Three Faces West
Three Faces West is a 1940 American drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus and starring John Wayne, Sigrid Gurie and Charles Coburn. The film, set in North Dakota was one of a handful of overtly anti-Nazi films produced by Hollywood before American entry into World War II. Isolationists and Nazi sympathizers condemned other Hollywood movies for being pro-British "propaganda" or for "glorifying war", however Three Faces West was deliberately crafted to celebrate the pioneer spirit of America, the determination of Americans to survive the dust bowl, contrasted the American values which were shown in this light with the evils of Nazism, this way the film makers prevented isolationists and Nazi sympathizers from being able to criticize the film as they had criticized other similar anti-Nazi films during this period. Two refugees, a medical doctor and his 20-something-year-old daughter arrive in the USA from Nazi-annexed Austria end up in becoming the much-needed physician and nurse in a small North Dakota farm town.
The local town located in the area known as the Dust Bowl and is being hard hit by the drought and dust storms. The local farmers and townspeople want to try to save their farms and the town by adopting newer farming methods, but are convinced by the Department of Agriculture, the continuing dust storms to pack up the whole town and move en masse to an undeveloped portion of Oregon, where a new dam will create a water supply for them to build a new farming community. In a modern-day version of an old wagon train, the town moves to Oregon under John Phillips's leadership, not without differences of opinion and friction among the followers; the doctor and his daughter take a detour to San Francisco when they learn that the daughter's fiance was not killed by the Nazis in Austria, but has come to America. It turns out that the fiance has embraced Nazism, which sends the doctor and his daughter back to rejoin the transplanted town in Oregon, where the daughter marries Phillips. John Wayne as John Phillips Sigrid Gurie as Leni "Lenchen" Braun Charles Coburn as Dr. Karl Braun Spencer Charters as Dr. "Nunk" Atterbury Helen MacKellar as Mrs. Welles Roland Varno as Dr. Eric Von Scherer Sonny Bupp as Billy Welles Wade Boteler as Mr. Harris, Department of Agriculture Official Trevor Bardette as Clem Higgins Russell Simpson as Minister Charles Waldron as Dr. William Thorpe Wendell Niles as Man-on-the-Street Radio Announcer John Wayne filmography Three Faces West at the American Film Institute Catalog Three Faces West at the TCM Movie Database Three Faces West on IMDb Three Faces West at AllMovie
The Courageous Dr. Christian
The Courageous Dr. Christian is a 1940 American film directed by Bernard Vorhaus. Kindhearted Dr. Paul Christian is appalled by the harsh living conditions of homeless inhabitants of Squatterstown, he lets one of the homeless, Dave Williams, to live with him, goes on to ask the city to build housing for the poor. He realizes that it is the powerful Mrs. Norma Stewart that has the last say in the matter since it is her property they would build on. Mrs. Stewart has long been in love with Dr. Christian, sends her two wards Jack and Ruth Williams to him, with the deed and a letter with the conditions under which she will donate the property to the city, that the good doctor agrees to marry her. However, the message is not delivered, since the children throws away the letter, the doctor only gets the deed. Too late does the doctor realize the price he must pay for the property, the city backs out on their agreement to build housing for the poor and homeless; the result is that the homeless have nowhere to go, have to move into another vacant lot with no proper housing.
Before the police can remove the unwanted new tenants, an epidemic spreads in the area, Dr. Christian puts the whole area in quarantine; the city inhabitants become aware of the horrible conditions of the homeless and soon voices are raised to build public housing. The story ends with Dr. Christian being released from his contract with Mrs. Stewart, as she gets more involved with raising her wards. Homeless Dave is overjoyed with all the sympathy shown by the city's inhabitants and start to believe in a brighter future after all. Jean Hersholt as Dr. Paul Christian Dorothy Lovett as Judy Price Robert Baldwin as Roy Davis Tom Neal as Dave Williams Maude Eburne as Mrs. Hastings Vera Lewis as Mrs. Norma Stewart George Meader as Harry Johnson Bobby Larson as Jack Williams Bobette Bentley as Ruth Williams Reginald Barlow as Sam Jacqueline De River as Martha Edmund Glover as Tommy Wood Mary Davenport as Jane Wood Earle Ross as Grandpa Sylvia Andrew as Mrs. Sam Catherine Courtney as Mrs. Morris Al Bridge as Sheriff James C. Morton as Bailey Fred Holmes as Wilson Frank LaRue as Stanley Budd Buster as Jones Broderick O'Farrell as Harris The Courageous Dr. Christian on IMDb The Courageous Dr. Christian is available for free download at the Internet Archive
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen I at Esztergom around the year 1000. By the 12th century, the kingdom became a European middle power within the Western world. Due to the Ottoman occupation of the central and southern territories of Hungary in the 16th century, the country was partitioned into three parts: the Habsburg Royal Hungary, Ottoman Hungary, the semi-independent Principality of Transylvania; the House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács until 1918 and played a key role in the liberation wars against the Ottoman Empire. From 1867, territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen; the monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, after which Hungary became a republic.
The kingdom was nominally restored during the "Regency" of 1920–46, ending under the Soviet occupation in 1946. The Kingdom of Hungary was a multiethnic state from its inception until the Treaty of Trianon and it covered what is today Hungary, Slovakia and other parts of what is now Romania, Carpathian Ruthenia, Vojvodina and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders. From 1102 it included Croatia, being in personal union with it, united under the King of Hungary. Today, the feast day of the first king Stephen I is a national holiday in Hungary, commemorating the foundation of the state; the Latin forms Ungarie. The German name Königreich Ungarn was used from 1784 to 1790 and again between 1849 and the 1860s; the Hungarian name was used in the 1840s, again from the 1860s to 1946. The unofficial Hungarian name of the kingdom was Magyarország, still the colloquial, the official name of Hungary; the names in the other native languages of the kingdom were: Polish: Królestwo Węgier, Romanian: Regatul Ungariei, Serbian: Kraljevina Ugarska, Croatian: Kraljevina Ugarska, Slovene: Kraljevina Ogrska, Slovak: Uhorské kráľovstvo, Italian, Regno d'Ungheria.
In Austria-Hungary, the unofficial name Transleithania was sometimes used to denote the regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. The term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was included for the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, although this term was in use prior to that time; the Hungarians led by Árpád settled the Carpathian Basin in 895, established Principality of Hungary. The Hungarians led several successful incursions to Western Europe, until they were stopped by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor in Battle of Lechfeld; the principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I at Esztergom on Christmas Day 1000. The first kings of the kingdom were from the Árpád dynasty, he fought with Bavarian help, defeated him near Veszprém. The Catholic Church received powerful support from Stephen I, who with Christian Hungarians and German knights wanted a Christian kingdom established in Central Europe. Stephen I of Hungary was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1083 and an Orthodox saint in 2000.
After his death, a period of revolts and conflict for supremacy ensued between the royalty and the nobles. In 1051 armies of the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Hungary, but they were defeated at Vértes Mountain; the armies of the Holy Roman Empire continued to suffer defeats. Before 1052 Peter Orseolo, a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire, was overthrown by king Samuel Aba of Hungary; this period of revolts ended during the reign of Béla I. Hungarian chroniclers praised Béla I for introducing new currency, such as the silver denarius, for his benevolence to the former followers of his nephew, Solomon; the second greatest Hungarian king from the Árpád dynasty, was Ladislaus I of Hungary, who stabilized and strengthened the kingdom. He was canonized as a saint. Under his rule Hungarians fought against the Cumans and acquired parts of Croatia in 1091. Due to a dynastic crisis in Croatia, with the help of the local nobility who supported his claim, he managed to swiftly seize power in northern parts of the Croatian kingdom, as he was a claimant to the throne due to the fact that his sister was married to the late Croatian king Zvonimir who died childless.
However, kingship over all of Croatia would not be achieved until the reign of his successor Coloman. With the coronation of King Coloman as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in Biograd in 1102, the two kingdoms of Croatia and Hungary were united under one crown. Although the precise terms of this relationship became a matter of dispute in the 19th century, it is believed that Coloman created a kind of personal union between the two kingdoms; the nature of the relationship varied through time, Croatia retained a large degree of internal autonomy overall, while the real power rested in the hands of the local nobility. Modern Croatian and Hungarian historiographies view the relations between Kingdom of Croatia and Kingdom of Hungary from 1102 as a form of a personal union, i.e. that
Painting with Light
For the photographic technique, see Light paintingPainting with Light by John Alton is the first book written on cinematography by a major cinematographer. The book was first published in 1949; the book's primary focus is on light and the many complex ways a camera crew can manipulate it for effect. Although much of the technical information is now obsolete, who worked on the films noir classics T-Men, He Walked by Night, The Amazing Mr. X, The Big Combo, explains how lighting, shooting locations, various camera techniques can be used to create a visual mood in film, it was reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement no. 4845,: 18 John Alton at Painting With Light
Closed Door (1939 film)
Closed Door is a 1939 Argentine drama film directed by John Alton and Luis Saslavsky. The film stars Angelina Pagano and Agustín Irusta. Closed Door on IMDb
Lumiton
Lumiton was a film production company founded in Argentina in 1932 at the start of the golden age of film in that country. Its lowbrow, populist films appealed to local audiences and were successful in Argentina and throughout Latin America, it was the main competitor to Argentina Sono Film in the 1940s. After World War II Lumiton faced increased government regulation, rising costs and loss of audiences to more sophisticated Hollywood productions; the company was forced to close in 1952. Lumiton was founded in the town of Buenos Aires, with an initial capital of 300,000 pesos; the name "Lumiton" is made from the words for "light" and "sound". The full name was "Sociedad Anónima Radio Cinematográfica Lumiton" The founders had earlier pioneered radio broadcast in Argentina, were now pioneering sound films, they had made one of the first radio broadcasts in the world in August 1920 from the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires. They were Enrique T. Susini, Luis Romero Carranza and Miguel Mujica; the first Lumiton studio was built with a modern laboratory and technical facilities on property owned by Isabel Zeller de Lehan.
A complete crew was hired in the United States. This included the director of photography John Alton, the sound designer Lazlo Kish; the state was not involved in the film industry, either directly or through subsidies. Without the same bargaining power as the big Hollywood studios, the local studios could not demand a share of receipts from the distributors, but had to sell their films for a flat rate and therefore had to keep costs and capital expenditures to the minimum. In the early years, Lumiton's audience was struggling with the effect of the Great Depression of the 1930, but the cheap and lighthearted productions helped people escape from their problems. There are distinct regional dialects in Latin America. Castilian Spanish is not easy for local people to understand. Subtitling would not work with the audiences of the 1930s; this created demand for locally produced sound films. Lumiton employed local actors experienced in popular theater. Although locally made films were not as technically slick as those from Hollywood, films with local actors and settings appealed to local audiences.
Lumiton became known for its lowbrow tango films. Carlos Gardel made tango popular throughout Latin America, this created a large export market for Lumiton's films. Lumitron began operation on 17 December 1932; the logo and opening sequence of each film featured a huge gong sounded by Michael Borowsky, the main dancer of the Teatro Colón. Lumiton's first feature was Los tres berretines directed by Enrique T. Susini and starring the local actors Luis Sandrini and Luisa Vehil. Alton may have played and important role in direction and cinematography. Los tres berretines was released on 19 May 1933; the film earned over one million. The film depicted a family whose members were obsessed with the three national "berretines" of tango and cinema. Sandrini's performance made him the first local cinema star. In 1935 the director Manuel Romero joined the studio, he made one of Lumitron's great successes, the musical Noches de Buenos Aires, with Tita Merello and Fernando Ochoa. He directed the musical El caballo del pueblo.
His next film for Lumiton, La muchachada de a bordo, was a major popular success. Romero made populist genre films for Lumiton including the film noir Fuera de la ley, the romantic comedy La rubia del camino and Mujeres que trabajan. Mujeres que trabajan included Niní Marshall in her first film role, it was unusual in depicting women in the workplace, but otherwise was a conventional romantic melodrama. Marshall emerged as a strong and original comedian, starred in a series of Lumiton films in the years that followed. Romero was the main film director for Lumiton until 1943, directed over half the studio's films. A tango lyricist and musical variety show director, he turned out cheerful and predictable comedies aimed at working class audiences. Romero always treated the working poor as a dignified community deserving respect; the critics looked down on his work, with its melodramatic plots and happy endings, but the films had great appeal to his audience. These successful films, those of other Argentine studios in the época de oro spurred Hollywood to produce Spanish-language films for the Latin American market, but without much success.
La chismosa, directed by Enrique Susini, was the first film made in Latin America to earn an honorable mention at a European film festival, in Venice. Margarita, Armando y su padre, directed by Francisco Múgica, was mentioned in Venice; the Argentine Academy of Cinematography Arts and Sciences, founded in 1941, gave its first awards the next year. Lumiton won the prize for best picture with orquídeas, a comedy; the writers, Sixto Pondal Ríos and Carlos A. Olivari, the lead actress, Mirtha Legrand, were recognized. By 1942 the film industry in Argentina was the most technically advanced in South America. Lumiton and other majors such as Argentina Sono Film and Artistas Argentinos Asociados were at their peak. During World War II Argentina was careful not to upset the Axis powers, banned or forced changes to some American films. Banned films included Secret Agent of Japan and For Whom the Bell Tolls. In response the United States banned the export of unexposed film
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. One of the world's oldest film studios, MGM's headquarters are located at 245 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills, California. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, Louis B. Mayer Pictures. In 1971, it was announced that MGM was to merge with 20th Century Fox, but the plan never came to fruition. Over the next 39 years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM emerged from bankruptcy on December 20, 2010, at which time the executives of Spyglass Entertainment, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, became co-chairmen and co-CEOs of the holding company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; as of 2017, MGM co-produces, co-finances, co-distributes a majority of its films with Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.
MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MGM", was created in 1973 as a division of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company was spun out in 1979, with the studio's owner Kirk Kerkorian maintaining a large share, but it ended all affiliation with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1986. MGM was the last studio to convert to sound pictures, but in spite of this fact, from the end of the silent film era through the late 1950s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the dominant motion picture studio in Hollywood. Always slow to respond to the changing legal and demographic nature of the motion picture industry during the 1950s and 1960s, although at times its films did well at the box office, the studio lost significant amounts of money throughout the 1960s. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would buy Universal Studios. Three years an unprofitable MGM was bought by Kirk Kerkorian, who slashed staff and production costs, forced the studio to produce low-budget fare, shut down theatrical distribution in 1973.
The studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios United Artists. Kerkorian did, commit to increased production and an expanded film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up internal production, as well as keeping production going at UA, which included the lucrative James Bond film franchise, it incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production. The studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few months sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt, while keeping the library assets for himself; the series of deals left MGM more in debt. MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio; the French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the studio's major creditor took control of MGM. More in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, Australia's Seven Network in 1996.
The debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGM's ability to survive as a separate motion picture studio. After a bidding war which included Time Warner and General Electric, MGM was acquired on September 23, 2004, by a partnership consisting of Sony Corporation of America, Texas Pacific Group, Providence Equity Partners, other investors. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem, he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loew's Theatres chain. With Loew's lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality. However, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Approached by Louis B. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17, 1924. Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production.
MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years. In 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. In 1925, MGM, Paramount Pictures and UFA formed a joint German distributor, Parufamet; when Samuel Goldwyn left he sued over the use of his name. Marcus Loew died in 1927, control of Loew's passed to Nicholas Schenck. In 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew family's holdings with Schenck's assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision. Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds. During this time, in the summer of 1929, Fox was badly hurt in an automobile accident. By the time he recovered, the stock market crash in the fall of 1929 had nearly wiped Fox out and ended any chance of the Loew's merger going through. Schenck and Mayer had never gotten along, the abortive Fox merger increased the animosity between the two men.
From the outset, MGM tapped into the audience's need for sophistication. Having inherited few big names from their predecessor companies and Thalberg began at once
