Cyril Raker Endfield was an American film director, who at times also worked as a writer, theatre director, magician and inventor. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he worked in the New York theatre in the late 1930s before moving to Hollywood in 1940.
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. is a 1953 American musical fantasy film about a boy who dreams himself into a fantasy world ruled by a diabolical piano teacher enslaving children to practice piano forever. It is the only non-documentary feature film written by Theodor Seuss Geisel, who wrote the story, screenplay, and lyrics. It was directed by Roy Rowland, with many uncredited takes directed by producer Stanley Kramer. The film stars Peter Lind Hayes, Mary Healy, Hans Conried, and Tommy Rettig.
Ace in the Hole, also known as The Big Carnival, is a 1951 American satirical drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Billy Wilder. The film stars Kirk Douglas as a cynical, disgraced reporter who creates a media circus surrounding a man trapped in a cave in rural New Mexico to try to regain a job on a major newspaper. The film co-stars Jan Sterling and features Robert Arthur and Porter Hall.
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for The New York Times for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some of his reviews of popular films have been seen as unnecessarily harsh. Crowther was an advocate of foreign-language films in the 1950s and 1960s, particularly those of Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Ingmar Bergman, and Federico Fellini.
The Sound of Fury is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Cy Endfield and starring Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson. The film is based on the 1947 novel The Condemned by Jo Pagano, who also wrote the screenplay.
The Hole is a 1960 French crime film directed by Jacques Becker. It is an adaptation of José Giovanni's 1957 book The Break. It was called The Night Watch when first released in the United States, but is released under its French title today. The film is based on a true event concerning five prison inmates in La Santé Prison in France in 1947. Becker, who died just weeks after shooting had wrapped, cast mostly non-actors for the main roles, including one man who was actually involved in the 1947 escape attempt, and who introduces the film. It was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival.
It Happened on 5th Avenue is a 1947 American romantic comedy film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Don DeFore, Ann Harding, Charles Ruggles, Victor Moore, and Gale Storm. The film follows a clever vagrant as he helps several strangers take shelter in a vacant New York City mansion during the Christmas holidays, unwittingly inviting the mansion's owner and his family to stay with them.
Hell Drivers is a 1957 British film noir crime drama film directed by Cy Endfield and starring Stanley Baker, Herbert Lom, Peggy Cummins and Patrick McGoohan. It was written by Endfield and John Kruse, and produced by the Rank Organisation and Aqua Film Productions. A recently released convict takes a driver's job at a haulage company and encounters violence and corruption.
Michael O'Shea was an American actor, who appeared on the stage, in feature films, and television in a career that spanned between the 1940s and early 1970s. He also was a comedian, musician, band leader, and performed on radio.
Here Comes the Groom is a 1951 American musical romantic comedy film produced and directed by Frank Capra and starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. Based on a story by Robert Riskin and Liam O'Brien, the film is about a foreign correspondent who has five days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the orphans he adopted. Filmed from late November 1950 to January 29, 1951, the film was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on September 20, 1951.
Fear Strikes Out is a 1957 American biographical sports drama film depicting the life and career of American baseball All-Star player Jimmy Piersall. It is based on Piersall's 1955 memoir Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story, co-written with Al Hirshberg. The film stars Anthony Perkins as Piersall and Karl Malden as his father, and it was the first directed by Robert Mulligan.
Designing Woman is a 1957 American Metrocolor romantic comedy film, in CinemaScope, about two young, whirlwind-romanced newlywed professionals and their misadventures in adjusting to each other's lifestyles. Vincente Minnelli directed the film, which stars Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, and Dolores Gray, and features Sam Levene and Chuck Connors. The film earned George Wells an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
The Suspect is a 1944 American film noir starring Charles Laughton and Ella Raines, and directed by Robert Siodmak. Set in Edwardian London in 1902, it is based on the 1939 novel This Way Out, by James Ronald, and was released by Universal Pictures.
Along Came Jones is a 1945 American Western comedy film directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Gary Cooper, Loretta Young, William Demarest, and Dan Duryea. The film was adapted by Nunnally Johnson from the 1944 novel Useless Cowboy by Alan Le May. It was the only feature film produced by Cooper during his long film career.
You Belong to Me is a 1941 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda and Edgar Buchanan. Based on a story by Dalton Trumbo, and written by Claude Binyon, the film is about a wealthy man who meets and falls in love with a beautiful doctor while on a ski trip. After a courtship complicated by his hypochondria, she agrees to marry him on the condition that she continue to practice medicine. His jealousy at the thought of her seeing male patients, however, soon threatens their marriage. The film was released in the United Kingdom as Good Morning, Doctor, and was remade as Emergency Wedding in 1950.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1949 American Technicolor musical film produced in the Arthur Freed unit of MGM. It stars Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, Gene Kelly, Betty Garrett, Edward Arnold and Jules Munshin, and was directed by Busby Berkeley. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." The film was released in the United Kingdom as Everybody's Cheering.
The Smiling Ghost is a 1941 American horror comedy film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Wayne Morris, Alexis Smith, and Alan Hale. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. In the film, a woman has lost three fiancés to mysterious accidents. The press has circulated rumors that she is haunted by the so-called “Smiling Ghost”. Her grandmother decides to hire an unemployed engineer to pose as the woman's fourth fiancé. The man is soon targeted by the supposed ghost, but suspects that a vengeful former fiancé is behind the attacks.
Circumstantial Evidence is a 1945 American film noir directed by John Larkin and starring Michael O'Shea, Lloyd Nolan, and Trudy Marshall.
The Great Plane Robbery is a 1940 crime-adventure B film directed by Lewis D. Collins. Collins was more often associated with directing serials for Universal and Columbia Pictures. It stars Jack Holt, Stanley Fields and Noel Madison. Though typical of the melodramas that Holt made after transitioning from silent screen epics, western and adventure films were his forte. Reviewer Hal Erickson found it ironic that Holt, who in real life had a fear of flying, starred in so many aviation-oriented films. It was written by Albert DeMond from a story by Harold Greene.
Al Jennings of Oklahoma is a 1951 American Western film directed by Ray Nazarro and starring Dan Duryea and Gale Storm. It is based on the story of Al Jennings, a former train robber turned attorney.
