1.
Victor Saville
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Victor Saville was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954 and he also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. His first picture as director was The Arcadians, in 1929 he and Michael Balcon worked together again on a talkie remake of Woman to Woman for Balcons company, Gainsborough Pictures, this time directed by Saville himself. In 1937, he left to set up his own company, Victor Saville Productions. Both films starred Robert Donat and were a success in the USA as well as in Britain. After the war he continued directing films for MGM but eventually returned to Britain and he produced two final films in the 1960s, The Greengage Summer and Mix Me a Person. BFI screenonline biography Saville, Victor Retrieved on 2 February 2009 Lloyd & Robinson, Victor Saville at the Internet Movie Database Victor Saville at AllMovie
2.
I, the Jury
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I, the Jury is the 1947 debut novel of American crime-fiction writer Mickey Spillane, the first work to feature private investigator Mike Hammer. Dr. Charlotte Manning is young, beautiful, blonde, to increase her profit, she becomes involved with a crime syndicate with ties to both prostitution and drug-trafficking. The leader of the organization is Hal Kines, who has had surgery to make him look younger. Manning herself has upscale clientele, though her trade is not prostitution but coercing her patients into becoming dependent upon medications, on the surface, Charlotte Manning maintains her façade as a renowned psychiatrist. As the sinister plots of Manning and the crime syndicate evolve, Williams himself is a former New York police officer who has lost his arm in World War II saving the life of his friend Mike Hammer. Williams asks Dr. Manning to admit Devlin to her clinic for psychotherapy, after Myrna has become clean, she and Williams become engaged, though the couple maintains a casual friendship with Manning. Over time, Williams becomes suspicious of Mannings business, and secretly investigates further and he realizes that Hal Kines, one of Mannings college students who has spent some time at her clinic and who has become one of her casual acquaintances, is in fact a criminal. When, at a party given by Williams in his apartment, Charlotte Manning finds old college yearbooks whose contents would expose Kines criminal actions, she has to act fast. After the party, she goes home but on the night, undetected, returns to Williams apartment. Then she takes the college yearbooks and leaves, on a Saturday morning, Hammer picks up Myrna Devlin and gives her a lift. They drive to the Bellemy twins estate in the country for a gigantic all-day party there, Charlotte Manning says she has some business to attend to and will be there in time for a tennis game due to take place that evening. After an unsuccessful attempt at playing tennis himself, Hammer gets rid of his sleep deficit by spending all day in his room, fast asleep, with old junior — his gun — close to him. He is woken up just in time for dinner, during which Harmon Wilder, the Bellemys lawyer and this is a fine — and the final — distractor in the novel, Wilder and Sherman are suddenly missing from the party after Myrna Devlin has been found shot. In fact they had illicit drugs on them and did not want to be found out, during the tennis game, Mary Bellemy asks Charlotte if she can borrow Hammer. Then she leads him into the woods where they have sex and they return to the party just as a maid discovers Myrnas body in an upstairs room, in front of a large mirror. Both Pat Chambers and the police are called in, and the alibis of each guest is checked, again Charlotte can convince everyone that she could not have done anything. Back home, Hammer retreats into his apartment to think, finally, he knows the identity of the killer. This is when he goes to Charlottes place, recapitulates the whole crime and finally shoots her dead, by the time the book was adapted into a film in 1953, it had sold 3,500,000 copies
3.
Mickey Spillane
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Frank Morrison Spillane, better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer. More than 225 million copies of his books have sold internationally, Spillane was also an occasional actor, once even playing Hammer himself. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Spillane was the child of his Irish bartender father, John Joseph Spillane. Spillane attended Erasmus Hall High School, graduating in 1935. during World War II Spillane enlisted in the Army Air Corps, becoming a fighter pilot and a flight instructor. While flying over Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, he said and he was an active Jehovahs Witness. Mickey and Mary Ann Spillane had four children, and their marriage ended in 1962, in November 1965, he married his second wife, nightclub singer Sherri Malinou. After that marriage ended in divorce in 1983, Spillane shared his waterfront house in Murrells Inlet with his wife, Jane Rogers Johnson, whom he married in October 1983. In the 1960s, Spillane became a friend of the novelist Ayn Rand, despite their apparent differences, Rand admired Spillanes literary style, and Spillane became, as he described it, a fan of Rands work. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo ravaged his Murrells Inlet house to such a degree it had to be almost entirely reconstructed, a television interview showed Spillane standing in the ruins of his house. He received an Edgar Allan Poe Grand Master Award in 1995, Spillanes novels went out of print, but in 2001, the New American Library began reissuing them. Spillane died July 17,2006 at his home in Murrells Inlet, after his death, his friend and literary executor, Max Allan Collins, began the task of editing and completing Spillanes unpublished typescripts, beginning with a Mike Hammer novel, The Goliath Bone. In July 2011, the town of Murrells Inlet named U. S17 Business the Mickey Spillane Waterfront 17 Highway, the proposal first passed the Georgetown County Council in 2006 while Spillane was still alive, but the South Carolina General Assembly rejected the plan then. He is survived by his wife, Jane Spillane, Spillane started as a writer for comic books. While working as a salesman in Gimbels department store basement in 1940, he met tie salesman Joe Gill, Gill told Spillane to meet his brother, Ray Gill, who wrote for Funnies Inc. an outfit that packaged comic books for different publishers. Spillane soon began writing a story every day. He concocted adventures for major 1940s comic book characters, including Captain Marvel, Superman, Batman, two-page text stories, which he wrote in the mid-1940s for Timely, appeared under his name and were collected in Primal Spillane. Spillane joined the United States Army Air Forces on December 8,1941, in the mid-1940s he was stationed as a flight instructor in Greenwood, Mississippi, where he met and married Mary Ann Pearce in 1945. The couple wanted to buy a house in the town of Newburgh, New York,60 miles north of New York City
4.
Biff Elliot
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Biff Elliot was an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as popular detective Mike Hammer in the 1953 version of I, the Jury, Elliot was born Leon Shalek in Lynn, Massachusetts, the son of Susan M. and Israel Michael Shalek. All of his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and his father was a former semi-pro baseball player, then retiring and opening up a burlap-bag manufacturing business in Presque Isle, Maine. Elliot had a childhood nickname Bith but later adapted it to Biff when he went into boxing, when he was 16 his family moved to Presque Isle, where he became involved in boxing and was known as Biff Harris. In 1943 Elliot signed up for the United States Army and was placed in the 34th Infantry Division, once the war finished Elliot was discharged and decided to return to the University of Maine in 1945. He graduated from Maine in 1949 and moved to New York City in hopes of pursuing a writing career, after failing to make out as a writer, Elliot switched his attention to acting, and began taking acting courses at the actors studio. He first started doing stage and television work, mostly playing tough, when accepted for the audition, Elliot was brought to Hollywood, and began preparing for his role by cramming himself with Mike Hammer novels and spending the whole night re-reading them. After a successful 15-minute audition Elliot was selected to become the first actor to portray the famed Mike Hammer in a motion picture, and thus his first leading role on film. Over the next few years, Elliot was a prominent fixture in classic war films of the 1950s and 60s, appearing in such as Between Heaven and Hell, The Enemy Below, Pork Chop Hill. But mostly he worked in television, in 1959, Elliot got a seemingly good break when playwright Clifford Odets happened to see I, the Jury and offered him a role in The Story on Page One, which Odets wrote and directed. Thereafter Elliot was mostly seen on television over the decade, including an appearance on Frank Lovejoys detective series, Meet McGraw. In 1966, he portrayed a government agent in an episode of the comedy series The Dick Van Dyke Show, in 1967, he appeared in the Star Trek episode The Devil in the Dark. He guest-starred in an episode of Gibbsville in 1976, in 1977, he had a memorable supporting role in Telly Savalass Beyond Reason with Diana Muldaur. A late notable role came in 1981 when he co-starred in Back to the Planet of the Apes, Elliot would make his final film appearance in 1986 in a comedy, co-starring with Jack Lemmon in a scene from Thats Life. His last appearance on television was in 1986 on the set of the series of Starman. After Elliots retirement he continued to work in sports, covering Los Angeles sports for CBS Radio Network. Elliot was previously married to Betty Cole a former model, whom he met during his tenure at the University of Maine and married her in his year in 1948. Elliot remarried in 1977 to Connie and both resided in Los Angeles, a brother of Win Elliott, longtime CBS Radio Network sportscaster and 1950s TV game show host, Biff Elliot died in his home in Studio City, California on August 15,2012, aged 89
5.
Preston Foster
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Preston Foster, sometimes credited as Preston S. Foster, was an American stage and film actor. He also had a career as a vocalist, Foster entered films in 1929 after acting on Broadway. He was still appearing on Broadway as late as November 1931 and he soon reprised that role in a filmed version. His most notable films include Doctor X, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Annie Oakley, The Last Days of Pompeii, The Informer, and My Friend Flicka. While serving with the United States Coast Guard during World War II, he rose to the rank of captain and he eventually held the honorary rank of commodore. Foster enjoyed a career as a vocalist. In 1948, he created a trio consisting of himself, his wife, Sheila, Leis arranged the songs and the trio performed on radio and in clubs, appearing with Orrin Tucker, Peggy Ann Garner and Rita Hayworth. He starred in the television drama Waterfront, playing Captain John Herrick and he guest-starred in the ABC drama series Going My Way, starring Gene Kelly. On July 25,1943, Foster co-starred with Ellen Drew in China Bridge, Foster was married to his first wife, stage actress Gertrude Warren, from 1926 until their 1945 divorce. He was married to his wife, actress Sheila Darcy. Preston Foster has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Preston Foster at the Internet Broadway Database Preston Foster at Find a Grave
6.
Peggie Castle
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Peggie Castle was an American actress who specialized in playing the other woman in B-movies. She was also billed under the names Peggy Castle and Peggie Call, Castle was born Peggy Blair in Appalachia in Wise County in far southwestern Virginia. She changed her last name from Blair because there was another actress named Blair at the first studio in which she worked and her father, Doyle H. Blair, was at one point an industrial relations director for a large corporation and later business manager for Donald OConnor. She took lessons in drama when she was 8 years old and she attended Mills College for two years. Castles first work as an actress came in the soap opera Todays Children, then a spot on Radio Theatre in 1947 brought her a screen test offer from 20th Century Fox. Castle was discovered by a talent scout while eating in a restaurant in Beverly Hills and she was signed to a seven-year contract with Universal-International and made her film debut in the 1947 film When a Girls Beautiful. In 1949, she was named Miss Cheesecake by the Southern California Restaurant Association, later that year, the Junior Chamber of Commerce named Castle Miss Three Alarm. She later appeared in films as Payment on Demand, The Prince Who Was a Thief Invasion U. S. A.99 River Street. In the 1950s, Castle moved into television and she appeared in multiple guest roles on Fireside Theater, Cheyenne,77 Sunset Strip, and The Restless Gun. In 1957 she played defendant Sally Fenner in the Perry Mason episode, from 1959 to 1962, she co-starred in the television western series Lawman — her first continuing series. Her role as saloon owner Lily Merrill brought out a new dimension of Castles talent and she stated For the first time in my life Im a singer — thats the producers opinion, not mine. Her final onscreen role was a guest appearance in a 1966 episode of The Virginian, in 1960, Castle and Peter Brown traveled to rodeos, performing as a song-and-dance team. Castle stressed, Were very careful not to sing any romantic songs, the duos stops included St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Albuquerque. Her first marriage was to Revis Call and they married in 1945 and divorced in 1950. She married Universal publicist Robert H. Raines January 4,1951 and her third marriage was to producer/director William McGarry in 1955. They had a daughter, Erin, before divorcing in 1969, Castles fourth and final marriage was to Arthur Morganstern in 1971. They remained married until Morgansterns death in April 1973, for her contribution to the television industry, Peggie Castle has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6230 Hollywood Boulevard. It was dedicated February 8,1960, in her later years, Castle developed alcoholism
7.
Margaret Sheridan
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Margaret Elizabeth Sheridan was an American actress of the early 1950s, and protégée of director Howard Hawks. She is best remembered for her role as Nikki Nickolson opposite Kenneth Tobey in the 1951 science fiction classic The Thing from Another World and she was born in Los Angeles, California, to Thomas J. and Julia P. Sheridan. Sheridan was discovered by Howard Hawks while she was attending college. Initially, Hawks believed she was the most promising woman actress of her era, in 1947 she married William F. Pattison, a professional airline pilot. Hawks offered Sheridan the female lead opposite John Wayne in the 1948 film Red River, Sheridan turned down the role because she was expecting the birth of her first child. Hawks offered her the role of Nikki Nickolson in the 1951 film The Thing from Another World, sheridans career suffered, and she never achieved the fame Hawks had hoped. Motherhood and a few years of maturity had evidently changed her, Hawks is quoted as saying she was just not the same girl he had discovered. He later commented that if she had taken the role in Red River, her career would have flourished and she died of lung cancer on May 1,1982 in Orange, California. The Thing from Another World One Minute to Zero I, the Jury The Diamond Pride of the Blue Grass McCarthy, Howard Hawks, the Gray Fox of Hollywood. Margaret Sheridan at the Internet Movie Database Margaret Sheridan at AllMovie The Private Life and Times of Margaret Sheridan
8.
Alan Reed
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He also appeared in many films, including Days of Glory, The Tarnished Angels, Breakfast at Tiffanys, Viva Zapata. and Nob Hill, and various television series. Born Herbert Theodore Bergman in New York City, he attended Washington High School, between graduating from WHS and entering Columbia, he studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He began his career in the city, eventually working on Broadway. For several years, Reed toured in vaudeville with his cousin and he also had two other jobs—operating a wholesale candy factory and working at the Copake Country Club as social director, entertainment producer and actor. For a time, he continued to list himself either as Bergman or Alan Reed and he was able to act in 22 foreign dialects, and made a career as a successful radio announcer and stage actor. As early as 1930, Reed co-starred with Herbert Polesie in Henry and George, Reed was heard regularly on the Crime Doctor series, and was the original Daddy to Fanny Brice on Baby Snooks. Billed as Teddy Bergman, he had the role on Joe Palooka. Billed as Teddy Bergman, Reed appeared on Broadway in Double Dummy, and A House in the Country, in 1963, he appeared as Councilman Jack Gramby in episode 8 of the CBS sitcom My Favorite Martian. In 1964–65, he had a role as Mr. Swidler in the ABC sitcom Mickey, starring Mickey Rooney as the owner of a resort hotel in Newport Beach. As a voice actor, Reed provided the voice of Boris the Russian Wolfhound in Walt Disneys Lady, in 1960, he began the voice role for which he was most famous, that of Fred Flintstone, the lead character of Hanna-Barberas prime-time animated series The Flintstones. Reed provided Freds voice for the entire run of the show, as well as in several spin-off series. His final performance as Fred Flintstone was a cameo guest role on an episode of Scoobys All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, among his other voice roles for Hanna-Barbera was Touché Turtles sidekick, Dum Dum. Radio playwright and director Norman Corwin cast Reed as Santa Claus in the 1969 KCET television reading of his 1938 play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas. In May 1932, Reed married the former Finette Walker, a Broadway actress whom he met at television station W2XAB in New York City and she appeared on stage in the early 1930s and was a chorus member in the original 1934 Broadway production of Anything Goes with Ethel Merman. They had three sons, including actor Alan Reed, Jr, once his son started acting, Reed took the professional name Alan Reed, Sr. Reed died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on June 14,1977, two months shy of his 70th birthday. His body was donated to the Loma Linda University School of Medicine and he was survived by his wife, sons, and several grandchildren. Porkys Romance as Opening Announcer Days of Glory as Sasha The Postman Always Rings Twice as Ezra Liam Kennedy Viva Zapata. L, ISBN 0-7864-0351-9 Alan Reed at the Internet Movie Database Alan Reed
9.
Franz Waxman
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Franz Waxman – born Franz Wachsmann – was a German and American composer of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include Bride of Frankenstein, Rebecca, Sunset Boulevard, A Place in the Sun, Stalag 17, Rear Window, Peyton Place, The Nuns Story and he received twelve Academy Award nominations, and won two Oscars in consecutive years. He also received a Golden Globe Award for the former film, bernard Herrmann said that the score for Taras Bulba was the most wonderful thing. Waxman also founded the Los Angeles Music Festival in 1947 with which he conducted a number of West Coast premieres by fellow film composers, Waxman was born Franz Wachsmann in Königshütte to Jewish parents in the German Empires Prussian Province of Silesia. At the age of three Waxman suffered an eye injury involving boiling water tipped from a stove, which left his vision permanently impaired. In 1923, at age 16, Waxman enrolled in the Dresden Music Academy and studied composition, Waxman lived from the money he made playing popular music and managed to put himself through school. While working as a pianist with the Weintraub Syncopators, a band, Waxman met Frederick Hollander. Waxman worked as an orchestrator for the German film industry, including on Hollander’s score for The Blue Angel, Waxman’s first dramatic score was for the film Liliom. That year Waxman suffered a beating by Nazi sympathizers in Berlin that led him to leave Germany and move with his wife first to Paris. In Hollywood, Waxman met James Whale, who had been impressed by Waxmans score for Liliom. The success of his score for Whales Bride of Frankenstein led to the young composer’s appointment as Head of Music at Universal Studios, Waxman, however, was more interested in composition than musical direction for film, and in 1936 he left Universal to become a composer at MGM. Waxman scored a number of pictures during the few years. Waxman was frequently called to work on scores of horror or suspense films, Rebecca was Hitchcock’s first Hollywood film as part of his contract with David O. Selznick, and thus it was the first time he was allowed a full symphonic score. Selznick financed the film at the time as he was making Gone With the Wind. Waxman’s score for Rebecca is eerie and ethereal, often setting the mood and as Jack Sullivan put it, becoming a “soundboard for the subconscious. ”In 1943 Waxman left MGM and moved to Warner Bros. where he worked alongside such great film composers as Max Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A period of extended composition followed, including such films as Mr. Skeffington and Objective, a climactic scene in Objective, Burma. was scored fugally, and this would become one of Waxmans trademarks, returning in The Spirit of St. Louis and Taras Bulba. In 1947 Waxman formed the Los Angeles Music Festival, for which he served as director and conductor for the rest of his life. Waxmans goal with the LA Music Festival was to bring the town to “European cultural standards”
10.
John Alton
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Born Johann Jacob Altmann, in Sopron/Ödenburg, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary, was an American cinematographer. Alton won an Academy Award for the cinematography of An American in Paris, Alton photographed some of the most famous films noir of the classic period. He began as a lab technician in Los Angeles in the 1920s, in 1932, he moved to Argentina where he shot many Spanish-language films and designed the countrys first sound film studio for Lumiton and Argentina Sono Film. He returned to Hollywood in the late 1930s, with two dozen film credits, and became one of the most sought after cinematographers of the time, Alton was known for unconventional camera angles—especially low camera shots. His style is most notable in the noir, He Walked by Night, The Big Combo, The Amazing Mr. X, T-Men. Alton also photographed many color movies including Slightly Scarlet, Alton wrote Painting with Light, one of the first books written by a working studio cinematographer. It addresses both conventional and unconventional methods of studio motion-picture lighting, despite the vast technical advances achieved within the motion picture industry much of the content is still pertinent. Painting with Light contains essential reading for any budding filmmaker with detailed information and ideas for lighting several difficult interior and exterior setups, the table of contents includes chapters such as Mystery Lighting, Special Illumination, and Visual Symphony. Sources, In 1966, Alton shot the pilot for Mission, Impossible, wins Academy Awards, Oscar, Best Cinematography, Color, An American in Paris, shared with, Alfred Gilks,1951. Nominations Laurel Awards, Golden Laurel, Top Cinematography, Color, The Brothers Karamazov, other honors Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Career Achievement Award,1992. Border Incident, von Anthony Mann, Kamera, John Alton, in, Christian Cargnelli, Michael Omasta, Schatten
11.
United Artists
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United Artists is an American film and television entertainment studio. The studio was bought, sold and restructured over the ensuing century. On December 14 of the year, however, MGM acquired the 48% stake of UAMG it did not own. UA was incorporated as a joint venture on February 5,1919, by Pickford, Chaplin, Fairbanks, each held a 20% stake, with the remaining 20% held by lawyer William Gibbs McAdoo. The idea for the venture originated with Fairbanks, Chaplin, Pickford, already Hollywood veterans, the four stars talked of forming their own company to better control their own work. They were spurred on by established Hollywood producers and distributors who were tightening their control over salaries and creative decisions. With the addition of Griffith, planning began, but Hart bowed out before anything was formalized, when he heard about their scheme, Richard A. Rowland, head of Metro Pictures, is said to have observed, The inmates are taking over the asylum. The four partners, with advice from McAdoo, formed their distribution company and its headquarters was established at 729 Seventh Avenue in New York City. The original terms called for each of the stars to produce five pictures each year, UAs first film was a success. Without selling stock to the public, following the other studios, as a result, production was slow and the company distributed an annual average of five films during its first five years. By 1924 Griffith had dropped out and the company was facing a crisis, veteran producer Joseph Schenck was hired as president. He had been producing pictures for a decade, and he brought commitments for films starring his wife, Norma Talmadge, his sister-in-law, Constance Talmadge, contracts were signed with independent producers, most notably Samuel Goldwyn, and Howard Hughes. In 1933, Schenck organized a new company with Darryl F. Zanuck, called Twentieth Century Pictures, Schenck formed a separate partnership with Pickford and Chaplin to buy and build theaters under the United Artists name. They began international operations, first in Canada and then in Mexico, by the end of the 1930s, United Artists was represented in over 40 countries. When he was denied a share in 1935, Schenck resigned. He set up 20th Century Pictures merger with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century Fox, al Lichtman succeeded Schenck as company president. Other independent producers distributed through United Artists in the 1930s including, Walt Disney Productions, Alexander Korda, Hal Roach, David O. Selznick, as the years passed, and the dynamics of the business changed, these producing partners drifted away. Samuel Goldwyn Productions and Disney went to RKO, and Wanger to Universal Pictures, in the late 1930s, UA turned a profit
12.
Film noir
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Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly such that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywoods classical film noir period is regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. Cinema historians and critics defined the category retrospectively, before the notion was widely adopted in the 1970s, many of the classic films noir were referred to as melodramas. Whether film noir qualifies as a genre is a matter of ongoing debate among scholars. Although film noir was originally associated with American productions, films now so described have been made around the world, many pictures released from the 1960s onward share attributes with film noir of the classical period, and often treat its conventions self-referentially. Some refer to such works as neo-noir. The clichés of film noir have inspired parody since the mid-1940s, the questions of what defines film noir, and what sort of category it is, provoke continuing debate. They emphasize that not every film noir embodies all five attributes in equal measure—one might be more dreamlike, another, while many critics refer to film noir as a genre itself, others argue that it can be no such thing. Because of the diversity of noir, certain scholars in the field, such as film historian Thomas Schatz, treat it as not a genre but a style. Other critics treat film noir as a mood, characterize it as a series, there is no consensus on the matter. By 1931, Curtiz had already been in Hollywood for half a decade, the Universal horror that comes closest to noir, in story and sensibility is The Invisible Man, directed by Englishman James Whale and photographed by American Arthur Edeson. Edeson later photographed The Maltese Falcon, widely regarded as the first major film noir of the classic era, josef von Sternberg was directing in Hollywood at the same time. Films of his such as Shanghai Express and The Devil Is a Woman, with their hothouse eroticism and baroque visual style, the commercial and critical success of Sternbergs silent Underworld was largely responsible for spurring a trend of Hollywood gangster films. Successful films in that such as Little Caesar, The Public Enemy. An important, possibly influential, cinematic antecedent to classic noir was 1930s French poetic realism, with its romantic, fatalistic attitude, the movements sensibility is mirrored in the Warner Bros. drama I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, a forerunner of noir. Among films not considered films noir, perhaps none had an effect on the development of the genre than Citizen Kane
13.
Crime film
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Crime films are a genre of film that focus on crime. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, films dealing with crime and its detection are often based on plays rather than novels. Agatha Christies stage play Witness for the Prosecution was adapted for the big screen by director Billy Wilder in 1957, the film starred Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton and is a classic example of a courtroom drama. In a courtroom drama, a charge is brought against one of the main characters, another major part is played by the lawyer representing the defendant in court and battling with the public prosecutor. He or she may enlist the services of an investigator to find out what really happened. However, in most cases it is not clear at all whether the accused is guilty of the crime or not—this is how suspense is created. Often, the private investigator storms into the courtroom at the very last minute in order to bring a new and this type of literature lends itself to the literary genre of drama focused more on dialogue and little or no necessity for a shift in scenery. The auditorium of the theatre becomes an extension of the courtroom, in Witness for the Prosecution, Leonard Vole, a young American living in England, is accused of murdering a middle-aged lady he met in the street while shopping. His wife hires the best lawyer available because she is convinced, or rather she knows, another classic courtroom drama is U. S. playwright Reginald Roses Twelve Angry Men, which is set in the jury deliberation room of a New York Court of Law. Eleven members of the jury, aiming at a verdict of guilty. The popularity of TV brought about the emergence of TV series featuring detectives, investigators, special agents, lawyers, in Britain, The Avengers about the adventures of gentleman agent John Steed and his partner, Emma Peel, achieved cult status. In Germany, Derrick became a household word, breaking Bad character Walter White is a methamphetamine drug manufacturer, this offered a different approach whereby the protagonist is the criminal instead of being the detective. Crime films may fall under several different subgenres and these include, Crime comedy - A hybrid of crime and comedy films. Mafia comedy looks at organized crime from a comical standpoint, humor comes from the incompetence of the criminals and/or black comedy. Examples include Analyze This, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, In Bruges, tower Heist and Pain & Gain. Crime drama - A combination of crime and dramatic films, examples include such films as Straight Time and Badlands. Crime thriller - A thriller in which the characters are involved in crime, either in its investigation, as the perpetrator or, less commonly. While some action films could be labelled as such for merely having criminality and thrills, the emphasis in this genre is the drama, examples include Untraceable, Silence of the Lambs, Heat, Seven, Witness, Memories of Murder, The Call, and Running Scared
14.
Mike Hammer
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Michael Mike Hammer is a fictional hard boiled detective created by the American author Mickey Spillane in the 1947 book I, the Jury. In 1946, Spillane, an established writer, worked with illustrator Mike Roy to create the private-eye character Mike Danger for proposed comic-book or comic-strip publication. Unable to sell the project as a comic, he reworked the story as the novel I, Spillane wrote the work in nine days by some accounts,19 in others. In The Big Kill Hammer describes himself to a bargirl as a misanthrope, Hammer is also loosely based on the real-life hard-boiled Texas Ranger and gunfighter Frank Hamer, who was most famous for tracking down and killing Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in 1934. While other hardboiled heroes bend and manipulate the law, Hammer often views it as an impediment to justice, the one virtue he holds in absolute esteem. Hammer nevertheless has a respect for the majority of police, realizing they have a difficult job. Mike Hammer is a private investigator who carries a.45 Colt M1911A1 in a shoulder harness under his left arm. His love for his secretary Velda is outweighed only by his willingness to kill a killer, Hammers best friend is Pat Chambers, Captain of Homicide NYPD. Hammer was a World War II army veteran who spent two years fighting jungle warfare in the Pacific theatre against Japan, Hammer is also patriotic and anti-communist. The novels are peppered with remarks by Hammer supporting American troops in Korea, in One Lonely Night, where Hammer attends a communist meeting in a park, his reaction to the speakers propaganda is a sarcastic Yeah. So far as violence is concerned, the Hammer novels leave little to the imagination, written in the first person, Hammer describes his violent encounters with relish. In all but a few novels, Hammers victims are often left vomiting after a blow to the stomach or groin, Mickey Spillane has said of his character, See, heroes never die. John Wayne isnt dead, Elvis isnt dead, otherwise you dont have a hero. Thats why I never let him get older, Spillane himself played Hammer in a 1963 motion picture adaptation of The Girl Hunters. Spillane himself favoured ex-Marine and former Newburgh, New York police officer Jack Stang, on whom he based the character, Stang appeared with Spillane in the 1954 film Ring of Fear and in the film adaptation of I, the Jury. I, the Jury, filmed in 3-D starring Biff Elliot as Mike Hammer, kiss Me Deadly, Robert Aldrich was the director, Ralph Meeker was cast as Hammer, while Maxine Cooper portrayed Hammers sexy secretary/companion Velda. My Gun Is Quick, Robert Bray was cast as Hammer, the film grossed $308,000 with a total of $602 overseas. The Girl Hunters, Mickey Spillane was given the opportunity to portray his own creation in this film
15.
3D film
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A three-dimensional stereoscopic film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception, hence adding a third dimension. The most common approach to the production of 3D films is derived from stereoscopic photography, 3D films are not limited to theatrical releases, television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods, especially since the advent of 3D television and Blu-ray 3D. 3D films became more and more throughout the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3D presentations of Avatar in December 2009. The stereoscopic era of motion pictures began in the late 1890s when British film pioneer William Friese-Greene filed a patent for a 3D film process, in his patent, two films were projected side by side on screen. The viewer looked through a stereoscope to converge the two images, because of the obtrusive mechanics behind this method, theatrical use was not practical. Frederic Eugene Ives patented his stereo camera rig in 1900, the camera had two lenses coupled together 1¾ inches apart. On June 10,1915, Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell presented tests to an audience at the Astor Theater in New York City. However, according to Adolph Zukor in his 1953 autobiography The Public Is Never Wrong, My 50 Years in the Motion Picture Industry, nothing was produced in this process after these tests. The earliest confirmed 3D film shown to an audience was The Power of Love. The camera rig was a product of the producer, Harry K. Fairall. Whether Fairall used colored filters on the ports or whether he used tinted prints is unknown. After a preview for exhibitors and press in New York City, the film dropped out of sight, apparently not booked by exhibitors, and is now considered lost. Kelley then struck a deal with Samuel Roxy Rothafel to premiere the first in his series of Plasticon shorts entitled Movies of the Future at the Rivoli Theater in New York City. Also in December 1922, Laurens Hammond premiered his Teleview system, Teleview was the first alternating-frame 3D system seen by the public. Using left-eye and right-eye prints and two interlocked projectors, left and right frames were alternately projected, each pair being shown three times to suppress flicker. Viewing devices attached to the armrests of the seats had rotary shutters that operated synchronously with the projector shutters, producing a clean. The show ran for weeks, apparently doing good business as a novelty. In 1922, Frederic Eugene Ives and Jacob Leventhal began releasing their first stereoscopic shorts made over a three-year period, the first film, entitled Plastigrams, was distributed nationally by Educational Pictures in the red-and-blue anaglyph format
16.
Stereophonic sound
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Stereophonic sound or, more commonly, stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that creates an illusion of multi-directional audible perspective. Thus the term applies to so-called quadraphonic and surround-sound systems as well as the more common two-channel. It is often contrasted with monophonic, or mono sound, where audio is heard as coming from one position, in the 2000s, stereo sound is common in entertainment systems such as broadcast radio and TV, recorded music and the cinema. The word stereophonic derives from the Greek στερεός, firm, solid + φωνή, sound, tone, voice and it was coined in 1927 by Western Electric, the signal is then reproduced over multiple loudspeakers to recreate, as closely as possible, the live sound. Secondly artificial or pan-pot stereo, in which a sound is reproduced over multiple loudspeakers. By varying the amplitude of the signal sent to each speaker an artificial direction can be suggested. The control which is used to vary this relative amplitude of the signal is known as a pan-pot, by combining multiple pan-potted mono signals together, a complete, yet entirely artificial, sound field can be created. In technical usage, true stereo sound recording and sound reproduction that uses stereographic projection to encode the relative positions of objects and events recorded. During two-channel stereo recording, two microphones are placed in strategically chosen locations relative to the source, with both recording simultaneously. The two recorded channels will be similar, but each will have distinct time-of-arrival and sound-pressure-level information, during playback, the listeners brain uses those subtle differences in timing and sound level to triangulate the positions of the recorded objects. Stereo recordings often cannot be played on systems without a significant loss of fidelity. This phenomenon is known as phase cancellation and this two-channel telephonic process was commercialized in France from 1890 to 1932 as the Théâtrophone, and in England from 1895 to 1925 as the Electrophone. Both were services available by coin-operated receivers at hotels and cafés, modern stereophonic technology was invented in the 1930s by British engineer Alan Blumlein at EMI, who patented stereo records, stereo films, and also surround sound. In early 1931, Blumlein and his wife were at a local cinema, Blumlein declared to his wife that he had found a way to make the sound follow the actor across the screen. The genesis of ideas is uncertain, but he explained them to Isaac Shoenberg in the late summer of 1931. His earliest notes on the subject are dated 25 September 1931, the application was dated 14 December 1931, and was accepted on 14 June 1933 as UK patent number 394,325. The patent covered many ideas in stereo, some of which are used today and these discs used the two walls of the groove at right angles in order to carry the two channels. Much of the development work on this system for cinematic use did not reach completion until 1935, in Blumleins short test films, his original intent of having the sound follow the actor was fully realised
17.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
18.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
19.
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
20.
Mary Anderson (actress, born 1918)
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Mary Anderson was an American actress, who appeared in 31 films and 22 television productions between 1939 and 1965. She was best known for her supporting role in the film Gone With the Wind. Bebe Anderson was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and her younger brother James Anderson was also an actor, best known as Bob Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird. After two uncredited roles, she made her first important screen appearance in Gone With the Wind, after auditioning as one of the 1,400 actresses involved in the search for Scarlett, she received the supporting role of Maybelle Merriwether. In 1944, she played Alice the nurse, one of the ten characters in the Alfred Hitchcock film Lifeboat, ending her film career in the early 1950s, she occasionally acted on television, for example as Catherine Harrington on Peyton Place in 1964. She made a guest appearance in Perry Mason as Arlene Scott in The Case of the Rolling Bones, Anderson was married to Leonard M. Behrens from 1940 to 1950. Her second marriage was to cinematographer Leon Shamroy from 1953 until his death in 1974 and they had one child, Anderson Alexander Shamroy, who died July 1,1956 at the age of two months. Mary Anderson died on April 6,2014 in Burbank, California and she was under hospice care and died in a condo in Toluca Lake that she shared with her long-time companion, Gordon Carnon. Her death left two surviving credited Gone With the Wind credited cast members, Mickey Kuhn and Olivia de Havilland and she is often confused with the stage actress Mary Anderson or the silent film actress Mary Anderson. Mary Anderson at Find a Grave Mary Anderson at the Internet Movie Database Profile, allmovie. com, accessed April 7,2014
21.
Elisha Cook Jr.
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Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was an American character actor, probably best remembered as the gunsel Wilmer, who tries to intimidate Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. His acting career spanned more than 60 years, with roles in such as The Big Sleep, Shane, The Killing, House on Haunted Hill. Cook was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Elisha Vanslyck Cook Sr. a pharmacist and he started in vaudeville and stock by the age of fourteen. He was an actor in the East Coast and the Midwest before arriving in New York City. Which ran on Broadway for two years, Cook served in the United States Army during World War II. In 1930, Cook settled in Hollywood, after several small and/or uncredited roles, he began a long period playing weaklings or sadistic losers and hoods. Cooks characters usually were killed off, hollywoods most notable fall guy for many years, he made a rare appearance in slapstick comedy in the cameo role of The Screenwriter in Hellzapoppin. In Universals Phantom Lady, he portrays a slimy, intoxicated nightclub-orchestra drummer to memorable effect and he had a substantial uncredited role as Bobo in I, the Jury. He appeared in William Castles horror film House on Haunted Hill and he played a private detective, Homer Garrity, in an episode of Adventures of Superman television series titled Semi-Private Eye, airing for the first time on January 16,1954. That same year, on April 12, he guest-starred on NBCs The Dennis Day Show, in 1960, he was cast in the episode, The Hermit, of the ABC sitcom The Real McCoys, with Walter Brennan. He appeared as Jeremy Hake in the episode The Bequest of the ABC western series, The Rebel and he appeared as Gideon McCoy in an episode entitled The Night of the Bars of Hell of The Wild Wild West. He appeared in the episode of ABCs crime drama, The Fugitive. Cook made two guest appearances on the CBS courtroom drama series Perry Mason, in 1958, he played Art Crowley in The Case of the Pint-Sized Client, and in 1964, he played Reelin Peter Rockwell in The Case of the Reckless Rockhound. He also appeared in The Bionic Woman episode, Once a Thief, Cook was married twice, to Mary Lou Cook in 1929 and Peggy McKenna Cook in 1943, a union which lasted until his death. He lived in Bishop, California, typically summering on Lake Sabrina in the Sierra Nevada, according to John Huston, who directed him in The Maltese Falcon, lived alone up in the High Sierra, tied flies and caught golden trout between films. When he was wanted in Hollywood, they sent word up to his cabin by courier. He would come down, do a picture, and then again to his retreat. Cook died of a stroke on May 18,1995 in Big Pine, California and he was the last surviving member of the main cast of The Maltese Falcon
22.
John Qualen
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John Qualen was a Canadian-American character actor of Norwegian heritage who specialized in Scandinavian roles. Qualen graduated high school in 1920 at Elgin, Illinois and his fathers ministering meant many moves and John was 20 when he graduated from Elgin High School. Though he was awarded a scholarship to Northwestern University after he won an oratory contest he never attended college, in a Milwaukee Journal interview he said he needed to start working and did so with the Chattaqua Circuit. Eventually reaching Broadway, he gained his big break as the Swedish janitor in Elmer Rices Street Scene and his movie career began when he recreated the role in the film version. Three of his memorable roles showcase his versatility. John Qualen was blind in his later years and he died of heart failure in 1987 in Torrance, California, and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. He was survived by his three daughters. N. C. L. E, episode The Jewels of Topango Affair – Dr. Elmer Spritzer Hazel, episode A Question of Ethics – Mr. B. I
23.
Tom Powers
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Tom Powers was an American actor in theatre, films, radio and television. A veteran of the Broadway stage, notably in plays by George Bernard Shaw and he succeeded Orson Welles in the role of Brutus in the Mercury Theatres debut production, Caesar. Thomas McCreery Powers was born in 1890 in Owensboro, Kentucky and his father, Colonel Joshua D. Powers, was a banker, his uncle was sculptor Hiram Powers. Tom Powers mother loved the theatre and enrolled him at school at age three. He entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at age 16, and he studied drama, wrote and produced plays, Powers apprenticed to a pantomime troupe for ten years and became a star of Vitagraph Westerns. Powers appeared in over 70 silent films from 1911 to 1917 opposite such actors as Florence Turner, Harry T. Morey, Clara Kimball Young, Alma Taylor, Powers had great success in his first Broadway appearance, as William Booth in Mr. Lazarus. He became a star in comedies, and won acclaim as a leading player and character actor. His best-known roles included Gregers Werle in The Wild Duck, the captain in Androcles and the Lion, and Bluntschli in Arms and he created the role of Charles Marsden in Eugene ONeills long-running drama, Strange Interlude. In 1938 he succeeded Orson Welles as Brutus in the Mercury Theatres debut stage production, Caesar and his last significant Broadway role was in Three Sisters, with Judith Anderson, Katharine Cornell and Ruth Gordon. His radio credits include Tom Powers Life Studies, a 15-minute series of stories on NBC. Powers published two books of monologues, Life Studies and More Life Studies and he also wrote four plays and two romantic novels, Virgin with Butterflies and Sheba on Trampled Grass. For the next dozen years or so, Powers appeared in over 80 film and television roles, usually playing middle-aged business men and his performance as Metallus Cimber in Julius Caesar is regarded as Powers best during his Hollywood years. Tom Powers was married to Meta Murray Janney of Philadelphia on September 7,1929, Powers died of heart disease at his home in Manhattan Beach, California, on November 9,1955, at age 65. He was interred in Pierce Brothers Valhalla Memorial Park, in North Hollywood, Tom Powers at the Internet Movie Database Tom Powers at the TCM Movie Database Tom Powers at the Internet Broadway Database Tom Powers at Find a Grave
24.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
25.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
26.
Turner Classic Movies
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Turner Classic Movies is an American movie-oriented basic cable and satellite television network owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner. TCM is headquartered at the Techwood Campus in Atlanta, Georgias Midtown business district, historically, the channels programming consisted mainly of featured classic theatrically released feature films from the Turner Entertainment film library – which comprises films from Warner Bros. However, TCM now has licensing deals with other Hollywood film studios as well as its Time Warner sister company, Warner Bros. and occasionally shows more recent films. The channel is available in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Latin America, France, Spain, Nordic countries, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. In 1986, eight years before the launch of Turner Classic Movies, concerns over Turner Entertainments corporate debt load resulted in Turner selling the studio that October back to Kirk Kerkorian, from whom Turner had purchased the studio less than a year before. As part of the deal, Turner Entertainment retained ownership of MGMs library of films released up to May 9,1986, Turner Broadcasting System was split into two companies, Turner Broadcasting System and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and reincorporated as MGM/UA Communications Co. The film library of Turner Entertainment would serve as the form of programming for TCM upon the networks launch. After the library was acquired, MGM/UA signed a deal with Turner to continue distributing the pre-May 1986 MGM and to begin distributing the pre-1950 Warner Bros. film libraries for video release. Turner Classic Movies debuted on April 14,1994, at 6,00 p. m. Eastern Time, the date and time were chosen for their historical significance as the exact centennial anniversary of the first public movie showing in New York City. The first movie broadcast on TCM was the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, at the time of its launch, TCM was available to approximately one million cable television subscribers. AMC had broadened its content to feature colorized and more recent films by 2002. In the early 90s AMC abandoned its format, leaving TCM as the only movie-oriented cable channel to devote its programming entirely to classic films without commercial interruption. In 1996, Turner Broadcasting System merged with Time Warner, which besides placing Turner Classic Movies, in March 1999, MGM paid Warner Bros. and gave up the home video rights to the MGM/UA films owned by Turner to Warner Home Video. In 2008, TCM won a Peabody Award for excellence in broadcasting, in April 2010, Turner Classic Movies held the first TCM Classic Film Festival, an event – now held annually – at the Graumans Chinese Theater and the Graumans Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. In 2007, some of the films featured on TCM were made available for streaming on TCMs website. The networks programming season runs from February until the following March of each year when a retrospective of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated movies is shown, called 31 Days of Oscar. Turner Classic Movies presents many of its features in their original aspect ratio whenever possible – widescreen films broadcast on TCM are letterboxed on the standard definition feed. TCM also regularly presents widescreen presentations of films not available in the format on any video release
27.
AllMovie
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AllMovie is an online guide service website with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. As of 2013, AllMovie. com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by All Media Network, AllMovie was founded by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine, who also founded AllMusic and AllGame. The AllMovie database was licensed to tens of thousands of distributors and retailers for point-of-sale systems, websites, the AllMovie database is comprehensive, including basic product information, cast and production credits, plot synopsis, professional reviews, biographies, relational links and more. AllMovie data was accessed on the web at the AllMovie. com website and it was also available via the AMG LASSO media recognition service, which can automatically recognize DVDs. In late 2007, Macrovision acquired AMG for a reported $72 million, the AMG consumer facing web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in August 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. The buyers also include the founders of SideReel and Ackrell Capital investor Mike Ackrell. All Media Network offices are located in San Francisco, California, AllMusic AllGame SideReel All Media Network Official website
28.
YouTube
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YouTube is an American video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California. The service was created by three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—in February 2005, Google bought the site in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion, YouTube now operates as one of Googles subsidiaries. Unregistered users can watch videos on the site, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos deemed potentially offensive are available only to registered users affirming themselves to be at least 18 years old, YouTube earns advertising revenue from Google AdSense, a program which targets ads according to site content and audience. YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, Hurley had studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Karim could not easily find video clips of either event online, Hurley and Chen said that the original idea for YouTube was a video version of an online dating service, and had been influenced by the website Hot or Not. YouTube began as a venture capital-funded technology startup, primarily from an $11.5 million investment by Sequoia Capital between November 2005 and April 2006, YouTubes early headquarters were situated above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in San Mateo, California. The domain name www. youtube. com was activated on February 14,2005, the first YouTube video, titled Me at the zoo, shows co-founder Jawed Karim at the San Diego Zoo. The video was uploaded on April 23,2005, and can still be viewed on the site, YouTube offered the public a beta test of the site in May 2005. The first video to reach one million views was a Nike advertisement featuring Ronaldinho in November 2005. Following a $3.5 million investment from Sequoia Capital in November, the site grew rapidly, and in July 2006 the company announced that more than 65,000 new videos were being uploaded every day, and that the site was receiving 100 million video views per day. The site has 800 million unique users a month and it is estimated that in 2007 YouTube consumed as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in 2000. The choice of the name www. youtube. com led to problems for a similarly named website, the sites owner, Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment, filed a lawsuit against YouTube in November 2006 after being regularly overloaded by people looking for YouTube. Universal Tube has since changed the name of its website to www. utubeonline. com, in October 2006, Google Inc. announced that it had acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in Google stock, and the deal was finalized on November 13,2006. In March 2010, YouTube began free streaming of certain content, according to YouTube, this was the first worldwide free online broadcast of a major sporting event. On March 31,2010, the YouTube website launched a new design, with the aim of simplifying the interface, Google product manager Shiva Rajaraman commented, We really felt like we needed to step back and remove the clutter. In May 2010, YouTube videos were watched more than two times per day. This increased to three billion in May 2011, and four billion in January 2012, in February 2017, one billion hours of YouTube was watched every day
29.
My Gun Is Quick
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My Gun Is Quick is Mickey Spillanes second novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. It was the basis for the 1957 film of the same title, the story starts with Mike Hammer meeting a red-headed prostitute in a diner. She is hassled by a man she appears to know and fear, despite little conversation, he gives her some money to get a real job and leaves. The next day she is dead, the victim of an apparent hit-and-run accident. Mike does not believe this and proceeds to hunt down her murderers, in the process he uncovers a massive and powerful prostitution ring in New York
30.
Vengeance Is Mine (novel)
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Vengeance Is Mine. is Mickey Spillanes third novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. Mike Hammer wakes up being questioned by the police in the hotel room as the body of an old friend from World War II. His friend, Chester Wheeler, has committed suicide with Hammers own gun after they had been drinking all night. As it is not considered murder, Hammer is not under suspicion but the District Attorney takes the opportunity to revoke his Private Investigator, parts of the investigation are carried out by Hammers secretary, Velda, who has her own Private Investigator licence. This novel features the first time she shoots and kills someone
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One Lonely Night
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One Lonely Night is Mickey Spillanes fourth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. Mike kills the man but the woman, terrified, jumps to her death from the bridge, both the man and the woman possessed oddly shaped green cards with the edges cut off at odd angles. Hammers friend in the department, Captain of Homicide Pat Chambers. Mike attends a meeting and is mistaken for a Soviet MGB spy, next day, Chambers tells Hammer that Lee Deamer, a political candidate running on an anti-corruption ticket has an insane twin brother, Oscar. Chambers asks Hammer to take care of the problem, but when Hammer goes to Oscars address he runs off and throws himself in front of a train, leaving his body unrecognisable. Deamer tells Hammer that Oscar was trying to blackmail him with documents, now missing, Hammer, hindered by the Communists, eventually works out where the stolen papers are and retrieves them. The Communists kidnap Hammers secretary, Velda, and try to bargain—her life for the papers, Hammer assaults their hideout, kills them all and rescues Velda. Finally, Hammer meets again with Deamer, Hammer accuses Deamer of in fact being Oscar and of being a communist. This novel illustrates the features of the subgenre known as hard-boiled crime fiction. The protagonist, Mike Hammer, feels alienated from mainstream society whose values and he wonders if he is like the evil people he fights. The trial Hammer attends is the real life Foley Square trial, Deamer, may be a heavily fictionalised version of Henry A. Wallace
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The Big Kill
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The Big Kill is Mickey Spillanes fifth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. Drinking at a bar on a rainy night, Hammer notices a man come in with an infant. The man, named Decker, cries as he kisses the infant, Hammer shoots the assailant as he searches Deckers body. The driver of the car runs over the man Hammer shot to ensure that he wont talk. Hammer takes care of the child and vows revenge on the person behind the deed, next morning Mike awakens to the telephone ringing and to find the kid making a play for Mikes.45. William pulled a robbery on Riverside Drive the same prior to his murder by ex-con Arnold Basil a stooge for Lou Grindle. Williams only visitor was fellow dock worker Mel Hooker, Mike heads on over to Riverside Drive, the site of the robbery to meet Marsha Lee an ex-Hollywood actress who was hurt in the robbery. Marsha thinks the robbery was planned for the apartment above hers since she had nothing of real value to steal. Hammer also has loving encounters with two women he meets on his quest, Marsha is a former Hollywood Actress who was beaten by Decker when he robbed her flat. Ellen is the daughter of a rich horse breeder who works for the D. A
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The Girl Hunters
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The Girl Hunters is Mickey Spillanes seventh novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. It was adapted for the screen in 1963, Spillane himself played Mike Hammer, the reader discovers that Hammer has been a drunk living in gutters around New York City for the past seven years. Hammers secretary and fiancee, Velda, is believed to be dead after a botched protection job involving a Chicago socialite, then, Hammer is apprehended and taken to an undisclosed location, where he is interrogated by former friend Captain Pat Chambers. Chambers, who blames Hammer for Veldas death, pummels him repeatedly, Richie Cole, a dock worker, is dying of severe gunshot wounds at City General Hospital and has insisted on talking to Hammer exclusively to reveal the identity of his killer. Hammer, upon interviewing the victim, discovers that Velda is still alive and facing execution by a top level Soviet assassin dubbed The Dragon, the man tells Hammer that he has left clues to her location, but dies immediately afterwards. The alarming news causes Hammer to sober up and prepare to go out on his own and he soon discovers the pressure is on from Pat to discover the killers identity. Despite many threats, Hammer successfully brushes off Chambers, but then finds himself being muscled by a Federal Agent named Art Rickerby, Rickerby reveals to Hammer that Richie Cole was a field agent and his former protégé. In order to information and gun carrying privileges, Hammer makes deals with Rickerby. Hammers investigations lead him to Laura Knapp, the widow of a Senator also murdered by the Dragon, whilst gaining more clues from Laura and death attempts by the Dragon, Hammer hurries to find Velda, as the clock is ticking, and time is not on his side. A restored print was screened at the 2010 edition of the Festival de Cannes as an Official Selection of the Cinéma de la Plage
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The Snake (novel)
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The Snake is Mickey Spillanes eighth novel featuring private investigator Mike Hammer. The novel picks up exactly where The Girl Hunters left off. Hammer has discovered the location of his long-lost love and secretary, in a race against the clock, Hammer tries to move Velda from the location as soon as possible, only to find that she is harboring a 21-year-old runaway who is fearing for her life. Before they vacate the premises, they are attacked by two assassins, who later discover are working independently of each other. Hammer quickly dispatches one of the men and severely wounds the other, days later, Velda testifies before Congress about the espionage activities carried out by the Butterfly Two group. The Justice Department acts swiftly upon the testimony to round up the remaining operatives in the country, leaving Velda and Mike in the free and clear to return to their prior lives. After the duo set up again in the Hackard Building, Hammer reconciles with his old police buddy, Pat Chambers. Hammer then devotes his attention to the girl that Velda was harboring, Hammer races to discover the truth behind the identity of the snake before its too late. Can he save the girl, himself, and Velda, robert Fellows had planned on following his film of The Girl Hunters with The Snake but the project was never made
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The Goliath Bone
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The Goliath Bone is the 14th entry in the Mike Hammer series by Mickey Spillane. It was completed by Max Allan Collins, and was first published on October 13,2008, the Goliath Bone is one of three almost finished Mike Hammer novels that Spillane entrusted Collins to finish before his death in 2006. Hammer is forced to put off retirement and his marriage to his love interest and secretary, Velda. Hammer saves a couple of archaeologists from unknown muggers somewhere in New York, lo and behold, the archaeologists are the target of Al Qaeda agents who believe they possess a thigh bone that belonged to the Biblical character, Goliath. Hammer now finds himself going against Islamic terrorists, including a 7-foot agent code named, of course, will Hammer hold up against the new enemies of the US
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Kiss Me Deadly
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Kiss Me Deadly is an 1955 film noir, produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, that stars Ralph Meeker. The screenplay was written by A. I, Bezzerides, based on the Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer mystery novel Kiss Me, Deadly. The film was released by United Artists Kiss Me Deadly grossed $726,000 in the United States, the film also withstood scrutiny from the Kefauver Commission, which called it a film designed to ruin young viewers, leading director Aldrich to protest the Commissions conclusions. Kiss Me Deadly marked the debuts of the actresses Cloris Leachman. Kiss Me Deadly is often considered a classic of the noir genre, in 1999, Kiss Me Deadly was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Ralph Meeker plays Mike Hammer, a tough Los Angeles private eye who is almost as brutal as the crooks he chases, Mike and his assistant/secretary/lover, Velda, usually work on penny-ante divorce cases. One evening on a country road, Hammer gives a ride to Christina. She has escaped from an institution, most probably the nearby Camarillo State Mental Hospital. Thugs waylay them and Hammer awakens in some unknown location where he hears Christina screaming and being tortured to death, the thugs then push Hammers car off a cliff with Christinas body and an unconscious Hammer inside. Hammer next awakens in a hospital with Velda by his bedside and he decides to pursue the case, for vengeance, a sense of guilt, and because she must be connected with something big behind it all. The twisting plot takes Hammer to the apartment of Lily Carver, Lily tells Hammer she has gone into hiding and asks Hammer to protect her. It turns out that she is after a box that. The great whatsit, as Velda calls it, at the center of Hammers quest is a small, mysterious valise that is hot to the touch and contains a dangerous, glowing substance. Later, at a beach house, Hammer finds Lily. Velda is their hostage, tied up in a bedroom, Soberin and Gabrielle are vying for the contents of the box. Gabrielle shoots Soberin, believing that she can keep the contents for herself. She also shoots and wounds Hammer, who manages to find Velda, as Gabrielle slyly opens the case, it is ultimately revealed to be stolen radionuclide material, which reaches explosive criticality when the box is fully opened. Horrifying sounds emanate from the material as Gabrielle and the house burst into flames, just as Hammer
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My Gun Is Quick (film)
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My Gun Is Quick is a 1957 film noir mystery film based on the novel My Gun is Quick by Mickey Spillane. Private investigator Mike Hammer, by assisting a prostitute being assaulted, when she later is found murdered that ring is nowhere to be found. However many parties are on the lookout and the private eye runs into big troubles, robert Bray as Mike Hammer Whitney Blake as Nancy Williams Donald Randolph as Colonel Holloway Gina Core as Maria Teresa Garcia Pamela Duncan as Velda, Hammers secretary Booth Colman as Det. Pat Chambers My Gun Is Quick at the Internet Movie Database
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I, the Jury (1982 film)
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I, the Jury is a 1982 film based on the best selling detective novel of the same name by Mickey Spillane. The story was filmed in 3D in 1953. Larry Cohen wrote the screenplay and was hired to direct, but was replaced when the budget was already out of control after one week of shooting. He was replaced by Richard T. Heffron, the film begins with a James Bond-like teaser opening before the story begins. The plot involves two detectives, protagonist Mike Hammer and his friend, Jack Williams, who is discovered murdered. The plot also features a serial rapist and a sex therapy clinic headed up by Dr. Charlotte Bennett, the plot contains elements not in the novel, such as government conspiracies and mind-control techniques by the CIA and the Mafia. According to screenwriter Larry Cohen, he was hired to direct but was fired after expressing his concerns to cast or crew over the producers running out of money. Cohen also claimed We finished way ahead of them and they went way over budget and the company went bankrupt. They sold the picture at a bankruptcy sale and it was criticized for eschewing essential plot lines from the novel, in favor of nudity, violence and extended action scenes. Others complained that Assante was miscast as Hammer and it all ends with Hammer storming a booby-trapped hideaway, alone and without a gun, then slithering through a last little fillip of bloody romance. I, the Jury only aims to entertain, and who cares, with Mr. Assante around. Armand Assante as Mike Hammer Barbara Carrera as Dr
