1.
Leave Her to Heaven
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Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American Technicolor film noir starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, with Vincent Price, Darryl Hickman, Ray Collins, and Chill Wills. The story was adapted for the screen by Jo Swerling from the best selling novel of the name by Ben Ames Williams. The story revolves around a femme fatale who entraps a husband, Tierney received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. The film grossed over $5,000,000, Foxs highest-grossing picture of the 1940s, the films title is drawn from William Shakespeares Hamlet. In Act I, Scene V, the Ghost urges Hamlet not to seek vengeance against Queen Gertrude, but rather to leave her to heaven, novelist Richard Harland returns to his remote island home, called Back of the Moon, after two years in prison. His friend and attorney, narrates how Richard meets beautiful socialite Ellen Berent on a train and she falls in love with him mainly on the basis of his close resemblance to her recently deceased father, to whom she was obsessively attached. Ellen is previously engaged to an ambitious Boston attorney, Russell Quinton, however, she jilts Russell and marries Richard, who at first is fascinated not only with Ellens beauty but her exotic and intense manner. It gradually becomes apparent however that Ellen is pathologically jealous towards any other person, richards younger disabled brother, Danny, whom Richard dearly loves, comes to live with them at their lodge even though Ellen pleads with the doctor to not allow the move. She becomes increasingly irritated by Dannys presence and the attention he gets from Richard, one day, while she and Danny are out on a rowboat, Danny decides to see how far he can swim. However, Dannys paralyzed legs weigh him down, and Ellen watches heartlessly as Danny struggles to stay afloat and he drowns in front of her as Ellen registers no reaction on her face. When she hears Richard approaching the lake, she then begins screaming. Later, she becomes pregnant, but tells her sister, Ruth. She then deliberately causes the miscarriage of the unborn son when she throws herself down a flight of stairs. Ruth rebukes Ellen for causing all the misery that is happening to the family, overhearing the conversation, Richard begins to suspect that Ellen is directly responsible for both the death of his brother and his son. He accuses her of letting Danny drown, when Ellen confesses that she did let him drown and would do it again, he leaves her. She decides to herself, coldly framing Ruth in jealousy over Ruths warm. Posing as a victim, Ellen writes to her ex-fiance laying out her claims of murder, Ellen conspires with Richard, who is next seen being grilled by Russell, the prosecutor for Ruths trial. Ruth is then pressured by Russell into admitting she has always loved Richard, in response, the previous recalcitrant Richard resumes the witness chair and testifies about Ellens insane jealousy and her dual confessions to him
2.
Prievidza
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Prievidza is a city in the central-western Slovakia. With 49,400 inhabitants it is the second biggest municipality in the Trenčín Region, the name is probably deduced from a personal name Previd with possessive sufix -ja. An alternative and less probable is a derivation from vid-, thus the village which can be seen from all directions, Prievidza is a centre for many institutions of regional importance - governmental as well as commercial. It is commonly called the green city, the city was first mentioned in 1113 as Preuigan. It was promoted to a free town in 1383. Since the 16th century, craftsmanship was developing in Prievidza, from the 16th to the first third of the 17th century, the Thurzó family controlled the town. Ottomans approached Prievidza from the south and burned it in 1599, during the Kuruc uprising in 1673, Prievidza was burned down again, with fire burning a part of towns archives. In 1870, it had 2,719 inhabitants, since the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, industry started to grow, as the railways to Prievidza were constructed. During World War II, the city was one of the centres of partisans, on 4 April 1945, Prievidza was captured by troops of the Soviet 40th Army. Since the end of the war, the population has grown enormously from 5,000 inhabitants to around 53,000 inhabitants, as industry grew. Prievidza became the home of miners and workers that found employment in the coal mines, the power station. Prievidza lies at an altitude of 280 metres above sea level, the city is situated very near the smaller but more famous town of Bojnice, actually sharing the public transport system. Prievidza is the eleventh largest city in Slovakia and it is located around 60 kilometres south of Žilina,69 kilometres km east of the regional capital Trenčín and 158 kilometres km from Bratislava. According to the 2001 census, the town had 53,097 inhabitants,96. 65% of inhabitants were Slovaks,0. 95% Czechs,0. 48% Hungarian and 0. 29% Roma and Germans. The religious make-up was 61. 91% Roman Catholics,29. 01% people with no affiliation and 2. 29% Lutherans. Prievidza lies in the temperate zone and has a continental climate with four distinct seasons. It is characterized by a significant variation between hot summers and cold, snowy winters
3.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
4.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
5.
Jean Wallace
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Jean Wallace was an American television and film actress. Born Jean Walasek in Chicago to John T. Walasek and Mary A. Walasek and she was married three times, to her Jigsaw co-star Franchot Tone from 1941 to 1948, to former US Army Captain Jim Lloyd Randall, and to actor Cornel Wilde from 1951 to 1981. She had two sons with Tone (Pascal Pat Franchot Tone and one with Wilde and she attempted suicide in 1946 with sleeping pills, and in 1949 with a self-inflicted knife wound. Wallace died of a hemorrhage on February 14,1990. She is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Jean Wallace at the Internet Movie Database Jean Wallace at Find a Grave
6.
20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
7.
A Song to Remember
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A Song to Remember is a 1945 Columbia Pictures Technicolor biographical film which tells a fictionalised life story of Polish pianist and composer Frédéric Chopin. Directed by Charles Vidor, the film starred Cornel Wilde, Merle Oberon, Paul Muni, Stephen Bekassy, Chopin, played by Cornel Wilde, is first presented to the audience as a child prodigy playing a piece by Mozart. He suddenly starts to bang on the keys when he notices out the window that Polish people are being taken prisoners by the Russian authorities. Years later, Chopin takes part in meetings to work on saving Poland with his young friends. Director Vidor depicts patriotism as a motive for Chopin playing the piano. Despite his familys apprehension, Chopin is egged on in his political activities by his devoted piano teacher. He attends a secret meeting instead of showing up on time for an important concert in front of a count, when he finally performs at the concert, he stops playing when he sees the Russian Governor of Poland enter the room. Chopin stands up and announces, I do not perform for Czarist butchers and he storms out of the room as his famous Revolutionary Étude starts in the background. The resulting scandal forces Chopin to flee to France, along with Professor Eisner, before leaving for Paris, Chopin clutches Polish earth in his hands. When he arrives in Paris, he says, I’m thinking of my people back home and you see, there was a purpose in coming to Paris. Eisner struggles to gain venues for his student, who he is certain is a genius, just before the night of his crucial debut, Chopin is informed of the murder of his revolutionary friends in Poland by Russian police. The first work of Chopins that is heard in Paris is his Heroic Polonaise, a few musicians, including Franz Liszt, recognize his genius, but the concert does not secure his reputation in France, as Eisner had hoped. The appearance of George Sand, played by Merle Oberon, alters Chopins life, an important and influential writer as well as a minor aristocrat, she has the money and connections to promote his fame. But instead of promoting Chopin as a concert pianist, Sand wants Chopin to remain alone with her, coddled at her estate, during this period, Chopin writes his most famous works. Vidor portrays George Sand as a selfish, manipulative and domineering figure in Chopins life, while under her influence, Chopin snubs his old friend Eisner, who patiently waits for him to remember his duty to his people. A young woman who Chopin knew in Poland arrives in Paris and presents Chopin with a bag of Polish earth. By the end of the film, Chopin has finally reunited with Eisner and his playing is so passionate that in one of his concerts, Chopin starts bleeding. Finally, the strain of the tour destroys his fragile health and Chopin begs from his deathbed to see Sand once more, though Chopin was a true Polish patriot, Vidor highly romanticizes Chopins patriotism in the film, which was produced during World War II
8.
Kingdom of Hungary
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The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed from the Middle Ages into the twentieth century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen I at Esztergom in about the year 1000, by the 12th century, the kingdom became a European middle power within the Western world. The House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács until 1918, from 1867 territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, the kingdom was nominally restored during the Regency of 1920–46, ending with the Soviet occupation in 1946. From 1102 it also included Croatia, being in union with it. Today, the feast day of the first king Stephen I is a holiday in Hungary. The Latin forms Regnum Hungariae or Ungarie, Regnum Marianum, or simply Hungaria, were the used in official documents in Latin from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s. The German name Königreich Ungarn was used officially from 1784 to 1790, the Hungarian name was used in the 1840s, and then again from the 1860s to 1946. The non-official Hungarian name of the kingdom was Magyarország, which is still the colloquial, in Austria-Hungary, the unofficial name Transleithania was sometimes used to denote the regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. Officially, the term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was included for the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarians led by Árpád settled the Carpathian Basin in 895, established Principality of Hungary. The Hungarians led several successful incursions to Western Europe, until they were stopped by Otto I, the principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I at Esztergom on Christmas Day 1000. The first kings of the kingdom were from the Árpád dynasty and he fought against Koppány and in 998, with Bavarian help, defeated him near Veszprém. The Catholic Church received powerful support from Stephen I, who with Christian Hungarians, Stephen I of Hungary was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1083 and an Orthodox saint in 2000. After his death, a period of revolts and conflict for supremacy ensued between the royalty and the nobles, in 1051 armies of the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Hungary, but they were defeated at Vértes Mountain. The armies of the Holy Roman Empire continued to suffer defeats, before 1052 Peter Orseolo, a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire, was overthrown by king Samuel Aba of Hungary. This period of revolts ended during the reign of Béla I, Hungarian chroniclers praised Béla I for introducing new currency, such as the silver denarius, and for his benevolence to the former followers of his nephew, Solomon. The second greatest Hungarian king, also from the dynasty, was Ladislaus I of Hungary. He was also canonized as a saint, however, kingship over all of Croatia would not be achieved until the reign of his successor Coloman
9.
City College of New York
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The City College of the City University of New York is a public senior college of the City University of New York in New York City. Located on a hill overlooking Harlem in Manhattan, City Colleges 35-acre Collegiate Gothic campus spans Convent Avenue from 130th to 141st Streets and it was initially designed by renowned architect George B. Post, and many of its buildings have achieved landmark status, affectionately known as the Harvard of the proletariat, the college has graduated more Nobel Prize winners than any other public university in the United States. Among these 10 alumni, the latest is a Bronx native, founded in 1847, City College was the first free public institution of higher education in the United States. It is the oldest of CUNYs 24 institutions of higher learning, the City College of New York was founded as the Free Academy of the City of New York in 1847 by wealthy businessman and president of the Board of Education Townsend Harris. A combination prep school and college, it would provide children of immigrants, in 1847, New York State Governor John Young had given permission to the Board of Education to found the Free Academy, which was ratified in a statewide referendum. Dr. Horace Webster, a West Point graduate, was the first president of the Free Academy. In 1847, a curriculum was adopted which had nine main fields, mathematics, history, language, literature, drawing, natural philosophy, experimental philosophy, law, and political economy. The Academys first graduation took place in 1853 in Niblos Garden Theatre, even in its early years, the Free Academy showed tolerance for diversity, especially in comparison to its urban neighbor, Columbia College, which was exclusive to the sons of wealthy families. The Free Academy had a framework of tolerance that extended beyond the admission of students from every social stratum, in 1854, Columbias trustees denied Oliver Wolcott Gibbs, a distinguished chemist and scientist, a faculty position because of Gibbss Unitarian religious beliefs. Gibbs was a professor and held an appointment at the Free Academy since 1848, later in the history of CCNY, in the early 1900s, President John H. Finley gave the College a more secular orientation by abolishing mandatory chapel attendance. This change occurred at a time when more Jewish students were enrolling in the College, in 1866, the Free Academy, a mens institution, was renamed the College of the City of New York. In 1929, the College of the City of New York became the City College of New York, the names City College of New York and City College, however, remain in general use. With the name change in 1866, lavender was chosen as the Colleges color, in 1867, the academic senate, the first student government in the nation, was formed. Having struggled over the issue for ten years, in 1895 the New York State legislature voted to let the College build a new campus. A four-square block site was chosen, located in Manhattanville, within the area which was enclosed by the North Campus Arches, like President Webster, the second president of City College was a West Point graduate. The second president, General Alexander S. Webb, assumed office in 1869, one of the Unions heroes at Gettysburg, General Webb was the commander of the Philadelphia Brigade. When the Union Army repulsed the Confederates at Cemetery Hill, General Webb played a role in the battle
10.
Columbia University
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Columbia University is a private Ivy League research university in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1754 as Kings College by royal charter of George II of Great Britain, after the American Revolutionary War, Kings College briefly became a state entity, and was renamed Columbia College in 1784. Columbia is one of the fourteen founding members of the Association of American Universities and was the first school in the United States to grant the M. D. degree. The university also has global research outposts in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Paris, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Asunción, Columbia administers annually the Pulitzer Prize. Additionally,100 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Columbia as students, researchers, faculty, Columbia is second only to Harvard University in the number of Nobel Prize-winning affiliates, with over 100 recipients of the award as of 2016. In 1746 an act was passed by the assembly of New York to raise funds for the foundation of a new college. Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the colleges first president, Dr. Johnson was the only instructor of the colleges first class, which consisted of a mere eight students. Instruction was held in a new schoolhouse adjoining Trinity Church, located on what is now lower Broadway in Manhattan, in 1763, Dr. Johnson was succeeded in the presidency by Myles Cooper, a graduate of The Queens College, Oxford, and an ardent Tory. In the charged political climate of the American Revolution, his opponent in discussions at the college was an undergraduate of the class of 1777. The suspension continued through the occupation of New York City by British troops until their departure in 1783. The colleges library was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a hospital first by American. Loyalists were forced to abandon their Kings College in New York, the Loyalists, led by Bishop Charles Inglis fled to Windsor, Nova Scotia, where they founded Kings Collegiate School. After the Revolution, the college turned to the State of New York in order to restore its vitality, the Legislature agreed to assist the college, and on May 1,1784, it passed an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called Kings College. The Regents finally became aware of the colleges defective constitution in February 1787 and appointed a revision committee, in April of that same year, a new charter was adopted for the college, still in use today, granting power to a private board of 24 Trustees. On May 21,1787, William Samuel Johnson, the son of Dr. Samuel Johnson, was unanimously elected President of Columbia College, prior to serving at the university, Johnson had participated in the First Continental Congress and been chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The colleges enrollment, structure, and academics stagnated for the majority of the 19th century, with many of the college presidents doing little to change the way that the college functioned. In 1857, the college moved from the Kings College campus at Park Place to a primarily Gothic Revival campus on 49th Street and Madison Avenue, during the last half of the 19th century, under the leadership of President F. A. P. Barnard, the institution assumed the shape of a modern university
11.
Fencing (sport)
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Fencing, also called Olympic fencing, is a sport in which two competitors fight using rapier-style swords, winning points by making contact with their opponent. Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics, there are three forms of modern fencing, each using a different style of weapon and different rules, and as such the sport is divided into three competitive scenes, foil, épée, and sabre. Most competitive fencers choose to specialise in one weapon. Competitive fencing is one of five activities which have featured in every one of the modern Olympic Games, the other four being athletics, cycling, swimming. Fencing is governed by Fédération Internationale dEscrime, today, its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 145 national federations, each of which is recognised by its countrys Olympic Committee as the representative of Olympic-style fencing in that country. The FIE maintains the current rules used for FIE sanctioned international events, including cups, world championships. The FIE handles proposals to change the rules the first year after an Olympic year in the annual congress, the US Fencing Association has slightly different rules, but usually adhere to FIE standards. Fencing traces its roots to the development of swordsmanship for duels, the ancestor of modern fencing originated in Spain, where several books on fencing were written. In conquest, the Spanish forces carried fencing around the world, particularly southern Italy, Fencing was mentioned in the play The Merry Wives of Windsor written sometime prior to 1602. The mechanics of modern fencing originated in the 18th century in an Italian school of fencing of the Renaissance, the Spanish school of fencing stagnated and was replaced by the Italian and French schools. There, he taught the aristocracy the fashionable art of swordsmanship and his school was run by three generations of his family and dominated the art of European fencing for almost a century. He established the rules of posture and footwork that still govern modern sport fencing. The first regularized fencing competition was held at the inaugural Grand Military Tournament and Assault at Arms in 1880, held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, the Tournament featured a series of competitions between army officers and soldiers. Each bout was fought for five hits and the foils were pointed with black to aid the judges, the Amateur Gymnastic & Fencing Association drew up an official set of fencing regulations in 1896. Fencing was part of the Olympics Games in the summer of 1896, starting with épée in 1933, side judges were replaced by the Laurent-Pagan electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed. Foil was automated in 1956, sabre in 1988, the scoring box reduced the bias in judging, and permitted more accurate scoring of faster actions, lighter touches, and more touches to the back and flank than before. There are three weapons in modern fencing, foil, épée, and sabre, each weapon has its own rules and strategies
12.
1936 Summer Olympics
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The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event that was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain, on 26 April 1931 and it marked the second and final time the International Olympic Committee gathered to vote in a city that was bidding to host those Games. To outdo the Los Angeles games of 1932, Adolf Hitler had built a new 100, 000-seat track and field stadium, six gymnasiums, the games were the first to be televised, and radio broadcasts reached 41 countries. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee to film the Games for $7 million and her film, titled Olympia, pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports. When threatened with a boycott of the Games by other nations, total ticket revenues were 7.5 million Reichsmark, generating a profit of over one million marks. The official budget did not include outlays by the city of Berlin or outlays of the German national government and these were the final Olympics under the presidency of Henri de Baillet-Latour and the final Olympic Games for 12 years because of World War II. The next Olympic Games would be held in 1948, the bidding for these Olympic Games was the first to be contested by IOC members casting votes for their own favorite host cities. The vote occurred in 1931, during the Weimar Republic, before Adolf Hitler, many other cities around the world also wanted to host the Summer Olympics for that year, but except for Barcelona they did not receive any IOC votes. The other cities competing to hold the games were Alexandria, Buenos Aires, Cologne, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lausanne, Nuremberg, Rio de Janeiro, Budapest, and Rome. The selection procedure marked the second and final time that the International Olympic Committee would gather to vote in a city which was bidding to host those Games, the only other time this occurred was at the inaugural IOC Session in Paris, France, on 24 April 1894. Then, Athens and Paris were chosen to host the 1896 and 1900 Games, after the Nazis took control and began instituting anti-Semitic policies, the IOC held private discussions among its delegates about changing the decision to hold the Games in Berlin. However, Hitlers regime gave assurances that Jewish athletes would be allowed to compete on a German Olympic team, in September 1934, the US Olympic committee publicly accepted the invitation to go to the Berlin games, halting any further IOC attempts to quietly revise the decision. The next scheduled games in 1940 were awarded to Tokyo, the Japanese military even demanded that venues should be built from wood because metal was needed for its wars in Manchuria. The Olympic torch relay – itself pioneered as part of the 1936 Summer Games – was to fly the Olympic flame from Olympia to Tokyo in a specially-designed long-range aircraft. In 1938 the Japanese rejected hosting the games because they saw the Olympics and he promoted the idea that the use of sports would harden the German spirit and instill unity among German youth. At the same time he believed that sports was a way to weed out the weak, Jewish. Among Diems ideas for the Berlin Games was the introduction of the Olympic torch relay between Greece and the host nation, the 1936 Summer Olympics torch relay was the first of its kind, following on from the reintroduction of the Olympic Flame at the 1928 Games. It pioneered the modern convention of moving the flame via a system from Greece to the Olympic venue
13.
The Greatest Show on Earth (film)
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The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in Technicolor, and released by Paramount Pictures, james Stewart also stars in a supporting role as a mysterious clown who never removes his make-up, even between shows, while Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame play supporting roles. The actors learned their respective roles and participated in the acts. The films storyline is supported by lavish production values, actual circus acts, the film won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Story, and was nominated for Best Costume Design, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. It also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Director, Brad Braden is the no-nonsense general manager of what was at the time the worlds largest railroad circus. He has a number of problems on his hands for the upcoming season, the shows board of directors plan to run a short 10 week season rather than risk losing $25,000 a day in a shaky post-war economy. Brads first problem is having to tell his girlfriend, Holly, a flyer who has been expecting to be the star of that seasons show, that shes out of the center ring. The only way he was able to get management to agree to a season was to hire The Great Sebastian. Holly knows Brad must think of the circus first and personal feelings second, and that he not take chances with the show. His second problem is keeping Sebastian under control and he has a well-deserved reputation as a ladies man who has cut a wide swath through the female contingent of every show hes ever worked in, to the detriment of the running of those shows. His third problem is keeping an eye on Harry, a midway concessionaire he suspects of running crooked games of chance, another situation, unbeknownst to Brad, involves the beloved Buttons the Clown, who is never seen without his makeup. During a performance, Buttons converses with a member of the audience — who warns him that an unnamed they are asking questions about him again. She is in fact his mother and they see each other once a year. Hints about his life are revealed as he gives first aid to performers. Holly later finds an article about a doctor who had mercy killed his wife. The duel ends when, in response to a challenge from Holly, Sebastian removes his safety net and suffers serious injuries in a fall when a trick goes wrong. Buttons tends to him, and when the doctor expresses admiration for the way he dealt with the injuries the clown explains, a little nervously. Holly finally has the ring and star billing – but not the way she wanted it
14.
Tallulah Bankhead
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Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an American actress of the stage and screen, and a reputed libertine. Bankhead was known for her voice, outrageous personality. Originating some of the 20th-century theaters preeminent roles in comedy and melodrama, Bankhead became an icon of the tempestuous, flamboyant actress, and her unique voice and mannerisms are often subject to imitation and parody. Tallulah hailed from the Brockman Bankheads, a prominent Alabama political family — her grandfather, senators and her father served as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead did have one hit on film, as well as a brief and she later made appearances on television, some of which have become classics. In her personal life, Bankhead struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction, Bankhead was capable of great kindness and generosity to those in need, supporting disadvantaged foster children and helping several families escape the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Bankhead was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1972, upon her death, Bankhead was credited with nearly 300 film, stage, television, and radio roles. She is regarded as one of the 20th century theatres great Leading Ladies, Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was born on January 31,1902, in Huntsville, Alabama to William Brockman Bankhead and Adelaide Eugenia Ada Bankhead. Tallu was named after her grandmother, who in turn was named after Tallulah Falls. Her father hailed from the Bankhead-and-Brockman political family, active in the Democratic Party in the South in general and her father was the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1936 to 1940. She was the niece of Senator John H. Bankhead II and her mother, Adelaide Ada Eugenia, was a native of Como, Mississippi, and was engaged to another man when she met William Bankhead on a trip to Huntsville, Alabama to buy her wedding dress. The two fell in love at first sight and were married on January 31,1900 in Memphis and their first child, Ada Eugenia, was born on January 24,1901. She was born prematurely and suffered from vision difficulties, the following year, Bankhead was born on her parents wedding anniversary, on the second floor of what is now known as the Isaac Schiffman Building. A marker was erected to commemorate the site, and in 1980 the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, Ada died of blood poisoning on February 23,1902, three weeks after Bankheads birth. Coincidentally, her grandmother had died giving birth to her mother. On her deathbed, Ada told her sister-in-law to take care of Eugenia, Bankhead was baptized next to her mothers coffin. Bankhead was devastated by his wifes death, which sent him into a bout of depression, consequently, Tallulah and her sister Eugenia were mostly reared by their paternal grandmother, Tallulah James Brockman Bankhead, at the family estate called Sunset in Jasper, Alabama. As a child, Bankhead was described as extremely homely and overweight, while her sister was slim, as a result, she did everything in her efforts to gain attention, and constantly sought her fathers approval
15.
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
16.
Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeares most popular plays during his lifetime and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays, today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562, Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of quality, however. Shakespeares use of his dramatic structure has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops, Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical, during the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garricks 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushmans, restored the original text and focused on greater realism. John Gielguds 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeares text and used Elizabethan costumes, the play, set in Verona, Italy, begins with a street brawl between Montague and Capulet servants who, like their masters, are sworn enemies. Prince Escalus of Verona intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be punishable by death, later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter Juliet, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years and invites him to attend a planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliets nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept Pariss courtship, meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Montagues son, about Romeos recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulets nieces, persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet, Juliets cousin, Tybalt, is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball but is only stopped from killing Romeo by Juliets father, who does not wish to shed blood in his house. Romeo makes himself known to her and they agree to be married, with the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes to reconcile the two families through their childrens union, they are secretly married the next day. Tybalt, meanwhile, still incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the Capulet ball, Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalts insolence, as well as Romeos vile submission, Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight
17.
Warner Bros.
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Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
18.
High Sierra (film)
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High Sierra is a 1941 early heist film and film noir written by W. R. Burnett and John Huston from the novel by Burnett. The movie features Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart and was directed by Raoul Walsh on location at Whitney Portal, the screenplay was co-written by John Huston, Bogarts friend and drinking partner, adapted from the novel by William R. Burnett. The film cemented a strong personal and professional connection between Bogart and Huston, the film is also notable as the breakthrough in Bogarts career, transforming him from supporting player to leading man. An aged gangster, Big Mac, is planning a robbery at a fashionable California resort hotel in the resort town of Tropico Springs. He wants the experienced Roy Earle, just released from a prison by a governors pardon, to lead the heist. Babe has brought along a girl, Marie. Roy wants to send Marie back to Los Angeles, but, after some argument, Roy also is adopted by a small dog called Pard. Marie falls in love with Roy as he plans and executes the robbery, on the drive up to the mountains, Roy met the family of Velma, a young woman with a clubbed foot who walks with a limp. Roy pays for corrective surgery to allow Velma to walk normally, while she is recovering, Roy asks Velma to marry him, but she refuses, explaining that she is engaged to a man from back home. When Velmas fiancé arrives, Roy turns to Marie, and they become lovers, the heist goes wrong when they are interrupted by a security guard. Roy makes his getaway with Marie, but Mendoza, Red, Mendoza is captured and talks, putting the police on Roys trail. Roy goes to Big Mac with the jewels from the robbery, while Roy and Marie leave town, a dragnet is put out for him, identifying him to the public as Mad Dog Roy Earle. The two fugitives separate in order to allow Marie time to escape, Roy is pursued until he climbs one of the Sierra mountains, where he holes up overnight. Shortly after sunrise, Roy trades shots with the police and he hears Pard barking, runs out calling Maries name and is shot dead from behind by a sharpshooter. Actor George Raft was originally intended to play the Bogart part, however, Bogart, who took a great interest in playing the role of Roy Earle, managed to talk Raft out of accepting the role. Bogart had to persuade director Walsh to hire him for the role since Walsh envisioned Bogart as a player rather than a leading man. Bogarts characters dog, Pard, was believed by some to be canine actor Terry. In fact, it is Bogarts own dog, Zero, in the final scene, Buster Wiles, a stunt performer, plays Roys corpse
19.
Humphrey Bogart
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Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American screen and stage actor whose performances in 1940s films noir such as The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The Big Sleep earned him status as a cultural icon. Bogart began acting in 1921 after a hitch in the U. S. Navy in World War I and little success in various jobs in finance, gradually he became a regular in Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s. When the stock market crash of 1929 reduced the demand for plays, Bogarts breakthrough as a leading man came in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. His last film was The Harder They Fall, during a film career of almost 30 years, Bogart appeared in more than 75 feature films. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star of Classic American cinema, over his career, he received three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning one. Bogart was born on Christmas Day,1899, in New York City, Belmont was the only child of the unhappy marriage of Adam Watkins Bogart, a Canandaigua, New York innkeeper, and his wife, Julia, a wealthy heiress. The name Bogart comes from the Dutch surname Bogaert, Belmont and Maud married in June 1898, he was a Presbyterian, of English and Dutch descent, and she was an Episcopalian of English heritage, and a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland. Young Humphrey was raised in the Episcopal faith, but was non-practicing for most of his adult life, the corrected January birthdate subsequently appeared—and in some cases, remains—in many otherwise authoritative sources. Sperber and Eric Lax documented, however, that Bogart always celebrated his birthday on December 25, Lauren Bacall confirmed in her autobiography that his birthday was always celebrated on Christmas Day, adding that he joked that he was cheated out of a present every year because of it. Bogarts father, Belmont, was a cardiopulmonary surgeon and his mother, Maud, was a commercial illustrator who received her art training in New York and France, including study with James McNeill Whistler. Later she became art director of the fashion magazine The Delineator and she used a drawing of baby Humphrey in a well-known advertising campaign for Mellins Baby Food. In her prime, she made over $50,000 a year, then a vast sum, the Bogarts lived in a fashionable Upper West Side apartment, and had an elegant cottage on a 55-acre estate on Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York. As a youngster, Humphreys gang of friends at the lake would put on theatricals, Humphrey had two younger sisters, Frances and Catherine Elizabeth. His parents were busy in their careers and frequently fought, very formal, they showed little emotion towards their children. Maud told her offspring to call her Maud not Mother, when pleased she lapped you on the shoulder, almost the way a man does, Bogart recalled. I was brought up very unsentimentally but very straightforwardly, a kiss, in our family, was an event. Our mother and father didnt glug over my two sisters and me. As a boy, Bogart was teased for his curls, tidiness, the pictures his mother had him pose for, the Little Lord Fauntleroy clothes she dressed him in
20.
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
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Life Begins at Eight-Thirty is a 1942 drama film starring Monty Woolley as a washed-up, alcoholic actor, Ida Lupino as his daughter, and Cornel Wilde as her boyfriend. It is based on the play The Light of Heart by Emlyn Williams, New York actor Thomas Madden has fallen from grace due to alcoholism and manages to get fired from his job as Santa Claus in a department store on Christmas Eve. This puts both him and his young daughter Kathi on the spot. Kathi is physically challenged with a paralyzed foot, because of the state he is in, Thomas is helped home to his daughter by a young composer named Robert Carter, who is their new neighbor. Robert takes a liking to Kathi and they become friends, Robert also manages to get Thomas a paid acting job, playing a part in a minor play he has made the music to. Roberts aunt Alma Lothian is a admirer of Thomas previous work. Kathi hopes that her father take the chance and become as good as he once were. She is especially pleased with him slowing down on drinking, one day when Kathi troes to buy new furniture for their apartment, she finds out that Thomas has large debts because of his drinking. She finds herself courted by Robert, who has fallen in love with her and she tells him she has hopes of a family but that she is scared of passing on her handicap to her children. Thomas is offered a part in a production of King Lear. Kathi is overjoyed with the offer and tries to him the best she can. Robert puts off a job in Hollywood to help arrange the music for the play, Robert visits the doctor who delivered Kathi many years ago, and learns that her foot was damaged when Thomas dropped her when she was only a few months old. The doctor lied about the cause of the lameness to spare Thomas the guilt and this information enables Kathi to accept Roberts proposal. Thomas improves greatly during rehearsals, and the couple decide to wait until after opening night to tell him about their plans to move to Hollywood. He finds out by chance when the city clerk calls to fix the time of the marriage for the next day and he goes on a bender, thinking that Kathi is deserting him. He arrives drunk to the theater on the night and on top of everything else, Kathi is mad at him. After their argument, Kathi feels guilty and regrets the decision to move to Hollywood and she talks to Robert and convinces him to stay in New York. Thomas overhears the conversation and realizes it is time she started a life of her own and he writes her a letter, urging her to move ahead as planned, then goes directly to Almas home and accepts her proposal of marriage
21.
Sonja Henie
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Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion, Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater. Henie was born in Kristiania, current Oslo, the daughter of Wilhelm Henie, a prosperous Norwegian furrier. In addition to the income from the fur business, both of Henies parents had inherited wealth, Wilhelm Henie had been a one-time World Cycling Champion and the Henie children were encouraged to take up a variety of sports at a young age. Henie initially showed talent at skiing, and then followed her older brother Leif to take up figure skating, as a girl, Henie was also a nationally ranked tennis player and a skilled swimmer and equestrienne. Once Henie began serious training as a skater, her formal schooling ended. She was educated by tutors, and her father hired the best experts in the world, including the famous Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina, Henie won her first major competition, the senior Norwegian championships, at the age of 10. She then placed eighth in a field of eight at the 1924 Winter Olympics, during the 1924 program, she skated over to the side of the rink several times to ask her coach for directions, but by the next Olympiad, she needed no such assistance. Henie won the first of an unprecedented ten consecutive World Figure Skating Championships in 1927 at the age of fourteen, Henie went on to win first of her three Olympic gold medals the following year. She defended her Olympic titles in 1932 and in 1936, and she also won six consecutive European championships from 1931 to 1936. Henies unprecedented three Olympic gold medals havent been matched by any ladies single skater since, neither are her achievements as ten-time consecutive World Champion, towards the end of her career, she began to be strongly challenged by younger skaters including Cecilia Colledge, Megan Taylor and Hedy Stenuf. Indeed, after the school section at the 1936 Olympic competition, Colledge. The draw for the free skating came under suspicion after Henie landed the position of skating last. The early start was seen as a disadvantage, with the not yet whipped into a clapping frenzy. Years later, a fairer, staggered draw was adopted to counteract this situation, during her competitive career, Henie traveled widely and worked with a variety of foreign coaches. At home in Oslo, she trained at Frogner Stadium, where her coaches included Hjørdis Olsen, during the latter part of her competitive career she was coached primarily by the American Howard Nicholson in London. In addition to traveling to train and compete, she was much in demand as a performer at figure skating exhibitions in both Europe and North America. Henie became so popular with the public that police had to be called out for control on her appearances in various disparate cities such as Prague
22.
Wintertime
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Wintertime is a 1943 Twentieth Century-Fox musical film starring Sonja Henie and Cesar Romero, and featuring Woody Herman and His Orchestra. Nora schemes to get her uncle to invest in hotel improvements and she also falls for Freddy, although hes busy spending time with magazine photographer Marion Daly, trying to gain publicity for the resort. When more money is needed, Nora is offered a chance to skate in New York in a revue, but due to a legal technicality, she cannot enter the United States unless she is married to an American citizen, so handsome Brad Barton gladly volunteers. Sonja Henie as Nora Ostgaard Jack Oakie as Skip Hutton Cesar Romero as Brad Barton Carole Landis as Flossie S. Z. Jingle Bells, Wintertime at the American Film Institute Catalog Wintertime at the Internet Movie Database Wintertime at AllMovie Wintertime at the TCM Movie Database
23.
Alexander Knox
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Alexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century. Knox was born in Strathroy, Ontario and graduated from the University of Western Ontario and he later moved to Boston, Massachusetts to perform on the stage with the Boston Repertory Theatre. However, during the McCarthy Era, he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studio bosses and he also wrote six adventure novels, Bride of Quietness, Night of the White Bear, The Enemy I Kill, Raiders Moon, The Kidnapped Surgeon and Totem Dream. He also wrote plays and at least three novels under a pseudonym prior to 1945. Knox was married to American actress Doris Nolan from 1944 until his death in 1995 and they had a son Andrew Joseph Knox who became an actor and appeared in Doctor on the Go, and who was married to Imogen Hassall. Alexander Knox died in Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland from bone cancer, notes Alexander Knox at the Internet Movie Database Alexander Knox at the Internet Broadway Database New York Times obituary
24.
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
25.
Aladdin
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Aladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. Aladdin is an impoverished young neer-do-well dwelling in one of the cities of China, the sorcerers real motive is to persuade young Aladdin to retrieve a wonderful oil lamp from a booby-trapped magic cave. After the sorcerer attempts to him, Aladdin finds himself trapped in the cave. Fortunately, Aladdin is still wearing a ring the sorcerer has lent him. When he rubs his hands in despair, he rubs the ring. When his mother tries to clean the lamp, so they can sell it to buy food for their supper, with the aid of the genie of the lamp, Aladdin becomes rich and powerful and marries Princess Badroulbadour, the sultans daughter. The genie builds Aladdin and his bride a wonderful palace, far more magnificent than the sultans, the sorcerer hears of Aladdins good fortune, and returns, he gets his hands on the lamp by tricking Aladdins wife by offering to exchange new lamps for old. He orders the genie of the lamp to take the palace, along all its contents. Fortunately, Aladdin still has the ring and is able to summon the lesser genie. The sorcerers more powerful and evil brother plots to destroy Aladdin for killing his brother by disguising himself as an old woman known for her healing powers, Badroulbadour falls for his disguise and commands the woman to stay in her palace in case of any illnesses. Aladdin is warned of danger by the genie of the lamp. Everyone lives happily ever after, Aladdin eventually succeeding to his father-in-laws throne, Gallands diary records that he met the Maronite scholar, by name Youhenna Diab, who had been brought from Aleppo to Paris by Paul Lucas, a celebrated French traveller. Gallands diary also tells that his translation of Aladdin was made in the winter of 1709–10 and it was included in his volumes ix and x of the Nights, published in 1710. One was written by a Syrian Christian priest living in Paris, named Dionysios Shawish, the other is supposed to be a copy Mikhail Sabbagh made of a manuscript written in Baghdad in 1703. It was purchased by the Bibliothèque Nationale at the end of the nineteenth century, however, modern scholars such as Muhsin Mahdi and Husain Haddawy claim that both manuscripts are forgeries—back-translations of Gallands text into Arabic. The opening sentences of the story, in both the Galland and the Burton versions, set it in China and imply, at least, on the other hand, there is practically nothing in the rest of the story that is inconsistent with a Persian or Arabian setting. A Jewish merchant buys Aladdins wares, but there is no mention of Buddhists or Confucians, of course, Chinas ethnic makeup has long included Muslim groups, including large populations of the Hui people whose origins go back to Silk Road travellers. In addition, large communities of Muslim Chinese have been known since the Tang Dynasty, some commentators have even suggested that the story might be set in Turkestan
26.
A Thousand and One Nights (1945 film)
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It was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Art Direction, Color and Special Effects. Vagabond singer Aladdin has his hands full keeping his pickpocket friend, Abdullah, Abdullah is thought mad as he claims to have been born 1200 years too early, speaks in 1940s slang and knows about television. When the beautiful Princess Armina, the daughter of the Sultan, is borne through the streets in a litter, however. Despite knowing the punishment is death for a commoner to see the princesss face and he distracts the guards and slips into the litter. He persuades Armina to let her veil be lifted and is delighted to discover the stories of her beauty are true and she is not so enamored of him, but does not raise an outcry when he slips away. Later, Aladdin returns to the palace to woo Armina and he is caught and thrown in a cell to await execution the next day. A distraught Armina has her trusted servant Novira steal the key to the cell from the jailer, Aladdin and Abdullah flee the city, pursued by the Sultans guards. They hide out in a cave, where Kofir the sorcerer is waiting for them, Kofir persuades Aladdin to enter the bowels of the cave to fetch a magic lamp. Aladdin and the uneasy Abdullah dodge a laughing giant and return with the lamp, Kofir demands the lamp before he will let them out, but Aladdin does not trust him. The sorcerer leaves them to die of thirst and starvation, when a frustrated Aladdin throws the lamp away, a redheaded genie named Babs appears and instructs him to rub the lamp, which makes him her master. She explains that only her master can see or hear her and she insists he call her Babs and, like Abdullah, behaves and talks like she is from the twentieth century. He orders her to get out of the cave. He then decides to go back for the princess, much to the genies disappointment, meanwhile, the Sultans twin brother, Prince Hadji, who has already tried to overthrow his brother once before, makes the Sultan his captive and takes his place undetected. Hadji is aided by the treacherous Grand Wazir Abu-Hassan, who is promised Arminas hand in marriage as a reward, when Aladdin shows up pretending to be a prince of Hindustan, however, the Sultan changes his mind, preferring a rich son-in-law. The genie, however, does her best to derail the romance, once Kofir becomes the genies master, everything that Aladdin wished for disappears, including the gift robe the false Sultan is wearing for the wedding. Armina realizes the man is not her father, but Prince Hadji, Aladdin and Abdullah are taken away to be hanged, but Abu-Hassan offers to spare their lives if Armina agrees to marry him. Aladdin is set free, believing Armina was only toying with him, later, however, Novira tells him the truth. He and Abdullah track Kofir down and discover that he was overcome with excitement and they steal the lamp from its next owner, a tailor, and return to the palace
27.
Evelyn Keyes
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Evelyn Louise Keyes was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen OHara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, evelyn Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, to Omar Dow Keyes and Maude Ollive Keyes, the daughter of a Methodist minister. After Omar Keyes died when she was three years old, Keyes moved with her mother to Atlanta, Georgia, where they lived with her grandparents, as a teenager, Keyes took dancing lessons and performed for local clubs such as the Daughters of the Confederacy. A chorus girl by age 18, Keyes was put under contract by Cecil B, after a handful of B movies at Paramount Pictures, she landed a minor role in Gone with the Wind, that of Scarlett OHaras sister Suellen. Columbia Pictures signed her to a contract, in 1941, she played an ingenue in Here Comes Mr. Jordan. She spent most of the early 1940s playing leads in many of Columbias B dramas and she appeared as the female lead opposite Larry Parks in Columbias blockbuster hit The Jolson Story. She followed this up with an enjoyable minor screwball comedy, The Mating of Millie and she was then in a 1949 role as Kathy Flannigan in Mrs. Mike. Keyes last major role was a small part as Tom Ewells vacationing wife in The Seven Year Itch. Keyes officially retired in 1956, but continued to act and she was married to Barton Oliver Bainbridge Sr. from 1938 until his death from suicide in 1940. Later, she married and divorced director Charles Vidor, actor/director John Huston, Keyes said of her many relationships, I always took up with the man of the moment and there were many such moments. While married to Huston, the adopted a Mexican child, Pablo. Her autobiography, Scarlett OHaras Younger Sister, My Lively Life In, Keyes expressed her opinion that Mrs. Mike was her best film. She also wrote of the personal cost she paid by having an abortion just before Gone with the Wind was to begin filming and she had to fend off Harry Cohns advances during her career in Columbia. Keyes was a registered Democrat who supported the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt
28.
Robin Hood
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Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore who, according to legend, was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. Traditionally depicted as being dressed in Lincoln green, he is portrayed as robbing from the rich. Robin Hood became a folk figure in the late-medieval period. Little John, Much the Millers Son and Will Scarlet all appear and this view first gained currency in the 16th century. It is not supported by the earliest ballads, the early compilation, A Gest of Robyn Hode, names the king as Edward, and while it does show Robin Hood accepting the Kings pardon, he later repudiates it and returns to the greenwood. The oldest surviving ballad, Robin Hood and the Monk, gives even less support to the picture of Robin Hood as a partisan of the true king. The setting of the early ballads is usually attributed by scholars to either the 13th century or the 14th, the early ballads are also quite clear on Robin Hoods social status, he is a yeoman. While the precise meaning of this changed over time, including free retainers of an aristocrat and small landholders. The essence of it in the present context was neither a knight nor a peasant or husbonde, artisans were among those regarded as yeomen in the 14th century. As well as ballads, the legend was also transmitted by Robin Hood games or plays that were an important part of the late medieval and early modern May Day festivities. The first record of a Robin Hood game was in 1426 in Exeter, the Robin Hood games are known to have flourished in the later 15th and 16th centuries. It is commonly stated as fact that Maid Marian and a jolly friar entered the legend through the May Games, the earliest surviving text of a Robin Hood ballad is the 15th century Robin Hood and the Monk. This is preserved in Cambridge University manuscript Ff.5.48, written after 1450, it contains many of the elements still associated with the legend, from the Nottingham setting to the bitter enmity between Robin and the local sheriff. The first printed version is A Gest of Robyn Hode, a collection of stories that attempts to unite the episodes into a single continuous narrative. After this comes Robin Hood and the Potter, contained in a manuscript of c, the Potter is markedly different in tone from The Monk, whereas the earlier tale is a thriller the latter is more comic, its plot involving trickery and cunning rather than straightforward force. Other early texts are dramatic pieces, the earliest being the fragmentary Robyn Hod, each of these three ballads survived in a single copy, so it is unclear how much of the medieval legend has survived, and what has survived may not be typical of the medieval legend. The story of Robins aid to the knight that takes up much of the Gest may be an example. The character of Robin in these first texts is rougher edged than in his later incarnations, of my good he shall haue some, Yf he be a por man
29.
Gene Tierney
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Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed as a beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was born on November 19,1920 in Brooklyn, New York, the family owned a brownstone at 900 St. Marks Avenue, which was at the time a fashionable street in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. She was named after an uncle, who died young. She had a brother, Howard Sherwood “Butch” Tierney, Jr. Their father was an insurance broker of Irish descent, their mother a former physical education instructor. Tierney attended St. Margarets School in Waterbury, Connecticut, and she published her first poem, entitled Night, in the school magazine and wrote poetry occasionally throughout her life. Tierney played Jo in a student production of Little Women, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott, Tierney spent two years in Europe, attending Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French. She returned to the U. S. in 1938 and attended Miss Porters School in Farmington, on a family trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. studios, where a cousin worked as a producer of historical short films. Director Anatole Litvak, taken by the 17-year-old’s beauty, told her that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the low salary. Tierneys society debut occurred on September 24,1938, when she was 17 years old, soon bored with society life, she decided to pursue an acting career. Her father said, “If Gene is to be an actress and she became a protégée of Broadway producer-director George Abbott. In Tierneys first role on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life, a Variety magazine critic declared, Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier Ive ever seen. She also worked as an understudy in The Primrose Path, the following year, she appeared in the role of Molly ODay in the Broadway production Mrs. OBrien Entertains. The New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and that same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in Ring Two to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts, Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune wrote, I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have a theatrical career – that is
30.
Jeanne Crain
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Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress whose career spanned from 1943 to 1975. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in the 1949 film Pinky and she was also noted for her ability in ice skating. Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, by 1930, the family was living in the City of Inglewood at 822 S Walnut Ave. After her parents divorced in 1934, the family of three moved to 5817 Van Ness Ave in Los Angeles, an excellent ice skater, Crain first attracted attention when she was crowned Miss Pan Pacific at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. Later, while still in school, she was asked to make a screen test opposite Orson Welles. She did not get the part, but in 1943, at age 18, Crains film debut came in Home in Indiana in 1944, that same year, she starred in In the Meantime, Darling. Her acting was panned, but she gained nationwide attention. It resulted in landing the role in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim in October 1944. Crain first received acclaim when she starred in Winged Victory. She co-starred in 1945 with Dana Andrews in the musical film State Fair, after that, Crain often had singing parts in films, and they were invariably dubbed, in most cases by Hogan. Also in 1945, Crain starred in Leave Her to Heaven with Gene Tierney. Her ice skating ability was on display in the 1946 film, Margie, in which she and Conrad Janis danced around the ice rink as her boyfriend, Alan Young, slipped and stumbled his way along the ice. She made two films in 1948, You Were Meant for Me, a musical with Dan Dailey, that might have been Marilyn Monroes first appearance on film, and Apartment for Peggy, with William Holden. The latter film, a romantic and endearing piece with veteran Edmund Gwenn, examined the real problems faced by millions of returning vets. After the tumult of war, and eager for better lives, many former GIs flooded college campuses, taking advantage of opportunities now available to them, under the new GI Bill. The film is a tour de force for Crain, as she cracks wise, in rapid-fire patter, and quotes statistics she makes up out of whole cloth, to substantiate whatever point shes trying to make. In 1949, Crain appeared in three films — A Letter to Three Wives, The Fan, and Pinky, the last earning her a nomination the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pinky was controversial, since it told the story of a light-skinned African American woman who passes for white in the Northern United States, although Lena Horne and other black actresses were considered, producer Darryl F. Zanuck chose to cast a white actress for fear of racial backlash
31.
Centennial Summer
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Centennial Summer is a 1946 musical film directed by Otto Preminger. The musical, that stars Jeanne Crain and Cornel Wilde, is based on a novel by Albert E. Idell. It was produced in response to the hugely successful 1944 MGM musical film Meet Me in St. Louis The movie is about two sisters growing up in Philadelphia in the 1870s and they both fall for a Frenchman who has to prepare the pavilion for the Centennial Exposition. Rogers Barbara Whiting as Susanna Rogers Larry Stevens as Richard Lewis Esq, kathleen Howard as Deborah Buddy Swan as Dudley Rogers Charles Dingle as J. P. Snodgrass Avon Long as Specialty The movie was nominated twice at the 1946 Academy Awards. One of those nominations was for Best Original Song for the song All Through the Day, written by Jerome Kern, in Kerns case, the nomination was posthumous as he had died on 11 November 1945. The Right Romance Up with the Lark All Through the Day In Love in Vain Cinderella Sue Centennial Summer at the Internet Movie Database
32.
Margie (film)
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Margie is a 1946 American romantic comedy film directed by Henry King and starring Jeanne Crain, about a high school girl in the 1920s who develops a crush on her French teacher. Margie was a hit, ranking in the top 15 highest-grossing films of the year. Although not a movie musical, it is sometimes classified with musicals due to the large number of 1920s-era popular songs incorporated as nostalgic background in the film. The film was the basis for the 1961 television sitcom Margie, in 1946, Margie is a housewife reminiscing about her high school days with her own teenage daughter, who has just discovered her mothers old photo album in the attic. In a flashback to the 1920s, Margie is a girl living with her dominant. The youngest girl in her class, Margie does very well at her schoolwork, by contrast, her pretty and fashionable neighbor Marybelle Tenor wears short skirts and lipstick and dates the popular but dimwitted captain of the football team, Johnny Green. Margie secretly has a crush on Johnny, but he regards her as a pain in the neck. When Margie meets the handsome new French teacher at her school, Professor Ralph Fontayne, she becomes even more smitten with him. Meanwhile, Margies bumbling classmate Roy Hornsdale is in love with her, Margie participates in a school debate and is excited that both her father and Mr. Fontayne attend. Margies father is impressed with her skills and proud of her. Afterwards, at the rink, Margie gets a chance to skate with Johnny but while they are skating. Mr. Fontayne, who is looking on, saves her from public embarrassment by hiding them and tactfully returning them to her later. When the big senior dance approaches, Margie plans to attend with Roy, but at the last minute Roy catches a cold and is forced to cancel, leaving Margie without an escort. Margie is too embarrassed to go alone or tell Marybelle, who is going with Johnny, that she doesnt have a date, and instead gives Marybelle the impression that Mr. Fontayne is taking her to the dance. Mr. Margie is at first devastated, but when her actual surprise date — her father — arrives to escort her to the dance, she is happy again. At the dance, Mr. Fontayne dances with Margie and tells her he would dance with her than anyone else. Returning to the 1940s, it turns out Margie married Mr. Fontayne, in January 1945, 20th Century Fox paid $12,500 for a story written by Ruth McKenney and her husband Richard Bransten. Hugh Herbert used elements from the film Girls Dormitory, the male lead was initially offered to Cornel Wilde, but he refused it and was put on suspension by the studio
33.
Forever Amber (film)
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Forever Amber is a 1947 American romantic drama Technicolor film starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde. It was based on the book of the name by Kathleen Winsor. It also starred Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, the movie was originally budgeted at $4.5 million. The Hays Office had condemned the novel, but within a month of its publication the movie rights had been purchased by 20th Century Fox. In 1947, Darnell won the role in the highly anticipated film adaptation when the original star, newcomer Peggy Cummins. The character Amber in the novel was so called because of her eye color, publicity at the time compared the novel Forever Amber to Gone with the Wind. The films score, by composer David Raksin, was nominated for the Academy Award for Original Music Score, the film begins in 1644 during the English Civil War, as we see a group of Roundheads pursuing a Cavaliers carriage. The carriage drives into the country where its passengers abandon a baby, named Amber, the roundheads soon catch up with the carriage and kill all the passengers while the farmers discover and decide to adopt Amber. The film moves forward to 1660, the death of Oliver Cromwell, however the small rural towns and villages remain strictly puritanical. Sixteen years after being abandoned in a rural village, we see that Amber has grown into a beauty and is about to be married despite her protests. She wants to be more than a wife and dreams of court fashions. Her dream comes true with the arrival of a group of cavaliers and she follows the Cavaliers to a tavern and begs Bruce to let her come with him to London. Despite her request and coaxing from Bruce’s friend Almsbury, Bruce refuses her, Amber once again tries to convince Bruce to take her to London, which he refuses, before they share a kiss. Bruce and Almsbury return to London to seek an audience with the king but are turned away, Barbara Villiers, the king’s mistress, is brought to court and coldly walks past them. As Bruce and Almsbury return to their London tavern, they see that Amber has followed them to London, Bruce allows her to stay with him and they begin an affair whereby Bruce pampers Amber with new gowns and takes her to the theater. At one performance, Bruce sees Barbara Villiers alone and goes to speak with her getting the king to grant him ships for his privateer mission. Amber is distraught at the thought of Bruce leaving and stops Almsbury from warning Bruce that the king has arrived, the king sees Bruce with his mistress and later summons him to court. Not wanting his friend to face the king’s wrath alone, Almsbury goes with him, the king, however, grants Bruce the ships he needs and requests that he leave for Bristol that very night
34.
Maureen O'Hara
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Maureen OHara was an Irish-born American actress and singer. The famously red-headed OHara was known for her beauty and playing fiercely passionate but sensible heroines, often in westerns and she worked on numerous occasions with director John Ford and longtime friend John Wayne, and was one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood. OHara grew up in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh to an eccentric devout Catholic family and she trained with the Rathmines Theatre Company from the age of 10 and at the Abbey Theatre from the age of 14. She was given a screen test, which was deemed unsatisfactory and she moved to Hollywood the same year to appear with him in the production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and was given a contract by RKO Pictures. OHara gained a reputation in Hollywood for bossiness and prudishness, avoiding the partying lifestyle, OHara made her first film with Wayne, the actor with whom she is most closely associated, with Rio Grande. This was followed by The Quiet Man, her best-known film, such was her strong chemistry with Wayne that many assumed they were married or in a relationship. In the 1960s OHara increasingly turned to more roles as she aged, appearing in films such as The Deadly Companions, The Parent Trap. She retired from the industry in 1971 after starring with Wayne one final time in Big Jake and she was married three times, and had one daughter, Bronwyn, born in 1944 to her second husband. Her autobiography, Tis Herself, was published in 2004 and became a New York Times Bestseller, born on 17 August 1920, OHara began life as Maureen FitzSimons on Beechwood Avenue in the Dublin suburb of Ranelagh. She states that she was born into the most remarkable and eccentric family I could have hoped for. OHara was the second oldest of six children of Charles and Marguerite FitzSimons, and her father was in the clothing business and bought into Shamrock Rovers Football Club, a team OHara supported from childhood. OHara noted that whenever her mother left the house, men would leave their houses just so they could catch a glimpse of her in the street, OHaras siblings were Peggy, the oldest, and younger Charles, Florrie, Margot, and Jimmy. Peggy dedicated her life to an order, becoming a Sister of Charity. OHara earned the nickname Baby Elephant for being a pudgy infant, a tomboy, she enjoyed fishing in the River Dodder, riding horses, swimming and Gaelic football, and would play boys games and climb trees. OHara was so keen on Gaelic football that at one point she pressed her father to found a team, and professed that Glenmalure Park. She enjoyed fighting, and trained in judo as a teenager and she later admitted that she displayed a jealousy towards boys in her youth and the freedom they had, and that they could steal apples from orchards and not get into trouble. OHara first attended the John Street West Girls School near Thomas Street in Dublins Liberties Area and her enthusiastic family fully supported the idea. When she recited a poem on stage in school at the age of six, from that age she trained in drama, music and dance along with her siblings at the Ena Mary Burke School of Drama and Elocution in Dublin
35.
The Homestretch
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The Homestretch is a 1947 American drama film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and written by Wanda Tuchock. The film stars Cornel Wilde, Maureen OHara, Glenn Langan, Helen Walker, James Gleason, Henry Stephenson, the film was released on May 4,1947, by 20th Century Fox. Jock Wallace and Kitty Brant are rival thoroughbred horse breeders and he outbids her for a promising but injured horse, Abby R, paying $500 for it, angering the owners niece, Leslie Hale, who feels the horse is worth much more. Jock is attracted to Leslie and invites her to the Kentucky Derby to see another of his horses run, on a boat to Argentina, where he intends to race Abby R next, Jock charms Leslie and they are married. But the return of Kitty, combined with Jocks broken promises and racing debts, leads to the pregnant Leslie having a miscarriage, Valiant, a horse Jock gave her as a gift, begins winning big races at Saratoga, Belmont, Hollywood Park and other major tracks. Jock gets a horse from Kitty and decides to run it against Valiant in the Kentucky Derby. Leslies horse wins by a nose, but Jock wins back her love
36.
Ginger Rogers
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Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She is known for her performances in films and RKOs musical films in which Fred Astaire was partened with her and she appeared on stage, as well as on radio and television, throughout much of the 20th century. Born in Independence, Missouri, and raised in Kansas City, Rogers and her family moved to Fort Worth, Texas, after winning a dance contest that launched a successful vaudeville career, she gained recognition as a Broadway actress for her debut stage role in Girl Crazy. This success led to a contract with Paramount Pictures, which ended after five films, Rogers had her first successful film role as a supporting actress in 42nd Street. Throughout the 1930s, Rogers made 10 films with Astaire, among which were some of her biggest successes, such as Swing Time, after two commercial failures with Astaire, Rogers began to branch out into dramatic films and comedies. Her acting was received by critics and audiences, and she became one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s. Her performance in Kitty Foyle won her the Academy Award for Best Actress, Rogers remained successful throughout the 1940s and at one point was Hollywoods highest-paid actress, but her popularity had peaked by the end of the decade. She reunited with Astaire in 1949 in the commercially successful The Barkleys of Broadway, after an unsuccessful period through the 1950s, Rogers made a successful return to Broadway in 1965, playing the lead role in Hello, Dolly. More lead roles on Broadway followed, along with her directorial debut in 1985 on an off-Broadway production of Babes in Arms. Rogers also made acting appearances until 1987. In 1992, Rogers was recognized at the Kennedy Center Honors and she died of a heart attack in 1995, at the age of 83. A Republican and a devout Christian Scientist, Rogers was married five times, with all of her marriages ending in divorce, during her long career, Rogers made 73 films, and her musical films with Fred Astaire are credited with revolutionizing their genre. Rogers was successful during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and is considered an American icon. She ranks number 14 on the AFIs 100 Years.100 Stars list of stars of classic American cinema. Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath on July 16,1911, in her mothers rented home at 100 Moore Street, Independence and she was the only living child of William Eddins McMath, an electrical engineer, and his wife, Lela Emogene. She was of Scottish, Welsh, and English ancestry and her mother did not want her born in a hospital, having lost a previous child there. Her parents had separated shortly after she was born, but her grandparents, Walter and Saphrona Owens, after unsuccessfully trying to become a family again, McMath kidnapped his daughter twice. Rogers said that she never saw her father again
37.
It Had to Be You (1947 film)
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It Had to Be You is a 1947 romantic comedy film directed by Don Hartman and Rudolph Maté, starring Ginger Rogers and Cornel Wilde. A marriage-shy sculptor meets the boy of her dreams, now a firefighter. In this fantasy, screwball comedy, Victoria Stafford, is a wealthy girl who has been engaged three times, and has three times backed out at the altar. On a train she meets the vision George McKesson dressed as an Indian and he claims that he is a figment of her imagination and will disappear as soon as she stops thinking about him. He follows her home and causes confusion among her family. Determined to wed her fourth fiancé, Oliver H. P, harrington, Victoria is on the verge of saying yes, when suddenly she meets the real version of her dream lover, Johnny Blaine, a firefighter, the physical incarnation. At her insistence they start going out and it turns out he too, has backed out three times at the altar claiming it never felt right. Victoria is so excited to meet him and to discover that they share a lot in common, in the meantime, fiancée Oliver has a conversation with George. Who alludes to the scandal of Victoria, having traveled with an Indian on a train, in a way he gives Oliver the phone number of the conductor who witnessed the whole train adventure. Oliver, desperate to find out the tracks down the train conductor. After some days, Victoria has convinced Johnny that they have always been in ever since they were kids. He decides to marry her but wants to speak to her father first, because the family thinks that he is George, they are confused when he claims to be Johnny Blaine the firefighter. Thinking that the family is nuts and concerned about her train adventure with another man. Oliver and Victoria reconcile through their families and are about to marry when the vision of George McKesson shows up at the wedding, the father knowing she is marrying the wrong man sets off the fire alarm to bring the real dream man, Johnny. When the fire crew enter the ceremony, Johnny carries Victoria over his shoulder, nilsson as Saleslady Ginger Rogers, in her autobiography, Ginger, My Story, a very amusing script about a girl who backs out of four marriages. In the end she finds the answer to her dreams and the reason for her vacillation, the answer was played by Cornel Wilde, who usually appeared in robust adventure roles. I must say, he marched into the picture as though he had done all his life. And I got to act for a few moments with Anna Q
38.
Road House (1948 film)
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For the 1989 film, see Road House. Road House is a 1948 film noir directed by Jean Negulesco. The picture features Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, the drama tells the story of Lily Stevens who takes a job as a singer at a roadhouse—complete with a bowling alley. When Lily dumps the owner Jefty for his boyhood friend Pete Morgan and they only get worse when Jefty is rejected after proposing to Lily, causing Jefty to go on a murderous rage. Lupino sings the classic Johnny Mercer song One for My Baby in the film, the song Again, written by Dorcas Cochran and Lionel Newman, debuted in this film, and was also sung by her. Pete Morgan manages Jeftys Road House for his friend, Jefferson Jefty Robbins. Jefty is attracted to Lily Stevens, his new singer from Chicago, Jefty, however, is convinced that Lily is different, even though she is playing hard-to-get. Although Pete tries to pay Lily off and put her on a train, she is not about to leave and makes a debut at the club. Jefty asks Pete to teach Lily how to bowl in the alley but she shows little interest in the sport. Susie Smith, the cashier who is fond of Pete. Before Jefty leaves on a trip, he tells Lily that she is not like any other girl he has ever met. Lily tries to join Pete for a ride on a lake. Lily contradicts that notion, so Pete arranges to pick her up later, Susie also goes along, although the womens friendship is decidedly frosty. Later, Pete comes to Lilys rescue when a drunk causes a scene at the club, Lily and Pete share a passionate kiss. Pete loves her, and it is obvious she feels the same way and their idyll is interrupted when Jefty returns and shows Pete a marriage license he has obtained in his and Lilys names. When Jefty is told Pete and Lily are planning to be married, Pete leaves a note stating that he and Lily are leaving and that he has taken $600 owed to him. At the railroad station, two policemen detain Pete and Lily, Jefty claims that the entire weeks receipts have been taken from the roadhouses safe, but Pete insists he took only $600. After Susie states that the receipts totaled $2,600, Pete is held for trial, Pete is tried and found guilty of grand larceny
39.
Shockproof
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Shockproof is a 1949 American film noir directed by Douglas Sirk, and starring Cornel Wilde and Patricia Knight. Wilde and Knight were husband and wife during filming, Griff Marat, is a parole officer who falls in love with a parolee, Jenny Marsh. Marsh had gone to prison in order to protect Harry Wesson a gambler with whom she was having an affair, warned to steer clear of Harry permanently, Jenny disobeys, still feeling loyal to him. A raid on Harrys bookie joint while Jenny is there costs her the job Griff has found for her, out of concern for her welfare, Griff hires Jenny as a caretaker for his blind mother. Griff has political ambitions that Harry would like to ruin, so Harry encourages Jenny to accept Griffs romantic advances. They get married after Jenny realises she loves Griff but the couple flee to Mexico one night after Harry is found shot after she tries to him of her love of Griff. Griff takes a job in an oil refinery, willing to do anything to keep Jenny from going back to jail, a photograph reveals their true identities, but upon their return, Harry swears that the shooting was an accident, clearing Jennys name. Cornel Wilde as Griff Marat Patricia Knight as Jenny Marsh John Baragrey as Harry Wesson Esther Minciotti as Mrs. Marat Howard St, in Samuel Fullers original script, the film ended with a violent rebellion by Marat against the system that kept him and Marsh apart. The studio had National Velvet scriptwriter Helen Deutsch step in to pen a soft-suds rewrite. A number of Fullers screenplays, including The Naked Kiss, The Baron of Arizona, House of Bamboo, Forty Guns, The Big Red One and this film, featured a lead character called Griff. Fuller and Mr. Sirk — and thats why the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, the lurid setup and obsessive-loner-versus-the-system mechanics are pure Samuel Fuller. Mr. Shockproof at the American Film Institute Catalog Shockproof at the Internet Movie Database Shockproof at AllMovie Shockproof at the TCM Movie Database
