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The New Biographical Dictionary Of Film
''The New Biographical Dictionary of Film'' is a reference book written by film critic David Thomson, originally published by Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd in 1975 under the title ''A Biographical Dictionary of Cinema.'' Organized by personality, it is an exhaustive inventory of those involved in international cinema, whether contemporary or historical, elite or esoteric, "from Abbott and Costello to '' Crumb'''s Terry Zwigoff", in the words of critic Richard Corliss. Beyond its scope, the tome is most notable for infusing subjectivity into its fact-based form; the technique may best be described as a playful deconstruction of the "reference book." Thomson's writing is highly personal, as he mixes biography and criticism with his own memories of seeing the films he describes: "''The Third Man'' has one of the most intense atmospheres the screen has ever delivered--seeing it again always brings back the scent of the grandmother who took me to see it." It is currently available in its ...
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To Have And Have Not (film)
''To Have and Have Not'' is a 1944 American romance-war-adventure film directed by Howard Hawks, loosely based on Ernest Hemingway's 1937 novel of the same name. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan and Lauren Bacall; it also features Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael, Sheldon Leonard, Dan Seymour, and Marcel Dalio. The plot, centered on the romance between a freelancing fisherman in Martinique and a beautiful American drifter, is complicated by the growing French resistance in Vichy France. Ernest Hemingway and Howard Hawks were close friends and, on a fishing trip, Hawks told Hemingway, who was reluctant to go into screenwriting, that he could make a great movie from his worst book, which Hawks admitted was ''To Have and Have Not''. Jules Furthman wrote the first screenplay, which was set in Cuba like the novel. However, the screenplay was altered to be set in Martinique instead of Cuba because the portrayal of Cuba's government was believed to be in violation of the United ...
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Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. History Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House. In 1934 they published the first authorized edition of James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' in the Anglophone world. ''Ulysses'' transformed Random House into a formidable publisher over the next two decades. In 1936, it absorbed the firm of Smith and Haas—Robert Haas became the third partner until retiring and selling his share back to Cerf and Klopfer in 19 ...
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Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest film composers. An Academy Award-winner (for ''The Devil and Daniel Webster'', 1941; later renamed ''All That Money Can Buy''), Herrmann mainly is known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously '' Psycho'', ''North by Northwest'', '' The Man Who Knew Too Much'', and ''Vertigo''. He also composed scores for many other films, including ''Citizen Kane'', '' Anna and the King of Siam'', ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'', '' Cape Fear'', ''Fahrenheit 451'', and ''Taxi Driver''. He worked extensively in radio drama (composing for Orson Welles), composed the scores for several fantasy films by Ray Harryhausen, and many TV programs, including Rod Serling's ''Th ...
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Molly Ringwald
Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. She was cast in her first major role as Molly in the NBC sitcom '' The Facts of Life'' (1979–80) after a casting director saw her playing an orphan in a stage production of the musical ''Annie''. She and several other members of the original ''Facts of Life'' cast were let go when the show was reworked by the network. She subsequently made her motion-picture debut as Miranda in the independent film ''Tempest'' (1982), which earned her a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year. Ringwald is known for her collaborations with filmmaker John Hughes. She established herself as a teen icon after appearing in the successful Hughes films ''Sixteen Candles'' (1984), ''The Breakfast Club'' (1985), and ''Pretty in Pink'' (1986). She later starred in '' The Pick-up Artist'' (1987), '' Fresh Horses'' (1988), and '' For Keeps'' (1988). She starred in many films in the 1990s, most ...
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William Morrow & Co
William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The company is now an imprint of HarperCollins. William Morrow has published many fiction and non-fiction authors, including Ray Bradbury, Michael Chabon, Beverly Cleary, Neil Gaiman, Erle Stanley Gardner, B. H. Liddell Hart, Elmore Leonard, Steven D. Levitt, Steven Pinker, Judith Rossner, and Neal Stephenson. Francis Thayer Hobson was president and later chairman of the board of William Morrow and Company. Morrow authors * Christopher Andersen * Harriet Brown * Karin Slaughter * Harry Browne * Stephen Brusatte * Meg Cabot * Beverly Cleary * Charles Dickinson * Warren Ellis * Bruce Feiler * Neil Gaiman * David J. Garrow * Nikki Giovanni * John Grogan * Andrew Gross * Jean Guerrero * Joe Hill * Ismail Kadare * Steven D. Levitt * Mar ...
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Black Narcissus
''Black Narcissus'' is a 1947 British Psychological fiction, psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Powell and Pressburger, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and starring Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Sabu Dastagir, Sabu, David Farrar (actor), David Farrar, Flora Robson, Esmond Knight, and Jean Simmons. The title refers to the Parfums Caron, Caron perfume ''Narcisse Noir''. Based on the 1939 Black Narcissus (novel), novel by Rumer Godden, the film revolves around the growing tensions within a small convent of Anglican religious order, Anglican sisters who are trying to establish a school and hospital in the old palace of an Indian Raja at the top of an isolated mountain above a fertile valley in the Himalayas. The palace has ancient Indian erotic paintings on its walls and is run by the agent of the Indian general who owns it, a handsome middle-aged Englishman who is a source of attraction for the sisters. ''Black Narcissus'' achieved considerable ac ...
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Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films, notably ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' (1943), ''A Canterbury Tale'' (1944), ''I Know Where I'm Going!'' (1945), '' A Matter of Life and Death'' (1946, also called ''Stairway to Heaven''), ''Black Narcissus'' (1947), '' The Red Shoes'' (1948), and ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (1951). His later controversial 1960 film ''Peeping Tom'', while today considered a classic, and a contender as the first " slasher", was so vilified on first release that his career was seriously damaged. Many filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and George A. Romero have cited Powell as an influence. In 1981, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award along with his partner Pressburger, the highest honour th ...
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Impossible (film Series)
Impossible, Imposible or Impossibles may refer to: Music * ''ImPossible'' (album), a 2016 album by Divinity Roxx * ''The Impossible'' (album) Groups * The Impossibles (American band), a 1990s indie-ska group from Austin, Texas * The Impossibles (Australian band), an Australian band * The Impossibles (Thai band), a 1970s Thai rock band Songs * "Impossible" (Captain Hollywood Project song) (1993) * "The Impossible" (song), a country music song by Joe Nichols (2002) * "Impossible" (Edyta song) (2003) * "Impossible" (Kanye West song) (2006) * "Impossible" (Daniel Merriweather song) (2009) * "Impossible" (Måns Zelmerlöw song) (2009) * "Impossible" (Anberlin song) (2010) * "Impossible" (Shontelle song) (2010) * "Impossible", from Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1957 musical ''Cinderella'' * "Impossible", a song written by Steve Allen and recorded by Nat King Cole for his 1958 album ''The Very Thought of You'' * "Impossible", from the 1994 album ''The Screaming Jets'' by The Screa ...
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Magnolia (film)
''Magnolia'' is a 1999 American drama film written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars an ensemble cast, including Jeremy Blackman, Tom Cruise, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Julianne Moore, Michael Murphy, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards (in his final film role) and Melora Walters. The film has a mosaic of interrelated characters in search of happiness, forgiveness, and meaning in the San Fernando Valley. The script was inspired by the music of Aimee Mann, who contributed several songs to its soundtrack. ''Magnolia'' received positive reviews, with critics praising its acting (particularly Cruise), direction, screenplay, and storytelling, as well as its soundtrack; however, some deemed it overlong and melodramatic. Of the ensemble cast, Cruise was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 72nd Academy Awards, and won the award in that category at the Golden Globes of 2000. The fi ...
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Rain Man
''Rain Man'' is a 1988 American road movie, road Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wikt:wheeler-dealer, wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed virtually all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), a Savant syndrome, savant, of whose existence Charlie was unaware. Charlie is left with only his father's beloved vintage car and rosebushes. Valeria Golino also stars as Charlie's girlfriend Susanna. Morrow created the character of Raymond after meeting Kim Peek, a real-life savant; his characterization was based on both Peek and Bill Sackter, a good friend of Morrow who was the subject of ''Bill (1981 film), Bill'' (1981), an earlier film that Morrow wrote.Barry Morrow's audio commentary for ''Rain Man'' from the DVD release. ''Rain Man'' premiered at the ...
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Risky Business
''Risky Business'' is a 1983 American teen comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Brickman (in his directorial debut) and starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. Best known as Cruise's breakout film, ''Risky Business'' was a critical and commercial success, grossing more than $63 million against a $6.2 million budget. Plot High-achieving high school student Joel Goodsen lives with his wealthy parents in the Chicago North Shore area of Glencoe. His father wants him to attend Princeton University, his ''alma mater'', so Joel participates in Future Enterprisers, an extracurricular activity in which students work in teams to create small businesses. When Joel's parents go away on a trip, his friend, Miles, convinces him to use his newfound freedom to have some fun. On the first night, Joel raids the liquor cabinet, plays the stereo loudly, joyrides in his father's car and dances around the living room in his briefs and button-down shirt to "Old Time Rock and Roll". ...
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