Noël Coward
1899 - 1973Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".
Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards. Many of his works, such as Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit, have remained in the regular theatre repertoire. He composed hundreds of songs, in addition to well over a dozen musical theatre works (including the operetta Bitter Sweet and comic revues), poetry, several volumes of short stories, the novel Pomp and Circumstance, and a three-volume autobiography. Coward's stage and film acting and directing career spanned six decades, during which he starred in many of his own works.
At the outbreak of World War II, Coward volunteered for war work, running the British propaganda office in Paris. He also worked with the Secret Service, seeking to use his influence to persuade the American public and government to help Britain. Coward won an Academy Honorary Award in 1943 for his naval film drama, In Which We Serve, and was knighted in 1969. In the 1950s he achieved fresh success as a cabaret performer, performing his own songs, such as "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "London Pride" and "I Went to a Marvellous Party".
His plays and songs achieved new popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and his work and style continue to influence popular culture. Coward did not publicly acknowledge his homosexuality, but it was discussed candidly after his death by biographers including Graham Payn, his long-time partner, and in Coward's diaries and letters, published posthumously. The former Albery Theatre (originally the New Theatre) in London was renamed the Noël Coward Theatre in his honour in 2006.
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Brief Encounter
David Lean
Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
Brief Encounter
Our Man in Havana
Carol Reed
Alec Guinness, Burl Ives
Expatriate Englishman Jim Wormold lives in pre-revolutionary Havana with his teenage daughter. Owning a poorly-performing business, he accepts an offer from the British Secret Service to recruit a network of agents in Cuba. Wormold hasn't got a clue where to start, so he decides to manufacture a list of agents and provide fictional tales for his masters in London, and is soon known as the best agent in the Western Hemisphere. However, it all unravels when the local police decode his cables and start rounding up his 'network' and he learns that he's the target of a group out to kill him.
Our Man in Havana
The Italian Job
Peter Collinson
Michael Caine, Noël Coward
Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.
The Italian Job
In Which We Serve
David Lean, Noël Coward
Noël Coward, John Mills
The story of the HMS Torrin, from it's construction to its sinking in the Mediterranean during action in World War II. The ship's first and only commanding officer is Captain E.V. Kinross, who trains his men not only to be loyal to him and the country, but—most importantly—to themselves.
In Which We Serve
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Valerie A. Robins
Otto Preminger, Burgess Meredith
This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie director Otto Preminger, whose body of work includes such memorable films as Anatomy of a Murder, Exodus, Laura, Forever Amber, Advise and Consent, In Harm's Way, The Moon Is Blue, The Man with the Golden Arm, and many other movies made from the '30s through the '70s. Interviews with actors Frank Sinatra, Vincent Price, James Stewart, Michael Caine, and others who worked with the flamboyant and sometimes control-obsessed director add information and insight to the story.
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
Blithe Spirit
David Lean
Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings
An English mystery novelist invites a medium to his home, so she may conduct a séance for a small gathering. The writer hopes to gather enough material for the book he's working on, as well as to expose the medium as a charlatan. However, proceedings take an unexpected turn, resulting in a chain of supernatural events being set into motion that wreak havoc on the man's present marriage.
Blithe Spirit
Le Journal de la Résistance
Pierre Blanchar, Noël Coward
Shot primarily by twelve French cameramen (led by filmmakers Jean Painlevé and Jean Grémillon), in August 1944, this film captures the final French insurrection in German-occupied Paris, the surrender of the Germans, and the mass celebration in the streets. (There is an English-language version narrated by Noel Coward.)
Le Journal de la Résistance
Around the World in Eighty Days
Michael Anderson
David Niven, Cantinflas
Based on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
Around the World in Eighty Days
Hearts of the World
D. W. Griffith
Lillian Gish, Robert Harron
A group of youngsters grow up and love in a peaceful French village. But war intrudes and peace is shattered. The German army invades and occupies village, bringing both destruction and torture. The young people of the village resist, some successfully, others tragically, until French troops retake the town.
Hearts of the World
Paris When It Sizzles
Richard Quine
William Holden, Audrey Hepburn
Hollywood producer Alexander Meyerheimer has hired drunken writer Richard Benson to write his latest movie. Benson has been holed up in a Paris apartment supposedly working on the script for months, but instead has spent the time living it up. Benson now has just two days to the deadline and thus hires a temporary secretary, Gabrielle Simpson, to help him complete it in time.
Paris When It Sizzles
The Scoundrel
Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht
Noël Coward, Julie Haydon
A ruthless, cynical, hated publisher is killed in a plane crash, doomed to be a "restless" spirit for being unloved. A heavenly power gives him a month on Earth to find one person to shed a tear for him before his fate is sealed.
The Scoundrel
The Astonished Heart
Terence Fisher, Antony Darnborough
Celia Johnson, Noël Coward
Several years after graduation, best friends Barbara (Celia Johnson) and Leonora (Margaret Leighton) reconnect as if not a day has gone by. But Leonora could do without Barbara's husband, Christian (Noel Coward), whom she finds arrogant and off-putting ... at first. One evening alone together, romance is set ablaze, leaving Christian with a lot of explaining to do to Barbara.
The Astonished Heart
