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Wonder Man (film)
''Wonder Man'' is a 1945 musical film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring Danny Kaye and Virginia Mayo. It is based on a short story by Arthur Sheekman, adapted for the screen by a staff of writers led by Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran, and produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. Plot Danny Kaye plays a double role as a pair of estranged "super-identical twins". Despite their almost indistinguishable looks, the two have very different personalities. Buster Dingle, who goes by the stage name "Buzzy Bellew", is a loud and goofy performer at the Pelican Club, while Edwin Dingle is a studious, quiet bookworm writing a history book. The two brothers have not seen each other for years. Buster becomes the witness to a murder committed by mob boss "Ten Grand" Jackson and is promptly murdered himself. He comes back as a ghost, calling on his long-lost brother for help to bring the killer to justice. As a result, the shy Edwin must take his brother's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor and executive of several motion picture studios in Hollywood. He was awarded the 1973 Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (1947) and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1958). Early life Goldwyn was likely born in July 1879, although he claimed his birthday to be August 27, 1882. He was born as Szmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw to Polish Jewish Hasidic parents, Aaron Dawid Gelbfisz (1859–1894), a peddler, and his wife, Hanna Frymet (''née'' Fiszhaut ; 1860–1925). He left Warsaw penniless after his father's death and made his way to Hamburg. There he stayed with acquaintances of his family where he has trained as a glove maker. On November 26, 1898, Gelbfisz left Hamburg for Birmingham, England, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musical Film
Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate "production numbers". The musical film was a natural development of the stage musical after the emergence of sound film technology. Typically, the biggest difference between film and stage musicals is the use of lavish background scenery and locations that would be impractical in a theater. Musical films characteristically contain elements reminiscent of theater; performers often treat their song and dance numbers as if a live audience were watching. In a sense, the viewer becomes the diegetic audience, as the performer looks directly into the camera and performs to it. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s, musicals gained popularity with the public and are exemplified by the films of Busby Ber ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Goldwyn Girls
The Goldwyn Girls were a musical stock company of female dancers employed by Samuel Goldwyn. Famous actresses, dancers, and models whose career included a stint in the Goldwyn Girls include Lucille Ball, Virginia Bruce, Claire Dodd, Paulette Goddard, Betty Grable, Virginia Grey, Lorraine Crawford, Jann Darlyn, Barbara Brent, Madelyn Darrow, June Kirby, Joi Lansing, Barbara Pepper, Marjorie Reynolds, Pat Sheehan, Gail Sheridan, Ann Sothern, Larri Thomas, Tyra Vaughn, Toby Wing, and Jane Wyman. History Samuel Goldwyn modeled his silver screen Goldwyn Girls after the stage sensation Ziegfeld Follies around 1929 when Ziegfeld came west to Hollywood to assist in the film production of his popular musical ''Whoopee!''. Goldwyn learned much from Florenz Ziegfeld on creating an enchanting chorus line, one of which Ziegfeld called his secrets of success: "Women enjoyed looking at beautiful women in beautiful clothes, the glorification of their gender". To this standard, Goldwyn a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalie Schafer
Natalie Schafer (November 5, 1900 – April 10, 1991) was an American actress, known for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom ''Gilligan's Island'' (1964–1967). Early life and career Natalie Schafer was born on November 5, 1900, in Manhattan. the eldest of the three children of Jennie (née Tim; family name originally ''Tein'')Family Profile ; accessed August 8, 2017. and Charles Emanual Schafer, both of German-Jewish descent. Schafer began her career as an actress on |
Richard Lane (actor)
Richard Lane (May 28, 1899 – September 5, 1982) was an American actor and television announcer/presenter. In movies, he played assured, fast-talking slickers: usually press agents, policemen and detectives, sometimes swindlers and frauds. He is perhaps best known to movie fans as "Inspector Farraday" in the Boston Blackie mystery-comedies. Lane also played Faraday in the first radio version of ''Boston Blackie'', which ran on NBC from June 23, 1944 to September 15, 1944. Lane was an early arrival on television, first as a news reporter and then as a sports announcer, broadcasting wrestling and roller derby shows on KTLA-TV, mainly from the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Biography Early years Lane was born in 1899 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin to a farm family. Early in life he developed talents for reciting poetry and doing various song-and-dance acts. By his teenage years, Lane was doing an " iron jaw" routine in circuses around Europe and worked as a drummer touring w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Cochran
Steve Cochran (born Robert Alexander Cochran, May 25, 1917 – June 15, 1965) was an American film, television and stage actor. He attended the University of Wyoming. After a stint working as a cowboy, Cochran developed his acting skills in local theatre and gradually progressed to Broadway, film and television. Early life and career Cochran was born in Eureka, California, but grew up in Laramie, Wyoming, the son of a logger. While he appeared in high school plays, he spent more time delving into athletics, particularly basketball. After stints as a cowpuncher and railroad station hand, he studied at the University of Wyoming, where he also played basketball. Impulsively, he quit college in 1937 and decided to go straight to Hollywood to become a star. Theatre Working as a carpenter and department store detective during his early adulthood, Cochran also gained experience appearing in summer stock. In the early 1940s he worked with the Shakespeare Festival in Carmel, California, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otto Kruger
Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor, originally a Broadway matinee idol, who established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's ''Saboteur''. He also appeared in CBS's ''Perry Mason'' and other TV series. He was the grandnephew of South African president Paul Kruger. Early life and education Born in Toledo, Ohio, Kruger was of German descent. He was the son of Bernard Alben Kruger and Elizabeth Winers Kruger and the grandnephew of South African pioneer and president Paul Kruger. Otto was musically trained, but switched careers and became an actor after studying engineering at the University of Michigan. Career Making his Broadway debut in 1915, Kruger quickly became a matinee idol. Though he started to get noticed in the early 1920s, it was the 1930s when his career was at its height. His sound film debut came in '' Turn Back the Clock'' (1933) and he made an appearance in the film '' Chained'' (1934). Though he pla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Brophy
Edward Santree Brophy (February 27, 1895 – May 27, 1960) was an American character actor and comedian, as well as an assistant director and second unit director during the 1920s. Small of build, balding, and raucous-voiced, he frequently portrayed dumb cops and gangsters, both serious and comic. He is best remembered as the sidekick to The Falcon in the Tom Conway film series of the 1940s, and for voicing Timothy Q. Mouse in Walt Disney's ''Dumbo'' (1941). Early life Edward Santree Brophy was born on February 27, 1895 in New York City and attended the University of Virginia.Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P.171. Career His screen debut was in ''Yes or No?'' (1920). In 1928, with only a few minor film roles to his credit, Brophy was working as a production manager for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer when he was on location with Buster Keaton for the feature film ''The Camerama ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allen Jenkins
Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. Life and career Jenkins was born on Staten Island, New York, on April 9, 1900. In 1959, Jenkins played the role of elevator operator Harry in the comedy ''Pillow Talk''. He was a member of Hollywood's so-called "Irish Mafia", a group of Irish-American actors and friends which included Spencer Tracy, James Cagney, Pat O'Brien and Frank McHugh. Jenkins later voiced the character of Officer Charlie Dibble on the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon, ''Top Cat'' (1961–62). He was a regular on the television sitcom ''Hey, Jeannie!'' (1956–57), starring Jeannie Carson and often portrayed Muggsy on the 1950s-1970s Columbia Broadcasting Company, CBS series ''The Red Skelton Show''. He was also a guest star on many other television programs, such as ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'', ''Mr. & Mrs. North'', ''I Love Lucy'', ''Playhous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Woods (actor)
Donald Woods (born Ralph Lewis Zink; December 2, 1906 – March 5, 1998) was a Canadian-American film and television actor whose career in Hollywood spanned six decades. Life and career Woods was born in Brandon, Manitoba, and moved with his family to California, where he was raised in Burbank. His parents were William and Margaret Zink, Presbyterians of German descent. His younger brother, Clarence Russell Zink, also became an actor (Russ Conway). Woods graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and made his film debut in 1928. His screen career was spent mostly in B movies, for example as lawyer Perry Mason in the 1937 film ''The Case of the Stuttering Bishop''. He also played romantic leads in B comedies, notably the popular ''Mexican Spitfire'' series opposite Lupe Velez. He also occasionally played major roles in bigger feature films like ''A Tale of Two Cities'' (1935), ''Anthony Adverse'' (1936), ''If I Had My Way'' (1940, as a doomed bridge worker), ''W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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