Author: James McKay
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786492406
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 213
Book Description
With his rugged features and earthy sex appeal, Victor Mature ushered in a new breed of postwar Hollywood actor, far removed from the debonair matinee idols of the 1930s. Following success as an upbeat leading man in the early 1940s Fox musicals, opposite the likes of Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth, he went on deliver two of his most powerful performances in My Darling Clementine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947). But it was in the biblical epics such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) that his heartfelt acting and statuesque, larger than life screen presence finally secured his place as a Hollywood icon. Beginning with a concise biography, this work covers Mature’s film career in its entirety, featuring synopses, anecdotes from cast and crew, and review commentary.
The Films of Victor Mature
Author: James McKay
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786492406
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 213
Book Description
With his rugged features and earthy sex appeal, Victor Mature ushered in a new breed of postwar Hollywood actor, far removed from the debonair matinee idols of the 1930s. Following success as an upbeat leading man in the early 1940s Fox musicals, opposite the likes of Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth, he went on deliver two of his most powerful performances in My Darling Clementine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947). But it was in the biblical epics such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) that his heartfelt acting and statuesque, larger than life screen presence finally secured his place as a Hollywood icon. Beginning with a concise biography, this work covers Mature’s film career in its entirety, featuring synopses, anecdotes from cast and crew, and review commentary.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786492406
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 213
Book Description
With his rugged features and earthy sex appeal, Victor Mature ushered in a new breed of postwar Hollywood actor, far removed from the debonair matinee idols of the 1930s. Following success as an upbeat leading man in the early 1940s Fox musicals, opposite the likes of Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth, he went on deliver two of his most powerful performances in My Darling Clementine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947). But it was in the biblical epics such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) that his heartfelt acting and statuesque, larger than life screen presence finally secured his place as a Hollywood icon. Beginning with a concise biography, this work covers Mature’s film career in its entirety, featuring synopses, anecdotes from cast and crew, and review commentary.
The Films of Victor Mature
Author: James McKay
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786449705
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
With his rugged features and earthy sex appeal, Victor Mature ushered in a new breed of postwar Hollywood actor, far removed from the debonair matinee idols of the 1930s. Following success as an upbeat leading man in the early 1940s Fox musicals, opposite the likes of Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth, he went on deliver two of his most powerful performances in My Darling Clementine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947). But it was in the biblical epics such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) that his heartfelt acting and statuesque, larger than life screen presence finally secured his place as a Hollywood icon. Beginning with a concise biography, this work covers Mature's film career in its entirety, featuring synopses, anecdotes from cast and crew, and review commentary.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786449705
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 215
Book Description
With his rugged features and earthy sex appeal, Victor Mature ushered in a new breed of postwar Hollywood actor, far removed from the debonair matinee idols of the 1930s. Following success as an upbeat leading man in the early 1940s Fox musicals, opposite the likes of Betty Grable and Rita Hayworth, he went on deliver two of his most powerful performances in My Darling Clementine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947). But it was in the biblical epics such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953) and Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) that his heartfelt acting and statuesque, larger than life screen presence finally secured his place as a Hollywood icon. Beginning with a concise biography, this work covers Mature's film career in its entirety, featuring synopses, anecdotes from cast and crew, and review commentary.
Bad Boys
Author: Karen Burroughs Hannsberry
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9781476604831
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 797
Book Description
The film noir male is an infinitely watchable being, exhibiting a wide range of emotions, behaviors, and motivations. Some of the characters from the film noir era are extremely violent, such as Neville Brand’s Chester in D.O.A. (1950), whose sole pleasure in life seems to come from inflicting pain on others. Other noirs feature flawed authority figures, such as Kirk Douglas’s Jim McLeod in Detective Story (1951), controlled by a rigid moral code that costs him his marriage and ultimately his life. Others present ruthless crime bosses, hapless males whose lives are turned upside down because of their ceaseless longing for a woman, and even courageous men on the right side of the law. The private and public lives of more than ninety actors who starred in the films noirs of the 1940s and 1950s are presented here. Some of the actors, such as Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Mitchum, Raymond Burr, Fred MacMurray, Jack Palance and Mickey Rooney, enjoyed great renown, while others, like Gene Lockhart, Moroni Olsen and Harold Vermilyea, were less familiar, particularly to modern audiences. An appendix focuses on the actors who were least known but frequently seen in minor roles.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 9781476604831
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 797
Book Description
The film noir male is an infinitely watchable being, exhibiting a wide range of emotions, behaviors, and motivations. Some of the characters from the film noir era are extremely violent, such as Neville Brand’s Chester in D.O.A. (1950), whose sole pleasure in life seems to come from inflicting pain on others. Other noirs feature flawed authority figures, such as Kirk Douglas’s Jim McLeod in Detective Story (1951), controlled by a rigid moral code that costs him his marriage and ultimately his life. Others present ruthless crime bosses, hapless males whose lives are turned upside down because of their ceaseless longing for a woman, and even courageous men on the right side of the law. The private and public lives of more than ninety actors who starred in the films noirs of the 1940s and 1950s are presented here. Some of the actors, such as Humphrey Bogart, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Mitchum, Raymond Burr, Fred MacMurray, Jack Palance and Mickey Rooney, enjoyed great renown, while others, like Gene Lockhart, Moroni Olsen and Harold Vermilyea, were less familiar, particularly to modern audiences. An appendix focuses on the actors who were least known but frequently seen in minor roles.
Brian Donlevy, the Good Bad Guy
Author: Derek Sculthorpe
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476626588
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Brian Donlevy (1901-1972) was an underrated film actor with surprising range and a little-heralded gift for comedy. Often typecast as a villain, he played the definitive bad guy in such films as Destry Rides Again, Union Pacific and Beau Geste (all in 1939). He showed his versatility in the title role of Preston Sturges' political satire The Great McGinty (1940) and impressed both New York critics and the Soviet government as the cooly authoritative Major Caton in Wake Island (1942). Donlevy was fondly remembered as globe-trotting U.S. Special Agent Steve Mitchell in the television series Dangerous Assignment (1952) and as Professor Quatermass in two acclaimed science fiction films. This first ever biography of Donlevy covers his colorful early life as a boy soldier, his years playing comedy roles on Broadway and his long career in Hollywood.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476626588
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 219
Book Description
Brian Donlevy (1901-1972) was an underrated film actor with surprising range and a little-heralded gift for comedy. Often typecast as a villain, he played the definitive bad guy in such films as Destry Rides Again, Union Pacific and Beau Geste (all in 1939). He showed his versatility in the title role of Preston Sturges' political satire The Great McGinty (1940) and impressed both New York critics and the Soviet government as the cooly authoritative Major Caton in Wake Island (1942). Donlevy was fondly remembered as globe-trotting U.S. Special Agent Steve Mitchell in the television series Dangerous Assignment (1952) and as Professor Quatermass in two acclaimed science fiction films. This first ever biography of Donlevy covers his colorful early life as a boy soldier, his years playing comedy roles on Broadway and his long career in Hollywood.
Film Noir Guide
Author: Michael F. Keaney
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786491558
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 552
Book Description
More than 700 films from the classic period of film noir (1940 to 1959) are presented in this exhaustive reference book--such films as The Accused, Among the Living, The Asphalt Jungle, Baby Face Nelson, Bait, The Beat Generation, Crossfire, Dark Passage, I Walk Alone, The Las Vegas Story, The Naked City, Strangers on a Train, White Heat, and The Window. For each film, the following information is provided: the title, release date, main performers, screenwriter(s), director(s), type of noir, thematic content, a rating based on the five-star system, and a plot synopsis that does not reveal the ending.
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786491558
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 552
Book Description
More than 700 films from the classic period of film noir (1940 to 1959) are presented in this exhaustive reference book--such films as The Accused, Among the Living, The Asphalt Jungle, Baby Face Nelson, Bait, The Beat Generation, Crossfire, Dark Passage, I Walk Alone, The Las Vegas Story, The Naked City, Strangers on a Train, White Heat, and The Window. For each film, the following information is provided: the title, release date, main performers, screenwriter(s), director(s), type of noir, thematic content, a rating based on the five-star system, and a plot synopsis that does not reveal the ending.
The Real Diana Dors
Author: Anna Cale
Publisher: White Owl
ISBN: 1526782162
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
The true story of the tumultuous and too-short life of the film star known as “the English Marilyn Monroe.” The story of Diana Dors is one of fame, glamour, and intrigue. From the moment she came into the world, her life was full of drama. She began her acting career in the shadow of the Second World War, entering the film world as a vulnerable young teenager and negotiating the difficult British studio system of the 1940s and ’50s. Yet she battled against the odds to become one of the most iconic British actors of the twentieth century. This book follows her remarkable story, from childhood in suburban Swindon to acting success as a teenager and finding fame as the “the English Marilyn Monroe.” Many remember her as an outspoken and sometimes controversial figure, grabbing headlines for her personal life as often as for her film roles. For Diana, image seemed to be everything, but there was more to her than the blonde-bombshell reputation suggested. A talented actor, she worked on numerous film and television projects, building a career that spanned decades. Set against the backdrop of the changing social landscape of twentieth century Britain, this book charts the ups and downs of her professional adventures and her tumultuous private life, to build a fascinating picture of a unique screen icon.
Publisher: White Owl
ISBN: 1526782162
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
The true story of the tumultuous and too-short life of the film star known as “the English Marilyn Monroe.” The story of Diana Dors is one of fame, glamour, and intrigue. From the moment she came into the world, her life was full of drama. She began her acting career in the shadow of the Second World War, entering the film world as a vulnerable young teenager and negotiating the difficult British studio system of the 1940s and ’50s. Yet she battled against the odds to become one of the most iconic British actors of the twentieth century. This book follows her remarkable story, from childhood in suburban Swindon to acting success as a teenager and finding fame as the “the English Marilyn Monroe.” Many remember her as an outspoken and sometimes controversial figure, grabbing headlines for her personal life as often as for her film roles. For Diana, image seemed to be everything, but there was more to her than the blonde-bombshell reputation suggested. A talented actor, she worked on numerous film and television projects, building a career that spanned decades. Set against the backdrop of the changing social landscape of twentieth century Britain, this book charts the ups and downs of her professional adventures and her tumultuous private life, to build a fascinating picture of a unique screen icon.
Fay Wray and Robert Riskin
Author: Victoria Riskin
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 1524747297
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Biography) A Hollywood love story, a Hollywood memoir, a dual biography of two of Hollywood’s most famous figures, whose golden lives were lived at the center of Hollywood’s golden age, written by their daughter, an acclaimed writer and producer. Fay Wray was most famous as the woman—the blonde in a diaphanous gown—who captured the heart of the mighty King Kong, the twenty-five-foot, sixty-ton gorilla, as he placed her, nestled in his eight-foot hand, on the ledge of the 102-story Empire State Building, putting Wray at the height of New York’s skyline and cinematic immortality. Wray starred in more than 120 pictures opposite Hollywood's biggest stars—Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper (The Legion of the Condemned, The First Kiss, The Texan, One Sunday Afternoon), Clark Gable, William Powell, and Charles Boyer; from cowboy stars Hoot Gibson and Art Accord to Ronald Colman (The Unholy Garden), Claude Rains, Ralph Richardson, and Melvyn Douglas. She was directed by the masters of the age, from Fred Niblo, Erich von Stroheim (The Wedding March), and Mauritz Stiller (The Street of Sin) to Leo McCarey, William Wyler, Gregory La Cava, “Wild Bill” William Wellman, Merian C. Cooper (The Four Feathers, King Kong), Josef von Sternberg (Thunderbolt), Dorothy Arzner (Behind the Make-Up), Frank Capra (Dirigible), Michael Curtiz (Doctor X), Raoul Walsh (The Bowery), and Vincente Minnelli. The book’s—and Wray’s—counterpart: Robert Riskin, considered one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. Academy Award–winning writer (nominated for five), producer, ten-year-long collaborator with Frank Capra on such pictures as American Madness, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, and Meet John Doe, hailed by many, among them F. Scott Fitzgerald, as “among the best screenwriters in the business.” Riskin wrote women characters who were smart, ornery, sexy, always resilient, as he perfected what took full shape in It Happened One Night, the Riskin character, male or female—breezy, self-made, streetwise, optimistic, with a sense of humor that is subtle and sure. Fay Wray and Robert Riskin lived large lives, finding each other after establishing their artistic selves and after each had had many romantic attachments—Wray, an eleven-year-long difficult marriage and a fraught affair with Clifford Odets, and Riskin, a series of romances with, among others, Carole Lombard, Glenda Farrell, and Loretta Young. Here are Wray’s and Riskin’s lives, their work, their fairy-tale marriage that ended so tragically. Here are their dual, quintessential American lives, ultimately and blissfully intertwined.
Publisher: Pantheon
ISBN: 1524747297
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Biography) A Hollywood love story, a Hollywood memoir, a dual biography of two of Hollywood’s most famous figures, whose golden lives were lived at the center of Hollywood’s golden age, written by their daughter, an acclaimed writer and producer. Fay Wray was most famous as the woman—the blonde in a diaphanous gown—who captured the heart of the mighty King Kong, the twenty-five-foot, sixty-ton gorilla, as he placed her, nestled in his eight-foot hand, on the ledge of the 102-story Empire State Building, putting Wray at the height of New York’s skyline and cinematic immortality. Wray starred in more than 120 pictures opposite Hollywood's biggest stars—Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper (The Legion of the Condemned, The First Kiss, The Texan, One Sunday Afternoon), Clark Gable, William Powell, and Charles Boyer; from cowboy stars Hoot Gibson and Art Accord to Ronald Colman (The Unholy Garden), Claude Rains, Ralph Richardson, and Melvyn Douglas. She was directed by the masters of the age, from Fred Niblo, Erich von Stroheim (The Wedding March), and Mauritz Stiller (The Street of Sin) to Leo McCarey, William Wyler, Gregory La Cava, “Wild Bill” William Wellman, Merian C. Cooper (The Four Feathers, King Kong), Josef von Sternberg (Thunderbolt), Dorothy Arzner (Behind the Make-Up), Frank Capra (Dirigible), Michael Curtiz (Doctor X), Raoul Walsh (The Bowery), and Vincente Minnelli. The book’s—and Wray’s—counterpart: Robert Riskin, considered one of the greatest screenwriters of all time. Academy Award–winning writer (nominated for five), producer, ten-year-long collaborator with Frank Capra on such pictures as American Madness, It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Lost Horizon, and Meet John Doe, hailed by many, among them F. Scott Fitzgerald, as “among the best screenwriters in the business.” Riskin wrote women characters who were smart, ornery, sexy, always resilient, as he perfected what took full shape in It Happened One Night, the Riskin character, male or female—breezy, self-made, streetwise, optimistic, with a sense of humor that is subtle and sure. Fay Wray and Robert Riskin lived large lives, finding each other after establishing their artistic selves and after each had had many romantic attachments—Wray, an eleven-year-long difficult marriage and a fraught affair with Clifford Odets, and Riskin, a series of romances with, among others, Carole Lombard, Glenda Farrell, and Loretta Young. Here are Wray’s and Riskin’s lives, their work, their fairy-tale marriage that ended so tragically. Here are their dual, quintessential American lives, ultimately and blissfully intertwined.
Lash
Author: Alvin Easter
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 9781469100265
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
“All hands on deck to witness punishment!” Although whippings of men have been a commonly-depicted punishment in the movies ever since the days of the nickelodeon, no book -- until now -- has attempted to document this vital aspect of screen-sadism. By describing and then discussing the movie’s hundred great male-whipping scenes, (ranging from 1932’s Mask of Fu Manchu to 2004’s Passion of the Christ and featuring such famous actors as Burt Lancaster, Alan Ladd, Elvis Presley, and John Wayne), Lash! tries to fill this void with wit, perception, and authority.
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 9781469100265
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 308
Book Description
“All hands on deck to witness punishment!” Although whippings of men have been a commonly-depicted punishment in the movies ever since the days of the nickelodeon, no book -- until now -- has attempted to document this vital aspect of screen-sadism. By describing and then discussing the movie’s hundred great male-whipping scenes, (ranging from 1932’s Mask of Fu Manchu to 2004’s Passion of the Christ and featuring such famous actors as Burt Lancaster, Alan Ladd, Elvis Presley, and John Wayne), Lash! tries to fill this void with wit, perception, and authority.
The Million Dollar Mermaid
Author: Esther Williams
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780743404051
Category : Motion picture actors and actresses
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Not since David Niven wrote the bestselling THE MOON'S A BALLOON has one of Hollywood's great stars written with real wit and candour about what it was like to work in the movie factories. In this glamorous world actors were pampered and coddled, yet expected to work without complaint for long, hard hours; made into an object of desire for millions of people and live in a world of almost total unreality, while still being expected to go about the business of finding a partner and raising a family, and avoiding personal scandal at all costs. Now, for the thousands of fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood comes Esther William's wonderfully witty, fresh and frank autobiography, all about an 18 year old girl who reluctantly answers the call of MGM and finds herself launched in a career that will last almost twenty years. During her career, she helped to create a genre of film that seems almost unimaginable today, yet which still holds its original freshness and fascination. Whether speaking of her own marriages, divorces, and love affairs or telling tales about the legends of the studio era, Williams is acutely perceptive and always uncompromisingly honest.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780743404051
Category : Motion picture actors and actresses
Languages : en
Pages : 416
Book Description
Not since David Niven wrote the bestselling THE MOON'S A BALLOON has one of Hollywood's great stars written with real wit and candour about what it was like to work in the movie factories. In this glamorous world actors were pampered and coddled, yet expected to work without complaint for long, hard hours; made into an object of desire for millions of people and live in a world of almost total unreality, while still being expected to go about the business of finding a partner and raising a family, and avoiding personal scandal at all costs. Now, for the thousands of fans of the Golden Age of Hollywood comes Esther William's wonderfully witty, fresh and frank autobiography, all about an 18 year old girl who reluctantly answers the call of MGM and finds herself launched in a career that will last almost twenty years. During her career, she helped to create a genre of film that seems almost unimaginable today, yet which still holds its original freshness and fascination. Whether speaking of her own marriages, divorces, and love affairs or telling tales about the legends of the studio era, Williams is acutely perceptive and always uncompromisingly honest.
The Robe
Author: Lloyd Cassel Douglas
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780395957752
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 532
Book Description
Christ's robe has a strange effect on the pagan soldier who wins it in a dice game after the Crucifixion.
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780395957752
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 532
Book Description
Christ's robe has a strange effect on the pagan soldier who wins it in a dice game after the Crucifixion.