The Green Hornet is a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell.
Ruth Elizabeth Warrick was an American singer, actress and political activist, best known for her role as Phoebe Tyler Wallingford on All My Children, which she played regularly from 1970 until her death in 2005. She made her film debut in Citizen Kane, and years later celebrated her 80th birthday by attending a special screening of the film.
Producers Releasing Corporation was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called "Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower Street in Hollywood where shoestring film producers based their operations. However, PRC was more substantial than the usual independent companies that made only a few low-budget movies and then disappeared. PRC was an actual Hollywood studio – albeit the smallest – with its own production facilities and distribution network, and it even accepted imports from the UK. PRC lasted from 1939 to 1947, churning out low-budget B movies for the lower half of a double bill or the upper half of a neighborhood theater showing second-run films. The studio was originally located at 1440 N. Gower St. from 1936 to 1943. PRC then occupied the former Grand National Pictures physical plant at 7324 Santa Monica Blvd., from 1943 to 1947. This address is now an apartment complex.
Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).
Martin Block was an American disc jockey. It is said that Walter Winchell invented the term "disc jockey" as a means of describing Block's radio work.
Roy Del Ruth was an American filmmaker.
Jerome Courtland was an American actor, director and producer. He acted in films in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and in television in the 1950s and 1960s. Courtland also appeared on Broadway in the musical Flahooley in the early 1950s. He directed and produced television series in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He served in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
The Loves of Carmen is a 1948 American adventure drama romance film directed by Charles Vidor. The film stars Rita Hayworth as the gypsy Carmen and Glenn Ford as her doomed lover Don José.
Who Done It? is a 1942 American comedy-mystery film directed by Erle C. Kenton and starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It is noteworthy as their first feature that contains no musical numbers.
The West Point Story is a 1950 musical comedy film starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo and Doris Day, and directed by Roy Del Ruth.
Hollywood Hotel is a 1937 American romantic musical comedy film, directed by Busby Berkeley, starring Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, Hugh Herbert, Ted Healy, Glenda Farrell and Johnnie Davis, featuring Alan Mowbray and Mabel Todd, and with Allyn Joslyn, Grant Mitchell and Edgar Kennedy.
Starlift is a 1951 American musical film released by Warner Bros. starring Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Virginia Mayo, Dick Wesson, and Ruth Roman. It was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by John D. Klorer and Karl Kamb, from a story by Klorer. The film was made during the beginning of the Korean War and centers on a U.S. Air Force flyer's wish to meet a film star, and her fellow stars' efforts to perform for injured men at the air force base.
Bulldog Drummond at Bay is a 1947 American adventure crime mystery film directed by Sidney Salkow and starring Ron Randell for the first time as the British sleuth and adventurer Bulldog Drummond. The cast also includes Anita Louise, Patrick O'Moore and Terry Kilburn.
Lorna Doone is a 1951 American adventure film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Barbara Hale and Richard Greene. It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore, set in the English West Country during the 17th century.
Gertrude Niesen was an American torch singer, actress, comedian, and songwriter who achieved popular success in musicals and films in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Lone Wolf and His Lady is a 1949 American mystery film directed by John Hoffman and starring Ron Randell, June Vincent and Alan Mowbray. It is the 15th and final Lone Wolf film produced by Columbia Pictures, and was written by Edward Dein and Michael Stuart Boylan.
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back is a 1947 American adventure crime mystery film directed by Frank McDonald and starring Ron Randell, Gloria Henry and Patrick O'Moore. The film is loosely based on the H. C. McNeile novel Knock-Out.
Second Chance is a 1950 American black-and-white drama film directed by William Beaudine and produced by Paul F. Heard for the Protestant Film Commission. It stars Ruth Warrick, John Hubbard, and Hugh Beaumont. The story centers on a middle-aged woman who has received a dire health prognosis from her doctor and proceeds to look back on her life in flashback, seeing herself change from a sweet and idealistic young bride into a brittle and disillusioned older woman. In the end, the wake-up call is really a dream, but the woman realizes that only by reconnecting with her Christian faith and with God will she manage to improve her life and relationships. The film was not released commercially, but was widely distributed to Protestant denominational churches in the United States and Canada.
Too Many Blondes is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Thornton Freeland and starring Rudy Vallee, Helen Parrish and Lon Chaney Jr. It was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Make Believe Ballroom is a long-running radio program which first aired on radio station WNEW in 1935. The show was created as filler by announcer Martin Block to fill in time between news bulletins covering the Lindbergh kidnapping trial. The station did not have access to a live orchestra to play music so Block played records instead and so Block played records instead. The concept proved successful and led to the launch of Make Believe Ballroom on February 3, 1935 as a 15-minute experimental, with Block borrowing both the concept and the title from West Coast disc jockey Al Jarvis, who had launched the similarly named The World's Largest Make Believe Ballroom in 1932, with Block as his assistant. WNEW's program consisted of Block playing records from popular bands and singers with the conceit that they were live performances in an imaginary ballroom. The show expanded its time slot and at one point during Block's tenure attracted 25% of the listening audience in New York City. In 1936, the stations use of recorded music resulted in a lawsuit initiated by bandleaders Paul Whiteman, Sammy Kaye and Fred Waring who claimed that the playing of records on radio broadcasts was undermining performers' network contracts, which often called for exclusive services. The court ruled that WNEW, after purchasing each record, was allowed to broadcast it regardless of the resistance from artists. WNEW's victory subsequently authorized radio stations across the country to start playing recorded music and brought about the modern radio programming landscape. Make Believe Ballroom was nationally syndicated beginning in 1940 and Block and Make Believe Ballroom made the cover of Billboard magazine in April, 1942. In 1949, the radio show inspired the movie Make Believe Ballroom. Block left Make Believe Ballroom in 1954 to host The Martin Block Show for ABC Radio, originating from the network's New York flagship WABC. Other hosts have included Al Jarvis, William B. Williams, and Steve Allen.
