1.
The Chase (1946 film)
–
The Chase is a 1946 American film noir directed by Arthur Ripley. The screenplay written by Philip Yordan is based on the Cornell Woolrich novel The Black Path of Fear, Chuck Scott is a World War II veteran who is now a penniless drifter in Miami tormented by bizarre dreams. After finding a wallet and showing his honesty by returning it to Eddie Roman, Roman tests his new driver, whom he nicknames Scotty, by assuming control of his car from the back seat. Unbeknownst to Scotty, Roman has an accelerator installed in the passenger compartment so that he can take over the vehicle whenever he wants. Lorna goes for an every night at 9,30 pm. He consents and realizes that he is in love with her, when they get to Havana, they stop for a drink at a club, where Lorna is murdered with a knife while in Scottys arms. All the evidence, including the fact that Scotty apparently purchased the knife that was used to kill Lorna earlier that day, points to Scotty being the killer, and he realizes he is being framed. The photograph from the club that proves Scotty was innocent is destroyed by Gino, Scotty escapes police custody, but is gunned down by Gino when he returns to the curio store where the knife came from. Suddenly, Scotty wakes up back in Miami on the night he and he is sweating profusely and immediately takes his pills that he is prescribed, presumably to deal with posttraumatic stress disorder from battle. Scotty remembers nothing, and goes to the hospital to seek treatment from his doctor. Davidson urges him to try to remember details of why he was dressed as a driver, the two go drinking at the Florida Club. Meanwhile, Lorna is shocked that Scotty abruptly quit his job and left earlier that night, Roman and Gino go to the Florida Club to cool down, unknowingly sitting across the club, and behind a partition, from the missing Scotty. He rescues her and the two head for the port, but Gino and Roman are also heading to the port once they find out that Scotty was seen at the port buying tickets earlier that morning. Because Roman uses his master accelerator to push the car up to speeds of 100 mph, it crashes with an oncoming train, Scotty and Lorna are now free to sail to Cuba and be together. Robert Cummings - Chuck Scott Michèle Morgan - Lorna Roman Steve Cochran - Eddie Roman Lloyd Corrigan - Emmerich Johnson Jack Holt - Cmdr, Davidson Peter Lorre - Gino Don Wilson - Fats Alexis Minotis - Lt. Because of those shots, this became a cult classic. The film was adapted from a Cornell Woolrich book – he is a writer of the Black Mask mystery school. They specialize in dark and expressionistic works, which film is perfect example of
The Chase (1946 film)
–
Theatrical release poster
The Chase (1946 film)
–
Michèle Morgan
2.
Neuilly-sur-Seine
–
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a French commune just west of Paris, in the department of Hauts-de-Seine. A suburb of Paris, Neuilly is immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential neighbourhoods, and many corporate headquarters are located there. Originally, Neuilly was a hamlet under the jurisdiction of Villiers. In 1224 another charter of Saint-Denis recorded the name as Lugniacum, in a sales contract dated 1266 the name was also recorded as Luingni. In 1316, however, in a ruling of the parlement of Paris, the name was recorded as Nully, in a document dated 1376 the name was again recorded as Nulliacum. Then in the centuries the name recorded alternated between Luny and Nully, and it is only after 1648 that the name was definitely set as Nully. The name spelt Neuilly after the French Academy standard of pronunciation of the ill as a y, various explanations and etymologies have been proposed to explain these discrepancies in the names of Neuilly recorded over the centuries. The original name of Neuilly may have been Lulliacum or Lugniacum, some interpret Lulliacum or Lugniacum as meaning estate of Lullius, probably a Gallo-Roman landowner. This interpretation is based on the many placenames of France made up of the names of Gallo-Roman landowners and these researchers contend that it is only after the fall of the Roman Empire and the Germanic invasions that the area of Neuilly was deforested and settled. Thus, they think that the name Lulliacum or Lugniacum comes from the ancient Germanic word lund meaning forest, akin to Old Norse lundr meaning grove, however, this interesting theory fails to explain why the d of lund is missing in Lulliacum or Lugniacum. Or perhaps the consonants were simply inverted under the influence of the settlements of France called Neuilly. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes, on that occasion, a part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was annexed by the city of Paris, and forms now the neighbourhood of Ternes, in the 17th arrondissement of Paris. On 11 January 1867, part of the territory of Neuilly-sur-Seine was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Clichy to create the commune of Levallois-Perret. On 2 May 1897, the name officially became Neuilly-sur-Seine. However, most people continue to refer to Neuilly-sur-Seine as simply Neuilly, during the 1900 Summer Olympics, it hosted the basque pelota events. The American Hospital of Paris was founded in 1906, in 1919, the Treaty of Neuilly was signed with Bulgaria in Neuilly-sur-Seine to conclude its role in World War I. In 1929, the Bois de Boulogne, which was divided between the communes of Neuilly-sur-Seine and Boulogne-Billancourt, was annexed in its entirety by the city of Paris. It was the site of the Château de Neuilly, an important royal residence during the July Monarchy, Neuilly-sur-Seine is served by three stations on Paris Métro Line 1, Porte Maillot, Les Sablons and Pont de Neuilly
Neuilly-sur-Seine
–
Town hall
Neuilly-sur-Seine
–
Collège et Lycée Pasteur
Neuilly-sur-Seine
–
Liceo Español Luis Buñuel
3.
Hauts-de-Seine
–
Hauts-de-Seine is a department of France. It is part of the Métropole du Grand Paris and of the Île-de-France region and it is small and densely populated and contains the modern office, theatre, and shopping complex known as La Défense. Its creation reflected the implementation of a law passed in 1964, in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Hauts-de-Seine received national attention as the result of a corruption scandal concerning the misuse of public funds provided for the departments housing projects. Implicated were former minister and former President of the council of the Hauts-de-Seine, Charles Pasqua. Hauts-de-Seine is Frances second wealthiest département and one of Europes richest areas and its GDP per capita was €62,374 in 2003, according to INSEE official figures. Hauts-de-Seine is the base of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic from 2007 to 2012. He was previously the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine in the department, Charles Pasqua was also based in Hauts-de-Seine. Website of the General council Prefecture website
Hauts-de-Seine
–
La Défense, the business district of
Paris
Hauts-de-Seine
–
Location of Hauts-de-Seine in France
Hauts-de-Seine
–
Empress Joséphine 's bedroom at the
Château de Malmaison
Hauts-de-Seine
–
Paris seen from the
Parc de Saint-Cloud
4.
Meudon
–
Meudon is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine and it is located 9.1 km from the center of Paris. The town of Meudon is built on the hills and valleys of the Seine, the wood of Meudon lies for the most part to the west of the town. The northwest part of Meudon, overlooking the Seine, is known as Bellevue, at Meudon, the argile plastique clay was extensively mined in the 19th century. The first fossil of the European diatryma Gastornis parisiensis was discovered in deposits by Gaston Planté. Archaeological sites show that Meudon has been populated since Neolithic times, the Gauls called the area Mol-Dum, and the Romans Latinized the name as Moldunum. The handsome Galliera Institutions, on the hill of Fleury, were founded by the duchess of Galliera for the care of aged persons and orphans, the buildings were completed in 1885. The old castle of Meudon was rebuilt in Renaissance style in the mid-sixteenth century and it was bought by Louis XIV as a residence for Louis, le Grand Dauphin, under whom Meudon became a center of aristocratic life. A branch of the Paris Observatory was founded in 1877 on the ruins, the Meudon town hall is about 43 m in altitude above that of Paris and the climb from there to the observatory offers some rewarding views of Paris. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, the inventor of the worlds first automobile, is reported to have carried out some early trials at Meudon in the early 1770s, chalais-Meudon was important in the pioneering of aviation, initially balloons and airships, but also the early heavier-than-air machines. A Corps dAérostatiers under the command of Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle was established in 1794, Hangar Y was built in 1880 at the request of the military engineer Captain Charles Renard, for the construction of balloons and airships. The building is 70 m long,24 m wide and around 26 m high. The airship La France, designed by Renard and Arthur Krebs, was built in Hangar Y in 1884 and was the first airship which was controllable during flight and which could return to its starting point. Although a choice residential district, access to the railway and the Seine river have made Meudon a manufacturing center since the 1840s, metal products and military explosives have been continuously produced there since then. From 1921 to 1981 the Air Museum was located here until it moved to Le Bourget Airport, CNRS has a campus in Bellevue. Meudon is well served by public transports operated jointly by the SNCF, Meudon is served by the line C of the RER by the Meudon – Val Fleury station. Meudon is also served by the transilien line N through the Meudon station, the T2 tramway line links the Pont de Bezons station to the Porte de Versailles station. Meudon is served by the Brimborion station and the Meudon-sur-Seine station, the T6 tramway line runs from Châtillon to Viroflay
Meudon
–
Observatory of Meudon
Meudon
–
Meudon Val Fleury Station
5.
Montparnasse Cemetery
–
Montparnasse Cemetery is a cemetery in the Montparnasse quarter of Paris, part of the citys 14th arrondissement. Created from three farms in 1824, the cemetery at Montparnasse was originally known as Le Cimetière du Sud, cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the closure, owing to health concerns, of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786. At the heart of the city, and today sitting in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, is Passy Cemetery, Montparnasse Cemetery is the resting place of many of Frances intellectual and artistic elite as well as publishers and others who promoted the works of authors and artists. There are also graves of foreigners who have made France their home, as well as monuments to police. The cemetery is divided by Rue Émile Richard, the small section is usually referred to as the small cemetery and the large section as the big cemetery. Although Baudelaire is buried in this cemetery, there is also a cenotaph to him, because of the many notable people buried there, it is a highly popular tourist attraction. Divisions 5 and 30 were originally Jewish enclosures and contain many Jewish graves, the main entrance to the cemetery is on Boulevard Edgar Quinet which leads to the big cemetery. There are smaller entrances to both the big and small cemeteries on Rue Émile Richard, list of burials at Montparnasse Cemetery A list of many buried at the cemetery Montparnasse Cemetery at Find a Grave Information and help in touring Montparnasse cemetery In English
Montparnasse Cemetery
–
Montparnasse Cemetery
Montparnasse Cemetery
–
The central roundabout, with an 1889 bronze statue by Horace Daillion
Montparnasse Cemetery
–
Tomb of
Charles Baudelaire.
Montparnasse Cemetery
–
Charles Baudelaire monument.
6.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Paris
–
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."
Paris
Paris
–
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)
Paris
–
The
Palais de la Cité and
Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the
Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)
7.
Henri Vidal
–
Henri Vidal was a French film actor. Henri Lucien Raymond Vidal was first noticed after he won the Apollo of 1939 contest in Paris and he was spotted by Edith Piaf, and made his film debut alongside her in the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine in 1941. Vidal went on to appear in 36 films between 1941 and 1959, in May 1943 he married the actress Michèle Cordoba, and they divorced in July 1946. In 1950 he married French actress Michèle Morgan, whom he met while filming Alessandro Blasettis 1949 film Fabiola and he died in 1959 of a heart attack. He is buried in Pontgibaud, in the Puy-de-Dôme départment, Henri Vidal at the Internet Movie Database Henri Vidal at AllMovie
Henri Vidal
–
Henri Vidal and
Claudine Dupuis in
Les Sept péchés capitaux ("
La Gourmandise ")
8.
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress
–
The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the films in competition at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946, the ceremony was cancelled in 1948,1950, and 1968. No awards were given to actresses in 1947, on four occasions, the jury has awarded multiple women the prize from one film. The four films were A World Apart, Brink of Life, A Big Family, the jury also on occasion cites actresses with a special citation that is separate from the main award. From 1979 to 1981 the festival awarded a Best Supporting Actress prize. Isabelle Adjani is the actress to ever win the award for two films in one festival, which she did in 1981. The award can be for lead or supporting roles, barbara Hershey won the award consecutively in 1987 and 1988. ‡ - indicates the performance was nominated for an Academy Award 2 wins Vanessa Redgrave – Morgan
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress
–
This article includes a
list of references, related reading or
external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
inline citations. Please
improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2015)
9.
Cannes Film Festival
–
Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former head of French pay-TV operator Canal+ Pierre Lescure took over as President of the festival, the Board of Directors also appointed Gilles Jacob as Honorary President of the festival. The 2016 Cannes Film Festival took place between 11 and 22 May 2016, australian film director George Miller was the President of the Jury. I, Daniel Blake, directed by British director Ken Loach, in 2017, The Festival de Cannes will celebrate its 70th anniversary edition from May 17 to 28. In 1947, the festival was held as the Festival du film de Cannes, at that time the principle of equality was introduced, with a jury made up of only one representative per country. The festival is now held at the Palais des Festivals, expressly constructed for the occasion, although for its 1949 inaugural the roof was unfinished, the festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. Although its origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with Autumns Venice Film Festival, in 1955, the Palme dOr was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. In 1957, Dolores del Rio was the first female member of the jury as a Sélection officielle – Member, in 1959, the Marché du Film was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce, in 1962, the International Critics Week was born, created by the French Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors all over the world. In 1965, an hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, the next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the festival. The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May, some directors, such as Carlos Saura and Miloš Forman, had withdrawn their films from the competition. The filmmakers achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film Directors Society that same year, during the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972, Robert Favre Le Bret was named the new President and he immediately introduced an important change in the selection of the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose which films would represent them in the festival, Bessy created one committee to select French films, and another for foreign films. In 1978, Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra dOr award, in 1983, a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to host the Festival. It was nicknamed The Bunker and provoked many reactions against it, in 1984, Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret as President of the Festival. It was not until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection and its aim was to support the creation of works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
–
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
–
Stars posing for photographers are a part of Cannes folklore.
Cannes Film Festival
–
Palme d'Or awarded to
Apocalypse Now at the
1979 Cannes Film Festival
10.
Dieppe
–
Dieppe is a coastal community in the Arrondissement of Dieppe in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. The population stood at 34,670 in 2006, the mouth of the Scie river lies in the Canton of Dieppe-Ouest at Hautot-sur-Mer. The inhabitants of the town of Dieppe are called Dieppois and Dieppoise in French, Dieppe belongs to the Pays de Caux, lying along the Alabaster Coast in the region of Normandy. It is located on the Channel coast, north of Rouen at the mouth of the Arques river, mentioned as Deppae in 1015–1029, Dieppa in 1030, then in the 12th century, Deppa, Deupa and Diopa. From Dutch diep > deep, or Old English deop or Old Norse djupr, the same adjective can be recognized in other place-names like Dieppedalle and Dipdal in Normandy, which is the same as Deepdale in Great Britain. The stream running through Dieppe was called Tella in Merovingian and Carolingian documents, the name has stuck to the town, although the name of the stream changed again, to Béthune. First recorded as a fishing settlement in 1030, Dieppe was an important prize fought over during the Hundred Years War. Dieppe housed the most advanced French school of cartography in the 16th century, the expedition resulted in the construction of Fort Caroline, the first French colony in the New World. Another expedition two years before where Goulaine de Laudonnière was under command of Jean Ribault, a local Huguenot captain, had resulted in the foundation of Charlesfort, Dieppe was the premier port of the kingdom in the 17th century. On July 23,1632,300 colonists heading to New France departed from Dieppe, at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Dieppe lost 3,000 of its Huguenot citizens, who fled abroad. Dieppe was an important target in wartime, the town was destroyed by an Anglo-Dutch naval bombardment in 1694. It was rebuilt after 1696 in a typical French classical style by Ventabren, an architect and it was popularised as a seaside resort following the 1824 visit of the widowed Duchess of Berry, daughter-in-law of Charles X. She encouraged the building of the recently renovated municipal theatre, the Petit-Théâtre, during the later 19th century, Dieppe became popular with English artists as a beach resort. Prominent literary figures such as Arthur Symons loved to keep up with the latest fads of avant-garde France here, Dieppe was occupied by German naval and army forces after the fall of France in 1940. In order to allow a better defence of the coast against a possible Allied landing, the destruction of the casino had only begun at the time of the Dieppe Raid. The Dieppe Raid in the Second World War was a battle for the Allies. The Allies suffered more than 1,400 deaths,1,946 Canadian soldiers were captured—more prisoners than the army lost in the 11 months of the 1944–45 NW Europe campaign. However, no major objectives on the ground were achieved, in the air, the port remained garrisoned by German forces until the conclusion of the Battle of Normandy
Dieppe
–
Dieppe
Dieppe
–
Panoramic view of Dieppe (taken from a hill close to the castle
Château de Dieppe)
Dieppe
–
Dieppe Dawn 19 August 1942 memorial stained glass
Royal Military College of Canada
Dieppe
–
Abraham Duquesne
11.
Seine-Maritime
–
Seine-Maritime is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, until 1955 it was named Seine-Inférieure. 1815 - Occupation After the victory at Waterloo of the coalition armies,1843 – Railways and industry In Rouen, Elbeuf, and Bolbec, the number of textile factories is increasing. Metallurgy and naval construction as well, world War II Occupied by the Wehrmacht, Seine-Inférieure is the witness of two Allied military raids in 1942, the Bruneval raid and Dieppe raid. The department can be split into three areas, The Seine valley. The Seine flows through the provincial capital Rouen, the northern coastline, including the towns of Dieppe and Le Havre. The Norman Pays de Bray, with its hills and bocage landscape, the département was created in 1790 as Seine-Inférieure, one of five departements that replaced the former province of Normandy. In 1800 five arrondissements were created within the département, namely Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Neufchatel and Yvetot, in 1843 the railway from Paris reached the region. The département is connected to the adjacent Eure department via the Tancarville, madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is set in Seine Maritime. The first story of long-running series Valérian and Laureline is set in Seine-Maritime, with the character Laureline originating from the area
Seine-Maritime
–
Prefecture building of the Seine-Maritime department, in Rouen
Seine-Maritime
–
Notre-Dame of
Rouen
Seine-Maritime
–
Element of the
Atlantic Wall near
Fécamp
Seine-Maritime
–
Entirely destroyed during
World War II,
Le Havre has been rebuilt in
modernist style
12.
Gribouille (film)
–
Gribouille is a 1937 French comedy film directed by Marc Allégret, based on story Gribouille by Marcel Achard who co-wrote the screenplay with Jan Lustig. The music score is by Georges Auric, the film stars Raimu and Michèle Morgan. It was remade in the U. S. as The Lady in Question with Brian Aherne, Rita Hayworth, the film marked Michèle Morgans first major role on the big screen. Camille Morestan serves as a member at a court in Paris. The attractive Natalie Roguin is accused of murder, Morestan doesnt want to believe she really killed her lover. He succeeds in convincing the jury members she was innocent. After her acquittal he takes her into his house, while he tries to keep her identity a secret for his family her presence leads to a number of unfortunate incidents
Gribouille (film)
–
Gribouille
13.
Raimu
–
Raimu was the stage name for the French actor Jules Auguste Muraire. He is most famous for playing César in the Marseilles trilogy, born in Toulon in the Var département, he made his stage debut there in 1899. After coming to the attention of the great music hall star Félix Mayol who was also from Toulon. Primarily a comedian, in 1916 writer/director Sacha Guitry gave him significant parts in productions at the Folies Bergère, in addition to his appearances on stage, Raimu also developed a successful career in films sometimes under the name Jules Raimu. He starred in the premiere of Messagers operetta Coups de roulis in 1928, in 1929, already a leading actor, he gained wide acclaim for his starring role in the stage production of the Marcel Pagnol play Marius. By his late forties, Raimu had become one of his countrys most respected actors and was considered the ultimate actor by luminaries such as Alec Guinness, Marlene Dietrich and he married Esther Metayer in 1936, twenty-two years his younger. Raimu died of an attack during his sleep in the American Hospital of Paris. On his passing in 1946 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, he was interred in the cemetery of his birthplace in Toulon where there is the Cinéma Raimu Toulon named in his honor, in 1961, the government of France honored him with his image on a postage stamp. A small museum created by his granddaughter Isabelle Nohain exists in the town of Cogolin in the Var département in France
Raimu
–
Grave in Toulon
14.
Le Quai des brumes
–
Port of Shadows is a 1938 French film directed by Marcel Carné. It stars Jean Gabin, Michel Simon and Michèle Morgan, the screenplay was written by Jacques Prévert based on a novel by Pierre Mac Orlan. The music score was by Maurice Jaubert and it is a notable example of the poetic realism genre. The film was the 1939 winner of Frances top cinematic prize, a scene from the film is seen projected in the 2007 Academy Award-winning dramatization of Ian McEwans wartime tragic drama Atonement. According to Charles OBrien, the film would be one of the first to be called film noir by critics, on a foggy night, Jean, an army deserter, catches a ride to the port city of Le Havre. Hoping to start over, Jean finds himself in a bar at the far edge of town. But, while getting a meal and civilian clothes, Jean meets Nelly. Jean resents the intrusions of Lucien and twice humiliates him by slapping him, when Nelly finds out that her godfather killed Maurice out of jealousy, she uses the information to blackmail him and prevent him from telling the police that Jean is a deserter. Though the two are in love, Jean plans to leave on a ship for Venezuela, Luc Sante writes that Port of Shadows possesses nearly all the qualities that were once synonymous with the idea of French cinema. As a steady diet, of course, it would give us the willies, at the time of its release, the film was widely criticized for being too negative about the State and moral character of the French. 55 years after its premiere, Luc Sante, writing about the film for its DVD release by Criterion Collection, director Carl Dreyer included the film in his list of top ten films. On the balance, it looks extremely good for a film of this vintage. Steffen also noted the sound is clear and without too much distortion. The characters use lots of colorful slang whose flavor is difficult to translate into English, Port of Shadows at the Internet Movie Database Port of Shadows at AllMovie Port of Shadows at the TCM Movie Database Le Quai des brumes/Port of Shadows at filmsdefrance. com
Le Quai des brumes
–
original poster
15.
Jean Gabin
–
Jean Gabin was a French actor and sometime singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in classic films including Pépé le Moko, La grande illusion, Le Quai des brumes, La bête humaine, Le jour se lève. Gabin was made a member of the Légion dhonneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema, Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe entertainer whose stage name was Gabin. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, the son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered business with a bit part in a Folies Bergères production. He continued performing in a variety of roles before going into the military. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and his performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928. Two years later Gabin easily made the transition to talkies, in a 1930 Pathé Frères production titled Chacun sa Chance, playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. However, he only gained recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine. He was then cast as a hero in a 1936 war drama titled La Bandera. The following year he teamed up with Duvivier again, this time in the highly successful Pépé le Moko and that same year he starred in the Jean Renoir film La Grande Illusion, an anti-war film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. He was divorced from his wife in 1939. In the late 1930s Gabin was flooded with offers from Hollywood, for a time he turned them all down, after the German occupation of France in 1940, he joined Jean Renoir and Julien Duvivier in the United States. During his time in Hollywood, Gabin began a romance with actress Marlene Dietrich which lasted until 1948. However, his films in America – Moontide and The Impostor, Gabin was a difficult personality, he did serious damage to his Hollywood career while working for RKO Pictures. Scheduled to star in an RKO film, at the last minute he demanded Dietrich be given the co-starring role, after Gabin remained steadfast in his demand, he was fired, and the film project was shelved. Undaunted, he joined General Charles de Gaulles Free French Forces and earned the Médaille militaire, following D-Day, Gabin was part of the military contingent that entered a liberated Paris. He was hired by Marcel Carné in 1946 to star in the film, Les Portes de la Nuit, but his conduct got him fired again
Jean Gabin
–
Jean Gabin
Jean Gabin
–
Gabin and
Jacques Prévert in 1961.
Jean Gabin
–
The Musée Jean Gabin.
16.
Remorques
–
Remorques is a 1941 French drama film directed by Jean Grémillon. The screenplay was written by Jacques Prévert and André Cayatte, based on the novel by Roger Vercel, the film stars Jean Gabin, Madeleine Renaud and Michèle Morgan. A tugboat captain indulges a love affair with a married woman, Remorques at Films de France Stormy Waters at the Internet Movie Database Stormy Waters at AllMovie Remorques at FilmCan
Remorques
–
Theatrical poster
17.
The Vintage
–
The Vintage is a 1957 crime drama film made by MGM, and directed by Jeffrey Hayden. The screenplay was written by Michael Blankfort, based on a novel by Ursula Keir, the film stars Pier Angeli, Mel Ferrer, John Kerr, Michèle Morgan and Theodore Bikel. Italian brothers Ernesto and Giancarlo Barandero are fugitives, Ernesto having accidentally killed a man and they cross the border to France and hope to find work picking grapes. While vineyard owner Louis Morel is away, wife Leonne and young sister-in-law Lucienne make the brothers feel welcome, Louis does not offer them a job, but Ernesto and Giancarlo are given temporary shelter in a shack where Louis elderly uncle Tonton stays. They are brought food by Lucienne, whose interest makes her intended husband Etienne extremely jealous, a crew of Spanish pickers led by Eduardo Uribon are willing to let the brothers work with them. Yolande, the daughter of Louis and Leonne, comes upon Ernesto carving a sculpture of her mother. He asks her not to mention it, the police are tipped off by Etienne to check on these two strangers, Etienne wanting the brothers to be gone. Louis decides to fire them, but Eduardos crew have taken a liking to Ernesto and Giancarlo, Louis desperately needs this years crop, so he concedes. A chicken thief has been active and dogs are sent out, Lucienne now loves Giancarlo and comes to his defense. When the sculpture of Leonne carved by Ernesto is found by Louis and it is revealed Uncle Tonton has been stealing the chickens, trading them to a merchant for chocolate. Giancarlo, no longer suspected, is told by Lucienne that if they marry, Ernesto realizes that Giancarlo could be happy here, so he decides to flee alone. The police arrive, however, and when young Yolande calls out his name, despite his sorrow, Giancarlo hopes he and Lucienne together can begin a new life. Additional source music included guitar solos performed by actor Theodore Bikel, raksins music from the film received its premiere release, in any format, on cd in 2009 on Film Score Monthly records. According to MGM records the film earned $260,000 in the US and Canada, the Vintage at the TCM Movie Database The Vintage at the Internet Movie Database The Vintage at AllMovie
The Vintage
–
Theatrical release poster
18.
Battle of France
–
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries in 1940 during the Second World War. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France, the German plan for the invasion of France consisted of two main operations. After the withdrawal of the BEF, the German forces began Fall Rot on 5 June, the sixty remaining French divisions made a determined resistance but were unable to overcome the German air superiority and armoured mobility. German tanks outflanked the Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, German forces occupied Paris unopposed on 14 June after a chaotic period of flight of the French government that led to a collapse of the French army. German commanders met with French officials on 18 June with the goal of forcing the new French government to accept an armistice that amounted to surrender and this led to the end of the French Third Republic. France was not liberated until the summer of 1944, in 1939, Britain and France offered military support to Poland in the likely case of a German invasion. In the dawn of 1 September 1939, the German Invasion of Poland began, France and the United Kingdom declared war on 3 September, after an ultimatum for German forces to immediately withdraw their forces from Poland was met without reply. Following this, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, on 7 September, in accordance with their alliance with Poland, France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km into the Saar. France had mobilised 98 divisions and 2,500 tanks against a German force consisting of 43 divisions, the French advanced until they met the then thin and undermanned Siegfried Line. On 17 September, the French supreme commander, Maurice Gamelin gave the order to withdraw French troops to their starting positions, following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called the Phoney War set in between the belligerents. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would acquiesce in the conquest of Poland, on 6 October, he made a peace offer to both Western powers. On 9 October, Hitler issued a new Führer-Directive Number 6, the plan was based on the seemingly more realistic assumption that German military strength would have to be built up for several years. For the moment only limited objectives could be envisaged and were aimed at improving Germanys ability to survive a long war in the west. Hitler ordered a conquest of the Low Countries to be executed at the shortest possible notice to forestall the French and it would also provide the basis for a long-term air and sea campaign against Britain. On 10 October 1939, Britain refused Hitlers offer of peace and on 12 October, colonel-General Franz Halder, presented the first plan for Fall Gelb on 19 October. This was the codename of plans for a campaign in the Low Countries. Halders plan has been compared to the Schlieffen Plan, the given to the German strategy of 1914 in the First World War. It was similar in both plans entailed an advance through the middle of Belgium
Battle of France
–
Clockwise from top left: German
Panzer IV tanks passing through a town in
France;
German soldiers marching past the
Arc de Triomphe after the surrender of
Paris, 14 June 1940; column of French
Renault R35 tanks at
Sedan,
Ardennes; British and French prisoners at
Veules-les-Roses; French soldiers on review within the
Maginot Line fortifications.
Battle of France
–
Newly arrived British troops move up to the front, May 1940
Battle of France
–
A burnt out German
Junkers Ju 52 transport lying in a Dutch field
Battle of France
–
An abandoned Belgian tank is inspected by German soldiers
19.
RKO Pictures
–
RKO Pictures Inc. also known as RKO Radio Pictures and in its later years RKO Teleradio Pictures, was an American film production and distribution company. It was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the companys sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone. By the mid-1940s, the studio was under the control of investor Floyd Odlum, RKO has long been celebrated for its series of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid-to-late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes at the studio, cary Grant was a mainstay for years. The work of producer Val Lewtons low-budget horror unit and RKOs many ventures into the now known as film noir have been acclaimed, largely after the fact, by film critics. The studio produced two of the most famous films in motion picture history, King Kong and Citizen Kane, RKO Pictures is also a member of Motion Picture Association of America. Maverick industrialist Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948, after years of turmoil and decline under his control, Hughes sold the troubled studio to General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955. The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957 and was dissolved two years later. In 1981, broadcaster RKO General, the heir, revived it as a production subsidiary. In October 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer and its success prompted Hollywood to convert from silent to sound film production en masse. The Radio Corporation of America controlled an advanced optical sound-on-film system, RCA Photophone, the industrys two largest major studios, Paramount and Loews/MGM, with two other studios Universal and First National, were poised to contract with ERPI for sound conversion as well. Next on the agenda was securing a string of exhibition venues like those the leading Hollywood production companies owned, Kennedy began investigating the possibility of such a purchase. Around that time, the large Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of theaters, built around the medium of live vaudeville, was attempting a transition to the movie business. In mid-1927, the operations of Pathé Exchange and Cecil B. De Milles Producers Distributing Corporation had united under KAOs control, early in 1928, KAO general manager John J. Murdock, who had assumed the presidency of Pathé, turned to Kennedy as an adviser in consolidating the studio with De Milles company, PDC. This was the relationship Sarnoff and Kennedy sought, on October 23,1928, RCA announced the creation of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum holding company, with Sarnoff as chairman of the board. Kennedy, who withdrew from his positions in the merged companies, kept Pathé separate from RKO. RCA owned the governing stock interest in RKO,22 percent, in the early 1930s, the companys production and distribution arm, presided over by former FBO vice-president Joseph I
RKO Pictures
–
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
RKO Pictures
–
Early Radio-Keith-Orpheum logo
RKO Pictures
–
Rio Rita (1929), first smash hit for RKO (then releasing films under the "Radio Pictures" banner)
RKO Pictures
–
King Kong (1933), one of Hollywood's great spectacles
20.
Joan of Paris
–
Joan of Paris is a 1942 war film about five Royal Air Force pilots shot down over Nazi-occupied France during World War II and their attempt to escape to England. It stars Michèle Morgan, Paul Henreid, Thomas Mitchell and Laird Cregar, Joan of Paris marked the U. S. screen debuts of Austrian Henreid and Frenchwoman Morgan. Henreid had previously appeared in some British-American co-productions made in England and had starred on Broadway in the play Flight to the West as Paul von Hernreid. When he was signed with RKO in 1942, the studio changed his surname, dropping the von and changing his last name to Henreid, Cregar was borrowed from 20th-Century Fox. Alan Ladd, who played one of the airmen, would soon become a star later that year. After his breakthrough starring role in This Gun for Hire, Joan of Paris was re-released with Ladd more prominently featured and this film also features May Robsons last role. In German-occupied Paris, an announcer reports during a blackout that the Second Front has begun, with British forces invading the Continent, five downed pilots split up and make their way to Paris to try to get help in returning to England. On the way, they break into a tavern in search of civilian clothes, when a German soldier shows up for a drink, Squadron Leader Paul Lavallier, a member of the Free French, knocks him out and takes his money. In Paris, Paul contacts an old teacher of his, Father Antoine, Baby has been shot in the shoulder along the way. When he slumps over in the church, it attracts the attention of a Gestapo agent, Paul manages to distract him, allowing Baby to slip away, but then the German starts following Paul. Paul tries to hide in a café, where he is served by Joan, in his haste to get away, the airman tears the sleeve of Joans dress. He then enters the first unlocked room he finds in a nearby building and she discovers him hiding in her closet when she goes to change. To allay her fears, he tells her that Father Antoine sent him to give her money to buy a new dress. He persuades her to deliver a message to Father Antoine, describing his predicament, as they begin working together, they fall in love. Later, Paul gets Father Antoine to visit a British spy who has caught and is to be executed. The priest is able to overcome the doomed mans suspicions and obtains the name of a contact, because the church is being watched by the persistent Gestapo agent, Father Antoine asks the unsuspected Joan to meet Rosay. However, on the way there, she passes the shop where she bought her new garment, a second Gestapo man has traced the bank note she used as payment to the robbed soldier and follows her. She and Mademoiselle Rosay barely escape capture, Rosay arranges for a seaplane to land at night on the Seine River to pick up the men
Joan of Paris
–
Joan of Paris
Joan of Paris
–
Michèle Morgan and Paul Henreid
21.
Paul Henreid
–
Paul Henreid was an Austrian-born American actor and film director. He is best remembered for two roles, Victor Laszlo in Casablanca and Jerry Durrance in Now, Voyager, both released in 1942. However, Henreids father died during World War I, and the fortune had dwindled by the time he graduated from the exclusive Maria Theresianische Academie. He trained for the theatre in Vienna, over his familys objections and he began his film career acting in German films in the 1930s. He was strongly anti-Nazi, so much so that he was designated an enemy of the Third Reich. He played Prince Albert in the play Victoria Regina in 1937, with the outbreak of World War II, Henreid risked deportation or internment as an enemy alien, but was allowed to remain and work in Englands film industry. He had a role in Goodbye, Mr. Chips. After a successful New York theater run in Flight to the West, the studio changed his name from von Hernried to the simpler and less overtly Germanic Henreid. That year, Henreid became a citizen of the United States and his first film for the studio was Joan of Paris, which came out in 1942. Shortly after his arrival, Henreid appeared in two key films in his career. In Now, Voyager he played the lead opposite Bette Davis. Henreids next role was as Victor Laszlo, a heroic anti-german resistance leader on the run, in Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and he made regular film appearances throughout the 1940s, but was blacklisted after protesting against the actions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. His film credits include Between Two Worlds, The Spanish Main, Of Human Bondage, Deception, Song of Love, Thief of Damascus, Siren of Bagdad, in the early 1950s, he began directing for both film and television. His television directorial credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, Bonanza, in 1964, Henreid directed Dead Ringer, which starred Bette Davis and featured, in a minor role, the directors daughter, Monika. Henreid married Elizabeth Lisl Gluck in 1936, the couple had two daughters, Henreid died on 29 March 1992 at the age of 84 of pneumonia in Santa Monica after suffering a stroke. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery and he has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one at 6366 Hollywood Boulevard and the other at 1720 Vine Street
Paul Henreid
–
circa 1940s
Paul Henreid
–
Paul Henreid's grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica
22.
Higher and Higher (film)
–
Higher and Higher is a 1944 musical film starring Michèle Morgan, Jack Haley, and Frank Sinatra, loosely based on a 1940 Broadway musical written by Gladys Hurlbut and Joshua Logan. The film version, written by Jay Dratler and Ralph Spence with additional dialogue by William Bowers and Howard Harris, the film has songs by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson, as well as one song by Rodgers and Hart, Disgustingly Rich, that remains from the stage production. The household staff of millionaire Cyrus Drake hasnt been paid for months when his bankruptcy is announced, the valet, Mike OBrien, helps with the transformation, unaware that Millie is secretly in love with him. Asked if shed ever been courted, Millie mentions that she likes the way a man next door sometimes sings to her. The social secretary Sandy begins to teach Millie the proper etiquette, no one there knows Victor cant even pay his hotel bill. Hes hoping to catch a girl to pay off his own debts. Millie isnt in love, but agrees to him for everyones sake. Mike mistakenly thinks shes in love with Frank, so he helps Millie get out of the wedding at the last minute, to his surprise, Frank ends up paired up with Katherine, which frees Mike and Millie to finally begin their romance. Higher and Higher marked the second of Sinatras forty-plus film roles, the film made a profit of $780,000. Higher and Higher at the American Film Institute Catalog Higher and Higher at the Internet Movie Database Higher and Higher at the TCM Movie Database Higher and Higher at AllMovie
Higher and Higher (film)
–
Theatrical poster
23.
Frank Sinatra
–
Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the music artists of all time. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943 and he released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatras professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas and his career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice n Easy. Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own label, Reprise Records. It was followed by 1968s collaboration with Duke Ellington, using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until a short time before his death in 1998. Sinatra forged a successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm and he appeared in various musicals such as On the Town, Guys and Dolls, High Society, and Pal Joey, winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he associated with playing detectives. Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B, on television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. While Sinatra never formally learned how to read music, he had a natural, intuitive understanding of it, a perfectionist, renowned for his impeccable dress sense and cleanliness, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname Ol Blue Eyes, Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner. He went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976, Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him the greatest singer of the 20th century, Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12,1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the child of Italian immigrants Antonino Martino Marty Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
–
Sinatra in 1957
Frank Sinatra
–
Hoboken, New Jersey, early 20th century
Frank Sinatra
–
Sinatra (far right) with the Hoboken Four on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour
Frank Sinatra
–
Harry James in 1942
24.
Casablanca (film)
–
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alisons unproduced stage play Everybody Comes to Ricks. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid, it also features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal B. Wallis to purchase the rights to the play in January 1942. Brothers Julius and Philip G. Epstein were initially assigned to write the script, however, despite studio resistance, they left to work on Frank Capras Why We Fight series early in 1942. Howard E. Koch was assigned to the screenplay until the Epsteins returned a month later, Casey Robinson assisted with three weeks of rewrites, but his work would later go uncredited. Wallis chose Curtiz to direct the film after his first choice, William Wyler, principal photography began on May 25,1942, ending on August 3, the film was shot entirely at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, with the exception of one sequence at Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, although Casablanca was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers, no one involved with its production expected it to be anything out of the ordinary. It was just one of hundreds of pictures produced by Hollywood every year, Casablanca was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. It had its premiere on November 26,1942, in New York City and was released nationally in the United States on January 23,1943. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run, Casablanca went on to win three Academy Awards – Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay – and gradually its reputation grew. Its lead characters, memorable lines, and pervasive theme song have all become iconic, in December 1941, American expatriate Rick Blaine is the proprietor of an upscale nightclub and gambling den in Casablanca. Ricks Café Américain attracts a clientele, Vichy French and German officials, refugees desperate to reach the still-neutral United States. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is revealed he ran guns to Ethiopia during its war with Italy. Petty crook Ugarte shows up and boasts to Rick of letters of transit obtained by murdering two German couriers, the papers allow the bearers to travel freely around German-controlled Europe and to neutral Portugal, and are thus almost priceless to the refugees stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to them at the club that night. Before he can meet his contact, he is intercepted by the police under the command of Captain Louis Renault. Ugarte dies in custody without revealing that he entrusted the letters to Rick, at this point, the reason for Ricks bitterness—former lover Ilsa Lund—walks into his establishment. Upon spotting Ricks friend and house pianist, Sam, Ilsa asks him to play As Time Goes By, Rick storms over, furious that Sam has disobeyed his order never to perform that song, and is stunned to see Ilsa
Casablanca (film)
–
Theatrical release poster by
Bill Gold
Casablanca (film)
–
From left to right: Henreid, Bergman, Rains and Bogart
Casablanca (film)
–
Bogart and Bergman
Casablanca (film)
–
Greenstreet and Bogart
25.
RKO
–
RKO Pictures Inc. also known as RKO Radio Pictures and in its later years RKO Teleradio Pictures, was an American film production and distribution company. It was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, RCA chief David Sarnoff engineered the merger to create a market for the companys sound-on-film technology, RCA Photophone. By the mid-1940s, the studio was under the control of investor Floyd Odlum, RKO has long been celebrated for its series of musicals starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the mid-to-late 1930s. Actors Katharine Hepburn and, later, Robert Mitchum had their first major successes at the studio, cary Grant was a mainstay for years. The work of producer Val Lewtons low-budget horror unit and RKOs many ventures into the now known as film noir have been acclaimed, largely after the fact, by film critics. The studio produced two of the most famous films in motion picture history, King Kong and Citizen Kane, RKO Pictures is also a member of Motion Picture Association of America. Maverick industrialist Howard Hughes took over RKO in 1948, after years of turmoil and decline under his control, Hughes sold the troubled studio to General Tire and Rubber Company in 1955. The original RKO Pictures ceased production in 1957 and was dissolved two years later. In 1981, broadcaster RKO General, the heir, revived it as a production subsidiary. In October 1927, Warner Bros. released The Jazz Singer and its success prompted Hollywood to convert from silent to sound film production en masse. The Radio Corporation of America controlled an advanced optical sound-on-film system, RCA Photophone, the industrys two largest major studios, Paramount and Loews/MGM, with two other studios Universal and First National, were poised to contract with ERPI for sound conversion as well. Next on the agenda was securing a string of exhibition venues like those the leading Hollywood production companies owned, Kennedy began investigating the possibility of such a purchase. Around that time, the large Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of theaters, built around the medium of live vaudeville, was attempting a transition to the movie business. In mid-1927, the operations of Pathé Exchange and Cecil B. De Milles Producers Distributing Corporation had united under KAOs control, early in 1928, KAO general manager John J. Murdock, who had assumed the presidency of Pathé, turned to Kennedy as an adviser in consolidating the studio with De Milles company, PDC. This was the relationship Sarnoff and Kennedy sought, on October 23,1928, RCA announced the creation of the Radio-Keith-Orpheum holding company, with Sarnoff as chairman of the board. Kennedy, who withdrew from his positions in the merged companies, kept Pathé separate from RKO. RCA owned the governing stock interest in RKO,22 percent, in the early 1930s, the companys production and distribution arm, presided over by former FBO vice-president Joseph I
RKO
–
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
RKO
–
Early Radio-Keith-Orpheum logo
RKO
–
Rio Rita (1929), first smash hit for RKO (then releasing films under the "Radio Pictures" banner)
RKO
–
King Kong (1933), one of Hollywood's great spectacles
26.
Warner Bros.
–
Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
–
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
–
Lobby card from Open Your Eyes (1919)
Warner Bros.
–
Lobby card from
The Beautiful and Damned (1922)
27.
Passage to Marseille
–
Passage to Marseille, also known as Message to Marseille, is a 1944 war film made by Warner Brothers, directed by Michael Curtiz. The screenplay was by Casey Robinson and Jack Moffitt from the novel Sans Patrie by Charles Nordhoff, the music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography was by James Wong Howe. Passage to Marseille is one of the few films to use a flashback within a flashback, within a flashback, the film opens at an airbase in England during World War II. Free French Captain Freycinet tells a journalist the story of the French pilots stationed there, in 1942, journalist Manning arrives at an English air base to learn about the Free French who are fighting the Germans. Along with Captain Freycinet, he watches as French bomber crews prepare for a raid and these five men, Marius, Garou, Petit, Renault, and their leader, Matrac, are rescued and taken aboard the French freighter commanded by Captain Malo. Later, when confronted by Captain Freycinet, the five confess to being escaped convicts from the French prison colony at Cayenne in French Guiana and they had been recruited by Grandpère, a fervently patriotic ex-convict, to fight for France in her hour of need. To Grandpére, the inmates had recounted Matracs troubles in pre-war France to convince the old man to choose Matrac to lead the escape, a crusading newspaper publisher, Matrac, being opposed to the Munich Pact, had been framed for murder to shut him up. By the time the Ville de Nancy nears the port of Marseille, France has surrendered to Nazi Germany, upon hearing the news, the captain secretly decides not to deliver his valuable cargo to the Germans. Pro-Vichy passenger Major Duval organizes an attempt to control of the ship. When they reach England, the join the Free French bomber squadron. As Freycinet finishes his tale, the returns from its mission over France. Renaults bomber is delayed, as Matrac is allowed to drop a letter over his familys house before returning from each mission and his wife Paula and their son, whom he has never seen, live in occupied France. It has been shot up, and Matrac has been killed. After the squadron bury him, Freycinet reads Matracs letter to his son that had been unable to be delivered. Passage to Marseille reunited much of the cast of Casablanca, also directed by Curtiz, including Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, based on a Nordhoff-Hall novel, censors cut a scene in the foreign version that showed Bogarts character machine gunning German pilots. Even when the issue was decided, Bogarts portrayal was hampered by marital difficulties, the flying sequences show the Free French Air Force using Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers. The production took liberties with the bombing campaigns carried out by the Free French units. The use of the ubiquitous B-17 was due to its being recognizable to American audiences and it is the studios roaring rejoinder that a vicious and repressive penal code was still not sufficiently able to kill the love of home and freedom in French hearts
Passage to Marseille
–
theatrical release poster
Passage to Marseille
–
Bogart as Jean Matrac
Passage to Marseille
–
Michèle Morgan as Paula
28.
Humphrey Bogart
–
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American screen and stage actor whose performances in 1940s films noir such as The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The Big Sleep earned him status as a cultural icon. Bogart began acting in 1921 after a hitch in the U. S. Navy in World War I and little success in various jobs in finance, gradually he became a regular in Broadway shows in the 1920s and 1930s. When the stock market crash of 1929 reduced the demand for plays, Bogarts breakthrough as a leading man came in 1941 with High Sierra and The Maltese Falcon. His last film was The Harder They Fall, during a film career of almost 30 years, Bogart appeared in more than 75 feature films. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star of Classic American cinema, over his career, he received three Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, winning one. Bogart was born on Christmas Day,1899, in New York City, Belmont was the only child of the unhappy marriage of Adam Watkins Bogart, a Canandaigua, New York innkeeper, and his wife, Julia, a wealthy heiress. The name Bogart comes from the Dutch surname Bogaert, Belmont and Maud married in June 1898, he was a Presbyterian, of English and Dutch descent, and she was an Episcopalian of English heritage, and a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland. Young Humphrey was raised in the Episcopal faith, but was non-practicing for most of his adult life, the corrected January birthdate subsequently appeared—and in some cases, remains—in many otherwise authoritative sources. Sperber and Eric Lax documented, however, that Bogart always celebrated his birthday on December 25, Lauren Bacall confirmed in her autobiography that his birthday was always celebrated on Christmas Day, adding that he joked that he was cheated out of a present every year because of it. Bogarts father, Belmont, was a cardiopulmonary surgeon and his mother, Maud, was a commercial illustrator who received her art training in New York and France, including study with James McNeill Whistler. Later she became art director of the fashion magazine The Delineator and she used a drawing of baby Humphrey in a well-known advertising campaign for Mellins Baby Food. In her prime, she made over $50,000 a year, then a vast sum, the Bogarts lived in a fashionable Upper West Side apartment, and had an elegant cottage on a 55-acre estate on Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York. As a youngster, Humphreys gang of friends at the lake would put on theatricals, Humphrey had two younger sisters, Frances and Catherine Elizabeth. His parents were busy in their careers and frequently fought, very formal, they showed little emotion towards their children. Maud told her offspring to call her Maud not Mother, when pleased she lapped you on the shoulder, almost the way a man does, Bogart recalled. I was brought up very unsentimentally but very straightforwardly, a kiss, in our family, was an event. Our mother and father didnt glug over my two sisters and me. As a boy, Bogart was teased for his curls, tidiness, the pictures his mother had him pose for, the Little Lord Fauntleroy clothes she dressed him in
Humphrey Bogart
–
Bogart in a publicity photo, 1945
Humphrey Bogart
–
Birthplace plaque
Humphrey Bogart
–
Bogart in the 1934 original theatrical trailer for
The Petrified Forest
Humphrey Bogart
–
Still from the
Invisible Stripes trailer
29.
La Symphonie Pastorale (film)
–
La Symphonie pastorale is a 1946 French language film drama directed by Jean Delannoy and starring Michèle Morgan and Pierre Blanchar. The film is based on the novella La Symphonie Pastorale by André Gide, the film score was by Georges Auric. At the 1946 Cannes Film Festival, it won the Grand Prix, the pastor of a mountain village adopts a small blind girl, Gertrude. As Gertrude grows up into a young woman, the pastor, now middle-aged. To his chagrin, his son, Jacques, is also in love with Gertrude. Jacques’s fiancée is jealous of Gertrude and arranges for her to see a doctor in the hope that she might be cured, miraculously, Gertrude’s sight is restored and she returns to the village a changed woman. Unable to accept Jacques love and disappointed by the pastors affections for her and this film supplies a second, deeper meaning. The blind girl comes to dominate the pastors consciousness as he guides her from being the brutish creature seen in our first glimpse of her, into an accomplished and his obsession with her damages his family life. There is no indication of attraction between the pastor and her, she is his spiritual creation. This alternative interpretation, then, is that the girl is a kind of demon who takes over his consciousness, with the result of wrecking his family life. This meaning is cued for us by his wifes slowly growing worry, La Symphonie Pastorale at the Internet Movie Database La Symphonie Pastorale at AllMovie La Symphonie Pastorale at filmsdefrance. com
La Symphonie Pastorale (film)
–
film poster
30.
Jean Delannoy
–
Jean Delannoy was a French actor, film editor, screenwriter and film director. Although Delannoy was born in a Paris suburb, his family was from Haute-Normandie in the north of France and he was a student in Paris when he began acting in silent films. He eventually landed a job with Paramount Studios Parisian facilities, working his way up to film editor. In 1934 he directed his first film and went on to a long career, in 1946, his film about a Protestant minister titled La symphonie pastorale was awarded the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1960, his film, Maigret tend un piège was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Film from any Source, in recognition of his long service to the French motion picture industry, in 1986 Delannoy received an Honorary César Award. Delannoy died on 18 June 2008, at the age of 100
Jean Delannoy
–
Jean Delannoy, 2000s.
