|
The Mystery Of The Leaping Fish
''The Mystery of the Leaping Fish'' is a 1916 American short silent comedy film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Bessie Love, and Alma Rubens. Directed by John Emerson, the story was written by Tod Browning with intertitles by Anita Loos. A 35 mm print of the film still exists in its entirety and is currently in the public domain. Overview In this unusually broad comedy for Fairbanks, the acrobatic leading man plays "Coke Ennyday", a cocaine-shooting detective who is a parody of Sherlock Holmes. Ennyday is given to injecting himself from a bandolier of syringes worn across his chest, and liberally helps himself to the contents of a hatbox-sized round container of white powder labeled "COCAINE" on his desk. Fairbanks' character otherwise lampoons Sherlock Holmes with checkered detective hat, clothes and even car, along with the aforementioned propensity for injecting cocaine whenever he feels momentarily down, then laughing with delight. A device used for observing visito ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Emerson (filmmaker)
John Emerson (born Clifton Paden; May 29, 1874 – March 7, 1956) was an American stage actor, playwright, producer, and director of silent films (many featuring Douglas Fairbanks). Emerson was married to Anita Loos from June 15, 1919 until his death, and prior to that the couple had worked together as a writing team for motion pictures. They would continue to be credited jointly, even as Loos pursued independent projects. Biography Born and educated in Ohio, Emerson's earliest documented acting credits date from 1904, however like D. W. Griffith he probably played in regional stock companies before then. By 1912—the earliest known year for his involvement in film, as a writer—Emerson was working regularly as a director and writer on the Broadway stage. After periods with American Film Manufacturing Company, where he worked with Allan Dwan and Famous Players-Lasky, Emerson collaborated with George Nichols (actor), George Nichols in making ''Ghosts (1915 film), Ghosts'', a G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detective
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads them to arrest criminals and enable them to be convicted in court. A detective may work for the police or privately. Overview Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is a licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, by examining and evaluating clues and personal records in order to uncover the identity and/or whereabouts of criminals. In some police departments, a detective position is achieved by passing a written test after a person completes the requirements for being a police officer. In many other police systems, detectives are college graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. Some argue that detectives do a completely different job and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeffrey Vance
Jeffrey Vance (born May 21, 1970) is an American film historian and author who has published books on movie stars including Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Career While working as an archivist for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists he met Eleanor Keaton, Buster Keaton's widow, and began organizing her collection of photographs, leading to the illustrated biography ''Buster Keaton Remembered'' (2001). He later served as archivist for the Chaplin family's Roy Export S.A.S., The Harold Lloyd Trust, and the Mary Pickford Foundation where he helped preserve both film and photographs from these important collections. As a producer, he packaged the ''Harold Lloyd Classic Comedies'' for Turner Classic Movies, later released to home video. As a filmmaker, he produced and directed the short film ''Rediscovering John Gilbert'' (2010) which aired on cable television as well as released to home video. Publications *''A Star Is Born: Judy Garland and the Film That Got Away'' (TCM/Running ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cult Film
A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated viewings, dialogue-quoting, and audience participation. Inclusive definitions allow for major studio productions, especially box-office bombs, while exclusive definitions focus more on obscure, transgressive films shunned by the mainstream. The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art. The term ''cult film'' itself was first used in the 1970s to describe the culture that surrounded underground films and midnight movies, though ''cult'' was in common use in film analysis for decades prior to that. Cult films trace their origin back to controversial and suppressed films kept alive by dedicated fans. In some cases, reclaimed or rediscovered films ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
His Picture In The Papers
''His Picture in the Papers'' is a 1916 American silent comedy film written and directed by John Emerson. Anita Loos also wrote the film's scenario. The film stars Douglas Fairbanks and Loretta Blake and features Erich von Stroheim in a minor role. Plot Pete Prindle, son of Proteus, is a vegetarian health food manufacturer who wishes to marry Christine Cadwalader. She agrees. However, Proteus considers his son lazy, with no contributions to the company and therefore undeserving of his father's wealth. His daughters have their pictures in the newspapers, pictures of them promoting the company products. Cassius refuses to consent to his daughter's hand since he believes Pete to be lazy as well, with no real stake in his father's company. Pete tries hard to get in the newspaper: He fakes a car accident, which gets an insignificant mention in the paper. He wins a boxing match, which turns out to be an illegally run ring which ends up being raided by police. After a misunderstandi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinatown, Los Angeles
Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a residential neighborhood with a low-income, aging population of about 20,000 residents. The original Los Angeles Chinatown developed in the late 19th century, but it was demolished to make room for Union Station, the city's major ground-transportation center. A separate commercial center, known as "New Chinatown," opened for business in 1938. Geography and climate According to CRA/LA, borders of (the current) Chinatown neighborhood are: "Chinatown," Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times''''The Thomas Guide, Los Angeles County'' 2006, page 634 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hays Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Will H. Hays, president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945. Under Hays's leadership, the MPPDA, later the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), adopted the Production Code in 1930 and began rigidly enforcing it in 1934. The Production Code spelled out acceptable and unacceptable content for motion pictures produced for a public audience in the United States. From 1934 to 1954, the code was closely identified with Joseph Breen, the administrator appointed by Hays to enforce the code in Hollywood. The film industry followed the guidelines set by the code well into the late 1950s, but it began to weaken, owing to the combined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harrison Act
The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (Ch. 1, ) was a United States federal law that regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and coca products. The act was proposed by Representative Francis Burton Harrison of New York and was approved on December 17, 1914. "An Act To provide for the registration of, with collectors of internal revenue, and to impose a special tax on all persons who produce, import, manufacture, compound, deal in, dispense, sell, distribute, or give away opium or coca leaves, their salts, derivatives, or preparations, and for other purposes." The courts interpreted this to mean that physicians could prescribe narcotics to patients in the course of normal treatment, but not for the treatment of addiction. The Harrison Anti-Narcotic legislation consisted of three U.S. House bills imposing restrictions on the availability and consumption of the psychoactive drug opium. U.S. House bills and passed conjointly with House bill or the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Lowery
William Lowery (July 22, 1885 – November 15, 1941) was an American silent film actor. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was signed by the Thanhouser Company in 1914. Lowery's parents were actors, and he first acted at age 9. He enlisted in the Army in 1901 and fought during the Boxer uprising in China, achieving a commission as second lieutenant. He performed with a stock theater company in Los Angeles in 1906 before he began working in films. His first film was ''The Ten of Spades'' (1914) also starring William Garwood. He starred in about 60 films between 1914 and his retirement from film in 1927. He died on November 15, 1941, in Los Angeles. Partial filmography * ''The Ten of Spades'' (1914) * '' A Ticket to Red Horse Gulch'' (1914) * '' A Turn of the Cards'' (1914) * ''The Tear That Burned'' (1914) * '' The Lucky Transfer'' (1915) * ''Captain Macklin'' (1915) * ''The Burned Hand'' (1915) * '' Double Trouble'' (1915) * '' Sold for Marriage'' (1916) * ''Reggie Mixes I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Wilson (actor)
Tom Wilson (August 27, 1880 – February 19, 1965) was an American film actor. Biography Wilson was born in Helena, Montana, in 1880. Appearing in more than 300 films between 1915 and 1963, Wilson had notable supporting roles in the silent film era, like "The Kindly Officer" in D. W. Griffith's epic ''Intolerance'' (1916), the angry policeman in Charlie Chaplin's ''The Kid'' (1921), and a boxing coach in Buster Keaton's comedy ''Battling Butler'' (1926). After the rise of sound film, he was reduced to small roles for the rest of his long film career. Wilson died in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * ''Little Marie'' (1915) * ''The Highbinders'' (1915) * '' The Lucky Transfer'' (1915) * ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) * ''Martyrs of the Alamo'' (1915) * ''The Half-Breed'' (1916) * ''The Children Pay'' (1916) * ''Intolerance'' (1916) * ''Hell-to-Pay Austin'' (1916) * '' The Americano'' (1916) * ''Pay Me!'' (1917) * ''The Yankee Way'' (1917) * ''Should ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Stevens (actor)
Charles Stevens (May 26, 1893 – August 22, 1964) was an American actor. He appeared in nearly 200 films between 1915 and 1961. A close friend of actor Douglas Fairbanks, Stevens appeared in nearly all of Fairbanks' films. Early years Stevens was born in Solomonville, Arizona, and his father was a white Arizona sheriff named George Stevens and mother a Mexican woman named Eloisa Michelena. Stevens was not, as many bios claim, the grandson of Geronimo. That erroneous information could be attributed to Stevens himself, who claimed such kinship, and film studios that promoted the supposed lineage. Career Stevens began his career during the silent era, playing mostly Native Americans and Mexicans in Westerns. During the 1930s and 1940s, he had roles in the film serials ''Wild West Days'' and ''Overland Mail''. In the 1950s, Stevens guest-starred on several television series, including ''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'', ''The Adventures of Kit Carson'', ''Sky King'', ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opium
Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which is processed chemically to produce heroin and other synthetic opioids for medicinal use and for the illegal drug trade. The latex also contains the closely related opiates codeine and thebaine, and non-analgesic alkaloids such as papaverine and noscapine. The traditional, labor-intensive method of obtaining the latex is to scratch ("score") the immature seed pods (fruits) by hand; the latex leaks out and dries to a sticky yellowish residue that is later scraped off and dehydrated. The word '' meconium'' (derived from the Greek for "opium-like", but now used to refer to newborn stools) historically referred to related, weaker preparations made from other parts of the opium poppy or different species of poppies. The production methods have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
