Sword-and-sandal, also known as peplum, is a subgenre of largely Italian-made historical, mythological, or biblical epics mostly set in the Greco-Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), Quo Vadis (1951), The Robe (1953), The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960), and Cleopatra (1963). These films dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965, eventually being replaced in 1965 by spaghetti Western and Eurospy films.
Alexander Crichlow Barker Jr., known as Lex Barker, was an American actor. He was known for playing Tarzan for RKO Pictures between 1949 and 1953, and portraying leading characters from Karl May's novels, notably as Old Shatterhand in a film series by the West German studio Rialto Film. At the height of his fame, he was one of the most popular actors in German-speaking cinema, and received Bambi Award and Bravo Otto nominations for the honor.
Fess Elisha Parker Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of the title characters in the Walt Disney television miniseries Davy Crockett and the television series Daniel Boone.
Elisha Vanslyck Cook Jr. was an American character actor famed for his work in film noir. According to Bill Georgaris of They Shoot Pictures, Don't They, Cook appeared in 21 films noir, more than any other actor or actress. He played cheerful, brainy collegiates until he was cast against type as the bug-eyed baby-faced psychopathic killer Wilmer Cook in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon. He went on to play deceptively mild-mannered villains. Cook's acting career spanned more than 60 years, with roles in productions including The Big Sleep, Shane, The Killing, House on Haunted Hill and Rosemary's Baby.
Charles McGraw was an American stage, film and television actor whose career spanned more than three decades.
The Hall of Great Western Performers is a hall of fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is a 4,000-square-foot (370 m2) presentation that explores how the American West has been interpreted in literature and film. Each year, the museum inducts performers to the hall in conjunction with the awarding of the Western Heritage Awards.
Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominent character actor Noah Beery Jr. He was billed as either Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr. depending upon the film.
Old Yeller is a 1957 American Western drama film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney. It stars Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker, with Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran, and Chuck Connors. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The film is based upon the 1956 novel of the same name by Fred Gipson. Gipson also co-wrote the screenplay along with William Tunberg.
Roy Roberts was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.
Lane Chandler was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns.
Jesse James is an American actor.
Jane Porter is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's series of Tarzan novels and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly film. Jane, an American from Baltimore, Maryland, is the daughter of professor Archimedes Q. Porter. She becomes the love interest, later the wife of Tarzan and subsequently the mother of their son, Korak. She develops over the course of the series from a conventional damsel in distress, who must be rescued from various perils, to an educated, competent and capable adventuress in her own right, fully capable of defending herself and surviving on her own in the jungles of Africa.
The 23rd Academy Awards were held on March 29, 1951, honoring the films of 1950. All About Eve received a record 14 nominations, besting the previous record of 13 set by Gone with the Wind in 1939. It won six Oscars, including Best Picture, and earned writer/director Joseph L. Mankiewicz his second consecutive Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay awards, the only time such a feat has been accomplished.
Away All Boats is a 1956 American war film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker, and Julie Adams. It was produced by Howard Christie from a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman based on the 1953 novel by Kenneth M. Dodson (1907–1999), who served on the USS Pierce (APA-50) in World War II and used his experiences there as a guide for his novel. He was encouraged in his writing by Carl Sandburg, who had read some of Dodson’s letters, written in the Pacific. The book is about the crew of the Belinda (APA-22), an amphibious attack transport. The book became a best seller. The film was produced by Universal Pictures.
John Farrell MacDonald was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917.
Two Lost Worlds is a 1951 science fiction/adventure film directed by Norman Dawn and starring James Arness and Laura Elliott. The film was produced independently by Boris Petroff from his original story. The film was scripted by Phyllis Parker, and distributed by Eagle-Lion Classics Inc., with a 1952 reissue by Classic Pictures Inc.
Springfield Rifle is an American Western film directed by Andre de Toth and released by Warner Bros. Pictures in 1952. The film is set during the American Civil War and stars Gary Cooper, with Phyllis Thaxter and Lon Chaney Jr.
Bulldog Drummond Escapes is a 1937 American mystery thriller film directed by James P. Hogan and starring Ray Milland as Captain Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond alongside Heather Angel and Reginald Denny. Paramount continued with the Bulldog Drummond series, producing seven more films over the next two years. They replaced Milland with John Howard.
Murder In the Fleet is a 1935 American murder mystery/comedy-drama film set aboard USS Carolina. Released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film was directed by Edward Sedgwick and stars Robert Taylor and Jean Parker.
The Texas Trail Hall of Fame is a cowboy hall of fame in Fort Worth, Texas. Established in 1997, the building is located at 130 E. Exchange Avenue, in the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District of the city.
