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The Cool Mikado
''The Cool Mikado'' is a British musical film released in 1963, directed by Michael Winner (who makes a short appearance as an airline passenger Ă la Hitchcock near the start of the film), and produced by Harold Baim, with music arranged by Martin Slavin and John Barry. It starred Frankie Howerd as Ko-Ko, Lionel Blair and Stubby Kaye. The script was written by Michael Winner, from an adaptation by Maurice Browning. Based on the 1885 Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera ''The Mikado'', the plot is reset into contemporary Japan as a comic gangster story. The dialogue is largely rewritten, and several of the well-known musical items are omitted. The music that remains is re-orchestrated into styles popular in the early 1960s, including the twist, and the Cha-Cha-Cha. Filmed entirely on a sound stage, stock footage was used to provide Japanese atmosphere between scenes. This footage looks like one of the many travelogues for which producer Baim is best known, but according to Winner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Winner
Robert Michael Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was a British filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous Action film, action, Thriller films, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several collaborations with actors Oliver Reed and Charles Bronson. Winner's best-known works include Death Wish (1974 film), ''Death Wish'' (1974) and its Death Wish II, first Death Wish 3, two sequels, the World War II comedy ''Hannibal Brooks'' (1969), the hitman thriller ''The Mechanic (1972 film), The Mechanic'' (1972), the supernatural horror film ''The Sentinel (1977 film), The Sentinel'' (1977), the neo-noir ''The Big Sleep (1978 film), The Big Sleep'' (1978), the satirical comedy ''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976), and the Revisionist Westerns ''Lawman (film), Lawman'' (1971) and ''Chato's Land'' (1972). Winner was known as a media personality in the United Kingdom, appearing regularly on televi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twist (dance)
The twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. From 1959 to the early sixties it became a worldwide dance craze, enjoying immense popularity while drawing controversies from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed Potato, the Monkey, and the Funky Chicken, but none were as popular. Having seen teenagers in Tampa, Florida doing the dance, Hank Ballard wrote " The Twist", which became the B-side of Hank Ballard and The Midnighters' 1959 single "Teardrops on Your Letter". Dick Clark, having noticed the dance becoming popular among teenagers, recommended to Cameo Records that the more wholesome Chubby Checker rerecord the song, which was released in 1959 and became a number one hit in 1960. The dance became passé among teenagers as it became acceptable among adults and the song was re-released, becoming a number one hit again in 1962. A world record was set in DeLand, Florida, on October 11, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burt Kwouk
Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, (; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato in the ''Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Major Yamauchi in the British drama series '' Tenko'' and as Entwistle in ''Last of the Summer Wine''. Early life Kwouk was born on 18 July 1930 in Warrington, Lancashire, to Chinese parents; his parents were on a business trip touring Europe. He was brought up in Shanghai; his father was a textile tycoon descended from a Tang dynasty general. Between the ages of 12 and 16, he attended the Shanghai Jesuit Mission School, which he described as "the Far East equivalent" of Eton College. He left China in 1947 when his parents returned to Britain, and was sent to the United States to complete his education. In 1953, he graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. The Kwouk family fortune was lost in the Chinese communist revolution in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Barkworth
Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Culture * Peter (actor) (born 1952), stage name Shinnosuke Ikehata, Japanese dancer and actor * ''Peter'' (album), a 1993 EP by Canadian band Eric's Trip * ''Peter'' (1934 film), a 1934 film directed by Henry Koster * ''Peter'' (2021 film), Marathi language film * "Peter" (''Fringe'' episode), an episode of the television series ''Fringe'' * ''Peter'' (novel), a 1908 book by Francis Hopkinson Smith * "Peter" (short story), an 1892 short story by Willa Cather Animals * Peter, the Lord's cat, cat at Lord's Cricket Ground in London * Peter (chief mouser), Chief Mouser between 1929 and 1946 * Peter II (cat), Chief Mouser between 1946 and 1947 * Peter III (cat), Chief Mouser between 1947 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Cooper
Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red fez when performing. He served in the British Army for seven years, before developing his conjuring skills and becoming a member of The Magic Circle. Although he spent time on tour performing his magical act, which specialised on magic tricks that appeared to fail, he rose to international prominence when his career moved into television, with programmes for London Weekend Television and Thames Television. By the end of the 1970s, Cooper was smoking and drinking heavily, which affected his career and his health, effectively ending offers to front new programmes and relegating him to performing as a guest star on other entertainment shows. On 15 April 1984, Cooper died at the age of 63 after suffering a heart attack live on television. Early life Thomas Frederick Cooper was born on 19 Marc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernie Winters
Bernie Winters (born Bernie Weinstein; 6 September 1930 – 4 May 1991), was an English comedian, actor, musician & TV presenter, and the comic foil of the double act Mike and Bernie Winters with his older brother, Mike. Winters later performed solo, often with the aid of his St Bernard dog, Schnorbitz. Biography Bernie Winters was born Bernard Weinstein, at the City of London Maternity Hospital, 102 City Road, Holborn, on 6 September 1930. His father was a bookmaker. Bernie served in the merchant navy and performed as a musician at dances and weddings before forming the double act Mike & Bernie Winters with his brother Mike, whom he called "Choochie-Face" on stage. In October 1957 the duo appeared on ''Six-Five Special'' and were described in the ''Daily Mirror'' as top comics for Britain's teenage TV audience. They had been recommended to the show's presenter Josephine Douglas by Tommy Steele with whom they had been on a stage tour. They both left the show the same day th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Winters (comedian)
Mike Winters (born Michael Weinstein; 15 November 1926 – 24 August 2013), was an English comedian, musician, businessman and writer who was the straight man of the comedy double act Mike & Bernie Winters with his younger brother, Bernie.Daily Telegraph Obituary Retrieved 27 August 2013 Early life He was born at 15 Canonbury Lane, Islington, , where his father was a . Mike won a scholarship to[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia, around the Persian Gulf and northern parts of South Asia. The term ''bagpipe'' is equally correct in the singular or the plural, though pipers usually refer to the bagpipes as "the pipes", "a set of pipes" or "a stand of pipes". Construction A set of bagpipes minimally consists of an air supply, a bag, a chanter, and usually at least one drone. Many bagpipes have more than one drone (and, sometimes, more than one chanter) in various combinations, held in place in stocks—sockets that fasten the various pipes to the bag. Air supply The most common method of supplying air to the bag is through blowing into a blowpipe or blowstick. In some pipes the player must cover the tip of the blowpipe with their t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quickstep
The quickstep is a light-hearted dance of the standard ballroom dances. The movement of the dance is fast and powerfully flowing and sprinkled with syncopations. The upbeat melodies that quickstep is danced to make it suitable for both formal and informal events. Quickstep was developed in the 1920s in New York City and was first danced by Black Americans. Its origins are in combination of slow foxtrot combined with the Charleston (dance), Charleston, a dance which was one of the precursors to what today is called swing dancing. History The quickstep evolved in the 1920s from a combination of the foxtrot, Charleston (dance), Charleston, Collegiate shag (dance), shag, Peabody (dance), peabody, and One-Step, one-step. The dance is English in origin and was standardized in 1927. While it evolved from the foxtrot, the quickstep now is quite separate. Unlike the modern foxtrot, the lead and follow, leader often closes his feet, and syncopated steps are regular occurrences (as was the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Worst Film Ever Made
The films listed below have been cited by a variety of notable critics in varying media sources as being among the worst films ever made. Examples of such sources include Metacritic, Roger Ebert's list of most-hated films, ''The Golden Turkey Awards'', ''Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', Rotten Tomatoes, pop culture writer Nathan Rabin's '' My World of Flops'', the Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the cult TV series '' Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (alongside spinoffs ''Cinematic Titanic'' and ''RiffTrax'') and the Golden Raspberry Awards (aka the "Razzies"). Films on these lists are generally feature-length films that are commercial/artistic in nature (intended to turn a profit, express personal statements or both), professionally or independently produced (as opposed to amateur productions), and released in theaters, then on television, or more recently through video on demand or streaming services. 1930s ''Maniac'' (1934) ''Maniac'', also known as ''Sex Maniac'', is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trial By Jury
A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant share of serious criminal cases in many but not all common law judicial systems. The majority of common law jurisdictions in Asia (such as Singapore, India, Pakistan and Malaysia) have abolished jury trials on the grounds that juries are susceptible to bias. Juries or lay judges have also been incorporated into the legal systems of many civil law countries for criminal cases. Only the United States makes routine use of jury trials in a wide variety of non-criminal cases. Other common law legal jurisdictions use jury trials only in a very select class of cases that make up a tiny share of the overall civil docket (like malicious prosecution and false imprisonment suits in England and Wales), but true civil jury trials are almost entirely ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specifically ''Pseudolus'', ''Miles Gloriosus'', and ''Mostellaria'', the musical tells the bawdy story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by helping his young master woo the girl next door. The plot displays many classic elements of farce, including puns, the slamming of doors, cases of mistaken identity (frequently involving characters disguising themselves as one another), and satirical comments on social class. The title derives from a line often used by vaudeville comedians to begin a story: "A funny thing happened on the way to the theater". The musical's original 1962 Broadway run won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Author (Musical). ''A Funny Thing'' has enjoyed several Broadway and West End ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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