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The Big Sleep (1978 Film)
''The Big Sleep'' is a 1978 neo-noir film, the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The picture was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe (following ''Farewell, My Lovely'' three years earlier). The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and Oliver Reed, also featuring James Stewart as General Sternwood. The story's setting was changed from 1940s Los Angeles to 1970s London. The film contained material more explicit than what could only be hinted at in the 1946 version, such as homosexuality, pornography, and nudity. Mitchum was 60 at the time of filming, far older than Chandler's 33-year-old Marlowe (or the 1946 film's 38-year-old Marlowe played by Bogart who was 44 at the time). Plot In 1970s England, private detective Philip Marlowe ( Robert Mitchum) is asked to the stately home of General Sternwood (James Stewart), who hires Marlowe to learn who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Winner
Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous Action film, action, Thriller films, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several collaborations with actors Oliver Reed and Charles Bronson. Winner's best-known works include Death Wish (1974 film), ''Death Wish'' (1974) and its Death Wish II, first Death Wish 3, two sequels, the World War II comedy ''Hannibal Brooks'' (1969), the hitman thriller ''The Mechanic (1972 film), The Mechanic'' (1972), the supernatural horror film ''The Sentinel (1977 film), The Sentinel'' (1977), the neo-noir ''The Big Sleep (1978 film), The Big Sleep'' (1978), the satirical comedy ''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976), and the Revisionist Westerns ''Lawman (film), Lawman'' (1971) and ''Chato's Land'' (1972). Winner was known as a media personality in the United Kingdom, appearing regularly on televi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, " Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in '' Black Mask,'' a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, ''The Big Sleep'', was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime (an eighth, in progress at the time of his death, was completed by Robert B. Parker). All but '' Playback'' have been made into motion pictures, some more than once. In the year before his death, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He is a founder of the hardboiled school of detective fiction, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other ''Black Mask ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Todd
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in the 1949 film ''The Hasty Heart''. His other notable roles include Jonathan Cooper in ''Stage Fright'' (1950), Wing Commander Guy Gibson in '' The Dam Busters'' (1955), Sir Walter Raleigh in '' The Virgin Queen'' (1955), and Major John Howard in ''The Longest Day'' (1962). He was previously a Captain in the British Army during World War II, fighting in the D-Day landings as a member of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion. Early life and career Richard Todd was born in Dublin. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe-Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for his cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Andrews
Harry Stewart Fleetwood Andrews, CBE (10 November 1911 – 6 March 1989) was an English actor known for his film portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Regimental Sergeant Major Wilson in '' The Hill'' (1965) alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the 1966 BAFTA Award for Best British Actor. The first of his more than 80 film appearances was in ''The Red Beret'' in 1953. Prior to his film career, Andrews was a theatre actor, appearing at such venues as the Queen's Theatre, the Lyceum Theatre, and the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in the UK as well as theatres in New York City, Paris, Antwerp and Brussels. Andrews made his London theatre debut in 1935 at the St James's Theatre and his New York debut in 1936 at the Empire Theatre. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1966. Early life Harry Andrews was born on 10 November 1911, in Tonbri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Mills
Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portrayed guileless, wounded war heroes. In 1971, he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''Ryan's Daughter''. For his work in film Mills was knighted by Elizabeth II in 1976. In 2002, he received a BAFTA Fellowship from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and was named a Disney Legend by The Walt Disney Company. Early life John Mills was born on 22 February 1908 in North Elmham, Norfolk, the son of Edith Mills (née Baker), a theatre box office manager, and Lewis Mills, a mathematics teacher. Mills was born at Watts Naval School, where his father was a master. He spent his early years in the village of Belton where his father was the headmaster of the village school. He first felt the thrill o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Quick
Diana Marilyn Quick (born 23 November 1946) is an English actress. Early life and family background Quick was born on 23 November 1946 in London, England. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of four children. Her father was Leonard Quick, a dentist. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent. She was greatly aided by her English teacher, who encouraged her to pursue acting. She became a member of an amateur dramatic society in Crayford, Kent, while at school as well as appearing in many school productions. On leaving school, she went on in 1964 to pursue further studies at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Quick was the first female president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Quick spent seven years researching a book about her paternal family's life in India, which was published in 2009 by Virago with the title ''A Tug on the Thread: From the British Raj to the British Stage''. In her book, Quick reveals that she is of mixed race (Anglo-Indian) des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Blakely
Colin George Blakely (23 September 1930 – 7 May 1987) was a Northern Irish actor. He had roles in the films '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1966), ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' (1970), ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), and '' Equus'' (1977). Early life Born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, Blakely attended Sedbergh School in Yorkshire (now Cumbria), England. At the age of 18 he started work in his family's sports goods shop in Belfast, before going on to work as a timber-loader on the railways. In 1957, after a spell of amateur dramatics with the Bangor Drama Club, he turned professional with the Group Theatre, Belfast. Career In 1957, at the age of 27, Blakely made his stage debut as Dick McCardle in ''Master of the House''. He also appeared in several Ulster Group Theatre productions, including Gerard McLarnon's ''Bonefire'' (1958) and Patricia O'Connor's ''A Sparrow Falls'' (1959). From 1957 to 1959 he was at the Royal Court Theatre, appearing in ''C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Justin
John Justin (24 November 1917 – 29 November 2002) was a British stage and film actor. Early life John Justinian de Ledesma was born in Knightsbridge, London, England, the son of a well-off Argentine rancher. Though he grew up on his father's ranch, he was educated at Bryanston School in Bryanston, Dorset. He developed an interest in flying and became a qualified pilot at the age of 12, though he was not allowed to fly solo at the time because of his age. Acting career He became interested in acting at a young age. By the age of 16, he had joined the Plymouth Repertory. In 1937, he briefly trained with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but did not like it and soon joined the repertory company of John Gielgud. Among the plays he appeared in was ''Dear Octopus''. ''The Thief of Bagdad'' In 1938, he auditioned for and was cast the role for which he is perhaps best remembered, Ahmad in the 1940 version of '' The Thief of Bagdad'', opposite Sabu. To do so, he had to sign a seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart as the greatest male star of classic American cinema. Bogart began acting in Broadway shows, beginning his career in motion pictures with ''Up the River'' (1930) for Fox and appeared in supporting roles for the next decade, regularly portraying gangsters. He was praised for his work as Duke Mantee in ''The Petrified Forest'' (1936), but remained cast secondary to other actors at Warner Bros. who received leading roles. Bogart also received positive reviews for his performance as gangster Hugh "Baby Face" Martin, in ''Dead End'' (1937), directed by William Wyler. His breakthrough from supporting roles to stardom was set in motion with '' High Sierra'' (1941) and catapulted in '' The Maltese Falcon'' (1941), conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nudity
Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to hairlessness contributed to the increase in brain size, bipedalism, and the variation in human skin color. While estimates vary, for at least 90,000 years anatomically modern humans were naked. The invention of clothing was part of the transition from being not only anatomically but behaviorally modern. Clothing and body adornments were elements in non-verbal communication reflecting social status and individuality. Through much of history until the late modern period, people might be unclothed in public by necessity or convenience either when engaged in effortful activity, including labor and athletics; or when bathing or swimming. Such functional nudity occurred in groups that were usually but not always segregated by sex. Among ancie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Big Sleep (1946 Film)
''The Big Sleep'' is a 1946 American film noir directed by Howard Hawks, the first film version of the 1939 novel of the same name by Raymond Chandler. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in a story about the "process of a criminal investigation, not its results". William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay. Initially produced in late 1944, the film's release was delayed by over a year due to the studio wanting to release war films in anticipation of the end of World War II. A cut was released to servicemen overseas in 1945 shortly after its completion. During its delay, Bogart and Bacall married and Bacall was cast in '' Confidential Agent''. When the movie failed, reshoots were done in early 1946 meant to take advantage of the public's fascination with "Bogie and Bacall". The film was finally released by Warner Bros. on August 31, 1946. The film was a critical and commercial su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Reed
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his notable films include '' The Trap'' (1966), playing Bill Sikes in the 1968 Best Picture Oscar winner ''Oliver!'' (a film directed by his uncle Carol Reed), ''Women in Love'' (1969), '' Hannibal Brooks'' (1969), '' The Devils'' (1971), ''Revolver'' (1973), portraying Athos in ''The Three Musketeers'' (1973) and '' The Four Musketeers'' (1974); the lover and stepfather in ''Tommy'' (1975), ''The Brood'' (1979), ''Lion of the Desert'' (1981), ''Castaway'' (1986), ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (1988), ''Funny Bones'' (1995) and ''Gladiator'' (2000). For playing Antonius Proximo, the old, gruff gladiator trainer in Ridley Scott's ''Gladiator'', in what was his final film, Reed was posthumously nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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