THE FILM ENCYCLOPEDIA
Contents
Abbreviations
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
About the Author
This work is a one-man project. It has taken many years to compile, and its scope has gradually expanded far beyond the original plan because of my desire to include much information that can be found elsewhere only in a wide variety of sources or that is treated sketchily in other works. My aim, in fact, was to make it the most comprehensive one-volume encyclopedia of world cinema ever published in the English language.
Every consideration has been given to the range and depth of material, even when this has meant sacrificing features that would have made the book superficially attractive. Although the publishers and I would like to have used photographs to enliven this text on one of the most visual of arts, we hope the reader will agree that omitting them was better than skimping on entries and information, which would have been necessary if photographs had been included. At my suggestion, the publishers have agreed to drop an entire category of subjects—the factual and critical survey of specific motion pictures. Even a modest sampling of the thousands of notable films would have added hundreds of pages to this already hefty volume, and the selection would have been severely limited in both number of titles and information about them. We have, then, elected to disappoint the natural expectations of our audience rather than risk its protest with half-measures.
In the present volume I have concentrated on a broad range of entries about filmmakers and filmmaking with, I trust, a good balance of American, British, and international subjects. Country by country, the history of major film industries is covered from its inception to the present day. Important film-related organizations and events are discussed; inventions, techniques, processes, equipment, and technical terms are explained in language that is at once precise and easy to follow. The numerous biographies of directors, producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, art directors, composers, film editors, stars, and featured players are sufficiently rich in personal and professional details (including, in most cases, day of birth and education) to please both the film scholar and the movie fan. Complete filmographies accompany the entries of most directors and of all major stars. The film credits of other personalities are extensive and carefully selected to represent their most important work.
Looking back on the years I have invested in this volume, perhaps my most sobering discovery was that an open-ended ratio exists between one unit of fact and multiple units of time. For every hour of actual writing time that went into the preparation of the encyclopedia, I must have spent ten hours of research—checking, cross-checking, and rechecking every fact in a great variety of sources in my own vast library and in outside facilities with film collections. I have tried, to the best of my ability, to resolve conflicts between sources of information and to correct factual distortions that have been perpetuated in film literature over the years. But in a work of this size, a degree of oversight is inevitable, and I beg the indulgence of the reader if, after all, some errors have crept in.
As with any work of magnitude, this encyclopedia was seen into print with the aid of many people, and I am indebted to all of them.
Editor’s Note
It is an honor to continue my long association with The Film Encyclopedia. The book remains an invaluable basic resource, featuring many new faces and facts as well as the latest news about the creative forces that make up the rapidly changing world of cinema as it moves further into the digital age.
I continue to keep the promise of not eliminating any of the more than 8,000 entries. As always, it is sometimes necessary to tighten some existing entries in order to adhere to the finite number of pages the publisher is able to bind.
I suppose I am likely to always be a late-nighter, working into the wee hours. And so . . . another edition comes to a close.
For Maryam and Ali and Ghazal . . . you own my heart.
Note to the Reader
The subjects of the encyclopedia are presented in alphabetical order. There is, therefore, no index, but the text is liberally cross-referenced to direct the reader to all entries that contain related or complementary information. The cross-references are indicated with the use of small capitals: BELUSHI; CLAPSTICKS; CINEMASCOPE.
In a biography, the heading “FILMS” indicates that what follows is a complete list of credits, either for the professional capacity given in the biography after the person’s name or for the function specified in the filmography itself. A partial listing is headed “FILMS INCLUDE.” When it is not otherwise apparent, the national origin of a film, or the country in which it was produced, is shown by giving the country’s name after the title, in parentheses and usually abbreviated.
A slash separating titles in the credits means that what follows is an alternate title, in the same language as the original, in a second or third language for an international co-production, or for the release in a country other than that of origin. A slash used with country designations means that the film was a co-production of the two or more nations named.
Dates given with film titles are almost always the years of first release for general screening. For some films, however, the date reflects the year of a premiere (as when an American picture was screened near the end of a year to qualify it for the Academy Awards) or the year that the film was completed (as for some European films for which release dates could not be ascertained).
In some credits, a single film title is in most cases the title given the production in the country of origin. Whenever possible, original titles are given for pictures made in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German. Titles of those made in less familiar languages (Swedish, Japanese, Russian, etc.) are those under which they have been released in the United States or in the United Kingdom. When no record of release in English-speaking countries is available, what is shown for a title in one of the unfamiliar languages is either a literal translation or the English rendering of an untranslatable title.
Abbreviations
Most of the abbreviations in the film credits, as for countries, are common enough to be self-explanatory. The list below identifies those that might not be readily apparent.
Alg. Algeria
Aus. Austria
Austral. Australia
Brz. Brazil
Can. Canada
Eg. Egypt
Gr. Greece
phot. director of photography, cinematographer
scr. screenplay writer, scenarist
supvr. production supervisor
Sw. Sweden
Switz. Switzerland
A
AAAA (Associated Actors and Artistes of America).
The parent organization incorporating seven major unions and guilds representing actors and entertainers in the US, such as Actors Equity Association (AEA), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).
Based in New York City, the “four A’s” was organized in 1919 and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Membership is close to 200,000.
AADA. Commonly used abbreviation for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the oldest actors’ training school in the English-speaking world.
The Academy was founded in 1884 in New York City by Franklin Haven Sargent and was first known as the Lyceum Theatre School for Acting, later changing its name to the New York School for Acting, and finally to its present name.
The curriculum emphasizes dramatic stage training but also includes classes in television and film.
A West Coast campus of the AADA was founded in 1974, in Pasadena, Calif. Famous alumni of the school include Armand ASSANTE, Lauren BACALL, Anne BANCROFT, John CASSAVETES, Hume CRONYN, Cecil B. DE MILLE, Danny DE VITO, Colleen DEWHURST, Kirk DOUGLAS, Nina FOCH, Ruth GORDON, Jennifer JONES, Garson KANIN, Grace KELLY, Agnes MOOREHEAD, Pat O’BRIEN, William POWELL, Robert REDFORD, Edward G. ROBINSON, Rosalind RUSSELL, Joseph SCHILDKRAUT, Annabella SCIORRA, Spencer TRACY, Claire TREVOR, Robert WALKER, and Peter WELLER.
A and B Editing. A method of editing that requires the use of two rolls of film in the preparation of a master print. By alternating pictures from one of the rolls with a blank LEADER from the other roll, DISSOLVES and other effects can easily be achieved. Both rolls have a common CUE MARK. Roll A contains all the scenes up to the first dissolve, followed by a strip of blank leader for the scene to be dissolved. Roll B contains a blank leader up to the first dissolve, followed by the scene into which the dissolve is to be made. Until the next dissolve is reached, roll B then contains the picture scenes, while roll A consists of a blank leader. The process of alternating blank leaders and scenes is continued until all dissolves, FADES, and other effects have been introduced. The system is also useful in eliminating visible splices in the editing of 16mm film.
Abbott, Bud. Actor. b. William A. Abbott, Oct. 2, 1895, Asbury Park, N.J. d. 1974 of cancer. Snide straight man of the ABBOTT AND COSTELLO comedy team. The son of a circus couple, he grew up on Coney Island and at age 15 was Mickey-Finned and shanghaied aboard a ship bound for Norway. Unsuccessful at repeated attempts to break into show business, it was while he was working as a cashier at a Brooklyn theater in 1931 that a new career began for him when he was asked to substitute for comedian Lou Costello’s ailing straight man. After the team split up in 1957,
Abbott made a weak attempt at resuming his stage and TV career alone and with another partner. He suffered a series of strokes and spent his last years in retirement. See also ABBOTT AND COSTELLO; COSTELLO, LOU.
Abbott, Diahnne. Actress. b. 1945, New York City. Stately, voluptuous African-American actress best known for supporting and character roles. She is the former wife of actor Robert DE NIRO, with whom she appeared in Taxi Driver, New York New York (where she sang “Honeysuckle Rose”), and The King of Comedy.
FILMS INCLUDE: Taxi Driver 1976; New York New York, Welcome to L.A. 1977; The King of Comedy 1983; Love Streams 1984; Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling 1986; Before Night Falls 2000; Soliloquy 2002.
Abbott, George. Playwright, director, producer, screenwriter. b. June 25, 1887, Forestville, N.Y. d. 1995. ed. Rochester U.; Harvard. Legendary Broadway personality. Began his career as an actor in 1913. He later wrote numerous plays, often in collaboration, and directed and produced many others on Broadway. Several of his plays were adapted by others to the screen, including ‘Broadway,’ ‘Coquette,’ ‘Lilly Turner,’ ‘Three Men on a Horse,’ ‘On Your Toes,’ and ‘The Boys from Syracuse.’ He moved to Hollywood during the switch to sound, collaborated on the script of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), and directed a number of films, usually supplying his own scripts. In 1931 he returned to the stage and subsequently directed only three films, two of them screen adaptations of his stage musicals, ‘The Pajama Game’ and ‘Damn Yankees.’ He also produced several films, including Boy Meets Girl (1938). Among the numerous hits he directed for the stage were ‘Twentieth Century’ (1932), ‘Boy Meets Girl’ (1935), ‘Room Service’ (1937), ‘Pal Joey’ (1940), ‘On the Town’ (1944), ‘Where’s Charley?’ (1948), ‘Call Me Madam’ (1950), ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ (1951), ‘Wonderful Town’ (1953), ‘The Pajama Game’ (1954), ‘Damn Yankees’ (1955), ‘Fiorello!’ (1959), and ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ (1962). In 1983, at the age of 95 (!) he directed and co-produced a Broadway revival of ‘On Your Toes.’ In 1993, at 105, he joined in festivities celebrating Broadway’s 100th anniversary. Autobiography: Mister Abbott (1963).
FILMS INCLUDE: As director—The Impostor 1918; Why Bring That Up? (also dial., co-scr.), Half-Way to Heaven (also scr.) 1929; Manslaughter (also scr.), The Sea God (also scr.) 1930; Stolen Heaven (also scr.), Secrets of a Secretary (also scr.), My Sin (also scr.), The Cheat (also scr.) 1931; Too Many Girls (also prod.) 1940; The Pajama Game (co-dir., co-prod. with Stanley Donen; also co-scr. with Richard Bissell from their own stage musical) 1957; Damn Yankees (co-dir., co-prod. with Donen; also scr. from the stage musical he co-wrote with Douglass Wallop) 1958.
Abbott, L. B. Special effects technician. b. Lenwood Ballard Abbott, June 13, 1908, Pasadena, Calif., the son of a silent film cinematographer. d. 1985. Among Hollywood’s leading trick photography experts. He won Oscars for Dr. Doolittle (1967), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), and Logan’s Run (1976), as well as several Emmys for his TV work.
FILMS INCLUDE: The Three Faces of Eve, The Enemy Below, Peyton Place 1957; The Long Hot Summer, The Roots of Heaven, South Pacific, The Fly, The Young Lions 1958; The Diary of Anne Frank, Journey to the Center of the Earth 1959; From the Terrace, The Lost World, North to Alaska 1960; Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1961; Cleopatra 1963; The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Sound of Music 1965; Fantastic Voyage, Our Man Flint 1966; Doctor Doolittle, Valley of the Dolls 1967; The Detective, Planet of the Apes 1968; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Hello Dolly! 1969; Patton, Tora! Tora! Tora! 1970; The Poseidon Adventure 1972; The Towering Inferno 1974; Logan’s Run 1976; The Swarm 1978; When Time Ran Out 1980.
Abbott and Costello. A highly successful comedy team of the 40s and early 50s. They first joined forces in 1931, with tall, slim Abbott playing straight man to short, chubby Costello, and soon were headliners on the vaudeville and burlesque circuit. They broke into radio in 1938 and the following year starred in the Broadway revue ‘Streets of Paris.’ Their first film, One Night in the Tropics (1940), was hardly noticed, but their next, Buck Privates (1941), grossed $10 million and firmly established the team. For the next decade they were included in every list of top-ten box-office grossers. In 1957, after more than 30 broad slapstick films and some success on television, the two broke up. See also ABBOTT, BUD; COSTELLO, LOU.
FILMS INCLUDE: One Night in the Tropics 1940; Buck Privates, In the Navy, Hold That Ghost, Keep ’Em Flying 1941; Ride ’Em Cowboy, Rio Rita, Pardon My Sarong, Who Done It? 1942; It Ain’t Hay, Hit the Ice 1943; In Society, Lost in a Harem 1944; Here Come the Co-Eds, The Naughty Nineties, Abbott and Costello in Hollywood 1945; Little Giant, The Time of Their Lives 1946; Buck Privates Come Home, The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap 1947; The Noose Hangs High, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Mexican Hayride 1948; Africa Screams, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff 1949; Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion 1950; Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Comin’ Round the Mountain 1951; Jack and the Beanstalk, Lost in Alaska, Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd 1952; Abbott and Costello Go to Mars, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1953; Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops, Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy 1955; Dance With Me Henry 1956; The World of Abbott and Costello 1965 (compilation); Entertaining the Troops 1989 (archival footage).