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Topper Returns
''Topper Returns'' is a 1941 fantasy comedy thriller directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Jonathan Latimer. The third and final installment in the initial series of supernatural comedy films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith, it succeeds '' Topper'' (1937) and ''Topper Takes a Trip'' (1938). As in the prior films, Roland Young plays Cosmo Topper, a mousy banker who gets into trouble because of his ability to see and speak with ghosts, and Billie Burke plays his wife, who is constantly befuddled by his strange antics. The plot revolves around a murder mystery. Joan Blondell portrays a slain woman who seeks out the reluctant Topper and enlists his help in identifying her killer and saving her friend, played by Carole Landis. Most of the action takes place in a spooky mansion filled with eccentric characters, trapdoors and secret passages. The film was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Special Effects (Roy Seawright and Elmer Raguse) and Best Sound Recording (Elme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the producer. By the early 1920s, he had moved over to features including ''Asleep at the Switch'' (1923), ''The Hollywood Kid'' (1924), '' Eve's Lover'' (1925) and ''The Little Irish Girl'' (1926). Following several more titles, many now lost, he directed ''The First Auto'' (1927), a charming look at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. Also once believed lost, the film's almost entirely unsynchronised soundtrack features several elaborate sound effects for the time. Del Ruth directed another half dozen projects before the musical ''The Desert Song'' (1929), the first color film ever released by Warner Bros. That same year, Del Ruth directed ''Gold Diggers of Broadway'' (1929), Warner's second two-strip Tec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supernatural Fiction
Supernatural fiction or supernaturalist fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that exploits or is centered on supernatural themes, often contradicting naturalist assumptions of the real world. Description In its broadest definition, supernatural fiction overlaps with examples of weird fiction, horror fiction, vampire literature, ghost story, and fantasy. Elements of supernatural fiction can be found in writing from the genre of science fiction. Amongst academics, readers and collectors, however, supernatural fiction is often classed as a discrete genre defined by the elimination of "horror", "fantasy", and elements important to other genres. The one genre supernatural fiction appears to embrace in its entirety is the traditional ghost story. The fantasy and supernatural fiction genres would often overlap and may be confused each for each other, though there exist some crucial differences between the two genres. Fantasy usually takes place in another world, where fantast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis O'Keefe
Dennis O'Keefe (born Edward Vanes Flanagan, Jr., March 29, 1908 – August 31, 1968) was an American actor and writer. Early years Born in Fort Madison, Iowa, O'Keefe was the son of Edward Flanagan and Charlotte Flanagan, Irish vaudevillians working in the United States. As a small child, he joined his parents' act and later wrote skits for the stage. He attended the University of Southern California but left midway through his sophomore year after his father died. Career O'Keefe continued his father's vaudeville act for several years after the father's death. He started in films as an extra in 1931 and appeared in numerous films under the name Bud Flanagan. After a small but impressive role in '' Saratoga'' (1937), Clark Gable recommended O'Keefe to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which signed him to a contract in 1937 and renamed him Dennis O'Keefe. His film roles were bigger after that, starting with ''The Bad Man of Brimstone'' (1938) opposite Wallace Beery, and the lead role ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copyright Registration
The purpose of copyright registration is to place on record a verifiable account of the date and content of the work in question, so that in the event of a legal claim, or case of infringement or plagiarism, the copyright owner can produce a copy of the work from an official government source. Before 1978, in the United States, federal copyright was generally secured by the act of publication with notice of copyright or by registration of an unpublished work. This has now been largely superseded by international conventions, principally the Berne Convention, which provide rights harmonized at an international level without a requirement for national registration. However, the U.S. still provides legal advantages for registering works of U.S. origin. For example, a registration is required before an infringement suit may be filed in a US court and registration is required for claiming statutory damages in most cases. Requirement of registration It is a common misconception to con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Films In The Public Domain In The United States
Most films are subject to copyright, but those listed here are believed to be in the public domain in the United States. This means that no government, organization, or individual owns any copyright over the work, and as such it is common property. This list is not comprehensive; the vast majority of public domain films are not included here for various reasons. Films in this list may incorporate elements from other works that are still under copyright, even though the film itself is out of copyright. Copyrightable elements of a film There is no official list of films (or other works) in the public domain. It is difficult to determine the public domain status of a film because it can incorporate any or all of the following copyrightable elements: * Cinematography * Drama * Literature * Music * Art * Graphical characters (e.g., Bugs Bunny) * Fictional characters (e.g., James Bond) Film copyright involves the copyright status of multiple elements that make up the film. A film ca ... [...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] |
Television Pilot
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distributor. A pilot is created to be a testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful. It is, therefore, a test episode for the intended television series, an early step in the series development, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity. A successful pilot may be used as the series premiere, the first aired episode of a new show, but sometimes a series' pilot may be aired as a later episode or never aired at all. Some series are commissioned straight-to-series without a pilot. On some occasions, pilots that were not ordered to series may also be broadcast as a standalone television film or special. A "backdoor pilot" is an episode of an existing series that heavily features supporting characters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topper (TV Series)
''Topper'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series based on the 1937 film '' Topper'', which was based on two novels ''Topper'' and ''Topper Takes a Trip'' by Thorne Smith. The series was broadcast on CBS from October 9, 1953, to July 15, 1955, and stars Leo G. Carroll in the title role. It finished at #24 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1954–1955 season. ''Topper'' also earned an Emmy nomination for Best Situation Comedy in 1954. Synopsis Sophisticated but stuffy Cosmo Topper (Carroll) is the vice president of City Bank, married to sweet but rather clueless Henrietta ( Lee Patrick). They live in a Los Angeles house they bought from the estate of a young couple, George and Marion Kerby (real life husband and wife Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys). The Kerbys died while skiing when they were buried by an avalanche. A St. Bernard dog, Neil, who attempted to rescue them also died with them. Topper discovers his new home is haunted by the ghosts of the former occupants a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award For Best Sound Mixing
The Academy Award for Best Sound is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic sound mixing, recording, sound design, and sound editing. The award used to go to the studio sound departments until a rule change in 1969 said it should be awarded to the specific technicians. The first were Murray Spivack and Jack Solomon for '' Hello, Dolly!''. It is generally awarded to the production sound mixers, re-recording mixers, and supervising sound editors of the winning film. In the lists below, the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees. Before the 93rd Academy Awards, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing were separate categories. For the second and third years of this category (i.e., the 4th Academy Awards and the 5th Academy Awards) only the names of the film companies were listed. Paramount Publix Studio Sound Department won in both years. Winners and nominees 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elmer Raguse
Elmer R. Raguse (May 9, 1901 – March 2, 1972) was an American sound engineer mostly associated with the Hal Roach Studios. He was nominated for eight Academy Awards in the categories Best Sound Recording and Best Effects. Editor Richard Currier said, "In pictures, if you can't get an effect one way, you figure out another way of getting it. But with Raguse, there was only one line you could follow, and that was that." He wanted to record a gunshot on a project Raguse was involved in, but he refused on the grounds that it would break the light valve. Currier questioned him on it, imagining the valve couldn't be prohibitively expensive. Raguse confirmed it would be twenty cents, so Currier fired the gun in defiance.Eyman, Scott. The Speed of Sound: Hollywood and the Talkie Revolution 1926-1930. Simon and Schuster, New York: 1997. Selected filmography ;Best Sound * ''General Spanky'' (1936) * '' Topper'' (1937) * ''Merrily We Live'' (1938) * ''Of Mice and Men'' (1939) * ''C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Seawright
Roy Seawright born November 19, 1905 in Los Angeles, California, died April 30, 1991 in Torrance, California was a Hollywood special effects technician, principally with Hal Roach Studios. Biography Seawright's father was the chief architect of Hal Roach's Culver City studios. He died in 1919 during a construction accident during the building of the complex. Roy joined Roach initially as a mail boy and errand boy in 1920. Seawright worked his way up to Casting Director, then the Property Department, and later became the head of Roach's animation studio. Seawright's animation appeared in many of the Roach studio's shorts such as animating eyes, balloon captions, and other items drawn on the film. In 1934's '' Babes in Toyland'' Seawright did a stop motion animation sequence for the toy soldiers marching to attack the Bogeymen. Credited as head of the Process Department in 1937, some of Seawright's most famous work was in ''Topper Takes a Trip'' and ''One Million B.C.'' where h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award For Best Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects. History of the award The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1929, presenting a plaque for "Best Engineering Effects" to the first Best Picture Oscar winner, the World War I flying drama ''Wings''. Producer David O. Selznick, then production head at RKO Studios, petitioned the Academy Board of Governors to recognize the work of animator Willis O'Brien for his groundbreaking work on 1933's ''King Kong''. It was not until 1938 when a film was actually recognized for its effects work, when a "Special Achievement Award for Special Effects" was given to the Paramount film ''Spawn of the North''. The following year, "Best Special Effects" became a recognized category, although on occasion the Academy has chosen to honor a single film outright rather than nominate two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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