Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance as Corporal Lachlan MacLachlan in the 1949 film The Hasty Heart. His other notable roles include Jonathan Cooper in Stage Fright (1950), Wing Commander Guy Gibson in The Dam Busters (1955), Sir Walter Raleigh in The Virgin Queen (1955), and Major John Howard in The Longest Day (1962). He was previously a Captain in the British Army during World War II, fighting in the D-Day landings as a member of the 7th Parachute Battalion.
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She is well known for, among other roles, playing World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), radio journalist Marcia Jeffries in A Face in the Crowd (1957), wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and the worn-out housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud (1963). She also featured as the matriarch in the television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971); her role as Olivia Walton was re-cast for the series it inspired, The Waltons. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two British Academy Film Awards, and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
The Long and the Short and the Tall is a 1961 British war film directed by Leslie Norman and starring Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey and Richard Harris. The film, which is based on a 1959 play with the same name, by Willis Hall, takes place in 1942 during the Malayan Campaign.
Bright Leaf is a 1950 American Drama Western film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Gary Cooper, Lauren Bacall and Patricia Neal. It is adapted from the 1949 novel of the same name by Foster Fitz-Simons. The title comes from the type of tobacco grown in North Carolina after the American Civil War. According to Bright Leaves, a 2003 documentary film by Ross McElwee, the plot is loosely based on the rivalry of tobacco tycoons Washington Duke and John Harvey McElwee, the filmmaker's great-grandfather.
The Road Builder is a 1971 British thriller film directed by Alastair Reid and starring Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown and Nicholas Clay. The screenplay was by Roald Dahl based on the novel Nest in a Fallen Tree by Joy Cowley, about two women who are visited by a suspicious handy man.
The 7th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film for 1949 films, were held on February 23, 1950.
Orlando Martins was a pioneering Yoruba Nigerian film and stage actor. In the late 1940s, he was one of Britain's most prominent and leading black actors, and in a poll conducted in 1947, he was listed among Britain's top 15 favourite actors.
Anthony Nicholls was an English actor.
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom is a 1968 British comedy film directed by Joseph McGrath and starring Shirley MacLaine, Richard Attenborough and James Booth. The screenplay by Alec Coppel and Denis Norden was adapted from a play by Coppel that was based on a short story by Josef Shaftel, who served as the film's producer.
"True Scotsman" is a humorous term used in Scotland for a man wearing a kilt without undergarments. Though the tradition originated in the military, it has entered Scottish lore as a rite, an expression of light-hearted curiosity about the custom, and even as a subversive gesture.
First Yank into Tokyo is a 1945 American war film directed by Gordon Douglas for RKO Radio Pictures, starring Tom Neal, Keye Luke, Barbara Hale, and Richard Loo. It was one of the last American films to be produced during World War II, released only a little over a month after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the official surrender of Japan. Notably, it's also the first-ever film to feature or reference the atomic bombings.
The Interrupted Journey is a 1949 British thriller film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Valerie Hobson, Richard Todd, Christine Norden and Tom Walls. The railways scenes were shot at Longmoor in Hampshire. The film includes a train crash occurring after someone pulls the emergency cord, as had happened in the Winsford train crash the previous year.
For Them That Trespass is a 1949 British crime film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti and starring Richard Todd, Patricia Plunkett and Stephen Murray. It is an adaptation of the 1944 novel of the same name by Ernest Raymond.
John Loves Mary is a 1949 comedy film directed by David Butler and written by Henry Ephron and Phoebe Ephron. The film stars Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal and Jack Carson. The film was released by Warner Bros. on February 19, 1949. It's based on a Broadway play of the same name written by Norman Krasna, which ran from February 4, 1947, to February 7, 1948, at the Booth Theatre and Music Box Theatre in New York City.
Backfire is a 1950 American film noir crime film directed by Vincent Sherman starring Virginia Mayo and Gordon MacRae, with Edmond O'Brien, Dane Clark, and Viveca Lindfors in support.
Seven Days Leave is a 1930 American Pre-Code drama film produced and directed by Richard Wallace and starring Gary Cooper, Beryl Mercer, and Daisy Belmore.
James Fraser is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away. The character debuted on-screen on 1 July 1997. Sam Meikle played the character for one episode. When Richard Grieve quit his role as James' brother Lachlan Fraser; producers cast Michael Piccilliri to play James. They had invested time in Lachlan's relationship with Chloe Richards and wanted to replace the character. James soon begins a relationship with Chloe. Producers were pleased with his performance and invited him to join the show's regular cast.
Lachlan "Lachie" Fraser is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Richard Grieve. He made his screen debut on 19 March 1997 and last appeared on 27 November 1998. He joined the show after previously appearing in rival soap opera Neighbours. Lachlan is introduced as a new doctor working at Summer Bay's local hospital. Grieve had to research the profession and received help from an on-set medical advisor. Lachlan is characterised as a sweet and gentle person who is brilliant at medicine.
Terence Verity was a British Art director and architect.
