The Laconia incident was a series of events surrounding the sinking of a British passenger ship in the Atlantic Ocean on 12 September 1942, during World War II, and a subsequent aerial attack on German and Italian submarines involved in rescue attempts. RMS Laconia, carrying 2,732 crew, passengers, soldiers and prisoners of war, was torpedoed and sunk by U-156, a German U-boat, off the West African coast. Operating partly under the dictates of the old prize rules, the U-boat commander, Korvettenkapitän Werner Hartenstein, immediately commenced rescue operations. U-156 broadcast her position on open radio channels to all Allied powers nearby, and were joined by the crews of several other U-boats in the vicinity.
Alice Duer Miller was an American writer whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses influenced political opinion during the American suffrage movement, and her verse novel The White Cliffs influenced political thought during the U.S.'s entry into World War II. She also wrote novels and screenplays.
Charles Sherman Ruggles was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the elder brother of director, producer, and silent film actor Wesley Ruggles (1889–1972).
Saboteur is a 1942 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock with a screenplay written by Peter Viertel, Joan Harrison and Dorothy Parker. The film stars Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane and Norman Lloyd.
Perfect Strangers, is a 1945 British drama film made by London Films. It stars Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr as a married couple whose relationship is shaken by their service in the Second World War. The supporting cast includes Glynis Johns, Ann Todd and Roland Culver. It was produced and directed by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Clemence Dane and Anthony Pelissier based on a story by Clemence Dane. Dane won the Academy Award for Best Story. The music score was by Clifton Parker and the cinematography by Georges Périnal.
Operation Pastorius was a failed German intelligence plan for sabotage inside the United States during World War II. The operation was staged in June, 1942 and was to be directed against strategic American economic targets. The operation was named by Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, chief of the German Abwehr, for Francis Daniel Pastorius, the organizer of the first organized settlement of Germans in America. Fourteen other people would be charged with aiding those in charge of the operation.
George H. Melford was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMille's, appearing in big bold letters above the title of his films.
The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending 200 miles (320 km) into the ocean.
Morituri is a 1965 war film about the Allied sabotage during World War II of a German merchant ship carrying rubber, a critical product during the war. The film stars Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner, Martin Benrath, Janet Margolin, Trevor Howard and Wally Cox. It was directed by Bernhard Wicki. The filming occurred almost exclusively on an old German freighter.
James Seay was an American character actor who often played minor supporting roles as government officials.
Charles J. Winninger was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals.
Mr. Lucky is a 1943 romance film directed by H.C. Potter, starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. It recounts the tale of an attraction between a shady gambler and a wealthy socialite in the days prior to the United States entering World War II.
Henry Rowland was an American film and television actor. He is remembered for his role as Count Kolinko in the Zorro television series.
Safeguarding Military Information was a short propaganda film produced by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1942.
To the Shores of Tripoli is a 1942 American Technicolor film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone and starring John Payne, Maureen O'Hara and Randolph Scott. The film was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. Its cinematography was nominated for an Academy Award in 1943.
Secret Command is a 1944 American drama war film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Pat O'Brien and Carole Landis. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Effects in 1945.
Sabotage at Sea is a 1942 British, black-and-white, drama, mystery, war film, directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Jane Carr, Margaretta Scott, David Hutcheson and Ronald Shiner as Ernie the Cook. It was produced by British National Films and Shaftesbury Films.
A Woman of Experience is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Harry Joe Brown and starring Helen Twelvetrees, William Bakewell and Lew Cody, based on the play The Registered Woman by John Farrow. During World War I, a woman is rejected for volunteer work because of her dubious reputation, but that same reputation gets her recruited as a spy for Austria.
Friendly Enemies is a play written by Aaron Hoffman and Samuel Shipman. Producer Albert H. Woods made it the debut play for his Woods Theatre in Chicago, where it opened on March 11, 1918. It played successfully in Chicago for several months before Woods opened a production on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre on July 22, 1918.
Friendly Enemies is a 1925 American silent comedy thriller film directed by George Melford and starring Joe Weber, Lew Fields and Virginia Brown Faire. It is based on a 1918 play of the same title, and was part of a cluster of World War I-themed films released during the mid-1920s. It was remade as a sound film Friendly Enemies in 1942.
