The Saint (TV series)
The Saint is a British ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the United Kingdom on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It was based on the literary character Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in the 1920s and featured in many novels over the years, he was played by Roger Moore. Templar helps those whom conventional agencies are powerless or unwilling to protect using methods that skirt the law. Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal is his nominal nemesis who considers Templar a common criminal, but grudgingly tolerates his actions for the greater good. NBC picked up the show as a summer replacement in its evening schedule in 1966 because of the strong performance in the United States of the first two series in first-run syndication; the programme, ended its run with both trans-Atlantic primetime scheduling and colour episodes. It proved popular beyond the UK and US airing in over 60 countries, made a profit in excess of £350m for ITC. With 120 episodes, the programme is exceeded only by The Avengers as the most productive show of its genre produced in the UK.
As with The Avengers, the colour episodes were broadcast in the UK in black and white before the advent of colour transmissions on ITV. Roger Moore had earlier tried to buy the production rights to the Saint books himself, was delighted to be able to play the part. Moore became co-owner of the show with Robert S. Baker when the show moved to colour and the production credit became Bamore Productions. Most of the wardrobe Moore wore, he was offered the role of James Bond at least twice during the run of the series, but he had to turn it down both times due to his television commitments. In one early episode of the series, another character mistakes Templar for Bond. Moore accepted the Bond role. Moore had a few recurring co-stars Ivor Dean, who played Templar's nemesis, Inspector Teal. In three early episodes, Teal had been played by Campbell Singer, Norman Pitt, Wensley Pithey. Teal's relationship with Templar was broadly similar to that depicted in the novels, but in the series, he is depicted as bungling, rather than Charteris's characterisation of him as an officious, unimaginative policeman.
When in France, Templar had a similar relationship with Colonel Latignant. Latignant is depicted as being less competent than Teal, is keener than Teal to find Templar guilty, though Templar helps him solve the case. Unlike Teal, Latignant did not appear in Charteris's novels. In all, Inspector Teal featured in Colonel Latignant in six; the Saint began as a straightforward mystery series, but over the years adopted more secret agent- and fantasy-style plots. It made a well-publicised switch from black-and-white to colour production midway through its run; the early episodes are distinguished by Moore breaking the fourth wall and speaking to the audience in character at the start of every episode. With the switch to colour, this was replaced by simple narration; the precredits sequence ended with someone referring to the Saint by name – "Simon Templar". Some episodes, such as "Iris", broke away from this formula and had Templar address the audience for the entire precredits sequence and referring to himself by name, setting up the story that followed.
Many episodes were based upon Charteris's stories, although a higher percentage of original scripts were used as the series progressed. The novel Vendetta for the Saint, credited to Charteris but written by Harry Harrison, was one of the last Saint stories to be adapted; some of the scripts were novelised and published as part of the ongoing series of The Saint novels, such as The Fiction Makers and The People Importers. The first of these books, which gave cover credit to Charteris, but were written by others, was The Saint on TV, the series of novelisations continued for several years after the television programme had ended. Templar's car, when it appeared, was a white Volvo P1800 with the number plate ST1; this model Volvo is still referred to as "the Saint's car", with miniature versions made by Corgi which have proved popular. Volvo was pleased to supply their introduced car in 1962 for its promotional value, after Jaguar Cars had rejected a request from the producers to provide an E-type.
Unlike its contemporary rival, The Avengers, The Saint was shot on film from the beginning, whereas the first three series of the other series were videotaped, with minimal location shooting. All episodes of The Saint were syndicated abroad; the black-and-white series were first syndicated in the US by NBC affiliate stations in 1967 and 1968, 32 of the 47 colour episodes were broadcast by NBC from 1968 to 1969, have since played in syndication in the US for many years after. Most series are available on DVD in North America. Two two-part episodes from series 6, "Vendetta for the Saint" and "The Fiction Makers", were made into feature films and distributed to theatres in Europe, show up on late-night television in America, they are available on DVD. In the UK, ITV4 has broadcast colour episodes. In the US, FamilyNet and RTV have airied both the colour episodes. Me-TV has broadcast the series. In March 2015, the
Diamonds Are Forever (film)
Diamonds Are Forever is a 1971 James Bond spy film and the seventh in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth and final Eon film to star Sean Connery, who returned to the role as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond, for the first time since You Only Live Twice, having declined to reprise the role in On Her Majesty's Secret Service; the film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, is the second of four James Bond films directed by Guy Hamilton. The story has Bond impersonating a diamond smuggler to infiltrate a smuggling ring, soon uncovering a plot by his old nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld to use the diamonds to build a space-based laser weapon. Bond has to battle his nemesis for one last time, to stop the smuggling and stall Blofeld's plan of destroying Washington, D. C. and extorting the world with nuclear supremacy. After George Lazenby left the series, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli tested other actors, but studio United Artists wanted Sean Connery back, paying a then-record $1.25 million salary for him to return.
The producers were inspired by Goldfinger. Locations included Las Vegas, California and Lufthansa's hangar in Germany. Diamonds Are Forever was a commercial success, but received mixed reviews, with criticism for its humorous camp tone; the film marked the final appearance of the SPECTRE organization in Eon's Bond films until the 2015 film of the same name. James Bond -- Agent 007 -- pursues Ernst Stavro Blofeld, he finds him at a facility where Blofeld look-alikes are being created through plastic surgery. Bond kills a test subject, the "real" Blofeld, by drowning him in a pool of superheated mud. While assassins Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd systematically kill several diamond smugglers, M suspects that South African diamonds are being stockpiled to depress prices by dumping, orders Bond to uncover the smuggling ring. Disguised as professional smuggler and assassin Peter Franks, Bond travels to Amsterdam to meet contact Tiffany Case; the real Franks shows up on the way, but Bond intercepts and kills him switches IDs to make it seem as though Franks is Bond.
Case and Bond go to Los Angeles, smuggling the diamonds inside Franks' corpse. At the airport Bond meets his CIA ally Felix Leiter travels to Las Vegas. At a funeral home, Franks' body is cremated and the diamonds are passed on to another smuggler, Shady Tree. Bond is nearly killed by Wint and Kidd when they put him into a coffin and send it to a cremation oven, but Tree stops the process when he discovers that the diamonds in Franks' body were fakes planted by Bond and the CIA. Bond tells Leiter to ship him the real diamonds. Bond goes to the Whyte House, a casino-hotel owned by the reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte, where Tree works as a stand-up comedian. Bond watches Tree's act and afterwards goes to his dressing room, where he discovers that Tree has been killed by Wint and Kidd, who did not know that the diamonds were fake. At the craps table Bond meets the opportunistic Plenty O'Toole. Gang members ambush them, throwing O'Toole out into a pool. Bond spends the rest of the night with Tiffany Case, instructing her to retrieve the real diamonds at the Circus Circus casino.
Tiffany reneges on her deal to meet back with Bond and instead flees, passing off the diamonds to the next smuggler. However, seeing that O'Toole was killed, Tiffany changes her mind, she drives Bond to the airport, where the diamonds are given to Whyte's casino manager, Bert Saxby, followed to a remote facility. Bond enters the apparent destination of the diamonds: a research laboratory owned by Whyte, where a satellite is being built by Professor Metz, a laser refraction specialist. Bond fakes Metz by telling him he is a technician he met in the facility, his cover is blown. Bond is seen by security, he manages to evade the guards by stealing a moon buggy and reunites with Tiffany. The laboratory report Bond's activity to the sheriff's office. Bond and Tiffany make their way back to Las Vegas. Bond scales the walls to the Whyte House's top floor to confront Whyte, he is instead met by two identical Blofelds. Bond kills one of the Blofelds; the real Blofeld pulls a gun on Bond, instructs him into a elevator, where he is knocked out by gas.
He is picked up by Wint and Kidd, taken out to Las Vegas Valley, where he is placed in a pipeline and left to die. The pipeline is buried the next morning. Bond calls Blofeld, using a similar electronic device made by Q to pose as Saxby, he finds out Whyte is kept at his summer house outside the city and goes there with Felix and the CIA. After a brief battle with Whyte's female bodyguards Bambi and Thumper, they rescue Whyte. Saxby attempts to kill Bond outside the summer house, but is fatally shot during the ensuing gunfight. In the meantime, Blofeld abducts Case. With the help of Whyte, Bond raids the lab and uncovers Blofeld's plot to create a laser satellite using the diamonds, which by now has been sent into orbit. With the satellite, Blofeld destroys nuclear weapons in China, the Soviet Union and the United States proposes an international auction for global nuclear supremacy. Whyte identifies an oil platform off the coast of Baja California as Blofeld's base of operations. Afte
Wish You Were Here (musical)
Wish You Were Here is a musical with a book by Arthur Kober and Joshua Logan and music and lyrics by Harold Rome. The musical was adapted from Kober's 1937 play, Having Wonderful Time, revolves around a summer camp for adults. ACT ONE The show opens with a P. A. announcement welcoming a busload of new guests to Camp Karefree, a two-week summer camp for adults in the Catskills. Camp host Lou Kandel gives the newcomers women, the rundown of the place, he tells everyone the two rules - Camp Karefree cares for you, when the lights flicker the girls go to the girls' side and the boys go to the boys'. Enter Teddy Stern, a young woman soon to be wed to a stuffy, older man: Herman Fabricant. Teddy has been crying uncontrollably since her engagement, so her doctor suggested she get some rest before the wedding. Teddy's friend Fay, a screwball blonde, takes her under her wing. Herman leaves. After he's gone, Teddy confesses she is having second thoughts about her marriage, that's why the doctor said she needed a change.
With that, Fay takes Teddy's wedding ring - just for the time that they're at camp - so Teddy can have a real change. Fay introduces the now "single" Teddy to her friends. Teddy meets Itchy Flexner, the social director who does it all: imitations, singing and telling stories, he just loves to entertain. He engages the entire camp with his talent. An announcement over the loudspeaker tells everyone to change for dinner; as she heads to her cabin, Teddy meets Pinky Harris - a dashing, womanizing fellow who takes an interest in her. After Teddy has changed for dinner, she notices Fay flirting with Harry "Muscles" Green - the new athletic director, it seems. She confesses; the scene shifts to the locker room for the waiters listlessly wipe the water glasses and reflect on what they have to do to put themselves through school. Kandel enters and reminds the waiters that part of their job is to entertain the ladies - all of them, not just the pretty ones - by dancing and talking with them. Chick, a law student, is tired of being a waiter by day and gigolo by night - he wants to meet a real girl, not these eager beavers, as he calls them, at Camp Karefree.
But, the boys remind him it's either get fired. On the Social Hall Porch, the girls want to dance; when the waiters arrive the girls rush inside excitedly to dance with them. Teddy, doesn't feel like dancing, she listens to the other girls speculate that tonight could be the night they fall in love, looks at her ring finger, starts crying. Chick casually stands unaware of Teddy. Schmutz, one of Itchy's assistants and tells Chick that he better start dancing because word has gotten back to Kandel that Chick wouldn't dance with one of the girls. Chick convinces the reluctant Teddy to dance with him just as Kandel enters. Inside the social hall, Itchy directs everyone in a get-acquainted dance. At the end, ready to escort her home, Chick is still with Teddy and thanks her for getting him out of a tight spot. It's here that Pinky makes it evident that he has designs on Teddy. In fact, he wants Itchy to help him see just how he can lure Teddy to him. Itchy agrees - on the condition Pinky get him a TV audition.
Next, Muscles asks Itchy for advice on wooing a girl. Itchy is happy to oblige, until he finds out the girl is Fay who Itchy wants! To Itchy's dismay and Fay leave together.. Walking through the woods and Teddy hear the band playing the song Chick sang in the waiter's show last year. It's about a boy and a girl who met at camp, the following season she didn't come back, they was interrupted by a scheming Itchy. When she leaves, Chick explains that he can't get involved with Teddy - he's putting all his time and attention towards Law School. Teddy understands, she too can't get involved. Chick thinks. Chick has trouble with the socializing part of his job, because all of the girls he is supposed to romance want long-term contacts. Since Teddy does not, he asks her, she agrees. They go off to bed - alone. A week Muscles is exhausting everyone on the athletic field. Itchy has to cancel evening activities. Kandel tells Itchy that if the social events don't pick up, Itchy will lose his job as social director.
Meanwhile, Pinky tells Teddy he has just ordered a new formal dress in her size, meant to be the prize for the Miss Karefree bathing beauty contest. He wants her to enter. Teddy goes off with Chick. Fay flirts with Muscles and Itchy gets jealous. Teddy and Chick are greeted by the entire camp. Though they see their relationship as a friendship, everyone else sees a blossoming romance. Everyone leaves except for the spurned Itchy. Itchy decides, he decides to have a candlelight evening in the social hall. He figures that will be so romantic that all the girls will forget his sports events. Unfortunately
The Flesh Is Weak
The Flesh Is Weak is a 1957 British film directed by Don Chaffey. It stars Milly Vitale. Distributors Corporation of America released the film in the US as a double feature with Blonde in Bondage. John Derek as Tony Giani Milly Vitale as Marissa Cooper William Franklyn as Lloyd Buxton Martin Benson as Angelo Giani Freda Jackson as Trixie Norman Wooland as Inspector Kingcombe Harold Lang as Henry Patricia Jessel as Millie John Paul as Sergeant Franks Denis Shaw as Saradine Joe Robinson as Lofty Roger Snowden as Benny Patricia Plunkett as Doris Newman Shirley Anne Field as Susan The Flesh Is Weak on IMDb
James Bond
The James Bond series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelizations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood, John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd and Anthony Horowitz; the latest novel is Forever and a Day by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2018. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond, Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the diaries of a recurring series character, Moneypenny; the character has been adapted for television, comic strip, video games and film. The films are the longest continually running film series of all time and have grossed over $7.040 billion in total, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film series to date, which started in 1962 with Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as Bond; as of 2019, there have been twenty-four films in the Eon Productions series.
The most recent Bond film, stars Daniel Craig in his fourth portrayal of Bond. There have been two independent productions of Bond films: Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. In 2015 the series was estimated to be worth $19.9 billion, making James Bond one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The Bond films are renowned for a number of features, including the musical accompaniment, with the theme songs having received Academy Award nominations on several occasions, two wins. Other important elements which run through most of the films include Bond's cars, his guns, the gadgets with which he is supplied by Q Branch; the films are noted for Bond's relationships with various women, who are sometimes referred to as "Bond girls". Ian Fleming created the fictional character of James Bond as the central figure for his works. Bond is an intelligence officer in the Secret Intelligence Service known as MI6. Bond is known by his code number, 007, was a Royal Naval Reserve Commander. Fleming based his fictional creation on a number of individuals he came across during his time in the Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, admitting that Bond "was a compound of all the secret agents and commando types I met during the war".
Among those types were his brother, involved in behind-the-lines operations in Norway and Greece during the war. Aside from Fleming's brother, a number of others provided some aspects of Bond's make up, including Conrad O'Brien-ffrench, Patrick Dalzel-Job and Bill "Biffy" Dunderdale; the name James Bond came from that of the American ornithologist James Bond, a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide Birds of the West Indies. Fleming, a keen birdwatcher himself, had a copy of Bond's guide and he explained to the ornithologist's wife that "It struck me that this brief, Anglo-Saxon and yet masculine name was just what I needed, so a second James Bond was born", he further explained that: When I wrote the first one in 1953, I wanted Bond to be an dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened. On another occasion, Fleming said: "I wanted the simplest, plainest-sounding name I could find,'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like'Peregrine Carruthers'.
Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure—an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department." Fleming decided that Bond should resemble both American singer Hoagy Carmichael and himself and in Casino Royale, Vesper Lynd remarks, "Bond reminds me rather of Hoagy Carmichael, but there is something cold and ruthless." In Moonraker, Special Branch Officer Gala Brand thinks that Bond is "certainly good-looking... Rather like Hoagy Carmichael in a way; that black hair falling down over the right eyebrow. Much the same bones, but there was something a bit cruel in the mouth, the eyes were cold."Fleming endowed Bond with many of his own traits, including sharing the same golf handicap, the taste for scrambled eggs and using the same brand of toiletries. Bond's tastes are often taken from Fleming's own as was his behaviour, with Bond's love of golf and gambling mirroring Fleming's own. Fleming used his experiences of his espionage career and all other aspects of his life as inspiration when writing, including using names of school friends, acquaintances and lovers throughout his books.
It was not until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice, that Fleming gave Bond a sense of family background. The book was the first to be written after the release of Dr. No in cinemas and Sean Connery's depiction of Bond affected Fleming's interpretation of the character, to give Bond both a sense of humour and Scottish antecedents that were not present in the previous stories. In a fictional obituary, purportedly published in The Times, Bond's parents were given as Andrew Bond, from the village of Glencoe and Monique Delacroix, from the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Fleming did not provide Bond's date of birth, but John Pearson's fictional biography of Bond, James Bond: The Authorized Biography of 007, gives Bond a birth date on 11 November 1920, while a study by John Griswold puts the date at 11 November 1921. Whilst serving in the Naval Intelligence Division, Fleming had planned to become an author and had told a friend, "I am going to write the spy story to end all spy stories." On 17 February 1952, he began wri
Erik the Conqueror
Erik the Conqueror is an epic 1961 Italian action–adventure film directed by Mario Bava and starring George Ardisson and Cameron Mitchell as long-lost Viking brothers in the 9th century, one of whom is raised in England, the other in Scandinavia. They meet after 20 years, as rivals on opposite sides of an English–Viking war, it is a loose remake of the American film The Vikings. In 786 AD, three large Viking ships land in England. King Harald, the only Viking chieftain interested in maintaining peace, makes a plea to King Loter; the English king sends Sir Rutford to work out a deal with the Vikings. Rutford stages a surprise attack on the Vikings. King Harald is felled by an arrow fired by Rutford's chief assassin. During the battle, Harold's two young sons and Eron, are whisked away by one of his chiefs. Eron is rescued but Erik is left behind in the chaos. King Loter arrives on the scene, where he threatens to strip Rutford of his title. Rutford retaliates by having his assassin kill Loter with an arrow.
Loter's wife, Queen Alice, wanders away. She finds Erik hiding on the beach; the queen decides to raise Erik as her own son. 20 years the Vikings once again wage war against England. The adult Eron, has fallen in love with a vestal virgin named Daya, the identical twin sister of the vestal Rama, they hide their love out of fear of being executed. Eron tells Daya. Viking leader King Olaf makes a pact with the kingdoms of Iceland and Sweden to invade England once again. Due to his age, Olaf appoints a younger to lead the attack. Olaf chooses Eron but his choice is contested by Garian. Garian wishes to be elected leader, a vote by 100 warriors is taken. Olaf declares. Eron refuses to kill his opponent, asking Garian to serve as his right-hand man. In England, the adult Erik is appointed Duke of Helford and leader of the English sea forces, replacing Sir Rutford. Rutford plants an agent on board to set fire to Erik's ship while at sea; the Viking and English fleets meet in the North Sea and a sea battle begins.
Vikings board Erik's flagship just as the agent sets fire to it. In the battle and Eron meet and engage in a sword fight. Erik's ship catches fire. Erik jumps overboard and washes ashore in Viking land, he is found by Rama. Rama points Erik in the direction of a local fishing village, where he is accepted by the Vikings as a shipwrecked fisherman. Back in England, Sir Rutford proposes marriage to the queen. Eron and his men arrive. Eron appoints Rutford as Regent and takes Queen Alice as a hostage back to Viking land. There, Rama is assigned to look after Queen Alice. Rama notices that the queen wears a cross and mentions this to Erik. Demanding to know the prisoner's name, Erik is shocked to find that it's his'mother'; the next day and Daya are to be married. As Erik watches the wedding ceremony, he mistakenly believes that it is Rama, being married. Enraged by this imagined ` affront', Erik confronts Daya. Erik is locked away by King Olaf to be executed the following morning. Rama drugs Erik's guards, explains to him that the woman he saw married was her twin sister, cuts him free.
While they flee, Eron and a horde of Vikings give pursuit. Eron nearly falls to his death but Erik, urged by Rama, rescues him from certain death. Eron continues to pursue them but Erik and Rama meet up with Queen Alice and they safely sail to England. Erik gathers a combined English-Scottish force to attack Rutford's castle but finds that Eron and the Vikings have arrived before him. Erik challenges Eron to a duel. Eron accepts. In the ensuing sword fight, Eron catches sight of the tattoo on Erik's chest and recognises him as his brother, he declares a ceasefire, upsetting Rutford, who responds by having his henchman fire an arrow at Erik. Eron is fatally wounded; the enraged Vikings attempt to storm the castle, but Rutford raises the drawbridge and threatens to kill Daya by the next morning if the Vikings do not disband. As Eron lies dying, he names Erik as his successor. Becoming more and more delirious, he asks to see Daya one last time. Erik determines to do this by breaking her out of the castle.
Erik scales the castle wall. Meanwhile, Rama realizes that the dying Eron will not last much longer and poses as her sister to him. Eron is oblivious to the deception and, upon declaring his love for her dies. Erik makes his way into the castle. At dawn, the combined Viking and Scottish armies attack the castle, scaling the walls and slaughtering the defenders. All of Rutford's men are killed, with Rutford himself being the last to fall when he attempts to throw a spear at the escaping Eron but is pierced with at least a dozen Viking arrows. With peace restored, Queen Alice reclaims her throne and allows Erik to leave England to claim his title as King of the Vikings. Erik returns to Viking land with Rama. Cameron Mitchell as Eron George Ardisson as Erik Alice Kessler as Rama Ellen Kessler as Daya Andrea Checchi as Sir Rutford Franco Ressel as King Lotar Françoise Christophe as Queen Alice Folco Lulli as King Harald Jean-Jacques Delbo as King Olaf Enzo Doria as Bennet Raf Baldassarre as Floki Gianni Solaro as Ranco Livia Contardi as Hadda Franco Giacobini as Rustichello Joe Robinson as Garian Erik the Conqueror was shot in Rome's Titanus Studios.
Erik the Conqueror was released theatrically in Italy on 7 Dece
The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter is an American digital and print magazine, website, which focuses on the Hollywood film and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, in 2010 switched to a weekly large-format print magazine with a revamped website. Headquartered in Los Angeles, THR is part of the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, a group of properties that includes Billboard and SpinMedia, it is owned by Valence Media, a holding company co-founded by Todd Boehly, an executive of its previous owners, Guggenheim Partners and Eldridge Industries. THR was founded in 1930 by William R. "Billy" Wilkerson as Hollywood's first daily entertainment trade newspaper. The first edition appeared on September 3, 1930 and featured Wilkerson's front-page "Tradeviews" column, which became influential; the newspaper appeared Monday to Saturday for the first 10 years, except for a brief period Monday to Friday from 1940. Wilkerson ran the THR until his death in September 1962, although his final column appeared 18 months prior.
Wilkerson's wife, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, took over as publisher and editor-in-chief when her husband died. From the late 1930s, Wilkerson used THR to push the view that the industry was a communist stronghold. In particular, he opposed the screenplay writers' trade union, the Screen Writers Guild, which he called the "Red Beachhead." In 1946 the Guild considered creating an American Authors' Authority to hold copyright for writers, instead of ownership passing to the studios. Wilkerson devoted his "Tradeviews" column to the issue on July 29, 1946, headlined "A Vote for Joe Stalin." He went to confession before publishing it, knowing the damage it would cause, but was encouraged by the priest to go ahead with it. The column contained the first industry names, including Dalton Trumbo and Howard Koch, on what became the Hollywood blacklist, known as "Billy's list." Eight of the 11 people Wilkerson named were among the "Hollywood Ten" who were blacklisted after hearings in 1947 by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
When Wilkerson died, his THR obituary said that he had "named names and card numbers and was credited with being chiefly responsible for preventing communists from becoming entrenched in Hollywood production."In 1997, THR reporter David Robb wrote a story about the newspaper's involvement, but the editor, Robert J. Dowling, declined to run it. For the blacklist's 65th anniversary in 2012, the THR published a lengthy investigative piece about Wilkerson's role, by reporters Gary Baum and Daniel Miller; the same edition carried an apology from Wilkerson's son W. R. Wilkerson III, he wrote. On April 11, 1988, Tichi Wilkerson Kassel sold the paper to BPI Communications, owned by Affiliated Publications, for $26.7 million. Robert J. Dowling became THR president in 1988, editor-in-chief and publisher in 1991. Dowling hired Alex Ben Block as editor in 1990. Block and Teri Ritzer dampened much of the sensationalism and cronyism, prominent in the paper under the Wilkersons. In 1994, BPI Communications was sold to Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen for $220 million.
After Block left, former Variety film editor, Anita Busch, became editor between 1999 and 2001. Busch was credited with making the paper competitive with Variety. Tony Uphoff assumed the publisher position in November 2005. In March 2006, a private equity consortium led by Blackstone and KKR, both with ties to the conservative movement in the United States, acquired THR along with the other assets of VNU, it joined those publications with AdWeek and A. C. Nielsen to form The Nielsen Company. In December 2009, Prometheus Global Media, a newly formed company formed by Pluribus Capital Management and Guggenheim Partners, chaired by Jimmy Finkelstein, CEO of News Communications, parent of political journal The Hill, acquired THR from Nielsen Business Media, it pledged to grow the company. Richard Beckman of Condé Nast, was appointed as CEO. In 2010, Beckman purchased THR from Guggenheim Partners and Pluribus Capital, recruited Janice Min, the former editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, to "eviscerate" the existing daily trade paper and reinvent it as a glossy, large-format weekly magazine.
The Hollywood Reporter relaunched with a weekly print edition and a revamped website that enabled it to break news. Eight months after its initial report, The New York Times took note of the many scoops THR had generated, adding that the new glossy format seemed to be succeeding with its "rarefied demographic", stating, "They managed to change the subject by going weekly... The large photos, lush paper stock and great design are a kind of narcotic here."By February 2013, the Times returned to THR, filing a report on a party for Academy Award nominees the magazine had hosted at the Los Angeles restaurant Spago. Noting the crowd of top celebrities in attendance, the Times alluded to the fact that many Hollywood insiders were now referring to THR as "the new Vanity Fair". Ad sales since Min's hiring were up more than 50%, while traffic to the magazine's website had grown by 800%. Since January 2014, The Hollywood Reporter has been led by co-presidents Janice John Amato. John Kilcullen replaced Uphoff in October 2006, as publisher of Billboard.
Kilcullen was a defendant in Billboard's infamous "dildo" lawsuit, in which he was accused of race discrimination and sexual harassment. VNU settled the suit on the courthouse steps. Kilcullen "exited" Nielsen in February 2008 "to pursue his passion as an entrepreneur." Matthew King, vice president for content and audience, editorial director Howard Burns, executive editor Peter Pryor left the paper in a wave of layoffs in December 2006.
