Catalog Search Results
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 12
Language
English
Description
James Stewart achieved stardom for his portrayal of the ordinary man who battles against the throes of adversity as highlighted in two of his most loved films, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's a Wonderful Life. Stewart was to work with Hollywood's finest directors including John Ford, Frank Capra, and Alfred Hitchcock and appear in films that are now engraved with the true meaning of classic such as The Philadelphia Story (his only Academy Award),...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 10
Language
English
Description
Known as the 'first lady of the screen' Bette Davis' is one of the Hollywood greats. Her striking presence, paved the way for future female leads. As her career developed Bette was desperate for a great film role, and unlike other starlets she didn't mind playing unsympathetic characters, the following year she was loaned out to RKO to appear in Of Human Bondage. Life magazine declared that it was "probably the best performance ever recorded on the...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 13
Language
English
Description
Katharine Hepburn's, who's movie career covered over 60 years, was known for playing empowered, intelligent and sophisticated women. Born in Connecticut, Hepburn turned to acting soon after her graduation and after receiving some positive reaction from her time on Broadway she was to get her first important role in Bill of Divorcement produced in 1932. It turned her overnight into instant star, and was followed with an Academy Award for her performance...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 4
Language
English
Description
Widely considered the greatest actor ever, Marlon Brando's performances were as dazzling as his own larger-than-life personality. He exploded onto the screen as Stanley Kowolski in A Streetcar Named Desire and embodied the original rebel-without-a-cause in The Wild One. His first Oscar came for his unforgettable performance in On The Waterfront. He was awarded a second for his most famous character, The Godfather, but befitting his role as a prominent...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 6
Language
English
Description
His dance routine to the title song in Singin' in the Rain is one of the most iconic in Hollywood history. Gene Kelly's career was powered by his infectious charisma and gift for turning anything into his dance partner - from a mop in For Me And My Girl, to an animated mouse in Anchors Aweigh, to his own reflection in Cover Girl. Kelly's tour de force performance in An American In Paris helped secure him an Honorary Academy Award for outstanding work...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 3
Language
English
Description
After becoming a movie star at the age of just 12 in National Velvet, Dame Elizabeth Taylor emerged as a beacon of the Hollywood studio system. Taylor took on the eponymous role in the lavish production of Cleopatra and delivered an unforgettable Oscar-winning performance in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opposite her then husband Richard Burton. Known for an illustrious screen career, a succession of whirlwind marriages and her sterling charity...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 8
Language
English
Description
A film industry phenomenon with an unparalleled cross-over appeal in both European and American cinema, Sophia Loren was equally at home playing gritty realism, in Two Women, as delivering frothy comedy opposite Cary Grant on a Houseboat. Loren's remarkable talent has been recognised with two Oscars and been immortalised in classics including, The Pride And The Passion, El Cid, Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow and Nine. Her 50-year marriage to film producer...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 1
Language
English
Description
Marilyn Monroe - To be a Hollywood great is to fly too close to the sun, to embody the dreams of millions while placing your fate in their hearts. Discovering film celebrates the life of Marilyn Monroe from her early days to her now iconic films Some Like it Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Tragically, she died at a young age but has now become a global icon Featuring actor Eli Wallach who worked with Marilyn on Marilyn's final film the Misfits,...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 5
Language
English
Description
Always the epitome of style, Audrey Hepburn fittingly started out as a model before being spotted by a movie producer. Her first major film, Roman Holiday, won her an Academy Award for Best Actress and catapulted her to stardom. Further performances in Funny Face and Sabrina Fair confirmed her status as one of the most adored actresses around. But it was when she donned a Givenchy dress in Breakfast at Tiffany's that Audrey Hepburn became an enduring...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 2
Language
English
Description
Sinatra's film career took off when he starred with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh and On The Town. Whilst remaining one of the biggest musical entertainers in the world he managed to star in many highly acclaimed films including The Man With The Golden Arm and The Manchurian Candidate and won an Academy Award for his portrayal as a soldier in From Here To Eternity. He also famously brought the role of Sky Masterson from Guys and Dolls to the big screen...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 11
Language
English
Description
Clark Gable was a breed apart and one of the biggest box office stars of all time. The cameras loved him and he didn't let you forget that he was by far the tallest, most handsome, charming man in Hollywood. In 1931 he made several films with Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford and later Carole Lombard, the love of his life and the woman he would marry. Gable's undisputed star status was recognized when he was named King of Hollywood – a nickname he would...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 7
Language
English
Description
Initially talent spotted while dancing underage in a Tijuana nightclub act, it wasn't until Margarita Cansino changed her name to Rita Hayworth that her Hollywood career really took flight. Seductive turns in early hits such at The Strawberry Blonde, Blood And Sand and You'll Never Get Rich earned her the moniker of The Love Goddess, a persona she mastered in her heart-stopping performance as Gilda, opposite Glenn Ford. She married five times, her...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 9
Language
English
Description
Born in a New York ghetto to Russian-Jewish immigrants, Kirk Douglas turned himself into a genuine megastar through boundless determination, impeccable physique and dashing good looks. He starred in Vincent Minnelli's The Bad And The Beautiful and worked with the director again portraying the legendary artist Vincent Van Gogh in Lust For Life. He went on to make two of his greatest films, Paths of Glory and Spartacus, with another visionary director,...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 6
Language
English
Description
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century.
During her long career, she made a total of 73 films, and was best known as Fred Astaire's romantic interest and dancing partner in a series of ten Hollywood musical films that revolutionized the genre. She achieved great success on her own in a variety of film roles and won the Academy Award for...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 9
Language
English
Description
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor who rose to prominence for his starring roles in several major works of the film noir style, and is considered a forerunner of the anti-heroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s.
Classic roles include His Kind Of Woman (1951), Night of the Hunter (1955) Heaven Knows Mr Allison (1957), The Enemy Below (1957), The Sundowners (1960), Cape Fear (1961) , The Longest Day (1962), Ryan's...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 3
Language
English
Description
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.
She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not (1944) and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in Bogart movies The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1948), as well as a comedienne in How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) with Marilyn Monroe and Designing Woman...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 2
Language
English
Description
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who famously, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.
This programme illustrates how her film roles provided a journey to become a Princess in the roles she chose.
After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of 20, Grace Kelly appeared in New York City theatrical productions in more than forty episodes of live...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 11
Language
English
Description
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor and cultural icon.
Bogart began acting in 1921 and became a regular in Broadway productions in the 1920s and 1930s.
Bogart turned to film when the stock market crashed in 1929. His first great success was as Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936), and this led to a period of typecasting as a gangster with films such as Angels with Dirty Faces (1938).
Bogart's breakthrough as a leading man came...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 12
Language
English
Description
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique, blue eyes and distinctive smile (which he called "The Grin"). After initially building his career on "tough guy" roles Lancaster abandoned his "all-American" image in the late 1950s in favor of more complex and challenging roles, and came to be regarded as one of the best actors of his generation as a result.
Lancaster was nominated four times for Academy...
Author
Series
Discovering Film volume 1
Language
English
Description
Marlene Dietrich was an iconic German-American actress and singer.
Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically.
In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films. Her performance as "Lola-Lola" in The Blue Angel, directed by Josef von Sternberg, brought her international fame and provided her a contract with Paramount Pictures in the US.
Hollywood...