Xaviera Hollander is a Dutch former call girl, madam and author. She is best known for her best-selling memoir The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.
Rachel, Rachel is a 1968 American drama film produced and directed by Paul Newman and starring his wife, Joanne Woodward, in the title role and co-starring Estelle Parsons and James Olson. The screenplay, by Stewart Stern based on the 1966 novel A Jest of God by Canadian author Margaret Laurence, concerns a schoolteacher in small-town Connecticut and her sexual awakening and independence in her mid-30s. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards and won two Golden Globes: Best Director and Best Actress (Drama).
Working Girl is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, written by Kevin Wade, and starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. Its plot follows an ambitious secretary from Staten Island who takes over her new boss's role while the boss is laid up with a broken leg. The secretary, who has been going to business night school, pitches a profitable idea, only to have the boss attempt to take credit.
Crazy for You is a romantic comedy musical with a book by Ken Ludwig, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. Billed as "The New Gershwin Musical Comedy", it is largely based on the songwriting team's 1930 musical Girl Crazy, but also incorporates songs from several other productions. It won the 1992 Tony Award (Broadway), the 1993 Olivier Award (London), and the 1994 Dora Award (Toronto) for Best Musical.
Malèna is a 2000 erotic drama film written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni. It stars Monica Bellucci and Giuseppe Sulfaro. The film won the Grand Prix at the 2001 Cabourg Film Festival. At the 73rd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score.
Cat's Eye is a 1985 American anthology horror thriller film directed by Lewis Teague and written by Stephen King. It comprises three stories: "Quitters, Inc.", "The Ledge", and "General". The first two are adaptations of short stories in King's 1978 Night Shift collection, and the third is unique to the film. The cast includes Drew Barrymore, James Woods, Alan King, Robert Hays and Candy Clark. The three stories are connected by the presence of a traveling cat and Barrymore, both of whom play incidental roles in the first two and major characters in the third.
The Departed is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Winter Hill Gang; the character Colin Sullivan is based on the corrupt FBI agent John Connolly, while the character Frank Costello is based on Irish-American gangster and crime boss Whitey Bulger. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg, with Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson and James Badge Dale in supporting roles.
Niagara is a 1953 American noir thriller film directed by Henry Hathaway, produced by Charles Brackett, and written by Brackett, Richard L. Breen and Walter Reisch. The film stars Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, and Max Showalter. It was one of 20th Century Fox's biggest box-office hits that year.
Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown is the 20th prime-time animated television special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on October 24, 1980. The special won an Emmy Award in 1981 for Outstanding Animated Program.
Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 American drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold, Lisa Loomer and Anna Hamilton Phelan, based on the 1993 memoir by Susanna Kaysen. Starring Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss, Jared Leto, Angela Bettis, Jeffrey Tambor, Vanessa Redgrave, and Whoopi Goldberg, the film follows a young woman who spends 18 months institutionalized at a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt.
Pearl "Polly" Adler was an American madam and author, best known for her work A House Is Not a Home, which was adapted into a film of the same name. In 2021, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Debby Applegate published a comprehensive account of Adler's life and times entitled Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age with Doubleday.
Irreconcilable Differences is a 1984 American comedy-drama film starring Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, and Drew Barrymore. The film was a minor box-office success, making over $12 million. For their performances, both Long and Barrymore were nominated for Golden Globe Awards.
Seven Minutes in Heaven is a 1986 American teen comedy drama film co-written and directed by Linda Feferman. It stars Jennifer Connelly, Byron Thames, and Maddie Corman as three teenage friends in Ohio coping with life and love. The film was shot in 1984 but did not get a release until May 9, 1986. It was sent straight to cable TV, where it acquired a following. At the 1986 Sundance Film Festival where it premiered, it received a special merit for outstanding achievement.
Naked Weapon (赤裸特工) is a 2002 Hong Kong action-thriller film directed by action choreographer Tony Ching, starring Maggie Q, Anya Wu and Daniel Wu.
Up the Junction is a 1968 British "kitchen sink" drama film, directed by Peter Collinson and starring Dennis Waterman, Suzy Kendall, Adrienne Posta, Maureen Lipman and Liz Fraser. It is based on the 1963 book of the same name by Nell Dunn and was adapted by Roger Smith. The soundtrack was by Manfred Mann. The film followed Ken Loach's BBC TV adaptation of 1965, but returned to the original book. It generated less controversy and impact than the Loach version.
Funny Girl is a 1968 American biographical musical film directed by William Wyler and written by Isobel Lennart, adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
Debby Applegate is an American historian and biographer. She is the author of Madam: The Biography of Polly Adler, Icon of the Jazz Age and The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher, for which she won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
Pollyanna is a 1960 American comedy-drama film starring child actress Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden, and Richard Egan in a story about a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town. The film was written and directed by David Swift, based on the 1913 novel Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter. The film won Hayley Mills an Academy Juvenile Award. It was the last film of actor Adolphe Menjou.
Needful Things is a 1993 American horror film based on Stephen King's 1991 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Fraser C. Heston, and stars Ed Harris, Max von Sydow, Bonnie Bedelia, and J. T. Walsh. The film received mixed reviews, critics praised the performances and ending, but criticized its portrayal of its story and felt it inferior to its source material.
The Girl Said No is a 1930 pre-Code American romantic comedy film starring William Haines and Leila Hyams. In the film, a young college graduate goes to extreme lengths to win the girl he loves.
