|
Roy Del Ruth
Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893 – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) for the producer. By the early 1920s, he had moved over to features including ''Asleep at the Switch'' (1923), ''The Hollywood Kid'' (1924), '' Eve's Lover'' (1925) and '' The Little Irish Girl'' (1926). Following several more titles, many now lost, he directed '' The First Auto'' (1927), a charming look at the introduction of the first automobile to a small rural town. Also once believed lost, the film's almost entirely unsynchronised soundtrack features several elaborate sound effects for the time. Del Ruth directed another half dozen projects before the musical '' The Desert Song'' (1929), the first color film ever released by Warner Bros. That same year, Del Ruth directed '' Gold Diggers of Broadway'' (1929), Warner's second two-strip Technic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey to its northeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state's name derives from the adjacent Delaware Bay, which in turn was named after Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, an English nobleman and the Colony of Virginia's first colonial-era governor. Delaware occupies the northeastern portion of the Delmarva Peninsula, and some islands and territory within the Delaware River. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, second-smallest and List of U.S. states and territories by population, sixth-least populous state, but also the List of U.S. states and territories by population density, sixth-most densely populated. Delaware's List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city is Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances. Cagney is remembered for playing multifaceted tough guys in films such as ''The Public Enemy'' (1931), ''Taxi!'' (1932), ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' (1938), ''The Roaring Twenties'' (1939), ''City for Conquest'' (1940) and ''White Heat'' (1949), finding himself typecast or limited by this reputation earlier in his career. He was able to negotiate dancing opportunities in his films and ended up winning the Academy Award for his role in the musical ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942). In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked him eighth on its list of AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, greatest male stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Orson Welles described him as "maybe the greatest actor who ever appea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Little Giant (1933 Film)
''The Little Giant'' is a 1933 American pre-Code crime comedy romance. It follows the attempts of an ex-gangster to make his way into high society. The film was directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Edward G. Robinson and Mary Astor. It was produced and distributed through Warner Bros. The Library of Congress has preserved a print of this film.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' (<-book title) p.104 c.1978 by The American Film Institute Plot Mobster Jim (Bugs) Ahearn, realizing that the end of prohibition is only months away, decides to quit the bootlegging racket and work to elevate his culture and status by reading books and investing in art, and ultimately by leaving Chicago for Santa Barbara, where he attempts to fit into the upper crust of society. He invests in polo ponies, joins a polo team (he's terrible, but is tolerated because of his money), and falls in ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Tracy
William Lee Tracy (April 14, 1898 – October 18, 1968) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is known foremost for his portrayals between the late 1920s and 1940s of fast-talking, wisecracking news reporters, press agents, lawyers, and salesmen. From 1949 to 1954, he was also featured in the weekly radio and television versions of the series '' Martin Kane: Private Eye'', as well as starring as the newspaper columnist Lee Cochran in the 19581959 British-American crime drama '' New York Confidential''. Later, in 1964, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe for his supporting role in the film '' The Best Man''. Early life and stage career Born in 1898 in Atlanta, Georgia, Tracy was the only child of Ray (née Griffith) and William L. Tracy, a railroader."Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920", digital copy of original enumeration page, family of William L. Tracy in Sayre, Pennsylvania, 17 January 1920; Bureau of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blessed Event
''Blessed Event'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Lee Tracy as a newspaper gossip columnist who becomes entangled with a gangster. The Tracy character (Alvin Roberts) was reportedly patterned after Walter Winchell, famous gossip columnist of the era. The film marked Dick Powell's film debut. Plot Alvin Roberts feuds with singer Bunny Harmon. Roberts reports on society people who are expecting a "blessed event", i.e. going to have a child. One such report antagonizes a gangster in a delicate situation, who sends over a henchman to threaten him. Roberts manages to turn the tables on the gangster. The character of Bunny Harmon is a parody of Rudy Vallee, as both of them sing and play saxophone, and Vallee's band was called the Connecticut Yankees, while Harmon's is the Green Mountain Boys, a reference to another New England state, Vermont. The feud between Roberts and Harmon is a parody of the real-life (contrived) feud betwe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taxi!
''Taxi!'' is a 1932 American pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney and Loretta Young. The film includes a famous, and often misquoted, line with Cagney speaking to his brother's killer through a locked closet door: "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat, or I'll give it to you through the door!" This line has often been misquoted as "You dirty rat, you killed my brother". To play his competitor in a ballroom dance contest, Cagney recommended his pal, fellow tough-guy-dancer George Raft, who was uncredited in the film. In a lengthy and memorable sequence, the scene culminates with Raft and his partner winning the dance contest against Cagney and Young, after which Cagney slugs Raft and knocks him down.Everett Aaker, ''The Films of George Raft'', McFarland & Company, 2013, p. 20 As in '' The Public Enemy'' (1931), several scenes in ''Taxi!'' involved the use of live machine gun bullets. After a few of the bullets narrowly missed Cagney' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bebe Daniels
Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" () Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such as ''Rio Rita (1929 film), Rio Rita'', and later gained fame on radio and television in Britain. Over the course of her 50-year career, Daniels appeared in 230 films. Early life and career Daniels was born Phyllis Virginia Daniels (Bebe was a childhood nickname) in Dallas, Texas in 1901. Her father was a travelling theater manager, Scottish-born Melville Daniel MacNeal, who changed his name to Danny Daniels after a disagreement with his father over his ambition to change from the medical profession to show business. Her mother was Phyllis de Forest Griffin, born in Colombia of an American father and a Colombian mother, a stage actress who was in Danny's travelling stock company when their child was born. When she was ten weeks old, her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Maltese Falcon (1941 Film)
''The Maltese Falcon'' is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston in his directorial debut. Based on The Maltese Falcon (novel), the 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett, it is a remake of The Maltese Falcon (1931 film), the 1931 film. Starring Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade, Mary Astor as his ''femme fatale'' client, and Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet as villains, the film follows a life-and-death quest for a jewel-encrusted falcon statuette in San Francisco. The film premiered in New York City on October 3, 1941, and was an immediate success, eventually becoming one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" in 1989. Plot In San Francisco, private investigators Sam Spade and Miles Archer meet prospective client Ruth Wonderly. She claims to be looking for her missing sister, who ran off from their home in New York an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ricardo Cortez
Ricardo Cortez (born Jacob Kranze or Jacob Krantz; September 19, 1900 – April 28, 1977) was an American actor and film director. He was also credited as Jack Crane early in his acting career. Early years Ricardo Cortez was born Jacob Kranze or Krantz in New York City to Jewish parents, Sarah (née Lefkovitz) and Morris Kranze or Krantz. He had a brother Stanley Cortez ( Stanislaus Kranze or Krantz).Letter of the Department of Health, City of New York, October 8, 2000, mentioned in: Rudolf Ulrich (Hrsg.): ''Österreicher in Hollywood.'' Neuauflage, Verlag Filmarchiv Austria, Wien 2004, , p. 597 (Vienna has been incorrectly cited as his birthplace.)Cortez' obituary in ''The New York Times'' cites Vienna as his birthplace, and the book ''A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940'' describes him as "Jacob Kranze, Viennese émigré". He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in New York City. Prior to entering the film business, he was an amateur boxer and worked on Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Maltese Falcon (1931 Film)
''The Maltese Falcon'' is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film based on the 1930 novel ''The Maltese Falcon'' by Dashiell Hammett and directed by Roy Del Ruth. The film stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and Bebe Daniels as ''femme fatale'' Ruth Wonderly. The supporting cast features Dudley Digges, Thelma Todd, Walter Long, Una Merkel, and Dwight Frye. Maude Fulton and Brown Holmes wrote the screenplay; one contemporaneous report said that Lucien Hubbard was assisting them. While the film was successful, its legacy was deeply hampered by the enforcement of the Hays Code. The film was remade by the studio twice, with its 1941 remake starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor overshadowing its predecessors. The film was not seen in its entirety until after the collapse of the Code in the mid-1960s. A print has been held by the Library of Congress since the 1970s. Plot In San Francisco, private investigator Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer are hired b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett ( ; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the characters he created are Sam Spade ('' The Maltese Falcon''), Nick and Nora Charles (''The Thin Man''), The Continental Op ('' Red Harvest'' and '' The Dain Curse'') and the comic strip character Secret Agent X-9. Hammett is regarded as one of the very best mystery writers. In his obituary in ''The New York Times'', he was described as "the dean of the... 'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction." ''Time'' included Hammett's 1929 novel '' Red Harvest'' on its list of the 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005. In 1990, the Crime Writers' Association picked three of his five novels for their list of '' The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time''. Five years later, ''The Maltese Falcon'' placed second on '' The Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time'' as selected by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blonde Crazy
''Blonde Crazy'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Noel Francis, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee. The film is notable for one of Cagney's lines, a phrase often repeated by celebrity impersonators: "That dirty, double-crossin' rat!" Plot Bert Harris works for a hotel as a bellboy. One day, he meets Anne Roberts, who signs up as a chambermaid. He takes a fancy to her and lets her in on his racket, conning people out of money. They arrange for married hotel guest A. Rupert Johnson Jr. to be caught in a compromising position with Anne and get $5000 to keep a (fake) policeman from taking him to jail. From there, they leave town and embark on ever grander crooked schemes. Anne falls in love with Bert, but he does not realize it until it is too late. By the time he proposes to her, she has transferred her affections to the respectable Joe Reynolds and marries him. Bert travels aro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
