The Great American Broadcast
''The Great American Broadcast'' is a 1941 comedy film directed by Archie Mayo. It stars Jack Oakie, Alice Faye and John Payne. Plot Impoverished roommates Rix Martin and Chuck Hadley have dreams of being the first to operate a coast-to-coast radio broadcast. They invest what little profit their small station makes into advanced equipment and finally get their wish when they bootleg the Jack Dempsey--Jess Willard 1919 heavyweight title fight from ringside. Meanwhile, the station's band singer is surrounded by suitors---Payne, Oakie, and Chadwick, without whose money the station could not operate. Cast *Alice Faye as Vicki Adams * John Payne as Rix Martin *Jack Oakie as Chuck Hadley *Cesar Romero as Bruce Chadwick *James Newill as Great American Broadcast Lead Singer *The Ink Spots as themselves: Bill Kenny, Deek Watson, Charlie Fuqua, and Orville "Hoppy" Jones * Bill Kenny as Song Specialty ember of The Ink Spots*Orville "Hoppy" Jones as Song Specialty ember of The Ink Spots ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Archie Mayo
Archibald L. Mayo (January 29, 1891 – December 4, 1968) was a film director, screenwriter and actor. Early years The son of a tailor, Mayo was born in New York City. After attending the city's public schools, he studied at Columbia University. Film Mayo moved to Hollywood in 1915 and began working as a director in 1917. His films include ''Is Everybody Happy? (1929 film), Is Everybody Happy?'' (1929) with Ted Lewis (musician), Ted Lewis, ''Bought!'' (1931) with Constance Bennett, ''Night After Night (film), Night After Night'' (1932) with Mae West, ''The Doorway to Hell'' (1930) with James Cagney and Lew Ayres, ''Convention City'' (1933) with Joan Blondell, ''The Mayor of Hell'' (1933) with James Cagney, ''The Petrified Forest'' (1936) with Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, and ''The Adventures of Marco Polo'' (1938) with Gary Cooper. Mayo retired in 1946, shortly after completing ''A Night in Casablanca'' with the Marx Brothers and ''Angel on My Shoulder (film), Angel on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bill Kenny (singer)
William Francis Kenny Jr. (June 12, 1914 – March 23, 1978) was an American vocalist with a wide vocal range spanning four octaves. Often regarded as one of the most influential high-tenor singers of all time, Kenny was noted for his "bell-like" vocal clarity and impeccable diction. Although he is most famous for his role as lead tenor with the Ink Spots, Kenny also led a successful solo career after disbanding the Ink Spots in 1954.Goldberg, Marv (1998). ''More Than Words Can Say: The Ink Spots And Their Music'', Scarecrow Press. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Kenny recorded, toured the world and appeared on many popular variety television shows. In 1966 Kenny became the star and host of his own musical variety show '' The Bill Kenny Show'' which aired on CBC.''Jet Magazine'', October 21, 1965, p. 56. In 1989, 11 years after his death, Bill Kenny was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kenny is often noted as being the "godfather" of R&B tenor vocalists. Early life and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mildred Gover
Mildred Gover (1905–1947) was an American film actress.Pitts p.207 Selected filmography * '' Alimony Madness'' (1933) * '' Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch'' (1934) * ''High School Girl'' (1934) * '' Ring Around the Moon'' (1936) * '' Penrod and Sam'' (1937) * ''My Old Kentucky Home'' (1938) * ''The Affairs of Annabel'' (1938) * ''Brother Rat ''Brother Rat'' is a 1938 American comedy drama film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley, and starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert (in his film debut), Jane Wyman, and ...'' (1938) * '' Day-Time Wife'' (1939) * '' Ladies Must Live'' (1940) * '' Rise and Shine'' (1941) References Bibliography * Pitts, Michael R. ''Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films''. McFarland, 2012. External links * 1905 births 1947 deaths American film actresses 20th-century American actresses {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eddie Acuff
Edward DeKalb Acuff (June 3, 1903 – December 17, 1956) was an American stage and film actor. He frequently was cast as a droll comic relief, in the support of the star. His best-known recurring role is that of Mr. Beasley, the postman, in the '' Blondie'' movie series that starred Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake. Early years Acuff was born in Caruthersville, Missouri. He was the son of DeKalb Acuff (1880-1916) and his wife Grace (later known as Mrs. H. N. Arnold),. Career Before beginning his Hollywood film career in 1934, Acuff performed in Broadway theatre in the early-1930s. His Broadway credits include ''Jayhawker'' (1934), ''Yellow Jack'' (1934), ''John Brown'' (1934), ''Growing Pains'' (1933), ''Heat Lightning'' (1933), and ''The Dark Hours'' (1932). In 1935, Warner Bros. signed Acuff to a long-term contract and scheduled him to debut on film in ''Anchors Aweigh''. He had a recurring role as the postman in the '' Blondie'' film series. Acuff was seen in three fi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank Orth
Frank Orth (February 21, 1880 – March 17, 1962) was an American actor born in Philadelphia. He is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Inspector Faraday in the 1951-1953 television series '' Boston Blackie''. Career By 1897, Orth was performing in vaudeville with his wife, Ann Codee, in an act called "Codee and Orth". In 1909, he expanded into song writing, with songs such as "The Phone Bell Rang" and "Meet Me on the Boardwalk, Dearie". His first contact with motion pictures was in 1928, when he was part of the first foreign-language shorts in sound produced by Warner Bros. He and his wife also appeared together in a series of two-reel comedies in the early 1930s. Orth's first major screen credit was in ''Prairie Thunder'', a Dick Foran western, in 1937. From then on, he was often cast as bartenders, pharmacists, and grocery clerks, and always distinctly Irish. He had a recurring role in the Dr. Kildare series of films and also in the Nancy Drew series as the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lucien Littlefield
Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men before he was of voting age. Life and career Lucien Littlefield was born in San Antonio, Texas and attended Staunton Military Academy. He started his movie career in 1913 and worked as an actor until his death in 1960. He usually portrayed comedic supporting characters, often much older than himself. His role of the doctor in '' The Cat and the Canary'' (1927) is one of his more notable performances. The character actor appeared with Laurel and Hardy, first as an eccentric professor in '' Dirty Work'' and finally as a veterinarian in '' Sons of the Desert'', both made in 1933. He also played Mary Pickford's father in '' My Best Girl'' in 1927. Other roles include the western ''Tumbleweeds'' with William S. Hart, the comedy ''Ruggles of Red G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Pawley
William Douglas Pawley (September 7, 1896—January 7, 1977) was a U.S. ambassador and noted businessman who was associated with the Flying Tigers American Volunteer Group (AVG) during World War II. Early life William Douglas Pawley was born in Florence, South Carolina on September 7, 1896. His father was a wealthy businessman based in Cuba, and young Pawley attended private schools in both Havana and Santiago. He later returned to the United States, where he studied at the Gordon Military Academy in Georgia. Business career In 1927, Pawley began a connection with Curtiss-Wright that would make him an extremely wealthy man. In 1928, he returned to Cuba to become president of Nacional Cubana de Aviación Curtiss, which was sold to Pan American Airlines in 1932. He then became president of Intercontinent Corporation in New York, evidently founded by Clement Keys, the former president of Curtiss. In 1933 he moved to China, where he became president of China National Aviation Cor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mary Beth Hughes
Mary Elizabeth Hughes (November 13, 1919 Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P. 586. – August 27, 1995) was an American film, television, and stage actress best known for her roles in B movies. Early life and career Hughes was born in Alton, Illinois. Her parents, George Joseph Hughes and Mary Frances Hughes, separated when she was an infant and divorced in 1923. After the divorce, Hughes's mother moved with her only child to Washington, D.C. Hughes' grandmother, Flora Fosdick, was described as a "star of grand opera and drama hoplayed with Ethel Barrymore on the stage." As a child Hughes began acting in stage productions. While acting in a school play in the early 1930s, her performance caught the attention of Clifford Brown, a repertory theatre company owner, who offered her a part in a touring production of '' Alice in Wonderland''. While touring with another producti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sylvester Wiere
Harry Wiere (23 June 1906 in Berlin, German Empire – 15 January 1992), Herbert Wiere (27 February 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 5 August 1999) and Sylvester Wiere (17 September 1909 in Prague, Austria-Hungary – 7 July 1970), known collectively as the Wiere Brothers or the Three Wiere Brothers, were a comedy team who appeared in 1930s and 1940s films, and as live performers from the 1920s to the late 1960s. History The Wiere Brothers were vaudeville performers who occasionally appeared in films and television. Their films include ''Hands Across the Border'' in 1944 with Roy Rogers, ''Road to Rio'' in 1947 with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and ''Double Trouble'' in 1967 as three detectives on the hunt for Elvis Presley. In 1962, the Wiere Brothers had their own television series called, ''Oh! Those Bells'', that aired on CBS. The show was created by Jules White who had previously directed the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton and Andy Clyde in short-subject films for C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Herbert Wiere
Harry Wiere (23 June 1906 in Berlin, German Empire – 15 January 1992), Herbert Wiere (27 February 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 5 August 1999) and Sylvester Wiere (17 September 1909 in Prague, Austria-Hungary – 7 July 1970), known collectively as the Wiere Brothers or the Three Wiere Brothers, were a comedy team who appeared in 1930s and 1940s films, and as live performers from the 1920s to the late 1960s. History The Wiere Brothers were vaudeville performers who occasionally appeared in films and television. Their films include ''Hands Across the Border'' in 1944 with Roy Rogers, ''Road to Rio'' in 1947 with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and ''Double Trouble'' in 1967 as three detectives on the hunt for Elvis Presley. In 1962, the Wiere Brothers had their own television series called, ''Oh! Those Bells'', that aired on CBS. The show was created by Jules White who had previously directed the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton and Andy Clyde in short-subject films ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harry Wiere
Harry Wiere (23 June 1906 in Berlin, German Empire – 15 January 1992), Herbert Wiere (27 February 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 5 August 1999) and Sylvester Wiere (17 September 1909 in Prague, Austria-Hungary – 7 July 1970), known collectively as the Wiere Brothers or the Three Wiere Brothers, were a comedy team who appeared in 1930s and 1940s films, and as live performers from the 1920s to the late 1960s. History The Wiere Brothers were vaudeville performers who occasionally appeared in films and television. Their films include ''Hands Across the Border'' in 1944 with Roy Rogers, ''Road to Rio'' in 1947 with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and ''Double Trouble'' in 1967 as three detectives on the hunt for Elvis Presley. In 1962, the Wiere Brothers had their own television series called, ''Oh! Those Bells'', that aired on CBS. The show was created by Jules White who had previously directed the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton and Andy Clyde in short-subject films ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Wiere Brothers
Harry Wiere (23 June 1906 in Berlin, German Empire – 15 January 1992), Herbert Wiere (27 February 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 5 August 1999) and Sylvester Wiere (17 September 1909 in Prague, Austria-Hungary – 7 July 1970), known collectively as the Wiere Brothers or the Three Wiere Brothers, were a comedy team who appeared in 1930s and 1940s films, and as live performers from the 1920s to the late 1960s. History The Wiere Brothers were vaudeville performers who occasionally appeared in films and television. Their films include ''Hands Across the Border'' in 1944 with Roy Rogers, ''Road to Rio'' in 1947 with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, and ''Double Trouble'' in 1967 as three detectives on the hunt for Elvis Presley. In 1962, the Wiere Brothers had their own television series called, ''Oh! Those Bells'', that aired on CBS. The show was created by Jules White who had previously directed the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton and Andy Clyde in short-subject films ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |