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The Prisoner Of Zenda
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order for the king to retain the crown, his coronation must proceed. Fortuitously, an English gentleman on holiday in Ruritania who resembles the monarch is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an effort to save the unstable political situation of the interregnum. A sequel, ''Rupert of Hentzau'', was published in 1898 and is included in some editions of ''The Prisoner of Zenda''. The popularity of the novels inspired the Ruritanian romance genre of literature, film, and theatre that features stories set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe,John Clute and John Grant, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', p. 826 for example Graustark from the novels of George Barr McCutcheon, and the neighbouring countries of Sylda ...
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The Prisoner Of Zenda (1937 Film)
''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is a 1937 American black-and-white adventure film based on Anthony Hope's 1894 novel of the same name and the 1896 play. A lookalike has to step in when his royal distant relative is kidnapped to prevent his coronation. This version is widely considered the best of the many film adaptations of the novel and play. The film stars Ronald Colman, Madeleine Carroll and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., with a supporting cast including C. Aubrey Smith, Raymond Massey, Mary Astor and David Niven. It was directed by John Cromwell, produced by David O. Selznick for Selznick International Pictures and distributed by United Artists. The screenplay was written by John L. Balderston, adapted by Wells Root from the novel, with dramatization by Edward Rose; Donald Ogden Stewart was responsible for additional dialogue and Ben Hecht and Sidney Howard made uncredited contributions. Alfred Newman received the first of his 43 Academy Award nominations, for Original Music Score, ...
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Adventure Fiction
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of Romance (prose fiction)#Definition, romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction'', Critic Don D'Ammassa defines the genre as follows: D'Ammassa argues that adventure stories make the element of danger the focus; hence he argues that Charles Dickens's novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is an adventure novel because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed, whereas Dickens's ''Great Expectations'' is not because "Pip's encounter with the convict is an adventure, but that scene is only a device to advance the main plot, which is not truly an adventure." Adventure has been a common theme (literature), theme since the earliest days of written fiction. Indeed, the standard plot of Romance (heroic literature), Medieval romances was a serie ...
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George Barr McCutcheon
George Barr McCutcheon (July 26, 1866 – October 23, 1928) was an American popular novelist and playwright. His best known works include a series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, and the novel ''Brewster's Millions'', which was adapted into a play and several films. Life McCutcheon was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. His father, despite his own lack of formal education, stressed the value of literature and encouraged his sons to write. During McCutcheon's childhood, his father had a number of jobs that required travel around the county. McCutcheon studied at Purdue University and was a roommate of future humorist George Ade. During his college years, he was editor of the newspaper ''Lafayette Daily Courier'' and wrote a serial novel of satire about Wabash River life. Although McCutcheon became famous for the ''Graustark'' series (the first novel was published in 1901), he disliked the characterization of being a Romanticism, Romantic and pref ...
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Princess Flavia
''Princess Flavia'' is a 1925 operetta in three acts based on Anthony Hope's novel ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', with book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith and music by Sigmund Romberg. Production ''Princess Flavia'' was staged by J. C. Huffman and produced by Lee Shubert and J. J. Shubert. The Broadway show opened November 2, 1925, at the Century Theatre. On February 1, 1926, it moved to the Shubert Theatre, continuing for a total run of 152 performances. The large cast was led by Harry Welchman, a popular tenor of the London stage, and soprano Evelyn Herbert in her first starring role. Cast * Harry Welchman as Rudolf Rassendyl and Rudolph, Crown Prince of Ruritania * William Pringle as General Sapt * John Clarke as Rupert of Hentzau * William Danforth as Franz Teppich * James Marshall as Lieut. Fritz van Tarlenheim * Alois Havrilla as Gilbert Bertrand * Douglass Dumbrille as Michael * Evelyn Herbert as Princess Flavia * Margaret Breen as Helga * Felicia Drenova as Antoinette de ...
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The Era (newspaper)
''The Era'' was a British weekly paper, published from 1838 to 1939. Originally a general newspaper, it became noted for its sports coverage, and later for its theatrical content. History ''The Era'' was established in 1838 by a body of shareholders consisting of licensed victuallers and other people connected with their trade. The journal was intended to be a weekly organ of the public-house interest, just as the ''Morning Advertiser'' was then its daily organ. In the first two or three years of its existence, its political stance was broadly Liberal. Its first editor, Leitch Ritchie, proved too liberal for his board of directors, and in addition to editorial clashes, the paper was a commercial failure. Ritchie was succeeded by Frederick Ledger, who became sole proprietor as well as editor. He edited the paper for more than thirty years, gradually changing its politics from Liberalism to moderate Conservatism. Politics, however, ceased to be a major concern of ''The Era''. Its ...
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Evelyn Millard
Evelyn Mary Millard (18 September 1869 – 9 March 1941) was an English Shakespearean actress, actor-manager and "stage beauty" of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries perhaps best known for creating the role of Cecily Cardew in the 1895 premiere of Oscar Wilde's play ''The Importance of Being Earnest''. Early life and career Millard was born in Kensington in London in 1869, one of three daughters of John Millard (1838 –1900), a teacher of elocution at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, and his wife, Emily (née Cooke) (1848–1902). Evelyn Millard studied at the Female School of Art in Bloomsbury.Gillan, DonEvelyn Millard 'Stage Beauty' website, accessed 3 April 2011/ref> She made her first stage appearance in 1891 in a "walk-on" role in Henry Arthur Jones' play ''The Dancing Girl'' at the Haymarket Theatre in London. She trained as an actress under Sarah Thorne at her School of Acting based at the Theatre Royal in Margate, where she le ...
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George Alexander (actor)
Sir George Alexander (19 June 185815 March 1918), born George Alexander Gibb Samson, was an English stage actor, theatre producer and Actor-manager, theatre manager. After acting on stage as an amateur he turned professional in 1879 and, over the next eleven years, he gained experience with leading producers and actor-managers, including Thomas William Robertson, Tom Robertson, Henry Irving and Madge Kendal, Madge and William Hunter Kendal, W. H. Kendal. During this time, Alexander became interested in theatre management. In 1890 he took a lease on a London theatre and began producing on his own account. The following year, he moved to the St James's Theatre, where he remained, acting and producing, for the rest of his career. Among the most successful of the new plays he presented were Oscar Wilde's ''Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1892), Arthur Wing Pinero, A. W. Pinero's ''The Second Mrs Tanqueray'' (1893) and Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (1895). Alexander followed ...
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West End Theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, Along with New York City's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London. Famous screen actors, British and international alike, frequently appear on the London stage. There are a total of 39 theatres in the West End, with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, opened in May 1663, the oldest theatre in London. The Savoy Theatre – built as a showcase for the popular series of comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan – was entirely lit by electricity in 1881. The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) announced that 2018 was a record year for the capital's theatre industry with attendances top ...
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Edward Rose
Edward Rose (7 August 1849 – 31 December 1904) was an English playwright, best known for his adaptations of novels for the stage, mainly ''The Prisoner of Zenda''. He was also the theatre critic for ''The Sunday Times''. Biography Edward Rose was born in Swaffham, Norfolk, on 7 August 1849, son of Caleb Rose, a physician, and his first wife, Isabella Morse. He attended Islington Proprietary School and Ipswich Grammar School. He worked in the solicitors firm Cobbold and Yarrington (in Ipswich) for four years, from 1868 to 1872. In 1872 he moved to London. He began writing plays in 1869, and first had a play – ''Our Farm'' – produced in London in 1872. He was a regular contributor to the Illustrated London News, specifically, the English Homes series, and was the theatre critic for the Sunday Times starting in 1894 and continuing until at least 1897. His greatest success as a playwright came in 1896 with the premiere of his adaption of ''The Prisoner of Zenda''. He later ...
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James Mason
James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films included '' The Seventh Veil'' (1945) and ''The Wicked Lady'' (1945). He starred in ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), the first recipient of the BAFTA Award for Best British Film. Mason starred in such films as George Cukor's '' A Star Is Born'' (1954), Alfred Hitchcock's ''North by Northwest'' (1959), Stanley Kubrick's ''Lolita'' (1962), Warren Beatty's '' Heaven Can Wait'' (1978), and Sidney Lumet's ''The Verdict'' (1982). He also starred in a number of successful British and American films from the 1950s to the early 1980s, including: '' The Desert Fox'' (1951), ''Julius Caesar'' (1953), '' Bigger Than Life'' (1956), ''20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' (1954), ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1959), ''Georgy Girl'' (1966), and '' The Boys from B ...
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Douglas Fairbanks Jr
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr., (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best known for starring in such films as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939) and ''The Corsican Brothers'' (1941). The son of Douglas Fairbanks and stepson of Mary Pickford, he was first married, briefly, to actress Joan Crawford. Early life Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. was born in New York City; he was the only child of actor Douglas Fairbanks and his first wife, Anna Beth Sully, the daughter of wealthy industrialist Daniel J. Sully. Fairbanks' father was one of cinema's first icons, noted for such swashbuckling adventure films as '' The Mark of Zorro'', ''Robin Hood'' and '' The Thief of Bagdad''. Fairbanks had small roles in his father's films '' American Aristocracy'' (1916) and ''The Three Musketeers'' (1921). His parents divorced when he was nine years old, and both remarried. He lived with his mother ...
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Ramon Novarro
José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box office attractions of the 1920s and early 1930s. Novarro was promoted by MGM as a "Latin lover" and became known as a sex symbol after the death of Rudolph Valentino. He is recognized as the first Latin American actor to succeed in Hollywood. Early life Novarro was born José Ramón Gil Samaniego on February 6, 1899, in Durango City, Durango, north-west Mexico, to Dr. Mariano N. Samaniego, and his wife, Leonor (Pérez Gavilán). The family moved to Los Angeles to escape the Mexican Revolution in 1913. Novarro's direct ancestors came from the Castilian town of Burgos, whence two brothers emigrated to the New World in the seventeenth century. Allan Ellenberger, Novarro's biographer, writes: The family estate was called the "Garden o ...
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