Sir Alexander Korda was a Hungarian–born British film director, producer, and screenwriter, who founded his own film production studios and film distribution company.
Merle Oberon was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). After her success in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), she travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Dark Angel (1935). Oberon hid her mixed heritage out of fear of discrimination and the impact it would have had on her career.
Alice in Wonderland is a 1985 American two-part made-for-television adventure family fantasy musical film of Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871). An Irwin Allen production, it used a huge all-star cast of notable actors and actresses. The title role was played by Natalie Gregory, who wore a blonde wig for this miniseries. Alice in Wonderland was first telecast December 9, 1985, and December 10, 1985, at 8:00pm EST on CBS.
Anjelica Huston is an American actress, director and model known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters. She has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three British Academy Film Awards and six Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2010, she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mia Sarapochiello, known professionally as Mia Sara, is an American actress. She made her film debut as Princess Lili in the fantasy film Legend (1985), and had her breakthrough role starring as Sloane Peterson in the comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). She also portrayed Melissa Walker in the science fiction film Timecop (1994), which won her the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family, set during and after the era of slavery in the United States. The series first aired on ABC in January 1977 over eight consecutive nights.
The Divorce of Lady X is a 1938 British Technicolor romantic comedy film produced by London Films; it stars Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Binnie Barnes. It was directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis, adapted by Lajos Bíró from the play Counsel's Opinion by Gilbert Wakefield. The music score was by Miklós Rózsa and Lionel Salter and the cinematography by Harry Stradling.
Perfect Strangers, is a 1945 British drama film made by London Films. It stars Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr as a married couple whose relationship is shaken by their service in the Second World War. The supporting cast includes Glynis Johns, Ann Todd and Roland Culver. It was produced and directed by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Clemence Dane and Anthony Pelissier based on a story by Clemence Dane. Dane won the Academy Award for Best Story. The music score was by Clifton Parker and the cinematography by Georges Périnal.
Michael Korda is an English-born writer and novelist who was editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster in New York City.
Katherine Burton is an American actress, the daughter of actors Richard Burton and Sybil Christopher. On television, Burton received critical acclaim as Ellis Grey in the Shonda Rhimes drama series Grey's Anatomy, and as Vice President Sally Langston on Scandal. She has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Tony Awards.
Wuthering Heights is a 1939 American romantic period drama film directed by William Wyler, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, and based on the 1847 novel Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. The film depicts only 16 of the novel's 34 chapters, eliminating the second generation of characters. The novel was adapted for the screen by Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht and John Huston (uncredited). The supporting cast features Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald.
The Mists of Avalon is a 2001 television miniseries based on the 1983 novel of the same title by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Produced by American cable channel TNT, adapted by Gavin Scott, and directed by Uli Edel, the series retells Arthurian legend from the perspectives of Morgan le Fay and other women of the tale. The first episode was the highest-rated original movie on basic cable in the summer of 2001.
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1934 British adventure film directed by Harold Young and starring Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, and Raymond Massey. Based on the 1905 play by Baroness Orczy and Montagu Barstow and the classic 1905 adventure novel by Orczy, the film is about an eighteenth-century English aristocrat (Howard) who leads a double life, passing himself off as an effete aristocrat while engaged in a secret effort to rescue French nobles from Robespierre's Reign of Terror. The film was produced by Alexander Korda. Howard's portrayal of the title character is often considered the definitive portrayal of the role. In 1941, he played a similar role in "'Pimpernel' Smith" but this time set in pre-WWII Germany.
Family Album, also known as Danielle Steel's Family Album, is a 1994 NBC television miniseries based on the 1985 novel of the same name by Danielle Steel. Directed by Jack Bender, it was broadcast in two parts on October 23 and 24, 1994. The drama centers on the life chronology of a Hollywood actress who becomes a successful film director in an era when directing was dominated by men.
Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives is an American television miniseries based on the 1983 novel of the same name by Jackie Collins. Airing on ABC in February 1985, it follows several women connected to the entertainment industry in Hollywood and capitalized on the public's taste for opulent melodramas that dominated television ratings in the 1980s. The three-part, four-and-a-half-hour production was produced by Aaron Spelling, whose series Dynasty was number one in the ratings at the time. Like Dynasty, costume design was by Nolan Miller.
Jacqueline Ruth Weaver is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as Stork (1971), Alvin Purple (1973), and Petersen (1974). She later starred in Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Caddie (1976), Squizzy Taylor (1982), and a number of television films, miniseries, and Australian productions of plays such as Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire.
Temptation is a 1946 American film noir thriller film directed by Irving Pichel and starring Merle Oberon, George Brent, Charles Korvin and Paul Lukas. The film was based on Robert Smythe Hichens's 1909 novel Bella Donna. Other film adaptations of the novel were produced in 1915, 1923 and 1934.
World Without End is an eight-episode 2012 television miniseries based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Ken Follett. It is a sequel to the 2010 miniseries The Pillars of the Earth, also based on a Follett novel. World Without End is set 150 years after The Pillars of the Earth and chronicles the experiences of the English town of Kingsbridge during the start of the Hundred Years' War and the outbreak of the Black Death. The cast is led by Cynthia Nixon, Miranda Richardson, Ben Chaplin, Peter Firth, Charlotte Riley and Tom Weston-Jones. The miniseries differs significantly from the novel in both the plot and characterizations.
The Red Tent is an American television miniseries produced by Paula Weinstein and directed by Roger Young. The first two-hour episode premiered on Lifetime on December 7, 2014; the second and final episode aired the next day. The series is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Anita Diamant.
