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Top Secret!
''Top Secret!'' is a 1984 American action comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker ( ZAZ). It stars Val Kilmer (in his film debut role) and Lucy Gutteridge alongside a supporting cast featuring Omar Sharif, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, and Jeremy Kemp. The film parodies various film styles such as musicals starring Elvis Presley, spy films of the Cold War era and World War II films. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. Plot Nick Rivers, an American rock star ("Skeet Surfin' "), travels to East Germany (which is represented as like Hitler's regime) to perform at a cultural festival, which secretly serves the East German government as a diversion for a military operation with the intent of reuniting Germany under their rule. At a dinner, Nick encounters Hillary Flammond, a member of the local resistance movement who is attempting to avoid the authorities. He pretends to be her date to get to know her, and perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Abrahams
James S. Abrahams (born May 10, 1944) is an American movie director and writer, best known as a member of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker. Life and career Abrahams was born to a Jewish family in Shorewood, Wisconsin, the son of Louise M. (née Ogens), an educational researcher, and Norman S. Abrahams, a lawyer. He attended Shorewood High School. He has a home in Eagle River, Wisconsin where he has spent summers since he was a child. Retrieved 2018-11-01. He may be best known for the movies that he co-wrote and produced with brothers |
David Zucker (director)
David Samuel Zucker (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Associated mostly with parody comedies, Zucker is recognized as the director and writer of the critically successful 1980 film ''Airplane!'' as well as being the creator of ''The Naked Gun'' franchise and for directing ''Scary Movie 3'' and ''Scary Movie 4''. Career Zucker's movies include ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' in 1977, ''Ruthless People'' in 1986, ''The Naked Gun'' in 1988, '' The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear'' in 1991, ''BASEketball'' in 1998, ''Scary Movie 3'' in 2003, and its sequel ''Scary Movie 4'' in 2006. Out of 18 works he is associated with,'' Phone Booth'', which he produced in 2002, is the only non-comedic film. He co-directed several films including ''Airplane!'' in 1980 and ''Top Secret!'' in 1984; along with his brother, Jerry, and Jim Abrahams, the trio make up the '' ZAZ'' team of directors. He has also worked with Pat Proft (with whom he first tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Are You Lonesome Tonight? (song)
"Are You Lonesome Tonight?" (sometimes stylized as Are You Lonesome To-night?) is a song written by Roy Turk and Lou Handman in 1926. It was recorded several times in 1927—first by Charles Hart, with successful versions by Vaughn De Leath, Henry Burr, and the duet of Jerry Macy and John Ryan. In 1950 the Blue Barron Orchestra version reached the top twenty on the ''Billboard's'' Pop Singles chart. In April 1960, after Elvis Presley's two-year service in the United States Army, he recorded the song at the suggestion of manager Colonel Tom Parker; "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was Parker's wife, Marie Mott's, favorite song. Its release was delayed by RCA Victor executives, who thought the song did not fit Presley's new (and publicized) style. When "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" was released in November 1960 it was an immediate success in the U.S., topping ''Billboard's'' Pop Singles chart and reaching number three on the R&B chart. A month after the song's release, it topped the UK S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two North American. Established in the aftermath of World War II, the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949. NATO is a collective security system: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by third parties. During the Cold War, NATO operated as a check on the perceived threat posed by the Soviet Union. The alliance remained in place after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and has been involved in military operations in the Balkans, the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. The organization's motto is ''animus in consulendo liber'' (Latin for "a mind unfettered in deliberation"). NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium, while NATO ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tutti Frutti (song)
Tutti Frutti is a song written by Little Richard and Dorothy LaBostrie, recorded in 1955, which was his first major hit. With its energetic refrain, often transcribed as "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bam-boom!" (a verbal rendition of a drum pattern that Little Richard had imagined),White, Charles (2003), pp. 49–51 ''The Life and Times of Little Richard: The Authorised Biography.'' Omnibus Press. and its hard-driving sound and wild lyrics, it became not only a model for many future Little Richard songs, but also for rock and roll itself. The song introduced several of rock music's most characteristic musical features, including its loud volume, powerful vocal style, and distinctive beat and rhythm. In 2007, an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists ranked "Tutti Frutti" at No. 1 on ''Mojos "The Top 100 Records That Changed The World" and hailed the recording as "the sound of the birth of rock and roll". In 2010, the U.S. Library of Congress National Recording Registry added t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the head of gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state was a part of the Eastern Bloc in the Cold War. Commonly described as a communist state, it described itself as a socialist "workers' and peasants' state".Patrick Major, Jonathan Osmond, ''The Workers' and Peasants' State: Communism and Society in East Germany Under Ulbricht 1945–71'', Manchester University Press, 2002, Its territory was administered and occupied by Soviet forces following the end of World War II—the Soviet occupation zone of the Potsdam Agreement, bounded on the east by the Oder–Neisse line. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin but did not include it and West Berlin remained outside the jurisdiction of the GDR. Most scholars and academics describe the GDR as a totalitarian dictatorship. The GDR was establish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events, and technological competitions such as the Space Race. The Western Bloc was led by the United States as well as a number of other First W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spy Film
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way (such as the adaptations of John le Carré) or as a basis for fantasy (such as many James Bond films). Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, le Carré, Ian Fleming (Bond) and Len Deighton. It is a significant aspect of British cinema, with leading British directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed making notable contributions and many films set in the British Secret Service. Spy films show the espionage activities of government agents and their risk of being discovered by their enemies. From the Nazi espionage thrillers of the 1940s to the James Bond films of the 1960s and to the high-tech blockbusters of today, the spy film has always been popular with audiences worldwide. Offering a combination of exciting escapism, technological thrills, and exotic locales, many spy film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elvis Presley On Film And Television
Elvis Presley was an American entertainer who achieved great initial success as a singer and stage performer. He publicly expressed an early career goal of following in the footsteps of his role models James Dean and Marlon Brando to become a top dramatic actor. His manager Colonel Tom Parker's persistent lobbying of William Morris Agency president Abe Lastfogel for a Presley screen test paid off on March 26, 1956, when the singer auditioned at Paramount for a supporting role in ''The Rainmaker''. Although not chosen for the part, he signed a contract with Paramount producer Hal Wallis on April 25 that also allowed him to make films with other studios. His feature debut was in '' Love Me Tender'' in 1956 for 20th Century Fox, with the commercial success of the soundtrack EP being a bellwether for the next three Presley films, '' Loving You'', '' Jailhouse Rock,'' and ''King Creole.'' Elvis returned to acting after leaving the army in 1960, with ''G.I. Blues'' and a dramatic wes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeremy Kemp
Edmund Jeremy James Walker (3 February 1935 – 19 July 2019), known professionally as Jeremy Kemp, was an English actor. He was known for his significant roles in the miniseries ''The Winds of War'' and ''War and Remembrance'', the film ''The Blue Max'', and the TV series ''Z-Cars''. Early life Kemp was born 3 February 1935 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the son of Elsa May (daughter of Dr James Kemp, of Sheffield) and Edmund Reginald Walker, an engineer, of a Yorkshire landed gentry family that had owned at various times Aldwick Hall at Rotherham, Silton Hall at Northallerton, Ravensthorpe Manor, and Mount St John, at Thirsk."Jeremy Kemp Biography (1935–)" Film Reference. Retrieved 27 January 2017. Kemp attended Abbotsholme School in Staffordshire from 1943 to 1953. He studied acting at the |
Michael Gough
Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthur Holmwood in ''Dracula'', and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four of the ''Batman'' films from 1989 to 1997. He would appear in three more Burton films: in '' Sleepy Hollow'', voicing Elder Gutknecht in ''Corpse Bride'' and the Dodo in ''Alice in Wonderland''. Gough also appeared in popular British television shows, including ''Doctor Who'' (as the titular villain in ''The Celestial Toymaker'' (1966) and as Councillor Hedin in ''Arc of Infinity'' (1983)), and in a memorable episode of '' The Avengers'' as the automation-obsessed wheelchair user Dr. Armstrong in "The Cybernauts" (1965). In 1956 he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. At the National Theatre in London Gough excelled as a comedia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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