Portal:Film

The Film Portal

Man working with a movie projector in a movie theater, 1958

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A film – also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick – is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and the art form that is the result of it. (Full article...)

Featured articles -

  Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

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Logo for the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise that started with a television series (simply called Star Trek but now referred to as Star Trek: The Original Series) created by Gene Roddenberry. The series was first broadcast from 1966 to 1969. Since then, the Star Trek canon has expanded to include many other series, a film franchise, and other media.

The film franchise is produced by Paramount Pictures and began with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. That film and the five that followed all starred the cast of The Original Series. The seventh film, Star Trek Generations (1994), was designed to serve as a transition from the original cast to that of the next series, Star Trek: The Next Generation. The next three films just starred the cast of The Next Generation, and ended with Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) which disappointed at the box office. (Portal:Film/Featured content)

General images -

The following are images from various film-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  Frame from a c.1912 Chronochrome film (from History of film technology)
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  Poster for a Biograph Studios release from 1913 (from Film industry)
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  Cinématographe Lumière at the Institut Lumière, France (from History of film technology)
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  GIF animation from retouched pictures of The Horse in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge (1879). (from History of film technology)
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  The Jazz Singer (1927), was the first full-length film with synchronized sound. (from History of film technology)
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  Salah Zulfikar and Nadia Lutfi in Saladin the Victorious (1963) (from History of film)
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  William Friese-Greene (from Film industry)
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  London IMAX has the largest cinema screen in Britain with a total screen size of 520 m². (from Film industry)
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  Complex vignette shot in die Austernprinzessin (The Oyster Princess) (from History of film)
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  Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (from History of film)
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  The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world (founded 1912) and the forerunner to Hollywood. It still produces global blockbusters every year. (from History of film)
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  A surviving two-color-component image from the first Technicolor feature film, The Gulf Between (1917) (from History of film technology)
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  Old Chinese Cinema in Qufu, Shandong (from Film industry)
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  Eadweard Muybridge's The Horse in Motion cabinet cards utilized the technique of chronophotography to study motion. (from History of film)
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  A shot from Raja Harishchandra (1913), the first film of Bollywood. (from Film industry)
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  Publicity still for the Egyptian film Yahya el hub (1938) (from Film industry)
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  The first two shots of As Seen Through a Telescope (1900), with the telescope POV simulated by the circular mask (from History of film)
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  Czermak's 1855 Stereophoroskop (from History of film technology)
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  An electrotachyscope
  American Scientific, 16/11/1889, p. 303

  (from History of film technology)
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  The Cinématographe Lumière in projection mode (from History of film technology)
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  Max Skladanowsky (right) in 1934 with his brother Eugen and the Bioscop (from History of film technology)
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  Off Plus Camera Film Festival in Kraków, 2012, with Andrzej Seweryn, Daniel Olbrychski, and Wojciech Pszoniak on stage. (from Film industry)
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  Discounted DVD home video film releases sold in the Netherlands (from Film industry)
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  Publicity still for the Egyptian film My Wife, the Director General (1966) (from Film industry)
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  Don Juan is the first feature-length film to use the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system with a synchronized musical score and sound effects, though it has no spoken dialogue. (from History of film)
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  The Hollywood Sign (from Film industry)
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  Cinema admissions in 1995 (from History of film)
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  The Pathé Brothers, by Adrien Barrère.

  (from Film industry)
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  Poster for the 1956 Egyptian film Wakeful Eyes starring Salah Zulfikar and Shadia (from History of film)
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  Louis Poyet's engraving of the mechanism of the "fusil photographique" as published in La Nature (april 1882) (from History of film technology)
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  Flying pelican captured by Marey around 1882. He created a method of recording several phases of movement superimposed into one photograph (from History of film technology)
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  Edward Raymond Turner's three-color projector, 1902 (from History of film technology)
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  A frame from the Lumière brothers staged comedy film, L'Arroseur Arrosé (1895) (from History of film)
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  Charlie Chaplin (from History of film)
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  A.E. Smith filming The Bargain Fiend in the Vitagraph Studios in 1907. Arc floodlights hang overhead. (from History of film)
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  A scene from Raja Harishchandra (1913) – credited as the first full-length Indian motion picture. (from Film industry)
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  Georges Méliès (left) painting a backdrop in his studio (from History of film)
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  Animated GIF of Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe No. X (Trentsensky & Vieweg 1833) (from History of film technology)
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  The Wizard of Oz (from History of film)
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  Bahiga Hafez (1901–1983) Egyptian filmmaker and actress in 1920s and 1930s (from Film industry)
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  Italian neorealist movie Bicycle Thieves (1948) by Vittorio De Sica, considered part of the canon of classic cinema (from History of film)
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  Film still from Dickson Greeting (from History of film technology)
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  The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world (founded 1912) and the forerunner to Hollywood. It still produces global blockbusters every year. (from Film industry)
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  A production scene from the 1950 Hollywood film Julius Caesar starring Charlton Heston (from History of film)
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  Nestor studio, 1911 (from Film industry)
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  A still from The Story of the Kelly Gang (Australia, 1906; 80 min.) (from Film industry)
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  Insert shot in Old Wives for New (Cecil B. DeMille, 1918) (from History of film)
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  Mona Zaki, Egyptian film star (from Film industry)

Selected image

Zoetrope

A modern replica of a Victorian zoetrope. A zoetrope is a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.

Did you know...

• ... that the first Russian feature film, Stenka Razin, depicts the historical Cossack leader throwing a princess into the Volga?
• ... that the Japanese boy band D-Date promoted a song through a short film in which the audience had to guess who the traitor was?
• ... that the folk ritual jailangkung originates from the Chinese practice of spirit basket divination and has been featured in Indonesian horror films?
• ... that Filipina actress Angel Locsin was recognized for her work in disaster relief, as well as humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons in the Marawi siege?
• ... that despite having roles in more than 170 films, Josef Somr preferred acting in theatre?

Selected biography -

Freeman in 2023

Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. Throughout a career spanning five decades and multiple film genres, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. He has also been awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2008, an AFI Life Achievement Award in 2011, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2012, and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2018.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Freeman was raised in Mississippi, where he began acting in school plays. He studied theater arts in Los Angeles and appeared in stage productions in his early career. He rose to fame in the 1970s for his role in the children's television series The Electric Company. Freeman then appeared in the Shakespearean plays Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, the former of which earned him an Obie Award. In 1978, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Zeke in the Richard Wesley play The Mighty Gents. (Full article...)

Featured lists -

  Per a review process, Featured lists are considered to be the best list articles on English Wikipedia.

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  Affleck at the premiere of his film Argo in 2012

  
  American actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck began his career as a child, appearing in several television shows, including the PBS educational program The Voyage of the Mimi (1984). He played an antisemite in the sports film School Ties (1992) and featured as a regular on the television drama Against the Grain (1993). He gained attention for playing the supporting part of a high-school senior in Richard Linklater's cult film Dazed and Confused (1993), after which he had his first leading role in Rich Wilkes's comedy Glory Daze (1995). In 1997, Affleck played a comics artist in Smith's art-house success Chasing Amy. He co-wrote the script and starred with Matt Damon in Gus Van Sant's drama film Good Will Hunting, for which they won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
  
  Affleck emerged a star with Michael Bay's top-grossing science fiction film Armageddon (1998). In 2000, Affleck co-formed a production company named LivePlanet, which produced Project Greenlight (2001–05, 2015), a television series that provides training to first-time filmmakers. Affleck starred in Bay's war film Pearl Harbor (2001), which despite negative reviews was a box office hit. His career subsequently went through a period of decline when he starred in a series of critical and commercial failures, including Gigli (2003). He made a comeback with the biopic Hollywoodland (2006), in which his portrayal of George Reeves earned him a Golden Globe nomination. (Full article...)
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  Damon at the French premiere for The Monuments Men in 2014

  
  American actor Matt Damon made his film debut with a small role in Mystic Pizza (1988), after which he played several supporting roles. His first leading role was in the legal drama film The Rainmaker (1997). His breakthrough came later that year when he played the title role of an unrecognized genius in Good Will Hunting, which he also co-wrote with Ben Affleck. They won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and Damon was nominated for Best Actor. He followed it by playing the title roles of a soldier in Steven Spielberg's war drama Saving Private Ryan (1998) and of the criminal Tom Ripley in the thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), both of which gained critical and commercial success. Damon and Sean Bailey worked on the television series Project Greenlight since 2000, helping newcomers make their first film.
  
  Damon's profile continued to expand in the 2000s, as he took on starring roles in two lucrative film franchises. He played a con man in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Trilogy (2001–2007) and played the titular spy Jason Bourne in four films of the Bourne series (2002–2016). Damon played an energy analyst in the thriller film Syriana (2005) and starred in Martin Scorsese's acclaimed crime film The Departed (2006). He played the rugby player Francois Pienaar in the sports film Invictus (2009), gaining a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Damon continued to gain praise for his collaborations with Soderbergh on the crime film The Informant! (2009) and the drama Behind the Candelabra (2013). His portrayal of Scott Thorson in the latter earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. (Full article...)
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  2021 recipients:
  Alia Bhatt (left) and Kriti Sanon (right)

  
  The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry. The National Film Awards were called the "State Awards for Films" when established in 1954. The State Awards instituted the "Best Actress" category in 1968 as the "Urvashi Award for the Best Actress"; in 1975, the "Urvashi Award" was renamed as the "Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress". Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of India has presented a total of 56 Best Actress awards to 45 different actresses.
  
  Until 1974, winners of the National Film Award received a figurine and certificate; since 1975, they have been awarded with a "Rajat Kamal" (silver lotus), certificate and a cash prize that amounted to ₹50,000 (US$630) in 2012. Although the Indian film industry produces films in more than 20 languages and dialects, the actresses whose performances have won awards have worked in ten major languages: Hindi (22 awards), Bengali (7 awards), Tamil (7 awards), Malayalam (6 awards), Telugu (4 awards), Kannada (3 awards), English (3 awards), Marathi (2 awards), Assamese (one award) and Urdu (one award). (Full article...)
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  Doherty attending the premiere of 90210 in 2008

  
  
  American actress Shannen Doherty has appeared in numerous television programs and motion pictures. After her television debut in Father Murphy in 1981, she landed her first major role in the dramatic western television series Little House on the Prairie (1982–1983), and reprised her role in its three television specials. Doherty received two Young Artist Award nominations for playing the oldest Witherspoon sibling Kris in the family drama Our House (1986–1988). She appeared in four films during the 1980s, including the positively-received, animated film The Secret of NIMH (1982) and the cult classic Heathers (1988). Her breakthrough role was as Brenda Walsh in the teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990–1994), but she was later dropped from the series because of backstage issues and her negative image as a "bad girl". She starred in television films in the early and mid-1990s, and played Rene Mosier in the romantic comedy Mallrats (1995) in an attempt to rebuild her career.
  
  Doherty enjoyed a resurgence in popularity after being cast by producer Aaron Spelling to play Prue Halliwell on the supernatural drama Charmed (1998–2001). The series was their second collaboration following Beverly Hills, 90210. The character was praised by critics and fans, earning a spot as one of the best witches in television history according to a TVLine article, and Doherty took an active role in the show's production, directing three of its episodes. Following disagreements with Spelling and co-star Alyssa Milano, Doherty left the series in its third season. Doherty starred in a string of television films and had a recurring role on the prime-time soap opera North Shore (2004–2005). The following year, she was cast as Denise Johnson in the unaired pilot of the sitcom Love, Inc., but was dropped from the show by producers from United Paramount Network (UPN). She reprised her role as Brenda Walsh in the reboot of 90210 (2008–2009), appearing as a special guest star in seven episodes in its first season. (Full article...)
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  The Cecil B. DeMille Award is an honorary Golden Globe Award bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) for "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment". The HFPA board of directors selects the honorees from a variety of actors, directors, writers and producers who have made a significant mark in the film industry. It was first presented at the 9th Golden Globe Awards ceremony in February 1952 and is named in honor of its first recipient, director Cecil B. DeMille. The HFPA chose DeMille due to his prestige in the industry and his "internationally recognized and respected name". DeMille received the award the year his penultimate film, The Greatest Show on Earth, premiered. A year later in 1953, the award was presented to producer Walt Disney.
  
  The award has been presented annually since 1952, with exceptions being 1976, 2008, 2022, and 2024. The second incident was due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike's cancellation of that year's ceremony. The award that year was meant to honor director Steven Spielberg, but due to the cancellation of the ceremony, the award was presented to him the following year. The third occurrence resulted from various media companies, actors, and other creatives boycotting the awards in protest over its lack of action to increase the membership diversity of the HFPA. In 2024, the award was shelved to make way for additional categories at that year's ceremony. (Full article...)
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  Pharrell Williams garnered several accolades for composing the song "Happy".

  
  Despicable Me 2 is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Illumination Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures. The sequel to Despicable Me (2010), it was directed by Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, and written by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. Despicable Me 2 stars the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, and Ken Jeong. The film follows Gru (Carell) as he is recruited by agent Lucy Wilde (Wiig), who is investigating a theft of the mutagen called PX-41, stolen from the Arctic Circle. During their investigations, they extract Eduardo Pérez / El Macho (Bratt), a supervillain with the goal of causing world domination after faking his death.
  
  Despicable Me 2 debuted in Australia on June 5, 2013, and was released in the United States on July 3. Proudced on a budget of $76 million, Despicable Me 2 grossed $970.8 million worldwide, finishing its theatrical run as the third-highest-grossing film of 2013. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 75% based on 187 reviews. (Full article...)
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  1917 is a 2019 epic war film co-written and directed by Sam Mendes. The film stars George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch. Based in part on an account told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather, Alfred Mendes, it chronicles the story of two young British soldiers in the spring of 1917 during World War I, who are given a mission to deliver a message warning of an ambush, soon after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich. Thomas Newman composed the film's musical score, while Roger Deakins was the cinematographer. Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales were responsible for the production design, and Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, and Stuart Wilson were responsible for the sound effects.
  
  After debuting at the Royal Film Performance on 4 December 2019, Universal Pictures initially gave the film a limited release in eleven cinemas in the United States and Canada on 25 December. The film was later given a wide release in the United States and the United Kingdom on 10 January 2020. 1917 grossed a worldwide total of $385 million on a production budget of $95 million. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, surveyed 445 reviews and judged 89% to be positive. (Full article...)
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  Basshunter during the concert in Halmstad, 20 April 2008

  
  Basshunter is a Swedish singer, record producer and DJ. He has released nineteen music videos, five lyric videos, two remix videos, one video megamix and five promotional video singles, and has made a guest appearance in one music video. Basshunter appeared in four short films, twelve television shows and one commercial.
  
  From his second album LOL (2006), Basshunter released music videos for the singles "Boten Anna", "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA", "Vifta med händerna" and "Jingle Bells". Carl-Johan Westregård and Kim Parrot directed the music videos for "Boten Anna" and "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA". A second version of the music video for the former was made. In 2007, a music video for the reissue of "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA" titled "DotA" was released. (Full article...)
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  Waterston at his Hollywood Walk of Fame awarding ceremony in January 2010

  
  
  Sam Waterston is an American actor and producer best known for his portrayal of district attorney Jack McCoy in the long-running police procedural and legal drama television show Law & Order.
  
  Waterston made his film debut in the 1965 drama film The Plastic Dome of Norma Jean. Waterston went on to appear as bond salesman Nick Carraway in the 1974 feature film version of The Great Gatsby, earning Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor and New Star of the Year. Waterston also portrayed Old West figure Frank Canton in Heaven's Gate (1980). Two years later, Waterston played American journalist Sydney Schanberg in the 1984 British drama The Killing Fields, opposite Haing S. Ngor and John Malkovich. For his performance, Waterston was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. (Full article...)
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  Barrymore in 1901, in one of the costumes from Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines

  
  
  Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; 1879–1959) was an American actress of stage, screen and radio. She came from a family of actors; she was the middle child of Maurice Barrymore and Georgie Drew Barrymore, and had two brothers, Lionel and John. Reluctant to pursue her parents' career, the loss of financial support following the death of Louisa Lane Drew, caused Barrymore to give up her dream of becoming a concert pianist and instead earn a living on the stage. Barrymore's first Broadway role, alongside her uncle John Drew, Jr., was in The Imprudent Young Couple (1895). She soon found success, particularly after an invitation from William Gillette to appear on stage in his 1897 London production of Secret Service. Barrymore was soon popular with English society, and she had a number of romantic suitors, including Laurence Irving, the dramatist. His father, Henry Irving, cast her in The Bells (1897) and Peter the Great (1898).
  
  On her return to America in 1898, Barrymore was lauded by the press and public and, under Charles Frohman's management, she appeared in Catherine (1898) and Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines (1901) on Broadway. The latter play was a success, and Barrymore received particular praise. She went on to have a series of similarly popular roles in Cousin Kate (1903), Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire (1905), Lady Frederick (1908) and Déclassée (1920), among others. After a series of less well-received roles in the early 1920s, she returned to popularity with her role as the sophisticated spouse of a philandering husband in The Constant Wife (1927). In 1928 the Ethel Barrymore Theatre was opened in her honor, and she appeared in its inaugural production, The Kingdom of God. (Full article...)

News

Wikinews film category

• September 2: Tributes paid to recently deceased US actor Chadwick Boseman
• October 7: Mockumentary Mister America has world premiere
• May 16: Actor Doris Day dies at 97
• January 22: Former U.S. intelligence agent Tony Mendez, architect of 'Argo' rescue, dies at 78

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Lists - List of basic film topics • List of film topics • List of films • List of film festivals • List of film formats • List of film series • List of film techniques • List of highest-grossing films • List of longest films by running time • List of songs based on a film or book • Lists of film source material • List of open content films

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