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The Human Comedy (film)
''The Human Comedy'' is a 1943 American comedy-drama film directed by Clarence Brown. It began as a screenplay by William Saroyan, who was expected to direct. After Saroyan was removed from the project, he wrote the novel of the same name and published it just before the film was released. Howard Estabrook was brought in to reduce the run time to two hours. The picture stars Mickey Rooney with Frank Morgan; also appearing in the film are James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, Van Johnson, Donna Reed and Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. Barry Nelson, Robert Mitchum and Don DeFore appear together as boisterous soldiers in uncredited supporting roles. Plot The film is the story of a teenaged Homer Macauley in high school, working part-time as a telegram delivery boy, in the fictional town of Ithaca, California, during World War II. The effects of the war on the "Home Front" over a year in Homer's life are depicted in a series of perceptive vignettes—some amusing, some gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clarence Brown
Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he was 11 years old. He attended Knoxville High School (Tennessee), Knoxville High School and the University of Tennessee, both in Knoxville, Tennessee, graduating from the university at the age of 19 with two degrees in engineering. An early fascination in Car, automobiles led Brown to a job with the Stevens-Duryea, Stevens-Duryea Company, then to his own Brown Motor Car Company in Alabama. He later abandoned the car dealership after developing an interest in motion pictures around 1913. He was hired by the Peerless Studio at Fort Lee, New Jersey, and became an assistant to the French-born director Maurice Tourneur. Career After serving as a fighter pilot and flight instructor in the United States Army Air Service during World War I, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van Johnson
Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment of the "boy-next-door wholesomeness" which made him a popular Hollywood star in the 1940s and 1950s, playing "the red-haired, freckle-faced soldier, sailor, or bomber pilot who used to live down the street" in MGM films during the war years, with such films as ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'', ''A Guy Named Joe'', and '' The Human Comedy''. He made occasional World War II films through the end of the 1960s, and he played a military officer in one of his final feature films in 1992. At the time of his death in 2008, he was one of the last surviving matinee idols of Hollywood's "golden age".Aljean, Harmetz (August 12, 2008)"Van Johnson, Film Actor, Is Dead at 92"''The New York Times''. Retrieved December 13, 2008. Early life Johnson was born i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry O'Neill
Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years He was born in Orange, New Jersey. Career O'Neill began his acting career on the stage, after dropping out of college to join a traveling theatre company. He served in the Navy in World War I, after which he worked at several jobs, including being an usher in a funeral home. Eventually, he returned to the stage. His Broadway debut came in ''The Spring'' (1921), and his final Broadway appearance was in ''Shooting Star'' (1933). He also acted with the Provincetown Players and the Celtic Players. In the early 1930s he began appearing in films, including ''The Big Shakedown'' (1934), the Western ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), the musical ''Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), ''The Green Years'' (1946), and ''The Reckless Moment'' (1949). His last film was ''The Wings of Eagles'' (1957), starring J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Nash (actress)
Mary Nash (born Mary Honora Ryan; August 15, 1884 – December 3, 1976) was an American actress. Early life Mary and her younger sister, author/actress Florence, were born to James H. Ryan, a lawyer, and his wife, Ellen Frances (née McNamara). The sisters adopted the surname of their stepfather, Philip F. Nash, a vaudeville booking executive, who married their mother after the death of their father. Fortuitously, the name change would avoid conflict with actress Mary Ryan, who achieved Broadway popularity before Nash. Nash attended the Convent of St. Anne in Montreal and trained for acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Nash was Catholic. Stage and film career She was a stage actress in New York and London, and vaudeville. After brief appearances as a dancer at the Herald Square Theatre in 1904, she made her off-Broadway debut on Christmas Day 1905 as Leonora Dunbar in James M. Barrie's ''Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire'', which starred Ethel Barrymore. She remained with Barrym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Ayars
Ann Ayars (23 July 1918 – 27 February 1995) was an American soprano and actress. Early in her career she acted in several TV series and non musical films. Later, she sang with the New York City Opera (NYCO), and became known worldwide when she sang and acted the part of Antonia in the 1951 British film ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. From 1968 to 1987 she taught voice and piano and staged 19 full-length opera productions at Mt. San Jacinto College in California, where she was made a professor emerita. Biography Ann Ayars was born on 23 July 1918 in Beverly Hills, California. She began as a singer in the late 1930s and started acting in the early 1940s. She had parts in several television series, including ''Batman'', ''Hazel'', ''Mission: Impossible'', ''The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'', ''Perry Mason'', ''The Virginian'' and ''The Monroes''. She starred as Cholita in the 1941 film '' Fiesta'' and in 1942 she was Cynthia Cookie Charles in '' Dr. Kildare's Victory''. Also in 1942, she ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Craven (actor)
John Craven (June 22, 1916 – November 24, 1995) was an American actor in films and plays and on television. Biography Craven was born on June 22, 1916, in New York City. He was a third-generation actor, following in the profession of his father, Frank Craven, and his grandfather, John T. Craven. His mother, Mary Blythe, was an actress prior to marriage. Craven originated the role of George Gibbs in the original stage version of ''Our Town'', in which his father played the stage manager. Craven was overlooked in the movie version, however, with the part going to the then-unknown William Holden. Other Broadway shows in which Craven appeared included ''They Knew What They Wanted'' (1949), ''Spring Again'' (1941), ''Village Green'' (1941), ''Delicate Story'' (1940), ''Two On An Island'' (1940), ''Aries Is Rising'' (1939), and ''The Happiest Days'' (1939). Craven was stationed in Naples during World War II and put on shows for the USO. Though born in New York City, he atten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dorothy Morris
Dorothy Ruth Morris (February 23, 1922 – November 20, 2011) was an American film and television actress known for her "girl next door" persona. Early life Dorothy Ruth Morris was born and raised in Hollywood. She attended Hollywood High School and acted in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse. She was a student in Maria Ouspenskaya's School of Drama. She was the younger sister of Caren Marsh Doll, who later became a dancer and stand-in for Judy Garland. She did a screen test for the female lead in ''The Courtship of Andy Hardy'' (1942), but lost to Donna Reed. Career Appearing in bit parts in several of the studio's more successful films, Morris was signed to a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract in 1941. For one of her early film roles, '' Cry 'Havoc''' (1943), she affected a British accent. Her next picture was the well-received drama '' The Human Comedy'', which featured a star cast, headed by Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig and Marsha Hunt. Morris' role was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins
Jackie or Jacky may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters named Jackie or Jacky ** Jackie, current ring name of female professional wrestler Jacqueline Moore ** Jackie Lee (Irish singer) (born 1936), also known as "Jacky" * Jarrhan Jacky (born 1989), Australian rules football player Arts and entertainment Films * ''Jackie'' (1921 film), directed by John Ford * ''Jacky'' (film), a 2000 Dutch film * ''Jackie'' (2010 film), an Indian multilingual film directed by Kannada director Soori * ''Jackie'' (2012 film), a Dutch film * ''Jackie'' (2016 film), a biographical drama about Jackie Kennedy Music Albums * ''Jackie'' (Jackie DeShannon album) (1972) * ''Jackie'' (Ciara album) (2015) Songs * "Jacky" (Jacques Brel song) (1965) * "Jackie" (Elisa Fiorillo song) (1987) * "Jackie", a song from the 1987 album ''The Lion and the Cobra'' by Sinéad O'Connor * “Jackie”, a song from the 1993 rap album ''KKKill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Home Front During World War II
The United States home front during World War II supported the war effort in many ways, including a wide range of volunteer efforts and submitting to government-managed Rationing in the United States, rationing and price controls. There was a general feeling of agreement that the sacrifices were for the national good during the war. The labor market changed radically. Peacetime conflicts concerning race and labor took on a special dimension because of the pressure for national unity. The Hollywood film industry was important for propaganda. Every aspect of life from politics to personal savings changed when put on a wartime footing. This was achieved by tens of millions of workers moving from low to high productivity jobs in industrial centers. Millions of students, retirees, housewives, and unemployed moved into the active labor force. The hours they had to work increased dramatically as the time for leisure activities declined sharply. Gasoline, meat, and clothing were tightly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telegram Delivery Boy
In many English-speaking countries, a telegram messenger, more often known as a telegram delivery boy, telegraph boy or telegram boy was a young man employed to deliver telegrams, usually on bicycle. In the United Kingdom, they were employed by the General Post Office; in the United States, they worked for Western Union or other telegraph companies. In the United Kingdom Telegram boys became popular in the United Kingdom after the General Post Office took over control of inland telegraphs from the railways and private telegraph companies. Many of the boys employed by these services to deliver telegrams transferred to the Post Office. In some respects the life of a telegram boy was not unlike that of someone in military service. They were expected to behave in a manner befitting one who wore the uniform of the Queen, and were required to complete a daily drill. From 1915 to 1921, morning exercise was added to these requirements. During the 1930s the Post Office introduced motorcy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don DeFore
Donald John DeFore (August 25, 1913 – December 22, 1993) was an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the sitcom ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' from 1952 to 1957 and the sitcom ''Hazel'' from 1961 to 1965, the former of which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Early life DeFore was one of seven children born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Joseph Ervin DeFore, a railroad engineer for the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company and a local politician, and Albina Sylvia DeFore (née Nezerka). Albina, who occasionally directed plays at their local church, was the daughter of Czech immigrants from the former Poděbrady district. Her father Jan Nežerka (1846-1928) was born in Písková Lhota (baptized Catholic in Kostelní Lhota) and her mother Marie Najbrtová (1852-1930) was born in Chvalovice (baptized Evangelical in Hořátev). After graduating from Washington High School in Cedar Rapids, DeFore attended the University of Iowa. He in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in several classic film noirs. His acting is generally considered a forerunner of the antiheroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s. His best-known films include ''Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo'' (1944), ''Out of the Past'' (1947), ''River of No Return'' (1954), '' The Night of the Hunter'' (1955), '' Thunder Road'' (1958), '' Cape Fear'' (1962), '' El Dorado'' (1966), ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970) and ''The Friends of Eddie Coyle'' (1973). He is also known for his television role as U.S. Navy Captain Victor "Pug" Henry in the epic miniseries ''The Winds of War'' (1983) and sequel ''War and Remembrance'' (1988). Mitchum is rated number 23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male stars of classic American cinema. Ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
