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Milly: Say something nice, Gideon.
Gideon: Nice night for a coon hunt.
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Ruth: [Caleb is helping her bring food to the table] If you'll just follow me.
Caleb: To the ends of the earth.
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen (April 13, 1924-February 23, 2019
[1]
), was born in South Carolina, USA. American director, screenwriter, producer, and actor.
In 1952, the directed love song and dance film " Singin' in the Rain " was released. In 1955, the directed love song and dance film " Seven Brides for Seven Brothers " was released. On December 5, 1963, the directed thriller and suspense romance " Charade " was released. In 1967, the romantic comedy " Two for the Road " was released.
In February 2019, Stanley Donen passed away at the age of 94
[1-2]
.
Early Experience
Stanley Donen was born in Columbia, South Carolina, USA on April 13, 1924. At the age of 9, he watched the musical "Flying to Rio". Motivated by this movie, Donan began to shoot home videos with an 8mm camera and received professional dance training
.
Performing Experience
Stanley Donen began to perform on Broadway when he was 17 years old. In the troupe, he has been a chorus member and has been an assistant dance director. His first performance was in the play "Pal Joey", which starred Gene Kelly
.
In 1943, "Stars in the Moon" starred Lucille Désirée Ball and William Gaxton
. Donan participated in the audition and signed a one-year contract with MGM. He later appeared as a dancer in the film and served as an assistant to the choreographer Charles Walters.
When Kelly went to Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group to star in " COVERGIRL " with Rita Hayworth , he got an opportunity to arrange his own dance and invited Donan to help. Donan accepted the invitation and served as the choreographer for 3 tracks. Donan then signed a one-year contract with Columbia and served as choreographer in many films, but a year later when Kelly hoped to get his assistance in the next film, he returned to MGM.
In 1944, Donan and Kelly served as choreographers in the musical " Anchor ", which was released by MGM in 1945, starring Kelly and Francis Albert Sinatra .
Kelly and Donan directed and arranged their own dance pieces in "High Key Life". And then they began to create a story about two early twentieth century basketball players acting as vaudeville performers during their holidays, which later developed into the 1949 film " Starting the Game ", the film was composed of Kelly, Francis Albert Sinatra and Jules. Starring Mengsin.
In 1949, with the help of producers Arthur Fried and Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen had the opportunity to collaborate with Gene Kelly to direct the film "Joyfulness", the film's directorial debut.
In 1951, Stanley Donen collaborated with Fred Astaire and Jane Powell on "The Royal Wedding." Dornan filmed " Love Is Better Than Ever " in 1951, starring Larry Parks and Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor .
In 1952, the directed love song and dance film " Singin' in the Rain " was released. Filmed the film " Fearless Fagan ( English : Fearless Fagan)" based on a real story , starring Carleton Carpenter .
In 1953, Donan filmed the musical " Give a Girl a Break ", starring Debbie Reynolds, Marge Champion and Helen Wood.
At the end of 1954, Donan also filmed the biographical film " Places in the Heart " with José Ferrer as the leading role.
In 1955, Donan filmed the musical "". Kelly, Cyd Charisse , and Dan Daley co-starred. After the film was completed, he also completed the contract he signed with MGM. The last project he worked on was to complete the film " Mandate of Heaven " in July 1955 to succeed Vincent Minnelli, who left for some reason . The last 4 days of filming work. "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" in 1955 is his most representative work after "Singin' in the Rain"
. Based on Stephen Vincent Bennet’s short story adaptation, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" was one of the highest-grossing films in 1954. The film won the 27th American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards including the best film in It was nominated for 5 items, and won the best soundtrack award in the musical category.
In 1957, Donan’s next film was " Funny Face " with Paramount Pictures, Inc. producer Roger Aidens ; in the same year, he directed the film version of "Pyjama Fairy Dance" with Abbott. Starring by Doris Day and John Ritter ( English : John Raitt ). One work after Donan is "Sweet Kiss League". After becoming an independent producer and director, he and Grant formed the "Stanley Donen Production Company" and signed a distribution agreement with Warner Bros.
Donan and Grant’s production company and the film ""Unveiled together, the film is based on Norman Krasna’s script, starring Grant and Ingrid Bergman
. After filming "", Dornan began to settle in England until the early 1970s.
The 1958"Is a brief attempt by Donan to return to a musical, which is also based on George Abbot's Broadway stage play of the same name. The main actors are changed to the Sigh Guy , TheSuperiorPosterior and Ray Walston
.
In the late 1950s, Dornan signed a non-exclusive contract with the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group to shoot three films. The first work he filmed under the contract was " Pretty Tease " in 1960, which was adapted from Harry Kunitz's stage play, starring Yul Brynner and Kay Kendall .
Donan soon collaborated with Bolina and Kuniz to film "The King and the Adventurer ", which was also released in 1960. Starring Brenna , Mitzi Gaynor and The Master . As the two consecutive films were not selling well, the Columbia company cancelled its contract with Donan.
"Lv Yuan Chun Nong" (1960) is one of the important works
.
December 5, 1963, directed the romance suspense thriller " Charade " was released, Directed by Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn starred
.
In 1966, Donan filmed another Hitchcock-style movie " Arabesque " starring Gregory Peck and Sofia Villani Scicolone .
"Dazzling" (1967) adapted from the famous book "Faust"; gay comedy "Stairs" (1969); action comedy "Lucky Number Distress" (1975); even he made a science fiction in the 1980s The shocking film "Saturn III" (1980).
April 27, 1967, directed the romantic comedy " Two for at The Road " was released, Directed by Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney starred
.
During his stay in England, Donan became a fan of a British variety show, and hoped to collaborate with the show’s comedy duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore . " Ecstasy " is the culmination of this collaboration.
The last film directed by Donan in the 1960s was " Stairs " in 1969. It was adapted from a stage play adapted from Charles Dale's autobiography. Rex Harrison and Richard Burton played a gay couple who ran a barbershop in London.
After his marriage to Adele Beatty ended, Donan returned to Hollywood in 1970. Producer Robert Evans invited him to direct the film of the same name based on the popular children's book " Le Petit Prince ". Starring Steven Warner, Bob Fosse , Richard Kiley, etc., the film was released in 1974
.
Donan’s next film was " Lucky Lady " released in 1974 , starring Liza Minnelli , Eugene Allen Hackman and Burt Reynolds .
Next, Donan shot a film with the theme of nostalgic old Hollywood movies, "Movie Film", the whole film is actually composed of two short films, the main actors include George C. Scott , Trish Van Devere , Red Buttons and so on. It premiered at the 29th Berlin International Film Festival in 1978 and participated in the competition.
In 1980, Donan filmed his only science fiction film "Saturn III", starring Kirk Douglas , Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel . Donan started as a producer, but later succeeded the director who was unable to continue for some reason.
The 1984 romantic comedy " Blame It on Rio " was the last film released in theaters directed by Donan . The film was co-starred by Michael Cain , Joseph Bologna , and Michel Johnson .
In 1986, Donan served as the producer of the live TV show for the 58th Academy Awards . In the same year, he also directed a song and dance piece for the popular TV series " Moonlighting " and directed the Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. song " Dancing on the Ceiling". "Music video. In 1989, the University of South Carolina awarded him an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Fine Arts .
In 1993, Donanben prepared to direct and supervise the musical version of the film adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel " Jekyll " with MJ as the starring role. But because Jackson was later accused of molesting a boy, this plan was eventually cancelled. Later this year Donan directed the musical ""The stage play version of ", but the play only lasted 4 days in total.
In 1998, won the Academy Honorary Award .
In April 1999, the directed TV movie " Love Letters " premiered, starring Steven Weber and Laura Linney . In 2002, directed the musical "Adult Entertainment" by his girlfriend Elaine May
.
Character Evaluation
The 1940s and 1950s were the golden age of Hollywood musicals, and Stanley Donen was the leader in this regard. He expanded musicals into the surreal field. He participated in the creation of many memorable clips, such as Gene Kelly dancing with the animated image of Jerry Mouse in "The Jade Phoenix", and Astaire's overcoming gravity in "The Royal Wedding" The performance that rotates to the ceiling, and the scene of Gene Kelly dancing in the rain in "Singin' in the Rain"
.
In the first half of his career, Stanley Donen devoted himself to exploring the integration of song and dance elements and film expressions, pushing this kind of commercial genre that was confined to entertainment effects to an artistic level
.
Extended Reading
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Seven Brides for Seven Brothers quotes
