1.
Richard Johnson (actor)
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Richard Keith Johnson was a British actor, writer and producer, who starred in several British films of the 1960s and also had TV roles and a distinguished stage career. Johnson was born in Upminster, Essex, the son of Frances Louisa Olive, Johnson went to Felsted School, then trained at RADA and made his first professional appearances on stage in Manchester with John Gielguds company in a production of Hamlet in 1944. He served in the Royal Navy from 1945 to 1948, and made his debut in 1959. He was subsequently contracted by MGM to appear in one film per year over six years and his biggest successes as a film actor came with The Haunting also featuring Claire Bloom and Julie Harris, Khartoum with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier, and the spy film Danger Route. Johnson was director Terence Youngs preferred choice for the role of James Bond in the first film in the series, a few years later, Bulldog Drummond was reimagined as a 007-type hero in Deadlier Than the Male and its sequel Some Girls Do. He also appeared in several Italian films, including Lucio Fulcis cult classic, Zombi 2, at the same time, he was a stage actor, appearing in the title role in Tony Richardsons production of Pericles, Prince of Tyre in 1958. His stage career was extensive and distinguished and his early work in the London theatre attracted the attention of the director of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre. He appeared in many important productions at that theatre in the late 1950s and early 1960s, making notable successes as Romeo, Orlando in As You Like It, Pericles and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. In 1958 he appeared in Peter Halls first production at the theatre, Cymbeline, and he continued to act with the RSC from time to time, including as Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, which he played on two occasions. He played the role in ITVs production in 1974 and he continued to appear on film and television in the first decade of the 21st century. His films during this period included Lara Croft, Tomb Raider and he also appeared in several TV films, in 2005 he appeared as Stanley Baldwin in Wallis & Edward, in 2007 as Earl Mountbatten in Whatever Love Means, and in 2009 in Lewis. He contributed to British episodic TV, including Spooks, Waking the Dead, twice in Midsomer Murders, from 2007, he led the cast of the BBCs radio comedy series Bleak Expectations which ran until 2012. Throughout his career Johnson continued to teach young actors and students and he toured American universities and taught summer schools at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He was appointed to the Council of RADA in 2000, and served as a Council Member of the British Academy of Film, Johnson wrote the original story for the 1975 thriller, Hennessy. Johnson founded the British production company United British Artists in 1981, and served as the companys CEO until 1990, during his tenure at UBA he produced the films Turtle Diary, and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne. In London, he produced Pinters Old Times, a revival of Serjeant Musgraves Dance, and for theatre and television, Johnson wrote travel articles regularly for the London mass-circulation newspaper The Mail on Sunday. He kept a blog and teaching website called The Shakespeare Masterclass, by his first marriage, to Sheila Sweet, Johnson had two children, tabletop games designer Jervis Johnson and actress Sorel Johnson. His second wife was American actress Kim Novak, with whom he appeared in the film The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders and he also had another daughter, Jennifer Johnson, by his third wife, Marie-Louise Norlund, and a fourth child, Nicholas Johnson, by Françoise Pascal
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Honor Blackman
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Honor Blackman is an English actress, widely known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers, Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger, Julia Daggett in Shalako and Hera in Jason and the Argonauts. She is also notable for her role as Laura West in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand and her father, Frederick Blackman, was a civil service statistician. She attended North Ealing Primary School and Ealing County Grammar School for Girls, for her 15th birthday, her parents gave her acting lessons and she started training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1940. While attending the Guildhall School, Blackman worked as an assistant for the Home Office. Blackmans film debut was a part in Fame Is the Spur. Other films include Quartet, based on stories by W. She played Hera in Jason and the Argonauts, which is known for the stop-motion animation. She had roles in the films Bridget Joness Diary and Jack Brown, albert R. Broccoli said Blackman was cast opposite Sean Connery in the James Bond films based on her success in the British television series The Avengers. He knew that most American audiences would not have seen the programme, Broccoli said, The Brits would love her because they knew her as Mrs. Gale, the Yanks would like her because she was so good, it was a perfect combination. During the 1960s, Blackman practised judo at the famous Budokwai dojo and this helped her prepare for her roles as Cathy Gale in The Avengers and Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. At 38, she was one of the oldest actresses to play a Bond girl, in 1968 Blackman appeared opposite John Neville and Hylda Baker in the musical play Mr & Mrs, based on the plays of Noël Coward. In the late 1970s she toured Australia and New Zealand with Michael Craig and Colleen Clifford in the comedy play Move Over, Mrs Markham. In February 1979, she starred in Stephen Barrys production of Tom Stoppards Night and Day at the Perth Playhouse, in 1981, she appeared in the London revival of The Sound of Music opposite Petula Clark. The production opened to reviews and the largest advance sale in British theatre history to that time. She spent most of 1987 at the Fortune Theatre starring as the Mother Superior in the West End production of Nunsense, Blackman returned to the theatre in 2005, touring through 2006 with a production of My Fair Lady, in which she played Mrs. Higgins. She developed a show, Word of Honor, which premiered in October 2006. In April 2007, Blackman took over the role of Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret at the Lyric Theatre in Londons West End and she left the show at the end of September 2007. Blackman started acting on television in the role of Nicole
3.
Peter Vaughan
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Peter Vaughan was a British character actor, known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also worked extensively on the stage and he was best known for his role as Grouty in the sitcom Porridge and also had a recurring role alongside Robert Lindsay in Citizen Smith, written by John Sullivan. He also had parts as Tom Franklin in Chancer, playing the father of Anthony Hopkinss character in The Remains of the Day, and as Maester Aemon in HBOs Game of Thrones. He was born Peter Ewart Ohm on 4 April 1923, in Wem, Shropshire, the son of a clerk, Max Ohm, who was an Austrian immigrant, and Eva Wright. He was brought up from the age of seven in Staffordshire where he attended Uttoxeter Grammar School, after leaving school he joined Wolverhampton Repertory theatre and gained experience in other repertory theatres before army service in the Second World War. He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals on 9 June 1943, and served in Normandy, Belgium. At the end of the war, he was in Singapore, in film, he made his debut in 1959 in an uncredited role as a police officer in The 39 Steps. He continued for years to play small parts before gaining his first starring role. In a minor picture called Smokescreen, he played an insurance investigator, in 1967, he received second billing opposite Frank Sinatra in the film The Naked Runner. However, his performance was not well received by critics who accused him of overacting in his role as a British agent and he played Mr. Freeman in Karel Reiszs 1980 The French Lieutenants Woman, alongside Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons. Possibly his highest-profile film performance was as the father of Anthony Hopkinss character in The Remains of the Day and he was also cast in Terry Gilliams The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, but had not shot any material before that project was abandoned. He had previously appeared for Gilliam in Time Bandits and Brazil and he also appeared as a menacing character in Straw Dogs, and with Bill Murray in a film of W. Somerset Maughams novel The Razors Edge in 1984. In 1996, he appeared as Giles Corey in The Crucible, in 1998, he appeared as Bishop Myriel in Les Misérables alongside Liam Neeson. His most unusual role may have been as SS Obergruppenführer Arthur Nebe in the 1994 film of Robert Harriss novel Fatherland and he became known for his performances on television, including supporting roles in Porridge and Citizen Smith as Charles Johnson. Vaughans role in Porridge brought him a deal of public recognition. In 1969, he appeared in Randall and Hopkirk in the episode Never Trust a Ghost, the same year he starred in the thirteen-part LWT TV series The Gold Robbers. In December 1972, he appeared as Mr. Paxton in the BBC television adaptation of the M. R. James ghost story A Warning to the Curious, Vaughan starred as Billy Fox in the Thames Television series Fox. The saga was written by Trevor Preston, directed by Jim Godard, as other Fox family members it also starred Elizabeth Spriggs, Ray Winstone, Larry Lamb and Bernard Hill
4.
United Artists
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United Artists is an American film and television entertainment studio. The studio was bought, sold and restructured over the ensuing century. On December 14 of the year, however, MGM acquired the 48% stake of UAMG it did not own. UA was incorporated as a joint venture on February 5,1919, by Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks, each held a 20% stake, with the remaining 20% held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford, already Hollywood veterans, the four stars talked of forming their own company to better control their own work. They were spurred on by established Hollywood producers and distributors who were tightening their control over salaries and creative decisions. With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before anything was formalized, when he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland, head of Metro Pictures, is said to have observed, The inmates are taking over the asylum. The four partners, with advice from McAdoo, formed their distribution company and its headquarters was established at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City. The original terms called for each of the stars to produce five pictures each year, UAs first film was a success. Without selling stock to the public, following the other studios, as a result, production was slow and the company distributed an annual average of five films during its first five years. By 1924 Griffith had dropped out and the company was facing a crisis, veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. He had been producing pictures for a decade, and he brought commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge, his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge, contracts were signed with independent producers, most notably Samuel Goldwyn, and Howard Hughes. In 1933, Schenck organized a new company with Darryl F. Zanuck, called Twentieth Century Pictures, Schenck formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name. They began international operations, first in Canada and then in Mexico, by the end of the 1930s, United Artists was represented in over 40 countries. When he was denied a share in 1935, Schenck resigned. He set up 20th Century Pictures merger with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox, al Lichtman succeeded Schenck as company president. Other independent producers distributed through United Artists in the 1930s including, Walt Disney Productions, Alexander Korda, Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, as the years passed, and the dynamics of the business changed, these producing partners drifted away. Samuel Goldwyn Productions and Disney went to RKO, and Wanger to Universal Pictures, in the late 1930s, UA turned a profit
5.
Guy Doleman
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Guy Doleman was a New Zealand-born actor. Doleman was born in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand, later moving to Australia, in 1952 he won a £300 Actors Choice Award for his performance in the radio drama The Coward. He used this money to go to Hollywood for a film and he was cast in Long John Silver but passed on the role because it meant he had to wear contact lenses – Rod Taylor took the part instead. He had moved to London by the early 1960s and he also played Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner. Dolemans was the first of a pair of Number Twos who appeared in the first episode, Arrival, guy Doleman died of lung cancer in Los Angeles on 30 January 1996 aged 72. Always Another Dawn - Warren Melville Strong Is the Seed - William Farrer The Kangaroo Kid - Sgt
6.
Jack May
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Jack Wynne May was an English actor. Here, with the OUDS, he played parts, which included John of Gaunt in Richard II, on television he became familiar as the butler William E. Simms in two series of the BBC1 fantasy/adventure television series Adam Adamant Lives. from 1966–67. He provided the voice for Igor, long-suffering butler to Count Duckula in the series of the same name. For 45 years the long-running BBC Radio 4 series, The Archers featured the voice of May as Nelson Gabriel, son of Walter Gabriel and he played the voice of Muzzy in Muzzy in Gondoland and Muzzy Comes Back. His other credits in film and television included Dr and this trilogy of plays came to the Old Vic in London, and from then on began to be far more regularly revived. For Birmingham Rep, he played parts as diverse as Richard II, Alec in Cowards Still Life. He returned to the Old Vic for the 1958-59 season, as Julius Caesar among other parts, later stage roles included The Headmaster in A Voyage Round My Father, and Colonel Pickering in Pygmalion with Alec McCowen and Diana Rigg. In 1957, he married the actress Petra Davies and he died at 75, on 19 September 1997, survived by his wife, his daughter Henrietta, and his son David
7.
Kenneth Cope
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For the musician, see Kenneth Cope. Kenneth Cope is an English actor and he is best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk, Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside. Kenneth Cope was born 14 June 1931 in Liverpool, Lancashire, in Randall and Hopkirk, Cope played the ghostly private eye Marty Hopkirk opposite Mike Pratts very much alive Jeff Randall. He had previously had a role in Coronation Street as the shady Jed Stone. Copes appearance in Coronation Street led to the recording of a novelty pop single Hands Off, although the song was not a hit it led to Cope being given a regular slot as a disc jockey with Radio Luxembourg. He played Subutai in the 1965 film of the life of Genghis Khan and he also took leading roles in two Carry On films. In Carry On at Your Convenience he played Vic Spanner, the shop steward central to the films trade union and industrial problems storyline. In Carry On Matron he took the more sympathetic role of Cyril Carter, once there Cyril finds love with a real nurse. In 1984 Cope starred in a surreal sitcom about a failing themed cowboy village on the outskirts of Merseyside called Bootle Saddles. He played the lead character Percy James, who was passionate about the park despite the financial returns. The series appeared to be less of a parody but more a sort of homage to 1950s and 60s westerns, with episodes structured loosely around epics like High Noon, the characters rarely strayed out of their diegetic cowboy personas, despite the contemporary setting. The series was axed after one season, in 1997 Cope played dodgy ex-copper Charlie Fairclough alongside David Jason in an episode of A Touch of Frost entitled True Confessions. From 1999 to 2002 he played Ray Hilton in the Channel Four soap opera Brookside, Cope was offered a cameo role in the 2000-2001 revival of Randall and Hopkirk starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, but turned it down. He did, however, feature on the Behind the Scenes section of the Series 1 DVD and he also provided the foreword to a Randall and Hopkirk retrospective book, published in 1994. In 2008, Copes Coronation Street character Jed Stone returned to the ITV soap after 42 years absence, the character was kept onscreen for several months before being written out again. Cope now resides in Southport, and writes a column for the weekly Visiter newspaper. Cope married actress Renny Lister, whom he had met when she worked on Coronation Street and his daughter Martha Cope is also an actress. His sons Nick Cope and Mark Cope were members of the group the Candyskins
8.
20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
9.
Robert Mitchum
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Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, director, author, poet, composer, and singer. Mitchum rose to prominence for his roles in several classic films noir. His best-known films include Out of the Past, The Night of the Hunter, Mitchum is rated number 23 on the American Film Institutes list of the greatest male stars of Classic American Cinema. Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut into a Methodist family, a sister, Annette, was born in 1914. James Mitchum was crushed to death in a accident in Charleston, South Carolina, in February 1919. After his fathers death, his mother was awarded a government pension, and soon realized she was pregnant with her son, John. She remarried to a former Royal Naval Reserve officer, Major Hugh Cunningham Morris, Ann and the Major had a daughter, Carol Morris, who was born July 1927 on the family farm in Delaware. When all of the children were old enough to attend school, throughout Mitchums childhood, he was known as a prankster, often involved in fistfights and mischief. When he was 12, his mother sent Mitchum to live with his grandparents in Felton, Delaware, a year later, in 1930, he moved in with his older sister, to New Yorks Hells Kitchen. He experienced numerous adventures during his years as one of the Depression eras wild boys of the road, at age 14 in Savannah, Georgia, he was arrested for vagrancy and put on a local chain gang. By Mitchums own account, he escaped and returned to his family in Delaware, during this time, while recovering from injuries that nearly cost him a leg, he met the woman he would marry, a teenaged Dorothy Spence. He soon went back on the road, eventually riding the rails to California, Mitchum arrived in Long Beach, California, in 1936, staying again with his sister Julie. Soon, the rest of the Mitchum family joined them in Long Beach, during this time, he worked as a ghostwriter for astrologer Carroll Righter. His sister Julie convinced him to join the local theater guild with her, in his years with the Players Guild of Long Beach, he made a living as a stagehand and occasional bit-player in company productions. He also wrote short pieces which were performed by the guild. According to Lee Servers biography, Mitchum put his talent for poetry to work writing song lyrics, in 1940, he returned East to marry Dorothy Spence, taking her back to California. He remained a character until the birth of their first child, James. Mitchum then got a job as a machine operator with the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation
10.
Deborah Kerr
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Deborah Kerr CBE was a Scottish film, theatre and television actress. She was also a winner of the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress. Kerr was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress and she spent the first three years of her life in the nearby town of Helensburgh, where her parents lived with Deborahs grandparents in a house on West King Street. Kerr had a brother, Edmund, who became a journalist. He was killed in a road incident in 2004. Kerr was educated at the independent Northumberland House School, Henleaze in Bristol, Kerr originally trained as a ballet dancer, first appearing on stage at Sadlers Wells in 1938. After changing careers, she found success as an actress. Her first acting teacher was her aunt, Phyllis Smale, who ran the Hicks-Smale Drama School in Bristol and she adopted the name Deborah Kerr on becoming a film actress. Kerrs first stage appearance was at Weston-super-Mare in 1937, as Harlequin in the mime play Harlequin and she then went to the Sadlers Wells ballet school and in 1938 made her début in the corps de ballet in Prometheus. In 1943, aged 21, Kerr made her West End début as Ellie Dunn in a revival of Heartbreak House at the Cambridge Theatre, stealing attention from such as Edith Evans. She has the gift, wrote critic Beverley Baxter, of thinking her lines. The process of development from a romantic, silly girl to a hard, after her first London success in 1943, she toured England and Scotland in Heartbreak House. Near the end of the Second World War, she also toured Holland, France, and Belgium for ENSA as Mrs Manningham in Angel Street, and Britain in Gaslight. Having established herself as an actress in the meantime, she made her Broadway debut in 1953, appearing in Robert Andersons Tea and Sympathy. Kerr repeated her role along with her stage partner John Kerr in Vincente Minnellis film adaptation of the drama, in 1955, Kerr won the Sarah Siddons Award for her performance in Chicago during a national tour of the play. After her Broadway début in 1953, she toured the United States with Tea, in 1975, she returned to Broadway, creating the role of Nancy in Edward Albees Pulitzer Prize-winning play Seascape. In 1977, she came back to the West End, playing the role in a production of George Bernard Shaws Candida. I dont mean to belittle acting but Im like a child when Im out there performing—shocking the grownups, enchanting them and its an unbelievable terror, a kind of masochistic madness
11.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
12.
Greyfriars Bobby (film)
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It was the second film based upon Atkinsons novel, the first being Challenge to Lassie in which Crisp also starred. The film was directed by Don Chaffey and shot in England and Scotland, the film has been released to DVD. A little Skye Terrier named Bobby is the pet of a Scottish farmer and his wife, when money grows scarce on the farm, Auld Jock is fired. He travels to Edinburgh, and Bobby follows him, Auld Jock dies in poverty in an inn and is buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Bobby returns to Auld Jocks grave every night to sleep, against the wishes of his wife, the graveyard caretaker James Brown tries to shoo Bobby away, but Bobby always finds his way back to the grave. Bobby endears himself to all, especially the neighborhood children, Brown and a restaurant owner, Mr. Traill, compete for the affections of the dog. Brown alleges Traill should pay Bobbys licence fee, which he refuses on principle, Mr. Traill is summoned to the court for a hearing, where he pleads not guilty. Mr. Brown is also present in the court, but he tells Mr. Traill he is sick, Mr. Traill is told to come back the next day, with Bobby as well. Bobbys fate rests with the Lord Provost of Edinburgh and, without a license and someone to take responsibility for Bobby, the children of Edinburgh contribute their pennies for Bobbys license. Bobby is declared a Freeman of the City and adopted by the populace of Edinburgh, cast includes Duncan Macrae as Constable Maclean, Freda Jackson as Old Woman Caretaker, Moultrie Kelsall as The Magistrate, Jameson Clark as Constable, and Vincent Winter as Tammy. Variety commented, Greyfriars Bobby sets out to melt the heart, nevertheless, there are some very effective pieces of thesping, largely by Scottish actors. Laurence Naismith gives a strong, likeable performance as the kindly eating-house owner who takes Bobby under his wing, dell Four Color #1189 Greyfriars Bobby, cultural reference The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby There is a statue in Edinburgh, Scotland, to honor Bobbys loyalty. Official website Greyfriars Bobby at the Internet Movie Database Greyfriars Bobby at the TCM Movie Database
13.
Jason and the Argonauts (1963 film)
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It was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film score was composed by Bernard Herrmann, who worked with Harryhausen on the fantasy films The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Three Worlds of Gulliver. Pelias, misinterpreting the prophecy given to him by the god Zeus, usurps the throne of Thessaly, killing King Aristo, the god Hermes, disguised as Pelias soothsayer, holds back his army long enough for the infant Jason to be spirited away by one of Aristos soldiers. Pelias slays one of the daughters, Briseis, as she seeks sanctuary in the temple of the goddess Hera. Because the murder has profaned her temple, the angry Hera becomes Jasons protector and she warns Pelias to beware of a man wearing one sandal. Twenty years later, Jason saves Pelias from drowning, but loses his sandal in the river, learning that Jason intends to find the legendary Golden Fleece, he encourages him, hoping Jason will be killed in the attempt. Jason is brought to Mount Olympus to speak with Zeus and Hera, Hera tells him Zeus has decreed he can only call upon her for aid five times. She directs him to search for the Fleece in the land of Colchis, Zeus offers his direct aid, but Jason declares he can organize the voyage, build a ship, and collect a crew of the bravest men in all Greece. Men from all over Greece compete for the honor, because their ship is named the Argo after her builder, Argus, the crew are dubbed the Argonauts. Among them are Hercules, Hylas, and Acastus, the son of Pelias, Hera guides Jason to the Isle of Bronze, but warns him to take nothing but provisions. However, Hercules steals a brooch pin the size of a javelin from a building, surmounted by a giant statue of Talos. Jason again turns to Hera, who tells him to open a large plug on Talos heel, Talos falls to the ground, crushing Hylas, hiding his body. Hercules refuses to leave until he ascertains the fate of his friend, the other Argonauts refuse to abandon Hercules, so Jason calls upon Hera again. She informs them that Hylas is dead and that Hercules will not continue on with them, the Argonauts next reach the realm of King Phineus, who has been blinded and is tormented by harpies for his transgressions against the gods. Arriving at the Clashing Rocks, the Argonauts witness another ship suffering that fate, when the Argo tries to row through, the ship appears doomed. Jason throws Phineus amulet into the water, and the sea god Triton rises up, the Argonauts rescue a survivor from the other ship, Medea, high priestess of Colchis. Challenging Jasons authority, Acastus engages him in a duel, disarmed, Acastus jumps into the sea and disappears. Jason and his men land in Colchis and accept an invitation from King Aeëtes to a feast, unknown to them, Acastus has survived and warned Aeëtes of Jasons quest for their prized Golden Fleece
14.
The Three Lives of Thomasina
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The screenplay was written by Robert Westerby and Paul Gallico. It was based upon Gallicos 1957 novel Thomasina, the Cat Who Thought She Was God, the film was directed by Don Chaffey, and shot in Inveraray, Argyll, Scotland, and Pinewood Studios, England. Thomasina has been broadcast on television and released to VHS and DVD, the story takes place in fictional Inveranoch, Scotland in the year 1912. It centres on Andrew MacDhui a coldly scientific, atheist veterinarian, his seven-year-old daughter Mary, and her cat Thomasina and his wifes death destroyed his belief in God, as well as his empathy for others. He has little sympathy for pets, preferring useful animals such as hard-working farm beasts, one day Thomasina is chased by dogs in the marketplace. She falls from some boxes and sustains an injury, Mary and her friends find Thomasina the following day. Meanwhile, Mr. MacDhui is operating on Bruce, the doctor is interrupted during the surgery by his daughter, begging him to help her cat. Observing that Thomasinas muscles are stiff, he diagnoses her with tetanus and he orders his assistant Willie Bannock to euthanize Thomasina. Mary is shattered by Thomasinas death, and loses faith in her father and she withdraws emotionally from Mr. MacDhui and declares her father dead, refusing to speak to or look at him. Meanwhile, Thomasinas soul goes to a feline afterlife where cats who have used all of their nine lives are transformed into Siamese, but Thomasina has lived only once, and is returned to her body alive but in a coma. Mary and her playmates Hughie Stirling, and Jamie and Geordie McNab, the children believe she is a witch, in part because of her apparent power to calm and cure animals. Lori brings Thomasina back to her makeshift animal hospital, but although the cat recovers she has no memory of her first life with Mary, Lori lacks the surgical skill needed to help a wounded badger that she finds in a trap, and asks God for assistance. Soon after, Mr. MacDhui comes to give her a piece of his mind, discovering the injured animal, he treats the badgers wound as Lori watches in amazement. Lori realize that each have half of what is needed to treat sick animals. He has the science and surgery, and she has the power of love, during the time, Mary becomes increasingly distraught and distant from her playmates and her father. Not even a new pet brought by Mr. MacDhui will cheer her up, meanwhile, Thomasinas memory is slowly returning. She realizes she misses something very important, but she doesnt know what and she remembers the way back home, but doesnt recognize Mary, who chases her into a rainstorm. Thomasina returns to the safety of Loris cabin in the woods, the circus spectators, including Marys playmates, join in the fight and a fire breaks out
15.
One Million Years B.C.
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For the original 1940 film, see One Million B. C. One Million Years B. C. is a 1966 British adventure/fantasy film starring Raquel Welch and John Richardson, set in an age of cavemen. The film was made by Hammer Film Productions and Seven Arts and it recreates many of the scenes of the earlier film, such as an Allosaurus attacking a child in a tree. Location scenes were filmed on the Canary Islands in the middle of winter, the British release prints of this film were printed in dye transfer Technicolor. The US version was cut by 9 minutes, printed in DeLuxe Color, like the original film, this remake is largely ahistorical. Ray Harryhausen, who animated all of the attacks using stop motion techniques. Who probably dont go to see these kinds of movies anyway, Akoba leads a hunting party into the hills to search for prey. One member of the tribe traps a warthog in a pit, the tribe brings it home for dinner and Tumak is later banished to the harsh desert because of a fight over a piece of meat with Akoba. They are about to him when an Archelon makes its way to the beach. Men of the Shell tribe arrive and drive it back into the sea, Tumak is taken to their village, where Loana tends to him. Scenes follow emphasising that the Shell tribe is more advanced and more civilized than the Rock tribe and they have cave paintings, music, delicate jewellery made from shells, agriculture, and rudimentary language – all things Tumak seems to have never before encountered. When the tribe women are fishing, an Allosaurus attacks, the tribe flees to their cave, but in the panic, a small girl is left trapped up a tree by Tumak. Tumak seizes a spear from Ahot, a man of the Shell tribe, and rushes forward to defend her. Emboldened by this example, Loana runs out to snatch the child to safety, in the aftermath, a funeral is held for the dead men – a custom which Tumak disdains. Leaving the funeral early, he re-enters the cave, and attempts to steal the spear with which he had killed the Allosaurus, Ahot, who had taken back the spear, enters and is angered by the attempted theft, and a fight ensues. The resulting commotion attracts the rest of the tribe, who unite to cast Tumak out, Loana leaves with him, and Ahot, in a gesture of friendship, gives him the spear over which they had fought. Meanwhile, Akoba leads a party into the hills to search for prey. Tumaks brother Sakana tries to kill their father to take power, Akoba survives, but is a broken man
16.
The Viking Queen
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The Viking Queen is a 1967 Hammer adventure film set in Roman Britain. According to her fathers wishes, Queen Salinas agrees to share the rule of Icena with Justinian and this decision angers both the bloodthirsty Druids and Romans less just than Justinian. As the two fall in love, the Druids and the Romans begin to plot their downfall. Its not long before the hills of Britain are stained with the lovers blood, the title of the film caused much confusion, because there are no Norse Vikings in the movie. However, another meaning of the word viking is that of a raider or plunderer, the plot combines elements of life of the historic queen Boudica with elements seemingly drawn from Vincenzo Bellinis opera Norma, though that is set in Gaul. During filming in Ireland, Patrick Troughton, who was playing the part of Tristram, was offered the role of the Second Doctor in Doctor Who, the Viking Queen was given mixed reviews on its original release while it performed poorly at the box office. For a much later television screening, David Parkinson in the Radio Times thought the film used a story that would struggle to get a grade in GCSE English. The Viking Queen at the Internet Movie Database The Viking Queen at the TCM Movie Database
17.
Creatures the World Forgot
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Creatures the World Forgot is a 1971 adventure film directed by Don Chaffey and produced and written for Hammer Films by Michael Carreras. The film concentrates on the struggle to survive of a tribe of Stone Age men. Very little dialogue is spoken throughout the film, apart from a few grunts, a volcano erupts and an earthquake opens up a crevasse, swallowing up many members of the Dark Tribe. The tribal leader is killed and a fight for leadership between two survivors, Mak and Zen, soon breaks out, Mak is victorious and leads the surviving tribe members across a desert in search of a new home. They meet and befriend tribe of fair-haired people, the leader of the fair-haired people presents Mak with a girl, Noo, as a wife. Mak offers a girl in exchange, but she already has a mate and she tries to escape with her mate, but they are caught and killed. The Dark tribe move on and eventually settle in a valley where they flourish. Noo gives birth to twin boys on the day another woman gives birth to a mute girl. The tribe demand that the girl be sacrificed, but a lightning strike convinces the tribes’ old witch to adopt her as her apprentice, Years later, the now adolescent twins, fight for their father’s attention. Rool tries to rape the mute girl and she escapes but falls into the grasp of a marauding tribe. Toomak leads Mak and the tribesmen to the marauders’ cave. A battle ensues and the chief is killed by Toomak. Toomak rescues the girl and takes the defeated chief’s daughter, Nala. Mak names Toomak as his successor as chief and then dies of wounds sustained in the battle. Rool disputes the decision and he fights with Toomak in a ritualised battle, on the brink of victory, Toomak spares his brother’s life. Toomak decides to leave, taking Nala and half the tribe with him, consumed with hatred for his brother, Rool decides to track Toomak down. Rool and his men are attacked by a forest tribe, but are rescued by Toomak, Rool, still hating his brother, abducts Nala. At the top of a cliff, Rool stakes Nala to a pyre, Toomak and Rool fight whilst Nala frees herself
18.
Persecution (film)
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Persecution is a 1974 British psychological horror film directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Kevin Francis and starring Lana Turner, Ralph Bates, Olga Georges-Picot, Trevor Howard and Suzan Farmer. The film was released in the United States as Sheba and The Terror of Sheba, the fims promotional taglines are, Warning, this film is NOT for the squeamish The horror of a twisted mind. Now its Davids turn to get even, and he has a very special treat for his mother. Carrie Masters is a crippled, wealthy, bitter woman who takes pleasure in tormenting her young son David and she blames him for her crippled leg and, in bizarre and horrifying ways, exacts her revenge by dominating him. Years later, a 24-year-old David returns home with his wife Janie and their newborn child, banks Ronald Howard as Dr. Ross John Ryan as Gardener Catherine Brandon as Mrs. Persecution was a commercial and critical failure and widely panned by critics. In its review of the film, Variety wrote, The old-fashioned meller is riddled with ho-hum, also, very tame in the shock horror department. Under the circumstances, Turners performance has reasonable poise, there isnt much animation to Ralph Bates as the grown-up edition of the tormented son. Richard Schleib in The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movie Review wrote, Turner hams it up and she, Don Chaffey’s pace is slow moving, despite occasionally inventive photography and some offbeat editing. The story is confusing – by the end, one is never sure who David’s real father was, the catty premise is not terribly interesting and the script trades in some unconvincingly histrionic psychology. The one show stealer is the sultry seductive Olga Georges-Picot, Lana Turner herself dismissed the film as a bomb and called it one of her worst performances during an interview in 1975. Persecution at the Internet Movie Database Persecution at AllMovie Persecution at the TCM Movie Database Persecution at the British Film Institutes Film and TV Database
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Ride a Wild Pony
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Ride a Wild Pony is a 1975 American-Australian family adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Don Chaffey and based on the novel A Sporting Proposition by James Aldridge. Scott requires a horse to ride seven miles to school today and his father buys an unbroken pony, Josie yearns to ride again but, being afflicted with polio two years ago, must settle on the use of a cart and pony. Scotts pony disappears, while a pony is selected for Josie from her fathers herd. When Scott sees the horse, which Josie named Bo, performing in the pony and cart competition at the fair, he recognizes it as his horse. The ensuing quarrel affects both the children as well as dividing the town, the children eventually become friends and, while the ownership issue is legally resolved, they agree on a way of sharing the pony between them. However, the producer, Jerome Courtland, determined that an Australian background would not detract from the potential for success in the US. As a result, the film was not only set in Australia, ride a Wild Pony was filmed in the historic town of Chiltern, Victoria. Several different Welsh mountain ponies were used in the films production, shooting began in October 1974 and mostly took place in the small town of Chiltern near Wodonga in Victoria. a film that children – and their parents – should certainly enjoy. Also in 1976, The Blade wrote that the film combines an intelligent script, an excellent cast. The Daily Collegian also praised the film, saying that it contained a refreshing amount of realism, and an emotional subtelty that is unusual for a Disney film
20.
The Fourth Wish
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The Fourth Wish is a 1976 Australian family film directed by Don Chaffey based on a three-part 1974 TV drama from the ABC. Casey learns that his 12-year-old son Sean has leukaemia and will die in a few months. Casey leaves his job to himself to making his son happy, seeing to grant three wishes of Sean, to own a dog, be reunited with his mother. Policeman The original mini series aired in 1974, john Meillion won a Best Actor Logie for his performance. John Meillon had appeared in the TV show and he formed Galaxy Productions, a company with Michael Craig and Don Chaffey to make the movie. Shooting began in Adelaide in November 1975 with Robert Bettles replacing Mark Shields as Sean, cinema of Australia The Fourth Wish at the Internet Movie Database The Fourth Wish at Oz Movies
