Alfred Hitchcock Biography Sir Alfred Hitchcock was an English/American film director who pioneered significant developments in the movie industry of the mid 20th century. He is most famous for producing several classic films, especially of the thriller genre. Hitchcock is considered one of the greatest and most influential film producers of the Twentieth Century. Some of his most famous films include 39 Steps (1935), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960). "In the documentary the basic material has been created by God, whereas in the fiction film the director is a God: he must create life." – Alfred Hitchcock – as quoted in Hitchcock (1984) Early life of Alfred Hitchcock alfred-hitchcockAlfred Hitchcock was born 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone, Essex, England where he studied at the Roman Catholic Salesian College and later St Ignatius College. His childhood was not particularly happy. He suffered from obesity, a result of a glandular condition, and his parents were strict and somewhat remote. When he was just five, his father sent him to a police station with a note that he should be locked up for 5 minutes, which left him with a life-long fear of authority and the police in particular. During his childhood, the young Alfred would often spend time by himself, inventing games and drawing maps. When he was 15, he left college to study at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation; this qualified him to be a draftsman. He gained his first job with a telegraph company, but it was around this time he developed a burgeoning interest in the cinema, which was a recent innovation. In the evenings after work, he would watch films and study the cinema trade newspapers. Towards the end of the First World War, he attempted to join the army but was rejected because of his weight, although he did later manage to sign up for a brief time as a cadet in the Royal Engineers. First Steps in Film After the war, he began writing short stories, which were published in his company's in-house magazine. Hitchcock also developed an interest in photography and the new art of film production. He gained employment in 1920 as a title card designer for a company which would later be known as Paramount Pictures. With hard work, Hitchcock progressed through the company and within five years was producing silent films. In later years he said silent films were the 'purest form of cinema'. In the mid-1920s, he travelled to Germany where he picked up many of the emerging expressionist techniques used in modern filmmaking. After a few challenging early films, he gained his first commercial and critical success with The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927). By 1929, he had produced ten films; his 10th film Blackmail was a significant moment for him because it was one of the first 'talkers' – films with an audio track. Success in the 1930s By the mid-1930s, Hitchcock was establishing his reputation as one of the leading film producers in Britain. Several films proved a great success, such as 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936) and The Lady Vanishes (1938). Hitchcock proved a master at creating tension and a fast-moving plot line; he didn't tie down the audience in detail but created scenes of dramatic tension. Hitchcock pioneered the use of famous backdrops, either famous landmarks in a city or the wilderness of the Scottish moors – 39 Steps (1935). Later in his career, he used many famous landmarks such as Mt Rushmore in North by Northwest (1959) and the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur (1942). Move to America Hitchcock's critical success in England led him to be approached by David Selznick from Hollywood. In 1939, the Hitchcock family moved to California, where he began working on a new film. His first film Rebecca (1940) received an Academy Award for Best Picture. Hitchcock was not particularly enamoured of America, but he did enjoy the greater resources available to American studios – it was an improvement on the small budgets of the English film producers. Towards the end of the Second World War (1943), he returned to England, where he produced two films in French for the Free French forces. In 1945 he also served as film editor for a documentary about the concentration camps that were liberated by British troops (Bergen-Belsen). However, the images were so shocking; it was later shelved until being published in 1985 (Memory of the Camps); the film was also re-released in 2014. After the war, Hitchcock returned to America, where he resumed his long and successful American film career. In particular, he enjoyed developing his talents in creating psychologically intriguing films. "Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, weren't we all frightened as children? Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf. What frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It's just a different wolf. This fright complex is rooted in every individual." – Alfred Hitchcock. The Golden Era The 1950s was Hitchcock's golden era, producing classic films such as Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959) and Psycho (1960). Psycho was Hitchcock's best known and most profitable film. It broke box office records as viewers flocked to view this pioneering new horror genre film. Hitchcock, (like Walt Disney) was also early to embrace the new medium of TV. He hosted a TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1955 to 1965; his prominent role in hosting the show helped him become one of the most recognisable film directors and media celebrities of the day. During the next two decades, his output was less prolific as old age and failing health limited his work rate, but he continued to produce feature films up until his death. Hitchcock died of renal failure on 29 April 1980, while at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles. He had just recently received a knighthood from the Queen. Features of Hitchcock's films Hitchcock's films often share similar elements. Responding to criticism of repeated ideas, he once retorted, "Self-plagiarism is style." Hitchcock often portrayed the guilty party as quite a charming man. Often an innocent man was accused of being guilty in the first instance by authority, before being able to prove his innocence. His leading ladies were often 'ice-cool blondes', such as Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly and Tippi Hedren. These women were often reserved and cold in his films, giving little emotion away. Hitchcock stated: "Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." – Alfred Hitchcock, Interview on CBS TV (20 February 1977) Hitchcock also enjoyed a gallows humour which is not always obvious to spot. Finally, Hitchcock developed a tradition of making short cameos in his films. Hitchcock had a reputation for being unsympathetic to actors and a hard taskmaster. He was rumoured to have said that actors were 'like cattle', and this remark hung around Hitchcock (though he later said he had been misquoted). However, many actors gave memorable performances in his films and won Academy Awards for their performances. Hitchcock was nominated five times for an Academy Award for Best Director, but he never won. In 1956, he became a U.S. citizen, although he remained a British subject. |
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Lyndon Johnson Biography Lyndon Johnson was the 36th President of the US from 1963 to 1969 – one of the most turbulent and influential periods in American politics. Lyndon Johnson helped to implement the 'Great Society' reforms – extending welfare support and implementing civil rights legislation. He also presided over the escalation of American involvement in the Vietnam War which proved increasingly controversial. Lyndon Johnson Johnson was born on August 27, 1908, in central Texas. Growing up in the Great Depression, he gained a first-hand perspective on poverty, and the Great Society reforms he later implemented were an attempt to make this kind of poverty a thing of the past. In 1937, aged only 29, Johson successfully won election to the House of Representatives. During the Second World War, he served in the Navy, winning the Silver Star for service in the Pacific. In 1948, he was elected to the Senate, and by 1953, had become the youngest ever Minority House Leader. He worked closely with Dwight D Eisenhower and helped to get some of his policies through the Senate. In 1960, he stood as Vice President to the youthful In the 1959 election, he stood as Vice President to the youthful John F Kennedy. The idea was that the Protestant, southern Johnson would make a dream ticket to accompany the northern Catholic liberal, John F. Kennedy. In 1959, one of the tightest ever elections, JFK-Johnson were elected, defeating Richard Nixon. The three years of the Kennedy presidency proved turbulent, with the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War dominating foreign policy. America also started to become involved in aiding the South Vietnamese against their northern Communist enemies. In 1963, JFK was assassinated, while visiting Dallas, Texas – Johnson's home state. Shortly after, Johnson was sworn in as Vice President and addressed a shocked nation. "This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me, it is a deep, personal tragedy. I know the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best; that is all I can do. I ask for your help and God's." (22 November 1963) In 1964, Lyndon Johnson was re-elected in a landslide for the Democrats. In this period, America became more involved in the Vietnam war – switching from providing intelligence to bombing positions in the north and putting American troops on the ground. JFK's and Lyndon Johnson's secretary of defence, Robin McNamara, suggested that if JFK had lived, American involvement in Vietnam would have decreased. But, with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution of 1964, Johnson gained a free hand from Congress to take greater involvement in the Vietnam war. He said in 1965, "I do not find it easy to send the flower of our youth, our finest young men, into battle." But the war was increasingly escalated, and the casualties mounted. The conflict also became increasingly unpopular and costly to the American people. By 1968, there were widespread protests and civil disobedience in protest at the war. On a domestic front, Johnson was able to pass more legislation through Congress as part of his Great Society reforms. This included extended welfare support for poorer Americans. For example, millions of elderly people benefited through the 1965 Medicare amendment to the Social Security Act. Johnson also enacted civil rights legislation to protect in law, equal rights independent of a person's ethnic group. In 1965, he introduced the Voting Rights Act. "Every American citizen must have the right to vote…Yet the harsh fact is that in many places in this country men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes… No law that we now have on the books…can insure the right to vote when local officials are determined to deny it… There is no Constitutional issue here. The command of the Constitution is plain. There is no moral issue. It is wrong—deadly wrong—to deny any of your fellow Americans the right to vote in this country. There is no issue of States' rights or National rights. There is only the struggle for human rights." (15th March 1965 However, the new legislation often didn't change the situation on the ground, and there were growing civil rights protests at continued racial discrimination. Martin Luther King led non-violent protests, though increasingly others, such as Malcolm X wanted more radical action. Lyndon Johnson shocked American by not standing for re-election in the 1968 election. He died of a heart attack in 1973. |
Ivan Sulyma (Polish: Iwan Sulima, Ukrainian: Іван Михайлович Сулима – Ivan Mykhailovych Sulyma) was a Senior of Registered Cossacks in 1628–29 and a Kosh Otaman in 1630–1635. Life and death Son of Mykhailo Sulyma, Ivan came from a petty noble (szlachta) family. He was born in Rohoshchi (next to Chernihiv). He served as an estate overseer for Stanisław Żółkiewski and later the family of Daniłowicze who inherited his lands; for that service in 1620 he was awarded three villages: Sulimówka, Kuczakiw and Lebedyn. All the villages today belong to the Boryspil Raion, Kyiv Oblast. His sons included Stepan (died 1659), a captain of Boryspil company, and Fedir (died 1691), a colonel of Pereiaslav regiment. He became popular among the unregistered Cossacks, leading them on campaigns to plunder Crimea and other Ottoman vassal territories. For organizing a revolt on an Ottoman slave galley and freeing Christian slaves[1] he received a medal from Pope Paul V himself. Eventually, Sulyma reached the rank of the hetman, which he held from 1628 to 1629 and 1630 to 1635. In 1635, after returning from an expedition to Black Sea against the Ottomans, he decided to rebel against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which at that time controlled most of the Cossack territories, and whose nobility was trying to turn militant Cossacks into serfs.[citation needed] Ivan Sulyma took part in numerous campaigns of Sagaidachny against Tatars and Turks. In particular, it was the famous capture of Kafa (modern Theodosia), the main center of the slave trade on the Black Sea, Trapezont, Izmail, and also two attacks on Tsaregrad. On the night of 3 to 4 August 1635 he took the newly constructed Kodak fortress by surprise, burning it and executing its crew of about 200 people under Jean Marion. Soon afterwards however his forces were defeated by the army of hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski and Sulima was turned over to the Commonwealth by Cossack elders or starshina. Together with several other leaders of his rebellion, Hetman Sulyma was executed in Warsaw on 12 December 1635. At first, the Polish King Władysław IV Waza, known for his friendly attitude towards the Cossacks, was hesitant to execute Sulyma, especially since he was a person upon whom the Pope himself bestowed his medal. However, pressured by the nobility who wanted to show that no rebellions against the 'established order' would be tolerated, the order for an execution was given; after being tortured, Sulyma was cut to pieces and his body parts were hung on the city walls of Warsaw.[2] |
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