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The Spiral Staircase (1961 Film)
''The Spiral Staircase'' is a 1961 American television film. It is a television adaptation of Ethel Lina White's novel ''Some Must Watch'' which was filmed in 1946 as '' The Spiral Staircase''. It was directed by Boris Sagal. Plot summary Cast * Elizabeth Montgomery as Helen Warren * Lillian Gish as Mrs. Warren * Gig Young as Stephen Warren * Edie Adams as Blanche * Eddie Albert as Albert Warren * Jeffrey Lynn as Doctor Parry * Frank McHugh as Constable Williams Production The production was the idea of David Susskind who originally wanted Jane Fonda to play the lead. It was part of a series on NBC called ''Theatre '62''. ''Spiral Staircase'' was to be the first of eight productions of David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture. E ... movies. Eventually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Lina White
Ethel Lina White (2 April 1876 – 13 August 1944) was a British crime writer from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales. She was best known for her novel ''The Wheel Spins'' (1936), on which the Alfred Hitchcock 1938 film ''The Lady Vanishes'' was based. Early years Born in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in 1876, Ethel Lina White was the daughter of William White, builder and inventor of the Hygeian Rock Building Composition, and Ethel C White, both of Clifton, Bristol. She was one of nine children. Her father's invention, a compound of bitumen and cement was the first waterproof building material, and used in the construction of the London Underground, which brought wealth to the family. White grew up in Fairlea Grange, which was built in the 1880s by her father, and started writing as a child and contributing essays and poems to children's papers. She passed the Government Examination (Second Class) in freehand drawing at Newport School of Art in 1890. She later began to write ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edie Adams
Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman. She earned the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Adams was well known for her impersonations of sexy stars on stage and television, especially Marilyn Monroe. She was the frequent television partner of Ernie Kovacs, her husband. Adams founded two beauty businesses: Edie Adams Cosmetics and Edie Adams Cut 'n' Curl. Early life Adams was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania, the only daughter of Sheldon Alonzo Enke and his wife, Ada Dorothy (née Adams). She had an elder brother, Sheldon Adams Enke. The family moved to nearby areas such as Shavertown and Trucksville and spent a year in New York City before settling in Tenafly, New Jersey, where she attended Tenafly High School. Ada Enke taught her daughter singing and piano; mother and daughter were members of the Grove City Presbyterian church choir. Adams's grandmother, a seamstress, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David O
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel. In the Books of Samuel, he is described as a young shepherd and harpist who gains fame by slaying Goliath, a champion of the Philistines, in southern Canaan. David becomes a favourite of Saul, the first king of Israel; he also forges a notably close friendship with Jonathan, a son of Saul. However, under the paranoia that David is seeking to usurp the throne, Saul attempts to kill David, forcing the latter to go into hiding and effectively operate as a fugitive for several years. After Saul and Jonathan are both killed in battle against the Philistines, a 30-year-old David is anointed king over all of Israel and Judah. Following his rise to power, David ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the AFI Life Achievement Award, the Golden Lion Honorary Award, the Honorary Palme d'Or, and the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Born to socialite Frances Ford Seymour and actor Henry Fonda, Fonda made her acting debut with the 1960 Broadway play ''There Was a Little Girl'', for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, and made her screen debut later the same year with the romantic comedy ''Tall Story''. She rose to prominence during the 1960s with the comedies ''Period of Adjustment'' (1962), ''Sunday in New York'' (1963), ''Cat Ballou'' (1965), ''Barefoot in the Park'' (1967), and '' Barbarella'' (1968). Fonda established herself as one of the most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Susskind
David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond the scope of others of the day. Early life, education and military service Susskind was born to a Jewish family of modest means in Manhattan, and grew up in Brookline, Massachusetts. He graduated from Brookline High School in 1938. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and then Harvard University, graduating with honors in 1942. He served in the Navy during World War II and, as communications officer on an attack transport, , saw action at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Career His first job after the war was as a press agent for Warner Brothers. Next he was a talent agent for Century Artists, ultimately ending up in the Music Corporation of America's newly minted television programming department, managing Dinah Shore, Jerry Lewis, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank McHugh
Francis Curry McHugh (May 23, 1898 – September 11, 1981) was an American stage, radio, film and television actor. Early years Born in Homestead, Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents, Edward A. "Cutie" McHugh and Katherine Curry "Katie" McHugh, ran the McHugh stock theater company in Braddock, Pennsylvania. As a young child he performed on stage. His brother Matt and sister Kitty performed in an act with him by the time he was 10 years old, but the family quit the stage around 1930. Another brother, Ed, became a stage manager and agent in New York. Career Leaving the family stage company at age 17, McHugh went to Pittsburgh as leading man and stage manager at the Empire Theater there. He spent nine years in stock companies and road troupes before appearing on Broadway. McHugh debuted on Broadway in ''The Fall Guy'', written by George Abbott and James Gleason in 1925. He also appeared in ''Show Girl'' (1929), a musical. In th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeffrey Lynn
Jeffrey Lynn (born Ragnar Godfrey Lind; – November 24, 1995) was an American stage-screen actor and film producer who worked primarily through the Golden Age of Hollywood establishing himself as one of the premier talents of his time. Throughout his acting career, both on stage and in film, he was typecast as "the attractive, reliable love interest of the heroine," or "the tall, stalwart hero." Born and raised in Massachusetts, he attended Bates College, before working as a teacher. He was tapped to act in his first film in 1938, which convinced him to move to Hollywood, California. His second film–'' Four Daughters'' (1938)–propelled him into national fame sparking two sequels: ''Four Wives'' (1939) and ''Four Mothers'' (1941), with Lynn reprising his role in each of them, along with '' Daughters Courageous'' (1939), which included the same cast but had a different storyline. He was at the center of the ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939) casting controversy: he was the top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Albert
Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor and activist. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; the first nomination came in 1954 for his performance in ''Roman Holiday'', and the second in 1973 for '' The Heartbreak Kid''. Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the ''Brother Rat'' films, traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical ''Oklahoma!'', and the sadistic prison warden in 1974's '' The Longest Yard''. He starred as Oliver Wendell Douglas in the 1960s television sitcom '' Green Acres'' and as Frank MacBride in the 1970s crime drama ''Switch''. He also had a recurring role as Carlton Travis on '' Falcon Crest'', opposite Jane Wyman. Early life Edward Albert Heimberger was born in Rock Island, Illinois, on April 22, 1906, the eldest of the five children of Frank Daniel Heimberger, a real estate agent, and his wife, Julia Jones. His year of birth is often given as 1908, but this is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Spiral Staircase (1946 Film)
''The Spiral Staircase'' is a 1946 American psychological horror film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Adapted from Ethel Lina White's British novel ''Some Must Watch'' (1933) by screenwriter Mel Dinelli, the film follows a mute young woman in an early-20th century Vermont town being terrorized by a serial killer who targets disabled women. The film premiered in New York City on February 6, 1946. For her performance in the film, Barrymore received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Plot In a small village in 1906 Vermont, the mute Helen attends a silent film screening in the parlor of a local inn. During the screening, a crippled woman staying at the inn is murdered in her room by a man hiding in the closet; her murder is the third in a string of serial killings in the community. Dr. Parry, a friend of Helen's, drives her to the Warren home, a large estate outside town where Helen is employed as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mel Dinelli
Amelio "Mel" Dinelli (6 October 1912, Albuquerque, New Mexico – 28 November 1991, Los Angeles, California) was an American writer for theatre, radio, film and magazines, usually in the suspense genre. He grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and graduated from Albuquerque High School. He joined the Albuquerque Little Theatre company for its inaugural season in 1931, acting in two plays alongside future ''I Love Lucy'' star Vivian Vance. He later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse school of theater arts and the University of Washington. One of his earliest plays was ''Shubert Alley'', about a young woman's rise to fame on Broadway, which was notable at the time for its all-female cast. The play was published in 1943 and had reportedly been performed in 385 cities by 1945. Later in the 1940s he wrote for the CBS radio drama series ''Suspense'', including the 1945 episode "To Find Help" which starred Frank Sinatra in one of his first dramatic roles. Dinelli later adapted the story int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for initial showing in movie theaters, and direct-to-video films made for initial release on home video formats. In certain cases, such films may also be referred to and shown as a miniseries, which typically indicates a film that has been divided into multiple parts or a series that contains a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Origins and history Precursors of "television movies" include ''Talk Faster, Mister'', which aired on WABD (now WNYW) in New York City on December 18, 1944, and was produced by RKO Pictures, and the 1957 ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'', based on the poem by Robert Browning, and starring Van Johnson, one of the first filmed "family musicals" made directly for television. That film was made in Technicolor, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Coe
Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe (December 23, 1914 – April 29, 1979) was an American television producer and director most famous for '' The Goodyear Television Playhouse''/''The Philco Television Playhouse'' in 1948-1955 and ''Playhouse 90'' from 1957 to 1959. Among the live TV dramas he produced were '' Marty'' and ''The Trip to Bountiful'' for '' Goodyear''/''Philco'', ''Peter Pan'' for ''Producers' Showcase'', and '' Days of Wine and Roses'' for ''Playhouse 90''. Early life Frederick Hayden Hughs Coe was born on December 23, 1914, in Alligator, Mississippi. Coe grew up in Buckhorn, Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee. He attended Peabody Demonstration School in Nashville and Peabody College, before studying at the Yale Drama School. While he lived in Nashville he was active with the Nashville Community Playhouse and founded the Hillsboro Players. Career Coe went to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1940 after his graduate work at Yale. There he was director and manager of the Town ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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