Milton R. Krasner

Milton R. Krasner, A.S.C. (February 17, 1904 – July 17, 1988) was a cinematographer who won an Academy Award for Three Coins in the Fountain (1954).

Career

Working in films since the 1930s, Krasner is remembered for his work in the 1950s at 20th Century-Fox, where he photographed many of the studio's technicolor films including Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), Désirée (1954), The Rains of Ranchipur (1955), among others. His last film was Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970).

Some of his memorable films include A Double Life, The Set-Up, All About Eve and The Seven Year Itch.

Filmography

Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward (June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress.

After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward traveled to Hollywood in 1937. She secured a film contract, and played several small supporting roles over the next few years.

By the late 1940s, the quality of her film roles had improved, and she achieved recognition for her dramatic abilities with the first of five Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her performance as an alcoholic in Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947). Her career continued successfully through the 1950s and she received subsequent nominations for My Foolish Heart (1949), With a Song in My Heart (1952) and I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955). She finally won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of death row inmate Barbara Graham in I Want to Live! (1958).

After Hayward's second marriage and subsequent move to Georgia, her film appearances became infrequent, although she continued acting in film and television until 1972. She died in 1975 of brain cancer.

Michael Rennie

Michael Rennie (25 August 1909 – 10 June 1971) was an English film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his 1951 starring role as the space visitor Klaatu in the 20th Century Fox classic science fiction film, The Day the Earth Stood Still. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Rennie appeared in 50-plus films and in several American television series.

Early years

Eric Alexander Rennie was born in Idle near Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. He received his education at the Leys School, Cambridge. Rennie tried out a number of occupations, including periods as car salesman and as the manager of his uncle's rope factory; before deciding (at the time of his 26th birthday, in 1935) on a career as an actor. Retaining his surname but adopting Michael as his professional name, the 6' 4" tall Rennie first appeared onscreen in an uncredited bit part in the Alfred Hitchcock film Secret Agent (1936).

During the late 1930s, Rennie served his apprenticeship as an actor, gaining experience while touring the regions in repertory theatre. There is evidence that, at the age of 28, he was noticed by one of the British film studios, which arranged a screen test. The 1937 screen test, which exists in the British Film Institute archives under the title "Marguerite Allan and Michael Rennie Screen Test," did not lead to a film career for either performer. In Secret Agent, he was primarily a stand-in for leading man Robert Young. He also played other bit parts and minor unbilled roles in ten additional films produced between 1936 and 1940; by the time the last of these was released, Pimpernel Smith (1941), Rennie was serving in the Royal Air Force.

Jay Robinson

Jay Robinson (April 14, 1930 – September 27, 2013) was an American actor specializing in character roles. He achieved his greatest fame playing Emperor Caligula in the film The Robe (1953) and its sequel Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954).

Early life

He was born in New York City, son of a dancer and a director of the Van Heusen Shirt Co. He became interested in acting after discovering a scrapbook of his mother's dance career.

Career

Robinson began his acting career in summer stock theatre and repertory companies, and eventually made his way to the Broadway stage, where he appeared in Shakespeare's As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as several other plays by the age of 19. His first film role was as the notorious Emperor Caligula in The Robe (1953), which he reprised in Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954).

This was followed by roles in The Virgin Queen (1955) starring Bette Davis, My Man Godfrey (1957) with David Niven and June Allyson and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972), the Woody Allen comedy and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). He was also featured on two Folkways albums of Shakespeare: Othello: William Shakespeare and William Shakespeare: King Richard III, which were both released in 1964.

The Robe

The Robe is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the New York Times Best Seller list in October 1942, and four weeks later rose to No. 1. It held the position for nearly a year. The Robe remained on the list for another two years, returning several other times over the next several years including when the film adaptation (featuring Richard Burton in an early role) was released in 1953.

Inspiration

Lloyd C. Douglas began his literary career after leaving the ministry at the age of 52. All of his novels, essays, and short stories relied on his spiritual background for thematic and creative inspiration. At the height of his popularity, Douglas was receiving on average 100 letters a week from fans. One of these letters provided the inspiration for The Robe. Hazel McCann, a department store clerk from Ohio, wrote to Douglas asking what he thought had happened to Christ's garments after the crucifixion. Douglas immediately began working on a novel based on this concept, sending each chapter to McCann as he finished it. Douglas and McCann finally met in 1941, and it is to her that Douglas has dedicated the book.