|
The History Of Mr. Polly (film)
''The History of Mr. Polly'' is a 1949 British film based on the 1910 comic novel '' The History of Mr. Polly'' by H.G. Wells. It was directed by Anthony Pelissier (who is also credited with the script) and stars John Mills, Betty Ann Davies, Megs Jenkins, Moore Marriott and Finlay Currie. It was the first adaptation of one of Wells's works to be produced after his death in 1946. Plot Following his dismissal from a draper's shop, where his father had placed him as an apprentice, protagonist Alfred Polly (John Mills) finds it hard to find another position. When a telegram arrives informing him of his father's death, he returns to the family home. With a bequest of £500, Polly considers his future; and a friend of his father's, Mr Johnsen (Edward Chapman), urges him to invest it in a shop - an idea that Polly dislikes. Whilst dawdling in the country on a newly-bought bicycle, Polly has a brief dalliance with a schoolgirl, Christabel (Sally Ann Howes); but later marries one of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Pelissier
Harry Anthony Compton Pelissier (27 July 1912 – 2 April 1988) was an English actor, screenwriter, producer and director. Biography Pelissier was born in Barnet and came from a theatrical family. His parents were the theatre producer H. G. Pelissier (who presented ''Pelissier's Follies'') and the actress Fay Compton. His uncle was Compton MacKenzie, who wrote '' Whisky Galore''. Pelissier began acting in the 1930s. In 1935 and 1936, he was featured in Noël Coward's play cycle, '' Tonight at 8.30'', both in Britain and on Broadway. He also played in Coward's ''Set to Music'' (1939) He began writing in 1937 and directing in 1949. He was the screenwriter and director of four popular films: ''The History of Mr Polly'' (1949), ''The Rocking Horse Winner'' (1950), ''Night Without Stars'' (1951), and ''Personal Affair'' starring Gene Tierney written by Lesley Storm. He also directed ''Encore'' (1951). He also directed Ealing's satire on television '' Meet Mr Lucifer'' (1953). He lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Churchill (actress)
Diana Josephine Churchill (21 August 19138 October 1994) was an English actress. Churchill was a crisp, classy blonde with blue eyes who appeared in several British films, playing the sardonic heroine in a handful of comic chillers during the early 1930s. She was mainly a theatre actress into the war years and after, an actress for "all theatrical seasons" who was "renowned for her versatility in playing Shakespeare, Restoration comedy, farce, Chekhov and revue". Early life and education Churchill was born on 21 August 1913 in Wembley, London, where her family resided in Crawford House. One of three sisters, she was the daughter of Ethel Mary Churchill (née Nunn), of the substantial "Nunn" coal merchant family, and Joseph Henry "Harry" Churchill, a doctor of medicine. She is of distant relation to Winston Churchill and his daughter, Diana, who was also an actress. Her father descended from a younger brother of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who "had an affair with an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1949 Films
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1949 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events *April 26–June 21 – Ealing comedies ''Passport to Pimlico'', '' Whisky Galore!'' and ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' are released in the UK, leading to 1949 being remembered as one of the peak years of the Ealing comedies. *November 15 – Following the prior year's Supreme Court decision in ''United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'', Paramount Pictures is split into two separate companies with the creation of Paramount Pictures Corporation for production-distribution and United Paramount Theaters for the theater operations. *December 21 – Cecil B. DeMille's ''Samson and Delilah'', starring Hedy Lamarr, Victor Mature, George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, and Henry Wilcoxon, receives its televised world premiere at the Paramount and Rivoli theatres in New York City. The film opens in Los Angeles on Janu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based in Los Angeles, to cover the motion-picture industry. ''Variety.com'' features entertainment news, reviews, box office results, cover stories, videos, photo galleries and features, plus a credits database, production charts and calendar, with archive content dating back to 1905. History Foundation ''Variety'' has been published since December 16, 1905, when it was launched by Sime Silverman as a weekly periodical covering theater and vaudeville with its headquarters in New York City. Silverman had been fired by ''The Morning Telegraph'' in 1905 for panning an act which had taken out an advert for $50. As a result, he decided to start his own publication "that ouldnot be influenced by advertising." With a loan of $1,500 from his father- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jay Laurier
James Alexander Chapman (31 March 1879 – 8 April 1969), known by his stage name, Jay Laurier, was an English actor. Early in his career he was a music hall performer, but by the late 1930s he was playing in the works of Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon as well as having a career in films. Early career Laurier was born in 1879 in Birmingham in Warwickshire. He made his professional debut in ''Arabian Nights'' at the Abertillery Public Hall in 1896Obituary for Jay Laurier, ''The Stage'', 17 April 1969, p. 17 before beginning a successful career touring the music halls of Britain. As a music hall artiste he popularised such songs as 'Ring O' Roses' and 'I'm Always Doing Something Silly'. From December 1906 he was in the pantomime ''Red Riding Hood'' at the New Theatre in Cardiff. His first performance on the legitimate stage was as Gregory in the comic opera '' Tom Jones'' in 1907. Christmas 1907 saw him in the pantomime ''Mother Goose'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wylie Watson
Wylie Watson (6 February 1889 – 3 May 1966) (born John Wylie Robertson) was a British actor. Among his best-known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's film '' The 39 Steps'' (1935), and wily storekeeper Joseph Macroon in the Ealing comedy '' Whisky Galore!'' (1949). He emigrated to Australia in 1952, and made his final film appearance there in '' The Sundowners'' (1960). Complete filmography * '' It's a Great Life'' (1929) as Bit Role (uncredited) * '' For the Love of Mike'' (1932) as Rev. James * '' Leave It to Me'' (1933) as Rev. Potter * '' Hawley's of High Street'' (1933) as Client * '' Road House'' (1934) as Magician (uncredited) * '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) as Mr. Memory * ''The Black Mask'' (1935) as Jimmie Glass * ''Radio Lover'' (1936) as Joe Morrison * '' Please Teacher'' (1937) as Oswald Clutterbuck * '' Why Pick on Me?'' (1937) as Sam Tippett * '' Paradise for Two'' (1937) as Claren ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Smith (actor)
Cyril Edward Bruce-Smith (4 April 1892 – 5 March 1963) was a Scottish actor who began his career as a child in 1900 and went on to appear in numerous stage plays as well as over 100 films between 1914 and his death almost 50 years later. The son of Frederick and Elsa Smith; his mother travelled with him on his engagements during his boyhood. Career Smith first became known as a child stage actor in 1900, and by the age of 13 in 1905, he travelled to New York to appear as Cosmo in a production of the J. M. Barrie play ''Alice-Sit-By-The Fire'', opposite Ethel Barrymore; at the time, ''The New York Times'' hailed him as "one of the best-known child actors in England". Smith's film career began in 1914 in the Wilfred Noy-directed ''Old St. Paul's'' and he appeared in almost 20 other silent films of the 1910s and 1920s before making the transition to sound. From the early 1930s until his death, he featured in dozens of films ranging from the quota quickies of the 1930s and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernest Jay
Ernest Jay (18 September 1893 – 8 February 1957) was a British actor. Selected filmography * '' My Lucky Star'' (1933) - Press Agent * ''Tiger Bay'' (1934) - Alf * '' The Iron Duke'' (1934) - First Orderly * '' The Phantom Light'' (1935) - Railway Worker (uncredited) * '' Checkmate'' (1935) - Huntly * '' Rhodes of Africa'' (1936) - Minor Role (uncredited) * '' Broken Blossoms'' (1936) - Alf * '' Men of Yesterday'' (1936) * ''The House of the Spaniard'' (1936) * '' O.H.M.S.'' (1937) - (uncredited) * ''The Song of the Road'' (1937) - Tinker * '' I See Ice'' (1938) - Theater Manager * ''Don't Take It to Heart'' (1944) - Tripp, Reporter * ''School for Secrets'' (1946) - Dr. Dainty * ''Vice Versa'' (1948) - Bowler * ''Death in the Hand'' (1948) - MacRae * ''Blanche Fury'' (1948) - Calamy * ''So Evil My Love'' (1948) - Smathers * '' The History of Mr. Polly'' (1949) - Mr. Hinks * ''Edward, My Son'' (1949) - Walter Prothin * '' Golden Arrow'' (1949) - Mr. Felton * '' The Reluctant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Horne (actor)
David Edgar Alderson Horne (14 July 1898 in Balcombe, Sussex – 15 March 1970 in Marylebone, London) was an English film and stage actor. Biography British actor and playwright David Horne began his film career in the 1930s, after a distinguished early career in the theatre. He was generally seen portraying pompous, self-satisfied characters. He never managed to rise to the "star" level in his silver screen acting career, but he was an indispensable character actor, and played many utility parts such as desk clerks, newspaper editors, police officials, lawyers and doctors. He continued his theatre work until his death in 1970. Filmography * ''Lord of the Manor'' (1933) as General Sir George Fleeter (film debut) * '' General John Regan'' (1933) as Maj. Kent * '' Badger's Green'' (1934) as Major Forrester * ''The Case for the Crown'' (1934) as James Rainsford * ''That's My Uncle'' (1935) as Col. Marlowe * ''The Village Squire'' (1935) as Squire Hollis * '' Late Extra'' (193 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edie Martin
Edie Martin (1 January 1880 – 22 February 1964) was a British actress. She was a ubiquitous performer, on stage from 1886, playing generally small parts but in high demand, appearing in scores of British films (although often uncredited). She frequently appeared in memorable Ealing comedies as their resident ”little old lady.” Selected filmography * ''M'Blimey'' (1931) * ''Late Extra'' (1935) - Apartment Resident (uncredited) * ''Broken Blossoms'' (1936) - Woman in West End Party Visit (uncredited) * '' Educated Evans'' (1936) - Bit Part (uncredited) * '' The Big Noise'' (1936) - Old Lady * ''Feather Your Nest'' (1937) - Blanche (uncredited) * '' Return of a Stranger'' (1937) - Mrs. Stevens (uncredited) * ''Farewell Again'' (1937) - Mrs. Bulger * '' Under the Red Robe'' (1937) - Maria * '' St. Martin's Lane'' (1938) - Libby's Dresser (uncredited) * '' Bad Boy'' (1938) - Mrs. Bryan * ''A Spot of Bother'' (1938) - An Occasional Bar-Lady (uncredited) * ''Old Mother Riley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juliet Mills
Juliet Maryon Mills (born 21 November 1941) is an English-American actress. She is the daughter of actor Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell and the eldest of three siblings; her younger siblings are actress Hayley Mills and director Jonathan Mills. Mills began her career as a child actress and was nominated at age 18 for a Tony Award for her stage performance in ''Five Finger Exercise'' in 1960. She progressed to film work and then to television, playing the lead role on the sitcom ''Nanny and the Professor'' in the early 1970s. She received Golden Globe Award nominations for her work in this series and for her role in the film ''Avanti!'' in 1972. She won an Emmy Award for her performance in the television miniseries ''QB VII'' (1974). In 1983, Mills joined The Mirror Theater Ltd's Mirror Repertory Company, performing in repertory productions such as ''Rain'', ''Paradise Lost'', ''Inheritors'' and ''The Hasty Heart'' throughout their seasons. From 1999 until 2008, she had a ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sally Ann Howes
Sally Ann Howes (20 July 1930 – 19 December 2021) was an English actress and singer. Her career on screen, stage and television spanned six decades. She is best known for the role of Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 musical film ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''. In 1963, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her performance in ''Brigadoon''. Childhood and early film career Family Howes was born on 20 July 1930 in St John's Wood, London, the daughter of British comedian/actor/singer/variety star Bobby Howes (1895–1972) and actress/singer Patricia Malone (1899–1971). She was the granddaughter of Capt. J.A.E. Malone (died 1928), London theatrical director of musicals, and she had an older brother, Peter Howes, a professional musician and music professor. Her great-grandfather, Captain Joseph Malone, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1854 at the Charge of the Light Brigade. Her uncle, Pat Malone, was an actor on stage, films, and television. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
