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Sylvia Sidney
Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow; August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen and film actress whose career spanned over 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in '' Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams'' in 1973. She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's 1988 film ''Beetlejuice'', for which she won a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress. Early life Sidney was born Sophia Kosow in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Rebecca (née Saperstein), a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian-Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915, and she was adopted by her stepfather Sigmund Sidney, a dentist. Her mother became a dressmaker and renamed herself Beatrice Sidney. Now using the surname Sidney, Sylvia became an actress at the age of 15 as a way of overcom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bennett Cerf
Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his weekly television appearances for over 17 years on the panel game show ''What's My Line?'' Biography Cerf was born on May 25, 1898, in Manhattan, New York, to a Jewish family of Alsatian and German origin. Cerf's father Gustave Cerf was a lithographer; his mother, Frederika Wise, was heiress to a tobacco-distribution fortune. She died when Bennett was 15; shortly afterward, her brother Herbert moved into the Cerf household and became a strong literary and social influence on the teenager. Cerf graduated from Townsend Harris High School in 1916, the same public school as publisher Richard Simon, author Herman Wouk, and playwright Howard Dietz. He spent his teenage years at 790 Riversid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and raised in Nebraska, Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor and made his Hollywood film debut in 1935. He rose to film stardom with performances in films like '' Jezebel'' (1938), ''Jesse James'' (1939), and '' Young Mr. Lincoln'' (1939). His career further progressed with his portrayal of Tom Joad in ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940), receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1941, Fonda starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the screwball comedy classic '' The Lady Eve''. Book-ending his service in WWII were his starring roles in two highly regarded Westerns: ''The Ox-Bow Incident'' (1943) and ''My Darling Clementine'' (1946), the latter directed by John Ford, and he also starred in Ford's Western '' Fort Apache'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead End (1937 Film)
''Dead End'' is a 1937 crime drama film directed by William Wyler. It is an adaptation of the Sidney Kingsley 1935 Broadway play of the same name. It stars Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Humphrey Bogart, Wendy Barrie, and Claire Trevor. It was the first film appearance of the acting group known as the Dead End Kids. Plot In the slums of New York, on the East River just below the Queensboro Bridge, wealthy people live in opulent and luxurious apartments because of the picturesque views of the river, while the destitute and poor live nearby in crowded, cockroach-infested tenements. At the end of the street is a dock on the East River; to the left are the luxury apartments, and to the right are the slums. The Dead End Kids, led by Tommy Gordon, are a gang of street urchins who are already well on the path to a life of petty crime. Members of the gang besides Tommy include Dippy, Angel, Spit, T.B., and Milty, the new kid on the block in search of friends. Spit is a bit malicious ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You Only Live Once (1937 Film)
''You Only Live Once'' is a 1937 American crime drama film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Sylvia Sidney and Henry Fonda. Considered an early film noir, the film was the second directed by Lang in the United States. At least 15 minutes were trimmed from the original 100-minute version of the film due to its then unprecedented violence. Despite the removal of such scenes, the film is widely considered an early film noir classic. Plot Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who feels he is reformed and deserves a break, but he expects he will not get one. In spite of his marriage to Joan, the woman who waited for him and who has always believed in him, it seems his expectations will be met. With the help of Joan's boss, Stephen, the public defender, Eddie gets a steady job and he buys a house with Joan. He is summarily fired, however, by a boss who makes it clear he had no interest in giving him a chance. Eddie's old gang want him to join them in bank robberies, and he is tempted, but c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fury (1936 Film)
''Fury '' is a 1936 American drama film directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of an innocent man (Spencer Tracy) who narrowly escapes being burned to death by a lynch mob and the revenge he then seeks. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and stars Sylvia Sidney and Tracy, with a supporting cast featuring Walter Abel, Bruce Cabot, Edward Ellis and Walter Brennan. Loosely based on the events surrounding the Brooke Hart murder in San Jose, California, the film was adapted by Bartlett Cormack and Lang from the story ''Mob Rule'' by Norman Krasna. ''Fury'' was Lang's first American film. Plot En route to meet his fiancée Katherine Grant, gas-station owner Joe Wilson is arrested on flimsy circumstantial evidence for the kidnapping of a child. Gossip soon travels around the small town, growing more distorted through each retelling, until a mob gathers at the jail. When the resolute sheriff refuses to give up his prisoner, the enraged townspeople burn down the buildin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 63. One of the best-known ''émigrés'' from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. He has been cited as one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. Lang's most celebrated films include the groundbreaking futuristic ''Metropolis'' (1927) and the influential '' M'' (1931), a film noir precursor. His 1929 film '' Woman in the Moon'' showcased the use of a multi-stage rocket, and also pioneered the concept of a rocket launch pad (a rocket standing upright against a tall building before launch having been slowly rolled into place) and the rocket-launch countdown clock. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sabotage (1936 Film)
''Sabotage'', released in the United States as ''The Woman Alone'', is a 1936 British espionage thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Sylvia Sidney, Oskar Homolka, and John Loder. It is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel ''The Secret Agent'', about a woman who discovers that her husband, a London shopkeeper, is a terrorist agent. ''Sabotage'' should not be confused with Hitchcock's film ''Secret Agent'', which was also released in 1936, but which instead is loosely based on two stories in the 1927 collection '' Ashenden: Or the British Agent'' by W. Somerset Maugham. It also should not be confused with Hitchcock's film ''Saboteur'' (1942), which includes the iconic fall from the torch of the Statue of Liberty which presaged the Mount Rushmore scene in ''North by Northwest'' (1959). In 2017, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for ''Time Out'' magazine ranked the film 44th best British film ever. In 2021, ''The Daily Telegraph' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", he became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director despite five nominations. Hitchcock initially trained as a technical clerk and copy writer before entering the film industry in 1919 as a title card designer. His directorial debut was the British-German silent film '' The Pleasure Garden'' (1925). His first successful film, '' The Lodger: A Story of the London Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Street Scene (1931 Film)
''Street Scene'' is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by King Vidor. With a screenplay by Elmer Rice adapted from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, ''Street Scene'' takes place on a New York City street from one evening until the following afternoon. Except for one scene which takes place inside a taxi, Vidor shot the entire film on a single set depicting half a city block of house fronts. The film stars Estelle Taylor, David Landau, Sylvia Sidney, William Collier, Jr., and Beulah Bondi (her screen debut). The music score is by Alfred Newman, his first complete film score. Newman composed the eponymous title theme, in the style of George Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue''. The theme has been used in other movies, including ''Cry of the City'', '' Kiss of Death'', ''I Wake Up Screaming'', '' Where the Sidewalk Ends'', ''The Dark Corner'', ''Gentleman's Agreement'' and as the overture to ''How to Marry a Millionaire''. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Streets (1931 Film)
''City Streets'' is a 1931 American Pre-Code film noir directed by Rouben Mamoulian from a story by Dashiell Hammett and starring Gary Cooper, Sylvia Sidney and Paul Lukas. This Pre-Code crime film is about a racketeer's daughter who is in love with a shooting gallery showman. Despite her prodding, the showman known as The Kid has no ambitions about joining the rackets and making enough money to support her in the lifestyle she's accustomed to. Her father implicates her in a murder and she's sent to prison, after which her father convinces The Kid to join the gang to free his daughter. Plot Nan Cooley ( Sylvia Sidney), the daughter of racketeer Pop Cooley (Guy Kibbee), is in love with The Kid (Gary Cooper), a shooting gallery showman. Cooley tries to urge him to join the gang, in order to earn enough money to support her in the lifestyle she is accustomed to, but The Kid refuses. Soon her father kills bootlegging chief Blackie ( Stanley Fields), at the urging of Big Fella Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An American Tragedy (film)
''An American Tragedy'' (1931) is a pre-Code drama film directed by Josef von Sternberg. It was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on Theodore Dreiser's 1925 novel ''An American Tragedy'' and the 1926 play adaptation. These were based on the historic 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake in upstate New York.''The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931-1940'' by the American Film Institute, c. 1993 The novel would again be adapted in the 1951 Paramount release '' A Place in the Sun''. Cast *Phillips Holmes as Clyde Griffiths * Sylvia Sidney as Roberta Alden *Frances Dee as Sondra Finchley * Irving Pichel as District Attorney Orville Mason * Frederick Burton as Samuel Griffiths *Claire McDowell as Mrs. Samuel Griffiths *Wallace Middleton as Gilbert Griffiths *Emmett Corrigan as Belknap *Charles B. Middleton as Jephson *Lucille La Verne as Mrs. Asa Griffiths *Albert Hart as Titus Alden *Fanny Midgley as M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of classic Hollywood's definitive leading men from the 1930s until the mid-1960s. Grant was born and brought up in Bristol, England. He became attracted to theater at a young age when he visited the Bristol Hippodrome. At 16, he went as a stage performer with the Pender Troupe for a tour of the US. After a series of successful performances in New York City, he decided to stay there. He established a name for himself in vaudeville in the 1920s and toured the United States before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s. Grant initially appeared in crime films and dramas such as ''Blonde Venus'' (1932) with Marlene Dietrich and '' She Done Him Wrong'' (1933) with Mae West, but later gained renown for his performances in romantic screwball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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