Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was an English film director, screenwriter, producer and editor. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", he became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director, despite five nominations.
Alan Alexander Milne was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-the-Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. Milne served in both World Wars, as a lieutenant in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment in the First World War and as a captain in the Home Guard in the Second World War.
Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen was a British-American actor and boxer. His film career spanned from the early 1920’s through the 1950’s, initially as a leading man, though he was better known for his character acting. He was a well-known member of John Ford’s Stock Company, appearing in 12 of the director’s films, seven of which co-starred John Wayne.
Battleship Potemkin, sometimes rendered as Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 Soviet silent drama film produced by Mosfilm. Directed and co-written by Sergei Eisenstein, it presents a dramatization of the mutiny that occurred in 1905 when the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin rebelled against its officers.
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film 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.
Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned over four decades, including three Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2014, Day-Lewis received a knighthood for services to drama.
Huntley Ashworth Gordon was a Canadian actor who began his career in the Silent Film era.
Katherine Matilda Swinton is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for three Golden Globe Awards. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her as one of the greatest actors of the 21st century.
Honor Blackman was an English actress, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in The Avengers (1962–1964), Bond girl Pussy Galore in Goldfinger (1964), Julia Daggett in Shalako (1968), and Hera in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). She is also known for her role as Laura West in the ITV sitcom The Upper Hand (1990–1996).
Stan Laurel was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Hardy in 107 short films, feature films, and cameo roles.
The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925.
Lilli Palmer was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in But Not for Me (1959).
Syed Musa Abbas Raza, better known as Santosh Kumar, was a Pakistani film actor who was popular in the 1950s and 1960s. He is also known as The First Romantic Hero of Pakistan and is often recognized for his role in Pakistani cinema. He was from an Urdu-speaking family from Lahore, Pakistan. His brother Darpan was also a film actor during the same period, while his other brother S. Suleman was a film director.
Alfred Hitchcock (1899–1980) was an English director and filmmaker. Popularly known as the "Master of Suspense" for his use of innovative film techniques in thrillers, Hitchcock started his career in the British film industry as a title designer and art director for a number of silent films during the early 1920s. His directorial debut was the 1925 release The Pleasure Garden. Hitchcock followed this with The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog, his first commercial and critical success. It featured many of the thematic elements his films would be known for, such as an innocent man on the run. It also featured the first of his famous cameo appearances. Two years later he directed Blackmail (1929) which was his first sound film. In 1935, Hitchcock directed The 39 Steps; three years later, he directed The Lady Vanishes, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave.
Tom Wilson was an American film actor.
Roses of Picardy is a 1927 British silent war film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Lillian Hall-Davis, John Stuart and Humberston Wright. The title is a reference to the popular First World War song Roses of Picardy. It was based on the novels The Spanish Farm (1924) Sixty-Four, Ninety-Four (1925) by R.H. Mottram. It was made at the Cricklewood Studios in London.
Film censorship in the United Kingdom began with early cinema exhibition becoming subject to the Disorderly Houses Act 1751. The Cinematograph Act 1909 was primarily concerned with introducing annual licensing of premises where films were shown, particularly because of the fire risk of nitrate film. After the Act began to be used by local authorities to control what was shown, the film industry responded by establishing a British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) in 1912, funded by an Incorporated Association of Kinematograph Manufacturers levy.
John Gillett (1925–1995) was a British film critic and researcher whose career at the British Film Institute spanned over 44 years. He was also a programmer for the National Film Theatre on the works of Buster Keaton, early Russian cinema and Japanese cinema, to name a few. He wrote film reviews for The Monthly Film Bulletin. With Ian Christie, he edited Futurism/Formalism/FEKS: 'Eccentrism' and Soviet Cinema 1918-1936. He was also an editor of Yasujiro Ozu: A Critical Anthology, with David Wilson.
