James Francis Cagney, Jr. (July 17, 1899 – March 30, 1986) was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing tough guys. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth among its 50 Greatest American Screen Legends.
In his first professional acting performance, he danced dressed as a woman in the chorus line of the 1919 revue Every Sailor. He spent several years in vaudeville as a hoofer and comedian, until he got his first major acting part in 1925. He secured several other roles, receiving good notices, before landing the lead in the 1929 play Penny Arcade. After rave reviews, Warner Bros. signed him for an initial $500-a-week, three-week contract to reprise his role; this was quickly extended to a seven-year contract.
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS (born Leslie Townes Hope; May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an English-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel. Throughout his long career, he was honored for his humanitarian work. In 1996, the U.S. Congress honored Bob Hope by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces." Bob Hope appeared in or hosted 199 known USO shows.
Hope was born in Eltham, London, England, the fifth of seven sons. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light opera singer from Barry who later worked as a cleaning woman. She married William Hope in April 1891 and the couple set up home at 12 Greenwood Street in the town, then moved to Whitehall and St George in Bristol, before eventually moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1908. The family emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Philadelphia, and passed inspection at Ellis Island on March 30, 1908. Hope became a U.S. citizen in 1920 at the age of 17. In a 1942 legal document, Hope's legal name is given as Lester Townes Hope. His name on the Social Security Index is also listed as Lester T. Hope. His name as registered at birth was Leslie Towns [sic] Hope.
Gore Vidal ( /ˌɡɔr vɨˈdɑːl/; born October 3, 1925) is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar (1948), outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality. He also ran for political office twice and has been a longtime political critic.
Vidal was born Eugene Luther Gore Vidal in West Point, New York, the only child of 1st Lieutenant Eugene Luther Vidal (1895–1969) and Nina Gore (1903–1978). He was born in the Cadet Hospital of the United States Military Academy, where his father was the first aeronautics instructor, and was christened by the headmaster of St. Albans preparatory school, his future alma mater. According to "West Point and the Third Loyalty", an article Vidal wrote for The New York Review of Books (October 18, 1973), he later decided to be called Gore in honor of his maternal grandfather, Thomas Gore, Democratic senator from Oklahoma.
Vidal's father, a West Point football quarterback and captain, and an all-American basketball player, was director of the Commerce Department's Bureau of Air Commerce (1933–1937) in the Roosevelt administration, was one of the first Army Air Corps pilots and, according to biographer Susan Butler, was the great love of Amelia Earhart's life. In the 1920s and 1930s, he was a co-founder of three American airlines: the Ludington Line, which merged with others and became Eastern Airlines, Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT, which became TWA), and Northeast Airlines, which he founded with Earhart, as well as the Boston and Maine Railroad. The elder Vidal was also an athlete in the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics (seventh in the decathlon; U.S. pentathlon team coach).
Plot
Whilst making a silent film about the life of the legendary lawman 'Wyatt Earp (III)' (qv), veteran actor 'Tom Mix' ('Bruce Willis' (qv)) discovers that the real Earp ('James Garner') is on the film set as a technical advisor. The two become friends, but when a murder takes place, the two become partners and set about tracking down the killer.
Keywords: academy-awards-ceremony, action-violence, bare-chested-male, blood, boxer-shorts, broken-vase, celebrity-look-alike, childbirth, crotch-grab, ex-convict
They broke every rule, loved every woman, took every risk and solved the most shocking murder in the history of Beverly Hills. And it's all true. Give or take a lie or two.
Tom Mix: I fell in love with a beautiful woman who believed a man was not a complete lover unless he knew how to tango.::Cheryl King, Owner of Candy Store: She didn't give you much choice.::Tom Mix: I took lessons for years.::Wyatt Earp: And what was this young lady's vocation?::Tom Mix: She was a tango instructor.
Wyatt Earp: Let's find out, you son of a bitch. Draw!::Captain Blackworth: My men will cut you to pieces.::Wyatt Earp: Not before I shoot out your eyes.::[They glare at each other. People move away]::Captain Blackworth: Another time.::[nods]::Cheryl King, Owner of Candy Store: Would you really have shot him?::Wyatt Earp: No.::Cheryl King, Owner of Candy Store: Why not?::Wyatt Earp: I'm not packing a gun.
Wyatt Earp: How come you told Cheryl where I'm staying?::Tom Mix: Because she asked. And I figured if she asked you, you'd tell her.
Tom Mix: She's a grand girl.::Wyatt Earp: She's a grand 26 year old girl. I could have done myself permanent injury.
Cheryl King, Owner of Candy Store: Will you sleep with me?::Wyatt Earp: Cheryl, I'm old enough to be your father.::Cheryl King, Owner of Candy Store: Wyatt, you're old enough to be my grandfather. Now answer the question.
Tom Mix: Wait a minute, Wyatt, there's something we gotta get sorted out here. I threatened to rope him behind my horse and drag him, then you waltz in pretty as you please and threaten to kill him. I don't like being out-threatened.::Wyatt Earp: Sorry. Won't happen again.
Wyatt Earp: It's all true, give or take a lie or two.
Captain Blackworth: [Blackworth and Kieffer hear some noise coming from the kitchen of the "Kit Kat" club] Do you have a cat?::Dutch Kieffer: Not that big.
[last title card]::Title Card: ...and that's the way it really happened.::Title Card: Give or take a lie or two.
Plot
The Cotton Club was a famous night club in Harlem. The story follows the people that visited the club, those that ran it, and is peppered with the Jazz music that made it so famous.
Keywords: 1920s, 1930s, african-american, band, based-on-novel, biracial, black-american, box-office-flop, controversy, cotton-club-manhattan-new-york-city
It was the jazz age. It was an era of elegance and violence. The action was gambling. The stakes were life and death.
Where crime lords rub elbows with the rich and famous!
Welcome to The Cotton Club. Where Crime Lords rub elbows with the rich and famous. Where deals are made, lives are traded. And the legends of jazz light up the night.
[a boy runs up to Dixie in the street]::Boy in Street: Vincent's been telling everyone around here that you saved the Dutchman's ass!
Flynn: Blow that bughouse bastard to kingdom come!
Vera: You've got about as much style as a bowl of turnips.
Owney: In the next room, gentlemen, is the finest food, drink and pussy in New York at a price.
Owney: Someone oughta take out your brain and pickle it!
Dixie: I'm surprised at you! Don't you feel anything for Mr. Flynn at all? He's dead!
Vera: Mr. Flynn was a bootlegger. That's how they live in this world. Maybe one day you'll wise up, sap!
Vera: If he came in here right now, he'd kill us both.::Dixie: Forget about him.::Vera: Who?
[Frenchy has just broken Owney's watch]::Frenchy: You cheap son of a bitch! You only offered $500 for me?::Owney: What?::Frenchy: If you were kidnapped, I wouldn't offer more than that for you!::Owney: $500?::Frenchy: That's what I heard!::Owney: 50 grand! I paid 50 grand! They only wanted 35 but I gave 50 not to hurt you. $500. I would've given 500,000 for you. I been worried sick about you. Look at what you done to my fuckin' watch.::Frenchy: 50 grand?::Owney: Yeah.::[Frenchy hands Owney a box that Owney opens]::Owney: What's this? A platinum watch. (smiling) You asshole.
Vera: I was born looking 18.::Dixie: I can save you.::Vera: No, you can't.
Plot
Air Force fliers Rick Williams and Mike Nolan attempt to meet film star Nell Wayne, with whom Rick shares a hometown but not much else. Fellow film stars Doris Day and Ruth Roman mistakenly believe Rick to be very close to Nell and arrange for him to meet her. The pair begin to form a match, especially after Nell, Doris, and Ruth arrange for Hollywood stars to perform for G.I.s in transit to and from the Korean War, at Travis Air Base. But Nell thinks Rick is getting ready to ship out to the war, when in reality, he and Mike ferry troops part of the way then return to Travis Air Base with returning soldiers. Nell is furious with Rick for letting her believe he was headed to a war zone, especially because the press has made a huge story of their romance. Meantime, a new program, Operation Starlift, has been set in place by the Air Force and the Hollywood studios, whereby stars are flown to San Francisco to perform for the outbound and inbound troops. Movie stars such as Randolph Scott, Phil Harris, and Jane Wyman pitch in to entertain the troops. Rick volunteers for duty in a combat zone, and Nell begins to think she's been wrong about him.
Keywords: air-base, deception, gin-rummy, korean-war, military-airlift, military-hospital, movie-making, movie-premiere, patriotism, reference-to-youngstown-ohio
Plot
A tour of Ciro's Nightclub packed with caricatures of many top stars, including (in order) 'Cary Grant', 'Greta Garbo' (qv) 'Edward G. Robinson' and 'Ann Sheridan' (qv), 'Johnny Weissmuller' (qv), 'James Cagney' (qv), 'Humphrey Bogart' (qv) and 'George Raft' (qv), 'Harpo Marx' (qv), 'Clark Gable', 'Bing Crosby' (qv), 'Leopold Stokowski' (qv), 'James Stewart (I)' (qv) and 'Dorothy Lamour' (qv), 'Tyrone Power (I)' and 'Sonja Henie' (qv), The Frankenstein Monster, 'Larry Fine (I)' (qv), 'Moe Howard (I)' (qv), 'Curly Howard' (qv), 'Oliver Hardy' (qv), 'Cesar Romero (I)' (qv), 'Mickey Rooney (I)' (qv), 'Judy Garland (I)' and 'Lewis Stone (I)' (qv), 'Kay Kyser' (qv), 'Peter Lorre (I)' (qv), 'Henry Fonda' (qv), 'J. Edgar Hoover' (qv), 'Ned Sparks (I)' (qv), 'Jerry Colonna' (qv), and 'Groucho Marx' (qv); many more just get sight gags, such as 'Claudette Colbert', 'Norma Shearer' (qv), 'William Powell (I)' (qv), 'Don Ameche' (qv), 'Wallace Beery' (qv), 'C. Aubrey Smith' (qv), 'Boris Karloff' (qv), 'Arthur Treacher' (qv), 'Buster Keaton' (qv) and 'Mischa Auer' (qv).
Keywords: celebrity, celebrity-caricature, conga, dancing, fan-dancer, horse, hotfoot, merrie-melodies, nightclub, reference-to-jerry-colonna
J Edgar Hoover: Gee, Gee, Gee, Gee!
talk tougher than james cagney
act smarter than charlie chan
love longer than valentino
or you never will be a man
i saw him down at the drive-in saturday
a forty five to blow away anyone who happens to disagree
with such panache and style, he wins the game
when all the while, i'm sitting here thinking that it could be me
suddenly, in walks a criminologist
with too much knowledge to resist and plenty of answers
for the good at heart
no fear, no pain, no sweat, the teardrop on the serviette,
oh i could be a hero if i was that smart
silver cloud, silver tongue on a liver screen
with the sweetest of the sweet and meanest of the mean
talk tougher than james cagney
act smarter than charlie chan
love longer than valentino
or you never will be a man
back to the movies where
the lady, beset by his charms, falls faintly in the lovers arms
the fate of every watching woman in his hands
after the earth moves, musn't dwell, our hero bids a fond farewell
upon his trusty camel 'cross the desert sands
with the bad guys in a fix and the ladies in a spin
where does fantasy end and reality begin?
talk tougher than james cagney
act smarter than charlie chan
love longer than valentino
or you never will be a man
when you take up the sword and you fight the good fight
with your ego in the red and your dreams in black and white.
talk tougher than james cagney
act smarter than charlie chan
love longer than valentino