1.
Francis Ford Coppola
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Francis Ford Coppola, also credited as Francis Coppola, is a semi-retired American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered to have been a figure of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking. After directing The Rain People, he co-wrote the 1970 film Patton and he followed with The Godfather Part II in 1974, which became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Conversation, which he directed, produced and wrote, was released same year. He next directed 1979s Apocalypse Now, while notorious for its lengthy and strenuous production, the film was widely acclaimed for its vivid and stark depiction of the Vietnam War, winning the Palme dOr at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. Coppola is one of only eight filmmakers to win two Palme dOr awards, while a number of Coppolas ventures in the 1980s and 1990s were critically lauded, he has never quite achieved the same commercial success with films as in the 1970s. His most well-known films released since the start of the 1980s are the dramas The Outsiders and Rumble Fish, the crime-drama The Cotton Club, and his movies The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now are often ranked among the greatest films of all time. Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan, to father Carmine Coppola, a flautist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Coppola is the second of three children, his older brother was August Coppola, his younger sister is actress Talia Shire. Born into a family of Italian immigrant ancestry, his grandparents came to the United States from Bernalda. His maternal grandfather, popular Italian composer Francesco Pennino, immigrated from Naples, Coppola received his middle name in honor of Henry Ford, not only because he was born in the Henry Ford Hospital but also because of his musician-fathers association with the automobile manufacturer. Contracting polio as a boy, Coppola was bedridden for periods of his childhood. Reading A Streetcar Named Desire at age 15 was instrumental in developing his interest in theater, eager to be involved in film-craft, he created 8mm features edited from home movies with such titles as The Rich Millionaire and The Lost Wallet. As a child, Coppola was a student, but he was so interested in technology. Trained initially for a career in music, he became proficient on the tuba, overall, Coppola attended 23 other schools before he eventually graduated from the Great Neck North High School. He entered Hofstra College in 1955 with a major in theater arts, there he was awarded a scholarship in playwriting. This furthered his interest in directing theater despite the disapproval of his father, Coppola was profoundly impressed after seeing Sergei Eisensteins October, Ten Days That Shook the World, especially with the movies quality of editing. It was at this time Coppola decided he would go into cinema rather than theater, Coppola also gives credit to the work of Elia Kazan and for its influence on him as a director. Amongst Coppolas classmates at Hofstra were James Caan, Lainie Kazan and he later cast Lainie Kazan in One from the Heart and Caan in The Rain People and The Godfather
2.
Mario Puzo
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Mario Gianluigi Puzo was an American author, screenwriter and journalist of Italian descent. He is known for his novels about the Mafia, most notably The Godfather. He received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for the first film in 1972, Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for the 1978 Superman film. His last novel, The Family, was released posthumously in 2001, Puzo was born in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, into a poor family from Pietradefusi, Province of Avellino, Campania, Italy. Many of his books draw heavily on this heritage, after graduating from the City College of New York, he joined the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Due to his eyesight, the military did not let him undertake combat duties. In 1950, his first short story, The Last Christmas, was published in American Vanguard, after the war, he wrote his first book, The Dark Arena, which was published in 1955. At periods in the 1950s and early 1960s, Puzo worked as a writer/editor for publisher Martin Goodmans Magazine Management Company. Puzo, along other writers like Bruce Jay Friedman, worked for the company line of mens magazines, pulp titles like Male, True Action. Under the pseudonym Mario Cleri, Puzo wrote World War II adventure features for True Action. Puzos most famous work, The Godfather, was encouraged by a suggestion of the publisher of his The Fortunate Pilgrim who thought that if there was more mafia that it would have more successful. A story outline was prepared and presented to the publisher, who rejected it, after several publishers were approached, Putnam editors met with him without having read the outline. He told them a few stories and the project was approved, with the advance, he got on with the project. He had heard anecdotes about Mafia organizations during his time in pulp journalism and he was looking to write something that would appeal to the masses. He found his audience with the novel, a bestseller for months on the New York Times Best Seller List. The book was developed into the film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The movie received 3 awards of the 11 Academy Award category nominations, Coppola and Puzo then collaborated on sequels to the original film, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III. Puzo wrote the first draft of the script for the 1974 disaster film Earthquake, Puzo also wrote the original screenplay for Richard Donners Superman which, at the time, also included the plot for Superman II, as they were originally written as one film
3.
The Godfather (novel)
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Constanzia Connie Corleone is a fictional character in The Godfather, a novel by Mario Puzo and the 1972 film The Godfather. In the film, Connie is portrayed by Talia Shire, the sister of director Francis Ford Coppola, Shire was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Connie Corleone in The Godfather Part II. Born in 1925, Connie is the youngest child and only daughter of mafia don Vito Corleone and she is the sister of Sonny, Fredo and Michael Corleone. She marries Sonnys friend Carlo Rizzi and her father was very displeased that Connie married a man who was not only half northern Italian, but also had a criminal history. He only agreed to the marriage on condition that they hold an old-style Sicilian wedding, Carlo, who Puzo characterizes as a punk sore at the world, periodically abuses and cheats on Connie in frustration at being shunted aside by the Corleone family. The night of their wedding turned out to be a harbinger of things to come, after one particularly bad beating, Connie complains to her father, who refuses to help. The book reveals that in truth, Vito was outraged at how Carlo treated Connie, connies family grow to resent Carlo and his mistreatment of Connie, especially her oldest brother Sonny. One day, when Sonny visits Connie, he finds her in tears, Sonny chases and beats up Carlo in the street, threatening to kill Carlo if he hurts Connie again. Corleone rivals Emilio Barzini and Philip Tattaglia recruit Carlo to bring Sonny into the open, Carlo has a mistress call the house and a fight with Connie ensues that ends with Carlo again beating Connie. Connie calls the Corleone compound asking Sonny for help, an enraged Sonny drives off alone to help Connie, leaving his bodyguards following in a separate car. At a toll booth Sonny is shot and killed by Barzinis Tommy gun-wielding men, Michael returns from Sicily and takes Sonnys place as Vitos heir apparent. When Vito dies, Michael becomes the new Don and avenges Sonnys murder by having the heads of the Five Families killed, Connie flies into a rage when she finds out Carlo is dead and blames Michael, denouncing him in front of his wife Kay. In The Godfather Part II, Connie has remarried, divorced and she remains bitter toward Michael and announces that she intends to marry Merle Johnson, which Michael disapproves of. At the end of the film, Connie returns for her mothers funeral and she intercedes on Fredos behalf after Michael disowns him for conspiring with Corleone rival Hyman Roth, pleading with Michael to forgive him. Michael publicly appears to forgive Fredo, Connie later says that Fredo had drowned, unaware that Michael had him killed. After Michael and Kay divorce, Connie helps care for Michaels two children, Anthony and Mary, in a flashback at the end of the film, it is revealed that Sonny introduced her to Carlo in 1941 during Vitos birthday party. In The Godfather Part III, Connie is very close to her nephew Vincent Mancini, Connie encourages Michael to bring Vincent into the Corleone family and support him in his feud with Joey Zasa. When Michael suffers a stroke and recuperates in the hospital Connie
4.
Al Pacino
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Alfredo James Al Pacino is an American actor of stage and screen, filmmaker, and screenwriter. DeMille Award, and the National Medal of Arts and he is also one of few performers to have won a competitive Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award for acting, dubbed the Triple Crown of Acting. He achieved international acclaim and recognition for his role as Michael Corleone in Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather. He received his first Oscar nomination and would reprise the role in the successful sequels The Godfather Part II. Pacinos performance as Corleone is now regarded as one of the greatest screen performances in film history, for his performances in The Godfather, Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross, Pacino was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. A lifelong fan of Shakespeare, Pacino directed and starred in Looking for Richard, a film about the play Richard III. He has also acted as Shylock in a 2004 feature film adaptation, since 1994, Pacino has been the joint president of the Actors Studio with Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel. Pacino was born in New York City, to Sicilian-American parents Salvatore Pacino and Rose and his mother moved to The Bronx to live with her parents, Kate and James Gerardi, who, coincidentally, had come from a town in Sicily named Corleone. His father, who was from San Fratello in the Province of Messina, moved to Covina, California, in his teen years Sonny, as he was known to his friends, aimed to become a baseball player, and was also nicknamed The Actor. Pacino went through Herman Ridder Junior High School, but in secondary school dropped out of many classes and he attended the High School of Performing Arts, but dropped out of school at age 17. His mother disagreed with his decision, they argued and he left home and he worked at low-paying jobs, messenger, busboy, janitor, and postal clerk, to finance his acting studies. He once worked in the room for Commentary magazine. He began smoking and drinking at age nine, and took up casual cannabis use at age 13 and his two closest friends died from drug abuse at the ages of 19 and 30. Growing up in The Bronx, he got into fights and was considered something of a troublemaker at school. He acted in basement plays in New Yorks theatrical underground but was rejected for the Actors Studio while a teenager, Pacino then joined the Herbert Berghof Studio, where he met acting teacher Charlie Laughton, who became his mentor and best friend. In this period, he was unemployed and homeless, and sometimes slept on the street, in theaters. In 1962, his mother died at the age of 43, the following year, Pacinos grandfather James Gerardi, one of the most influential people in his life, also died. After four years at HB Studio, Pacino successfully auditioned for the Actors Studio, the Actors Studio is a membership organization of professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City
5.
Robert Duvall
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Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and has multiple nominations and one win each of the BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild Award and he received the National Medal of Arts in 2005. Duvall began appearing in theatre during the late 1950s, moving into television and film roles during the early 1960s, playing Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird and appearing in Captain Newman and this was followed by a series of critically lauded performances in commercially successful films. Duvall was born January 5,1931, in San Diego, California, the son of Mildred Virginia, an actress, and William Howard Duvall. He has English, and smaller amounts of Belgian, French Huguenot, German, Scottish, Swiss-German, and Welsh ancestry. His mother was a relative of American Civil War General Robert E. Lee, Duvall was raised in the Christian Science religion and has stated that, while it is his belief, he does not attend church. He grew up primarily in Annapolis, Maryland, site of the United States Naval Academy and he recalled, I was a Navy brat. My father started at the Academy when he was 16, made captain at 39 and he attended Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland, and The Principia in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated, in 1953, from Principia College in Elsah, Duvall served in the United States Army for a brief period shortly after the Korean War leaving the Army as private first class. Thats led to confusion in the press, he explained in 1984. Hell, I barely qualified with the M-1 rifle in basic training, while stationed at Camp Gordon in Georgia, Duvall acted in an amateur production of the comedy Room Service in nearby Augusta, Georgia. In the winter of 1955, Duvall began studies at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, under Sanford Meisner and he was there for two years. Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, and James Caan were among his classmates and he was there in 1957 attending Meisners classes. While studying acting, he worked as a Manhattan post office clerk, Duvall remains friends today with fellow California-born actors Hoffman and Hackman, who he knew during their years as struggling actors. In 1955, Duvall roomed with Hoffman in a New York City apartment while they were studying together at the Playhouse. Around this time, he roomed with Hackman, while working odd jobs such as clerking at Macys, sorting mail at the post office. The three roommates have since earned, among themselves,19 Academy Award nominations, with five wins, Duvall began his professional acting career with the Gateway Playhouse, an Equity summer theatre based in Bellport, Long Island, New York. Arguably his stage debut was in its 1952 season when he played the Pilot in Laughter In The Stars, after a years absence when he was with the U. S
6.
Diane Keaton
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Diane Keaton is an American film actress, director and producer. She began her career on stage and made her debut in 1970. Her next two films with Allen, Sleeper and Love and Death, established her as a comic actor and her fourth, Annie Hall, won her the Academy Award for Best Actress. Keaton subsequently expanded her range to avoid becoming typecast as her Annie Hall persona and she became an accomplished dramatic performer, starring in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and received Academy Award nominations for Reds, Marvins Room and Somethings Gotta Give. Some of her later films include Baby Boom, Father of the Bride, The First Wives Club. Keatons films have earned a gross of over US$1.1 billion in North America. In addition to acting, she is also a photographer, real estate developer, author, Diane Keaton was born as Diane Hall on January 5,1946, in Los Angeles, California. Her mother, Dorothy Deanne, was a homemaker and amateur photographer, her father, John Newton Ignatius Jack Hall, was a real estate broker, Keaton was raised a Free Methodist by her mother. Her mother won the Mrs. Los Angeles pageant for homemakers, Keaton has said that the theatricality of the event inspired her first impulse to be an actress, and led to her wanting to work on stage. She has also credited Katharine Hepburn, whom she admires for playing strong and independent women, Keaton is a 1964 graduate of Santa Ana High School in Santa Ana, California. During her time there, she participated in singing and acting clubs at school, after graduation, she attended Santa Ana College, and later Orange Coast College as an acting student, but dropped out after a year to pursue an entertainment career in Manhattan. Upon joining the Actors Equity Association, she changed her surname to Keaton, her mothers maiden name, for a brief time, she also moonlighted at nightclubs with a singing act. She would later revisit her nightclub act in Annie Hall and And So It Goes, Keaton began studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. She has described her acting technique as, only as good as the person youre acting with, as opposed to going it on my own and forging my path to create a wonderful performance without the help of anyone. I always need the help of everyone, according to Jack Nicholson, She approaches a script sort of like a play in that she has the entire script memorized before you start doing the movie, which I dont know any other actors doing that. In 1968, Keaton became a member of the Tribe and understudy to Sheila in the original Broadway production of Hair. She gained some notoriety for her refusal to disrobe at the end of Act I when the cast performs nude, after acting in Hair for nine months, she auditioned for a part in Woody Allens production of Play It Again, Sam. After nearly being passed over for being too tall, she won the part, after being nominated for a Tony Award for Play It Again, Sam, Keaton made her film debut in Lovers and Other Strangers
7.
Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
8.
Talia Shire
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Talia Rose Shire is an American actress most known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather films and Adrian Balboa in the Rocky series. For her work in The Godfather Part II and Rocky, Shire has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively, Shire was born Talia Rose Coppola in Lake Success, New York, the only daughter of Italia and arranger/composer Carmine Coppola. Her parents were both of Italian descent and her son Matthew Orlando Shire is the child of her first marriage to composer David Shire. Her other sons, actors/musicians Jason and Robert, are from her second marriage, Shire portrayed Connie Corleone in The Godfather and its sequels. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 1974s The Godfather, in 1976, she portrayed Adrian Pennino, the love interest of Rocky Balboa in Rocky. For this role, she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress, the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, and was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. In addition to the Rocky sequels, Shire appeared in films as Kiss the Bride, I Heart Huckabees. Coppola family tree Francis Ford Coppola Talia Shire at the Internet Movie Database
9.
Morgana King
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Morgana King is an American jazz singer and actress. Her best-known role was that of Carmela Corleone in The Godfather, King was born Maria Grazia Morgana Messina in Pleasantville, New York. Her parents were from Fiumefreddo di Sicilia, Province of Catania and she grew up in New York City with five siblings. Her father, who owned a coal and ice business, played the piano and her family experienced a difficult financial period after her father died. Around the age of thirteen her vocal gifts were recognized when she was singing the aria Ill See You Again from Noël Cowards operetta Bitter Sweet. At age 16 she developed a love for big bands, a scholarship to the Metropolitan School of Music soon followed. Her professional singing career began at age sixteen as Morgana King, when she sang in a Greenwich Village nightclub in 1953, a record label executive took interest after being impressed with the unique phrasing and multi-octave range. Three years later in 1956, her first album, For You, For Me, in the first appearance of Leonard G. Feathers Encyclopedia of Jazz, Morgana King stated that her ambition was … to become a dramatic actress. She began her career in The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, as Carmela Corleone. In the film, she sang the song Luna mezzo mare, King appeared as herself in the television documentary The Godfather, Behind the Scenes. She reprised the role in The Godfather, Part II, where her character dies aged 62, while performing in Lisbon, Portugal, she was interviewed by the television show host Henrique Mendes at the television station RTP. Her repertoire contains more than two hundred songs on more than thirty albums, most of her recordings and re-issues have not remained in the catalogs. In 1964, she received a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist, the UCLA Music Librarys Jimmy Van Heusen papers include a letter dated September 5,1965 pertaining to songs… to be given to Morgana King. She recorded three songs by Van Heusen, Heres That Rainy Day, Like Someone in Love and Imagination, kings 1967 single I Have Loved Me A Man appeared in the US Easy Listening survey and the Australian Top 20, according to the Kent Music Report. Morgana King appeared in five films, including The Godfather Parts I, beginning with The Andy Williams Show and The Hollywood Palace in 1964. For more than a decade she performed on television talk and variety shows including The Mike Douglas Show, The Dean Martin Show and The David Frost Show. King announced her retirement from performing during an engagement at the Cotton Club in Chicago on Friday, December 10,1993 and she continued to perform after that date at the Ballroom, Maxims, Mirage Night Club, and Roosevelt Hotels Cinegrill. Her last film appearance was in the film A Brooklyn State of Mind and her first marriage was to jazz trumpeter Tony Fruscella, which ended in divorce after nine years, they had a daughter, Graysan
10.
John Cazale
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John Holland Cazale was an American actor. He appeared in archival footage in The Godfather Part III, also nominated for Best Picture, Cazale chose to continue acting despite being diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in New York City on March 13,1978, Theatre producer Joseph Papp called Cazale an amazing intellect, an extraordinary person and a fine, dedicated artist. Cazale was born in Revere, Massachusetts, to an Irish-American mother, Cecilia, and he attended high school at the Buxton School in Massachusetts. He studied drama at Oberlin College and Boston University, from which he graduated, Cazale moved to New York City and worked as a messenger at Standard Oil, where he met Al Pacino, another aspiring actor. Pacino recalled, When I first saw John, I instantly thought he was so interesting, everybody was always around him because he had a very congenial way of expressing himself. Cazale later won another Obie for the role in Horovitzs Line, where he was noticed by casting director Fred Roos. An Off-Broadway production of Archibald MacLeishs J. B. by the Equity Library Theatre opened on March 17,1962, at the Master Theatre and he also acted in a 1962 short film entitled The American Way, directed by Marvin Starkman. Cazale made his film debut, alongside Pacino, as Fredo Corleone in Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather. The film broke box office records and made Pacino, Cazale and he reprised his role as Fredo Corleone in 1974 in The Godfather Part II. Bruce Fretts, in Entertainment Weekly, wrote that Cazales devastatingly raw turn intensifies the impact of the emotional climax. Actor and co-star Dominic Chianese said, John could open up his heart, thats a talent few actors have. Cazale co-starred with Gene Hackman in Coppolas The Conversation in 1974 and he again starred alongside Pacino in Sidney Lumets 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon. For his role as Sal he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor, Sidney Lumet declared, One of the things that I love about the casting of John Cazale was that he had a tremendous sadness about him. I dont know where it came from, I dont believe in invading the privacy of the actors that I work with, but, my God — its there — every shot of him. And not just in this movie, but in Godfather II also, Cazale appeared in a sixth film, The Godfather Part III, in archive footage 12 years after his death. The Godfather Part III was also nominated for Best Picture and this marks the unique achievement of Cazales having every feature film in which he appeared be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Despite being diagnosed with lung cancer, Cazale continued work with his romantic partner, Meryl Streep
11.
Lee Strasberg
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Lee Strasberg was a Polish-born American actor, director, and theatre practitioner. He was born in a part of Galicia, Austrian Poland and he co founded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as Americas first true theatrical collective. The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute has its own sets of entrance criteria required for admission into their program. Former student Elia Kazan directed James Dean in East of Eden, as a student, Dean wrote that Actors Studio was the greatest school of the theater the best thing that can happen to an actor. Playwright Tennessee Williams, writer of A Streetcar Named Desire, said of Strasbergs actors and they communicate emotions they really feel. They give you a sense of life, directors such as Sidney Lumet, a former student, have intentionally used actors skilled in Strasbergs method. Kazan, in his autobiography, wrote, He carried with him the aura of a prophet, a magician, a doctor, a psychoanalyst. Was the force held the thirty-odd members of the theatre together. Today, Ellen Burstyn, Al Pacino, and Harvey Keitel lead this nonprofit studio dedicated to the development of actors, playwrights and he also appeared in. And Justice for All. Strasbergs personal papers, including photos, are archived at the Library of Congress, Lee Strasberg was born Israel Strassberg in Budzanów in Austrian Poland, to Jewish parents, Baruch Meyer Strassberg and his wife, Ida, née Diner, and was the youngest of three sons. His father emigrated to New York while his family remained in their village with an uncle. His father, who worked as a presser in the garment industry, sent first for his eldest son, finally, enough money was saved to bring over his wife and his two remaining sons. In 1909, the family was reunited on Manhattans Lower East Side, a relative introduced him to the theater by giving him a small part in a Yiddish-language production being performed by the Progressive Drama Club. He later joined the Chrystie Street Settlement Houses drama club, when he was 23 years old, he enrolled in the Clare Tree Major School of the Theater. He became a naturalized United States citizen on January 16,1939, had his life-shaping revelation when Stanislavski brought his Moscow Art Theatre to the United States in 1923. He had seen good acting before, of course, but never an ensemble like this with actors completely surrendering their egos to the work. E observed, first of all, that all the actors, whether they were playing leads or small parts, worked with the same commitment, no actors idled about posing and preening. More important, every actor seemed to some sort of unspoken, yet palpable
12.
Nino Rota
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Giovanni Nino Rota was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visconti. During his long career Rota was a prolific composer, especially of music for the cinema. Alongside this great body of work, he composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works. Giovanni Rota was born into a family in Milan. Encouraged by Arturo Toscanini, Rota moved to the United States where he lived from 1930 to 1932 and he won a scholarship to the Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, where he was taught conducting by Fritz Reiner and had Rosario Scalero as an instructor in composition. Returning to Milan, he wrote a thesis on the Renaissance composer Gioseffo Zarlino, demonstrates a great facility and even felicity, with occasional daring excursions into dodecaphony. However this may be considered as an homage to earlier composers, one of the most noticed examples of such incorporation is his use of the Larghetto from Dvoráks Opus 22 Serenade for Strings in E major as a theme for a character in Fellinis La Strada. During the 1940s, Rota composed scores for more than 32 films and his association with Fellini began with Lo sceicco bianco, followed by I vitelloni and La strada. He had an imagination, a musical approach worthy of celestial spheres. He thus had no need to see images from my movies, when I asked him about the melodies he had in mind to comment one sequence or another, I clearly realized he was not concerned with images at all. His world was inner, inside himself, and reality had no way to enter it, Rotas score for Fellinis 8½ is often cited as one of the factors which makes the film cohesive. His score for Fellinis Juliet of the Spirits included a collaboration with Eugene Walter on the song, Go Milk the Moon, part of Rotas score for Franco Zeffirellis Romeo and Juliet. The American Film Institute ranked Rotas score for The Godfather #5 on their list of the greatest film scores and his score for War and Peace was also nominated for the list. In all, Rota wrote scores to more than 150 films, Rota wrote numerous concerti and other orchestral works as well as piano, chamber and choral music, much of which has been recorded and released on CD. Gus Van Sant used some of Rotas music in his 2007 film Paranoid Park and director Michael Winterbottom used several Rota selections in the 2005 film Tristram Shandy, A Cock, danny Elfman frequently cites Nino Rota as a major influence. Both explored film and concert sides of the composer and his 1955 opera Il cappello di paglia di Firenze is an adaptation of the play by Eugène Labiche and was presented by the Santa Fe Opera in 1977. In 2005 his opera Aladino e la lampada magica, with Cosmin Ifrim in the role, was performed in German translation at the Vienna State Opera. Rota has one daughter, Nina Rota, from a relationship with pianist Magda Longari, Rota died from a coronary thrombosis in Rome, aged 67
13.
Gordon Willis
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Gordon Hugh Willis, Jr. ASC was an American cinematographer. He is best known for his work on Francis Ford Coppolas The Godfather series as well as Woody Allens Annie Hall, when the International Cinematographers Guild conducted a survey in 2003, they placed Willis among the ten most influential cinematographers in history. Willis was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City and his parents had been dancers in Broadway theatre before his father became a makeup man at Warner Bros. in Brooklyn. As a child, Willis fell in love with films and he wanted to be an actor and then became interested in lighting and stage design, later turning to photography. For a time he intended to be a photographer, photographing models he knew from living in Greenwich Village. I didnt know shit, Willis said, dumber than dirt, through contacts of his fathers he worked as a gofer on various movies in New York. During the Korean War Willis served in the Air Force, managing to join the Photographic, I spent four years learning everything I could about making movies, Willis said. He worked in advertising, shooting numerous commercials, and made a number of documentaries and you learn to eliminate, as opposed to adding, Willis said of his time making documentaries. Willis once stated, Im a mimimalist, I see things in simple ways. Its human nature to define complexity as better, in 1969, director Aram Avakian hired Willis to work on his film End of the Road. Willis went on to work for some of the most acclaimed directors of what is now seen as an age of American film-making. He captured Americas urban paranoia in three films he shot with Alan J. Pakula, Klute, The Parallax View and All The Presidents Men. At a seminar on film-making he gave in 2003, Willis said, Its hard to believe and they only have a storytelling sense. If a director is smart, hell give me the elbow room to paint and he added, Its the judgment theyre paying for. When asked by the interviewer how he applied his style to different genres and to working with different directors, Willis answered, Youre looking for a formula, up to the making of The Godfather, Willis mostly used Mitchell reflex cameras with Baltar or Cooke lenses. After that he used Panavision equipment, which he had first used on Klute, Willis went back to using Mitchells on The Godfather Part II, in order to retain the visual coherence of the two films. Asked in 2004 about shooting films digitally, he was skeptical, The organics aren’t the same, the interpretive levels suffer, adding, Digital is another form of recording an image, but it won’t replace thinking. Originally, Willis turned down the first two Godfather films, until Coppola told him they wouldnt look the same without him, Willis said that it was the colour that stitched the Godfather films together
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Paramount Pictures
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Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and these fortunate few would become the first movie stars. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, followed by the Nordisk Film company. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company, hungarian-born founder, Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time. By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success and its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt. That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, the Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies, Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor, until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation, in 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. Zukor and Lasky bought Hodkinson out of Paramount, and merged the three companies into one, with only the exhibitor-owned First National as a rival, Famous Players-Lasky and its Paramount Pictures soon dominated the business. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, the driving force behind Paramounts rise was Zukor. In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg and they purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street for US$1 million. In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, three years later, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became Paramount Publix Corporation. In 1928, Paramount began releasing Inkwell Imps, animated cartoons produced by Max, the Fleischers, veterans in the animation industry, were among the few animation producers capable of challenging the prominence of Walt Disney. The Paramount newsreel series Paramount News ran from 1927 to 1957, Paramount was also one of the first Hollywood studios to release what were known at that time as talkies, and in 1929, released their first musical, Innocents of Paris
15.
Sicilian language
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Sicilian is a Romance language spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. It is also spoken in southern and central Calabria, in the parts of Apulia, Salento, and Campania, on the Italian peninsula. The Ethnologue describes Sicilian as being distinct enough from Standard Italian to be considered a language and is recognized as a minority language by UNESCO. Some assert that Sicilian represents the oldest Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin, Sicilian has the oldest literary tradition of the Italic languages. Sicilian is currently spoken by the majority of the inhabitants of Sicily, the latter are found in the countries which attracted large numbers of Sicilian immigrants during the course of the past century or so, especially the United States, Canada, Australia and Argentina. In the past two or three decades, large numbers of Sicilians were also attracted to the zones of northern Italy and indeed the rest of the European Union. It is not used as an official language anywhere, even within Sicily, there is currently no central body, in Sicily or elsewhere, that regulates the language in any way. However, since its inception in 1951, the Centro di studi filologici e linguistici siciliani in Palermo has been researching and publishing information on the Sicilian language. The autonomous regional parliament of Sicily has legislated to encourage the teaching of Sicilian at all schools, further, the Sicilian language would be protected and promoted under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. However, Italy has signed this treaty, but the Italian Parliament has not ratified it, the term Calabro-Sicilian refers to the fact that a form of Sicilian, or a dialect closely related to Sicilian, is spoken in central and southern Calabria. Sicilianu is the name of the language in Sicily itself, the term Siculu describes one of the larger prehistoric groups living in Sicily before the arrival of Greeks in the 8th century BC. It can also be used as an adjective to qualify, or further elaborate on, the very earliest influences, visible in Sicilian to this day, exhibit both prehistoric Mediterranean elements and prehistoric Indo-European elements, and occasionally a blending of both. Ruffino 2001 Before the Roman conquest, Sicily was occupied by populations considered indigenous, including Sicels, Sicani, Elymians, the Greek language influence remains strongly visible, while the influences from the other groups are less obvious. What can be stated with certainty is that there remain pre-Indo-European words in Sicilian of an ancient Mediterranean origin, of the three main prehistoric groups, only the Sicels were Indo-European, and their speech is likely to have been closely related to that of the Romans. The following table, listing words for twins, illustrates the difficulty linguists face in tackling the various sub-strata of the Sicilian language, a similar qualifier can be applied to many of the words that appear in this article. For instance, by the time the Romans had occupied Sicily during the 3rd century BC, the words with a prehistoric Mediterranean derivation often refer to plants native to the Mediterranean region or to other natural features. g. of a fruit timpa crag, cliff. The Sicels are a source of such words, but there is also the possibility of a cross-over between ancient Mediterranean words and introduced Indo-European forms. Some examples of Sicilian words with an ancient Indo-European origin, dudda mulberry, the latter would bring with them the Vulgar Latin from that region, a language not too different from that to be found in central Italy at the time
16.
Crime film
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Crime films are a genre of film that focus on crime. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, films dealing with crime and its detection are often based on plays rather than novels. Agatha Christies stage play Witness for the Prosecution was adapted for the big screen by director Billy Wilder in 1957, the film starred Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton and is a classic example of a courtroom drama. In a courtroom drama, a charge is brought against one of the main characters, another major part is played by the lawyer representing the defendant in court and battling with the public prosecutor. He or she may enlist the services of an investigator to find out what really happened. However, in most cases it is not clear at all whether the accused is guilty of the crime or not—this is how suspense is created. Often, the private investigator storms into the courtroom at the very last minute in order to bring a new and this type of literature lends itself to the literary genre of drama focused more on dialogue and little or no necessity for a shift in scenery. The auditorium of the theatre becomes an extension of the courtroom, in Witness for the Prosecution, Leonard Vole, a young American living in England, is accused of murdering a middle-aged lady he met in the street while shopping. His wife hires the best lawyer available because she is convinced, or rather she knows, another classic courtroom drama is U. S. playwright Reginald Roses Twelve Angry Men, which is set in the jury deliberation room of a New York Court of Law. Eleven members of the jury, aiming at a verdict of guilty. The popularity of TV brought about the emergence of TV series featuring detectives, investigators, special agents, lawyers, in Britain, The Avengers about the adventures of gentleman agent John Steed and his partner, Emma Peel, achieved cult status. In Germany, Derrick became a household word, breaking Bad character Walter White is a methamphetamine drug manufacturer, this offered a different approach whereby the protagonist is the criminal instead of being the detective. Crime films may fall under several different subgenres and these include, Crime comedy - A hybrid of crime and comedy films. Mafia comedy looks at organized crime from a comical standpoint, humor comes from the incompetence of the criminals and/or black comedy. Examples include Analyze This, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, In Bruges, tower Heist and Pain & Gain. Crime drama - A combination of crime and dramatic films, examples include such films as Straight Time and Badlands. Crime thriller - A thriller in which the characters are involved in crime, either in its investigation, as the perpetrator or, less commonly. While some action films could be labelled as such for merely having criminality and thrills, the emphasis in this genre is the drama, examples include Untraceable, Silence of the Lambs, Heat, Seven, Witness, Memories of Murder, The Call, and Running Scared
17.
The Godfather
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The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, based on Mario Puzos best-selling novel of the same name. It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, the story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone, focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss. Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel for the price of $80,000, Studio executives had trouble finding a director, as their first few candidates turned down the position. They and Coppola disagreed over who would play characters, in particular Vito. Filming was done on location and completed earlier than scheduled, the musical score was composed primarily by Nino Rota with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola. The film was the film of 1972 and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay and its seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III, the Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U. S, in 1945, at his daughter Connies wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vitos youngest son, Michael, who was a Marine during World War II, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, Woltz refuses until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion. Wary of involvement in a new trade that risks alienating political insiders. Suspicious, Vito sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them, however, a Tattaglia button man garrotes Brasi during Brasis first meeting with Bruno Tattaglia and Sollozzo. Later Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen, with Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade Sonny to accept Sollozzos deal, then released. The family receives fish wrapped in Brasis bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca sleeps with the fishes, Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father, Michaels jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzos bodyguard. Sonny retaliates with a hit on Tattaglias son, Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey, on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both men, despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vitos sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is sheltered by the Corleones Las Vegas casino partner, Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if it happens again. When it does, Sonny speeds to their home, but is ambushed at a toll booth
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Michael Corleone
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Michael Corleone is the main protagonist of Mario Puzos novel The Godfather and the three Godfather films directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Michael was portrayed by Al Pacino, for which he was twice-nominated for Academy Awards, Michael Corleone was recognized as the 11th most iconic villain in film history by the American Film Institute, although some critics consider him to be a tragic hero. Born in 1920, Michael is the youngest son of the mafia don Vito Corleone and his wife and he has two older brothers, Santino Sonny Corleone and Frederico Fredo Corleone and a younger sister, Constanzia Connie Corleone. The family consigliere, Tom Hagen, is their informal adoptive brother, the story begins in the summer of 1945. Michael has been discharged from the Marine Corps having been wounded, his father and he returns home to attend his sister Connies wedding, accompanied by Kay Adams, his college sweetheart. Michael stays for a few weeks before re-entering college without consulting his family, unlike his two older brothers, Michael does not want to join the Corleone business. Vito does not want Michael to join the Corleone criminal empire either, when the United States entered World War II in 1941, Michael had enlisted in the Marine Corps. During the war, he was in the Pacific and he received a battlefield commission to the rank of captain and is awarded the Navy Cross for bravery. In 1944, his war heroism is featured in Life magazine, just before Christmas 1945, Vito is severely wounded in an assassination attempt by drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo, throwing Michael into the middle of the Mafia world he had for so long avoided. Michael reaffirms his loyalty at his fathers bedside, then prevents Sollozzos second attempt on Vitos life, captain McCluskey, a corrupt NYPD officer on Sollozzos payroll, breaks Michaels jaw. Knowing that his fathers life is in danger while Sollozzo lives, Michael proposes that he murder Sollozzo, Sonny dismisses the idea, believing that killing McCluskey would invite police retribution, it is a hard and fast rule in the American Mafia that policemen are not to be harmed. However, Michael persuades him that McCluskey has crossed into their world by serving as Sollozzos bodyguard, a meeting between Sollozzo and Michael is arranged. At the restaurant, Michael retrieves a handgun that his fathers caporegime Peter Clemenza had planted in the bathroom and kills Sollozzo, Michael flees to Sicily, where he spends two years under the protection of Vitos longtime ally, Don Tommasino. Michael meets and falls in love with a local woman named Apollonia Vitelli. They marry and when Michael is notified that Sonny has been murdered, Apollonia is killed by a car bomb intended for Michael. Fabrizio, Michaels bodyguard, planted the bomb after being bought off by the Corleones rivals, Michael returns to the United States in early 1951 and assumes Sonnys role as Vitos heir apparent. He and his plot to wipe out the other New York Dons. Meanwhile, Michael convinces his father the time is right to remove the family from the Mafia, more than a year after his return, Michael reunites with Kay and they marry
19.
Vito Corleone
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He is an orphaned Sicilian immigrant who builds a mafia empire. Upon his death, Michael, his youngest son, succeeds him as the don of the Corleone crime family. He has two sons, Santino and Frederico and one daughter Constanzia. He informally adopts Sonnys friend, Tom Hagen, a lawyer, Vito oversees a business founded on gambling, bootlegging, and union corruption, but he is known as a generous man who lives by a strict moral code of loyalty to friends and, above all, family. He is also known as a traditionalist who demands respect commensurate with his status, Vito Andolini was born in Corleone, Sicily on December 7,1891. The nine-year-old Vito is sent to the United States by his mother for his safety after Antonio, his father, is murdered in retaliation for insulting the local Mafia boss, paolo, his older brother, swears revenge but he too is killed. Vitos mother goes to Ciccio and begs him to spare Vito, Ciccio refuses, reasoning that the boy will seek revenge as a grown man. Upon Ciccios refusal, Vitos mother holds a knife to his throat, Family friends smuggle Vito out of Sicily, putting him on a ship with immigrants travelling to America. In the film, Ellis Island immigration officials rename him Vito Corleone and this was often the case on Ellis Island during the time period in which the scene takes place. He later adopts Andolini as his name to acknowledge his family heritage. Vito is taken in by the Abbandando family, who are distant relations of his, Vito grows very close to the Abbadandos, particularly their son, Genco, who is like a brother to him. In 1920, Vito is befriended by Peter Clemenza and Salvatore Tessio and is taught how to survive and prosper through petty crime and performing favors in return for loyalty. Vito plans his first murder, Fanucci threatened to report him, Clemenza, during an Italian street festival, Vito trails Fanucci from the rooftops as Fanucci walks home. Vito shoots and kills Fanucci before he enters his apartment, Vito takes over the district and behaves with far greater respect than Fanucci. Vito and Genco start an oil importing business, Genco Pura. It eventually becomes the legal front for Vitos growing organized crime syndicate. Despite--or because of--its status as a front company, Genco Pura becomes the nations largest olive oil importing company, between Genco Pura and his illegal operations, Vito becomes a wealthy man. In 1923, he returns to Sicily for the first time since fleeing as a child and he and his partner Don Tommasino systematically eliminate Don Ciccios men who were involved in murdering Vitos family and arrange a meeting with Ciccio himself
20.
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
21.
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
22.
Academy Award for Best Director
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The Academy Award for Best Director is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year, the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture,63 have also been awarded Best Director, since its inception, the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams. John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four, william Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions, more than any other individual. As of the 2017 ceremony, Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in category for his work on La La Land. Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award, two directing teams have shared the award, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007. The Coen brothers are the siblings to have won the award. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full calendar year from January 1 to December 31. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com
23.
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a supporting role while working within the film industry. At the 9th Academy Awards ceremony held in 1937, Walter Brennan was the first winner of award for his role in Come. Initially, winners in both supporting acting categories were awarded instead of statuettes. Beginning with the 16th ceremony held in 1944, however, winners received full-sized statuettes, currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. Since its inception, the award has given to 72 actors. Brennan has received the most awards in this category with three awards, Brennan, Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, Arthur Kennedy, Jack Nicholson, and Claude Rains were nominated on four occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Mahershala Ali is the most recent winner in category for his role as Juan in Moonlight. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-1-55002-574-3. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com Complete Downloadable List of Academy Award Nominees
24.
Academy Award for Best Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with Emil Jannings receiving the award for his roles in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the branch of AMPAS. In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories, at that time, all of their work during the qualifying period was listed after the award. The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a performance in a single film. Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year, since its inception, the award has been given to 79 actors. Daniel Day-Lewis has received the most awards in this category with three Oscars, spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier were nominated on nine occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Casey Affleck is the most recent winner in category for his role as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933
25.
Gangster film
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Mob films — or gangster films — are a subgenre of crime films dealing with organized crime, often specifically with the Mafia. Especially in early mob films, there is overlap with film noir. The American movie The Black Hand is thought to be the earliest surviving gangster film. In 1912, D. W. Griffith directed The Musketeers of Pig Alley, critics have also cited Regeneration as an early crime film. Though mob films had their roots in such silent films, the genre in its most durable form was defined in the early 1930s and it owed its innovations to the social and economic instability occasioned by the Great Depression, which galvanized the organized crime subculture in the United States. The years 1931 and 1932 saw the genre produce three enduring classics, Warner Bros and those suffering from the Depression were able to relate to the gangster character who worked hard to earn his place and success in the world, only to have it all taken away from him. As the appeal and attraction of gangster movie stars such as Cagney, Robinson, Muni, during the early years of crime film, Scarface, arguably the most violent of gangster films created during the entire decade, particularly was the subject of criticism. This is illustrated by James Cagneys role as a law officer in the 1935 movie G Men and these pictures demonstrate the growing acceptance of crime films during the 1930s as long as criminals were not portrayed in a flattering light. It was now the law officers that the films attempted to glamorize, politics combined with the social and economic climate of the time to influence how crime films were made and how the characters were portrayed. Many of the films imply that criminals are the creation of society, rather than its rebel, the institution of Prohibition in 1920 led to an explosion in crime, and the depiction of bootlegging is a frequent occurrence in many mob films. However, as the 1930s progressed, Hollywood also experimented with the stories of the criminals and bank robbers, such as John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson. However, as the FBI increased in power there was also a shift to favour the stories of the FBI agents hunting the criminals instead of focusing on the criminal characters. In fact, in 1935 at the height of the hunt for Dillinger, many of the 1930s crime films also dealt with class and ethnic conflict, notably the earliest films, reflecting doubts about how well the American system was working. As stated, many films pushed the message that criminals were the result of a moral and economic society. In the 1970s there was a revival of mob films, notably with The Godfather and it was followed by two sequels, The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III. It also inspired other mob films such as The Valachi Papers, the 1983 remake of Scarface was not particularly well received at the time of its release, but over time it has come to be seen as a classic of the mob film genre. It went on to films such as King of New York. On the other hand, Sergio Leone shot an epic drama film Once Upon a Time in America, starring Robert De Niro
26.
Genre
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Genre is any form or type of communication in any mode with socially-agreed upon conventions developed over time. Genres form by conventions that change over time as new genres are invented, often, works fit into multiple genres by way of borrowing and recombining these conventions. Stand alone texts, works, or pieces of communication may have individual styles, some genres may be rigid with strictly adhered to guidelines while others may be very flexible. Genre began as a classification system for ancient Greek literature. Poetry, prose, and performance each had a specific and calculated style that related to the theme of the story. Speech patterns for comedy would not be appropriate for tragedy, in later periods genres proliferated and developed in response to changes in audiences and creators. Genre became a tool to help the public make sense out of unpredictable art. Because art is often a response to a state, in that people write/paint/sing/dance about what they know about. Genre suffers from the ills of any classification system. Genre is to be reassessed and scrutinized and to works on their unique merit. While the genre of storytelling has been relegated as lesser form of art because of the heavily borrowed nature of the conventions, proponents argue that the genius of an effective genre piece is in the variation, recombination, and evolution of the codes. The term genre is used in the history and criticism of visual art. These are distinguished from staffage, incidental figures in what is primarily a landscape or architectural painting, Genre painting may also be used as a wider term covering genre painting proper, and other specialized types of paintings such as still-life, landscapes, marine paintings and animal paintings. The concept of the hierarchy of genres was a one in artistic theory. It was strongest in France, where it was associated with the Académie française which held a role in academic art. Genres may be determined by technique, tone, content. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as adult, young adult. They also must not be confused with format, such as novel or picture book
27.
American Film Institute
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The American Film Institute is an American film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the moving picture arts in America. AFI is supported by funding and public membership. The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, a board of trustees chaired by Sir Howard Stringer and a board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President and CEO Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens, Jr. and Jean Picker Firstenberg. <ref>AFI Board of Trustees etc. American Film Institute. October 2014. Retrieved December 24,2014. </ref>Two years later, in 1967, AFI was established, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Ford Foundation. The institute established a program for filmmakers known then as the Center for Advanced Film Studies. The institute moved to its current eight-acre Hollywood campus in 1981, the film training program grew into the AFI Conservatory, an accredited graduate school. AFI educates audiences and recognizes excellence through its awards programs and 10 Top 10 Lists. In 1969, the established the AFI Conservatory for Advanced Film Studies at Greystone. The first class included filmmakers Terrence Malick, Caleb Deschanel and Paul Schrader, mirroring a professional production environment, Fellows collaborate to make more films than any other graduate level program. Admission to AFI Conservatory is highly selective, with a maximum of 140 graduates per year, in 2013, Emmy and Oscar-winning director, producer and screenwriter James L. Brooks joined AFI as Artistic Director of the AFI Conservatory where he provides leadership for the film program. Brooks artistic role at the AFI Conservatory has a legacy that includes Daniel Petrie, Jr. Robert Wise. Award-winning director Bob Mandel served as Dean of the AFI Conservatory for nine years, jan Schuette took over as Dean in 2014. AFI Conservatorys alumni have careers in film, television and on the web and they have been recognized with all of the major industry awards – Academy Award, Emmy Award, guild awards, and the Tony Award. The AFI Catalog, started in 1968, is a web-based filmographic database, early print copies of this catalog may also be found at your local library. Each year the AFI Awards honor the ten outstanding films and ten outstanding television programs, the awards are a non-competitive acknowledgement of excellence. The Awards are announced in December and a luncheon for award honorees takes place the following January. The juries consisted of over 1,500 artists, scholars, critics and historians, with movies selected based on the films popularity over time, historical significance, citizen Kane was voted the greatest American film twice. AFI operates two film festivals, AFI Fest in Los Angeles, and AFI Docs in Silver Spring, Maryland, AFI Fest is the American Film Institutes annual celebration of artistic excellence
28.
National Film Registry
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The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Boards selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The NFPB, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992,1996,2005, and again in October 2008. The NFPBs mission, to which the NFR contributes, is to ensure the survival, conservation, the 1996 law also created the non-profit National Film Preservation Foundation which, although affiliated with the NFPB, raises money from the private sector. To be eligible for inclusion, a film must be at least ten years old, for the first selection in 1989, the public nominated almost 1,000 films for consideration. Members of the NFPB then developed individual ballots of possible films for inclusion, the ballots were tabulated into a list of 25 films which was then modified by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington and his staff at the Library for the final selection. Since 1997, members of the public have been able to nominate up to 50 films a year for the NFPB, the NFR includes films ranging from Hollywood classics to orphan films. A film is not required to be feature-length, nor is it required to have been released in the traditional sense. As of the 2016 listing, there are 700 films preserved in the Registry, currently, the earliest listed film is Newark Athlete, and the most recent is 13 Lakes. Counting the 11 multi-year serials in the NFR once each by year of completion, the years with the most films selected are 1928,1939, the time between a films debut and its selection varies greatly. The longest span is 119 years, Newark Athlete was originally released in 1891, the shortest span is the minimum 10 years, this distinction is shared by Raging Bull, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Fargo and 13 Lakes. For purposes of this list, multi-year serials are counted once by year of completion
29.
Library of Congress
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The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the de facto national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States, the Library is housed in three buildings on Capitol Hill in Washington, D. C. it also maintains the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Virginia, which houses the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. The Library of Congress claims to be the largest library in the world and its collections are universal, not limited by subject, format, or national boundary, and include research materials from all parts of the world and in more than 450 languages. Two-thirds of the books it acquires each year are in other than English. The Library of Congress moved to Washington in 1800, after sitting for years in the temporary national capitals of New York. John J. Beckley, who became the first Librarian of Congress, was two dollars per day and was required to also serve as the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The small Congressional Library was housed in the United States Capitol for most of the 19th century until the early 1890s, most of the original collection had been destroyed by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812. To restore its collection in 1815, the bought from former president Thomas Jefferson his entire personal collection of 6,487 books. After a period of growth, another fire struck the Library in its Capitol chambers in 1851, again destroying a large amount of the collection. The Library received the right of transference of all copyrighted works to have two copies deposited of books, maps, illustrations and diagrams printed in the United States. It also began to build its collections of British and other European works and it included several stories built underground of steel and cast iron stacks. Although the Library is open to the public, only high-ranking government officials may check out books, the Library promotes literacy and American literature through projects such as the American Folklife Center, American Memory, Center for the Book, and Poet Laureate. James Madison is credited with the idea for creating a congressional library, part of the legislation appropriated $5,000 for the purchase of such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress. And for fitting up an apartment for containing them. Books were ordered from London and the collection, consisting of 740 books and 3 maps, was housed in the new Capitol, as president, Thomas Jefferson played an important role in establishing the structure of the Library of Congress. The new law also extended to the president and vice president the ability to borrow books and these volumes had been left in the Senate wing of the Capitol. One of the only congressional volumes to have survived was a government account book of receipts and it was taken as a souvenir by a British Commander whose family later returned it to the United States government in 1940. Within a month, former president Jefferson offered to sell his library as a replacement
30.
The Godfather Part III
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The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American crime film written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and directed by Coppola. A sequel to The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, it completes the story of Michael Corleone, a Mafia kingpin who attempts to legitimize his criminal empire. The film also includes fictionalized accounts of two events, the 1978 death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981–82. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Andy García, and features Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda, Coppola and Puzo preferred the title, The Death of Michael Corleone, but Paramount Pictures found that unacceptable. Coppola subsequently stated that The Godfather series is two films and that Part III is the epilogue, Part III received mixed reviews compared to the critical acclaim that the first two films received. It grossed $136,766,062 and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture, in 1979, as Michael Corleone is approaching 60, he regrets his ruthless rise to power and is especially guilt-ridden for having his brother Fredo murdered. He has semi-retired from the Mafia, leaving management of the business to Joey Zasa. Michael uses his tremendous wealth and power in an attempt to rehabilitate his reputation via numerous charitable acts, Michael and Kay are divorced, their children, Anthony and Mary, live with Kay. At a ceremony in St. Patricks Old Cathedral, Michael is named a Commander of the Order of Saint Sebastian, at the reception, Anthony tells his father that he is leaving law school to become an opera singer. Kay supports his decision, but Michael asks Anthony to complete his law degree, Anthony refuses to adhere to his fathers wishes. Michael and Kay have a reunion, in which Kay reveals that she. Vincent Mancini, Sonny Corleones illegitimate son with Lucy Mancini, arrives at the reception and he is embroiled in a feud with Zasa, who has involved the Corleone family in drug trafficking and turned Little Italy into a slum. Michaels sister, Connie, arranges a meeting between Vincent and Zasa, when Zasa calls Vincent a bastard, Vincent bites Zasas ear. Vincent overpowers two hitmen sent to him and learns that Zasa was responsible. Michael, troubled by Vincents fiery temper but impressed by his family loyalty and he makes a tender offer to buy the Vaticans 25% share in the company, which will give him controlling interest. Immobiliares board quickly approve the offer, pending ratification by the Pope, Don Altobello, an elderly New York Mafia boss and Connies godfather, visits Michael, telling him that his old partners on the Commission want in on the Immobiliare deal. Michael wants the deal untainted by Mafia involvement and pays off the mob bosses from the sale of his Las Vegas holdings, Zasa receives nothing and, declaring Michael his enemy, storms out. Altobello follows Zasa, saying he will reason with him, minutes later, a helicopter hovers outside the conference room and opens fire
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Corleone
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Corleone is an Italian town and comune of approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the Province of Palermo, in Sicily. Several Mafia bosses have come from Corleone, including Tommy Gagliano, Jack Dragna, Giuseppe Morello, Michele Navarra, Luciano Leggio, Leoluca Bagarella, Salvatore Riina and it is also the birthplace of several fictional characters in The Godfather, including the eponymous Vito Corleone. The local mafia clan, the Corleonesi, led the Mafia in the 1980s and 1990s, Corleone municipality has an area of 22,912 hectares with a population density of 49 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is located in an area of the mountain, in the valley between the Rocca ri Maschi, the Castello Soprano and the Castello Sottano. Corleone is located at 542 metres above sea level, the modern name ascends from 1556. Another belief is that the name derives from an Arab fighter named Kurliyun, the territory of Corleone has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Recent research has identified several settlements distributed around two poles, Pietralunga and The Old One. This name refers to a mountain that rises to about 1,000 metres and is about 2 kilometres from todays town, in 840, Corleone was conquered by the North African Aghlabids during the Muslim conquest of Sicily. It was during the Muslim occupation that it gained economic, military, even in the 1170s it was recorded that the majority of the population of the area was Muslim, including those bearing Arabo-Islamic names derived from Greek. There was also a mosque, called Masgid al-Barid, within the town, following the large-scale anti-Muslim attacks by Lombard settlers in eastern Sicily in 1161, led by future King of Sicily, Tancred, the town became a refuge for many fleeing Muslims. In 1208, a Muslim uprising succeeded in retaking the town from Christian rule, in 1222, while speaking with the pope, Frederick II of Sicily cited the need to fight the Muslims of Corleone as a reason for his inability to send a large crusader army to Jerusalem. To this day, the formation, Castello Soprano, has a Saracen lookout tower on top of it. While the towns other rock formation, Castello Sottano, did not preserve its own Saracen fortification, in 1080 the city was conquered by the Normans, and in 1095 it was annexed to the Diocese of Palermo. Nearly a century later, in 1180, it was enfeoffed to the new diocese of Monreale, in this period, Corleone was largely repopulated by Ghibellines from Alessandria, Brescia and elsewhere - Lombards led by Oddone de Camerana. The migrations were encouraged by emperor Frederick II of Sicily, to strengthen his position against the Guelphs, another Camerana, named Boniface, distinguished himself in the revolution of the Sicilian Vespers. He led the insurrection against the Angevins with three people from Corleone, in alliance with the city of Palermo. In recognition, the Senate of Palermo called Corleone soror mea, during the reign of Frederick IV of Sicily, called The Simple, the city successfully rebelled against the crown, but was recaptured in 1355. Corleone was besieged from Ventimiglia in 1358, instead, it was occupied by Nicholas Peralta, vicar Williams son, but King Martin the Younger returned it to the royal property, confirming its privileges in 1397 and giving it some tax relief
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Sicilian Mafia
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The Sicilian Mafia, also known as simply the Mafia or Cosa Nostra, is a criminal syndicate in Sicily, Italy. It is an association of criminal groups that share a common organisational structure. The basic group is known as a family, clan, or cosca or cosche in Sicilian, each family claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village or a neighbourhood of a larger city, in which it operates its rackets. Its members call themselves men of honour, although the public refers to them as mafiosi. The mafias core activities are protection racketeering, the arbitration of disputes between criminals, and the organizing and oversight of illegal agreements and transactions, following waves of emigration, the Mafia has spread to other countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. The word mafia originated in Sicily, though its origins are uncertain, the Sicilian adjective mafiusu roughly translates to mean swagger, but can also be translated as boldness, bravado. In reference to a man, mafiusu in 19th century Sicily was ambiguous, signifying a bully, arrogant but also fearless, enterprising and proud, in reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective mafiusa means beautiful and attractive. The Sicilian word mafie refers to the caves near Trapani and Marsala, Sicily was once an Islamic emirate, therefore mafia might have Arabic roots. The words mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in the play, the play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia, a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of umirtà and pizzu. The play had great success throughout Italy, soon after, the use of the term mafia began appearing in the Italian states early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its first official appearance in 1865 in a report by the prefect of Palermo Filippo Antonio Gualterio, the term mafia has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests. Nowadays people have gone so far in the direction that it has become an overused term. According to mafia turncoats, the name of the mafia is Cosa Nostra. Italian-American mafioso Joseph Valachi testified before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U. S. Senate Committee on Government Operations in 1963 and he revealed that American mafiosi referred to their organization by the term cosa nostra. At the time, it was understood as a name, fostered by the FBI. The FBI even added the article la to the term, calling it La Cosa Nostra, in 1984, mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta revealed to anti-mafia magistrate Giovanni Falcone that the term was used by the Sicilian Mafia, as well. Buscetta dismissed the word mafia as a literary creation. Other defectors such as Antonino Calderone and Salvatore Contorno confirmed the use of Cosa Nostra by members, mafiosi introduce known members to each other as belonging to cosa nostra or la stessa cosa, meaning he is the same thing as you — a mafioso
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Ellis Island
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Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the United States as the nations busiest immigrant inspection station for over sixty years from 1892 until 1954. The island was expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson. The island was part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. Long considered part of New York state, a 1998 United States Supreme Court decision found that most of the island is in New Jersey. The south side of the island, home to the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is closed to the general public and the object of restoration efforts spearheaded by Save Ellis Island. Ellis Island is located in Upper New York Bay, east of Liberty State Park and north of Liberty Island, in Jersey City, New Jersey, with a small section that is part of New York City. Largely created through land reclamation, the island has an area of 27.5 acres. The 2. 74-acre natural island and contiguous areas comprise the 3.3 acres that are part of New York, the entire island has been owned and administered by the U. S. federal government since 1808 and has been operated by the National Park Service since 1965. Since September 11,2001, the island is guarded by patrols of the United States Park Police Marine Patrol Unit, public access is by ferry from either Communipaw Terminal in Liberty State Park or from Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. The ferry operator, Hornblower Cruises and Events, also service to the nearby Statue of Liberty. A bridge built for transporting materials and personnel during restoration projects connects Ellis Island with Liberty State Park, proposals made in 1995 to use it or replace it with a new bridge for pedestrians were opposed by the city of New York and the private ferry operator at that time. Much of the island, including the south side, has been closed to the general public since 1954. The renovated area on the side was again closed to the public after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The island was re-opened to the public and the museum partially re-opened on October 28,2013, there were several islands which were not completely submerged at high tide. Three of them were given the name Oyster Islands by the settlers of New Netherland, the oyster beds would remain a major source of food for nearly three centuries. During the colonial period Little Oyster Island was known as Dyres, in the 1760s, after some pirates were hanged from one of the islands scrubby trees, it became known as Gibbet Island. It was acquired by Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker and merchant possibly from Wales, in 1785 he unsuccessfully attempted to sell the island, TO BE SOLD By Samuel Ellis, no
34.
First Communion
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First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, as well as in parts of the Lutheran Church. In churches that celebrate First Communion, it occurs between the ages of seven and thirteen, often acting as a rite of passage. Catholics believe this event to be important, as the Eucharist occupies a central role in Catholic theology. First Communion is not celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches, or the Assyrian Church of the East, some Anglicans allow infant communion, while others require the previous reception of confirmation, usually during the teenage years. Celebration of this ceremony is typically less elaborate in many Protestant churches. Roman Catholics and some Protestants believe that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, other denominations have varying understandings, ranging from the Eucharist being a symbolic meal to a meal of remembering Christs last supper. The sacrament of First Communion is an important tradition for Catholic families, for Catholics, Holy Communion is the third of seven sacraments received. It occurs only after receiving Baptism, and once the person has reached the age of reason first confession must precede the first reception of the Eucharist, traditions of celebration surrounding First Communion usually include large family gatherings and parties to celebrate the event. The first communicant wears special clothing, the clothing is often white to symbolize purity, but not in all cultures. Girls often wear fancy dresses and an attached to a wreath of flowers or hair ornament. In other communities, girls commonly wear dresses passed down to them from sisters or mothers, boys may wear a suit, or tuxedo, or their Sunday best, or national dress. In many Latin American countries, boys wear military-style dress uniforms with gold braid aiguillettes, in Switzerland both boys and girls wear plain white robes with brown wooden crosses around their necks. In Spain, Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, girls are dressed up as, so to speak, in Scotland, boys traditionally wear kilts and other traditional Scottish dress which accompany the kilt. Gifts of a nature are usually given, such as rosaries and prayer books, in addition to religious statues, icons. Many families have formal professional photographs taken in addition to candid snapshots in order to commemorate the event, some churches arrange for a professional photographer after the ceremony. During the communist era, dominant societies initiation into the movement in communist countries that had large Catholic populations was an overt attempt to supplant the Catholic ritual. In all cases, a child at the age of seven to ten is initiated as a member of a group within which the individuals share certain values and culture
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Lake Tahoe
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Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at 6,225 ft, it straddles the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America, and its depth is 1,645 ft, making it the second deepest in the United States after Crater Lake in Oregon. The lake was formed about 2 million years ago as part of the Lake Tahoe Basin and it is known for the clarity of its water and the panorama of surrounding mountains on all sides. The area surrounding the lake is referred to as Lake Tahoe. More than 75% of the watershed is national forest land. Lake Tahoe is a major tourist attraction in both Nevada and California and it is home to winter sports, summer outdoor recreation, and scenery enjoyed throughout the year. Snow and ski resorts are a significant part of the areas economy, the Nevada side also offers large casinos, with highways providing year-round access to the entire area. It is about 22 mi long and 12 mi wide and has 72 mi of shoreline, approximately two-thirds of the shoreline is in California. Although highways run within sight of the shore for much of Tahoes perimeter. The Lake Tahoe Watershed of 505 sq mi includes the area that drains to the lake. Lake Tahoe is fed by 63 tributaries and these drain an area about the same size as the lake and produce half its water, with the balance entering as rain or snow falling directly on it. The Truckee River is the only outlet, flowing northeast through Reno, Nevada. It accounts for one third of the water leaves the lake. The flow of the Truckee River and the height of the lake are controlled by the Lake Tahoe Dam at the outlet, the natural rim is at 6,223 ft above sea level, with a spillway at the dam controlling overflow. The maximum legal limit, to which the lake can be allowed to rise in order to water, is at 6,229.1 ft. Around New Year 1996/1997 a Pineapple Express atmospheric river melted snow and caused the lake and river to overflow, inundating Reno, the Lake Tahoe Basin was formed by vertical motion faulting. Uplifted blocks created the Carson Range on the east and the main Sierra Nevada crest on the west, down-dropped blocks created the Lake Tahoe Basin in between
36.
Caporegime
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Caporegime is an Italian word, which is used to signify the head of a family in Sicily, but has now come to mean a ranking member, similar to captain or senior sergeant in a military unit. In general, the indicates the head of a branch of an organized crime syndicate who commands a crew of soldiers. The Mafia, particularly the American Mafia, is divided into distinct. Individual crew members report to the capo, the crew collects protection and other money for the capo, who at regular intervals gives a share of the collected money to the underboss and/or the boss. Estimates of average income of a capo varies and is difficult to quantify, income is dependent on the success and size of a capos crew and the state of the economy at the time. Mafia crews are usually independent from other, with members typically operating strictly within their own crew. Asking Mafia members how many crews and how individuals are in a family is prohibited because of the Mafias oath of secrecy. Sometimes a crew might specialize in areas like gambling, while other crews might be more involved in legitimate interests like construction. A crew might also operate in certain geographical areas, the number of caporegimes/crews depends on the size of a family. The Gambino crime family has had more than 20 capos whereas the St. Louis crime family has had fewer, in the Mafia, when a boss makes a decision, he passes instructions down through the chain of command. Whenever he issues orders, in most cases he gives them to the capo, in some cases, he gives orders to the consigliere, who in turn passes them to the capo. In either case, it is the capo who passes them to the soldiers in his crew, for years, this made it extremely difficult to indict a boss for illegal acts, since the soldiers almost never receive orders directly from him. A caporegime acts as a buffer between the soldiers and the boss, effectively, a caporegime operates his own small family within the framework of a larger family. Each capo is in charge of a mini-gang or a crew of soldiers and these men may or may not be based in close proximity. For example, Bonanno crime family capo Joey Gambino had crew members spread throughout New Yorks five boroughs, capos have varying degrees of power. Some are relatives or close friends of the boss, which gives them more influence, a capo with an active crew that generates a lot of profits is always respected. For example, when he was a capo, John Gotti was widely respected and tolerated due to the profits his crew generated for the Gambino crime family, despite their various blunders and mistakes, they successfully avoided getting killed by their superiors and were tolerated due to this fact. On the other hand, capo Joe Sferra of the DeCavalcante crime family was demoted to soldier, in 1984, a more severe loss of power occurred to Salvatore Salvie Testa, a once rising Philadelphia crime family capo
