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1-50 of 1,515
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Gaetano Rossi was born on 18 May 1774 in Verona, Republic of Venice [now Veneto, Italy]. He was a writer, known for Linda di Chamounix (1921), The Metropolitan Opera HD Live (2006) and Melba (1953). He died on 25 January 1855 in Verona, Lombardy-Venetia, Austrian Empire [now Veneto, Italy].- Writer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Francesco Maria Piave was born on 18 May 1810 in Murano, Kingdom of Italy [now Venice, Veneto, Italy]. He was a writer, known for I Origins (2014), Match Point (2005) and The Signal (2014). He died on 5 March 1876 in Milan, Italy.- Soundtrack
J.A. Butterfield was born on 18 May 1837 in England, UK. J.A. was married to Caroline S. Sheppard. J.A. died on 6 July 1891 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.- Y.L. Peretz was born on 18 May 1851 in Zamosc, Poland, Russian Empire [now Zamosc, Lubelskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Shabbat Hamalka (1965), Play of the Week (1959) and The World of Sholom Aleichem (1959). He was married to Helena Ringelheim and Sarah Lichtenfeld. He died on 3 April 1915 in Warsaw, Poland, Russian Empire [now Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland].
- Cinematographer
L.D. Littlefield was born on 18 May 1857 in Minnesota, USA. L.D. was a cinematographer, known for The Man from Beyond (1922) and Everyman's Price (1921). L.D. died on 26 May 1929 in California, USA.- Adolf Lindfors was born on 18 May 1857 in Porvoo, Finland. He was an actor, known for Rautakylän vanha parooni (1923), Polyteekkarifilmi (1924) and The Village Shoemakers (1923). He was married to Aina Bergroth. He died on 20 May 1929.
- Josephus Daniels was born on 18 May 1862 in Washington, North Carolina, USA. He was married to Addie Worth Bagley. He died on 15 January 1948 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Dan Crimmins was born on 18 May 1863 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Midnight Express (1924), The Valley of the Giants (1927) and Vagabond Lady (1935). He was married to Rosa Gore. He died on 12 July 1945 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Guy du Maurier was born on 18 May 1865 in London, England, UK. Guy was a writer, known for Mad Men of Europe (1940) and An Englishman's Home (1914). Guy was married to Gwendoline Maye Price and Gwendolyn Price. Guy died on 9 March 1915 in France.
- Sylvia Grey was born on 18 May 1866 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Chouquette et son as (1920), Comment j'ai tué mon enfant (1925) and L'homme inusable (1923). She was married to C.D. Stewart and Dick Fenwick (Queensland rancher). She died on 6 May 1958 in London, England, UK.
- Director
- Writer
Frank Wolfe was a committed socialist, filmmaker and newspaperman who directed the seminal pro-labor film "From Dusk to Dawn" in 1913. He was closely associated with the socialist movement in Los Angeles and helped Job Harriman establish the Utopian community Llano del Rio at the edge of the Mojave Desert.
Wolfe was born Franklin Eden Wolfe on May 18, 1869, in Princeton, Illinois, to Daniel Wolfe and Arabella Reed. He completed three years of college before marrying Emma Jorgenson on Aug. 3, 1891, in New York City. By 1902 the couple had fully embraced socialism and moved to Los Angeles, settling at a small residence at 408 Santa Monica Blvd.
Wolfe quickly immersed himself in the socialist cause, initially working as a union organizer for railroad and telegraph workers. By 1909 he was named managing editor of the Los Angeles Herald newspaper. With the Herald, he tilted its coverage toward socialist and pro-labor themes. He also directed investigative reporting of Los Angeles Mayor Arthur Harper's ties to the Southern Pacific Railroad's political machine. The newspaper uncovered graft and corruption in the mayor's office, which led to the first recall of a mayor of a large city in the United States. Facing the recall, Harper resigned in March 1909. Wolfe's efforts to root out corruption in public office and his leftist policies in the newsroom led to his firing the same year. Wolfe bounced back by taking an editing job with the Los Angeles Municipal News.
Wolfe joined the socialist ticket in a bid for a seat Los Angeles City Council for the 1911 election. He joined the suffragette Mila Tupper Maynard in the race among other prominent socialists seeking council seats. Fellow socialist Job Harriman was a candidate for mayor and favored to win. However, the looming dark cloud over the election was the trial of brothers John and James McNamara. The radical labor activists John and James McNamaras were accused of bombing the Los Angeles Times building that killed 21 people on Oct. 1, 1910. The Socialist Party of Los Angeles and labor unions rallied around the brothers alleging there was a conspiracy to frame them for the crime. But the McNamaras pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 1911, in a surprise move orchestrated by their lawyer, Clarence Darrow. Harriman, who was on the McNamara defense team, was taken by surprise by the guilty plea.
Four days later Harriman lost the mayoral election along with Wolfe and other socialist candidates for city council. Wolfe ran again for Los Angeles City Council in 1913, garnering a nomination on the socialist ticket in the May primary. He came in 16th overall on the ballot with 8,772 votes. He lost in the general election. Frederick C. Wheeler was the only socialist to win a council seat. He served two terms from 1913 to 1917 and from 1921 to 1925. Emma also joined the political fray in 1913, running for a seat on the Los Angeles Board of Education as a socialist. However, she failed to obtain enough votes to win.
Wolfe helped establish The Western Comrade magazine by 1913 with other leading West Coast socialists. On the editorial staff were Fred Wheeler, Stanley B. Wilson, Eleanor Wentworth, Mila Tupper Maynard, her husband Rezin A. Maynard, Chester M. Wright, Emanuel Haldeman-Julius and Rob Wagner. The magazine profiled celebrity socialists, including author Jack London, espoused socialist dogma and promoted the cooperative Llano del Rio.
During this period, Wolfe began filming his epic socialist-themed movie "From Dusk to Dawn." The film told the story of Daniel Grayson, an iron works molder and union activist fired by his employer as a dangerous agitator. When his friend and co-worker, Freddy Wayne, dies in an explosion at the iron works plant, Grayson runs for governor on the labor ticket to champion workers' rights and safety. The film runs over five reels at about 90 minutes and reportedly featured as many as 10,000 extras used in the mob scenes.
Wolfe interspersed documentary footage with his scenes to capture the realism of the labor movement. The film's graphic scenes of poverty and violence against workers were considered groundbreaking at the time of its release. His use of the romance between Dan Grayson and Carlena Wayne, the sister of Grayson's dead friend, helped deliver a pro-labor message that appealed to the movie-going public. Clarence Darrow and Harriman appeared in the film along with other leading socialists. The film premiered at the Mozart Theater on Grand Street in Los Angeles on Oct. 19, 1913. The film opened in Chicago on Oct. 30.
"From Dawn to Dusk" served as an idealized version of the McNamara case, but instead of a guilty plea that was a fatal blow to the socialist movement in Los Angeles, Grayson wins the election and as governor signs into law "right to work" legislation. Wolfe had hoped to use the infant art form of movies to deliver socialist messages to a mass audience. By employing melodrama and romance, such as the relationship between Dan Grayson and Carlena Wayne, and action, socialism could be advocated in a compelling story without a lecture.
Occidental Motion Picture Company, which had $25,000 in capital by the end of 1913, produced the film. Wolfe, was the film company's director and had on his board C.F. Walsh, Fred Siegert, J.B. Sturtevant and N.P. Moerdyke. "From Dusk to Dawn" was Wolfe's only film. He announced that by 1915 he would open a film studio at Llano del Rio, but the effort failed as it became increasingly difficult for Llano del Rio to sustain itself as a cooperative community without an adequate water supply for the community's crops. Although an estimated 150 families lived at Llano del Rio, the project was suspended in 1918 and relocated to Louisiana. Wolfe did not follow Llano del Rio to Louisiana.
By 1921 he was living with Emma in New Albany, Indiana. He organized with Albert M. Braddon and Joseph N. Moorehead the Motion Art Corporation with $100,000 in capital. Yet there is no documentation that the new company ever produced a film. Following the release of "From Dusk to Dawn" Frank and Emma Wolfe moved around the country. By 1920, Frank had taken a job as a newspaper editor in Chicago. He served as a newspaper editor in Forth Worth, Texas, for a period before moving in 1935 to Washington, D.C., where he worked in journalism.
By 1940, the Wolfes returned to California, settling in Long Beach. Emma died in Los Angeles at the age of 74 on Feb. 16, 1940, in Los Angeles. Frank died at the age of 83 on Oct. 27, 1952, in the city of Orange in Orange County.- Jenny Marba was born on 18 May 1869 in Vilna, Russian Empire [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. She was an actress, known for Gentlemen-Gauner (1920), Der gefesselte Polo (1929) and Othello (1918). She died on 1 November 1942 in Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Terezín, Czech Republic].
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Leedham Bantock was born on 18 May 1870 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Rebecca the Jewess (1913), The Shopsoiled Girl (1915) and The Beggar Girl's Wedding (1915). He died on 15 October 1928 in Richmond, Surrey, England, UK.- Frances McCardell was born on 18 May 1871 in Ireland, UK. He was an actor. He died on 14 July 1955 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Art Director
- Set Decorator
Archelaus D. Chadwick (known as "Arch) was born in Ovid, New York and spent his early childhood years in Rochester, New York. He owned and operated his own photography studio starting in 1889, making thousands of glass plate portraits and landscape photos.
Chadwick settled in Interlaken, New York, where he had a photographic studio. Chadwick was also active in the Interlaken Fire Department, even serving as Fire Chief in 1910.
Also an accomplished landscape and mural painter, Chadwick exhibited around the East Coast, including in New York City and Baltimore.
Chadwick began painting scenery and landscapes for stage sets and segued into motion picture set design and production design.
Between 1914 and the early 1920s, Chadwick was the production designer and set designer for the Wharton motion picture studio based in Ithaca, New York.
From 1925 until his retirement less than one month before his death in 1939, Chadwick was a Professor in the Theater Department at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.- Franziska Zu Reventlow was born on 18 May 1871 in Husum, Germany. She was married to Alexander von Rechenberg-Linten and Walter Lübke. She died on 26 July 1918 in Locarno, Ticino, Switzerland.
- Bertrand Russell was born on 18 May 1872 in Ravenscroft, Trelleck, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK. He was a writer, known for Reductio: Adventures in Ideas (2019), Filosofix (2018) and Aman (1967). He was married to Edith Finch, Patricia Spence, Dora Russell and Alys Pearsall. He died on 2 February 1970 in Penrhyndeudraeth, Merioneth, Wales, UK.
- James Bernard Fagan was born the son of Sir John Fagan, consulting surgeon to the Belfast Royal Hospital. Though he started his career as an actor, debuting on 13 October 1895, he changed direction in 1899, when he turned to writing for the theatre and premiered his first play, "The Rebels". Many of his plays were later made into films and are so noted in the IMDb filmography, two of them appearing posthumously. In addition to writing, he produced extensively in England and, in 1927, wrote, produced, and appeared in "And So to Bed" at the Shubert Theatre in New York City. His Hollywood career began in 1929 with a film version of his play, The Wheel of Life (1929). He is perhaps best known for his adaptation of the highly successful, Smilin' Through (1932), starring Norma Shearer. His first marriage to Elizabeth Kirby ended in divorce. He was survived by his second wife, Mary Grey, and two sons.
- Actor
George Neely was born on 18 May 1873 in the USA. He was an actor. He died on 17 January 1944 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Madeleine Pelletier was born on 18 May 1874 in Paris, France.
- Leopold von Ledebur was born on 18 May 1876 in Berlin, Germany. He was an actor, known for Der Silberkönig, 1. Teil - Der 13. März (1921), Nanon (1924) and Lützows wilde verwegene Jagd (1927). He died on 17 September 1955 in Wankendorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.
- Hermann Müller was born on 18 May 1876 in Mannheim, Germany. He was a writer, known for Right to Happiness (1932). He died on 20 March 1931 in Berlin, Germany.
- Lajos Magyary was born on 18 May 1877 in Kiskunfélegyház, Hungary. He was an actor, known for Hivatalnok urak (1919). He died on 25 May 1922 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Arthur Rooke was born on 18 May 1878 in Ealing, London, England, UK. He was a director and actor, known for Brenda of the Barge (1920), The Education of Nicky (1921) and The Sporting Instinct (1922). He died in 1947 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK.- Howard Davies was born on 18 May 1879 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Wanted at Headquarters (1920), Madame la Presidente (1916) and Uncle Bill (1912). He died on 30 December 1947 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Gustav Fristenský was born on 18 May 1879 in Krechor, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Prazský kat (1927) and Bozí mlýny (1929). He died on 6 April 1957 in Litovel, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic].
- Carl Andersson was born on 18 May 1880. He is known for Janssons frestelse (1936), Den glade skomakaren (1955) and Madhouse (2024).
- Francis M. Verdi was born on 18 May 1880 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for The House of Secrets (1929). He died on 20 March 1952 in New York City, New York, USA.
- Charles Tilson-Chowne was born on 18 May 1880 in Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Loudwater Mystery (1921), The Marriage Lines (1921) and Sinister Street (1922). He died in 1958 in Surrey, England, UK.
- Blanche Leopold was born on 18 May 1880 in the USA. She died on 26 December 1973 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Eduardo Fabini was born on 18 May 1882 in Solís de Mataojo, Uruguay. He was a composer, known for A Useful Life (2010). He died on 17 May 1950 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
- Actor
- Director
Theodor Loos was born on 18 May 1883 in Zwingenberg, Hesse, Germany. He was an actor and director, known for M (1931), Metropolis (1927) and Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924). He died on 27 June 1954 in Stuttgart, Germany.- Art Department
Gropius was a great-nephew of the architect Martin Gropius. His parents were Walther Gropius, who was a secret building officer in the German Empire at the time, and Manon Gropius, née Scharnweber. Between 1903 and 1907, Gropius studied architecture at the technical universities in Munich and Berlin. From 1908 to 1910 he was employed by Peter Behrens in Berlin. He then opened his own architectural office. In 1911 he joined the "Deutscher Werkbund". In the same year he worked with Adolf Meyer on the design of the Fagus factory in Alfeld an der Leine. This was the first time he succeeded in avant-garde architectural design in the 20th century. The centerpiece was a complete glass facade. From 1918, Gropius headed the Labor Council for Art in Berlin. The following year he founded the "Bauhaus" in Weimar, which he directed until 1928. With this institution, Gropius realized his educational reform ideas.
At the Bauhaus he integrated all creative art genres and combined training and practice. In his art school, the architect placed great emphasis on craftsmanship and group work within artistic activities. In 1925 and 1926, the avant-garde architectural style culminated in the construction of the "Bauhaus" in Dessau, where the institute moved from Dresden. In the new Bauhaus building, Gropius implemented the construction method according to the modular principle with a rationalistic character in the material mix of glass and iron. In 1928 Gropius moved to Berlin and worked there as an architect. The Siemensstadt settlement there goes back to his planning. He was particularly committed to combating the housing shortage in the imperial capital. To this end, he pushed forward the rationalization of the construction industry.
In this way, numerous residential buildings were built, including the Berlin Haus Sommerfeld in 1927. With the outbreak of the Second World War the Bauhaus was closed. Gropius retired to London in 1933. There he ran an architectural office together with Maxwell Fry from 1934 to 1937. Gropius then went to the USA. As a professor at the Graduate School of Design Harvard University in Cambridge, he taught from 1937 to 1950. He also opened his own school of architecture, the "Archiects Collaborative". In 1952, together with Konrad Wachsmann, he designed the so-called "packaged house", which was based on the "growing house" concept from 1932. For Gropius, architecture was linked to social responsibility. The new person should be placed in a new society. His idea of total architecture as a synthesis of art and technology was based on the claim of uniting the arts into a total work of art.
Gropius' aim was to make optimal use of the possibilities of technology and to free people from the monotony of work processes. In his pragmatic ideas, Gropius pursued the goal of eliminating homelessness. As a designer, Gropius became known for his chairs, ceramic works, lamps and other objects. He is considered a key pioneer of avant-garde architecture in the industrial age. His planning work was accompanied by an extensive work of specialist articles and lectures.
Walter Gropius died on July 5, 1969 in Boston.- Editor
- Editorial Department
Sherman Kell was born on 18 May 1884 in Stevenson, Marion County, Illinois, USA. He was an editor, known for The Gun Runner (1928) and College (1927). He was married to Ethel Vivian Garner. He died on 26 August 1951 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Raphaël Diligent was born on 18 May 1884 in Flize, Ardennes, France. He was an actor, known for L'Atalante (1934) and Zero for Conduct (1933). He died on 11 July 1964 in Paris, France.
- Mercedes Brignone (Madrid, May 18, 1885 - Milan, June 24, 1967) was an Italian actress of theater, cinema and television. Daughter of Giuseppe Brignone, and sister of Guido (film director, in turn the father of actress Lilla Brignone), began as a child in her father's company; She was a lively brilliant actress. In 1903 she married the actor Uberto Palmarini with whom she worked in the same company. A number of her performances on the big screen, in thirty years of career, passing from silent to sound cinema, especially in the genre of so-called "white telephone". In 1930 she was in the cast of the first Italian sound film: "La canzone dell'amore". Always busy with the theater, the Second World War the actress turned Italy with a series of particularly paid in typically bright companies: also worked with Ruggero Ruggeri and Tino Carraro. A few years before her die, she took part in the musical spectacle "Biblioteca di Studio Uno" (1964) for television.
- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
Edward J. Montagne was born on 18 May 1885 in London, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Vengeance - and the Woman (1917), Evidence (1922) and Apartment 29 (1917). He was married to Agnes Phalen. He died on 15 September 1932 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
Aage Foss was born on 18 May 1885 in Aarhus, Denmark. He was an actor and director, known for Naar bønder elsker (1942), 7-9-13 (1934) and Krudt med knald (1931). He died on 8 February 1952.- Additional Crew
- Script and Continuity Department
- Writer
Edward J. Montaigne was born on 18 May 1885 in London, England. He was a writer, known for Show Boat (1929), The Last Warning (1928) and Red Lips (1928). He died on 15 September 1932 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Jose Brookes was born on 18 May 1885 in Herrnhut, Saxony, Germany. He was an actor, known for When Woman Hates (1916) and When Paris Sleeps (1917). He died on 12 February 1959 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England, UK.
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
The director Márton Garas is a significant figure of the silent film period in Hungary. He got his degree at the School for Dramatic Arts in 1906. In 1907 he started working for the Hungarian Theatre. He got acquainted with the basics of film-making in Berlin, Germany. In the Spring of 1915 the film director and studio manager Jenö Janovics invited him to the Proja company in Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoca). Later he worked in Budapest for the Astra, Uranus, Uher and Hungária companies, and between 1919-1921 he worked at the Corvin studio. He later moved to Germany. For a short time in 1924, he acted as the director of the Theatre of the Inner City, but he returned to Berlin at the end of the year. Garas directed about 40 film, mostly literary adaptations, like the moving Anna Karenina (1918) and A Táncosnö (1919).- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Born in Boston to Evangeline Tomlinson and John Sinclair Macpherson. Jeanie Macperson was educated at Madame de Facq's school in Paris, the Kenwood Institute in Chicago and took dancing lessons from Theodore Kosloff. Her stage experience began when she got the lead in a school play and was awarded a gold medal by the Chicago Musical College. She made her professional debut in the musical show, "Havana", then had a part in William C. de Mille's "Strongheart", which was going out on the road. During her years as an actress Jeanie worked with Florence Lawrence and Mary Pickford. She later was given her own unit at Universal and wrote and directed as well as acted in two-reelers. After leaving Universal, she was signed by Cecil B. DeMille as a writer. According to the 1938-39 Motion Picture Almanac, she is also credited as having collaborated on Cleopatra (1934) (Paramount) and adapted "Lafitte the Pirate" (basis for The Buccaneer (1938) from Paramount). She went to Rome for direction and story supervision for ERA Productions, Vittorio Mussolini's company.- Myrtle Tannehill was born on 18 May 1886. She was an actress, known for The Barnstormers (1915), When the Mind Sleeps (1915) and Ethel's Luncheon (1909). She was married to Hale Hamilton and ? Nichols. She died on 25 July 1977 in Yorktown Heights, New York, USA.
- Grigori Adamov was born on 18 May 1886 in Cherson, Russian Empire. He was a writer, known for Ori okeanis saidumloeba (1957). He died on 14 June 1945 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR.
- Writer
- Soundtrack
A noted novelist in the early and mid-20th Century and a contributor to the noted Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera ("Courier of the Evening"), his best-known work is the lyrics for the martial song "Giovinezza" ("Youth"), with accompanying music by Giuseppe Blanc, the fascist anthem of fascist Italy. Reportedly, he was personally approached by Benito Mussolini who assigned the task to him.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
Philip Lonergan was born on 18 May 1887 in Hackensack, New Jersey, USA. He was a writer, known for The Pillory (1916), Her Life and His (1917) and Almost Married (1919). He died on 8 March 1940 in Hollywood, California, USA.- Ernst Wiechert was born on 18 May 1887 in Kleinort, Sensburg, East Prussia, Germany [now Pierslawek, Warminsko-Mazurskie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Elze Is Gilijos (2000), Regina Amstetten (1954) and La servante du passeur (1960). He was married to Paula Marie Junker, geb. Schlenther and Meta Mittelstädt. He died on 24 August 1950 in Uerikon, Zürich, Switzerland.
- Having lost both his parents as an infant, Samuel Shellabarger was brought up by his paternal grandparents. His grandfather (also named Samuel) was a well-known Ohio lawyer, then later a US congressman and still later Ambassador to Portugal in the years during and after the Civil War. The younger Shellabarger's life was something of a bridge between the early US--via the upbringing of his grandparents--and that of the fast emerging changes of the first half of the 20th century. He considered this perspective as central to later historical insights as a scholar and writer.
He was privileged to see much of Europe while still a youth, and the memories of seeing historical cities and sites would provide a rich storehouse of information for his later literary endeavors. He graduated from Princeton University in 1909 and spent an additional year at the University of Munich. He returned to the US and, while working as an instructor at Princeton (1914-17), attended Harvard for graduate studies and received his PhD in 1917. He then joined the US Army during World War I, being posted to the Intelligence Service. In the meantime he had continued traveling to Europe, married and started a family. He was an assistant professor of English at Princeton until 1921 and then decided that he wanted to pursue writing. The next year he moved the family to Lausanne, Switzerland--a five-year stay that was followed by an additional two years in England and France. He would revisit Europe many times to come.
Shellabarger was well equipped, with the ability to speak and write fluently in French, German, Swedish, Italian, Dutch and Spanish. He published both scholarly works and even a few mystery and romance novels. Since he did not want to mix his "legitimate" scholarly works with his more informal other works, he used pen names for the light literature. These began to appear once he was back in the US. He completed the manuscript of research done in Europe for a biography of the famous early 16th-century French knight Pierre Bayard, revered in that country as a symbol of chivalric virtues. "The Chevalier Bayard, A Study in Fading Chivalry" was published in 1928 (to this day in remains the only definitive treatment of Bayard in English). After another European sojourn he came home once again in 1931 and returned to writing and publishing romantic genera through 1939. He also wrote a good deal of magazine fiction.
In 1938 he was appointed headmaster of the Columbus girls' school in Ohio, which occupied him for eight years. Though he had previously returned for a few years to teaching at Princeton, he considered his headmaster time as more fulfilling as an educational experience than his university teaching. It was during his Ohio stay that Shellabarger began to entertain the idea of writing historical fiction. Though he was well-honed in the basics of such writing, he knew that a serious meshing of history with fictional characters carried the weight of factual research and integration to give the work realism. He took an innate pleasure in swashbuckler tales, and had enjoyed being on the fencing team as a student at Princeton. The study of Renaissance history was a particular interest of his. The two enjoyments merged when he started working on ideas for "swashbuckling" historical novels. In this he was moving into the same sphere of an already famous novelist, Rafael Sabatini. Sabatini's writing philosophy was also one of historical accuracy. His output was prodigious compared to what would be that of Shellabarger's, but his subjects were of uneven interest, sometimes hampered with heavy-handed historical constraints, and his style could drag with extraneous, stilted dialog. Additionally, he sometimes lapsed into inaccuracies in detail and continuity problems.
Still, Warner Bros. had opted to buy movie rights to two of Sabatini's novels ("Captain Blood", filmed as Captain Blood (1935), and "The Sea Hawk"; brought to the screen--bearing little resemblance to the novel--as The Sea Hawk (1940) both starring "swashbuckler par excellance Errol Flynn), On the contrary, Shellabarger's style of writing was at once refreshing for its concise, richly painted and realistic dialog, detailed narrative and, most importantly, a story that was always compelling. His work had the enthusiasm of Alexandre Dumas without the early 19th-century verbosity of style. When Shellabarger finished his first effort, "Captain from Castile", in early 1945 it sold so briskly that it was in its 12th printing by March. Hollywood, in the person of 20th Century-Fox, came knocking and bought the screen rights for $100,000. The story used the backdrop of the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century. However, the screenplay essentially covered the story up to the march on Mexico City--about halfway through the book. It would have been extremely difficult for the studio to get past the censors with some aspects of the book, particularly graphic scenes of Aztec human sacrifice. The remainder of the novel continued a sweeping story of return to Europe and all things coming to rights in the end. The subject, however, was simply too big for a two-hour movie. The film was released in 1947 and was a hit all the same.
Shellabarger spun out another yarn two years after the publication of "Captain from Castile", a story set in 16th-century Italy and dealing with the machinations of Cesare Borgia, Prince of Foxes. It was another best-seller, and Fox bought this one also. Since the story remained in Italy it was much easier to handle as a screenplay, which covers the totality of the book quite faithfully. It was a unique undertaking, inasmuch as Fox footed the bill to shoot on location in Italy and in the tiny principality of Andorra. However, because the film was getting to be so expensive, Fox decided to shoot in in black-and-white, a fact that does not detract from the film's splendid look. The movie was released in 1949 and was noted for its high production values. Shellabarger wrote another Renaissance novel, this dealing with France during the wars of France I with Emperor Charles V. This was "The King's Chevalier", which was published in 1950 and was another success, but it was not optioned for filming.
Shallebarger finished his next novel, "Lord Vanity:, in 1953. This story departed from the previous trilogy by being about late 18th-century Italy and the New World. It was evidently inspired by another scholarly work, "Lord Chesterfield's World" (1935). It was not made into a film either. Nonetheless, Shellabarger had amassed a total $1.5 million for his late-in-life historical novels. A continued output was in progress, but what had truly been Shellabager's golden years in more ways than one were cut short by his passing in 1954. Two other novels were published posthumously: "The Token" (1955) and "Tolbecken" (1956) but remain obscure. The Renaissance trilogy has continued in popularity. Though all have been reprinted, it is still possible to find period editions of the books in used-book stores, due to the huge number of copies printed. The quality of his work is validated in the Samuel Shellabarger Memorial Prize in Creative Writing awarded each year by Princeton to a senior judged most qualified. - Producer
- Production Manager
- Art Director
Alexandre Kamenka was born on 18 May 1888 in Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]. He was a producer and production manager, known for Le brasier ardent (1923), Le lion des Mogols (1924) and Grisou (1938). He died on 3 December 1969 in Paris, France.- Actor
- Stunts
Joe Mole was born on 18 May 1888 in Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950) and Variety Under the Stars (1946). He died on 11 April 1982 in Orange, California, USA.