HOME
*





Bedlam (1946 Film)
''Bedlam'' is a 1946 American horror film starring Boris Karloff and Anna Lee, and was the last in a series of stylish horror B films produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures. The film was inspired by William Hogarth's 1732–1734 painting series ''A Rake's Progress'', and Hogarth was given a writing credit.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011, pp 309-10 Plot Set in 1761 in London, the film focuses on events at an asylum for the mentally ill, a fictionalized version of Bedlam (the Bethlem Royal Hospital). After an acquaintance of Lord Mortimer dies in an attempt to escape from the asylum, Master George Sims (a fictionalized version of an infamous head physician at Bethlem, John Monro), appeases Mortimer by having his "loonies" put on a show for him. Mortified by the treatment of the patients, Mortimer's protégée Nell Bowen seeks his aid, then seeks the help of Whig politician John Wilkes to reform the asylum, threatening Sim's c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

William Rose (illustrator)
William F. Rose (September 16, 1909– May 29, 1972) was an American illustrator and film poster artist active in the 1930s and 1940s. He is recognized as one of the most distinctive poster artists of the Classical Hollywood era, a time when most film posters featured painted illustrations rather than photography. Rose painted dozens of poster illustrations for RKO Radio Pictures and other studios. As one of the leading designers in RKO's art department, he helped to define the studio's bold visual aesthetic. Although he was prolific, only a fraction of his poster designs have been individually attributed to him. Most of his output remains unidentified. His artwork is prized by collectors, and original prints of his posters have fetched high prices at auction. One of his most iconic posters is the alternate "StyleB" design for '' Citizen Kane''(1941), which pitched the film as a more conventional romance than it actually was. The poster failed as a marketing ploy but, in hind ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

British Whig Party
The Whigs were a political faction and then a political party in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Between the 1680s and the 1850s, the Whigs contested power with their rivals, the Tories. The Whigs merged into the new Liberal Party with the Peelites and Radicals in the 1850s, and other Whigs left the Liberal Party in 1886 to form the Liberal Unionist Party, which merged into the Liberals' rival, the modern day Conservative Party, in 1912. The Whigs began as a political faction that opposed absolute monarchy and Catholic Emancipation, supporting constitutional monarchism with a parliamentary system. They played a central role in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and were the standing enemies of the Roman Catholic Stuart kings and pretenders. The period known as the Whig Supremacy (1714–1760) was enabled by the Hanoverian succession of George I in 1714 and the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1715 by Tory rebels. The Wh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Isle Of The Dead (film)
''Isle of the Dead'' is a 1945 horror film directed by Mark Robson and made for RKO Radio Pictures by producer Val Lewton. The film's script was inspired by the painting '' Isle of the Dead'' by Arnold Böcklin, which appears behind the title credits, though the film was originally titled ''Camilla'' during production. It was written by frequent Lewton collaborator Ardel Wray. It starred Boris Karloff. ''Isle of the Dead'' was the second of three films Lewton made with Karloff,Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 304 and the fourth of five pictures Robson directed for Lewton. Plot An onscreen text warns of the superstitious belief in a '' vorvolaka'', a malevolent force in human form. The film properly begins during the Balkan Wars of 1912. While his troops are burying their dead, General Pherides (Boris Karloff) and American reporter Oliver Davis (Marc Cramer) visit the Isle of the Dead to pay their respects to the General's long-dead ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The company is known for its film studio division the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, the Warner Animation Group, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Among its other assets, stands the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios. Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Ben Hardaway, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens and Robe ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


John Goldsworthy
John Goldsworthy (1884–1958) was a British-born stage and film actor. After emigrating to the United States he was active on Broadway appearing in a variety of plays, as well as several musicals.Bordman p.460 During the silent era he appeared in supporting roles in American films. Later in the 1940s he returned to the cinema, now playing mainly small, uncredited parts. His final film was MGM's ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1952). Selected filmography * ''A Yellow Streak'' (1915) * ''The Red Widow'' (1916) * ''A Corner in Cotton'' (1916) * ''Her Debt of Honor'' (1916) * '' Thou Shalt Not Steal'' (1917) * '' Life's Greatest Problem'' (1918) * ''The Career of Katherine Bush'' (1919) * ''The Divorcee'' (1919) * '' Even as Eve'' (1920) * '' The Sporting Duchess'' (1920) * ''Notoriety'' (1922) * '' Marriage Morals'' (1923) * ''Hangover Square'' (1945) * '' Confidential Agent'' (1945) * '' The Shanghai Cobra'' (1945) * '' Bedlam'' (1946) * ''The Dark Corner'' (1946) * ''The Verdict'' ( ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Skelton Knaggs
Skelton Barnaby Knaggs (27 June 1911 – 30 April 1955) was an English stage actor who also appeared in films, especially in horror films. Biography Knaggs was born in the Hillsborough district of Sheffield, England. Knaggs moved to London where he trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and subsequently became a Shakespearean actor. In addition to appearing on stage in Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'', Knaggs appeared in a few British films, including an uncredited role as a German orderly in Michael Powell's ''The Spy in Black''. At some point he moved to Los Angeles, California and found work as a character actor in Hollywood. Diminutive and distinctive-looking, with a strongly featured pock-marked face and charismatically voiced with an English Midlands provincial accent, he was cast in sinister roles, often in horror films. These ranged from uncredited bit parts to prominent roles in the Sherlock Holmes thriller '' Terror by Night'', the all-star monst ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Elizabeth Russell (actress)
Elizabeth Russell (August 2, 1916 – May 4, 2002) was an American actress. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she was best known for her roles in several of producer Val Lewton's low-budget horror films produced at RKO Pictures in the mid-1940s. She was the sister-in-law of Rosalind Russell. Career Russell worked as a photographer's model in New York City before she became an actress. When she was chosen for a part in '' Cat People'' (1942), Russell was a model who acted part-time. In his book ''Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career'', Edmund G. Bansak wrote, "Although lasting only moments, the economy of Russell's cameo is wondrous and it remains etched in viewers' memories long after the more essential concerns of plot and character have been all but forgotten." Personal life Russell married advertising man John Russell in 1937, they had a young son. In 1942, she was already divorced. Partial filmography * '' Forgotten Faces'' (1936) - Girl * ''Girl of the Ozarks'' (19 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Leyland Hodgson
Leyland Hodgson (5 October 1892 – 16 March 1949), also known as Leland Hodgson, was an English-born American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in London on 5 October 1892, Hodgson entered the theater in 1898. In his early 20s, Hodgson was part of a touring theater company, spending his time in the British areas of the Far East, before entering the stage in Australia. In 1930 he would move to the United States, where he would make his film debut in the Oscar-nominated film, ''The Case of Sergeant Grischa'' in 1930. Over his almost twenty-year career, he would appear in over 130 films, mostly in supporting or smaller roles. He is best known for his work on the Sherlock Holmes franchise of the late 1930s and 1940s, beginning with 1939's '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. He would die of a heart attack on 16 March 1949, shortly after completing the filming of '' That Forsyte Woman'', which would be released later that year. He was interred at Grand View Memorial ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Jason Robards Sr
Jason Nelson Robards (December 31, 1892 – April 4, 1963) was an American stage and screen actor, and the father of Oscar-winning actor Jason Robards Jr. Robards appeared in many films, initially as a leading man, then in character roles and occasional bit parts. Most of his final roles were in television. Life and career Robards was born on a farm in Hillsdale, Michigan, the son of Elizabeth (née Loomis), a schoolteacher, and Frank P. Robards Sr., a farmer and post office inspector who managed Theodore Roosevelt's 1912 Presidential campaign in Michigan. He was raised in Chicago, Illinois. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was billed simply as "Jason Robards" through most of his career, but in his latter years, after his namesake son took up acting, he was generally listed in credits as Jason Robards Sr. He died in 1963 (after which his son switched from "Jason Robards Jr." to "Jason Robards"). Contemporary actors Jason Robards III and Sam Robards ar ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Ian Wolfe
Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as a character actor. His career lasted seven decades and included many films and TV series; his last screen credit was in 1990. Early years Born in Canton, Illinois, Wolfe studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Career Wolfe's stage debut came in ''The Claw'' (1919). His Broadway credits include ''The Deputy'' (1964), ''Winesburg, Ohio'' (1958), ''Lone Valley'' (1933), ''Devil in the Mind'' (1931), ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1931), ''Lysistrata'' (1930), ''The Seagull'' (1930), ''At the Bottom'' (1930), ''Skyrocket'' (1929), ''Gods of the Lightning'' (1928), and ''The Claw'' (1921). Wolfe made his film debut in '' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' (1934). He appeared in many films, including '' Mutiny on the Bounty'' (193 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Glen Vernon
Glen Vernon (born Glenn Vernon; October 27, 1923 – October 27, 1999) was an American actor. Glenn Vernon hailed from Fall River, Massachusetts, and pursued a dramatic career upon graduation from high school. He used his given name of Glenn Vernon until 1950, when he adopted "Glen Vernon" as his professional name. By 1944 he was established as a Broadway juvenile, and he was recruited by RKO Radio Pictures to play a sensitive Russian soldier in the film '' Days of Glory''. Signed to a term contract, Vernon went on to play featured roles in dramas, comedies, and musicals, among them ''Youth Runs Wild'', '' Step Lively'','' Those Endearing Young Charms'', '' Bedlam'', ''Riverboat Rhythm'', and ''The Woman on the Beach''. The RKO studio often offered its own version of another studio's popular property. When Universal Pictures had Abbott and Costello, RKO's answer was Brown and Carney. In the musical-comedy field, Universal had Donald O'Connor and Peggy Ryan while Metro-Goldwyn- ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Richard Fraser (actor)
Richard Fraser (born Richard Mackie Simpson; 15 March 1913 – 19 January 1972) was a Scottish film, television, and stage actor. He is perhaps best known for his role in the 1945 film ''The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film), The Picture of Dorian Gray''. Early life After graduating from Sedbergh School as Richard Mackie Simpson, Richard's mother divorced and his name was shortened to Richard Mackie. After attending University of Cambridge, Cambridge University, Richard Mackie studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Having spent time as a London stage actor, Richard emigrated to the US and in New York married Louise Christine Sheldon, the couple then moved to Hollywood before the Second World War. Discovering that there was already a Richard Mackie acting in the US he adopted the stage name Richard Fraser. He then signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and appeared in numerous films. Career His American film career reached its peak with his performance as The Pic ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]