1.
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
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Titanic (1997 film)
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Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance-disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Camerons inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks, production began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the vessel were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California were used to re-create the sinking, the film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. It was the most expensive film made at time, with an estimated budget of $200 million. Upon its release on December 19,1997, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success, with an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Camerons 2009 film Avatar surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4,2012 to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional $343.6 million worldwide and it became the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide. In 2015, Titanic Live, an orchestra version of the film. In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team aboard the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh search the wreck of RMS Titanic for a necklace with a rare diamond, the Heart of the Ocean. They recover a safe containing a drawing of a woman wearing only the necklace dated April 14,1912. Rose Dawson Calvert, the woman in the drawing, is brought aboard Keldysh, in 1912 Southampton, 17-year-old first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater, her fiancé Cal Hockley, and her mother Ruth board the luxurious Titanic. Ruth emphasizes that Roses marriage will resolve their familys financial problems, distraught over the engagement, Rose considers suicide by jumping from the stern, Jack Dawson, a penniless artist, intervenes and discourages her. Discovered with Jack, Rose tells a concerned Cal that she was peering over the edge, when Cal becomes indifferent, she suggests to him that Jack deserves a reward. He invites Jack to dine with them in first class the following night, Jack and Rose develop a tentative friendship, despite Cal and Ruth being wary of him. Following dinner, Rose secretly joins Jack at a party in third class, aware of Cal and Ruths disapproval, Rose rebuffs Jacks advances, but realizes she prefers him over Cal. After rendezvousing on the bow at sunset, Rose takes Jack to her room, at her request, Jack sketches Rose posing nude wearing Cals engagement present. They evade Cals bodyguard and have sex in an automobile inside the cargo hold, on the forward deck, they witness a collision with an iceberg and overhear the officers and designer discussing its seriousness
4.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
5.
Avatar (2009 film)
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The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Navi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The films title refers to a genetically engineered Navi body with the mind of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora, Development of Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the film. Work on the language of the films extraterrestrial beings began in 2005, Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion, the film made extensive use of new motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing, and for 4D experiences in select South Korean theaters. The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology and it also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion and the best-selling film of 2010 in the United States. Avatar was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, following the films success, Cameron signed with 20th Century Fox to produce three sequels, making Avatar the first of a planned tetralogy. On April 14,2016, Cameron confirmed that there were now plans for four sequels, Avatar 2 was scheduled for release in December 2018 before being delayed, with the sequels following in December 2020,2022, and 2023, respectively. By 2154, humans have depleted Earths natural resources, leading to an energy crisis. The Resources Development Administration mines for a valuable mineral – unobtanium – on Pandora, Pandora, whose atmosphere is poisonous to humans, is inhabited by the Navi, 10-foot tall, blue-skinned, sapient humanoids who live in harmony with nature and worship a mother goddess called Eywa. Dr. Grace Augustine, head of the Avatar Program, considers Sully an inadequate replacement, witnessing an auspicious sign, she takes him to her clan, whereupon Neytiris mother Moat, the clans spiritual leader, orders her daughter to initiate Jake into their society. When Grace learns of this, she herself, Jake. Over the following three months, Jake grows to sympathize with the natives, while trying to warn the Navi, Jake confesses to being a spy and the Navi take him and Grace captive. Seeing this, Quaritchs men destroy Hometree, killing Neytiris father, Moat frees Jake and Grace, but they are detached from their avatars and imprisoned by Quaritchs forces. Pilot Trudy Chacón, disgusted by Quaritchs brutality, carries them to Graces outpost, to regain the Navis trust, Jake connects his mind to that of Toruk, a dragon-like predator feared and honored by the Navi. Jake finds the refugees at the sacred Tree of Souls and pleads with Moat to heal Grace, the clan attempts to transfer Grace from her human body into her avatar with the aid of the Tree of Souls, but she dies before the process can be completed. Supported by the new chief Tsutey, who acts as Jakes translator, Jake speaks to unite the clan, noticing the impending gathering, Quaritch organizes a pre-emptive strike against the Tree of Souls, believing that its destruction will demoralize the natives. On the eve of battle, Jake prays to Eywa, via a connection to the Tree of Souls. Quaritch prepares to slit the throat of Jakes avatar, but Neytiri kills Quaritch, humans Sam Worthington as Jake Sully, a disabled former Marine who becomes part of the Avatar Program after his twin brother is killed
6.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
7.
20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
8.
Jurassic Park (film)
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Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science-fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Gerald R. Molen. The first installment of the Jurassic Park franchise, it is based on the 1990 novel of the name by Michael Crichton, with a screenplay written by Crichton. Before Crichtons novel was published, four put in bids for the film rights. With the backing of Universal Studios, Spielberg acquired the rights for $1.5 million before publication in 1990, Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novels exposition and violence and made numerous changes to the characters. Filming took place in California and Hawaii between August and November 1992, and post-production rolled until May 1993, supervised by Spielberg in Poland as he filmed Schindlers List. The dinosaurs were created with groundbreaking computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light & Magic and it was well received by critics, who praised its special effects, John Williams musical score, and Spielbergs direction. The film won more than twenty awards, including three Academy Awards for its achievements in visual effects and sound design. A fifth installment is scheduled for a 2018 release, industrialist John Hammond and his bioengineering company, InGen, have created a theme park called Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar, a Costa Rican island, populated with cloned dinosaurs. After one of the dinosaur handlers is killed by a Velociraptor, Gennaro invites mathematician Ian Malcolm, while Hammond invites paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler. Upon arrival, the group is stunned to see a live Brachiosaurus, at the parks visitor center, the group learns that the cloning was accomplished by extracting dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes that had been preserved in amber. DNA from frogs was used to fill in gaps in the dinosaur genomes, to prevent breeding, all the dinosaurs were made female. Malcolm scoffs at the idea of controlled breeding, declaring it impossible. The crew witness the birth of a raptor and visit the raptor enclosure. During a luncheon, the debates the ethics of cloning. The group is joined by Hammonds grandchildren, Lex and Tim Murphy, for a tour of the park. The tour does not go as planned, with most of the failing to appear. The tour is cut short as a storm approaches Isla Nublar. Most of the park employees depart on a boat for the mainland and the return to their electric tour vehicles, except Ellie
9.
The Hurt Locker
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The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller film about an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are being targeted by insurgents with booby traps, remote control detonations and ambushes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, the film shows soldiers varying psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which though intolerable to some, is addictive to others. The story unfolds after a staff sergeant is killed by an insurgent trap and his comrades suspect that their new team leader is being driven to take terrifying risks. Writer Mark Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to provide a background for the production. The Hurt Locker received widespread acclaim and won six Academy Awards. Bigelow won the award for Best Director, as of 2017 and his team includes Sergeant J. T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. His maverick disposal methods and attitude lead to Sanborn and Eldridge considering him reckless, meanwhile, James is often approached by an Iraqi youth named Beckham attempting to sell DVDs. James challenges him to a game of soccer and takes a liking to him, when they are assigned to destroy some explosives, James returns to the detonation site to pick up his gloves. Sanborn openly contemplates killing him by accidentally triggering the explosion, making Eldridge somewhat uncomfortable, returning to Camp Victory in their Humvee, the team encounters five armed men in traditional Arab garb and casual attire standing near a Ford Excursion, which has a flat tire. James team has an encounter with their leader, who then reveals they are private military contractors. They have captured two prisoners featured on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, the entire group suddenly comes under fire, and when the prisoners attempt to escape in the confusion, the leader of the mercenaries remembers the bounty for them is dead or alive and shoots them. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaries, including their leader, Sanborn and James borrow a Barrett.50 cal to dispatch three attackers, while Eldridge kills a fourth. During a raid on a warehouse, James discovers the body of a young boy, during evacuation, Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge, the camps psychiatrist and a friend of Eldridges, is killed in an explosion, Eldridge blames himself for his death. Later, James breaks into the house of an Iraqi professor, seeking revenge for Beckham, called to a petrol tanker detonation, James decides on his own to hunt for the insurgents responsible, guessing they are still nearby. Sanborn protests, but when James heads out, he and Eldridge reluctantly follow, after they split up, insurgents capture Eldridge. James and Sanborn rescue him, but accidentally shoot him in the leg, the following morning, James is approached by Beckham, who he believed was dead, and walks by without saying a word. Before being airlifted for surgery elsewhere, Eldridge angrily blames James for his injury, James and Sanborns unit is called to another mission in their last two days of their rotation. An innocent Iraqi civilian man has had a bomb vest strapped to his chest, James tries to cut off the locks to remove the vest, but there are too many of them
10.
Wings (1927 film)
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Wings is a 1927 American silent war film set during the First World War produced by Lucien Hubbard, directed by William A. Wellman and released by Paramount Pictures and it stars Clara Bow, Charles Buddy Rogers, and Richard Arlen, and Gary Cooper appears in a role which helped launch his career in Hollywood. The film, a romantic picture, was rewritten by scriptwriters Hope Loring and Louis D. Lighton from a story by John Monk Saunders to accommodate Bow. The film was shot on location on a budget of $2 million at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Wellman extensively rehearsed the scenes for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel over ten days with some 3500 infantrymen on a battlefield made for the production on location. Acclaimed for its prowess and realism upon release, the film became the yardstick against which future aviation films were measured. It went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Picture at the first annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award ceremony in 1929 and it also won the Academy Award for Best Engineering Effects. Wings was one of the first to two men kissing, and also one of the first widely released films to show nudity. The Academy Film Archive preserved Wings in 2002, Jack Powell and David Armstrong are rivals in the same small American town, both vying for the attentions of pretty Sylvia Lewis. Jack fails to realize that the next door, Mary Preston, is desperately in love with him. The two young men both enlist to become pilots in the Air Service. When they leave for training camp, Jack mistakenly believes Sylvia prefers him and she actually prefers David and lets him know about her feelings, but is too kindhearted to turn down Jacks affection. Jack and David are billeted together and their tent mate is Cadet White, but their acquaintance is all too brief, White is killed in an air crash the same day. Undaunted, the two men endure a rigorous training period, where they go from being enemies to best friends, upon graduating, they are shipped off to France to fight the Germans. Mary joins the war effort by becoming an ambulance driver and she later learns of Jacks reputation as the ace known as The Shooting Star and encounters him while on leave in Paris. She finds him, but he is too drunk to recognize her, the climax of the story comes with the epic Battle of Saint-Mihiel. David is shot down and presumed dead, however, he survives the crash landing, steals a German biplane, and heads for the Allied lines. By a tragic stroke of bad luck, Jack spots the enemy aircraft and, bent on avenging his friend and he is successful in downing the aircraft and lands to retrieve a souvenir of his victory. The owner of the land where Davids aircraft crashed urges Jack to come to the mans side
11.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
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The film was one of the biggest hits of its time. Although its historical accuracy has been questioned, film critics consider this adaptation to be the best cinematic work inspired by the mutiny. One night in Portsmouth, England in 1787, a press gang breaks into a local tavern, one of the men inquires as to what ship they will sail on, and the press gang leader informs him that it is the HMS Bounty. The Bounty leaves England several days later on a two-year voyage over the Pacific Ocean, fletcher Christian, the ships lieutenant, is a formidable yet compassionate man who disapproves of Blighs treatment of the crew. Roger Byam is a midshipman who is divided between his loyalty to Bligh, owing to his familys naval tradition, and his friendship with Christian. During the voyage, the enmity between Christian and Bligh grows after Christian openly challenges Blighs unjust practices aboard the ship. When the ship arrives at the island of Tahiti, where the crew acquires breadfruit plants to take home, Bligh punishes Christian by refusing to let him leave the ship during their stay. Byam, meanwhile, sets up residency on the island, living with the chief, Hitihiti, and his daughter, Tehani. Hitihiti persuades Bligh to allow Christian a day pass on the island, Bligh agrees but quickly repeals the pass out of spite. Christian disregards the order and spends his one-day off the ship romancing a Tahitian girl, Christian promises her he will be back someday. Christian, although initially opposing the idea, decides he can no longer tolerate Blighs brutality when he witnesses crew members shackled in iron chains, the crew raids the weapons cabinet and seizes the ship. Bligh and his loyalists are cast into a boat and set adrift at sea with a map, due to Blighs steady leadership, they are able to find their way back to land. Meanwhile, Christian orders that Bounty return to Tahiti, Byam, who was in his cabin during the mutiny, disapproves of what Christian has done and decides the two can no longer be friends. Months later, Byam is married to Tehani and Christian has married Maimiti and has a child with her, after a long estrangement, Byam and Christian reconcile their friendship. However, when the British ship HMS Pandora is spotted approaching, Byam, Byam boards the Pandora and, much to his surprise, discovers that Bligh is the captain. Bligh, who suspects that Byam was complicit in the mutiny, has him imprisoned for the remainder of the journey across the sea, back in England Byam is court-martialed and found guilty of mutiny. Before the court condemns him, Byam speaks of Blighs cruel, due to the intervention of his friend Sir Joseph Banks and Lord Hood, Byam is pardoned by King George III and allowed to resume his naval career at sea. Meanwhile, Christian has found Pitcairn, an uninhabited yet sustainable island that he believes will provide adequate refuge from the reach of the Royal Navy, after Bounty crashes on the rocks, Christian orders her to be burned
12.
The Great Ziegfeld
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The Great Ziegfeld is a 1936 American musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz Flo Ziegfeld, Jr. Luise Rainer as Anna Held, and Myrna Loy as Billie Burke. Many of the performers of the theatrical Ziegfeld Follies were cast in the film as themselves, including Fanny Brice and Harriet Hoctor, and Billie Burke acted as a supervisor for the film. The A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody set alone was reported to have cost US$220,000, featuring a towering rotating volute of 70 ft diameter with 175 spiral steps, weighing 100 tons. The music to the film was provided by Walter Donaldson, Irving Berlin, the extravagant costumes were designed by Adrian, taking some 250 tailors and seamstresses six months to prepare them using 50 pounds of silver sequins and 12 yards of white ostrich plumes. Over a thousand people were employed in the production of the film and it won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture for producer Hunt Stromberg, Best Actress for Luise Rainer, and Best Dance Direction for Seymour Felix, and was nominated for four others. In 1951, they produced their Technicolor remake of Show Boat, the son of a highly respected music professor, Florenz Flo Ziegfeld, Jr. yearns to make his mark in show business. Flo travels to England on a liner, where he runs into Billings again who is laughing at a newspaper article denouncing him as a fraud. Flo discovers that Billings is on his way to sign a contract with beautiful French star, despite losing all his money gambling at Monte Carlo, Flo charms Anna into signing with him instead, pretending that he doesnt know Billings. Anna twice almost sends him away for his rudeness and for being broke, Ziegfeld promises to give her more publicity than she ever dreams of and to feature her alongside Americas most prominent theatrical performers. At first, Annas performance at the Herald Square Theatre is not a success, however, Flo manages to generate publicity by sending 20 gallons of milk to Anna every day for a fictitious milk bath beauty treatment, then refusing to pay the bill. The newspaper stories soon bring the curious to pack his theater, audience members comment on how the milk must make her skin beautiful and the show is a major success. Flo sends Anna flowers and jewelry and a note saying you were magnificent my wife, however, one success is not enough for the showman. He has an idea for a new kind of show featuring a bevy of blondes and brunettes. The new show, the Ziegfeld Follies, an opulent production filled with women and highly extravagant costumes and sets, is a smash hit. Ziegfeld tries to make an out of Audrey Dane, who is plagued with alcoholism. He gives stagehand Ray Bolger his break as well, mary Lou, now a young woman, visits Ziegfeld, who doesnt recognize her initially, and hires her as a dancer. The new production upsets Anna, who realizes that Flos world does not revolve around just her and she divorces him after walking in on Flo and a drunk Audrey at the wrong moment
