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Bernadette O'Farrell
Bernadette Mary O'Farrell (30 January 1924 – 26 September 1999) was an Irish actress in film and television, best known for playing Maid Marian in the 1950s. Early years O'Farrell was born in Birr, County Offaly, Irish Free State. Her mother was an amateur actress, and her father managed a bank. She attended a convent school, and worked as a secretary as a young woman. Career O'Farrell broke into film work in her twenties, after being introduced to English director Carol Reed. She is best known for playing Maid Marian in the 1950s British television adaptation of ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', co-starring Donald Pleasence, Paul Eddington, Richard O'Sullivan, and Richard Greene. It was one of the first British television productions to find an audience in North America, and O'Farrell and Greene made a publicity tour in the United States in 1956, to support the show. She left the show in 1957, after 78 episodes, to avoid type-casting, and was replaced by Patricia Driscoll. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason, she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the early strong female characters in English literature. History Maid Marian (or Marion) is never mentioned in any of the earliest extant ballads of Robin Hood. She appears to have been a character in May Games festivities (held during May and early June although it could be rarely held mid June, most commonly around Whitsun) and is sometimes associated with the Queen or Lady of May or May Day. In ''The Quest for Robin Hood'', Jim Lees suggests that Maid Marian was originally a personification of the Virgin Mary. Both a "Robin" and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Happiest Days Of Your Life (play)
''The Happiest Days of Your Life'' is a farce by the English playwright John Dighton. It depicts the complications that ensue when because of a bureaucratic error a girls' school is made to share premises with a boys' school. The title of the play echoes the old saying that schooldays are "the happiest days of our lives". The play was first seen on BBC Television in 1947, and then, after a one-night try-out in the West End later that year, it opened at the Apollo Theatre in March 1948, running for more than 600 performances. It has subsequently been revived, and adapted for broadcasting and the cinema. Background and first productions The title of the play alludes to the old saying, dating back to at least the early 19th century, that schooldays are "the happiest days of our lives". The play was first seen on BBC Television in its early post-war days, screened live on 4 February 1947 and again on 6 February. It was staged for a single Sunday-night try-out at the Strand Thea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Wildcats Of St Trinians
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with nouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of the archaic pronoun ''thee'') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Bridal Path (film)
''The Bridal Path'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Frank Launder and starring Bill Travers, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell. It is based on the 1952 novel of the same name by Nigel Tranter. The film was an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the success of Launder and Gilliat's earlier ''Geordie'' (1955). Cast Plot Ewan McEwan, an easy-going sheep and corn farmer on Beigg, a (fictional) Scottish island, is unable to marry his childhood sweetheart Katie as his hell-raising preacher uncle is opposed to consanguinity – all the islanders are related to each other. When Katie leaves for Glasgow to train as a nurse, he is persuaded to find a wife on the mainland (which he has never visited). Withdrawing £400 from the £800 he has saved in a bank in Oban, he sets out to meet the local girls. He has been advised by the islanders of what they think he should look for in a potential wife: strong legs, wide hips, knowledge of cows and sheep, and also not a "candle bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lady In The Fog
''Lady in the Fog'' (U.S. title: ''Scotland Yard Inspector'') is a 1952 British mystery film directed by Sam Newfield and starring Cesar Romero, Lois Maxwell and Bernadette O'Farrell. It was written by Orville H. Hampton based on the 1947 BBC radio serial ''A Lady in the Fog'' by Lester Powell. The film began production on 24 March 1952, was trade shown on 10 Sept. 1952, and was released on 13 Oct. 1952. It was made by Lippert Productions and Hammer Films at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. The film's sets were designed by the art director Wilfred Arnold. The film was unusual for a British movie since it had an American director, an American writer and an American actor in the lead. Plot In London an English woman, Heather McMara, asks for help from a visiting American writer, Philip 'Phil' O'Dell, to find out who has killed her brother, Danny, who was run over in a heavy nighttime fog. Having no evidence, the police will take no action. O'Dell and McMara visit Peggy's n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lady Godiva Rides Again
''Lady Godiva Rides Again'' (U.S. title: ''Bikini Baby'') is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress. The film was released in the United States under its original title in 1953 by Carroll Pictures, then was re-released in the United States as ''Bikini Baby'', to capitalize on the profile of supporting player Diana Dors, who was given star billing with the new title. It also features Joan Collins in her film debut as an uncredited beauty contestant. Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, also appears as an uncredited beauty queen. Ellis, who was four months pregnant at the time, had dyed her hair black and had styled it into a bob. Other young starle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Life In Her Hands
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, organisation, metabolism, growth, adaptation, response to stimuli, and reproduction. All life over time eventually reaches a state of death, and none is immortal. Many philosophical definitions of living systems have been proposed, such as self-organizing systems. Viruses in particular make definition difficult as they replicate only in host cells. Life exists all over the Earth in air, water, and soil, with many ecosystems forming the biosphere. Some of these are harsh environments occupied only by extremophiles. Life has been studied since ancient times, with theories such as Empedocles's materialism asserting that it was composed of four eternal elements, and Aristotle's hylomorphism asserting that living things have souls and embody both form and matter. Life originated at least 3.5&nbs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Happiest Days Of Your Life (film)
''The Happiest Days of Your Life'' is a 1950 British Comedy films, comedy film directed by Frank Launder, based on the 1947 The Happiest Days of Your Life (play), play of the same name by John Dighton. The two men also wrote the screenplay. It is one of a stable of classic British film comedies produced by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat for British Lion Film Corporation. The film was made on location in Liss (England), Liss and at Riverside Studios, London. In several respects, including some common casting, it was a precursor of the ''The Belles of St. Trinian's, St. Trinian's'' films of the 1950s and 1960s. Plot In September 1949, confusion reigns when St Swithin's Girls' School is accidentally billeted at Nutbourne College: a boys' school in Hampshire. The two heads, Wetherby Pond (Alastair Sim) and Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford), try to cope with the ensuing chaos, as the children and staff attempt to live in the newly cramped conditions (it being impossible to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Captain Boycott (film)
''Captain Boycott'' is a 1947 British historical drama film directed by Frank Launder and starring Stewart Granger, Kathleen Ryan, Mervyn Johns, Alastair Sim and Cecil Parker. Robert Donat makes a cameo appearance as the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell. The film explains how the word boycott appeared in the English language. Ironically, the titular character plays a secondary role in the film, as an anti-hero, and the hero of the film is Hugh Davin. Plot In 1880 in County Mayo, during the period of Irish history known as the Land War, Irish tenant farmers agitated for reinstatement of their former lower rents and increased tenants' rights, especially from absentee English landlords. They particularly resented evictions. Some resorted to the gun to achieve justice, but others, inspired by the Irish statesman Charles Stewart Parnell (played in a brief cameo role by Robert Donat), shunned violence and adopted a form of passive resistance. Parnell advocates the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Life In Her Hands (19951), Nurse Mary Gordon
''Life in Her Hands'' is a 1951 drama film sponsored by the British Ministry of Labour (United Kingdom), Ministry of Labour with the aim of recruiting women to the nursing profession. It was produced in response to addressing the short supply of qualified nurses in Britain after the Second World War, caused to some degree by the needs of the newly founded National Health Service (NHS). It was produced by the Crown Film Unit and distributed widely across all major cinemas by United Artists. The film was written by Anthony Steven and Monica Dickens, and directed by Philip Leacock. The cast included Bernadette O'Farrell, Jenny Laird, Jean Anderson and Kathleen Byron. Byron, well known at the time for her role in the 1947 film ''Black Narcissus'', plays the protagonist Anne Peters, who wrongly believes herself to be responsible for the death of her husband in a car crash. She subsequently decides to become a nurse to assuage her guilt. In addition to the fictional content, the film con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
