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The Ruling Class (film)
''The Ruling Class'' is a 1972 British black comedy film. It is an adaptation of Peter Barnes' satirical stage play '' The Ruling Class'' which tells the story of a paranoid schizophrenic British nobleman (played by Peter O'Toole) who inherits a peerage. The film co-stars Alastair Sim, William Mervyn, Coral Browne, Harry Andrews, Carolyn Seymour, James Villiers and Arthur Lowe. It was produced by Jules Buck and directed by Peter Medak. The film has been described as a "commercial failure ... hathas since become a cult classic"; Peter O'Toole described it as "a comedy with tragic relief". Plot Following the death from accidental asphyxiation of Ralph Gurney, the 13th Earl of Gurney, Jack Gurney becomes the 14th Earl of Gurney. Jack, a paranoid schizophrenic, thinks he is Jesus Christ and shocks his family and friends with his talk of returning to the world to bring it love and charity, not to mention his penchant for breaking out into song and dance routines and sleepi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Medak
Peter Medak (born Medák Péter, 23 December 1937) is a Hungarian-born film director and television director of British and American productions. Early life Born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary, he was the son of Elisabeth (née Diamounstein) and Gyula Medak, a textile manufacturer. His family was Jewish. In 1956, he fled his native country for the United Kingdom due to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Hungarian Uprising. There he embarked on a career in the film industry, starting as a trainee and gradually rising to the position of film director. Career Medak was signed to direct television films for Music Corporation of America, MCA Universal Pictures in 1963. In 1967, he signed with Paramount Pictures to make feature films. His first such film was ''Negatives (1968 film), Negatives'' (1968). Some of his most notable other works are ''The Ruling Class (film), The Ruling Class'' (1972), ''The Changeling (film), The Changeling'' (1980), ''The Krays (film), The Krays'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ruling Class (play)
''The Ruling Class'' is a 1968 British play by Peter Barnes. The black comedy centres on Jack Arnold Alexander Tancred Gurney, the 14th Earl of Gurney and the attempts to cure him of insanity. Peter O'Toole acquired the film rights and starred in the 1972 film adaptation. Plot After a speech at a dinner proposing a toast to England, the 13th Earl of Gurney is got ready for bed by his butler Tucker. This includes setting up a silken noose above his four-poster, which the Earl uses for a bizarre autoerotic asphyxiation ritual. He survives this the first time, but it goes wrong the second time he tries it and kills him. His half-brother Sir Charles, Charles' wife Lady Claire and their son Dinsdale gather to hear the reading of the 13th Earl's will. Three of the Earl's sons have already died overseas in the British Empire and the one survivor, Jack, is in a mental institution and thought to be unable to be present. He has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic prone to delu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome problems. Psychotherapy aims to improve an individual's well-being and mental health, to resolve or mitigate troublesome behaviors, beliefs, compulsions, thoughts, or emotions, and to improve relationships and social skills. Numerous types of psychotherapy have been designed either for individual adults, families, or children and adolescents. Certain types of psychotherapy are considered evidence-based for treating some diagnosed mental disorders; other types have been criticized as pseudoscience. There are hundreds of psychotherapy techniques, some being minor variations; others are based on very different conceptions of psychology. Most involve one-to-one sessions, between the client and therapist, but some are conducted with groups, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly mental issues. Sometimes a psychiatrist works within a multi-disciplinary team, which may comprise Clinical psychology, clinical psychologists, Social work, social workers, Occupational therapist, occupational therapists, and Nursing, nursing staff. Psychiatrists have broad training in a Biopsychosocial model, biopsychosocial approach to the assessment and management of mental illness. As part of the clinical assessment process, psychiatrists may employ a mental status examination; a physical examination; brain imaging such as a computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or positron emission tomography scan; and blood testing. P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pressure Cooker
Pressure cooking is the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a ''pressure cooker''. High pressure limits boiling, and creates higher cooking temperatures which cook food far more quickly. The pressure cooker was invented in the seventeenth century by the physicist Denis Papin, and works by expelling air from the vessel, and trapping steam produced from the boiling liquid. This is used to raise the internal pressure up to one atmosphere above ambient and gives higher cooking temperatures between . Together with high thermal heat transfer from steam it permits cooking in between a half and a quarter the time of conventional boiling. Almost any food that can be cooked in steam or water-based liquids can be cooked in a pressure cooker. Modern pressure cookers have numerous safety features to prevent the pressure cooker from holding too much pressure. After cooking, the steam pressure is lowered bac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galvanized
Galvanization or galvanizing ( also spelled galvanisation or galvanising) is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent rusting. The most common method is hot-dip galvanizing, in which the parts are submerged in a bath of hot, molten zinc. Protective action The zinc coating, when intact, prevents corrosive substances from reaching the underlying iron. Additional electroplating such as a chromate conversion coating may be applied to provide further surface passivation to the substrate material. History and etymology The earliest known example of galvanized iron was encountered by Europeans on 17th-century Indian armour in the Royal Armouries Museum collection. The term "galvanized" continues to be used metaphorically of any stimulus which results in activity by a person or group of people. In modern usage, the term "galvanizing" has largely come to be associated with zinc coatings, to the exclusion of other metals. Galvanic paint, a prec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader; he is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (the Christ) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically. Research into the historical Jesus has yielded some uncertainty on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the New Testament reflects the historical Jesus, as the only detailed records of Jesus' life are contained in the Gospels. Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was circumcised, was baptized by John the Baptist, began his own ministry and was often referred to as "rabbi". Jesus debated with fellow Jews on ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. After the Norman Conquest, it became the equivalent of the continental count (in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to a duke; in Scotland, it assimilated the concept of mormaer). Alternative names for the rank equivalent to "earl" or "count" in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as the '' hakushaku'' (伯爵) of the post-restoration Japanese Imperial era. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. Etymology The term ''earl'' has been compared to the name of the Heruli, and to runic '' erilaz''. Proto-Norse ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain hatawakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term ''tragedy'' often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, from which there survives only a fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Villiers
James Michael Hyde Villiers (29 September 1933 – 18 January 1998) was an English character actor. He was particularly known for his plummy voice and ripe articulation. He was a great-grandson of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. Early life Villiers was born on 29 September 1933 in London, the son of Eric Hyde Villiers and Joan Ankaret Talbot; he was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1953. 'Gentleman Jim' Villiers (pronounced ''Villers'') was from an upper-class background, the grandson of Sir Francis Hyde Villiers and great grandson of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon; his mother was descended from Earl Talbot. His aristocratic ancestry was often reflected in casting, he performed roles such as King Charles II in the BBC series ''The First Churchills'' (1969), the Earl of Warwick in ''Saint Joan'' (1974), and on stage as Lord Thurlow in ''The Madness of George III''. Through his father, Villiers was a relative of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carolyn Seymour
Carolyn Seymour is an English actress, best known for portraying the role of Abby Grant in the BBC series '' Survivors'' (1975), and Queen Myrrah in the '' Gears of War'' franchise. Career Born Carolyn von Benckendorf in Buckinghamshire to an Estonian father of Russian descent and an Irish mother. One of her early television roles was as Jenny in the BBC drama series ''Take Three Girls''. and an early film appearance was as Zita in the film ''Steptoe and Son'' (1972) alongside Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell. Her best-known movie role remains Grace Gurney in '' The Ruling Class'' (also 1972), opposite Peter O'Toole. She left ''Survivors'' at the end of its first series due to disagreements with the producers over the direction the show and her character were taking. She appeared in the '' Space: 1999'' episode "The Seance Spectre", and with Joan Collins in '' The Bitch'' (1979). She then moved to the United States and made numerous television appearances including ''Hart ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coral Browne
Coral Edith Browne (23 July 1913 – 29 May 1991) was an Australian-American stage and screen actress. Her extensive theatre credits included Broadway productions of ''Macbeth'' (1956), '' The Rehearsal'' (1963) and '' The Right Honourable Gentleman'' (1965). She won the 1984 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC TV film ''An Englishman Abroad'' (1983). Her film appearances included ''Auntie Mame'' (1958), ''The Killing of Sister George'' (1968), '' The Ruling Class'' (1972) and ''Dreamchild'' (1985). She was also actor Vincent Price's third wife. Family Coral Edith Browne was the only daughter of railway clerk Leslie Clarence Brown (1890–1957), and Victoria Elizabeth Brown (1890–?), née Bennett, both of Victorian birth. She and her two brothers were raised in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne. Career She studied at the National Gallery Art School. Her amateur debut was as Gloria in Shaw's ''You Never Can Tell'', directed by Frank Clewlow. Gregan McMahon snapp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
