Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrote seven novels: Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860), Silas Marner (1861), Romola (1862–63), Felix Holt, the Radical (1866), Middlemarch (1871–72) and Daniel Deronda (1876). Like Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, she emerged from provincial England; most of her works are set there. Her works are known for their realism, psychological insight, sense of place and detailed depiction of the countryside.
From the Manger to the Cross or Jesus of Nazareth is a 1912 American drama film directed by Sidney Olcott, written by Gene Gauntier, and stars Robert Henderson-Bland as Jesus of Nazareth. Filmed on location in Egypt and in Palestine, it tells the story of Jesus' life, interspersed with verses from The Bible.
Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, in 1829 to 1832, it follows distinct, intersecting stories with many characters. Issues include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism, self-interest, religion, hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Despite comic elements, Middlemarch uses realism to encompass historical events: the 1832 Reform Act, early railways, and the accession of King William IV. It looks at medicine of the time and reactionary views in a settled community facing unwelcome change. Eliot began writing the two pieces that formed the novel in 1869–1870 and completed it in 1871. Initial reviews were mixed, but it is now seen widely as her best work and one of the great English novels.
Odette Sansom, also known as Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code named Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during the Second World War. She was the first woman to be awarded the George Cross by the United Kingdom and was awarded the Légion d'honneur by France.
Arbury Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, and the ancestral home of the Newdigate family, later the Newdigate-Newdegate and Fitzroy-Newdegate families.
Astley is a village and civil parish within the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. In the 2001 census it had a population of 219, reducing slightly to 218 at the 2011 census. Astley is Knebly in George Eliot's Mr Gilfil's Love Story. Eliot's parents were married in the church.
Quartet is a 1948 British anthology film with four segments, each based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham. The author appears at the start and end of the movie to introduce the stories and comment about his writing career. It was successful enough to produce two sequels, Trio (1950) and Encore (1951), and popularised the compendium film format, leading to films such as O. Henry's Full House in 1952.
Odette is a 1950 British war film based on the true story of Special Operations Executive French agent, Odette Sansom, living in England, who was captured by the Germans in 1943, condemned to death and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp to be executed. However, against all odds she survived the war and testified against the prison guards at the Hamburg Ravensbrück trials. She was awarded the George Cross in 1946; the first woman ever to receive the award, and the only woman who has been awarded it while still alive.
Heavy Weather is a television film with a screenplay by Douglas Livingstone based on the 1933 novel Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse, set at Blandings Castle. It was made by the BBC and WGBH Boston, first screened by the BBC on Christmas Eve 1995 and shown in the United States on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre on 18 February 1996.
Eliot Stannard was an English screenwriter and director. He was the son of civil engineer Arthur Stannard and Yorkshire-born novelist Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Palmer. Stannard wrote the screenplay for more than 80 films between 1914 and 1933, including eight films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He also directed five films. During the early 1920s, he worked on most of the screenplays for the Ideal Film Company, one of Britain's leading silent film studios.
Scenes of Clerical Life is George Eliot's first published work of fiction, a collection of three short stories, published in book form; it was the first of her works to be released under her famous pseudonym. The stories were first published in Blackwood's Magazine over the course of the year 1857, initially anonymously, before being released as a two-volume set by Blackwood and Sons in January 1858. The three stories are set during the last twenty years of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century over a fifty-year period. The stories take place in and around the fictional town of Milby in the English Midlands. Each of the Scenes concerns a different Anglican clergyman, but is not necessarily centred upon him. Eliot examines, among other things, the effects of religious reform and the tension between the Established and the Dissenting Churches on the clergymen and their congregations, and draws attention to various social issues, such as poverty, alcoholism and domestic violence.
They Flew Alone is a 1942 British biopic about aviator Amy Johnson directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Robert Newton and Edward Chapman. It was distributed in the UK and the US by RKO Radio Pictures.
Return to Yesterday is a 1940 British comedy-drama film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Clive Brook and Anna Lee. It was based on Robert Morley's play Goodness, How Sad. The film was made at Ealing Studios.
Let the People Sing is a 1942 British comedy film directed by John Baxter, and starring Alastair Sim, Fred Emney and Edward Rigby. The film's sets were designed by R. Holmes Paul. It was made at Elstree Studios.
Marie Odette Goimbault, known professionally as Mary Odette, was a French-born film actress.
The Diamond Man is a 1924 British crime film directed by Arthur Rooke and starring Arthur Wontner, Mary Odette and Reginald Fox. It was based on a novel by Edgar Wallace. The movie is silent and black and white. Distributed by Butcher's film service, script written by Eliot Stannard, and produced by I.B. Davidson Film Company.
The Lackey and the Lady is a 1919 British silent drama film directed by Thomas Bentley and starring Leslie Howard, A. E. Matthews and Roy Travers. It was based on a novel by Tom Gallon.
Inheritance is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by Wilfred Noy and starring Mary Odette and Jack Hobbs.
Robert Henderson Bland was an English film actor and poet. He was active in film between 1912 and 1921. He was killed during the Blitz in August 1941.
