I Never Forget a Face | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert Youngson |
Written by | Robert Youngson |
Produced by | Robert Youngson |
Starring | Dwight Weist Ward Wilson Hiram Johnson |
Narrated by | Dwight Weist |
Edited by | Albert Helmes |
Production company | Warner Bros. |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 11 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
I Never Forget a Face is a 1956 documentary short film produced by famed silent comedy enthusiast and filmmaker Robert Youngson.
Robert Youngson wrote, directed, and produced over fifty comedy short and feature-length film documentaries covering comedies from the silent era through the 1940s. [1] Five of his short films, beginning with Blaze Busters in 1950, were nominated for Academy Awards (two won) with "I Never Forget a Face" being his last to receive a nomination. [2]
The film consists of a series of classic silent clips with narration by well-known (at the time) radio announcer, Dwight Weist, and veteran film narrator Ward Wilson.
The film was nominated for the 1956 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film (one-reel sub-category) but did not win. [3] With the revamping of the category the following year, including the elimination of the one-reel and two-reel sub-categories, there was a clear emphasis on contemporary topics rather than retrospectives. Youngson's This Mechanical Age in 1954 was the last retrospective compilation to win and "I Never Forget a Face" in 1956 was the last to receive a nomination. Despite this, Youngson continued producing comedy retrospectives for the rest of his life. [4]
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1956. This award can be a source of confusion for modern audiences, given its co-existence with the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The Oscar for Best Story most closely resembles the usage of modern film treatments, or prose documents that describe the entire plot and characters, but typically lack most dialogue. A separate screenwriter would convert the story into a full screenplay.
The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957.
The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to Kukan and Target for Tonight. They have since been bestowed competitively each year, with the exception of 1946. Copies of every winning film are held by the Academy Film Archive.
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Awards, is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The ceremonies were initially held at the flagship Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square in London, before being held at the Royal Opera House from 2007 to 2016. From 2017 to 2022, the ceremony was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London before moving to the Royal Festival Hall for the 2023 ceremony. The statue awarded to recipients depicts a theatrical mask.
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film organizations may use different definitions, however; the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, for example, currently defines a short film as 45 minutes or less in the case of documentaries, and 59 minutes or less in the case of scripted narrative films.
Bruce Beresford is an Australian film director, opera director, screenwriter, and producer. He began his career during the Australian New Wave, and has made more than 30 feature films over a 50-year career, both locally and internationally in the United States. He is a two-time Academy Award nominee, and a four-time AACTA/AFI Awards winner out of 10 total nominations
The Battle of the Century is a 1927 American silent short film starring comedy double act Laurel and Hardy, who appeared in 107 films between 1921 and 1951. The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2023.
Robert Youngson was a film producer, director, and screenwriter, specializing in reviving antique silent films.
The 29th Academy Awards were held on March 27, 1957, to honor the films of 1956.
The 19th Academy Awards were held on March 13, 1947, honoring the films of 1946. The top awards portion of the ceremony was hosted by Jack Benny.
(Sir) Charlie Chaplin (KBE) (1889–1977) was an English internationally renowned Academy Award-winning actor, comedian, filmmaker and composer who was best known for his career in Hollywood motion pictures from his debut in 1914 until 1952, he however subsequently appeared in two films in his native England. During his early years in the era of silent film, he rose to prominence as a worldwide cinematic idol renowned for his tramp persona. In the 1910s and 1920s, he was considered the most famous person on the planet.
This Mechanical Age is a 1954 American short documentary film about the early days of aviation, produced by Robert Youngson. In 1955, it won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (One-Reel) at the 27th Academy Awards.
The Face of Lincoln is a 1955 short documentary film in which sculptor Robert Merrell Gage models the features of Abraham Lincoln while narrating the story of Lincoln's life. It won an Oscar at the 28th Academy Awards in 1956 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel) and was also nominated for Documentary Short Subject. The film was directed by Edward Freed and produced by USC School of Cinematic Arts instructor Wilbur T. Blume.
Leslie Goodwins was an English film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly 100 films between 1926 and 1967, notably 27 features and shorts with Leon Errol, including the Mexican Spitfire series. His 1936 film Dummy Ache was nominated for an Academy Award in 1936 for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel). Dummy Ache was preserved by the Academy Film Archive and the Library of Congress in 2013. His 1937 film Should Wives Work? was also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category. He was born in London, England and he died in Hollywood, California.
The Canadian Screen Awards are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media productions. Given annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the awards recognize excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership.
Hugo Niebeling was a German film director and producer. He had been particularly noted for his work on industrial and music films, and is considered one of the most important renewers of these genres in Germany. His style is credited to have influenced and helped create the modern music video. His feature-film documentary Alvorada was nominated for an Academy Award in 1963.
The Mole Agent is a 2020 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Maite Alberdi. It was screened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. At the 93rd Academy Awards, It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and was selected as the Chilean entry for Best International Feature Film, making the shortlist of fifteen films.