1.
Sir
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Sir is an honorific address used in a number of situations in many anglophone cultures. The term can be used as a prefix, especially in the Commonwealth, for males who have been given certain honours or titles. The term is commonly used as a respectful way to address a man. Equivalent terms of address to females are maam or madam in most cases, or in the case of a woman, girl, or unmarried woman who prefers to be addressed as such. The equivalent term for a woman or baronetess is Dame. Sir derives from the Middle French honorific title sire, sire developed alongside the word seigneur, also used to refer to a feudal lord. Both derived from the Vulgar Latin senior, sire comes from the nominative case declension senior and seigneur, the prefix is used with the holders given name or full name, but never with the surname alone. For example, whilst Sir Alexander and Sir Alexander Fleming would be correct, the equivalent for a female who holds a knighthood or baronetcy in her own right is Dame, and follows the same usage customs as Sir. For example, while Lady Fiennes is correct, Lady Virginia, the widows of knights retain the style of wives of knights, however widows of baronets are either referred to as dowager, or use their forename before their courtesy style. For example, the widow of Sir Thomas Herbert Cochrane Troubridge, 4th Baronet, would either be known as Dowager Lady Troubridge or Laura, Lady Troubridge. Examples include, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Bruce Fraser, GCB, KBE Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey, GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED This is also the case with academic titles, such as professor. For example, Patrick Bateson is both a professor and a bachelor, his correct title would be Professor Sir Patrick Bateson. The title of Doctor, however, is not used in combination with sir, knighted doctors are addressed as knights, though they may still use any post-nominal letters associated with their degrees. Church of England clergy who receive knighthoods do not use the title Sir, for example, the Reverend Dr John Polkinghorne, KBE is never referred to as Sir John Polkinghorne. Clergy of other denominations may use different conventions, peers who have been knighted are not addressed as Sir in the formal sense of the style, as their titles of nobility take precedence. Other male heirs of an earl who lack courtesy titles, and the heirs of a viscount or baron, do however use the style of Sir if knighted. Dual nationals holding a Commonwealth citizenship that recognise the British monarch as head of state are entitled to use the styling, the permissibility of using the style of Sir varies. Regular creation of new knights of the order ended in 1921 upon the formation of the Irish Free State, with the death of the last knight in 1974, the Order became dormant
2.
Order of the Companions of Honour
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The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. Founded on the date as the Order of the British Empire. The order consists of the Sovereign plus no more than 65 members, additionally, foreigners from outside the realms may be added as honorary members. Membership confers no title or precedence, but those inducted into the order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters CH. Appointments can be made on the advice of Commonwealth realm prime ministers, for Canadians, the advice to the Sovereign can come from a variety of officials. The quota numbers were altered in 1970 to 47 for the United Kingdom,7 for Australia,2 for New Zealand, the quota was adjusted again in 1975 by adding 2 places to the New Zealand quota and reducing the 9 for the other countries to 7. While able to nominate candidates to the Order, New Zealand, as of 2016 those countries have nominated only politicians who have served as Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister. Men wear the badge on a ribbon and women on a bow at the left shoulder. Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II List of Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour List of honorary British Knights List of people who have declined a British honour
3.
Order of the British Empire
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There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
4.
Allan Warren
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Michael Allan Warren is an English portrait photographer, primarily known for his images of members of high society. After growing up in post-war London with his mother, Warren attended Terrys Juveniles and it was during this period that he attended auditions through which he received several assignments. Warren started his career at the age of 17 when he was acting in Alan Bennetts play Forty Years On with John Gielgud in the West End at the Apollo Theatre. Around this time Warren bought his first second-hand camera and began to take photographs of his fellow actors and his first major assignment was when his friend Mickey Deans asked him to cover his wedding to Judy Garland, which marked the beginning of Warrens work as a professional photographer. When in New York for personal reasons, he attended an audition for the Broadway production of Minnies Boys, however, he later declined the role offered to him in favour of returning to London and pursuing photography as his vocation. In the early 1980s Warren embarked on a quest to photograph all 26 non-royal, together with the 12th Duke of Manchester he set up the Dukes Trust, a charity for children in need. Warren has uploaded many pictures from his archive to Wikimedia Commons, in the early 90s Warren embarked on writing plays. One of his works, The Lady of Phillimore Walk, was directed by Frank Dunlop and critics went as far as comparing it to Sleuth, the cast of The Lady of Phillimore Walk consisted of Zena Walker and Philip Lowrie, and saw productions in the United States. Warren invented the Hankybreathe, a handkerchief which allows the user to inhale air through a filter at the mouth. The invention, which is meant to be dabbed in eucalyptus oil, harks back to the nosegay and stems from Warrens experience with asthma in heavily polluted London
5.
Maida Vale
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Maida Vale is an affluent residential district comprising the northern part of Paddington in west London, west of St Johns Wood and south of Kilburn. It is part of the City of Westminster, the name derives from the Hero of Maida inn which used to be on Edgware Road near the Regents Canal. The pub was named after General Sir John Stuart who was made Count of Maida by King Ferdinand IV of Naples, the area is mostly residential, and mainly affluent, with many large late Victorian and Edwardian blocks of mansion flats. It is home to the BBC Maida Vale Studios and it makes up most of the W9 postal district. The southern part of Maida Vale at the junction of Paddington Basin with Regents Canal, parts of Maida Vale were also included within this. Just to the east of Maida Vale is St Johns Wood, the actor Alec Guinness was born in this road. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, lived within sight of this synagogue on Warrington Crescent, the pioneer of modern computing, Alan Turing, was born at what is now the Colonnade Hotel in Warrington Crescent. Maida Vale tube station was opened on 6 June 1915, on the Bakerloo line, Maida Vale is home to some of BBC network radios recording and broadcast studios. The building on Delaware Road is one of the BBCs earliest premises, pre-dating Broadcasting House, the building houses a total of seven music and radio drama studios, and most famously was home to John Peels BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Little Venice is a recent name for parts of Maida Vale. It consists of the surrounding the Little Venice Lagoon and its canals. It is known for and defined by its Regency style white stucco buildings and its canals, according to one story, the poet Robert Browning, who lived in the area from 1862 to 1887, coined the name. However, this was disputed by Lord Kinross in 1966 and by London Canals, both assert that Lord Byron humorously coined the name, which now applies more loosely to a longer reach of the canal system. Brownings Pool is named after the poet, and is the junction of Regents Canal, a regular waterbus service operates from Little Venice eastwards around Regents Park, calling at London Zoo and on towards Camden Town. Since 1983, the Inland Waterways Association has hosted the Canalway Cavalcade in Little Venice, Maida Vale is noted for its wide tree-lined avenues, large communal gardens and red-brick mansion blocks from the late Victoria and Edwardian eras. The first mansion blocks were completed in 1897, with the arrival of the identically-designed Lauderdale Mansions South, Lauderdale Mansions West, among the buildings of architectural interest was the Carlton Tavern, a pub which stood on Carlton Vale. Built in 1920–21 for Charrington Brewery, it was thought to be the work of the architect Frank J Potter and was noted for its unaltered 1920s interiors and faience tiled exterior. The building was being considered by Historic England for Grade II listing when it was demolished in March 2015 by the property developer CLTX Ltd to make way for a new block of flats
6.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
7.
Midhurst
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Midhurst is a market town and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother 20 miles inland from the English Channel, the name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as Middeherst, meaning Middle wooded hill, or among the wooded hills. It derives from the Old English words midd or mid, meaning in the middle, plus hyrst, the Norman St. Anns Castle dates from about 1120, although the foundations are all that can now be seen. The castle, the church of St. Mary Magdalene and St. Denis, together with South Pond. The parish church is the oldest building in Midhurst, just across the River Rother, in the parish of Easebourne, is the ruin of the Tudor Cowdray House. Between 2010 and 2015 he was Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, Midhurst is part of the Chichester District of West Sussex County, governed by the Chichester District Council and West Sussex County Council respectively. Midhurst is represented by two councillors on the Chichester District Council, both of them Independent, the Midhurst Town Council meets monthly and comprises 15 directly elected members. The May 2015 election was uncontested as there were 13 nominations for the 15 seats, the Council is led by a Chairperson nominated by the councillors from among themselves. The Council is supported by a staff of two, the Town Clerk and an Assistant to the Town Clerk. There are three Council Committees, Finance and General Purposes, Community Care and Planning and Rights of Way, the times and dates of meetings, the minutes of meetings and other information is available on the Town Council website. The council is responsible for the playground and the town cemetery. In 2014 the Town Council moved from its offices in Capron House on North Street to the Old Library building on Knockhundred Row. The building is leased from the West Sussex County Council, with a view to its purchase by the Town Council. Midhurst is a town servicing its rural hinterland through many small businesses, shops, restaurants. Its primary economic activities, in terms of employment, are wholesale and retail businesses including motor mechanics, construction, hotels food and drink and it has a population of 4,914, comprising 2434 households and 3477 economically active residents. Of the 1027 economically inactive residents,673 or two-thirds are retirees, in 2011 Midhurst had a population of 4,914, of which 2,450 were economically active, comprising 1687 full and part-time employees,561 self-employed,118 unemployed and 84 full-time students. There were 1,027 economically inactive citizens, of which two-thirds were retirees, between 1913 and 1985, the Midhurst Brickworks, famous for producing Midhurst White bricks, was situated close to the former Midhurst Common railway station. There is an area of industry in the south of Midhurst
8.
West Sussex
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West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering East Sussex to the east, Hampshire to the west and Surrey to the north, and to the south the English Channel. Chichester in the southwest is the county town and only city in West Sussex, with the largest towns being Crawley, Worthing, West Sussex has a range of scenery, including wealden, downland and coastal. The highest point of the county is Blackdown, at 280 metres and it has a number of stately homes including Goodwood, Petworth House and Uppark and also castles such as Arundel Castle and Bramber Castle. Over half the county is protected countryside, offering walking, cycling, although the name Sussex, derived from the Old English Sūþsēaxe, is from the Saxon period between AD477 to 1066, the history of human habitation in Sussex goes back to the Old Stone Age. The oldest hominin remains known in Britain were found at Eartham Pit, Sussex has been occupied since those times and has succumbed to various invasions and migrations throughout its long history. Prehistoric monuments include the Devils Jumps, a group of Bronze Age burial mounds, the Romans used the Weald for iron production on an industrial scale. The foundation story is regarded as somewhat of a myth by most historians, the Kingdom of Sussex was absorbed into Wessex as an earldom and became the county of Sussex. With its origins in the kingdom of Sussex, the county of Sussex was traditionally divided into six units known as rapes. By the 16th century, the three western rapes were grouped together informally, having their own separate Quarter Sessions and these were administered by a separate county council from 1888, the county of Sussex being divided for administrative purposes into the administrative counties of East and West Sussex. In 1974, West Sussex was made a ceremonial county with the coming into force of the Local Government Act 1972. At the same time a part of the eastern rape of Lewes was transferred into West Sussex. Until 1834 provision for the poor and destitute in West Sussex was made at parish level, from 1835 until 1948 eleven Poor Law Unions, each catering for several parishes, took on the job. Most settlements in West Sussex are either along the south coast or in Mid Sussex, the town of Crawley is the largest in the county with an estimated population of 106,600. The coastal settlement of Worthing closely follows with a population of 104,600, the seaside resort of Bognor Regis and market town Horsham are both large towns. Chichester, the county town, has a cathedral and city status, much of the coastal town population is part of the Brighton/Worthing/Littlehampton conurbation. Rustington and Southwater are the next largest settlements in the county, there are several more towns in West Sussex, although they are of similar size to other villages. The smaller towns of the county are Arundel, Midhurst, Petworth, Selsey, the larger villages are Billingshurst, Copthorne, Crawley Down, Cuckfield, Henfield, Hassocks, Hurstpierpoint, Lindfield, Pulborough and Storrington. The current total population of the county makes up 1. 53% of Englands population, West Sussex is bordered by Hampshire to the west, Surrey to the north and East Sussex to the east
9.
Petersfield
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Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 17 miles north of Portsmouth, via the A3 road, the town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. Situated on the slopes of the South Downs, Petersfield lies wholly within the South Downs National Park. The town is on the crossroads of well-used north–south and east–west routes, Petersfield is twinned with Barentin in France, and Warendorf in Germany. Petersfield Heaths burial mounds may be up to 4,000 years old, their distribution is mainly to the east and these are considered to be one of the more important lowland barrow groups in this country. The barrows indicate that the area of the Heath was occupied by people who may have come to regard this area as sacred to their religion. In 1415 King Henry V granted the burgesses of Petersfield freedom from toll, stallage, picage, pannage, murage, all charters are preserved in the archive files at Petersfield Town Council. The town grew in prosperity due to its position on frequently travelled routes, local sheep farming, there were weekly markets in the town square for sheep, horse and cattle trading, and two annual fairs, in June and November. An autumn fair which began in the early 19th century was held in October on The Heath, the towns market square has an 18th-century statue of King William III by Henry Cheere. The king is mounted and the statue is on an engraved plinth, Petersfield is situated in the valley of the Western Rother, on the Lower Greensand at the northern edge of the South Downs. The town lies at the end of the Greensand Ridge. The town is surrounded on all sides by farmed countryside, with the South Downs south of the town, the Hampshire Downs to the west, the town is a centre for exploring the South Downs National Park. Close to the town and situated on the South Downs is Queen Elizabeth Country Park, which incorporates Butser Hill, the Hangers Way footpath starts from the country park, goes to Buriton, through Petersfield and on to Alton. On the south east side of the town is Petersfield Heath,95 acres of heathland including woodland, grassland, a pond, Petersfield Heath is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest. It also contains 21 Bronze Age barrows which have resulted in the site being given Scheduled Ancient Monument status, heathland is very rare throughout Europe and Petersfield Heath is a typical heathland mosaic of micro habitats. Across the site are sandy heath and acid heath areas, grassland and scrub which gives the area diverse zones for insects, reptiles, birds and small mammals. Petersfield Heath is at one end of The Serpent Trail, a 65-mile walk though heath and downland of Hampshire, on the nearest week-end to 6 October every year the Taro Fair is held on Petersfield Heath, a reminder of cattle fairs that were held annually until the 1950s. Free festivals are held throughout the year, Petersfields market square holds markets, and there are also monthly Farmers markets
10.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
11.
Royal Navy
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The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
12.
Lieutenant (navy)
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Lieutenant is a commissioned officer rank in many nations navies. It is typically the most senior of junior officer ranks, the ranks insignia usually consists of two medium gold braid stripes and often the uppermost stripe features a loop or executive curl. The now immediately senior rank of lieutenant commander was formerly a naval lieutenant rank. Many navies also use a rank of sub-lieutenant. The appointment of first lieutenant in many navies is held by a senior lieutenant, a navy lieutenant ranks higher than an army lieutenant, the navy rank of lieutenant is a NATO OF-2 and ranks with an army captain. From at least 1580, the lieutenant on a ship had been the officer immediately subordinate to the captain, before the English Restoration, lieutenants were appointed by their captains, and this inevitably led to abuses and to the widespread appointment of men of insufficient qualification. In 1677, Samuel Pepys introduced the first examination for lieutenant, lieutenants were numbered by their seniority within the ship, so that a frigate would have a first lieutenant, a second lieutenant, and a third lieutenant. A first-rate ship was entitled to six, and they were numbered accordingly, as the rank structure of navies stabilised, and the ranks of commander, lieutenant commander and sub-lieutenant were introduced, the naval lieutenant today ranks with an army captain. In the United States Navy, promotion to lieutenant is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, DOPMA guidelines suggest 95% of lieutenants should be promoted to lieutenant after serving a minimum of two years at their present rank. The insignia of a lieutenant in many navies, including the Royal Navy and this pattern was copied by the United States Navy and various air forces for their equivalent ranks grades, except that the loop is removed. The first lieutenant in the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth navies, is a post or appointment, historically, the lieutenants in a ship were ranked in accordance with seniority, with the most senior being termed the first lieutenant and acting as the second-in-command. Although lieutenants are no longer numbered by seniority, the post of first lieutenant remains, the post of first lieutenant in a shore establishment carries a similar responsibility to that of the first lieutenant of a capital ship. In the US Navy or US Coast Guard, the billet of first lieutenant describes the officer in charge of the department or division. On submarines and smaller Coast Guard cutters, the billet of first lieutenant may be filled by a petty officer
13.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
14.
Allied invasion of Sicily
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The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II, in which the Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers. It was an amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign and was the beginning of the Italian Campaign. Husky began on the night of 9/10 July 1943, and ended on 17 August, the Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, was toppled from power in Italy and the way was opened for the Allied invasion of Italy. The German leader, Adolf Hitler, canceled a major offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy, resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front. The plan for Operation Husky called for the assault of Sicily by two Allied armies, one landing on the south-eastern and one on the central southern coast. The amphibious assaults were to be supported by gunfire, as well as tactical bombing, interdiction. As such, the operation required a complex structure, incorporating land, naval. The overall commander was American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces in North Africa, British General Sir Harold Alexander acted as his second-in-command and as the 15th Army Group commander. The American Major General Walter Bedell Smith was appointed as Eisenhowers Chief of Staff, the overall Naval Force Commander was the British Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham. The Allied land forces were from the American, British and Canadian armies, the Eastern Task Force was led by General Sir Bernard Montgomery and consisted of the British Eighth Army. The Western Task Force was commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, the two task force commanders reported to Alexander as commander of the 15th Army Group. Seventh Army consisted initially of three divisions, organized under II Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. Middleton, sailed from the United States via Oran in Algeria, the 2nd Armored Division, under Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey, also sailing from Oran, was to be a floating reserve and be fed into combat as required. On 15 July, Patton reorganized his command into two corps by creating a new Provisional Corps headquarters, commanded by his deputy army commander, Major General Geoffrey Keyes. The two divisions of XIII Corps, the 5th and 50th Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major-Generals Horatio Berney-Ficklin and Sidney Kirkman and this request was granted by the British, displacing the veteran British 3rd Infantry Division. The Red Patch Division was added to Leeses XXX Corps to become part of the British Eighth Army, in addition to the amphibious landings, airborne troops were to be flown in to support both the Western and Eastern Task Forces. To the east, the British 1st Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General George F. Hopkinson, was to seize vital bridges and high ground in support of the British Eighth Army. The initial plan dictated that the U. S. 82nd Airborne Division, Allied naval forces were also grouped into two task forces to transport and support the invading armies
15.
The Ladykillers
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The Ladykillers is a 1955 British black comedy film made by Ealing Studios. Directed by Alexander Mackendrick, it stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner and Katie Johnson as the old lady. American William Rose wrote the screenplay, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay and he claimed to have dreamt the entire film and merely had to remember the details when he awoke. With nothing to occupy her time and an imagination, she is a frequent visitor to the local police station where she reports fanciful suspicions regarding neighbourhood activities. Having led wild-goose chases in the past, she is humoured by the officers there who give her reports no credence whatsoever and she is approached by an archly sinister character, Professor Marcus, who wants to rent rooms in her house. As a cover, the Professor convinces the naive Mrs. Wilberforce that the group is a string quintet using the rooms for rehearsal space. To maintain the deception, the members carry musical instruments and play a recording of Boccherinis Minuet from String Quintet in E. After the heist, Mrs. W is deceived into retrieving the money from the railway station herself. This she successfully manages to do but not without serious complications owing to her tendency to righteous meddling, as the gang departs her house with the loot, One-Round accidentally gets his cello case full of banknotes trapped in the front door. As he pulls the free, banknotes spill forth while Mrs. Wilberforce looks on. Finally, smelling a rat, she informs Marcus that she is going to the police, stalling, the gangsters half convince Mrs. W that she will surely be considered an accomplice for holding the lolly. In any case, it is a crime as insurance will cover all the losses. She wavers but when she rallies the criminals finally decide they must kill her, No one wants to do it so they draw lots using matchsticks. The Major loses but tries to make a run for it with the cash, as the oblivious Mrs. W dozes, the criminals cross, double-cross and manage to kill one another in rapid succession. The Major falls off the roof of the house after being chased by Louis, before falling into the carriage Louis fires a last shot at Marcus which nearly hits him. Finally with no one else left Marcus himself is struck on the head by a signal over the tunnel. All the other bodies have been dumped into railway wagons passing behind the house and are now far away, Mrs. Wilberforce is now left alone with the plunder. She goes to the police to return it but they do not believe her story and they humour her, telling her to keep the money
16.
Kind Hearts and Coronets
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Kind Hearts and Coronets is a British black comedy film of 1949. It features Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson and Alec Guinness, Guinness plays nine characters, the plot is loosely based on the novel Israel Rank, The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman. It concerns Louis DAscoyne Mazzini, the son of a woman disowned by her family for marrying out of her social class. After her death Louis decides to revenge on the family. Michael Balcon, the head of Ealing Studios and the producer of Kind Hearts and Coronets, Hamer was interested in the film, and thought it an interesting project with possibilities of using the English language in a unique way in the film. Filming took place from September 1943 at Leeds Castle and other locations in Kent, the themes of class and sexual repression run through the film, particularly love between classes. Kind Hearts and Coronets was released in 1949 and was received by the critics. Its reputation has lasted well, and in 1999 is was voted at number six in the British Film Institutes rating of the Top 100 British films. In 2005 it was listed in Times top 100, In Edwardian England, Louis DAscoyne Mazzini, 10th Duke of Chalfont, is in prison, as he writes his memoirs, the events of his life are shown in flashback. His mother, the youngest daughter of the 7th Duke of Chalfont, the Mazzinis were poor but happy until Mazzini died upon seeing Louis, his newborn son, for the first time. In the aftermath, Louiss widowed mother raises him on the history of her family and tells him how, unlike other aristocratic titles, Louiss only childhood friends are Sibella and her brother, the children of a local doctor. When Louis leaves school, his mother writes to her kinsman Lord Ascoyne DAscoyne, a banker, for assistance in launching her sons career. Louis is forced to work as an assistant in a drapers shop, when his mother dies, her last request, to be interred in the family vault at Chalfont Castle, is denied. Then Sibella ridicules Louiss marriage proposal, instead, she marries Lionel Holland, a former schoolmate with a rich father. Soon after, Louis quarrels with customer Ascoyne DAscoyne, the only child. Louis resolves to kill Ascoyne DAscoyne and the seven people ahead of him in succession to the dukedom. After arranging a fatal boating accident for Ascoyne DAscoyne and his mistress, Louis writes a letter of condolence to his victims father, Lord Ascoyne DAscoyne, upon his later promotion, Louis takes a bachelor flat in St Jamess, London, for assignations with Sibella. Louis then targets Henry DAscoyne, an amateur photographer
17.
David Lean
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Sir David Lean, CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor, responsible for large-scale epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. He also directed adaptations of Dickens novels Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, Lean was born in Croydon, Surrey, to Francis William le Blount Lean and the former Helena Tangye. His parents were Quakers and he was a pupil at the Quaker-founded Leighton Park School in Reading and his younger brother, Edward Tangye Lean, founded the original Inklings literary club when a student at Oxford University. Lean was a schoolboy with a dreamy nature who was labeled a dud of a student, he left in his mid-teens. A more formative event for his career than his formal education was an uncles gift and you usually didnt give a boy a camera until he was 16 or 17 in those days. It was a compliment and I succeeded at it. Lean printed and developed his films, and it was his great hobby, at age 16, his father deserted the family when he ran off with another woman, and Lean would later follow a similar path after his own first marriage and child. He was taken on as a teaboy, promoted to clapperboy, by 1930 he was working as an editor on newsreels, including those of Gaumont Pictures and Movietone, while his move to feature films began with Freedom of the Seas and Escape Me Never. He edited Gabriel Pascals film productions of two George Bernard Shaw plays, Pygmalion and Major Barbara and he edited Powell & Pressburgers 49th Parallel and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing. After this last film, Lean began his career, after editing more than two dozen features by 1942. As Tony Sloman wrote in 1999, As the varied likes of David Lean, Robert Wise, Terence Fisher and Dorothy Arzner have proved, David Lean was given honorary membership of the Guild of British Film Editors in 1968. His first work as a director was in collaboration with Noël Coward on In Which We Serve and it has since become a classic, one of the most highly regarded British films. Two celebrated Charles Dickens adaptations followed – Great Expectations and Oliver Twist and these two films were the first directed by Lean to star Alec Guinness, whom Lean considered his good luck charm. The actors portrayal of Fagin was controversial at the time, the first screening in Berlin during February 1949 offended the surviving Jewish community and led to a riot. It caused problems too in New York, and after private screenings, was condemned by the Anti-Defamation League, to our surprise it was accused of being anti-Semitic, Lean wrote. We made Fagin an outsize and, we hoped, an amusing Jewish villain, the terms of the production code meant that the films release in the United States was delayed until July 1951 after cuts amounting to eight minutes. The Passionate Friends was the first of three films to feature the actress Ann Todd, who became his third wife, madeleine, set in Victorian-era Glasgow is about an 1857 cause célèbre with Todds lead character accused of murdering a former lover. The last of the films with Todd, The Sound Barrier, has a screenplay by the playwright Terence Rattigan and was the first of his three films for Sir Alexander Kordas London Films
18.
Herbert Pocket
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Great Expectations is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel, a bildungsroman that depicts the personal growth and personal development of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens second novel, after David Copperfield, to be narrated in the first person. The novel was first published as a serial in Dickens weekly periodical All the Year Round, in October 1861, Chapman and Hall published the novel in three volumes. Great Expectations is full of extreme imagery—poverty, prison ships and chains and these include the eccentric Miss Havisham, the beautiful but cold Estella, and Joe, the unsophisticated and kind blacksmith. Dickenss themes include wealth and poverty, love and rejection, Great Expectations, which is popular both with readers and literary critics, has been translated into many languages and adapted numerous times into various media. Upon its release, the novel received universal acclaim. Although Dickens contemporary Thomas Carlyle referred to it disparagingly as that Pip nonsense, later, George Bernard Shaw praised the novel, as All of one piece and consistently truthful. During the serial publication, Dickens was pleased with public response to Great Expectations and its sales, when the plot first formed in his mind, he called it a very fine, new and grotesque idea. On Christmas Eve, around 1812, Pip, an orphan who is seven years old, encounters an escaped convict in the village churchyard, while visiting the graves of his parents. Pip now lives with his elder sister and her kind husband Joe Gargery. The convict scares Pip into stealing food and a file, early on Christmas morning Pip returns with the file, a pie and brandy. During Christmas dinner, at the moment Pips theft is about to be discovered, soldiers arrive, Joe and Pip accompany them as they recapture the convict who is fighting with another escaped convict. The first convict confesses to stealing food from the smithy, a year or two later, Miss Havisham, a wealthy spinster who still wears her old wedding dress and lives as a recluse in the dilapidated Satis House, asks Pumblechook to find a boy to visit. Pip visits Miss Havisham and falls in love with her adopted daughter Estella, Pip visits Miss Havisham regularly, until he is old enough to learn a trade. Joe accompanies Pip for the last visit, when she gives the money for Pip to be bound as apprentice blacksmith, Joes surly assistant Dolge Orlick is envious of Pip and dislikes Mrs Joe. When Pip and Joe are away from the house, Mrs Joe is brutally attacked, Orlick is suspected of the attack. Mrs Joe becomes kind-hearted after the attack, Biddy arrives to help with her care. Four years into Pips apprenticeship, Mr Jaggers, a lawyer, Pip is to leave for London, presuming that Miss Havisham is his benefactor, and visits her
19.
Great Expectations (1946 film)
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It won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others. Guinness and Hunt reprised their roles in the film, but the film was not an adaptation of the stage version. The film was produced by Ronald Neame and photographed by Guy Green and it was the first of two films Lean directed based on Dickens novels, the other being his 1948 adaptation of Oliver Twist. Orphan Phillip Pip Pirrip lives with his older sister and her kind-hearted blacksmith husband. One day, Pip runs into an escaped convict, Abel Magwitch, who intimidates the boy into getting him some food, Magwitch is caught when he attacks a hated fellow escapee, and is taken back to the prison ship. Estella mocks Pips coarse manners at every opportunity, but Pip quickly falls in love with her, the visits come to an end when Pip turns 14 and begins his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Estella also leaves, for France, to learn to become a lady and he is taken to London, where Mr. Jaggers arranges for Pip to stay with Herbert Pocket, who will teach him how to behave like a gentleman. From Herbert, Pip learns that Miss Havisham was left at the many years ago, she is determined to avenge herself against all men. After Pip turns 21, Joe Gargery comes to visit him, there he is delighted to be reunited with Estella, who tells him, You must know, Pip, I have no heart. Estella and Pip spend much time together and she confesses to Pip that despite flirting with the wealthy but unpopular Bentley Drummle, she has absolutely no feelings for him. Pip suddenly receives another visitor from the past, Magwitch, who reveals that he is Pips patron, Pip, who always imagined that Miss Havisham was responsible for his good fortune, now realises that she was only using him. Growing suspicious of Drummles overtures toward Estella, Pip visits Estella at the old womans house, Pip confronts Miss Havisham, saying I am as unhappy as you could have ever meant me to be. Miss Havisham, finally realising what she has done, begs his forgiveness, Pip leaves, but when she stands up to follow him, a piece of flaming wood from the fireplace rolls out and ignites Miss Havishams dress. Her screams alert Pip, who runs back to save her, after being warned that an old enemy knows that Magwitch is in London, Pip makes preparations to smuggle the old man onto a packet boat and accompany him to the continent. Pip, Herbert and Magwitch row out to the packet boat, Magwitch is seriously injured in a struggle with his nemesis, who dies when caught in the packets paddlewheels. He had spoken to Pip of his lost daughter, and Pips suspicion that she is Estella is confirmed by Mr. Jaggers. Pip visits the dying Magwitch and tells him of her fate, and that he, Pip, is in love with her, Magwitch passes away, stricken by illness and with his expectations gone, Pip is taken home and nursed back to health by Joe Gargery. He revisits Miss Havishams deserted house, where he finds Estella and her plans for the future have also gone awry, as Drummle had broken off their engagement after Mr. Jaggers informed him of her true parentage
20.
Fagin
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Fagin /ˈfeɪɡᵻn/ is a fictional antagonist in Charles Dickenss novel Oliver Twist. In the preface to the novel he is described as a receiver of stolen goods and he is the leader of a group of children whom he teaches to make their livings by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for shelter. A distinguishing trait is his constant—and insincere—use of the phrase my dear when addressing others, at the time of the novel, he is said by another character, Monks, to have already made criminals out of scores of children. Nancy, who is the lover of Bill Sikes, one of the major villains, is confirmed to be Fagins former pupil. Although portrayed humorously, Fagin is a miser who, despite the wealth he has acquired, does very little to improve the squalid lives of the children he guards. In the second chapter of his appearance, he is shown that he cares less for their welfare, than that they do not peach on him and the other children. He indirectly but intentionally causes the death of Nancy by falsely informing Sikes that she had betrayed him, near the end of the book, Fagin is captured and sentenced to be hanged, in a chapter that portrays him as pitiable in his anguish. In popular culture, Fagin is used in comparison with adults who use children for illegal activities, Dickens took Fagins name from a friend he had known in his youth while working in a boot-blacking factory. Fagins character might be based on the criminal Ikey Solomon, who was a fence at the centre of a highly publicised arrest, escape, recapture, some accounts of Solomon also describe him as a London underworld kidsman. The popularity of Dickenss novel caused fagin to replace kidsman in some circles, denoting an adult who teaches minors to steal. Other sources, such as Howard Mancing in The Cervantes Encyclopedia, claim that Fagin is assumed to be modeled on Monipodio, Monipodio is the leader of a criminal ring in 17th century Seville that features cutpurses and cape stealers. Fagin has been the subject of debate over antisemitism, during Dickenss lifetime. In an introduction to a 1981 Bantam Books reissue of Oliver Twist, for example, the first 38 chapters of the book refer to Fagin by his racial and religious origin 257 times, calling him the Jew, against 42 uses of Fagin or the old man. In 2005, novelist Norman Lebrecht wrote that A more vicious stigmatisation of a community could hardly be imagined. It is often argued that Fagin was based on a specific Jewish criminal of the era, Dickens also claimed that by calling Fagin the Jew he had meant no imputation against the Jewish faith, I have no feeling towards the Jews but a friendly one. I always speak well of them, whether in public or private, in later editions of the book, printed during his lifetime, Dickens excised over 180 instances of Jew from the text. This occurred after Dickens sold his London home in 1860 to a Jewish banker, James Davis, Dickens became friendly with Eliza, who told him in a letter in 1863 that Jews regarded his portrayal of Fagin a great wrong to their people. In one of his public readings in 1869, a year before his death
21.
Oliver Twist (1948 film)
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Oliver Twist is the second of David Leans two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Leans then-wife, Kay Walsh, who had collaborated on the screenplay for Great Expectations, john Howard Davies was cast as Oliver, while Alec Guinness portrayed Fagin. In 1999, the British Film Institute placed it at 46th in its list of the top 100 British films. A young woman in labour makes her way to a workhouse and dies after giving birth to a boy. As the years go by, Oliver and the rest of the inmates suffer from the callous indifference of the officials in charge, beadle Mr. Bumble. At the age of nine, the children draw straws. For his impudence, he is apprenticed to the undertaker Mr. Sowerberry. However, when another worker maligns his dead mother, Oliver flies into a rage and attacks him, the Artful Dodger, a skilled young pickpocket, notices him and takes him to Fagin, an old man who trains children to be pickpockets. Fagin sends Oliver to watch and learn as the Dodger and another boy try to rob Mr. Brownlow and their attempt is detected, but it is Oliver who is chased through the streets by a mob and arrested. Mr. Brownlow takes a liking to the boy, and gives him a home, Oliver experiences the kind of happy life he has never had before, under the care of Mr. Brownlow and the loving housekeeper, Mrs. Bedwin. Meanwhile, Fagin is visited by the mysterious Monks, who has a strong interest in Oliver and he sends Monks to Bumble and Mrs. Corney, Monks buys from them the only thing that can identify Olivers parentage, a locket containing his mothers portrait. By chance, Fagins associate, the vicious Bill Sykes, and Sykes kind-hearted prostitute girlfriend Nancy run into Oliver on the street and forcibly take him back to Fagin. Nancy feels pangs of guilt and, seeing a poster in which Mr. Brownlow offers a reward for Olivers return, contacts the gentleman, the suspicious Fagin, however, has had the Dodger follow her. When Fagin informs Sykes, the latter becomes enraged and murders her, the killing brings down the wrath of the public on the gang. Mr. Brownlow and the authorities rescue Oliver, while Sykes is shot and, because the rope is still around his neck, Fagin and his other associates are rounded up. Monks part in the proceedings is discovered, and he is arrested and he was trying to ensure his inheritance, Oliver, it turns out, is Mr. Brownlows grandson. For their involvement in Monks scheme, Mr. and Mrs. Bumble lose their jobs at the workhouse, Oliver is happily reunited with his newly found grandfather and Mrs. Bedwin, his search for love ending in fulfilment. Alec Guinnesss portrayal of Fagin and his make-up was considered anti-semitic by some as it was felt to perpetuate Jewish racial stereotypes
22.
The Bridge on the River Kwai
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The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British-American epic war film directed by David Lean and starring William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Alec Guinness, and Sessue Hayakawa. Based on the novel Le Pont de la Rivière Kwai by Pierre Boulle, the film is a work of fiction, the movie was filmed in Ceylon. The bridge in the film was near Kitulgala, Carl Foreman was the initial screenwriter, but Lean replaced him with Michael Wilson. Both writers had to work in secret, as they were on the Hollywood blacklist and had fled to England in order to continue working. As a result, Boulle was credited and received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, many later, Foreman. The film was praised, winning seven Academy Awards at the 30th Academy Awards. In 1997, the film was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant and it is widely considered to be one of the greatest films in history. In 1999, the British Film Institute voted The Bridge on the River Kwai the 11th greatest British film of the 20th Century, in early 1943, World War II British prisoners arrive by train at a Japanese prison camp in Burma. The commandant, Colonel Saito, informs them that all prisoners, regardless of rank, are to work on the construction of a bridge over the River Kwai that will connect Bangkok. The senior British officer, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson, informs Saito that the Geneva Conventions exempt officers from manual labor, at the following mornings assembly, Nicholson orders his officers to remain behind when the enlisted men are sent off to work. Saito slaps him across the face with his copy of the conventions and threatens to have them shot and that evening, the officers are placed in a punishment hut, while Nicholson is locked in an iron box. Meanwhile, three prisoners attempt to escape, two are shot dead, but United States Navy Commander Shears, gets away, although badly wounded. He stumbles into a village of natives who help him leave by boat, meanwhile, the prisoners are working as little as possible and sabotaging whatever they can. Should Saito fail to meet his deadline, he would be obliged to commit ritual suicide, desperate, Saito uses the anniversary of Japans victory in the Russo-Japanese War as an excuse to save face and announces a general amnesty, releasing Nicholson and his officers from manual labor. Nicholson conducts an inspection and is shocked by the job being done by his men. The Japanese engineers had chosen a site, so the original construction is abandoned. Shears is appalled at the idea of returning to a place from which he died during escape. He confesses he is not an officer, but merely had appropriated an officers uniform prior to his capture, assured that he will be allowed to retain the privileges of being an officer and accepting that he actually has no choice, Shears relents and volunteers for the mission
23.
Academy Award for Best Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with Emil Jannings receiving the award for his roles in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the branch of AMPAS. In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories, at that time, all of their work during the qualifying period was listed after the award. The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a performance in a single film. Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year, since its inception, the award has been given to 79 actors. Daniel Day-Lewis has received the most awards in this category with three Oscars, spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier were nominated on nine occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Casey Affleck is the most recent winner in category for his role as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933
24.
Faisal I of Iraq
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Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933. He was a member of the Hashemite dynasty, while in power, Faisal tried to diversify his administration by including different ethnic and religious groups in offices. However, Faisal’s attempt at pan-Arab nationalism may have contributed to the isolation of certain religious groups, Faisal was born in Mecca, Ottoman Empire in 1885, the third son of Hussein bin Ali, the Grand Sharif of Mecca. He grew up in Istanbul and learned about leadership from his father, in 1913, he was elected as representative for the city of Jeddah for the Ottoman parliament. In 1916, on a mission to Istanbul, Faisal visited Damascus twice, on one of these visits he received the Damascus Protocol, joined with the Al-Fatat group of Arab nationalists. On 23 October 1916 at Hamra in Wadi Safra, Emir Faisal met Captain T. E. Lawrence, Lawrence, who envisioned an independent post-war Arabian state, sought the right man to lead the Hashemite forces and achieve this. In 1916–18, Faisal headed the Northern Army of the rebellion that confronted the Ottomans in what was to become western Saudi Arabia, Jordan. After a 30-month-long siege he conquered Medina, defeating the defense organized by Fakhri Pasha, Emir Faisal also worked with the Allies during World War I in their conquest of Greater Syria and the capture of Damascus in October 1918. Faisal became part of a new Arab government at Damascus, formed after the capture of that city in 1918, Emir Faisals role in the Arab Revolt was described by Lawrence in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. However the accuracy of that book, not least the importance given by the author to his own contribution during the Revolt, has been criticized by some historians, British and Arab forces took Damascus in October 1918, which was followed by the Armistice of Mudros. With the end of Turkish rule that October, Faisal helped set up an Arab government, under British protection, in May 1919, elections were held for the Syrian National Congress, which met the following year. On 4 January 1919, Emir Faisal and Dr. look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement and our deputation here in Paris is fully acquainted with the proposals submitted yesterday by the Zionist Organisation to the Peace Conference, and we regard them as moderate and proper. We will do our best, insofar as we are concerned, to them through. Weizmann argued that since the fulfillment was kept eventually, the agreement for a Jewish homeland in Palestine still held, in truth, however, this hoped-for partnership had little chance of success and was a dead letter by late 1920. Faisal had hoped that Zionist influence on British policy would be sufficient to forestall French designs on Syria, at the same time Faisal failed to enlist significant sympathy among his Arab elite supporters for the idea of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, even under loose Arab suzerainty. On 7 March 1920, Faisal was proclaimed King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria by the Syrian National Congress government of Hashim al-Atassi, in April 1920, the San Remo conference gave France the mandate for Syria, which led to the Franco-Syrian War. In the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920, the French were victorious and he went to live in the United Kingdom in August of that year. E. Lawrence, more known as Lawrence of Arabia
25.
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
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Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 epic historical drama film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt, the film stars Peter OToole in the title role. It is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential films in the history of cinema, the dramatic score by Maurice Jarre and the Super Panavision 70 cinematography by Freddie Young are also highly acclaimed. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama, the film depicts Lawrences experiences in the Arabian Peninsula during World War I, in particular his attacks on Aqaba and Damascus and his involvement in the Arab National Council. As well as OToole, the film stars Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains and Arthur Kennedy. In 1991, Lawrence of Arabia was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, the film is presented in two parts, divided by an intermission. The film opens in 1935 when Lawrence is killed in a motorcycle accident, at his memorial service at St Pauls Cathedral, a reporter tries to gain insights into this remarkable, enigmatic man from those who knew him. The story then moves backward to the First World War, where Lawrence is a misfit British Army lieutenant, notable for his insolence and education. Over the objections of General Murray, Mr. Dryden of the Arab Bureau sends him to assess the prospects of Prince Faisal in his revolt against the Turks, on the journey, his Bedouin guide is killed by Sherif Ali for drinking from his well without permission. Lawrence later meets Colonel Brighton, who orders him to quiet, make his assessment. Lawrence ignores Brightons orders when he meets Faisal and his outspokenness piques the princes interest. The town is strongly fortified against an assault but only lightly defended on the landward side. He convinces Faisal to provide fifty men, led by a sceptical Sherif Ali, teenage orphans Daud and Farraj attach themselves to Lawrence as servants. They cross the Nefud Desert, considered even by the Bedouins, travelling day. One of Alis men, Gasim, succumbs to fatigue and falls off his camel unnoticed during the night, when Lawrence discovers him missing, he turns back and rescues Gasim—and Sherif Ali is won over. He gives Lawrence Arab robes to wear, Lawrence persuades Auda abu Tayi, the leader of the powerful local Howeitat tribe, to turn against the Turks. Lawrences scheme is almost derailed when one of Alis men kills one of Audas because of a blood feud, Howeitat retaliation would shatter the fragile alliance, so Lawrence declares that he will execute the murderer himself. He is then stunned to discover that the culprit is Gasim, the man whom he risked his own life to save in the desert
26.
Doctor Zhivago (film)
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Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 British-Italian epic romantic drama film directed by David Lean. It is set in Russia between the prior to World War I and the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922, and is based on the Boris Pasternak novel of the same name. While immensely popular in the West, the book was banned in the Soviet Union for decades, for this reason, the film could not be made in the Soviet Union and was instead filmed mostly in Spain. The film stars Omar Sharif in the role as Yuri Zhivago. The supporting cast includes Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger, Alec Guinness, Tom Courtenay, Ralph Richardson, Siobhán McKenna, over time, however, the films reputation has improved greatly. It also won five awards at the 23rd Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture - Drama, as of 2016, it is the eighth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada, adjusted for ticket-price inflation. The film takes place mostly against a backdrop of the pre-World War I years, World War I itself, the Russian Revolution of 1917, Yevgraf believes a young woman, Tanya Komarova, may be his niece and tells her the story of her fathers life. When Yuri Zhivago is orphaned after his mothers death in rural Russia, he is taken in by his mothers friends, Alexander and Anna Gromeko, and grows up with their daughter Tonya in Moscow. In 1913, Zhivago, as a student in training. Lara, only 17, is involved in an affair with the older and well-connected Victor Ipolitovich Komarovsky, one night, the idealistic reformer Pavel Pavlovich Antipov drifts into left-wing extremism after being wounded by sabre-wielding Cossacks during a peaceful demonstration. Pasha runs to Lara, whom he wants to marry, to treat his wound and he asks her to hide a gun he picked up at the demonstration. Laras mother discovers her affair with Komarovsky and attempts suicide, Komarovsky summons help from his physician, Zhivagos former professor, whom he accompanies back to Laras home to treat her mother. When Komarovsky learns of Laras intentions to marry Pasha, he tries to dissuade Lara, in revenge, the humiliated Lara takes the pistol she has been hiding for Pasha and shoots Komarovsky at a Christmas Eve party, wounding him. Komarovsky insists no action be taken against Lara, who is escorted out by Pasha, although enraged and devastated by Laras affair with Komarovsky, Pasha marries Lara, and they have a daughter named Katya. During World War I, Yevgraf Zhivago is sent by the Bolsheviks to subvert the Imperial Russian Army, Pasha is reported missing in action following a daring charge attack on German forces. Lara enlists as a nurse to search for him, Yuri Zhivago is drafted and becomes a battlefield doctor. During the February Revolution in 1917, Zhivago enlists Laras help to tend to the wounded, together they run a field hospital for six months, during which time radical changes ensue throughout Russia as Vladimir Lenin arrives in Moscow. Before their departure, Yuri and Lara fall in love, but Yuri remains true to Tonya, after the war, Yuri returns to his wife Tonya, son Sasha, and Alexander, whose house in Moscow has been divided into tenements by the new Soviet government
27.
A Passage to India (film)
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A Passage to India is a 1984 British epic period drama film written and directed by David Lean. The screenplay is based on the play of the name by Santha Rama Rau. This was the film of Leans career, and the first feature-film he had directed in fourteen years. The film is set in the 1920s during the period of growing influence of the Indian independence movement in the British Raj. Adela Quested and Mrs Moore sail from England to India, where Ronny Heaslop, Mrs Moores son, Adela is considering marriage to Ronny, but is visiting India accompanied by his mother to see if she can adapt to living in such a foreign place. Both Adela and Mrs. Moore are excited to meet Indians and they are disappointed to find that the British community are overtly racist and live lives totally disconnected from the Indian population. They are pleased to meet the school superintendent Richard Fielding. Mrs. Moore meets a doctor named Dr. Aziz Ahmed. Aziz offers to host an excursion to the local Marabar Caves, the outing goes reasonably well until the women begin exploring the caves with Aziz and his sizeable entourage. Mrs Moore experiences a sense of claustrophobia due to the volume of the echo inside the caves. She encourages Adela and Aziz to continue their exploration but suggests they take just one guide, the three set off for caves far from the rest of the group, and before entering, Aziz steps away to smoke a cigarette. He returns to find Adela has disappeared, shortly after he sees her running headlong down the hill, bloody and she is picked up by the doctors wife, Mrs. Callendar, and taken to the Callendars home. Adela is bruised, delirious, exhausted, and incoherent, Dr. Callendar is seen approaching Adela with a hypodermic syringe. Not shown in the film but revealed later, Adela apparently signed a statement that was interpreted as accusing Aziz of attempting to rape her, upon his return to Chandrapore, Aziz is jailed to await trial, and an uproar ensues between the local Indians and the British colonists. The case becomes a cause célèbre among the British, when Mrs Moore makes it clear that she firmly believes in Azizs innocence and will not testify against him, it is decided she should return to England. She subsequently suffers a heart attack during the voyage and is buried at sea. To the consternation of her fiancé and friends, Adela has a change of heart and clears Aziz in court, suddenly remembering events and retracting her accusation. The Colonials are forced into a retreat while the Indians carry the exonerated man from the courtroom on their shoulders
28.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
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Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor in the films. In the original trilogy, he is a mentor to Luke Skywalker, in the prequel trilogy, he is a master and friend to Anakin Skywalker. He is frequently featured as a character in various other Star Wars media. Obi-Wan Kenobi is introduced in the original Star Wars living as the hermit Ben Kenobi on the planet Tatooine, when Luke Skywalker and the droid C-3PO wander off in search of the lost droid R2-D2, Ben rescues them from a band of native Tusken Raiders. At his home, R2-D2 plays Ben a recording of Princess Leia which explains that R2-D2 contains the plans for the Death Star, Leia asks him to deliver the droid and the plans safely to the planet Alderaan in order to help the Rebel Alliance. He gives Luke his fathers lightsaber and asks Luke to accompany him to Alderaan, Luke declines, but promises to take Obi-Wan as far as Anchorhead Station. After Luke finds his uncle and aunt killed by Imperial troops, he agrees to go with Obi-Wan to Alderaan, in the spaceport city Mos Eisley, Obi-Wan uses the Force to trick Imperial troops into letting them through a military checkpoint. They enter a cantina and make a deal with two smugglers, Han Solo and Chewbacca, to fly them to Alderaan in their ship. During the journey, Obi-Wan begins instructing Luke in lightsaber training and he suddenly becomes weak and tells Luke of a great disturbance in the Force. Emerging from hyperspace, the party finds that Alderaan has been destroyed, the trio chase the TIE fighter to the Death Star, and subsequently get caught in the Death Stars tractor beam. On board the Death Star, Obi-Wan shuts down the tractor beam, Obi-Wan uses the duel to distract Vader as Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca escape to the Falcon. Although Vader strikes Obi-Wan down, his body mysteriously vanishes the moment he dies, at the climax of the film during the Rebel attack on the Death Star, Obi-Wan speaks to Luke through the Force to help him destroy the Imperial station. In The Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears several times as a spirit through the Force, on the planet Hoth, he appears to instruct Luke to go to the planet Dagobah to find the exiled Jedi Master Yoda. Despite Yodas skepticism, Obi-Wan convinces his old master to continue Lukes training and he appears later to beseech Luke not to leave Dagobah to try to rescue his friends on Cloud City, although Luke ignores this advice. In Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan again appears to Luke after Yodas death on Dagobah, Obi-Wan acknowledges that Darth Vader is indeed Lukes father, revealed by Vader in the previous film and confirmed by Yoda on his deathbed, and also reveals that Leia is Lukes twin sister. After the second Death Star is destroyed and the Empire defeated, Obi-Wan appears at the celebration in the Ewok village, alongside the spirits of Yoda, in Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi appears as the Jedi Padawan of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. He accompanies his master in negotiations with the Trade Federation, which is blockading the planet Naboo with a fleet of spaceships and their ship is damaged in the escape, however, and they are forced to land on Tatooine, where they discover a young Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon senses Anakins extraordinarily strong link to the Force and brings the boy to Coruscant to begin Jedi training, when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan return to Naboo to defeat the Trade Federation, they are met by Sith Lord Darth Maul
29.
George Lucas
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George Walton Lucas Jr. is an American filmmaker and entrepreneur. He is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises, as well as the founder of Lucasfilm and he was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm, before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012. Upon graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas co-founded American Zoetrope with fellow filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Lucas wrote and directed THX1138, based on his earlier student short Electronic Labyrinth, THX1138 4EB, which was a critical success but a financial failure. His next work as a writer-director was the film, American Graffiti, inspired by his teen years in early 1960s Modesto, California, the film was critically and commercially successful, and received five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Following the first Star Wars film, Lucas produced and co-wrote the following installments in the trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, along with Steven Spielberg, Lucas co-created and wrote the Indiana Jones films Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and The Last Crusade. Lucas also produced and/or wrote a variety of films through Lucasfilm in the 1980s and 1990s, Lucas also returned to directing with the Star Wars prequel trilogy, consisting of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. He later collaborated on the story for the Indiana Jones sequel Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, five of Lucass seven features are among the 100 highest-grossing movies at the North American box office, adjusted for ticket-price inflation. Lucas is one of the American film industrys most financially successful filmmakers, Lucas is considered a significant figure in the New Hollywood era. Lucas was born and raised in Modesto, California, the son of Dorothy Ellinore Lucas and George Walton Lucas and he is of German, Swiss-German, English, Scottish, and distant Dutch and French descent. Growing up, Lucas had a passion for cars and motor racing, on June 12,1962, while driving his souped-up Autobianchi Bianchina, another driver broadsided him, flipping over his car, nearly killing him, causing him to lose interest in racing as a career. He attended Modesto Junior College, where he studied anthropology, sociology and he also began shooting with an 8 mm camera, including filming car races. At this time, Lucas and his friend John Plummer became interested in Canyon Cinema, screenings of underground, avant-garde 16 mm filmmakers like Jordan Belson, Stan Brakhage, and Bruce Conner. Lucas and Plummer also saw classic European films of the time, including Jean-Luc Godards Breathless, François Truffauts Jules et Jim, thats when George really started exploring, Plummer said. Through his interest in racing, Lucas met renowned cinematographer Haskell Wexler, another race enthusiast. Wexler, later to work with Lucas on several occasions, was impressed by Lucas talent, George had a very good eye, and he thought visually, he recalled. Lucas then transferred to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, USC was one of the earliest universities to have a school devoted to motion picture film. During the years at USC, Lucas shared a room with Randal Kleiser. Along with classmates such as Walter Murch, Hal Barwood, and John Milius and he also became good friends with fellow acclaimed student filmmaker and future Indiana Jones collaborator, Steven Spielberg
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Star Wars
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Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of characters a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The franchise began in 1977 with the release of the film Star Wars and it was followed by the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was released between 1999 and 2005, which received mixed-to-negative reactions, a sequel trilogy began in 2015 with the release of Star Wars, The Force Awakens. All seven films were nominated for Academy Awards and have been successes, with a combined box office revenue of over $7.5 billion. Spin-off films include Star Wars, The Clone Wars and Rogue One, Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the Most successful film merchandising franchise. In 2015, the value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $42 billion. In 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion and earned the rights to all subsequent Star Wars films. Walt Disney Studios owns digital distribution rights to all the Star Wars films, the events depicted in the Star Wars franchise take place in an unnamed fictional galaxy at an undetermined point in the distant past. Many species of creatures are depicted. Robotic droids are also commonplace and are built to serve their owners. Space travel is common, and many planets in the galaxy are members of a single galactic government. In the prequel trilogy, this is depicted in the form of the Galactic Republic, at the end of the trilogy and throughout the original trilogy. Preceding and during the trilogy, this government is the New Republic. One of the prominent elements of Star Wars is the Force and it is described in the first produced film as an energy field created by all living things surrounds us, penetrates us, binds the galaxy together. While the Force can be used for good, known as the side, it also has a dark side that, when pursued, imbues users with hatred, aggression. The sequel trilogy introduces the Knights of Ren, an order of practitioners of the side of the Force aligned with the First Order. The first film in the series, Star Wars, was released on May 25,1977 and this was followed by two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back, released on May 21,1980, and Return of the Jedi, released on May 25,1983
31.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Walter Brennan was the first winner of award for his role in Come. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 72 actors. Brennan has received the most awards in this category with three awards, Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, and Claude Rains were nominated on four occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Mahershala Ali is the most recent winner in category for his role as Juan in Moonlight. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com Complete Downloadable List of Academy Award Nominees
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Laurence Olivier
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Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, was an English actor who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles, late in his career, he had considerable success in television roles. His family had no connections, but Oliviers father, a clergyman. After attending a school in London, Olivier learned his craft in a succession of acting jobs during the late 1920s. In 1930 he had his first important West End success in Noël Cowards Private Lives, in 1935 he played in a celebrated production of Romeo and Juliet alongside Gielgud and Peggy Ashcroft, and by the end of the decade he was an established star. In the 1940s, together with Richardson and John Burrell, Olivier was the co-director of the Old Vic, there his most celebrated roles included Shakespeares Richard III and Sophocless Oedipus. From 1963 to 1973 he was the director of Britains National Theatre. His own parts there included the role in Othello and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Among Oliviers films are Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and a trilogy of Shakespeare films as actor-director, Henry V, Hamlet and his later films included Sleuth, Marathon Man, and The Boys from Brazil. His television appearances included an adaptation of The Moon and Sixpence, Long Days Journey into Night, Love Among the Ruins, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Brideshead Revisited, Oliviers honours included a knighthood, a life peerage and the Order of Merit. For his on-screen work he received four Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, five Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards. The National Theatres largest auditorium is named in his honour, and he is commemorated in the Laurence Olivier Awards, given annually by the Society of London Theatre. He was married three times, to the actresses Jill Esmond from 1930 to 1940, Vivien Leigh from 1940 to 1960, Olivier was born in Dorking, Surrey, the youngest of the three children of the Revd Gerard Kerr Olivier and his wife Agnes Louise, née Crookenden. Their elder children were Sybille and Gerard Dacres Dickie and his great-great-grandfather was of French Huguenot descent, and Olivier came from a long line of Protestant clergymen. Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster, but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious vocation and was ordained as a priest of the Church of England and he practised extremely high church, ritualist Anglicanism and liked to be addressed as Father Olivier. This made him unacceptable to most Anglican congregations, and the church posts he was offered were temporary. This meant a nomadic existence, and for Laurences first few years, in 1912, when Olivier was five, his father secured a permanent appointment as assistant priest at St Saviours, Pimlico. He held the post for six years, and a family life was at last possible
33.
John Gielgud
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Sir Arthur John Gielgud OM CH was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trio of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terrys company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre, during the 1930s Gielgud was a stage star in the West End and on Broadway, appearing in new works and classics. He began a career as a director, and set up his own company at the Queens Theatre. He was regarded by many as the finest Hamlet of his era, in the 1950s Gielgud feared that his career was threatened when he was convicted and fined for a homosexual offence, but his colleagues and the public supported him loyally. From the late 1960s he found new plays that suited him, by authors including Alan Bennett, David Storey, during the first half of his career, Gielgud did not take the cinema seriously. Though he made his first film in 1924, and had successes with The Good Companions and Julius Caesar, Gielgud appeared in more than sixty films between Becket, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and Elizabeth. As the acid-tongued Hobson in Arthur he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and his film work further earned him a Golden Globe Award and two BAFTAs. Although largely indifferent to awards, Gielgud had the distinction of winning an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy. He was famous from the start of his career for his voice and he broadcast more than a hundred radio and television dramas, between 1929 and 1994, and made commercial recordings of many plays, including ten of Shakespeares. Among his honours, he was knighted in 1953 and the Gielgud Theatre was named after him, from 1977 to 1989, he was president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Gielgud was born in South Kensington, London, the third of the four children and youngest of three sons of Frank Henry Gielgud and his second wife, Kate Terry-Gielgud, née Terry-Lewis. The two elder boys were Lewis, who became an official of the Red Cross and UNESCO. On his fathers side, Gielgud was of Lithuanian and Polish descent, the surname derives from Gelgaudiškis, a village in Lithuania. The Counts Gielgud had owned the Gielgudziszki Castle on the River Niemen, jan Gielgud took refuge in England with his family, one of his grandchildren was Frank Gielgud, whose maternal grandmother was a famous Polish actress, Aniela Aszpergerowa. Frank married into a family with wide theatrical connections, Frank had no theatrical ambitions and worked all his life as a stockbroker in the City of London. In 1912, aged eight, Gielgud went to Hillside preparatory school in Surrey as his brothers had done
34.
Royal Naval Reserve
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The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, the Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858 and this established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of only, but in 1862 this was extended to include the recruitment. From its creation, RNR officers wore on their uniforms a unique, after initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navys fleet for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. In 1910, the RNR was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers, prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—forever after referred to as the hungry hundred. In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held positions in the shipping industry. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers, Officers of the permanent RNR on general service quickly took up seagoing appointments in the fleet, many in command, in destroyers, submarines, auxiliary cruisers and Q-ships. Others served in units of the battle fleet including a large number with the West Indies Squadron who became casualties at the Battle of Coronel. One such casualty was armed naval drifter HMT Frons Olivae, which hit a mine off Ramsgate on 12 October 1915 in an explosion killed at least five other seamen. One casualty, a Newfoundlander serving with the Royal Naval Reserve, was buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal. Merchant service officers and men serving in armed merchant cruisers, hospital ships, fleet auxiliaries, although considerably smaller than both the RN and the RNVR, the RNR had an exceptional war record, members being awarded twelve Victoria Crosses. Again, RNR officers found themselves in command of destroyers, frigates, sloops, landing craft and submarines, or as specialist navigation officers in cruisers, in convoy work, the convoy commodore or escort commander was often an RNR officer. As in the First World War, the RNR acquitted itself well, during the Second World War, no more ratings were accepted into the RNVR, which then became the main route for wartime officer entry. The service was called the Wavy Navy, after the 3/8-inch wavy sleeve rings that RNVR officers wore to differentiate them from RN/RNR officers. From 30 November 2007, mainly due to increasing involvement of the RNR in RN operations and deployments, similarly, RNR ratings no longer wear RNR shoulder flashes. From 1938 until 1957, the RNVR provided aircrew personnel in the form of their own Air Branch, in 1947, their contribution was cut to anti-submarine and fighter squadrons only. By 1957, it was considered by the UK government that the required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists
35.
Flare Path
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Flare Path is a play by Terence Rattigan, written in 1941 and first staged in 1942. Set in a hotel near an RAF Bomber Command airbase during the Second World War, the play is based in part on Rattigans own wartime experiences. At the Falcon Hotel on the Lincolnshire coast, men from a nearby RAF airbase are planning to spend the weekend with their wives, Patricia Graham, an actress from London, has something to tell her husband Teddy, who is a bomber pilot. The situation is complicated when Peter Kyle, a Hollywood film star, arrives at the hotel, Patricia is torn between a rekindled old flame and loyalty to the husband who relies on her for support. Patricia and Peter had an affair before she met Teddy. Patricia married Teddy after a wartime romance while he was on a weeks leave. She does not know her very well, and she was still in love with Peter when they wed. She reconnected with Peter in London and now plans to tell Teddy she is leaving him, Peter tells her that his career is waning as he gets older and that he needs her. Teddys tail gunner Dusty Miller is awaiting his wife Maudie, who is late, Maudie only has a short time off from the laundry where she has had to work since the war began. She was bombed out of their home in the Blitz, but she says matter-of-factly. theres a war on, and things have got to be a bit different, Doris waits for her husband Count Skriczevinsky, a Polish pilot serving with the RAF. His wife and son were killed by the Nazis, and he came to Britain, despite his command of the English language. Doris met him while working as a barmaid, and though she is now his Countess, she worries about what will happen when the war is over and he is able to return to Poland. Also present at the hotel are the proprietor, Mrs. Oakes, Percy, a waiter who is interested in RAF operations. Soon after everyone has arrived, Squadron Leader Swanson summons the men back to base for a night operation. Swanson, who is affectionately called Gloria by Teddy, remains at the hotel, as Patricia and Swanson look out at the flare path from the hotel window, one of the planes is destroyed on takeoff by the Luftwaffe. Doris and Maudie come downstairs while Swanson calls the airfield and learns that the plane did not belong to any of their husbands, Teddy and Dusty return from the mission, but Count Skriczevinsky is missing in action. Teddy confesses to Patricia that hes losing his nerve and his plane was hit and he was responsible for bringing his six crewmen back home. He knew his crew trusted him but he was terrified, Patricia has a change of heart and decides to stay with Teddy
36.
RAF Bomber Command
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RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAFs bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bombing campaign against Germany became less restrictive and increasingly targeted industrial sites, in total 364,514 operational sorties were flown,1,030,500 tons of bombs were dropped and 8,325 aircraft lost in action. Bomber Command crews also suffered a casualty rate,55,573 were killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew, a further 8,403 were wounded in action. Bomber Command stood at the peak of its military power in the 1960s, the V bombers holding the United Kingdoms nuclear deterrent. In August 2006, a memorial was unveiled at Lincoln Cathedral, a memorial in Green Park in London was unveiled by the Queen on 28 June 2012 to highlight the price paid by the aircrews. At the time of the formation of Bomber Command in 1936, Giulio Douhets slogan the bomber will always get through was popular, until advances in radar technology in the late 1930s, this statement was effectively true. Attacking bombers could not be detected early enough to assemble fighters fast enough to prevent them reaching their targets. Some damage might be done to the bombers by AA guns, and by fighters as the returned to base. Consequently, the conception of Bomber Command was as an entity that threatened the enemy with utter destruction. In 1936, Germanys increasing air power was feared by British government planners who commonly overestimated its size, reach, planners used estimates of up to 72 British deaths per tonne of bombs dropped, though this figure was grossly exaggerated. As well, the planners did not know that German bombing aircraft of the day did not have the range to reach the UK with a load of bombs, British air officers did nothing to correct these perceptions because they could see the usefulness of having a strong bombing arm. At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Bomber Command faced four problems, the first was lack of size, Bomber Command was not large enough effectively to operate as an independent strategic force. The second was rules of engagement, at the start of the war, the third problem was the Commands lack of technology, specifically radio or radar derived navigational aids to allow accurate target location at night or through cloud. The fourth problem was the accuracy of bombing, especially from high level. When the war began on 1 September 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the neutral United States, the French and British agreed to abide by the request, provided that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all of their opponents. British policy was to restrict bombing to military targets and infrastructure, such as ports, while acknowledging that bombing Germany would cause civilian casualties, the British government renounced deliberate bombing of civilian property as a military tactic. The British abandoned this policy at the end of the Phoney War, or Sitzkrieg, on 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz
37.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
38.
British Academy Film Awards
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The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to honour the best British and international contributions to film. Between 2008 and 2016, the ceremony was held in central London at the Royal Opera House, the 70th British Academy Film Awards were held on 12 February 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in 1947 as The British Film Academy, by David Lean, Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Roger Manvell and others. BAFTA stated charitable purpose is to support, develop and promote the art forms of the image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners. In addition to awards ceremonies BAFTA runs a year-round programme of educational events including film screenings. BAFTA is supported by a membership of about 6,000 people from the film, television, the Academys awards are in the form of a theatrical mask designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, which was commissioned by the Guild of Television Producers in 1955. The ceremony previously took place in April or May and since 2002 it takes place in February in order to precede the Oscars. The awards are open to all nationalities, though there is an award for Outstanding British Film. Only UK films are eligible for the categories of The British Short Film, the Awards ceremony is delayed broadcast on British television the same evening, and across the world for example its shown on BBC America in the United States. It has been broadcast in colour since 1970, the award ceremony is held in London. From 2000 to 2007 the ceremonies took place at the flagship Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, between 2008 and 2016, the ceremonies took place at the Royal Opera House. The 70th Awards in 2017 were held at the Royal Albert Hall, until 2012, the mobile network Orange sponsored the awards and starting in 2013 Oranges parent company, EE, began sponsorship. British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy Television Awards Official website BAFTA Awards database Museum of Broadcast Communications, BAFTA IMDB, BAFTA
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Tony Award
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The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre, several discretionary non-competitive awards are also given, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards are named after Antoinette Tony Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, the rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wings Tony Awards, which applies for that season only. It also forms the fourth spoke in the EGOT, that is someone who has won all four awards, the Tony Awards are also considered the equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award in the United Kingdom and the Molière Award of France. From 1997 to 2010, the Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast live on CBS television, except in 1999, in 2011 and 2012, the ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre. From 2013 to 2015, the 67th, 68th, and 69th ceremonies returned to Radio City Music Hall, the 70th Tony Awards were held on June 12,2016 at the Beacon Theatre. The 71st Tony Awards will be held on June 11,2017, as of 2014, there are 24 categories of awards, plus several special awards. Starting with 11 awards in 1947, the names and number of categories have changed over the years, some examples, the category Best Book of a Musical was originally called Best Author. The category of Best Costume Design was one of the original awards, for two years, in 1960 and 1961, this category was split into Best Costume Designer and Best Costume Designer. It then went to a category, but in 2005 it was divided again. For the category of Best Director of a Play, a category was for directors of plays. A newly established non-competitive award, The Isabelle Stevenson Award, was given for the first time at the ceremony in 2009. The award is for an individual who has made a contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian. The category of Best Special Theatrical Event was retired as of the 2009–2010 season, the categories of Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical were retired as of the 2014-2015 season. Performance categories Show and technical categories Special awards Retired awards The award was founded in 1947 by a committee of the American Theatre Wing headed by Brock Pemberton. The award is named after Antoinette Perry, nicknamed Tony, an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who died in 1946. As her official biography at the Tony Awards website states, At Jacob Wilks suggestion, proposed an award in her honor for distinguished stage acting, at the initial event in 1947, as he handed out an award, he called it a Tony
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Knight Bachelor
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The appointment of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic and lowest rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch, Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of the various orders. There is no counterpart to Knight Bachelor. The lowest knightly honour that can be conferred upon a woman is Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – which, also, foreigners are not created Knights Bachelor, instead they are generally made honorary KBEs. It is generally awarded for service, amongst its recipients are all male judges of Her Majestys High Court of Justice in England. Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Tom Jones are Officers of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled Sir. Since they are not knights of any order of chivalry, there is no post-nominal associated with the award. This style is adopted by Knights Bachelor who are also peers, baronets or knights of the various statutory orders, such as Sir William Boulton, Bt, Kt, or The Lord Olivier. Until 1926 Knights Bachelor had no insignia which they could wear, the Knights Bachelor badge may be worn on all such occasions upon the left side of the coat or outer garment of those upon whom the degree of Knight Bachelor has been conferred. In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II issued a warrant authorising the wearing on appropriate occasions of a neck badge, slightly smaller in size. In 1988 a new certificate of authentication, a knights only personal documentation, was designed by the College of Arms. The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor was founded for the maintenance and consolidation of the Dignity of Knights Bachelor in 1908, the Society keeps records of all Knights Bachelor, in their interest
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Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
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Hollywood Walk of Fame
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The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003, as of 2017, the Walk of Fame comprises over 2,600 stars, spaced at 6-foot intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background, in the upper portion of each star field the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the half of the star field. Approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year, special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees. The moons are silver and grey terrazzo circles rimmed in brass on a square pink terrazzo background, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E. M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamor, Harry Sugarman, another Chamber member and president of the Hollywood Improvement Association, receives credit in an independent account. A committee was formed to flesh out the idea, and a firm was retained to develop specific proposals. By 1955 the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, multiple accounts exist for the origin of the star concept. By another account, the stars were inspired, by Sugarmans drinks menu, which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars. In February 1956 a prototype was unveiled featuring a caricature of an example honoree inside a star on a brown background. The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant, and included such prominent names as Cecil B, deMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse L. Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett, and Walter Lantz. A requirement stipulated by the audio recording committee specified minimum sales of one million records or 250,000 albums for all music category nominees. The committee soon realized that many important recording artists would be excluded from the Walk by that requirement, as a result, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was formed for the purpose of creating a separate award system for the music business. The first Grammy Awards were presented in Beverly Hills in 1959, construction of the Walk began in 1958 but two lawsuits delayed completion. The first was filed by local property owners challenging the legality of the $1.25 million tax assessment levied upon them to pay for the Walk, along with new street lighting, in October 1959 the assessment was ruled legal. The second lawsuit, filed by Charles Chaplin, Jr. sought damages for the exclusion of his father, chaplins suit was dismissed in 1960, paving the way for completion of the project. Woodwards name was one of eight drawn at random from the original 1,558, the other seven names were Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, and Ernest Torrence
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British Film Institute
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The British Film Institute is a film and charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI maintains the worlds largest film archive, the BFI National Archive, previously called National Film Library, National Film Archive and National Film, the archive contains more than 50,000 fiction films, over 100,000 non-fiction titles and around 625,000 television programmes. The majority of the collection is British material but it also features internationally significant holdings from around the world, the Archive also collects films which feature key British actors and the work of British directors. The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and London IMAX cinema, both located on the bank of the River Thames in London. The IMAX has the largest cinema screen in the UK, and shows popular recent releases and short films showcasing its technology, BFI Southbank shows films from all over the world particularly critically acclaimed historical & specialised films that may not otherwise get a cinema showing. The BFI also distributes archival and cultural cinema to other venues – each year to more than 800 venues all across the UK, the BFI offers a range of education initiatives, in particular to support the teaching of film and media studies in schools. In late 2012, the BFI received money from the Department For Education to create the BFI Film Academy Network, the BFI runs the annual London Film Festival along with BFI Flare, London LGBT Film Festival and the youth-orientated Future Film Festival. The BFI publishes the monthly Sight & Sound magazine as well as films on Blu-ray, DVD, SIFT has a collection of about 7 million still frames from film and television. The institute was founded in 1933, the institute was restructured following the Radcliffe Report of 1948 which recommended that it should concentrate on developing the appreciation of filmic art, rather than creating film itself. Thus control of film production passed to the National Committee for Visual Aids in Education. From 1952-2000, the BFI provided funding for new and experimental filmmakers via the BFI Production Board, the institute received a Royal Charter in 1983. This was updated in 2000, and in the year the newly established UK Film Council took responsibility for providing the BFIs annual grant-in-aid. As an independent registered charity, the BFI is regulated by the Charity Commission, in 1988, the BFI opened the London Museum of the Moving Image on the South Bank. The Museum was temporarily closed in 1999 when the BFI stated that it would be re-sited and this did not happen, and MOMIs closure became permanent in 2002 when it was decided to redevelop the South Bank site. This redevelopment was itself then further delayed, the BFI is currently managed on a day-to-day basis by its chief executive, Amanda Nevill. Supreme decision-making authority rests with a chair and a board of up to 14 governors, the current chair is Josh Berger, who took up the post in February 2016. He succeeded Greg Dyke, who took office on 1 March 2008, Dyke succeeded the late Anthony Minghella, who was chair from 2003 until 31 December 2007. The chair of the board is appointed by the BFIs own Board of Governors but requires the consent of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media, other Governors are co-opted by existing board members when required
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