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You Can't Cheat An Honest Man
''You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' is a 1939 American comedy film directed by George Marshall and Edward F. Cline and starring W. C. Fields. Fields also wrote the story on which the film is based under the name Charles Bogle. Plot Circus proprietor Larsen E. Whipsnade is struggling to keep a step ahead of foreclosure, and clearly not paying his performers, including Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy (Bergen's ventriloquist's dummy/alter-ego, whom Whipsnade hates) Whipsnade's co-ed daughter pays a visit and falls in love with Bergen, but after she sees the financial mess that her father is in, she decides to marry Roger, a tiresome young millionaire. Whipsnade initially approves of the marriage, and just to be sure that the penniless Bergen doesn't win out (and make McCarthy an in-law), he sets the pair adrift in a hot-air balloon. However, Whipsnade creates a scene at the engagement party, and father and daughter escape together in a chariot, with Bergen and McCarthy in pursuit. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Marshall (director)
George E. Marshall (December 29, 1891 – February 17, 1975) was an American actor, screenwriter, Film producer, producer, Film director, film and television director, active through the first six decades of film history. Relatively few of Marshall's films are well-known today, with ''Destry Rides Again'' (1939), ''The Ghost Breakers'' (1940), ''The Blue Dahlia'' (1946), ''The Sheepman'' (1958), and ''How the West Was Won (film), How the West Was Won'' (1962) being the biggest exceptions. John Houseman called him "one of the old maestros of Hollywood ... he had never become one of the giants but he held a solid and honorable position in the industry." In the 1930s, he established a reputation for comedy, directing Laurel and Hardy in three classic films, and also working on a variety of comedies for 20th Century Fox, Fox, though many of his films at Fox were destroyed in a vault fire in 1937. Later in his career he was particularly sought after for comedies. He did around h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grady Sutton
Grady Harwell Sutton (April 5, 1906 – September 17, 1995) was an American film and television character actor from the 1920s to the 1970s. He appeared in more than 180 films. Early years Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sutton was raised in Florida where he attended St. Petersburg High School. Career Sutton began his career during the silent film era and made the transition to sound films with the college themed shorts ''The Boy Friends''. He moved on to countless character roles, where he frequently played dimwitted country boys. His best-known roles were as Frank Dowling, Katharine Hepburn's dancing partner, in '' Alice Adams'' (1935) and as a foil to W.C. Fields in four films, '' The Pharmacist'' (1933), ''Man on the Flying Trapeze'' (1935), ''You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' (1939), and ''The Bank Dick'' (1940). Film historian William J. Mann characterizes Sutton as a typical "Hollywood Sissy," that is as a homosexual actor who ordinarily portrayed an effeminate ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1939 Comedy Films
This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to work with Germans. *** The Youth Protection Act was passed on April 30, 1938 and the Working Hours Regulations came into effect. *** The Jews name change decree has gone into effect. ** The rest of the world *** In Spain, it becomes a duty of all young women under 25 to complete compulsory work service for one year. *** First edition of the Vienna New Year's Concert. *** The company of technology and manufacturing scientific instruments Hewlett-Packard, was founded in a garage in Palo Alto, California, by William (Bill) Hewlett and David Packard. This garage is now considered the birthplace of Silicon Valley. *** Sydney, in Australia, records temperature of 45 ˚C, the highest record for the city. *** Philipp Etter took over as Swiss F ... [...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] |
Dummy (2002 Film)
''Dummy'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Greg Pritikin. The film stars Adrien Brody as an ex-office worker who becomes a ventriloquist. It also stars Milla Jovovich, Illeana Douglas, Vera Farmiga, Jessica Walter, Ron Leibman, and Jared Harris. It premiered at the American Film Market on February 21, 2002, and received a limited theatrical release on September 12, 2003. Plot Steven Schoichet is a recently unemployed ne'er-do-well who has difficulty expressing himself. Steven finds he has a knack for ventriloquism. Steven's best friend is Fangora "Fanny" Gurkel, an aspiring punk rock singer who, along with Steven, is just looking for her niche. Eventually, Fanny takes a shine to klezmer music when she learns of an opportunity to get an actual gig. Through his newfound talent, Steven discovers that he is able to overcome his social problems through his dummy and decides to try impressing and winning the heart of Lorena Fanchetti. Cast * Adri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wizard Of Id
''The Wizard of Id'' is a daily newspaper comic strip created by American cartoonists Brant Parker and Johnny Hart. Beginning November 16, 1964, the strip follows the antics of a large cast of characters in a shabby medieval kingdom called "Id". The title is a play on '' The Wizard of Oz'', combined with the Freudian psychological term '' id'', which represents the instinctive and primal part of the human psyche. In 1997, Brant Parker passed his illustrator's duties on to his son, Jeff Parker, who had already been involved with creating ''Id'' for a decade. In 2002, the strip appeared in some 1,000 newspapers all over the world, syndicated by North America Syndicate. Hart's grandson Mason Mastroianni took over writing duties on the strip after Hart's death in 2007. The new byline, "B.C. by Mastroianni and Hart," appeared for the first time in another of their strips on January 3, 2010. On December 14, 2015, Jeff Parker also passed his duties on to Mastroianni. Overview Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Cline
Edward Francis Cline (November 4, 1891 – May 22, 1961) was an American screenwriter, actor, writer and director best known for his work with comedians W.C. Fields and Buster Keaton. He was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin and died in Hollywood, California. Career Cline began working for Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios in 1914 and supported Charlie Chaplin in some of the shorts he made at the studio. At one time he claimed credit for having come up with the idea for the Sennett Bathing Beauties. When Buster Keaton began making his own shorts, after having worked with Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle for years, he hired Cline as his co-director. In Keaton's short films Cline and Keaton himself were the only two regular gag men. For Keaton's 1921 short ''Hard Luck'', Cline is credited with originating Keaton's personal favorite gag from his films. At the end of the film, Keaton dives into a swimming pool which has been emptied of water. Years later, he emerges from the hole which his fall creat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law (also statutory law), where in many cases it remains in force. The crime of larceny has been abolished in England, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland, broken up into the specific crimes of burglary, robbery, fraud, theft, and related crimes. However, larceny remains an offence in parts of the United States, Jersey, and in New South Wales, Australia, involving the taking (caption) and carrying away (asportation) of personal property without the owner's consent. Etymology The word "larceny" is a late Middle English word, from the Anglo-Norman word ''larcin'', "theft". Its probable Latin root is ''latrocinium'', a derivative of ''latro'', "robber" (originally mercenary). By nation Australia New South Wales In the st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poppy (1923 Musical)
''Poppy'' is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Stephen Jones and Arthur Samuels (additional music by John Egan), and lyrics and book by Dorothy Donnelly, with contributions also from Howard Dietz, W. C. Fields and Irving Caesar. The musical introduced songs such as "Two Make a Home", "On Our Honeymoon", "What Do You Do Sunday, Mary?" and "Alibi Baby". The story, set in 1874 Connecticut, concerns a circus barker and con man, Prof. Eustace McGargle, who tries to pass off his foster daughter, Poppy, as a long-lost heiress. It turns out that Poppy really is an heiress. The original New York City production opened at the Apollo Theater on September 3, 1923, and ran for a successful 346 performances, closing on June 28, 1924. It starred Madge Kennedy as Poppy, with Fields as Prof. McGargle, and Robert Woolsey and Jimmy Barry. It was directed by Dorothy Donnelly and Julian Alfred, with choreography by Julian Alfred. The New York run was followed by a touring production. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Knight (film Critic)
Arthur Knight (1916–1991) was an American movie critic, film historian, professor and TV host. His book ''The Liveliest Art,'' first published in 1957, is a history of the cinema used as a textbook at colleges and universities throughout the world. Early life He graduated from City College of New York in 1940, and became an assistant film curator at the Museum of Modern Art. He served in the Army from 1941 to 1945, becoming a first lieutenant. Film teacher Institutions at which he taught include: * Brooklyn Academy of Music * City College of New York Institute of Film Techniques * New School for Social Research * Hunter College * Columbia University * UCLA * University of Southern California * Australian Film Television and Radio School His former students at USC include George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis, John Carpenter and Randal Kleiser. His former film history students at the City College of New York Institute of Film Techniques include Donald Swerdlow (now Don Canaan), an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ivan Lebedeff
Ivan Lebedeff (born Ivan Vasilyevich Lebedev ( rus, Иван Васильевич Лебедев), 18 June 1894 – 31 March 1953) was a Russian film actor, lecturer and writer. He appeared in 66 films between 1926 and 1953. In 1940, his novel, ''Legion of Dishonor'', was published. Biography Lebedeff was born in Ushpol, now Užpaliai, then part of the Russian Empire, now Lithuania, on 18 June 1894. He migrated to the United States in 1925 and in 1930 was recorded at Los Angeles as an actor. On 15 August 1937, he was recorded as re-entering the United States from Mexico, when it was noted that he had resided in the U. S. between 2 October 1925 and 14 October 1930, and again between 20 April 1932, and 13 August 1937. His closest relation was given as his sister Nathalie Lebedeff, of Nice, in the south of France. On 12 November 1937, he was naturalized in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. In 1944, he campaigned on behalf of Governor Thomas Dew ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferris Taylor
Robert Ferris Taylor (March 25, 1888 – March 7, 1961) was an American film actor and vaudeville performer. Biography Taylor owned a vaudeville company, the Taylor Players. Besides his acting, Taylor sometimes sang in vaudeville programs. A 1922 newspaper article noted, "he possesses a deep baritone-basso voice". The group included his brother, Glen H. Taylor, who later became a U.S. senator from Idaho. In 1930, Taylor went to Hollywood, gaining a few appearances in films in bit parts and as an extra. He eventually appeared in more than 120 films between 1933 and 1958. He also made guest appearances on ''The Cisco Kid'' starring Duncan Renaldo and Leo Carillo in the early 1950s. He died in Hollywood, California from a heart attack. Partial filmography * '' Mr. Dodd Takes the Air'' (1937) * '' Luck of Roaring Camp'' (1937) * ''He Couldn't Say No'' (1938) * ''Santa Fe Stampede'' (1938) * ''Man of Conquest'' (1939) * ''Chip of the Flying U'' (1939) * '' The Zero Hour'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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