Hand at the Window'' (1918) * '' The Secret Code'' (1918) * ''Love's Prisoner' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Ridgely
John Ridgely (born John Huntington Rea, September 6, 1909 – January 18, 1968) was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits. Early years Ridgely was born in Chicago, Illinois,Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P. 973. the son of John Ridgely Rea. Ridgely's elementary schooling was in Hinsdale, Illinois, and he attended Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri. He also attended Stanford University before his debut in movies. Film He appeared in the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film ''The Big Sleep'' as blackmailing gangster Eddie Mars and had a pivotal role as a suffering heart patient in the film noir ''Nora Prentiss'' (1947). His most prominent other roles were his top-billed part as the bomber captain in Howard Hawks's ''Air Force'' and as real-life fighter pilot Tex Hill in 1945's '' God is My Co-Pilot''. The Chicago-born actor appeared in a large number ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Drew
Roland Drew (born Walter Goss; August 4, 1900 – March 17, 1988) was an American actor. Biography Born in 1900 in New York City, Drew made his first film in 1926 and continued to work until the 1940s. Noted primarily as Dolores del Río's leading man in ''Ramona'' in 1928, another of his prominent film roles was as Dr. Robinson in ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' a decade later. His other appearances include ''From Nine to Nine'', '' Hitler, Beast of Berlin'', '' Bermuda Mystery'', and ''Two O'Clock Courage''. He also gained fame as Prince Barin in the 1940 film serial ''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe''. On Broadway, Drew portrayed Jackson Macy in ''Shooting Star'' (1933) and Lieutenant Roget in ''Paths of Glory'' (1935). He retired from acting and became a dressmaker. He enlisted as a private in the U.S. Army in September 1942 during World War II. Drew married actress Dorothy Dearing Dorothy Dearing (April 17, 1913 – April 19, 1965) was an American ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murray Alper
Murray Alper (January 11, 1904 – November 16, 1984) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, films, and Broadway productions. Biography Born in New York City in 1904, Alper worked on Broadway from 1927 to 1940 in a number of shows including ''The Wild Man of Borneo'', ''This is New York'', ''Broadway Boy'', ''Sailor Beware!'', and ''Every Man for Himself''. Alper appeared in more than 200 films and TV series from the 1930s to the end of the 1960s. Quite often his work was uncredited and he never received a top billing in one of his movies. His first known screen credit was in ''The Royal Family of Broadway'' (1930) a part he had already played on Broadway in 1927/28. His signature character was a chatty taxi driver, which he played at least 20 times, most notably in '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941) as a friendly cabbie who drives Sam Spade, played by Humphrey Bogart, during a mid-film wild goose chase, as well as in such other well-known films as ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Da Silva
Howard Da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in more than two dozen television programs, and acted in more than fifty feature films. Adept at both drama and musicals on the stage, he originated the role of Jud Fry in the original 1943 run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''Oklahoma!'', and also portrayed the prosecuting attorney in the 1957 stage production of ''Compulsion''. Da Silva was nominated for a 1960 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in ''Fiorello!'', a musical about New York City mayor LaGuardia. In 1961, Da Silva directed ''Purlie Victorious'', by Ossie Davis. Many of his early feature films were of the noir genre in which he often played villains, such as Eddie Harwood in ''The Blue Dahlia'' and the sadistic Captain Francis Thompson in ''Two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Downing
Joe Downing (June 26, 1903 in New York City, New York – October 16, 1975 in Canoga Park, California) was an American stage, TV and B-movie actor who made more than 70 appearances. Downing's early acting experience included work with the Theatre Guild, particularly dancing in ''The Garrick Gaieties''. His Broadway credits include ''Ramshackle Inn'' (1944), ''Cross-town'' (1937), ''Dead End'' (1935), ''Ceiling Zero'' (1935), ''Page Miss Glory'' (1934), ''The Drums Begin'' (1933), ''Heat Lightning'' (1933), ''Shooting Star'' (1933), and ''A Farewell to Arms'' (1930). Downing's film debut came in ''Doctor Socrates''. Often cast as gangsters, his film credits include ''A Slight Case of Murder'', ''Danger on the Air'', ''Racket Busters'', ''Each Dawn I Die'' and '' The Big Shot''. His television credits include three appearances on ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' from 1956 to 1958, as well as other anthology series popular during the era. Partial filmography *''The Case of the Luc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
