Tony Curtis was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles covering a wide range of genres. In his later years, Curtis made numerous television appearances.
Scarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel La Chienne by Georges de La Fouchardière, which had been previously dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne (1931) by director Jean Renoir.
William Broderick Crawford was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Willie Stark in the film All the King's Men (1949), which earned him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Often cast in tough-guy or slob roles, he later achieved recognition for his starring role as Dan Mathews in the crime television series Highway Patrol (1955–1959).
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.
Shelley Winters was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and A Patch of Blue (1965), and received nominations for A Place in the Sun (1951) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). She also appeared in A Double Life (1947), The Night of the Hunter (1955), Lolita (1962), Alfie (1966), Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976), and Pete's Dragon (1977). In addition to film, Winters appeared in television, including a tenure on the sitcom Roseanne, and wrote three autobiographical books.
Charles Drake was an American actor.
Winchester '73 is a 1950 American Western film noir directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Written by Borden Chase and Robert L. Richards, the film is set in 1876 in a variety of famed western locations and follows the journey of a prized rifle from one ill-fated owner to another, as well as a cowboy's search for a murderous fugitive. It is the first Western film collaboration between Mann and Stewart, the first of eight films they made together, and was filmed in black and white. It was also the first film where an actor received a percentage of the receipts, a practice since known as "points", as compensation.
Dan Duryea was an American actor in film, stage, and television. Known for portraying a vast range of character roles as a villain, he nonetheless had a long career in a wide variety of leading and secondary roles.
Brute Force is a 1947 American crime film noir directed by Jules Dassin, from a screenplay by Richard Brooks with cinematography by William H. Daniels. It stars Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford and Yvonne De Carlo.
Howard Green Duff was an American actor.
Scott Brady was an American film and television actor best known for his roles in Western films and as a ubiquitous television presence. He played the title role in the television series Shotgun Slade (1959-1961).
The Underworld Story is a 1950 American film noir crime film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm, Howard Da Silva and Michael O'Shea. Da Silva plays the loud-mouthed gangster Carl Durham, one of his last roles before becoming blacklisted.
Carole Augusta Shelley was an English actress who made her career in the United States and United Kingdom. Her many stage roles included originating the roles of Gwendolyn Pigeon in The Odd Couple and Madame Morrible in Wicked. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in The Elephant Man (1979) and received additional nominations for her work on Absurd Person Singular (1975), Stepping Out (1987), and Billy Elliot (2009).
The French Connection was a scheme through which heroin was smuggled from Indochina through Turkey to France and then to the United States and Canada. The operation started in the 1930s, reached its peak in the 1960s, and was dismantled in the 1970s. It was responsible for providing the vast majority of the heroin used in the United States at the time. The operation was headed by Corsicans Antoine Guérini and Paul Carbone. It also involved Auguste Ricord, Paul Mondoloni and Salvatore Greco.
Interpol is a 1957 British Warwick Films crime film noir shot in CinemaScope and starring Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, Trevor Howard, Bonar Colleano and Sid James. It concerns an Interpol effort to stamp out a major drug-smuggling cartel in numerous countries. Mature plays an American narcotics officer, with Howard as a drug baron. One review described the film as a "feeble thriller," although it praised Howard's performance.
Borderline is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by William A. Seiter and starring Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor. It was filmed from late May to early July 1949 at Republic Studios.
Never the Twain Shall Meet is a 1931 American drama film produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Leslie Howard and Conchita Montenegro. It is based on the novel of the same title by Peter B. Kyne. The film was directed by W. S. Van Dyke and was filmed in Tahiti like Van Dyke's two previous south sea adventures The Pagan and White Shadows in the South Seas. The film is a remake of a 1925 silent film of the same name.
Illegal Entry is a 1949 American film noir crime film directed by Frederick De Cordova and starring Howard Duff, Märta Torén and George Brent. The film and its treatment of illegal entry and unlawful residence in the United States is introduced by Watson B. Miller, the commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service under President Harry S. Truman.
Larceny is a 1948 American film noir crime film directed by George Sherman starring John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea, and Shelley Winters.
The Vice Squad is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by John Cromwell, written by Oliver H.P. Garrett, and starring Paul Lukas, Kay Francis, Judith Wood, William B. Davidson, Rockliffe Fellowes, Esther Howard and Monte Carter. It was released on May 30, 1931, by Paramount Pictures.
