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Jesse Graves
Jesse Graves, also known as Jessie Graves or Jesse A. Graves, was an American character actor of the 1930s and 1940s. During his career he appeared in over 100 films. Some of the more notable include: ''After the Thin Man'' in 1936, which stars William Powell, Myrna Loy, and James Stewart; 1938's ''Jezebel (1938 film), Jezebel'' with Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, and George Brent; the Mickey Rooney version of ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939 film), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1939); Frank Capra's 1939 political comedy-drama, ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'', starring James Stewart and Jean Arthur; the Orson Welles classic, ''Citizen Kane'' (1941); the George Gershwin biopic, ''Rhapsody in Blue (film), Rhapsody in Blue'' (1945); and the 1948 Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn romantic comedy, ''State of the Union (film), State of the Union''. His final film was the 1949 western, ''El Paso (film), El Paso'', starring John Payne (actor), John Payne and Gail Russell. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, ''Rivière des Moines,'' meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,133 as of the 2020 census. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state. Des Moines is a major center of the US insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. The city was credited as the "number one spot for U.S. insurance companies" in a ''Business Wire'' articl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. While in his 20s, Welles directed high-profile stage productions for the Federal Theatre Project, including an adaptation of ''Macbeth'' with an entirely African-American cast and the political musical '' The Cradle Will Rock''. In 1937, he and John Houseman founded the Mercury Theatre, an independent repertory theatre company that presented a series of productions on Broadway through 1941, including ''Caesar'' (1937), an adaptation of William Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar''. In 1938, his radio anthology series ''The Mercury Theatre on the Air'' gave Welles the platform to find international fame as the director and narrator of a radio adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel ''The War of the Worlds'', which caused s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Easy Living (1937 Film)
''Easy Living'' is a 1937 American screwball comedy film, directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Preston Sturges from a story by Vera Caspary, and starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, and Ray Milland. Many of the supporting players (William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Luis Alberni, Robert Greig, Olaf Hytten, and Arthur Hoyt) became a major part of Sturges' regular stock company of character actors in his subsequent films. Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin composed the song " Easy Living" for the film, and it has since become a jazz standard, made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and many other jazz singers. The film is unrelated to a 1949 RKO drama by the same name. Plot J.B. Ball, the third richest banker in America, has a fight with his son John Jr. over breakfast. It ends with the son leaving, determined to prove that he can make his own way. Ball becomes infuriated after learning that his wife Jenny bought a $58,000 sable fur coat, and he decides it has to be returned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Make Way For Tomorrow
''Make Way for Tomorrow'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Leo McCarey. The plot concerns an elderly couple (played by Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi) who are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents. The film was written by Viña Delmar, from a play by Helen and Noah Leary, which was in turn based on the novel ''The Years Are So Long'' by advice columnist Josephine Lawrence. McCarey viewed the film as his best, and it has been praised by later critics. In 2010, it was released selected for preservation by the United States Library of Congress's National Film Registry. Plot Barkley "Bark" (Victor Moore) and Lucy Cooper (Beulah Bondi) are an elderly couple who lose their home to foreclosure, as Barkley has been unable to find employment because of his age. They summon four of their five children—the fifth lives thousands of miles away in California—to break the news and decide where they will live until they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Spanky
''General Spanky'' is a 1936 American comedy film produced by Hal Roach. A spin-off of Roach's popular ''Our Gang'' short subjects, the film stars George McFarland, Phillips Holmes, Rosina Lawrence, Billie Thomas and Carl Switzer. Directed by Fred Newmeyer and Gordon Douglas, it was originally released to theaters on December 11, 1936, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). This film, a Civil War period piece, was intended as an experiment to determine if Roach could move ''Our Gang'' into features, as the double feature and block booking were slowly smothering his short subjects production. The film was a box-office disappointment and, after another year of shorts production, Roach ended up selling the ''Our Gang'' unit to MGM in May 1938. When Roach bought the rights to the back catalog of ''Our Gang'' films he had produced from MGM in 1949, he did not buy back the rights to ''General Spanky''. The film was part of the MGM catalog acquired in 1986 by Turner Entertainment, which holds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leadership The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, and academic communities. The board of trustees is chaired by Kathleen Kennedy and the board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President and CEO, film historian Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens Jr. (from the organization's inception in 1967 until 1980) and Jean Picker Firstenberg (from 1980 to 2007). History The American Film Institute was founded by a 1965 presidential mandate announced in the Rose Garden of the White House by Lyndon B. Johnson—to establish a national arts organization to preserve the legacy of American film heritage, educate the next generation of filmmaker ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gail Russell
Gail Russell (born Betty Gale Russell; September 21, 1924 – August 26, 1961) was an American film and television actress. Early years Gail Russell was born to George and Gladys (Barnet) Russell in Chicago and then moved to the Los Angeles area when she was a teenager. Her father was initially a musician but later worked for Lockheed Corporation. Before she ventured into acting, she had planned to be a commercial artist. Her beauty saw her dubbed "the Hedy Lamarr of Santa Monica." Career and life Russell's beauty brought her to the attention of Paramount Pictures in 1942, and she signed a long-term contract with that studio when she was 18. Although she was almost clinically shy and had no acting experience, Paramount had great expectations for her and employed an acting coach to work with her. She later said, "suddenly there was this terrific amount of work for myself and no time to myself. It was that way for ten years." At the age of 19 she made her film debut in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Payne (actor)
John Howard Payne (May 23, 1912 – December 6, 1989) was an American film actor who is mainly remembered from film noir crime stories and 20th Century Fox musical films, and for his leading roles in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' and the NBC Western television series ''The Restless Gun''. Early life Payne was born in Roanoke, Virginia. His mother, Ida Hope (''née'' Schaeffer), a singer, graduated from the Virginia Seminary in Roanoke and married George Washington Payne, a developer in Roanoke. They lived at Fort Lewis, an antebellum mansion that became a state historic property, but was destroyed by fire in the late 1940s. Payne attended prep school at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and then went to Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City in the fall of 1930. He studied drama at Columbia and voice at the Juilliard School. To support himself, he took on a variety of odd jobs, including wrestling as "Alex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
El Paso (film)
''El Paso'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by Lewis R. Foster and starring John Payne, Gail Russell and Sterling Hayden. Plot Clay Fletcher ( John Payne), lawyer and returned Civil War Confederate officer, feels he needs to ease back into his legal career; he takes an assignment to travel west from his home state of South Carolina to a "frontier settlement called El Paso", in Texas. His mission involves obtaining the signature on estate documents of attorney Henry Jeffers (Henry Hull), whom Clay knows by reputation. He also knows, and is very fond of, Jeffers' daughter, Susan (Gail Russell). Along the way, he meets a pots-and-pans peddler named Pesky (George 'Gabby' Hayes) and a con-woman, Stagecoach Nellie (Mary Beth Hughes), who steals his wallet. In a saloon in El Paso, Clay witnesses a sham trial; a man is convicted of murder by a drunken judge, who turns out to be Jeffers. When Clay speaks up on the defendant's behalf, he is charged with contempt of court. Una ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
State Of The Union (film)
The State of the Union Address (sometimes abbreviated to SOTU) is an annual message delivered by the president of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress near the beginning of each calendar year on the current condition of the nation. The State of the Union Address generally includes reports on the nation's budget, economy, news, agenda, achievements and the president's priorities and legislative proposals. The address fulfills the requirement in Article II, Section 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution for the president to periodically "give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient." During most of the country's first century, the president primarily submitted only a written report to Congress. After 1913, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president, began the regular practice of delivering the address to Congress in person as a way to rally support ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. Her work was in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer. In 1999, Hepburn was named the greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute. Raised in Connecticut by wealthy, progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while at Bryn Mawr College. Favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Her early years in film brought her international fame, including an Academy Award for Best Actress for her thir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations. During his career, he appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen's greatest actors. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Tracy first discovered his talent for acting while attending Ripon College, and he later received a scholarship for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He spent seven years in the theatre, working in a succession of stock companies and intermittently on Broadway. His breakthrough came in 1930, when his lead performance in ''The Last Mile'' caught the attention of Hollywood. After a successful film debut in John Ford's ''Up the River'' (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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