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William N. Witney
William Nuelsen Witney (May 15, 1915 – March 17, 2002) was an American film and television director. He is best remembered for the action films he made for Republic Pictures, particularly serials: ''Dick Tracy Returns'', ''G-Men vs. the Black Dragon'', ''Daredevils of the Red Circle'', ''Zorro's Fighting Legion'', and ''Drums of Fu Manchu''. Prolific and pugnacious, Witney began directing while still in his 20s, and continued working until 1982. Early years Witney was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He was four years old when his father died, and he lived with his uncle, who was an Army captain at Fort Sam Houston. Colbert Clark, Witney's brother-in-law, introduced him to films by letting him ride in some chase scenes for the serial ''Fighting with Kit Carson'' (1933). Witney stayed around the Mascot Pictures headquarters while preparing for the entrance exam to the U.S. Naval Academy. After he failed that exam, he continued at the studio. In 1936 Mascot was absorbed by Republic, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lawton, Oklahoma
Lawton is a city in and the county seat of Comanche County, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor .... Located in southwestern Oklahoma, approximately southwest of Oklahoma City, it is the principal city of the Lawton metropolitan area, Lawton, Oklahoma, metropolitan statistical area. According to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, Lawton's population was 90,381, making it the sixth-largest city in the state, and the largest in Western Oklahoma. Developed on former Indian reservation, reservation lands of the Kiowa, Comanche, and Fort Sill Apache Tribe, Apache Indians, Lawton was founded by European Americans on 6 August 1901. It was named after Major General Henry Ware Lawton, who served in the Civil War, where he earned the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbert Yates
Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 – February 3, 1966) was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, who had western stars John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers under contract. Between the years 1935 and 1959, Republic, under Yates' leadership, made 956 feature films and 849 movie serial chapters, some of which are considered classics screened on television and later released on home video. Early years Yates was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1880. He started his business career at an early age, building a newspaper sales business on the streets of Brooklyn. Later, he ascended rapidly through the ranks of the American Tobacco Company, retiring from that company with a sizable fortune before the age of 30. Career Focusing on the movie and recording business, he built a small empire, acquiring record companies and film laboratories. In the 1920s he provided financing for Mack Sennett and Fatty Arbuckle. In October 1929 his Consolidated Film Industries took control of A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadcast Syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where broadcast programming is scheduled by television networks with local independent affiliates. Syndication is less widespread in the rest of the world, as most countries have centralized networks or television stations without local affiliates. Shows can be syndicated internationally, although this is less common. Three common types of syndication are: ''first-run'' syndication, which is programming that is broadcast for the first time as a syndicated show and is made specifically to sell directly into syndication; ''off-network'' syndication (colloquially called a "rerun"), which is the licensing of a program whose first airing was on network TV or in some cases, first-run syndication;Campbell, Richard, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Davis (actor)
Jim Davis (born Marlin Davis; August 26, 1909 – April 26, 1981) was an American actor, best known for his roles in television Westerns. In his later career, he became famous as Jock Ewing in the CBS primetime soap opera, ''Dallas'', a role he continued until he was too ill from a terminal illness to perform. Life and career Born in Edgerton in Platte County in northwestern Missouri, Davis attended high school in Dearborn, and the Baptist-affiliated William Jewell College in Liberty. At WJC, he played tight end on the football team and graduated with a degree in political science. He served in the United States Coast Guard during World War II. He was known as Jim Davis by the time of his first major screen role, which was opposite Bette Davis in the 1948 melodrama ''Winter Meeting'',. His subsequent film career consisted of mostly B movies, many of them Westerns, although he made an impression as a U.S. Senator in the Warren Beatty conspiracy thriller ''The Parallax Vie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paratroop Command
''Paratroop Command'' is a 1959 American war film directed by William Witney, starring Richard Bakalyan, Ken Lynch and Jack Hogan. American International Pictures originally released the film as a double feature with '' Submarine Seahawk''. Plot Charlie is a paratrooper that is mistaken for a coward by fellow soldier Ace because he lies still in an attempt to ambush a group of German soldiers. He then suffers the scorn of his unit because he accidentally kills his friend Cowboy, who was wearing a German uniform in an attempt to infiltrate enemy lines, and was apparently holding a gun on the rest of the squad. Ace threatens him, and in subsequent action in Salerno, curses him with his dying breath. Charlie is hanging from a tree in his parachute and carrying a vital generator, with both the Lieutenant and Sargeant wounded, on the wrong side of a road that is mined. Following the Lieutenant's instructions, he clears the mines with hand grenades, but a dud grenade leaves him strand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bonnie Parker Story
''The Bonnie Parker Story'' is a 1958 crime film directed by William Witney. The movie is loosely based on the life of Bonnie Parker, a well-known outlaw of the 1930. The film stars Dorothy Provine as Parker; Parker's actual historical partner, Clyde Barrow, is renamed Guy Darrow for the film's story, and played by Jack Hogan. The film was released by American International Pictures as a double feature with ''Machine Gun Kelly'' starring Charles Bronson in his first leading role. Plot Diner waitress Bonnie Parker is just as tired of her job in 1932 Texas as she is of customers like Guy Darrow, who try too hard to make her acquaintance. When she goes too far, fending off Guy with hot oil, Bonnie is fired. With her husband Duke Jefferson still in prison and no means of support, Bonnie teams up with Guy on a series of small holdups. She also kills a cop who is chasing them, which leads to Tom Steel of the Texas Rangers, a fictionalized version of Frank Hamer, being assigned to the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stranger At My Door (1956 Film)
''Stranger at My Door'' is a 1956 American Western film directed by William Witney and starring Macdonald Carey, Patricia Medina and Skip Homeier. Quentin Tarantino called it a "classic" with "the most amazing and terrifying breaking-the- unbreakable-horse sequence in the history of western cinema, including ''Monte Walsh''. Witney became so renowned in the industry for this sequence that when he started directing western TV shows, he was usually brought in to helm their breaking-the-unbreakable-horse episode." In 1991, a television film also entitled '' Stranger at My Door'' was released. The 1991 film had nothing in common with the 1956 release other than the title. Plot Outlaw Clay Anderson and his gang rob the town bank and flee in different directions. Clay's horse gives out and he is forced to hide at a nearby farm. Clay soon discovers that the farm belongs to preacher Hollis Jarret, the preacher's new wife, and children. The preacher lets Clay stay at the farm, reasoni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebranded Rogers then became one of the most popular Western stars of his era. Known as the "King of the Cowboys", he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio and television episodes of ''The Roy Rogers Show''. In many of his films and television episodes, he appeared with his wife, Dale Evans; his Golden Palomino, Trigger; and his German Shepherd, Bullet. His show was broadcast on radio for nine years and then on television from 1951 through 1957. His early roles were uncredited parts in films by fellow cowboy singing star Gene Autry and his productions usually featured a sidekick, often Pat Brady, Andy Devine, George "Gabby" Hayes, or Smiley Burnette. In his later years, he lent his name to the franchise chain of Roy Rogers Restaurants. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Golden Stallion (1949 Film)
''The Golden Stallion'' is a 1949 American Western (genre), Western film directed by William Witney and starring Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Estelita Rodriguez. The film was part of the long-running series of Roy Rogers films produced by Republic Pictures.Hurst p.232 Plot Diamond smugglers are using a herd of wild horses to smuggle diamonds into the USA from Mexico. The leader of the herd, the titular golden stallion, kills one of the diamond smugglers and Trigger is accused of the murder. Rather than let Trigger be destroyed, Rogers confesses to accidentally killing the man in a fight and is sentenced to several years in jail for manslaughter. A few years later, Rogers learns about the diamond smuggling and conspires with the local sheriff to capture the smugglers. Main cast * Roy Rogers as Himself * Trigger (horse) as Himself * Dale Evans as Stormy Billings * Estelita Rodriguez as Pepé Valdez * Pat Brady (actor), Pat Brady as Sparrow Biffle * Douglas Evans (actor), Dou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-linear storylines, Cameo appearance, cameos, ensemble casts, and references to popular culture. Other List of filmmakers' signatures, directorial tropes associated with Tarantino include the use of songs from the 1960s and 70s, fictional brand parodies, and the prominent Framing (visual arts), framing of women's bare feet. Tarantino began his career as an independent filmmaker with the release of the crime film ''Reservoir Dogs'' in 1992. His second film, ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994), a dark comedy crime thriller, was a major success with critics and audiences winning numerous awards, including the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 1996, he appeared in ''From Dusk till Dawn'', also writing the screenplay. Tarantino' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (film), ''Kitty Foyle'' (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO Pictures, RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century. Rogers was born in Independence, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City. She and her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, when she was nine years old. In 1925, she won a Charleston dance contest that helped her launch a successful vaudeville career. After that, she gained recognition as a Broadway theatre, Broadway actress for her stage debut in ''Girl Crazy''. This led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, which ended after five films. Rogers had her first successful film roles as a supporting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He starred in more than 10 Broadway and West End musicals, made 31 musical films, four television specials, and numerous recordings. As a dancer, he was known for his uncanny sense of rhythm, creativity, and tireless perfectionism. Astaire's most memorable dancing partnership was with Ginger Rogers, whom he co-starred with in 10 Hollywood musicals during the classic age of Hollywood cinema. Astaire and Rogers starred together in ''Top Hat'' (1935), '' Swing Time'' (1936), and ''Shall We Dance'' (1937). Astaire's fame grew in films like ''Holiday Inn'' (1942), '' Easter Parade'' (1948), '' The Band Wagon'' (1953), '' Funny Face'' (1957), and ''Silk Stockings'' (1957). The American Film Institute named Astaire the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
