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Two Cities Films
Two Cities Films was a British film production company. Formed in 1937, it was originally envisaged as a production company operating in the two cities of London and Rome which gave the company its name. The driving forces behind the company were the flamboyant, Italian-born Filippo Del Giudice, and his partner the multitalented Mario Zampi, born in Sora, Italy who often worked in the dual role of director and producer. Two Cities produced a number of quintessentially EnglishTom Ryall, Encyclopedia of British Film film classics including the most popular British film from the wartime period, ''In Which We Serve'' (1942). Other Two Cities films such as ''This Happy Breed'' (1944), ''The Way Ahead'' (1944), ''Henry V'' (1944), ''The Way to the Stars'' (1945), and '' Blithe Spirit'' (1945) contributed significantly to the high critical reputation acquired by the British cinema of the time. In the mid-1940s Two Cities Films became part of the Rank Organisation. It was raising the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamlet (1948 Film)
''Hamlet '' is a 1948 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name, adapted and directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. ''Hamlet'' was Olivier's second film as director and the second of the three Shakespeare films that he directed (the 1936 ''As You Like It'' had starred Olivier, but had been directed by Paul Czinner). ''Hamlet'' was the first British film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the first sound film of the play in English. Olivier's ''Hamlet'' is the Shakespeare film that has received the most prestigious accolades, winning the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. However, it proved controversial among Shakespearean purists, who felt that Olivier had made too many alterations and excisions to the four-hour play by cutting nearly two hours' worth of content. Milton Shulman wrote in ''The Evening Standard'': "To some it will be one of the greatest films ever made, to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madness Of The Heart
''Madness of the Heart'' is a 1949 British drama film directed by Charles Bennett and starring Margaret Lockwood, Paul Dupuis and Kathleen Byron. Plot summary Lydia Garth meets Paul de Vandiere, a French nobleman, but their romance is plagued by Lydia's complaint of recurring spells of blurred vision. Paul leaves for France, promising to return and marry Lydia, but she loses her sight while he is gone. Given no hope of recovery, she enters a convent and quickly finds that she has no vocation for life in a nunnery. She finally marries Paul, but encounters strong opposition from Verite Faimont, a neighbour who is very fond of Paul. The latter constantly plots against Lydia and is successful in temporarily breaking up the marriage, but can a miracle of restored vision be seen? Cast * Margaret Lockwood as Lydia Garth * Paul Dupuis as Paul de Vandiere * Kathleen Byron as Verite Faimont * Maxwell Reed as Joseph Rondolet * Thora Hird as Rosa * Raymond Lovell as Comte de Vandiere * M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trottie True
''Trottie True'' is a 1949 British musical comedy film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Jean Kent, James Donald and Hugh Sinclair. It was known as ''The Gay Lady'' in the US, and is an infrequent British Technicolor film of the period. According to BFI Screenonline, "British 1940s Technicolor films offer an abundance of visual pleasures, especially when lovingly restored by the National Film Archive. ''Trottie True'' is not among the best known, but comes beautifully packaged, gift wrapped with all the trimmings." The film is based on a novel by Caryl Brahms and S.J. Simon, published in 1946. ''The New York Times'' called it "a typical Gay nineties success story" that "amuses but never convulses the reader." Premise Trottie True is a Gaiety Girl of the 1890s who, after a brief romance with a balloonist, marries Lord Digby Landon, becoming Duchess of Wellwater when he succeeds to the dukedom. Her music hall background delights the staff, but does not, at first, deligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Men Of Two Worlds
''Men of Two Worlds'' is a 1946 British Technicolor drama film directed by Thorold Dickinson and starring Robert Adams, Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert. The screenplay concerns an African music student who returns home to battle a witch doctor for control over his tribe. The film was released in the United States as ''Kisenga, Man of Africa''. Plot Kisenga is a composer and pianist from Marashi in Tanganyika who has spent fifteen years in London. He decides to return to his homeland to help the District Commissioner, Randall, in the work of health care. Randall explains that an outbreak of sleeping sickness caused by the tsetse fly is moving across Tanganyika and has almost reached Marashi. He wants to transfer the population of 25,000 to a new settlement on higher ground and set fire to the bush to destroy the tsetse fly. Randall is helped by Dr Munro. Kisenga arrives at Marashi. His sister Saburi is engaged to a young man named Ali, an assistant at the dispensary. Kisenga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Way We Live
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lamp Still Burns
''The Lamp Still Burns'' is a 1943 British drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Rosamund John, Stewart Granger and Godfrey Tearle. Its plot concerns a woman architect who changes careers to become a nurse. It was based on the 1942 novel ''One Pair of Feet'' by Monica Dickens. Like the novel, the film is a plea for better conditions in English hospitals – and, more specifically, for better treatment of England's selfless nurses. ''The Lamp Still Burns'' was produced by actor Leslie Howard, who was killed in the service of his country not long after the film was released. Plot Laurence Rains is annoyed when architect Hilary Clarke insists he must enlarge the first aid room in his factory to satisfy government regulations, even though it has the best safety record in the country. He encounters her once again, now a nurse trainee assisting a doctor treating one of his employees. He finds out that Clarke only became an architect to please her father, who had no sons t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gentle Sex
''The Gentle Sex'' is a 1943 United Kingdom, British black-and-white romantic comedy-drama war film, film director, directed and narrated by Leslie Howard (actor), Leslie Howard. It was film producer, produced by Concanen Productions, Two Cities Films, and Derrick de Marney. ''The Gentle Sex'' was Howard's last film before his death. Synopsis The documentary-drama follows seven women from different backgrounds who meet at an Auxiliary Territorial Service training camp. "Gentle" British girls, they are now doing their bit to help out in World War II: driving lorries and manning ack-ack batteries. Leslie Howard provides slightly sarcastic narration throughout the film. The girls are allowed to socialise at organised dances with local male troops. Music is contemporary (big band swing) and dancing includes the jitterbug. Several of the girls find romance. The narrator points out that "war is never kind to lovers". Cast Best source is aBFI ATS volunteers * Joan Gates as Gwen Hayde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Flemish Farm
''The Flemish Farm'' is a 1943 British war film, based on an actual wartime incident. Released during the war and used as a propaganda tool to support the Allied war effort, the film begins with the caption: :The following story is based on an actual incident, but for security reasons, real names have not been used. The co-operation of the Belgian Government and of the Air Ministry is gratefully acknowledged. The score for the film was composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams in the summer of 1942, and the music was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson. Vaughan Williams later made a suite in seven movements, entitled '' The Story of a Flemish Farm'', from the music for the film. Premise The film is based on an actual event. Following the Battle of Belgium in 1940, two Belgian Air Force officers, Colonel de Woelmont and Major Hellemans carried the regimental colour of the ''2e Régiment d'Aéronautique'' as they made their escape through France, inten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Demi-Paradise
''The Demi-Paradise'' (also known as ''Adventure for Two'') is a 1943 British comedy film made by Two Cities Films. It stars Laurence Olivier as a Soviet Russian inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, and Penelope Dudley-Ward as the woman who falls in love with him. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald and Filippo Del Giudice from a screenplay by de Grunwald. The music score was by Nicholas Brodszky and the cinematography by Bernard Knowles. The film was shot at Denham Studios with sets designed by the art director Carmen Dillon. The film is a gentle satire on the values the English hold so dear. It was designed to encourage sympathy between Britain and the Soviet Union. The film's title is a reference to John of Gaunt's famous speech in '' Richard II'' which begins: :This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, :This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, :This other Eden, demi-paradise Plot summary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unpublished Story
''Unpublished Story'' is a 1942 British black-and-white war film directed by Harold French and starring Richard Greene and Valerie Hobson. It was produced and co-written by Anthony Havelock-Allan. The film served as a propaganda film during World War II. The film has two main plots. The first one involves a journalist whose stories are repeatedly censored by the Ministry of Information. The second one involves a pacifist organisation, whose members are actually agents of Nazi Germany. Plot In May 1940 Bob Randall (Greene), a war correspondent with a (fictional) London newspaper, the ''Gazette'', is evacuated with British troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. He writes a hard-hitting story about his experiences, but it is censored by the Ministry of Information. Randall goes to see Lamb (Radford), the official responsible, but Lamb will not change his decision. As London burns in the Blitz and the newspaper struggles to stay in business, Randall writes several more eyewitness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Without Tears (film)
''French Without Tears'' is a 1939 British comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Ray Milland. It was based on the 1936 play of the same name by Terence Rattigan, who also co-wrote the script. An on-off working relationship between Asquith and Rattigan began with this film and continued over the next 15 years. Plot The love affairs are depicted of three young Englishmen at a language "cramming" school in the south of France. Diana, the sister of one of the boys, arrives in town to flirt with all of her brothers' schoolmates. Cast * Ray Milland as Alan Howard * Ellen Drew as Diana Lake * Janine Darcey as Jacqueline Maingot * David Tree as Chris Neilan * Roland Culver as Cmdr. Bill Rogers * Guy Middleton as Brian Curtis * Kenneth Morgan as Kenneth Lake * Margaret Yarde as Marianne * Toni Gable as Chi-Chi * Jim Gérald as Professor Maingot * Mantovani as Himself - Orchestra Leader Critical reception Sky Movies described a "sparkling version of Terence Rattigan's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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