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Way Down South (film)
''Way Down South'' is a 1939 American musical film directed by Leslie Goodwins and Bernard Vorhaus, and produced by Sol Lesser. It was written by Clarence Muse, who also acted in the film, and Langston Hughes. Victor Young was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring. Plot In antebellum Louisiana in 1854, young orphan Timothy Reid Jr. inherits a plantation and its slaves. However, lawyer Martin Dill is made the executor of the estate. Dill plots to sell the slaves and flee to Paris with the proceeds. Timothy is befriended by Jacques Bouton, who persuades Judge Louis Ravenal to look into the matter and save the day. Cast *Bobby Breen as Timothy Reid Jr. *Alan Mowbray as Jacques Bouton *Ralph Morgan as Timothy Reid Sr. *Steffi Duna as Pauline Dubini *Clarence Muse as Uncle Caton *Sally Blane as Claire Bouton * Edwin Maxwell as Martin Dill * Charles Middleton as Cass *Robert Greig as Judge Louis Ravenal *Lillian Yarbo as Janie * Matthew Beard as Gumbo * Hall Johnson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Goodwins
Leslie Goodwins (17 September 1899 – 8 January 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly 100 films between 1926 and 1967, notably 27 features and shorts with Leon Errol, including the Mexican Spitfire series. His 1936 film ''Dummy Ache'' was nominated for an Academy Award in 1936 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). ''Dummy Ache'' was preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Library of Congress in 2013. His 1937 film ''Should Wives Work?'' (starring Errol) was also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. He was born in London, England and he died in Hollywood, California. Goodwins began his screen career in the waning years of silent films, as a gag writer and then director. He directed comedy stars Snub Pollard and Ben Turpin for the low-budget Weiss Brothers studio. In 1936 producer Maurice Conn hired Goodwins to direct features for Ambassador Pictures starring Pinky Tomlin or Frankie Darro. That same year he joined the two- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steffi Duna
Steffi Duna (born Erzsébet Berindey; 8 February 1910 – 22 April 1992) was a Hungarian-born film actress. Hungarian dancer Born in the Eastern name order in Budapest of Czech extraction and nicknamed Stefi (Stefánia) by her friends and family, Duna started dancing at the age of nine and first attracted attention as a thirteen-year-old ballet dancer in Europe. She made her first stage appearance in dramatized fairy tales at the Children's Theater of Budapest. Initially opposed to the idea, her father sent her to the best schools in the Hungarian capital to learn dancing, and soon she had danced in most of the capitals of Europe. In 1932, she appeared on the London stage in Noël Coward's revue '' Words and Music'' as one of the four actresses to create the song "Mad about the Boy". Movie actress When she came to Hollywood in 1932, Duna could not speak a word of English. She made up her mind to learn quickly. Directors advised her to stay away from her Hungarian friends to sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Historical Musical Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Crime Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1930s Crime Films
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1939 Films
The year 1939 in film is widely considered the greatest year in film history. The ten Best Picture-nominated films that year include classics in multiple genres. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1939 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events Film historians often rate 1939 as "the greatest year in the history of Hollywood". Hollywood films produced in Southern California were at the height of their Golden Age (in spite of many cheaply made or undistinguished films also being produced, something to be expected with any year in commercial cinema), and during 1939 there are the premieres of an outstandingly large number of exceptional motion pictures, many of which become honored as all-time classic films. ** June 10 – MGM's first successful animated character, Barney Bear, made his debut in ''The Bear That Couldn't Sleep''. ** August 15 – ''The Wizard of Oz'' premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles. ** October 17 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Washington
Edgar Hughes "Blue" Washington (12 February 1898 – 15 September 1970) was an American actor and baseball player who played in the Negro leagues from 1915 to 1920 as a pitcher and first baseman. Baseball career Washington started his baseball career as a pitcher with the Chicago American Giants in 1915. He remained with Chicago in 1916. He later played with the Kansas City Monarchs in 1920, appearing in 24 documented major league games. Acting career He appeared in 74 films between 1919 and 1957, mostly playing small, uncredited roles as a porter, a bartender, an African native (as in ''King Kong'' (1933) and ''Tarzan's Magic Fountain'' (1949), a cook, a chauffeur, a ship's crew member, a Nubian slave, and a doorman. Some of his characters had names such as "Ulambo", "Sambo" (sambo) and "Hambone". In the 1933 film ''Haunted Gold'', he portrayed Clarence, John Wayne's comic sidekick. He had uncredited appearances in '' Birth of a Nation'' (1915) and ''Gone with the Wind'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Best
William Best (May 27, 1913 – February 27, 1962), known professionally as Willie Best or Sleep n' Eat, was an American television and film actor. Best was one of the first African American film actors and comedians to become well known. In the 21st century, his work, like that of Stepin Fetchit, is sometimes reviled because he was often called upon to play stereotypically lazy, illiterate, and/or simple-minded characters in films. Of the 124 films he appeared in, he received screen credit in at least 77, an unusual feat for an African American bit player. Stage A native of Sunflower, Mississippi, Best reached Hollywood as a chauffeur for a vacationing couple. He decided to stay in the region and began his performing career with a traveling show in southern California. He was regularly hired as a character actor in Hollywood films after a talent scout discovered him on stage. Motion pictures Willie Best appeared in more than one hundred films of the 1930s and 1940 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Johnson
Francis Hall Johnson (March 12, 1888 – April 30, 1970) was an American composer and arranger of African-American spiritual music. He is one of a group—including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Eva Jessye—who had great success performing African-American spirituals. Early years Francis Hall Johnson was born on March 12, 1888, the fourth of six children of Alice Virginia Sansom and William Decker Johnson, who was a bishop in the AME Church. Johnson received an extensive education. He attended the private, all-black Knox Institute and earned a degree from Allen University in Columbia, South Carolina. He also attended Atlanta University, the Juilliard School, Hahn School of Music, and the University of Pennsylvania. As a boy, Johnson was tutored on piano by his older sister, and he taught himself to play the violin after hearing a violin recital given by Joseph Henry Douglass, grandson of Frederick Douglass. Career Johnson's debut as a professional violinist o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matthew Beard (American Actor)
Matthew Beard Jr. (January 1, 1925 – January 8, 1981) was an American actor. As a child actor, he was most famous for portraying the character of Stymie in the ''Our Gang'' short films from 1930 to 1935. The role was so high-profile that he adopted the name Stymie Beard, being credited as such in some later roles, such as his 1978 appearance in ''The Buddy Holly Story''. Early life Matthew Beard Jr. was born near Los Angeles, California. His father was Matthew Beard, and his mother was Johnnie Mae Beard (née Clay). His father was the founding pastor of Beloved Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles. ''Our Gang'' years Beard previously played baby parts in many films, then signed a five-year contract to play in ''Our Gang''. In contrast to Farina, the character he replaced, Stymie was a slick-tongued con-artist who always was self-assured, nonchalant, and ready with a sly comment as well as clever ideas to solve the problems he faced. Stymie could offer sound, common sense ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lillian Yarbo
Lillian "Billie" Yarbo (March 17, 1905 – June 12, 1996) was an American stage and screen comedienne, dancer, and singer. Early life Born Lillian Yarbough"Billy Yarbo a New Mugger" ''The Pittsburgh Courier''. March 10, 1928. Page 15. in Washington, DC, Billie eventually made her way to New York, as did both her mother and at least one sister—though exactly when this happened and whether they made this pilgrimage all at once or separately and at different times, remains unclear."Billy Yarbo Makes Film As Kin Passes" ''The Chicago Defender''. March 22, 1941. Page 20.Rowe, Billy [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Greig
Robert Greig (December 27, 1879 – June 27, 1958) was an Australian-American actor who appeared in more than 100 films between 1930 and 1949, usually as the dutiful butler. Born Arthur Alfred Bede Greig, he was the nephew of Australian politician and solicitor William Bede Dalley. He was commonly known as "Bob". Career Greig was born near Melbourne, in 1878. He married fellow actor Beatrice Denver Holloway in 1912. After a successful career in Melbourne, he and his wife sailed for the United States, and he made his Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in 1928 in an operetta, ''Countess Maritza''. His next production was the Marx Brothers' comedy ''Animal Crackers (musical), Animal Crackers'', in which he portrayed "Hives" the butler. He reprised the role in the Animal Crackers (1930 film), 1930 film version, which was his movie debut and set the pattern for much of his career, as he was often cast as a butler or other servant.Erickson, HaBiography (Allmovie)/ref> He performe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_-_Dickerson_&_Best.jpg "Click for more on -> Willie Best")
