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Ray Heindorf
Raymond John Heindorf (August 25, 1908 – February 3, 1980) was an American composer and songwriter who was noted for his work in film. Early life Born in Haverstraw, New York, Heindorf worked as a pianist in a movie house in Mechanicville in his early teens. In 1928, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a musical arranger before heading to Hollywood. He gained his first job as an orchestrator at MGM, where he worked on ''Hollywood Revue of 1929'', and subsequently went on the road playing piano for Lupe Vélez. Hollywood Years After completing this engagement, he joined Warner Bros., composing and/or arranging and conducting music exclusively for the studio for nearly forty years. Heindorf, along with Georgie Stoll at MGM, were jazz aficionados well known in the black entertainment community for employing minority musicians in their studio music departments. He undertook the musical direction of Judy Garland's comeback film '' A Star is Born'' (1954) and made a came ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haverstraw, New York
Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the west to the east border of the county in its northern section. The population was 36,634 at the 2010 census. The name comes from the Dutch word ''Haverstroo'' meaning "oats straw", referring to the grasslands along the river. The town contains three villages, one of which is also known as Haverstraw. Haverstraw village is the original seat of government for the town, hosting the area's historic central downtown business district and the densest population in northern Rockland County. History In 1609, the region was explored by Henry Hudson. A land purchase was made in this town in 1666 from local natives and confirmed as a patent in 1671. The region was known as ''Haverstroo'', meaning "oat straw" in Dutch. During the American Revolution, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Star Is Born (1954 Film)
''A Star Is Born'' is a 1954 American musical drama film directed by George Cukor, written by Moss Hart, and starring Judy Garland and James Mason. Hart's screenplay is an adaptation of the original 1937 film, based on the original screenplay by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker and Alan Campbell, and from the same story by William A. Wellman and Carson, with uncredited input from six additional writers— David O. Selznick, Ben Hecht, Ring Lardner Jr., John Lee Mahin, Budd Schulberg and Adela Rogers St. Johns. Garland had not made a film since she had negotiated release from her MGM contract soon after filming began on ''Royal Wedding'' in 1950, and ''Star'' was promoted heavily as her comeback. For her performance, Garland was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, but lost to Grace Kelly for '' The Country Girl''. It was the second of four official adaptations of ''A Star Is Born'', with the first in 1937 starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, the third in 1976 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Helen Morgan Story
''The Helen Morgan Story'', released in the UK as ''Both Ends of the Candle'', is a 1957 American biographical film directed by Michael Curtiz starring Ann Blyth and Paul Newman. The screenplay by Oscar Saul, Dean Riesner, Stephen Longstreet, and Nelson Gidding is based on the life and career of torch singer/actress Helen Morgan, with fictional touches liberally added for dramatic purposes. This turned out to be Blyth's final film role. Another version of Morgan's life story, '' Helen Morgan'', was produced as a live television drama on '' Playhouse 90'', with Polly Bergen as Morgan. Despite requests to delay the television version, it aired five months before the release of the motion picture. Plot Helen Morgan begins her career as a Chicago carnival dancer. She catches the eye of fast-talking, double-dealing Larry Maddux, whose promotion catapults her to fame as a Broadway performer in ''Show Boat'' and a headliner in her own nightclub. Helen is involved in two romantic re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Time For Sergeants
''No Time for Sergeants'' is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on ''The United States Steel Hour'', a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will Stockdale who is drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II and assigned to the United States Army Air Forces. Hyman was in the Army Air Forces during World War II when it was part of the US Army. Adaptations in other media Ira Levin adapted Hyman's novel for a one-hour teleplay that appeared as an episode on ''The United States Steel Hour'' television series in 1955. An expanded version appeared on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre later that year. In 1958, a film version was released. Television adaptation (1955) Ira Levin's adaptation of the novel appeared live on 15 March 1955, on ''The United States Steel Hour'', a television anthology series. It starred Andy Griffith as Wil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calamity Jane (film)
''Calamity Jane'' is a 1953 American Technicolor Western musical film directed by David Butler and starring Doris Day and Howard Keel. The musical numbers were staged and directed by Jack Donohue, who a year later would direct the Day musical, '' Lucky Me'' (1954). The film is loosely based on the life of Wild West heroine Calamity Jane (Doris Day) and explores an alleged romance between her and Wild Bill Hickok (Howard Keel). ''Calamity Jane'' was devised by Warner Bros. in response to the success of the 1950 film '' Annie Get Your Gun'', and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for " Secret Love" ( Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster), and was also Oscar-nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (Ray Heindorf) and Best Sound, Recording ( William A. Mueller). The songs and screenplay would form the basis of a 1961 stage musical of the same name that has had a number of productions. Plot Dakota Territory, the 1870s. Tough-talking, hard-riding, straig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Jazz Singer (1952 Film)
''The Jazz Singer'' is a 1952 remake of the famous 1927 talking picture ''The Jazz Singer''. It stars Danny Thomas, Peggy Lee, and Eduard Franz, and was nominated for an Oscar for best musical score. The film follows about the same storyline as the version starring Al Jolson. It was also distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Plot summary As Jerry Golding (a young Korean War veteran) scales the heights of show business, he breaks the heart of his father, who had hoped that Jerry would instead follow in the footsteps of six consecutive generations of cantors in their family. Sorrowfully, Cantor David Golding reads the Kaddish service, indicating that, so far as he is concerned, his son is dead. A tearful reconciliation occurs when Jerry dutifully returns to sing the "Kol Nidre" in his ailing father's absence. Main cast Production Eduard Franz, who played the role of the aged and ailing cantor battling his son, would go on to reprise his role in the television version of the stor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 Film)
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a 1951 American Southern Gothic drama film adapted from Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. It is directed by Elia Kazan, and stars Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, and Karl Malden. The film tells the story of a Mississippi Southern belle, Blanche DuBois, who, after encountering a series of personal losses, seeks refuge with her sister and brother-in-law in a dilapidated New Orleans apartment building. The original Broadway production and cast was converted to film, albeit with several changes and sanitizations related to censorship. Tennessee Williams collaborated with Oscar Saul and Elia Kazan on the screenplay. Kazan, who directed the Broadway stage production, also directed the black-and-white film. Brando, Hunter, and Malden all reprised their original Broadway roles. Although Jessica Tandy originated the role of Blanche DuBois on Broadway, Vivien Leigh, who had appeared in the London theatre productio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tea For Two (film)
''Tea for Two'' is a 1950 American musical romantic comedy film directed by David Butler. The screenplay by Harry Clork was inspired by the 1925 stage musical ''No, No, Nanette'', although the plot was changed considerably from the original book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel; and the score by Harbach, Irving Caesar, and Vincent Youmans was augmented with songs by other composers. Plot Set as a flashback to the Roaring Twenties, Uncle Max (S. Z. Sakall) expresses displeasure to his grandniece and grandnephew, who are making fun of their parents' outdated fashions, and begins telling the story of Nanette Carter (Doris Day), a Westchester County, New York socialite with show business aspirations. She offers to invest $25,000 in a Broadway show if her boyfriend, producer Larry Blair (Billy De Wolfe), casts her in the starring role. What she doesn't realize is that Larry is two-timing her with ingenue Beatrice Darcy ( Patrice Wymore), whom he envisions as the lead. When he accep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night And Day (1946 Film)
''Night and Day'' is a 1946 Technicolor Warner Bros. biographical and musical film starring Cary Grant, in a fictionalized account of the life of American composer and songwriter Cole Porter. The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Arthur Schwartz, with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Charles Hoffman, Leo Townsend and William Bowers. The music score by Ray Heindorf and Max Steiner was nominated for an Academy Award. The film features several of the best-known Porter songs, including the title song " Night and Day," "Begin the Beguine," and " My Heart Belongs to Daddy." Alexis Smith plays Linda Lee Porter, Porter's wife of 35 years. Monty Woolley and Mary Martin appear as themselves. Production Jack Warner paid $300,000 for the rights to Cole Porter's best known songs, and viewed the film as a "big-budget extravaganza" that would celebrate Warner Brothers' twenty years in sound films. The scriptwriters knew that the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kings Row
''Kings Row'' is a 1942 film starring Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan and Betty Field that tells a story of young people growing up in a small American town at the turn of the twentieth century. The picture was directed by Sam Wood. The film was adapted by Casey Robinson from a best-selling 1940 novel of the same name by Henry Bellamann. The musical score was composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and the cinematographer was James Wong Howe. The supporting cast features Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Judith Anderson and Maria Ouspenskaya. Plot In the small midwestern town of Kings Row, in 1890, five children know, and play with, each other: Parris Mitchell, a polite, clever little boy who lives with his grandmother; pretty blonde Cassandra Tower, daughter of the secretive Dr. Alexander Tower and a mother that is seen only through the upstairs window; the orphaned but wealthy and fun-loving Drake McHugh who is best friends with Parris; Louise Gordon, daughter of the town ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knute Rockne All American
''Knute Rockne, All American'' is a 1940 American biographical film that tells the story of Knute Rockne, Notre Dame's legendary football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as player George Gipp, as well as Gale Page, Donald Crisp, Albert Bassermann, Owen Davis Jr., Nick Lukats, Kane Richmond, William Marshall and William Byrne. The film also includes cameos by legendary football coaches "Pop" Warner, Amos Alonzo Stagg, William H. Spaulding and Howard Jones, playing themselves. Reagan's presidential campaign revived interest in the film, and as a result, some reporters called him the Gipper. The movie was written by Robert Buckner and directed by Lloyd Bacon, who replaced William K. Howard after filming had begun. In 1997, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Plot Lars Knutson Rockne, a carriage builder, moves his f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Lie
''The Great Lie'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding, and starring Bette Davis, George Brent and Mary Astor. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee is based on the novel ''January Heights'' by Polan Banks. Plot When concert pianist Sandra Kovak (Mary Astor) and her aviator husband Peter Van Allen (George Brent) discover their impulsive marriage is invalid because her divorce had not been finalized before they wed, he leaves her and marries his old flame Maggie Patterson (Bette Davis). Peter travels to Brazil on business and, when his aircraft goes missing, it is presumed it crashed in the jungle and he was killed. Sandra discovers she is pregnant by Peter, and Maggie proposes she be allowed to raise the child as her own in exchange for taking care of Sandra financially. The two women go to Arizona to await the birth, and Sandra delivers a boy, who is named after his father. Sandra embarks upon a world tour, during which Peter, who survived the crash, returns ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
