1.
Giant (1956 film)
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Giant is a 1956 American epic Western drama film, directed by George Stevens from a screenplay adapted by Fred Guiol and Ivan Moffat from Edna Ferbers 1952 novel. Giant was the last of James Deans three films as a actor, and earned him his second and last Academy Award nomination – he was killed in a car accident before the film was released. Nick Adams was called in to do some voice dubbing for Deans role, in 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Wealthy Texas rancher Jordan Bick Benedict Jr. travels to Maryland to buy a horse, there he meets and courts socialite Leslie Lynnton, who ends a budding relationship with British diplomat Sir David Karfrey and marries Bick after a whirlwind romance. They return to Texas to start their life together on the ranch, Reata. Leslie meets Jett Rink, a handyman, and he becomes infatuated with her. Leslie discovers on a ride with Jett that the local Mexican workers living conditions are terrible, after tending to one of the Mexican children, Angel Obregon II, she presses Bick to take steps to improve their condition. When riding Leslies beloved horse, War Winds, Luz expresses her hostility for Leslie by cruelly digging in her spurs, War Winds bucks her off and she leaves Jett a small piece of land on the Benedict ranch. Bick, who despises Jett, tries to buy back the land, Jett makes the land his home and names it Little Reata. Over the next ten years, Leslie and Bick have twins, Jordan II and Judy, Jett strikes oil on his land and drives to the Benedict house, covered in crude, to proclaim to the Benedicts that he will be richer than them. Jett makes a pass at Leslie, and this leads to a fistfight with Bick before he drives off. Jetts oil drilling company prospers over the years, and he tries to persuade Bick to let him drill for oil on Reata, Bick is determined to preserve his family legacy, however, and refuses. Meanwhile, tensions arise regarding the now-grown children, Bick insists that Jordy succeed him and run the ranch, but Jordy wants to become a doctor. Leslie wants Judy to attend finishing school in Switzerland, but Judy wants to study animal husbandry at Texas Tech, both children succeed in pursuing their own vocations, each asking one parent to convince the other to let them have their way. At the family Christmas party, Bick tries to interest Judys new husband, Bob Dace, in working on the ranch after he returns from the declared war. Jett arrives and persuades Bick to allow oil production on his land, realizing that his children will not take over the ranch when he retires, Bick agrees. Luz II, now in her teens, starts flirting with Jett, once oil production starts on the ranch, the Benedict family becomes even wealthier and more powerful. Meanwhile, the now-grown Angel is killed in the war, the Benedict–Rink rivalry comes to a head when the Benedicts discover that Luz II and the much older Jett have been dating
2.
Oakland, California
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Oakland /ˈoʊklənd/ is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. The city was incorporated in 1852, Oaklands territory covers what was once a mosaic of California coastal terrace prairie, oak woodland, and north coastal scrub. Its land served as a resource when its hillside oak and redwood timber were logged to build San Francisco. In the late 1860s, Oakland was selected as the terminal of the Transcontinental Railroad. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many San Francisco citizens moved to Oakland, enlarging the citys population, increasing its housing stock and it continued to grow in the 20th century with its busy port, shipyards, and a thriving automobile manufacturing industry. Oakland is known for its sustainability practices, including a top-ranking for usage of electricity from renewable resources, in addition, due to a steady influx of immigrants during the 20th century, along with thousands of African-American war-industry workers who relocated from the Deep South during the 1940s. Oakland is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. The earliest known inhabitants were the Huchiun Indians, who lived there for thousands of years, the Huchiun belonged to a linguistic grouping later called the Ohlone. In Oakland, they were concentrated around Lake Merritt and Temescal Creek, in 1772, the area that later became Oakland was claimed, with the rest of California, by Spanish settlers for the King of Spain. In the early 19th century, the Spanish crown granted the East Bay area to Luis María Peralta for his Rancho San Antonio, the grant was confirmed by the successor Mexican republic upon its independence from Spain. Upon his death in 1842, Peralta divided his land among his four sons, Most of Oakland fell within the shares given to Antonio Maria and Vicente. The portion of the parcel that is now Oakland was called encinal—Spanish for oak grove—due to the oak forest that covered the area. In 1851, three men—Horace Carpentier, Edson Adams, and Andrew Moon—began developing what is now downtown Oakland, on May 4,1852, the Town of Oakland incorporated. Two years later, on March 25,1854, Oakland re-incorporated as the City of Oakland, with Horace Carpentier elected the first mayor, the city and its environs quickly grew with the railroads, becoming a major rail terminal in the late 1860s and 1870s. In 1868, the Central Pacific constructed the Oakland Long Wharf at Oakland Point, a number of horsecar and cable car lines were constructed in Oakland during the latter half of the 19th century. The first electric streetcar set out from Oakland to Berkeley in 1891, at the time of incorporation, Oakland consisted of the territory that lay south of todays major intersection of San Pablo Avenue, Broadway, and Fourteenth Street. The city gradually annexed farmlands and settlements to the east and the north, Oaklands rise to industrial prominence, and its subsequent need for a seaport, led to the digging of a shipping and tidal channel in 1902. This resulted in the town of Alameda being made an island
3.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
4.
Lancaster, California
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Lancaster /ˈlæn. kæstər/ is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. As of 2013, Lancaster was the 31st largest city in California, Lancaster is part of a twin city complex with its southern neighbor Palmdale and together they are the principal cities within the Antelope Valley region and Californias High Desert. Lancaster is located approximately 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles and it is separated from the Los Angeles Basin by the San Gabriel Mountains to the south, and from Bakersfield and the San Joaquin Valley by the Tehachapi Mountains to the north. The population of Lancaster grew from 37,000 at the time of its incorporation in 1977 to over 156,000 in 2010, according to the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance report of 2015, Lancaster has a population of 168,049. The area where Lancaster is now located, known as the Antelope Valley, was home to the Paiute Indians. In 1876 the Southern Pacific completed the line through the Antelope Valley, linking San Francisco, train service brought passengers through the water-stop-turned-community, which, with the help of promotional literature, attracted new settlers. The following year, the Lancaster News started publication, making it the first weekly newspaper in the Antelope Valley, by 1890, Lancaster was bustling and booming, and thanks to adequate rainfall, farmers planted and sold thousands of acres of wheat and barley. Thanks to the construction of the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct starting in 1908. In the 1980s through the end of the program, Edwards Air Force Base, the development of Air Force Plant 42 in 1958, augmented in the 1960s by construction of Lockheed Aircrafts Plant 10, created tens of thousands of jobs. High-wage employment hit its peak in the 1970s during the Lockheed L-1011 commercial wide body jetliner project, for which all assembly and some engineering,250 L-1011 aircraft were assembled and flown from this plant and airfield. Lancaster was a community in Los Angeles County until 1977. Lancaster State Prison opened in 1993 and before that Los Angeles County hosted no prisons, most of Lancasters civic leaders and residents opposed the building of the prison, and four inmates escaped from LAC in its first year of operation. Nevertheless, by 2000 a proposal to increase the proportion of maximum-security inmates received little criticism. In 2005, Hyundai Motor Co. announced the opening of a 4, 300-acre, $60 million Proving Ground. In 2010, the city opened The BLVD, a one-mile revitalized stretch of Lancaster Boulevard between 10th Street West and Sierra Highway, City leaders have set the ambitious goal of becoming the nations first Net-Zero municipality, wherein they will produce more clean energy than they consume. Much of the infrastructure including City Hall, local schools. In March 2013, Lancaster became the first city in the US to require solar panels on all new homes in an effort to make the community more carbon neutral, the rule took effect in January,2014. War Eagle Field is an airfield located in the Mojave Desert
5.
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
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Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn Southern California cemeteries. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, CA90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills is a dedicated to the preservation of American history and hosts high-profile events such as an annual Veterans Day ceremony attended by dignitaries. The park features such sights as, The Court of Liberty features statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, at 162 feet long and 28 feet high, Birth of Liberty is the largest historical mosaic in the United States. It is composed of ten pieces of Venetian glass and depicts twenty-five scenes from early America. The Old North Church, a replica of Bostons historic church. The historical rooms have documents and mementos of the colonial period, the Hall of Liberty American History Museum has a copy of the Liberty Bell and other exhibits. The museum has a 1, 200-seat auditorium, monument to Washington, a marble and bronze tribute to Americas first president, created by sculptor Thomas Ball. Four of Washingtons generals are honored in the memorial, the Lincoln Terrace features a 16-foot bronze statue of the 16th president by Augustus St. Gaudens, flanked by a panoramic mosaic depicting key scenes from Lincolns life. The Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage has indigenous/non-Christian sculptures by Meliton Salas Rodriguez, of Guadalajara, the first Forest Lawn, in Glendale, was founded in 1906 by businessmen who hired Dr. Hubert Eaton, a firm believer in a joyous life after death. Before it was a cemetery, Forest Lawn was a location used by directors such as Carl Laemmle. The climactic battle scenes for D. W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation were filmed there. The alternate names of the site are Providencia Flats, Nestor Ranch, Oak Ranch, Oak Crest Ranch, Universal Ranch/Universal City, Lasky Ranch. When Eaton made known his desire to open a second Forest Lawn location in the Hollywood Hills, the local residents protested vehemently. To circumvent the protesters, Mr. Eaton sent his staff to the county morgue to claim 6 John Does, in the morning, the protesters had no power because, by law, the property was now a cemetery. A mausoleum, for crypt or vault interments, a crematory and columbarium, for cinerary interments. A place where six or more bodies are buried. The new mortuary and cemetery opened in 1952, interred or entombed in the Hollywood Hills cemetery are many famous people, particularly from the entertainment industry
6.
Academy Award for Best Director
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The Academy Award for Best Director is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year, the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture,63 have also been awarded Best Director, since its inception, the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams. John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four, william Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions, more than any other individual. As of the 2017 ceremony, Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in category for his work on La La Land. Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award, two directing teams have shared the award, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007. The Coen brothers are the siblings to have won the award. 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. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full calendar year from January 1 to December 31. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com
7.
The More the Merrier
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The More the Merrier is a 1943 American comedy film made by Columbia Pictures which makes fun of the housing shortage during World War II, especially in Washington, D. C. The picture stars Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn, the movie was directed by George Stevens. The film was written by Richard Flournoy, Lewis R. Foster, Frank Ross, and Robert Russell, from Twos a Crowd and this film was remade in 1966 as Walk, Dont Run, with Cary Grant, Samantha Eggar and Jim Hutton. Retired millionaire Benjamin Dingle arrives in Washington, D. C. as an adviser on the housing shortage and he sees an ad for a roommate and talks the reluctant young woman, Connie Milligan, into letting him sublet half of her apartment. Then Dingle runs into Sergeant Joe Carter, who has no place to stay while he waits to be shipped overseas, Dingle generously rents him half of his half. When Connie finds out about the new arrangement, she orders them both to leave, but she is forced to relent because she has spent the mens rent. Joe and Connie are attracted to other, though she is engaged to bureaucrat Charles J. Pendergast. Connies mother married for love, not security, and Connie is determined not to repeat her mistake, Dingle happens to meet Pendergast at a business luncheon and does not like what he sees. He decides that Joe would be a match for his landlady. One day, Dingle goes too far, reading aloud to Joe from Connies private diary, when she finds out, she demands they both leave the next day. Dingle takes full blame for the incident, Connie allows Joe to remain in the apartment as he has only a few days before being shipped out to Africa. Joe asks Connie to go out with him and she is reluctant to do so, but decides to go if Pendergast does not call for her by 8. At 8, she and Joe are ready to leave, but her noisy teenage neighbor seeks her advice, Joe spies on the two of them from the window. When the neighbor asks what he is doing, Joe flippantly tells him he is a Japanese spy, Dingle calls Joe to meet him for dinner. Dingle bumps into the couple and pretends he is meeting Connie for the first time, Dingle engages Pendergast in talk about his work, eventually maneuvering him up to his room so that Connie and Joe can be alone together. The two talk about their pasts and even kiss. From their separate rooms, Joe confesses that he loves her and she tells him she feels the same way, but refuses to marry him, as they will soon be forced apart. Their talk is interrupted by the arrival of the FBI, who have called to investigate Joe for spying
8.
Shane (film)
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Shane is a 1953 American Technicolor Western film from Paramount, noted for its landscape cinematography, editing, performances, and contributions to the genre. The picture was produced and directed by George Stevens from a screenplay by A. B, Guthrie, Jr. based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Jack Schaefer. Its Oscar-winning cinematography was by Loyal Griggs, Shane stars Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur and Van Heflin, and features Brandon deWilde, Jack Palance, Emile Meyer, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Ben Johnson. Shane was listed No.45 in the 2007 edition of AFIs 100 Years.100 Movies list, Shane, a skilled, laconic gunfighter with a mysterious past, rides into an isolated valley in the sparsely settled state of Wyoming, some time after the Civil War. At dinner with local rancher Joe Starrett and his wife Marian, though they have claimed their land legally under the Homestead Acts, a ruthless cattle baron, Rufus Ryker, has hired rogues and henchmen to harass them and drive them out of the valley. Starrett offers Shane a job, and he accepts, at the towns general store, Shane and other homesteaders are loading up supplies. Shane enters the adjacent to the store, where Rykers men are drinking. Chris Calloway, one of Rykers men, throws a shot of whiskey on Shanes shirt, Shane doesnt rise to the bait, and leaves to the taunts of Rykers men. On the next trip to town, Shane returns the empty soda bottle to the saloon, Shane orders two shots of whiskey, pours one on Calloways shirt and throws the other in his face, then knocks him to the ground. A brawl ensues, Shane prevails, with Starretts help, Ryker declares that the next time they meet, the air will be filled with gun smoke. Joey is drawn to Shane, and to his gun, Shane shows him how to wear a holster and demonstrates his shooting skills, but Marian interrupts the lesson. Guns, she says, are not going to be a part of her sons life, Shane counters that a gun is a tool, no better nor worse than a hoe or axe, and as good or bad as the man using it. Marian retorts that the valley would be better off without any guns—including Shanes, Jack Wilson, an unscrupulous gunfighter working for Ryker, deliberately provokes Frank Stonewall Torrey, a hot-tempered ex-Confederate homesteader. Them rebs are all Southern trash, Wilson says, youre a low-down, lyin Yankee, responds Torrey. Prove it, Wilson replies—and when the farmer goes for his gun. At Torreys funeral, there is talk among the settlers of giving in to Ryker and moving on, Ryker invites Starrett to a meeting at the saloon to negotiate a settlement—and then orders Wilson to kill him when he arrives. Calloway, unable to tolerate Rykers treachery any longer, warns Shane of the double-cross, Starrett says no matter, he will shoot it out with Wilson, and asks Shane to look after Marian and Joey if he dies. Shane, aware that Starrett is no match for Wilson in a gunfight, Starrett is adamant, and Shane is forced to knock him unconscious
9.
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959 film)
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The Diary of Anne Frank is a 1959 film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, which was based on the diary of Anne Frank. It was directed by George Stevens, with a screenplay by Frances Goodrich and it is the first film version of both the play and the original story, and features three members of the original Broadway cast. The film was based on the diary of Anne Frank. All her writings to her diary were addressed as Dear Kitty, the diary was published after the end of the war by her father Otto Frank. By this time, all his family members had been killed by the Nazis. The movie was shot on a sound stage duplicate of the factory in Los Angeles, the Diary of Anne Frank won three Academy Awards in 1960, including Best Supporting Actress for Shelley Winters. In 2006, The Diary of Anne Frank was honored as the eighteenth most inspiring American film on the list AFIs 100 Years…100 Cheers. In 1945, as a truckload of war survivors stops in front of an Amsterdam factory at the end of World War II, Otto Frank gets out and walks inside. After climbing the stairs to a deserted garret, Otto finds a girls discarded glove and sobs, then is joined and comforted by Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler, factory workers who shielded him from the Nazis. After stating that he is now all alone, Otto begins to search for the written by his youngest daughter. Miep promptly retrieves the journal for Otto, and he receives solace reading the written by his young daughter three years earlier. The action moves to July 1942, and Anne begins by chronicling the restrictions placed upon Jews that drove the Franks into hiding over the spice factory, sharing the Franks hiding place are the Van Daans and their teenage son, Peter. On the first day, the drag by in silence. After work, Kraler delivers food and a box for Anne compiled by her father, which contains her beloved photos of movie stars, in the first pages of the diary, Anne describes the strangeness of never being able to go outside or breathe fresh air. It states that everybody is good at heart, as the months pass, Annes irrepressible energy reasserts itself and she constantly teases Peter, whose only attachment is to his cat, Moushie. Isolated from the world outside, Otto schools Anne and Margot as the sounds of sirens, mrs. Van Daan passes the time by recounting fond memories of her youth and stroking her one remaining possession, the fur coat given to her by her father. The strain of confinement causes the Van Daans to argue and pits the strong-willed Anne against her mother, one day, Kraler brings a radio to the attic, providing the families with ears onto the world. Soon after, Kraler asks them to take in another person, when Van Daan complains that the addition will diminish their food supply, Dussell recounts the dire conditions outside, in which Jews suddenly disappear and are shipped to concentration camps
10.
Legion of Merit
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The Legion of Merit is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the seven uniformed services of the United States as well as to military and political figures of foreign governments. The Legion of Merit is one of only two United States military decorations to be issued as an order and the only United States military decoration which may be issued in award degrees. The Legion of Merit is sixth in the order of precedence of U. S. military awards and is worn after the Defense Superior Service Medal, in contemporary use in the U. S. S. However, this degree was awarded by President Roosevelt to some Allied World War II theater commanders, Commander, Equivalent of a U. S. military chief of staff or higher position, but not to a head of state. Legionnaire, All recipients not included above, when the Legion of Merit is awarded to members of the Uniformed Services of the United States, it is awarded without reference to degree. The performance must have such as to merit recognition of key individuals for service rendered in a clearly exceptional manner. Performance of duties normal to the grade, branch, specialty, or assignment, for service not related to actual war, the term key individual applies to a narrower range of positions than in time of war and requires evidence of significant achievement. In peacetime, service should be in the nature of a requirement or of an extremely difficult duty performed in an unprecedented. However, justification of the award may accrue by virtue of exceptionally meritorious service in a succession of important positions, the degrees and the design of the decoration were influenced by the French Legion of Honour. Although recommendations for creation of a Meritorious Service Medal were initiated as early as September 1937, no formal action was taken toward approval. Proposed designs prepared by Bailey, Banks and Biddle and the Office of the Quartermaster General were provided to Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel Colonel Heard) by the QMG on January 5,1942. The Assistant Chief of Staff, in a response to the QMG on April 3,1942, the design of the Legion of Merit would be ready for issue immediately after legislation authorizing it was enacted into law. The medal was announced in War Department Bulletin No, executive Order 9260, dated October 29,1942, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, established the rules for the Legion of Merit and required the Presidents approval for the award. The Legion of Merit is similar to the French Legion of Honor in both its design, a five armed cross, and in that it is awarded in multiple degrees, unlike the Legion of Honor, however, the Legion of Merit is only awarded to military personnel. Additionally, it is the award in the world with multiple degrees of which the higher degrees cannot be awarded to citizens of the country of the awards origin. She received the award for her service during the defense of the Philippines, LTJG Bernatitus was also the first recipient of the Legion of Merit authorized to wear a Combat V with the medal. General Eisenhower was presented the Legion of Merit by President Roosevelt, while he was en route to the Tehran Conference, in Cairo, in 1943, at the request of Army Chief of Staff General George C
11.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
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The Walk of Fame is administered by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and maintained by the self-financing Hollywood Historic Trust. It is a popular tourist destination, with a reported 10 million visitors in 2003, as of 2017, the Walk of Fame comprises over 2,600 stars, spaced at 6-foot intervals. The monuments are coral-pink terrazzo five-point stars rimmed with brass inlaid into a charcoal-colored terrazzo background, in the upper portion of each star field the name of the honoree is inlaid in brass block letters. Below the inscription, in the half of the star field. Approximately 20 new stars are added to the Walk each year, special category stars recognize various contributions by corporate entities, service organizations, and special honorees, and display emblems unique to those honorees. The moons are silver and grey terrazzo circles rimmed in brass on a square pink terrazzo background, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce credits E. M. Stuart, its volunteer president in 1953, with the original idea for creating a Walk of Fame. Stuart reportedly proposed the Walk as a means to maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamor, Harry Sugarman, another Chamber member and president of the Hollywood Improvement Association, receives credit in an independent account. A committee was formed to flesh out the idea, and a firm was retained to develop specific proposals. By 1955 the basic concept and general design had been agreed upon, multiple accounts exist for the origin of the star concept. By another account, the stars were inspired, by Sugarmans drinks menu, which featured celebrity photos framed in gold stars. In February 1956 a prototype was unveiled featuring a caricature of an example honoree inside a star on a brown background. The committees met at the Brown Derby restaurant, and included such prominent names as Cecil B, deMille, Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse L. Lasky, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, Mack Sennett, and Walter Lantz. A requirement stipulated by the audio recording committee specified minimum sales of one million records or 250,000 albums for all music category nominees. The committee soon realized that many important recording artists would be excluded from the Walk by that requirement, as a result, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was formed for the purpose of creating a separate award system for the music business. The first Grammy Awards were presented in Beverly Hills in 1959, construction of the Walk began in 1958 but two lawsuits delayed completion. The first was filed by local property owners challenging the legality of the $1.25 million tax assessment levied upon them to pay for the Walk, along with new street lighting, in October 1959 the assessment was ruled legal. The second lawsuit, filed by Charles Chaplin, Jr. sought damages for the exclusion of his father, chaplins suit was dismissed in 1960, paving the way for completion of the project. Woodwards name was one of eight drawn at random from the original 1,558, the other seven names were Olive Borden, Ronald Colman, Louise Fazenda, Preston Foster, Burt Lancaster, Edward Sedgwick, and Ernest Torrence
12.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academys corporate management and general policies are overseen by a Board of Governors, the roster of the Academys approximately 6,000 motion picture professionals is a closely guarded secret. While the great majority of its members are based in the United States, the Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards, now officially known as The Oscars. The Academy plans to open the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2017, the notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences began with Louis B. He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and he met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetsonto to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having a banquet was discussed. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry, actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts, everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6,1927 and their first organizational meeting was held on May 11. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president and that night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison. Initially, the Academy was broken down into five groups, or branches. The original five were, Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers, the initial concerns of the group had to do with labor. However, as went on, the organization moved further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations. By July 1928 the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented, during July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began. This award of merit for distinctive achievement is what we know now as the Academy Award, the initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. In May 1928, the Academy authorized the construction of a state of the art screening room, the screening room was not completed until April 1929. With the publication of Report on Incandescent Illumination in 1928, the Academy began a history of publishing books to assist its members. Another early initiative concerned training Army Signal Corps officers, in 1929 Academy members in a joint venture with the University of Southern California created Americas first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures
13.
Dimitri Tiomkin
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Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin was a Russian-American film score composer and conductor. Musically trained in Russia, he was best known for his scores, including Duel in the Sun, Red River, High Noon, The Big Sky, Gunfight at the O. K. Corral. Dimitri Tiomkin was born in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire and his family was of Jewish descent, his father Zinovy Tiomkin was a distinguished pathologist and associate of Professor Paul Ehrlich, and later a notable Zionist leader. His mother, Marie Tartakovskaya, was a musician who began teaching the young Tiomkin piano at an early age and her hope was to have her son become a professional pianist, according to Tiomkin biographer, Christopher Palmer. Tiomkin described his mother as being small, blonde, merry and he also studied piano with Isabelle Vengerova. He supported himself while living in St. Petersburg by playing piano accompaniment for numerous Russian silent films, because the revolution had diminished opportunities for classical musicians in Russia, he moved to Berlin after the Russian Revolution to live with his father. In Berlin, from 1921 to 1923, he studied with the pianist Ferruccio Busoni and Busonis disciples Egon Petri and he composed light classical and popular music, and made his performing debut as a pianist playing Franz Liszts Piano Concerto No.2 with the Berlin Philharmonic. He moved to Paris with his roommate, Michael Khariton, to perform a piano duo repertory together, Tiomkin and Raschs professional relationship evolved into a personal one, and they married in 1927. While in New York Tiomkin gave a recital at Carnegie Hall which featured music by Maurice Ravel, Alexander Scriabin, Francis Poulenc, and Alexandre Tansman. He and his new wife went on tour to Paris in 1928, after the stock market crash in October 1929 reduced work opportunities in New York, Tiomkin and his wife moved on to Hollywood, where she was hired to supervise dance numbers in MGM film musicals. He worked on minor films, some without being credited under his own name. Although he worked on smaller film projects, his goal was still to become a concert pianist. However, that ended abruptly in 1937 when he broke his arm. Tiomkin received his first break from Columbia director Frank Capra, who picked him to write, the film won Tiomkin significant recognition in Hollywood, and came out in the year he became a U. S. citizen. In his autobiography, Please Dont Hate Me, Tiomkin recalls how the assignment by Capra forced him to first confront a director in a matter of music style, e gave me the job without reservation. I could write the score without interference, and he would hear it when it was done, Lost Horizon offered me a superb chance to do something big. I thought I might be going a little too far in the matter of expense, No, Dimi, the lama is a simple man. His greatness is in being simple, for his death the music should be simple, nothing more than the muttering rhythm of a drum
14.
Film director
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A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a films artistic and dramatic aspects, the director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking. Under European Union law, the director is viewed as the author of the film, the film director gives direction to the cast and crew and creates an overall vision through which a film eventually becomes realized, or noticed. Directors need to be able to mediate differences in creative visions, there are many pathways to becoming a film director. Some film directors started as screenwriters, cinematographers, film editors or actors, other film directors have attended a film school. Some outline a general plotline and let the actors dialogue, while others control every aspect. Some directors also write their own screenplays or collaborate on screenplays with long-standing writing partners, some directors edit or appear in their films, or compose the music score for their films. Film directors create a vision through which a film eventually becomes realized/noticed. Realizing this vision includes overseeing the artistic and technical elements of production, as well as directing the shooting timetable. This entails organizing the crew in such a way as to achieve their vision of the film. This requires skills of leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful. Moreover, it is necessary to have an eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew, thus. Thus the director ensures that all involved in the film production are working towards an identical vision for the completed film. The set of varying challenges he or she has to tackle has been described as a jigsaw puzzle with egos. It adds to the pressure that the success of a film can influence when, omnipresent are the boundaries of the films budget. Additionally, the director may also have to ensure an intended age rating, thus, the position of film director is widely considered to be a highly stressful and demanding one. It has been said that 20-hour days are not unusual, under European Union law, the film director is considered the author or one of the authors of a film, largely as a result of the influence of auteur theory. Auteur theory is a film criticism concept that holds that a directors film reflects the directors personal creative vision
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Screenwriter
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One famous screenwriter is Jack Rosenthal, who has written for various TV shows over the years, including Londons Burning and Coronation Street. No education is required to become a screenwriter, just good storytelling abilities. Screenwriters are not hired employees, they are contracted freelancers, most, if not all, screenwriters start their careers writing on speculation, meaning they write without being hired or paid for it. If such a script is sold, it is called a spec script, what separates a professional screenwriter from an amateur screenwriter is that professional screenwriters are usually represented by a talent agency. Also, professional screenwriters do not often work for free, whereas amateur screenwriters will often work for free and are considered writers in training, spec scripts are usually penned by unknown professional screenwriters and amateur screenwriters. There are a legion of would-be screenwriters who attempt to enter the industry but it often takes years of trial-and-error, failure. In Writing Screenplays that Sell, Michael Hague writes Screenplays have become, for the last half of century, closet writers who used to dream of the glory of getting into print now dream of seeing their story on the big or small screen. Every screenplay and teleplay begins with a thought or idea, and screenwriters use those ideas to write scripts, with the intention of selling them and having them produced. In some cases, the script is based on a property, such as a book or persons life story. The majority of the time, a film project gets initiated by a screenwriter and because they initiated the project and these are referred to as exclusive assignments or pitched assignments. Screenwriters who often pitch new projects, whether original or an adaptation, when word is put out about a project a film studio, production company, or producer wants done, these are referred to as open assignments. In situations where screenwriters are competing for an assignment, more established writers will usually win these assignments. A screenwriter can also be approached and personally offered a writing assignment, many screenwriters also work as full or part-time script doctors, attempting to better a script to suit the desires of a director or studio. For instance, studio management may have a complaint that the motivations of the characters are unclear or that the dialogue is weak, script-doctoring can be quite lucrative, especially for the better known writers. David Mamet and John Sayles, for instance, fund the movies they direct themselves, usually from their own screenplays, by writing and doctoring scripts for others. In fact, some writers make very profitable careers out of being the ninth or tenth writer to work on a piece, in many cases, working on projects that never see exposure to an audience of any size. Many up and coming screenwriters also ghost write projects and allow more established screenwriters to take credit for the project to increase the chances of it getting picked up. After a screenwriter finishes a project, he or she pairs with a representative, such as a producer, director, literary agent, entertainment lawyer
16.
Cinematographer
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The study and practice of this field is referred to as cinematography. The cinematographer selects the camera, film stock, lens, filters, in the infancy of motion pictures, the cinematographer was usually also the director and the person physically handling the camera. As the art form and technology evolved, a separation between director and camera operator began to emerge, with the advent of artificial lighting and faster film stocks, in addition to technological advancements in optics, the technical aspects of cinematography necessitated a specialist in that area. Cinematography was key during the silent movie era, with no sound apart from music and no dialogue, the films depended on lighting, acting. Similar trade associations have been established in other countries too, there are a number of national associations of cinematographers which represent members and which are dedicated to the advancement of cinematography. S. C. Defines cinematography as, A creative and interpretive process that culminates in the authorship of a work of art rather than the simple recording of a physical event. Cinematography is not a subcategory of photography
17.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
18.
Ashton Stevens
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Ashton P. Stevens was an American journalist regarded as the dean of American drama critics. His newspaper column appeared in The San Francisco Examiner and later in the Chicago Herald-American and he was theatre critic for the Hearst Newspapers for 50 years,40 of them in Chicago. The character of Jedediah Leland in the film Citizen Kane is based on Stevens, Ashton Stevens was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Hannah L. and James W. Stevens. He was the brother of actor John Landers Stevens and uncle of Jack Landers Stevens and George Stevens, director of films as Shane, Giant. He started working for William Randolph Hearsts San Francisco Examiner in 1897, in 1910 he moved to Chicago as drama critic for The Chicago Examiner and the Chicago Herald-American. Stevens was regarded the dean of American play reviewers and drama critics, known for his sharp wit and fair criticism, he once wrote that critics should write about plays and playwrights as they would about the weather, with hardly any regard for the weathers feelings. An expert banjo player, Stevens defended its integrity as an instrument, in 1923 his book Actorviews, Intimate Portraits, a collection of his feature interviews illustrated by Gene Markey, was published by Covici-McGee. Stevens wrote a number of plays, including Prospect Avenue and, with Franklin D. Roosevelts ghostwriter Charles Michaelson, one of Stevenss close friends in Chicago was Dr. Maurice Bernstein, guardian of Orson Welles. He was practically my uncle, too, … I sent him the script before we began, of course, and while he was visiting me on the Coast, I brought him to the set during shooting. Later he saw the movie and thought the old man would be thrilled by it, as it turned out, after Kane was released, Ashton was forbidden by his Hearst editors to even mention my name. … Ashton was really one of the great ones, the last of the dandies — he worked for Hearst for some 50 years or so, and adored him. A gentleman … very much like Jed, Stevenss first wife, Aleece Uhlorn, was a daughter of a San Francisco banker and the sister of novelist Gertrude Atherton. They were married in 1900, she died in 1926, the following year Stevens married actress Florence Katherine Krug, known thereafter as Kay Ashton-Stevens. Stevens was in health in his later years, but continued to write regularly for The Herald-American. He died of an attack at his home in Chicago July 11,1951. His papers were bequeathed to the Newberry Library in Chicago, Ashton Stevens Papers at Newberry Library
19.
Stan Laurel
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Stan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer, and film director, most famous for his role in the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, Laurel began his career in music hall, where he appropriated a number of his standard comic devices, the bowler hat, the deep comic gravity, and the nonsensical understatement. His performances polished his skills at pantomime and music hall sketches, Laurel was a member of Fred Karnos Army, where he was Charlie Chaplins understudy. With Chaplin, the two arrived in the US on the ship from Britain with the Karno troupe. Laurel began his career in films in 1917 and made his last appearance in 1951, from 1928 onwards, he appeared exclusively with Oliver Hardy. Laurel officially retired from the following his comedy partners death in 1957. In 1961, Laurel was given a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award for his work in comedy. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd, Laurel and Hardy ranked top among best double acts and seventh overall in a 2005 UK poll to find the Comedians Comedian. In 2009, a statue of the duo was unveiled in Laurels home town of Ulverston. Arthur Stanley Jefferson was born in his grandparents house on 16 June 1890 at 3 Argyle Street, Ulverston, Lancashire and he had two brothers and a sister. His parents Margaret and Arthur Jefferson were both active in the theatre and always very busy, in his early years, the boy spent much time living with his grandmother Sarah Metcalfe. He attended school at King James I Grammar School, Bishop Auckland, County Durham and he moved with his parents to Glasgow, Scotland, where he completed his education at Rutherglen Academy. His father managed Glasgows Metropole Theatre, where Laurel began work and his boyhood hero was Dan Leno, one of the greatest English music hall comedians. It was the hall from where he drew his standard comic devices, including his bowler hat. He joined Fred Karnos troupe of actors in 1910 with the name of Stan Jefferson. The music hall nurtured him, and he acted as Chaplins understudy for some time, Chaplin and Laurel arrived in the United States on the same ship from Britain with the Karno troupe and toured the country. From 1916 to 1918, he teamed up with Alice Cooke and Baldwin Cooke, amongst other performers, Laurel worked briefly alongside Oliver Hardy in a silent film short The Lucky Dog. This was before the two were a team and it was around this time that Laurel met Mae Dahlberg
20.
Oliver Hardy
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Oliver Norvell Babe Hardy was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted 25 years, from 1927 to 1951. He appeared with his comedy partner Stan Laurel in 107 short films, feature films and he was credited with his first film, Outwitting Dad, in 1914. In some of his works, he was billed as Babe Hardy. Oliver Hardy was born Norvell Hardy in Harlem, Georgia and his father Oliver was a Confederate veteran who had been wounded at the Battle of Antietam on September 17,1862. After his demobilization as an officer for Company K, 16th Georgia Regiment. He bought a share in a business and was elected full-time Tax Collector for Columbia County. Norvells mother Emily Norvell was the daughter of Thomas Benjamin Norvell and Mary Freeman, descended from Captain Hugh Norvell of Williamsburg, Virginia, Hardy and Norvell had married March 12,1890, it was the second marriage for the widow Emily, and the third for Oliver. He was of paternal English American descent and maternal Scottish American descent, the family moved to Madison in 1891, before Norvells birth. Emily Hardy owned a house in Harlem, which was either empty or rented out to tenant farmers, Norvell was likely born in Harlem, though some sources say that his birth occurred in Covington, his mothers hometown. His father died less than a year after his birth, Hardy was the youngest of five children. His older brother Sam Hardy died in a accident in the Oconee River. Hardy pulled his brother from the river but was unable to resuscitate him, as a child, Hardy was sometimes difficult. He was sent to Georgia Military College in Milledgeville as a youngster and he was sent to Young Harris College in north Georgia in the 1905-1906 school year fall semester when he was 13. He was in the junior high component of that institution of the time, Hardy had little interest in formal education, although he acquired an early interest in music and theater, possibly from his mothers tenants. He joined a group and later ran away from a boarding school near Atlanta to sing with the group. His mother recognized his talent for singing and sent him to Atlanta to study music, Hardy skipped some of his lessons to sing in the Alcazar Theater, a cinema, for US$3.50 a week. He subsequently decided to go back to Milledgeville, sometime prior to 1910, Hardy began styling himself Oliver Norvell Hardy, adding the first name Oliver as a tribute to his father. He appeared as Oliver N. Hardy in the 1910 U. S. census, Hardy was initiated into Freemasonry at Solomon Lodge No.20 in Jacksonville, Florida
21.
Short film
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A short film, is a cinema format, denoting any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. The term featurette originally applied to a longer than a short subject. The increasingly rare term short subject means approximately the same thing and it is an industry term which carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short is an abbreviation for either term, Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals and made by independent filmmakers for non profit, either with a low budget or no budget at all. They are usually funded by grants, non profit organizations. Short films are used by filmmakers to gain experience or prove their talent in order to gain funding for future films from private investors, entertainment companies. Longer and shorter films coexisted with similar popularity throughout the days of film. However, comedy films were produced in large numbers compared to lengthy features such as D. W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation. By the 1920s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from such as second feature, short comedy, 5–10 minute cartoon, travelogue. Short comedies were popular, and typically came in a serial or series. Even though there was no set release schedule, these series could be considered somewhat like a modern TV sitcom – lower in status than feature films. Animated cartoons came principally as short subjects, in the 1930s, the distribution system changed in many countries owing to the Great Depression. Instead of the cinema owner assembling a program of their own choice, the studios sold a package centered on a main and supporting feature, with the rise of the double feature, two reel shorts went into decline as a commercial category. Hal Roach, for example, moved Laurel and Hardy full-time into feature films after 1935, by the mid-1950s, with the rise of television, the commercial live-action short was virtually dead, The Three Stooges being the last major series of 2-reelers, ending in 1959. Short films had become a medium for student, independent and specialty work, cartoon shorts had a longer life, due in part to the implementation of lower-cost limited animation techniques, but also declined in this period. Warner Bros. one of the most prolific of the golden era, the Pink Panther was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, having begun in 1964 and ended in 1980. By the 1960s, the market for animated shorts had largely shifted to television, a few animated shorts continue within mainstream commercial distribution. For instance, Pixar has screened a short along with each of its feature films during its theatrical run since 1995
22.
Night Owls (1930 film)
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Night Owls is a 1930 American Pre-Code Laurel and Hardy short film. It was filmed in October and November 1929, and released January 4,1930, the film was also made in two foreign-language versions, Ladrones in Spanish and Ladroni in Italian, and also as Ŝtelistoj in Esperanto, the constructed international language. The foreign versions retained not only the headliners, but Edgar Kennedy, Police officer Edgar Kennedy is warned by his Police chief to make arrests to stop a burglary epidemic on his patch or face the sack. Kennedy comes across vagrants Laurel and Hardy that night and persuades them to rob the house to get in his bosss good books. The boys, believing it to be too dangerous, at first refuse, after Kennedy threatens them with ninety days on the rockpile, and assures them he will get them released after theyre caught, they agree to the ruse. Stan and Ollie encounter various problems but after complications, the chief catches Kennedy with various valuables in his house. The film was released in an alternate Spanish version, Ladrones. The film was released in an Italian version Ladroni, and in an Esperanto version Ŝtelistoj. The English and Spanish versions are available on DVD, Night Owls at the Internet Movie Database Night Owls at Rotten Tomatoes
23.
Barbara Bel Geddes
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Barbara Bel Geddes was an American actress, artist, and childrens author, whose career spanned six decades. She was best known for her role in the television drama series Dallas as matriarch Miss Ellie Ewing. Bel Geddes also starred in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the role of Maggie and her notable films included Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo and I Remember Mama. She was the recipient of several acting awards and nominations throughout her career, Bel Geddes was born on October 31,1922, in New York City, the daughter of Helen Belle and stage and industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. She married theatrical manager Carl Sawyer in 1944, they had one daughter, later that year, she married stage director Windsor Lewis, with whom she had a daughter, Betsy. When Lewis became ill in 1967, Bel Geddes suspended her career to care for him until his death in 1972, Bel Geddes came to prominence in the 1946 Broadway production of Deep Are The Roots. The performance garnered her the Clarence Derwent Award, and the Donaldson Award presented to her by Laurette Taylor, for Outstanding Achievement in The Theatre, from 1951 to 1953, Bel Geddes played 924 performances of the F. Hugh Herbert hit comedy The Moon Is Blue, both roles earned her Tony Award nominations. Other highlights include John Steinbecks Burning Bright, Edward Albees Everything in the Garden, Bel Geddes began her film career starring with Henry Fonda in The Long Night, a remake of the 1939 French film Le Jour Se Lève. I went out to California awfully young, she remarked, I remember Lillian Hellman and Elia Kazan telling me, Dont go, learn your craft. The following year, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the George Stevens classic film I Remember Mama and she played Richard Widmarks wife Nancy in Kazans 1950 film noir Panic in the Streets. In 1958, Alfred Hitchcock cast her with James Stewart in Vertigo as the long-suffering bohemian, Bel Geddes also starred with Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong in the screen musical The Five Pennies. She appeared in such as Playhouse 90, CBS Playhouse, Riverboat, Dr. Kildare. In 1977, she starred in the acclaimed production of the Thornton Wilder classic. In 1978, Bel Geddes was the first artist signed to star in Dallas, the role of the family matriarch, Miss Ellie, brought her renewed international recognition. She appeared on the series from 1978 to 1990 and remains the only cast member to win the Emmy Award, in 1985, she also received Germanys Golden Camera Award. Larry Hagman, who played J. R. Ewing, told the Associated Press and she was just a really nice woman and a wonderful actress. She was kind of the glue that held the whole thing together, in the early 1970s, Bel Geddes underwent a radical mastectomy, an experience she relived in the 1979–80 season of Dallas
24.
I Remember Mama (film)
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The film starred Irene Dunne in the titular role, as well as Barbara Bel Geddes, Philip Dorn, Ellen Corby and Oscar Homolka who reprised the role of Uncle Chris, which he had created on Broadway. The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, the film begins with eldest daughter Katrin completing the last lines of her autobiographical novel. Each family member makes a sacrifice to contribute to the boys education. Martas sister Trina arrives, announces she is marrying undertaker Peter Thorkelson, when Marta threatens to reveal embarrassing anecdotes about them, the women accept their sisters decision. When Jonathan Hyde, the Hansons impoverished lodger, reads A Tale of Two Cities aloud for the family, later, the family is visited by Martas gruff but soft-hearted Uncle Chris and his housekeeper Jessie Brown, who is secretly his wife. When Chris discovers Dagmar is ill with mastoiditis, he insists on taking her to the hospital, Dagmars operation is a success, but Marta is prohibited from seeing her. Disguised as a member of the staff, she sneaks into Dagmars ward. When Dagmar returns home, she learns her cat, Uncle Elizabeth, is ill, despite Dagmars belief in her mothers powers, Marta feels helpless to save the cat and sends Nels to buy chloroform so she can euthanize it. The following morning, she is astonished when Dagmar walks in with an apparently cured cat, mr. Hyde moves out, leaving his classic books and a check for his rent. The familys joy vanishes when they discover the check has no value, Sigrid and Jenny are furious, but Marta declares his gift of literature is payment enough. Katrin brags to Christine that their mother is going to buy her the dresser set she has long admired as a graduation present. As she is about to leave to perform in the production of The Merchant of Venice. Distraught, the girl performs badly in the play and later retrieves the brooch after trading back the dresser set, Marta then gives the brooch to Katrin as a graduation present. Katrins father presents her with her first cup of coffee, which she had been told she could drink once she was a grown-up, Marta learns Uncle Chris is near death, and she takes Katrin to say goodbye. He reveals he has no money to leave his niece because he has been donating his income to help children with leg or foot problems walk again, after enjoying a final drink with his niece and Jessie, Uncle Chris dies. Katrin is dejected when she receives her tenth literary rejection letter, Marta then takes some of her stories to famed author and gourmand Florence Dana Moorhead and convinces her to read them. Marta returns home and advises her daughter that Moorhead feels the girl should write about what she knows best, Marta urges Katrin to write about Papa. When Katrins story is accepted for publication, she is paid $500, after announcing some of the money will go towards the purchase of the winter coat Marta wants, Katrin confesses her story is titled Mama and the Hospital
25.
Slapstick
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Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity which exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. The term arises from a device developed during the broad, physical comedy style known as Commedia dellarte in 16th Century Italy, the physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. The name slapstick originates from the Italian language word batacchio or bataccio — called the stick in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in commedia dellarte. When struck, the batacchio produces a loud smacking noise, though little force transfers from the object to the person being struck, actors may thus hit one another repeatedly with great audible effect while causing very little actual physical damage. Along with the bladder, it was among the earliest special effects. Slapstick comedys history is measured in centuries, shakespeare incorporated many chase scenes and beatings into his comedies, such as in his play The Comedy of Errors. In Punch and Judy shows, a large slapstick is wielded by Punch against the other characters, british comedians who honed their skills at pantomime and music hall sketches include Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel, George Formby and Dan Leno. American producer Hal Roach described Fred Karno as not only a genius and we in Hollywood owe much to him. Slapstick is also common in Disneys Goofy shorts, MGMs Tom and Jerry, silent slapstick comedy was also popular in early French films and included films by Max Linder and Charles Prince. In England, slapstick was an element of the Monty Python comedy troupe and in television series such as Fawlty Towers. Slapstick has remained an art form to the present day. Laughter List of slapstick comedy topics Slapstick film Comedy film Physical comedy Stage combat Schadenfreude
26.
Katharine Hepburn
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Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress. Known for her independence and spirited personality, Hepburn was a leading lady in Hollywood for more than 60 years. She appeared in a range of genres, from comedy to literary drama. In 1999, Hepburn was named by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star of Classic Hollywood Cinema, raised in Connecticut by wealthy, progressive parents, Hepburn began to act while studying at Bryn Mawr College. After four years in the theatre, favorable reviews of her work on Broadway brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Hepburn masterminded her own comeback, buying out her contract with RKO Radio Pictures and acquiring the rights to The Philadelphia Story. In the 1940s, she was contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where her career focused on an alliance with Spencer Tracy, the screen-partnership spanned 25 years and produced nine movies. Hepburn challenged herself in the half of her life, as she regularly appeared in Shakespearean stage productions. She found a niche playing middle-aged spinsters, such as in The African Queen, three more Oscars came for her work in Guess Whos Coming to Dinner, The Lion in Winter, and On Golden Pond. In the 1970s, she began appearing in films, which became the focus of her career in later life. She remained active into old age, making her screen appearance in 1994 at the age of 87. After a period of inactivity and ill health, Hepburn died in 2003 at the age of 96, Hepburn famously shunned the Hollywood publicity machine and refused to conform to societys expectations of women. She was outspoken, assertive, athletic, and wore trousers before it was fashionable for women to do so and she married once, as a young woman, but thereafter lived independently. A 26-year affair with her co-star Spencer Tracy was hidden from the public, Hepburn was born on May 12,1907 in Hartford, Connecticut, the second of six children. Her parents were Thomas Norval Hepburn, a urologist at Hartford Hospital, and Katharine Martha Houghton, as a child, Hepburn joined her mother on several Votes For Women demonstrations. The Hepburn children were raised to exercise freedom of speech and encouraged to think and her parents were criticized by the community for their progressive views, which stimulated Hepburn to fight against barriers she encountered. Hepburn said she realized from an age that she was the product of two very remarkable parents, and credited her enormously lucky upbringing with providing the foundation for her success. She remained close to her throughout her life
27.
Alice Adams (film)
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Alice Adams is a 1935 romantic film made by RKO, starring Katharine Hepburn. It was directed by George Stevens and produced by Pandro S. Berman, the screenplay was by Dorothy Yost, Mortimer Offner, and Jane Murfin. The film was adapted from the novel Alice Adams, by Booth Tarkington, the music score was by Max Steiner and Roy Webb, and the cinematography by Robert De Grasse. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress, the film is about a young woman in a medium-sized town in the United States in the early 1900s, and her pretentious attempts to appear upper-class and wed a wealthy man while concealing her poverty. Hepburns popularity had declined after her Oscar-winning performance in 1933s Morning Glory, Alice Adams is the youngest daughter of the Adams family. Her father is an invalid employed as a clerk in a owned by Mr. Lamb. Her mother is embittered by her husbands lack of ambition and upset by the snubs her daughter endures because of their poverty, Alices older brother, Walter, is a gambler who cannot hold a job and who associates with African Americans. As the film begins, Alice attends a dance given by the wealthy Mildred Palmer and she has no date, and is escorted to the occasion by Walter. Alice is a climber like her mother, and engages in socially inappropriate behavior. At the dance, Alice meets wealthy Arthur Russell, who is charmed by her despite her poverty, Alices mother nags her husband into quitting his job and pouring his life savings into a glue factory. Mr. Lamb ostracizes Mr. Adams from society, believing that Adams stole the formula from him. Alice is the subject of cruel town gossip, which Russell ignores, Alice invites Russell to the Adams home for a fancy meal. The dinner is ruined by the behavior and poor cooking skills of the maid the Adamses have hired for the occasion. Mr. Adams unwittingly embarrasses Alice by exposing the lies she has told Russell. When Walter shows up with bad news, Alice gently expels Russell from the house now that everything is ruined. Walter reveals that a friend has gambling debts, and that he stole $150 from Mr. Lamb to cover them, Mr. Adams decides to take out a loan against his new factory to save Walter from jail. Just then, Mr. Lamb appears at the Adams house and he accuses Adams of stealing the glue formula from him, and declares his intention to ruin Adams by building a glue factory directly across the street from the Adams plant. The men argue violently, but their friendship is saved when Alice confesses that her parents took the formula only so she could have a better life
28.
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
29.
Fred Astaire
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Fred Astaire was an American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter. His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films and several television specials, Astaire was ranked by the American Film Institute as the fifth greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema in 100 Years. Gene Kelly, another star in filmed dance, said that the history of dance on film begins with Astaire, later, he asserted that Astaire was the only one of todays dancers who will be remembered. Astaire was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Johanna Ann, Astaires mother was born in the United States to Lutheran German immigrants from East Prussia and Alsace. Astaires father was born in Linz, Austria, to Jewish parents who had converted to Roman Catholicism, Astaires mother dreamed of escaping Omaha by virtue of her childrens talents, after Astaires sister, Adele Astaire, early on revealed herself to be an instinctive dancer and singer. She planned a brother and sister act, which was common in vaudeville at the time, although Astaire refused dance lessons at first, he easily mimicked his older sisters steps and took up piano, accordion, and clarinet. Despite Adele and Freds teasing rivalry, they acknowledged their individual strengths, his durability. Fred and Adeles mother suggested they change their name to Astaire, Family legend attributes the name to an uncle surnamed LAstaire. They were taught dance, speaking, and singing in preparation for developing an act and their first act was called Juvenile Artists Presenting an Electric Musical Toe-Dancing Novelty. Fred wore a top hat and tails in the first half, in an interview, Astaires daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, observed that they often put Fred in a top hat to make him look taller. The goofy act debuted in Keyport, New Jersey, in a tryout theater, the local paper wrote, the Astaires are the greatest child act in vaudeville. As a result of their fathers salesmanship, Fred and Adele rapidly landed a contract and played the famed Orpheum Circuit in the Midwest, Western. Soon Adele grew to at least three inches taller than Fred and the pair began to look incongruous. The family decided to take a break from show business to let time take its course and to avoid trouble from the Gerry Society. In 1912, Fred became an Episcopalian, the career of the Astaire siblings resumed with mixed fortunes, though with increasing skill and polish, as they began to incorporate tap dancing into their routines. Astaires dancing was inspired by Bill Bojangles Robinson and John Bubbles Sublett, from vaudeville dancer Aurelio Coccia, they learned the tango, waltz, and other ballroom dances popularized by Vernon and Irene Castle. Some sources state that the Astaire siblings appeared in a 1915 film titled Fanchon, the Cricket, starring Mary Pickford, by age 14, Fred had taken on the musical responsibilities for their act. He first met George Gershwin, who was working as a song plugger for Jerome H. Remicks music publishing company, Fred had already been hunting for new music and dance ideas
30.
Carole Lombard
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Carole Lombard was an American film actress. She was particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in the comedies of the 1930s. She was the star in Hollywood in the late 1930s. Lombard was born into a family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At 12, she was recruited by the film director Allan Dwan, eager to become an actress, she signed a contract with the Fox Film Corporation at age 16, but mainly played bit parts. She was dropped by Fox after a car accident left a scar on her face, Lombard appeared in 15 short comedies for Mack Sennett between 1927 and 1929, and then began appearing in feature films such as High Voltage and The Racketeer. After a successful appearance in The Arizona Kid, she was signed to a contract with Paramount Pictures, Paramount quickly began casting Lombard as a leading lady, primarily in drama films. Her fame increased when she married William Powell in 1931, a turning point in Lombards career came in 1934, when she starred in Howard Hawks pioneering screwball comedy Twentieth Century. During this period, Lombard married the King of Hollywood, Clark Gable, keen to win an Oscar, at the end of the decade, Lombard began to move towards more serious roles. Unsuccessful in this aim, she returned to comedy in Alfred Hitchcocks Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lombards career was cut short when she died at the age of 33 in an aircraft crash on Mount Potosi, Nevada, while returning from a War Bond tour. Lombard was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6,1908, christened with the name Jane Alice Peters, she was the third child and only daughter of Frederick Christian Peters and Elizabeth Jayne Bessie Peters. Her two older brothers, to each of whom she was close, both growing up and in adulthood, were Frederick Charles and John Stuart. Lombards parents both descended from families and her early years were lived in comfort, with the biographer Robert Matzen calling it her silver spoon period. The marriage between her parents was strained, however, and in October 1914, her mother took the children, although the couple did not divorce, the separation was permanent. Described by her biographer Wes Gehring as a tomboy, the young Lombard was passionately involved in sports. At Virgil Junior High School, she participated in tennis, volleyball, and swimming, at the age of 12, this hobby unexpectedly landed Lombard her first screen role. While playing baseball with friends, she caught the attention of the film director Allan Dwan, out there knocking the hell out of the other kids, playing better baseball than they were. And I needed someone of her type for this picture, with the encouragement of her mother, Lombard happily took a small role in the melodrama A Perfect Crime
31.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
32.
Signal Corps (United States Army)
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The United States Army Signal Corps develops, tests, provides, and manages communications and information systems support for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of United States Army Major Albert J. Myer, support for the command and control of combined arms forces. Signal support includes Network Operations and management of the electromagnetic spectrum, while serving as a medical officer in Texas in 1856, Albert James Myer proposed that the Army use his visual communications system, called aerial telegraphy. When the Army adopted his system on 21 June 1860, the Signal Corps was born with Myer as the first, Major Myer first used his visual signaling system on active service in New Mexico during the early 1860s Navajo expedition. For nearly three years, Myer was forced to rely on detailed personnel, although he envisioned a separate, myers vision came true on 3 March 1863, when Congress authorized a regular Signal Corps for the duration of the war. Some 2,900 officers and enlisted men served, although not at any single time, even in the Civil War, the wigwag system, restricted to line-of-sight communications, was waning in the face of the electric telegraph. Initially, Myer used his office downtown in Washington, D. C. to house the Signal Corps School, when it was found to need additional space, he sought out other locations. First came Fort Greble, one of the Defenses of Washington during the Civil War, the size and location were outstanding. The school remained there for over 20 years and ultimately was renamed Fort Myer, Signal Corps detachments participated in campaigns fighting Native Americans in the west, such as the Powder River Expedition of 1865. The electric telegraph, in addition to signaling, became a Signal Corps responsibility in 1867. Within 12 years, the Corps had constructed, and was maintaining and operating, in 1870, the Signal Corps established a congressionally mandated national weather service. Within a decade, with the assistance of Lieutenant Adolphus Greely, Myer died in 1880, having attained the rank of brigadier general and the title of Chief Signal Officer. The weather bureau became part of the U. S. Department of Agriculture in 1891, the Signal Corps role in the Spanish–American War of 1898 and the subsequent Philippine Insurrection was on a grander scale than it had been in the Civil War. In 1908, on Fort Myer, Virginia, the Wright brothers made test flights of the Armys first airplane built to Signal Corps specifications, reflecting the need for an official pilot rating, War Department Bulletin No. 2, released on 24 February 1911, established a Military Aviator rating, Army aviation remained within the Signal Corps until 1918, when it became the Army Air Service. The Signal Corps lost no time in meeting the challenges of World War I, Chief Signal Officer George Owen Squier worked closely with private industry to perfect radio tubes while creating a major signal laboratory at Camp Alfred Vail. Early radiotelephones developed by the Signal Corps were introduced into the European theater in 1918, while the new American voice radios were superior to the radiotelegraph sets, telephone and telegraph remained the major technology of World War I. A pioneer in radar, Colonel William Blair, director of the Signal Corps laboratories at Fort Monmouth, even before the United States entered World War II, mass production of two radar sets, the SCR-268 and the SCR-270, had begun
33.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Dwight David Ike Eisenhower was an American politician and Army general who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was a general in the United States Army during World War II. He was responsible for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942–43, in 1951, he became the first Supreme Commander of NATO. Eisenhower was of mostly Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry and was raised in a family in Kansas by parents with a strong religious background. He graduated from West Point in 1915 and later married Mamie Doud, after World War II, Eisenhower served as Army Chief of Staff under President Harry S. Truman and then accepted the post of President at Columbia University. Eisenhower entered the 1952 presidential race as a Republican to counter the non-interventionism of Senator Robert A. Taft, campaigning against communism, Korea and he won in a landslide, defeating Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson and temporarily upending the New Deal Coalition. Eisenhower was the first U. S. president to be constitutionally term-limited under the 22nd Amendment, Eisenhowers main goals in office were to keep pressure on the Soviet Union and reduce federal deficits. He ordered coups in Iran and Guatemala, Eisenhower gave major aid to help the French in the First Indochina War, and after the French were defeated he gave strong financial support to the new state of South Vietnam. Congress agreed to his request in 1955 for the Formosa Resolution, after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Eisenhower authorized the establishment of NASA, which led to the space race. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Eisenhower condemned the Israeli, British and French invasion of Egypt and he also condemned the Soviet invasion during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 but took no action. Eisenhower sent 15,000 U. S. troops to Lebanon to prevent the government from falling to a Nasser-inspired revolution during the 1958 Lebanon crisis. Near the end of his term, his efforts to set up a meeting with the Soviets collapsed because of the U-2 incident. On the domestic front, he covertly opposed Joseph McCarthy and contributed to the end of McCarthyism by openly invoking executive privilege and he otherwise left most political activity to his Vice President, Richard Nixon. Eisenhower was a conservative who continued New Deal agencies and expanded Social Security. Eisenhowers two terms saw considerable economic prosperity except for a decline in 1958. Voted Gallups most admired man twelve times, he achieved widespread popular esteem both in and out of office, since the late 20th century, consensus among Western scholars has consistently held Eisenhower as one of the greatest U. S. Presidents. The Eisenhauer family migrated from Karlsbrunn in the Saarland, to North America, first settling in York, Pennsylvania, in 1741, accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized to Eisenhower. Eisenhowers Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors, who were farmers, included Hans Nikolaus Eisenhauer of Karlsbrunn
34.
Normandy landings
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The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday,6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, planning for the operation began in 1943. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces, the amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06,30, the target 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their positions, particularly at Utah. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs, at Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks. The Allies failed to any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead, museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year. Between 27 May and 4 June 1940, over 338,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force, after the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a. full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a front in Europe in 1942. Instead of a return to France, the Western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won, the Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded Italy in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the second front in May 1944. Four sites were considered for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected
35.
Dachau concentration camp
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Dachau concentration camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of a munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria. The Dachau camp system grew to include nearly 100 sub-camps, which were work camps or Arbeitskommandos. The camps were liberated by U. S. forces on 29 April 1945, There were 32,000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented. Approximately 10,000 of the 30,000 prisoners were sick at the time of liberation, in the postwar years the Dachau facility served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial. After 1948, it held ethnic Germans who had expelled from eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement. It was finally closed in 1960, There are several religious memorials within the Memorial Site, which is open to the public. After the takeover of Bavaria on 9 March 1933, Heinrich Himmler, then Chief of Police in Munich, began to speak with the administration of an unused gunpowder and he toured the site to see if it could be used for quartering protective-custody prisoners. The Concentration Camp at Dachau was opened 22 March 1933, with the arrival of about 200 prisoners from Stadelheim Prison in Munich and it became the first regular concentration camp established by the coalition government of the National Socialist German Workers Party and the German National Peoples Party. Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and emigrants were sent to Dachau after the 1935 passage of the Nuremberg Laws which institutionalized racial discrimination, in early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor, initiated construction of a large complex capable of holding 6,000 prisoners. The construction was completed in mid-August 1938. More political opponents, and over 11,000 German and Austrian Jews were sent to the camp after the annexation of Austria and the Sudetenland in 1938. Sinti and Roma in the hundreds were sent to the camp in 1939, the prisoners of Dachau concentration camp originally were to serve as forced labor for a munition factory, and to expand the camp. It was used as a center for SS guards and was a model for other concentration camps. The camp was about 300 m ×600 m in rectangular shape, the prisoners entrance was secured by an iron gate with the motto “Arbeit macht frei”. This reflected Nazi propaganda, which trivialized concentration camps as labor and re-education camps, as of 1938, the procedure for new arrivals occurred at the Schubraum, where prisoners were to hand over their clothing and possessions. One former Luxembourgian prisoner, Albert Theis, reflected about the room, everything had to be handed over, money, rings, watches. The camp included a building that contained offices for the Gestapo trial commissioner, SS authorities
36.
Nuremberg trials
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The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, and their decisions marked a turning point between classical international law and contemporary international law. Not included were Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels, all of whom had committed suicide in the spring of 1945, reinhard Heydrich was not included, as he had been assassinated in 1942. The second set of trials of war criminals was conducted under Control Council Law No.10 at the U. S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals, which included the Doctors Trial. This article primarily deals with the IMT, see Subsequent Nuremberg Trials for details on the NMT, at the beginning of 1940, the Polish government-in-exile asked the British and French governments to condemn the German invasion of their country. The British initially declined to do so, however, in April 1940, three-and-a-half years later, the stated intention to punish the Germans was much more trenchant. In order that justice may be done and this intention by the Allies to dispense justice was reiterated at the Yalta Conference and at Berlin in 1945. British War Cabinet documents, released on 2 January 2006, showed that as early as December 1944 the Cabinet had discussed their policy for the punishment of the leading Nazis if captured. In late 1943, during the Tripartite Dinner Meeting at the Tehran Conference, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt joked that perhaps 49,000 would do. Churchill was vigorously opposed to executions for political purposes, US Secretary of the Treasury, suggested a plan for the total denazification of Germany, this was known as the Morgenthau Plan. The plan advocated the forced de-industrialisation of Germany and the execution of so-called arch-criminals. Roosevelt initially supported this plan, and managed to convince Churchill to support it in a less drastic form, later, details were leaked generating widespread condemnation by the nations newspapers. Roosevelt, aware of public disapproval, abandoned the plan. The demise of the Morgenthau Plan created the need for a method of dealing with the Nazi leadership. The plan for the Trial of European War Criminals was drafted by Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, following Roosevelts death in April 1945, the new president, Harry S. Truman, gave strong approval for a judicial process. After a series of negotiations between Britain, the US, Soviet Union and France, details of the trial were worked out, the trials were to commence on 20 November 1945, in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg. On 20 April 1942, representatives from the nine countries occupied by Germany met in London to draft the Inter-Allied Resolution on German War Crimes, France was also awarded a place on the tribunal. The legal basis for the jurisdiction of the court was that defined by the Instrument of Surrender of Germany. Because the court was limited to violations of the laws of war, leipzig and Luxembourg were briefly considered as the location for the trial
37.
National Film Registry
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The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Boards selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The NFPB, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992,1996,2005, and again in October 2008. The NFPBs mission, to which the NFR contributes, is to ensure the survival, conservation, the 1996 law also created the non-profit National Film Preservation Foundation which, although affiliated with the NFPB, raises money from the private sector. To be eligible for inclusion, a film must be at least ten years old, for the first selection in 1989, the public nominated almost 1,000 films for consideration. Members of the NFPB then developed individual ballots of possible films for inclusion, the ballots were tabulated into a list of 25 films which was then modified by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and his staff at the Library for the final selection. Since 1997, members of the public have been able to nominate up to 50 films a year for the NFPB, the NFR includes films ranging from Hollywood classics to orphan films. A film is not required to be feature-length, nor is it required to have been released in the traditional sense. As of the 2016 listing, there are 700 films preserved in the Registry, currently, the earliest listed film is Newark Athlete, and the most recent is 13 Lakes. Counting the 11 multi-year serials in the NFR once each by year of completion, the years with the most films selected are 1928,1939, the time between a films debut and its selection varies greatly. The longest span is 119 years, Newark Athlete was originally released in 1891, the shortest span is the minimum 10 years, this distinction is shared by Raging Bull, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Fargo and 13 Lakes. For purposes of this list, multi-year serials are counted once by year of completion
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Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
