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The Blind Goddess (1948 Film)
''The Blind Goddess'' is a 1948 British courtroom drama film directed by Harold French and starring Eric Portman, Anne Crawford and Hugh Williams. The screenplay concerns a secretary who sets out to expose his boss, Lord Brasted, for embezzlement. It was based on a popular 1947 play of the same title by noted barrister Patrick Hastings. Claire Bloom made her screen debut in the film. The "blind goddess" in question is Justice. Plot A valet shoots a man (later named as Count Mikla) dead, steals a bundle of documents, and sets up the crime scene to look like a suicide. Derek Waterhouse sits in an exclusive restaurant with a young woman, Mary Dearing. He is a lawyer and has a quick word with his client, Lady Brasted, before leaving. Outside he chats with the girl in his car until they are moved along by a policeman. Waterhouse is the private secretary to Lord Brasted. He tells Mary that Lord Brasted offered him £10,000 to stay silent on a complicated deal he was trying to stop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold French
Harold French (23 April 1897 – 19 October 1997) was an English film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography After training at the Italia Conti School, he made his acting debut age 12, in a production of ''The Winter's Tale''. As an actor, most of his roles occurred between 1912 and 1936, not gaining as much attention as later he would as a director. He worked as a screenwriter on three of the four films produced by Marcel Hellman's and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.'s production company ''Criterion Film Productions'' in the late 1930s, before switching to film direction in 1937, often with Marcel Hellman as producer. From 1940 to 1955, he had several box-office successes as director. This successful period was clouded by the 1941 death of his wife Phyllis in a Luftwaffe bombing raid. Although he did some TV work after 1955, he appears to have retired from directing and acting after 1963. He directed the hit West End play ''Out of Bounds'' starring Michael Redgrave in 1962 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claire Bloom
Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty films. After a childhood spent in England (and in the US for two-and-a-half years during the Second World War), Bloom studied drama in London. She debuted on the London stage when she was sixteen and took roles in various Shakespeare plays. They included ''Hamlet,'' in which she played Ophelia alongside Richard Burton. For her Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'', critic Kenneth Tynan stated it was "the best Juliet I've ever seen". After she starred as Blanche DuBois in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', its playwright, Tennessee Williams, stated, "I declare myself absolutely wild about Claire Bloom". In 1952, Bloom was cast by Hollywood film star Charlie Chaplin to co-star alongside him in ''Limelight''. During her film career, she has starred alongsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecil Bevan
Cecil Stuart Reginald Bevan"England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008" FamilySearch. Retrieved 20, 2021. (May 1, 1875 January 22, 1953) was a British stage and film actor. Filmography References External links * British male film actors British male stage actors {{UK-film-actor-stub ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Denham
William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son of Eleanor Winifred (née Lillico) and Norman Denham. He was the third child of four: Norman Keith (1907), Winifred Joan (1908), and Charles (1915). He was educated at Tonbridge School and trained as a lift engineer. Like fellow actor James Robertson Justice, he played amateur rugby for Beckenham RFC. In 1936, he married Elizabeth Dunn, with whom he had two sons and a daughter: Christopher (born 1939), Timothy (born 1946) and Virginia (born 1948). Elizabeth died in 1971. He was awarded the OBE in 1992. He died on 24 July 2002, aged 92 at Denville Hall in North London. Career Denham eventually became an actor in 1934, and appeared in live television broadcasts as early as 1938, continuing to perform in that medium until 1997. Denha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elspet Gray
Elspet Jean Gray, Baroness Rix (née Gray; 12 April 1929 – 18 February 2013) was a Scottish actress, who first became known for her partnership with her husband, Brian Rix, and later was cast in many television roles in the 1970s and 1980s. She played Lady Collingford in the television series ''Catweazle'' and Mrs. Palmer in the television series ''Solo'', alongside Felicity Kendal. Career Gray had a long stage career, particularly known for her appearances in the Whitehall farces, the company being managed by her husband Brian Rix, which were originally performed at the Whitehall Theatre and later at the Garrick. Gray appeared in many films and television programmes, her earliest being '' The Blind Goddess'' (1948). She had several roles in the 1970s including parts in ''Fawlty Towers'', as the paediatrician wife of a psychiatrist baffled by Basil Fawlty’s behaviour, ''The Crezz'', ''Catweazle'', and in the 1980s with ''Doctor Who'' story ''Arc of Infinity'' and the World ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clive Morton
Clive Morton (16 March 1904 – 24 September 1975) was an English actor best known for playing upper class Englishmen, he made many screen appearances, especially on television. In 1955, he appeared in Laurence Olivier's '' Richard III'' and is recalled by fans of ''Doctor Who'' for his role as prison governor George Trenchard in ''The Sea Devils'' in 1972. He played Commander Julius Rogue in the first series of the fondly-remembered children's TV series '' Rogue's Rock'' in 1974. One of his last roles was as an aged butler in an episode of ''Upstairs Downstairs''. :: Morton was also a Shakespearian actor and an Associate Artiste of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the 1964 'Histories' Repertoire he played the Bishop of Carlisle in Richard II, the Earl of Worcester in Henry IV and the ferocious Earl of Talbot in Henry VI. :: Morton was married to ''Fresh Fields'' actress Fanny Rowe. They acted together on stage in the 1955 J.B. Priestley play ''Mr. Kettle and Mrs. Moon''. Selec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Cellier (actor)
Frank Cellier (23 February 1884 – 27 September 1948) was an English actor. Early in his career, from 1903 to 1920, he toured in Britain, Germany, the West Indies, America and South Africa. In the 1920s, he became known in the West End for Shakespearean character roles, among others, and also directed some plays in which he acted. He continued to act on stage until 1946. During the 1930s and 1940s, he also appeared in more than three dozen films. Biography Early years François Cellier,''The Times'', 27 March 1925, p. 5 always known as Frank, was born in Surbiton, Surrey, the only son of the conductor François Cellier and his wife, Clara ''née'' Short. He had five sisters and was educated at Cranleigh School.''The Times'', obituary notice, 28 September 1948, p. 7 After leaving school, he spent three years in business. In 1903, Cellier made his first stage appearance as Clement Hale in Arthur Wing Pinero's '' Sweet Lavender'' at the ''Town Hall'' in Reigate and thereaf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raymond Lovell
Raymond Lovell (13 April 1900 – 1 October 1953) was a Canadian-born actor who performed in British films. He mainly played supporting roles, often somewhat pompous characters. Lovell initially trained as a physician at Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ..., but gave up medicine for the stage in the 1920s.The Criterion Collection, Criterion DVD commentary for ''49th Parallel (film), 49th Parallel'' by Bruce Eder. On stage he appeared as Henry VIII in ''The Queen Who Kept Her Head''. In 1941 he starred in Vernon Sylvaine's ''Warn That Man!'', then reprised his role for the 1943 Warn That Man, film adaptation. Lovell married Margot Ruddock, an actress, singer and poet, with whom he had a daughter, Simone Lovell. This relationship broke down when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nora Swinburne
Leonora Mary Johnson (24 July 1902 – 1 May 2000), known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English people, English actress who appeared in many Cinema of the United Kingdom, British films. Early years Swinburne was born in Bath, Somerset, Bath, Somerset, the daughter of Henry Swinburne Johnson and his wife Leonora Tamar (née Brain). She was educated at Rosholme College, Weston-super-Mare, and studied for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. As a member of Clive Currie's Young Players in 1914, she appeared at the Grand, Croydon, Court and Little Theatres, during that year. In 1914, she attended an audition with the ballerina Phyllis Bedells and later Anna Pavlova who considered her too young, even if very talented, for the corps de ballet. Nora instead joined the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Italia Conti school where she obtained her first real part as a child actress in ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. She performed in the show in London and in all the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by Carte's family for over a century. The Savoy was the first luxury hotel in Britain, introducing electric lights throughout the building, electric lifts, bathrooms in most of the lavishly furnished rooms, constant hot and cold running water and many other innovations. Carte hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as ''chef de cuisine''; they established an unprecedented standard of quality in hotel service, entertainment and elegant dining, attracting royalty and other rich and powerful guests and diners. The hotel became Carte's most successful venture. Its bands, Savoy Orpheans and the Savoy Havana Band, became famous, and other entertainers (who were als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to family members or associates rather than to the general public. These acts can also involve using threats of physical, mental or emotional harm, or of criminal prosecution, against the victim or someone close to the victim. It is normally carried out for personal gain, most commonly of position, money, or property. Blackmail may also be considered a form of extortion. Although the two are generally synonymous, extortion is the taking of personal property by threat of future harm. Blackmail is the use of threat to prevent another from engaging in a lawful occupation and writing libelous letters or letters that provoke a breach of the peace, as well as use of intimidation for purposes of collecting an unpaid debt. In many jurisdictions, bla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378). It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and the Protestant Reformations, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era. Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
