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Melvin And Howard
''Melvin and Howard'' (stylized as ''Melvin (and Howard)'') is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Demme. The screenplay by Bo Goldman was inspired by real-life Utah service station owner Melvin Dummar, who was listed as the beneficiary of $156 million in a will allegedly handwritten by Howard Hughes that was discovered in the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. A novelization of Goldman's script later was written by George Gipe. The film starred Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, and, in an Academy Award-winning performance, Mary Steenburgen. Plot In the opening scene, Howard Hughes loses control of his motorcycle and crashes in the Nevada desert. That night, he is discovered lying on the side of a stretch of U.S. Highway 95 when Melvin Dummar stops his pickup truck so he can relieve himself. The disheveled stranger, refusing to allow Melvin to take him to the hospital, asks him to instead drive him to Las Vegas, Nevada. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Alvin
John Henry Alvin (November 24, 1948 – February 6, 2008) was an American cinematic artist and painter who illustrated many movie posters. Alvin created posters and key art for more than 135 films, beginning with the poster for Mel Brooks' ''Blazing Saddles'' (1974). His style of art became known as ''Alvinesque'' by friends and colleagues in the entertainment industry. Alvin's work includes the movie posters for ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'', ''Blade Runner'', '' Gremlins'', '' The Goonies'', ''The Color Purple'', '' The Little Mermaid'', '' Batman Returns'', '' Beauty and the Beast'', ''Aladdin'', ''The Lion King'', '' Space Jam'', ''The Emperor's New Groove'', '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', and '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action''. He also created the anniversary posters for ''Star Wars''. Early life and education John Alvin was born on November 24, 1948, in Hyannis, Massachusetts. His parents were in the United States military and the family was relocated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melvin Dummar
Melvin Earl Dummar (August 28, 1944 – December 9, 2018) was a Utah man who gained attention when he claimed to have saved reclusive business tycoon Howard Hughes in the Nevada desert in 1967, and to have been awarded part of Hughes' vast estate. Dummar's claims resulted in a series of court battles that all ended in rulings against Dummar. A Las Vegas jury determined in 1978 that the will, leaving Dummar $156 million, was a forgery. Dummar's story was later adapted into Jonathan Demme's film '' Melvin and Howard'' in 1980, in which he was portrayed by actor Paul Le Mat. A 2005 reinvestigation of the circumstances surrounding the so-called Dummar Will yielded new evidence not previously known. Dummar's purported meeting with Hughes While working at a service station in Willard, Utah, Dummar claimed to have discovered a disheveled and lost man lying on the side of a stretch of U.S. Route 95 about north of Las Vegas, Nevada, near Lida Junction. The man asked Dummar to take h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desert Inn
The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Strip, the first four being El Rancho Vegas, The New Frontier, the still-operating Flamingo, and the now-defunct El Rancho (then known as the Thunderbird). It was situated between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue. The Desert Inn opened with 300 rooms and the ''Sky Room'' restaurant, headed by a chef formerly of the Ritz Paris, which once had the highest vantage point on the Las Vegas Strip. The casino, at , was one of the largest in Nevada at the time. The nine-story St. Andrews Tower was completed during the first renovation in 1963, and the 14-story Augusta Tower became the Desert Inn's main tower when it was completed in 1978 along with the seven-story Wimbledon Tower. The Palms Tower was completed in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bye Bye Blackbird
"Bye Bye Blackbird" is a song published in 1926 by Jerome H. Remick and written by composer Ray Henderson and lyricist Mort Dixon. It is considered a popular standard and was first recorded by Sam Lanin's Dance Orchestra in March 1926. Song information Popular recordings in 1926 were by Nick Lucas, Gene Austin, Benny Krueger, and by Leo Reisman. It was the number 16 song of 1926 according to ''Pop Culture Madness''. In popular culture The song was featured in the 1955 movie musical '' Pete Kelly's Blues'', sung by Peggy Lee in the role of alcoholic jazz singer Rose Hopkins. In "Goodbye Nkrumah" (1966) Beat poet Diane Di Prima asks:And yet, where would we be without the American culture Bye bye blackbird, as Miles plays it, in the ’50s In 1982, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) posthumously awarded John Coltrane a "Best Jazz Solo Performance" Grammy for the work on his album ''Bye Bye Blackbird''. Recordings of the song often include only the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many countries, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season organized around it. The traditional Christmas narrative recounted in the New Testament, known as the Nativity of Jesus, says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies. When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, the 32nd-most populous, and the 9th-least densely populated of the U.S. states. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area, including three of the state's four largest incorporated cities. Nevada's capital is Carson City. Las Vegas is the largest city in the state. Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" because of the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the "Battle Born State" because it achieved statehood during the Civil War (the words "Battle Born" also appear on its state flag); as the " Sagebrush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as the " Sage-hen State". The name means "snowy" in Spanish, re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising, sport (including racing), and off-road riding. Motorcycling is riding a motorcycle and being involved in other related social activity such as joining a motorcycle club and attending motorcycle rallies. The 1885 Daimler Reitwagen made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Germany was the first internal combustion, petroleum-fueled motorcycle. In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first series production motorcycle. Globally, motorcycles are comparably popular to cars as a method of transport. In 2021, approximately 58.6 million new motorcycles were sold around the world, fewer than the 66.7 million cars sold over the same period. In 2014, the three top motorcycle producers globally by volume were Honda (28%), Yamaha (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards cere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Gipe
George Gipe (February 3, 1933, Baltimore, Maryland – September 6, 1986, Glendale, California) was an American magazine writer, author and screenwriter. Gipe died at the age of 53 as the result of an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Life A native of Baltimore, in 1958 Gipe began working at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, working as a cameraman and set and production manager. He later joined WMAR-TV in Baltimore, where he won awards for documentaries and local programming. His career as a writer began in 1967 with a non-fiction work called ''Nearer to the Dust: Copyright and the Machine'', which anticipated several future legal issues surrounding computerized storage of copyrighted writing and information. Other non-fiction work followed; his only original novel, ''Coney Island Quickstep'', was issued in 1977. Gipe is chiefly remembered for his contributions to two screenplays: ''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'' (1982), and ''The Man With Two Brains'' (1983), both co-written with Car ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelization
A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of home video, but continue to find commercial success as part of marketing campaigns for major films. They are often written by accomplished writers based on an early draft of the film's script and on a tight deadline. History and purpose Novelizations of films began to be produced in the 1910s and 1920s for silent films such as '' Les Vampires'' (1915–16) and '' London After Midnight'' (1927). One of the first films with spoken dialogue to be novelized was '' King Kong'' (1933). Film novelizations were especially profitable during the 1970s before home video became available, as they were then the only way to re-experience popular movies other than television airing or a rerelease in theaters. The novelizations of ''Star Wars'' (1977) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which had a population of 1,257,936 at the 2020 census. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area, a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along a segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,746,164 (as of 2021 estimates), making it the 22nd largest in the nation. It is also the central core of the larger of only two major urban areas located within the Great Basin (the other being Reno, Nevada). Salt Lake City was founded July 24, 1847, by early pioneer settlers led by Brigham Young, who were seeking to escape persecution they had experienced whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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