The Movies
*** A
Adventures of Robin Hood – The..... 1938 .…. U.S.A ..... FIRST Technicolour version of the Robin Hood series which starred Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains
African Queen - The ..... John Huston's FIRST British film
Alyn - Kirk neé John Feggo Jr ..... born on 8th October 1910 ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST actor to play Superman on film. The film became the highest grossing serial of all time but he always regretted taking the role. He died in 1999. His successor, George Reeves, committed suicide in 1959 and Christopher Reeve became paralysed in a riding accident in 1995
An American Werewolf in Paris ….. 29th March 1982 .…. U.S.A ..... FIRST film to win an Oscar in the new Best Makeup category. It was received by Rick Baker
Anderson - Gilbert M "Bronco Billy" ..... neé Max Aaronson ..... born 1882 died 1971 ..... FIRST movie star character, FIRST motion picture cowboy hero and the FIRST genuinely tinselled phoney in Hollywood. He virtually created the Western film out of his pulp magazine imagination and became the symbol to the world of the heroic cowboy even though he had no connection with the West and in the beginning could not even get on a horse let alone ride one
Animal Farm ….. in 1954 it was Britain’s FIRST feature-length cartoon
Annie Hall ..... U.S.A ..... when it received the Oscar for Best Film in 1977 it marked the FIRST occasion that a studio had won the Best Picture award in three successive years. United Artists was the studio and awards received in previous years were for 1975 – One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and 1976 - Rocky
Arbuckle - Roscoe ‘Fatty’….. born 24th March 1887 ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST film star to be guaranteed a minimum of $1m a year and the FIRST to be formally banned by a studio
Arliss - George ….. FIRST British actor to win a Best Actor Oscar and was for an American film – Disraeli (1929/30)
Atlantik ….. made in 1929 it was the FIRST German talkie, although it had to be shot in London
Autry - Gene (Orvon) ….. born 29th September 1907 ….. U.S.A ..... cowboy actor, singer, composer (of over 275 songs) and successful investor who was the FIRST movie star to make a regular series for television, the FIRST cowboy to make recordings, the FIRST to make singing Western movies and the FIRST to head a rodeo in New York. His biggest record hit was Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1940 which sold over 8 million and Was Columbia Record's all-time biggest seller
*** B
Babette's Feast ..... in 1987 it was the FIRST Danish film to win an Oscar
Barrymore - Lionel ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST film artist to win nominations in two different categories in 1928-29 - Best Actor in A Free soul and Best Director in Madame X
Becky Sharp ….. the FIRST three-colour Technicolour feature film - 1935
Bell - Bob ..... born 1922 died 1997..... one of the FIRST actors to portray the character of Bozo the Clown – who was created and originally portrayed by Larry Harman in 1957
Berlin - Irving ..... U.S.A ..... at the 1942 Academy Awards he became the FIRST and only person to present himself with an Oscar when he opened the envelope for Best Song and discovered that he had won for White Christmas which Bing Crosby sang in the film Holiday Inn
Big House – The ..... 1929/30 ..... U.S.A ..... film which was awarded the FIRST Best Sound Recording Oscar which was accepted by Douglas Shearer
Bitter Tea of General Yen - The ..... U.S.A ..... in 1933 it was the FIRST Columbia picture to open at Radio City Music Hall
Borzage - Frank ..... born 1893 died 1962 ..... U.S.A ..... winner of the FIRST Directorial Academy Award in 1927 for Seventh Heaven
Brennan - Walter ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST Supporting Actor winner of an Oscar which he received in 1936 for Come and Get It
Brett - Harold ..... FIRST scriptwriter to be employed on a regular basis in Britain when he was engaged by the British and Colonial Kinematograph Company
Broadway Musical – The ..... U.S.A ..... in 1928/29 it was the very FIRST MGM musical
Brook - Clive ..... born 1st June 1891 died 1974 ..... U.K ..... suave, handsome leading man of both British and American cinema, the FIRST gentleman gangster when he played Rolls-Royce in the 1928 film Underworld. He was born Clifford Brook in London and starred in his first film in the 1920 version of Trent’s Last Case. His American career began four years later with Christine of the Hungry Heart. He returned to England in the mid-30s and ended his film career when he returned to the theatre in 1945
Bwana Devil ..... the FIRST 3-D movie
*** C
Capra - Frank ….. U.S.A ..... the FIRST director in Hollywood to achieve a hat trick in so short a period when he won Oscars in 1934 for It Happened One Night, in 1936 for Mr Deeds Goes To Town and in 1938 for You Can't Take It With You. He was also the FIRST director to have his name in lights alongside those of his stars - 1938
Cardiff Odeon ..... the FIRST cinema in Britain to gain a major national industrial award when it received the Investors in People award in November 2000
Chaplin- Charlie ..... U.S.A ..... signed Hollywood's FIRST $1m contract and was the FIRST actor to appear on the cover of Time magazine
Chicago Tribune ..... U.S.A ..... in 1914 it was the FIRST newspaper to introduce regular film reviews and Jack Lawson was appointed as film critic. Unfortunately he was killed shortly afterwards in an accident and his place was taken by Miss Audrie Alspaugh who wrote under the by-line 'Kitty Kelly'. her column was a huge success and she became the best 'disliked' name in the world of film studios. 'Kitty Kelly' could make or break a picture in the Middle West
Continental – The ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST song to win an Academy Award was from the film The Gay Divorcee - 1934
Cover Girl ..... U.S.A ..... 1944 film in which Rita Hayworth and Gene Kelly danced together for the FIRST and only time
Covered Wagon - The ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST epic Western made in 1923 by John Cruze
*** D
Darin - Bobby ..... neé Walden Robert Cassotto ..... born 14th May 1936 died 20th December 1973 ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST rock and roller to be nominated for an Oscar when, in 1963, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Captain Newman, M.D
Dawn Patrol – The ..... U.S.A ..... 1930/31 - Howard Hawk’s FIRST sound film
Dean - James ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST actor to receive a posthumous nomination in the Oscar ceremony when nominated for Best Actor for East of Eden in 1955 ( see Peter Finch)
Desperados - The ..... U.S.A ..... film starring Glenn Ford and Evelyn Keyes which was Columbia’s FIRST technicolour film
Destination Moon ..... U.S.A ..... 1950 ..... FIRST of the big post-war science-fiction movies
Dirigible ..... U.S.A ..... 1931 ..... the FIRST Columbia film to play in Grauman's Chinese Theatre
Disney - Walter Elias ..... U.S.A ..... born 5th December 1901 ..... FIRST person to successfully marry sound and animation
Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde ..... U.S.A ..... 1920 ..... the FIRST notable horror movie made in America. It starred John Barrymore who did the changeover without trick photography by gradually distorting the muscles of his face grotesquely before our very eyes
*** E
Ealing Studios in London was the FIRST British sound-film studio. Built in 1931 it's Ealing Comedies became part of British film-making and some of the more well-known ones are Passport to Pimlico (1948) Kind Hearts & Coronets(1949) and The Ladykillers (1955)
Egyptian Theatre ..... U.S.A ..... in 1922 it was Hollywood's FIRST movie palace
Emmett - E.V.H ….. U.S.A ..... the FIRST Voice of Gaumont when he spoke the opening line "This is the Gaumont-British News presenting the world to the world"
Eskimo ..... U.S.A ..... 1934 winner of the FIRST Film Editing Oscar
*** F
Fairbanks Douglas Jnr ….. born 1909 ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Fairbanks Douglas Snr ….. born 23rd May 1883 died 1939 ...... U.S.A ..... FIRST film star known to have changed his real name
Farewell to Arms - A ..... U.S.A ..... 1932/33 ….. FIRST of the novels of Ernest Hemingway to be made into a film
Feuillade - Louis ..... FIRST contract writer ( i.e. full-time employee of a studio) when he joined the Gaumont Studios in Paris in 1905
Final Test - The ..... U.K ..... 1953 ..... the FIRST full-length feature film based on cricket. It starred Jack Warner and Robert Morley and several English Test cricketers also appeared
Finch Peter neé William Mitchell ..... born 1916 died 1977..... British actor of Australian origin and the FIRST posthumous Best Actor winner in the history of the Oscars when it was awarded for his role in the film Network in 1976. He was the third actor to be posthumously nominated with James Dean being the first and Spencer Tracy the second
Flowers and Trees ..... U.S.A ..... 1931 ..... FIRST Technicolour cartoon and winner of the FIRST Oscar for Short Subjects
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - The ..... U.S.A ..... film starring Rudolph Valentino which was Hollywood's FIRST $1m movie
*** G
Gates of Hell ..... 1954 …. FIRST Japanese production to make use of a Western colour process
Gay Divorcee - The ..... U.S.A ..... 1934 …. FIRST musical in which Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers had the leading roles
German - Sir Edward ..... born February 17th 1862 ..... the FIRST composer to write music for a British film when he wrote 16 bars for the Coronation scene in Henry V111
Get Carter ..... U.K ..... 1971 film starring Michael Caine which contained the FIRST telephone sex scene in cinema history
Godfather - The (Part 11)..... U.S.A ..... in 1974 it made cinema history when it became the FIRST sequel to win an Oscar for Best Picture
Golden Age Of Comedy ..... U.S.A ..... 1958 ….. by Robert Youngson, was the FIRST compilation of silent comedy classics
Gone With The Wind ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST colour film to win Best Picture Oscar - 1939
Good Companions - The ..... U.K ..... the FIRST 'talkie' film to be seen by King George V and Queen Mary. The film starred Jessie Matthews and John Gielgud
Gould - Dave ..... U.S.A ..... winner of the FIRST Dance Direction Oscar in 1935 for I've Got A Feeling You're Fooling from Broadway Melody of 1936 and Straw Hat from Folies Bergere
Grand - The ..... U.K ..... identified as Manchester's FIRST cinema by G J Mellor's book Picture Pioneers from its re-opening on 3rd December 1906 by Jasper Redfern. In 1910 he was granted one of the city's FIRST cinematograph licences. The Grand later became a full-time cinema as the Palladium, then Peter Street Picture House and finally the Futurist
Great Expectations ..... 1947 ….. with Black Narcissus became the FIRST British films to win all four Oscars in photography and art direction categories
Great Train Robbery - The ..... U.S.A ..... 1903 ..... the FIRST real Western movie and from which G M "Bronco Billy" Anderson emerged as the FIRST Western star although the Edison Company had made a Western movie called Cripple Creek Barroom in 1898
Griffiths - D W ….. born 22nd January 1875 died 1948 ….. U.S.A ..... the FIRST film director to make a film more than 1000’ long. He was one of the founding fathers of the cinema industry and his epic films Birth of a Nation and Intolerance revolutionised film making. He said of himself " I changed everything. I moved the whole world onto a 20’ screen". With Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks he formed United Artists as a film distributing company and built his own studios in New York. However the company floundered in the economic recession. His last film The Struggle was made in 1931
Guilaroff - Sydney …..born 2nd November 1906 ….. U.S.A ..... hairdresser to the stars. He was the FIRST of his craft to receive screen credits and was responsible for the hairstyles of virtually all of the MGM actresses from Joan Crawford to Elizabeth Taylor. In 1938 he made legal history when he became the FIRST man in the U.S.A who had never married, to be allowed to adopt a child.
*** H
Haller - Ernest & Ray Rennahan ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST to win Oscars for colour photography - Gone With The Wind (1939)
Hamlet ..... U.S.A ..... in 1948 it was the FIRST film to win an Oscar in the black/white costume design category and also the FIRST wholly British film to be awarded the Best Picture Oscar
Handling Ships ..... 1945 ….. the FIRST complete British technicolour cartoon
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ….. in 2004 it became the FIRST film to take more than £5m in a single day in the UK
Heave Away My Johnny ..... U.S.A ..... 1949 ….. FIRST cartoon for children
Heston - Charlton ….. U.S.A ..... born October 4th 1924 ….. FIRST major screen star to establish a reputation on television before entering films, as Anthony in Julius Caesar and Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights
Hollywood Revue of 1929 ….. U.S.A ..... one of the FIRST "all-star" films produced by M.G.M. The film heralded the arrival of sound and the dramatic effect it would have on actors careers. It was the FIRST all-singing, all-dancing, all-talking movie
Holmes - Phillips ..... U.S.A ..... star of the 1931 An American Tragedy he was the FIRST Hollywood actor to be killed in action in the Second World War
How The West Was Won ..... U.S.A ..... 1962 ..... the FIRST Cinerama film with a story line. It was made with the three projector technique devised in 1937 by Fred Waller of Paramount's special effects department but this was abandoned in 1962 and replaced by a new single-lens Cinerama technique
Howard - Sidney ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST posthumous Oscar winner - wrote the screenplay for Gone With The Wind
*** I
In Old Arizona ..... U.S.A ..... 1929 ..... Hollywood's FIRST 100% all-talking drama filmed outdoors and which won an Academy Award for its leading man, Warner Baxter
Interpreter - The ….. U.S.A ..... 2005 ..... the FIRST film to be granted inside access to the UN Building. Directed by Sydney Pollack the film starred Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn
Island In The Sun ….. FIRST American film to show love scenes between black and white people. Starred Joan Collins
It Happened One Night ..... U.S.A ..... 1934 ….. FIRST film to win all 5 major Academy Awards - Best film/ direction/ actor/ actress/ writing adaptation. It was also the FIRST time that the male and female leads in a film won the top acting awards. The Oscars went to Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert but neither one of them one an Oscar again although nominated twice more
*** J
Jannings - Emil ….. U.S.A ..... winner of the FIRST Best Actor Oscar ever awarded in 1929. The film was The Last Command 1927/28. He was unable to attend the inaugural ceremony and was given his Oscar in advance to take home to Germany
Jaws ..... U.S.A ..... produced by Steven Spielberg it was the FIRST film to break the $100 million barrier
Joan of Arc ..... U.S.A ..... 1948 ….. the FIRST film to win an award in the colour costume category
Johnson - Noble ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST black actor to make a career in films
Jolson - Al ….. U.S.A ..... born 26th May 1886 died October 23rd 1950 …… star of the FIRST talking film in 1927. He was also the FIRST star to take a Broadway show on the road, the FIRST to earn $10,000 a week - (this was before 1914), the FIRST to entertain troops in the war and the FIRST to appear on a flickering green screen in a N.Y. office on what turned out to be television
Judith Of Bethulia ..... U.S.A ..... 1914 ..... America's FIRST real epic film was a 4-reel biblical drama containing an elaborate set and some exciting battle scenes - a dress rehearsal for Birth Of A Nation (1915) the most famous film of all
Jungle Book - The ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST animated film to use voices of popular singing stars.
*** K
Kinoshita - Keisuke ….. born 5th December 1912 died 1999 ….. Japanese film director who made Japan's FIRST colour film in 1958 - Ballad of Narayama
Kobayashi - Masaki ..... born February 14th 1916 ..... the FIRST Japanese film-maker to feature in the Guinness Book of Records, as director of the longest movie ever made. The Human Condition (1959-61) was in fact a trilogy which lasted more than nine hours and was the story of a brave man’s rebellion against the brutality of the Japanese military machine in the Second World War
Korda - Alexander ..... directed the FIRST British film to win an Oscar for best film - The Private Life of Henry V111. Born Sandor Kellner, he was the FIRST Hungarian film critic. Under the pseudonym "Sursum Corda" ( Lift up your hearts) he wrote stories and articles for a daily newspaper, took a job subtitling foreign films and in 1915 directed his debut drama
*** L
La Sortie des Ouvriers de l'Usine Lumière ..... FRENCH ..... the FIRST film publicly presented on screen when it was shown before members of the Socièté d'Encouragement pour li'Industrie Nationale by Auguste and Louis Lumière at 44, rue de Rennes, Paris - 22nd March 1895
Laughton - Charles ….. born July 1st 1899 died 1962 ….. FIRST Englishman to win an Academy Award in a British made film - The Private Life of Henry V111 ( 1933)
Lean - Sir David ….. born 1908 died 1991..... FIRST ever British director to win an American award - The Bridge On The River Kwai ( 1957)
Lemmon - Jack neé John Uhler ..... U.S.A ..... born 1925 ..... the FIRST actor to win both a Supporting Actor Oscar (Mister Roberts 1955) and a Best Actor Oscar (Save The Tiger 1973) in his career
Lincoln - Elmo ….. U.S.A ..... born 1899 died 1952 ….. in 1918 he was the screen's FIRST Tarzan
Lloyd - Harold Nicholas ….. U.S.A ..... born 17th March 1921 died 2000 ….. FIRST dancer to accomplish what some authorities consider to be the most difficult move ever committed to film when, to the sound of Glenn Miller's I've Got A Girl In Kalamazoo, he ran halfway up a pillar before pushing off into a tumbling backflip. The film was Orchestra Wives ( 1942)
Lone Defender - The ..... U.S.A ..... 1930 ..... film starring Rin-Tin-Tin and made by Mascot Pictures, it was the FIRST all-talking, all-barking serial in canine or human history
Lord Of The Rings : Return Of The King ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST fantasy film to win Best Picture Oscar when it swept the awards in 2004 with an epic eleven awards out of eleven
Lost Weekend - The ..... U.S.A ..... 1945 ….. starring Ray Milland, was the FIRST film to treat alcoholism with any seriousness and the FIRST so-called 'message' picture to win the top award of Best Film. The film also won 3 other Oscars - Best direction/actor/screenplay
Lucas - Sam ..… U.S.A ..... FIRST black actor to play a leading role in a feature film when he played the title role in Uncle Tom's Cabin
*** M
Marie-Louise ..... 1945 ….. FIRST European movie to win an award in one of the major Oscar categories - Best Original Screenplay ( Richard Schweizer)
Marty ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST Best Picture to have originally been written and produced as a television play. It was made in 1955 and starred Ernest Borgnine who won Best Actor Oscar. It was also the FIRST American film to win the Palme d'Or and when the producers Lancaster and Hecht returned to America they became the FIRST producers to spend more on a film's awards campaign than on its budget.1955 was also the FIRST year that a posthumous award was nominated and this was to James Dean. It was also the FIRST American film since World War 2 to be shown in the Soviet Union
McCardell - Roy ..... New York journalist who became the FIRST film scriptwriter in 1900 when he was hired by Henry Marvin of the Biograph Company to write ten scenarios a week at $15 each
Melbourne-Cooper - Arthur ….. U.K ..... in 1908 he opened the Picture Palace, the FIRST cinema with a sloping floor
Menzies - William Cameron ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST art director to win an Oscar - The Dove (1927/28)
Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) ….. U.S.A ..... the FIRST Hollywood studio to display two Best Picture Oscars in its front office. The first was for the musical The Broadway Melody and the second was for the film Grand Hotel which was also the FIRST occasion that any Hollywood studio had paraded as many as seven stars above its title in any film. It was also one of the FIRST film companies to make a film in Rome when William Wyler made Roman Holiday in 1953
Midnight Cowboy ..... U.S.A ..... starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman was the FIRST x-rated film to win an Oscar for Best Picture
Mikado - The ….. U.K ..... FIRST film to be shot in Technicolour at the new Pinewood Studios - 1938
Mix - Tom ….. U.S.A ..... born 6th January 1880 died 1940 ….. the FIRST star to wear the typical Western costumes and became known as the FIRST "King of the Cowboys". He was born Thomas Hezekiah Mix in Pennsylvania and was the highest paid star of his day earning more than $17000 per week
Mohr - Hal ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST and only time in Oscar history, one write-in candidate actually won when presented with the Cinematography award for Warner's Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935
Morris - Johnny ….. U.K ..... FIRST entertainer to dub voices of animals onto films
Mutiny On The Bounty ..... U.S.A ..... 1935 ..... FIRST time that three actors were nominated in the same category for the same film for Best Actor when Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone were nominated
*** N
Naughty Marietta ..... U.S.A ..... 1935 ….. FIRST film in which Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy were teamed
Nelson - Barry ..... died 2007 ..... FIRST actor ever to play James Bond when he starred in a television adaptation of Casino Royale in 1954. He was tipped to take the screen role for the 1962 film Dr No but as we know Sean Connery was eventually chosen
Newman - Paul ….. born 26th January 1925 ..… in 1958 he became the FIRST American to be given a Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival - film was The Long Hot Summer
Noble - Peter ….. born 18th June 1917 ….. film columnist and editor of the British Film Year Book, the FIRST of its kind
North West Mounted Police ..... U.S.A ..... 1940 ….. Cecil B DeMille's FIRST all-colour picture
*** O
Oliver ..... U.S.A ..... 1968 ….. for which Carol Reed won his FIRST and only Oscar - Best Direction
Olivier Laurence Kerr - Baron ….. born 22nd May 1907 died 1989 ..... FIRST and only actor in English history to take a seat in the House of Lords
On The Town ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST major musical to be filmed on location - Manhattan
On The Waterfront ..... U.S.A ..... 1954 ….. FIRST film to have 3 members of its male cast nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category - Lee J Cobb, Karl Malden and Rod Steiger
One Night Of Love ..... U.S.A ..... 1934 …… FIRST film to win in the Best Music Score category - Louis Silvers
OSCARS ..... U.S.A ..... for the FIRST time in the history of the awards two black actors were named as Best Actor and Best Actress when Denzel Washington (Training Day) and Halle Berry (Monster's Ball) received the awards in March 2002. This made Halle Berry the FIRST black actress ever to win the Best Actress Oscar
Owl and The Pussycat - The ..... 1952 ….. Europe's FIRST 3-dimensional film
*** P
Pardon Us ..... U.S.A ..... 1931 ….. FIRST feature-length Laurel and Hardy film
Passport to Pimlico ..... U.K ..... the FIRST of the Ealing comedies
Pinky ..... U.S.A ..... 1949 ..... the FIRST major motion picture to deal with race. Jeanne Crain played the title role in the film which was the story of a black nurse who could pass for white
Pinocchio ..... U.S.A ..... 1940….. FIRST Disney full-length feature to be honoured by the Academy when it received two Oscars - Best Original Music Score and Best Song
Poitier - Sydney ..... U.S.A ..... born February 20th 1924 ..... the FIRST black actor to win an Oscar. The film was called Lilies of the Field and he received the award on 13th April 1964
Private Life of Henry V111 - The ….. FIRST British film to compete for Best Picture Prize and the FIRST to win a major Oscar when Charles Laughton was named Best Actor
Pygmalion ..... 1938 ….. FIRST British movie to win any writing awards when it was awarded Oscars for Best Writing Adaptation and Best Screenplay
*** R
Rains Came - The ..... U.S.A ..... 1939 ….. FIRST film to win a Special Effects award
Rebecca ..... U.S.A ..... 1940 ….. Alfred Hitchcock's FIRST film in the U.S. It won 2 Oscars - Best Film and Best Black and White Cinematography
Reichenbach - Harry ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST ever Hollywood PR man whose clients included Charles Chaplin, Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino
Reynolds - Burt ..... born February 11th 1936 ..... American film star who eventually became the FIRST ever nude male centrefold in Cosmopolitan magazine
Rhodes - Bernard ..... U.K ..... organised one of Manchester's FIRST cinema circuits. he controlled the International Bioscope Company which ran the Free Trade Hall in Manchester as a full time cinema
Rialto Cinema ..... U.K ..... Leicester Square, London .... opened in 1913 it was the FIRST West-End cinema to use a neon sign
Ritter Tex ..... U.S.A ..... neé Maurice Woodward Ritter, born January 12th 1905 died January 2nd 1974 ..... FIRST western singer/Country artist to sign with Capitol Records - 1942 and in 1964 was the FIRST singing cowboy inducted into the CMA Hall Of Fame
Robe - The ..... U.S.A ..... 1953 ..... the FIRST Cinemascope film
Robeson - Paul Le Roy ….. born 9th April 1898 died 1976 ….. American singer and actor who was admitted to the American bar before starting on a stage career in New York in 1921 and eventually became the FIRST black actor to play a leading role in a British film when he appeared in Sanders of the River
Romer - Adrian ..... U.K ..... held the FIRST licence for the second cinema in Manchester owned by Provincial Cinematograph Theatre Ltd of London. The Picture House, Oxford Street , opened formally on 15th December 1911 and included in the show was film of Scott's Antarctic Expedition and was attended by his widow
Rooney - Mickey….. born 23rd September 1920 ..... presented with the FIRST International Lifetime Achievement Award by BAFTA, Scotland
Rose Marie ….. U.S.A ..... film which was the FIRST widescreen Cinemascope musical
Russell - Harold ..... U.S.A ..... a double amputee who lost both his hands during WW2 and became the FIRST actor to win two Oscars for the same role when he won an Academy Award in 1946 for best supporting actor in The Best Years Of Our Lives and also a special Oscar voted by the Academy's board of governors
*** S
Scott - George C ….. U.S.A ..... FIRST actor in the history of the Academy Awards to refuse his Oscar, which he was awarded in the best actor category for the film Patton ( 1970)
Seventh Heaven ..... U.S.A ..... 1927/28 ….. winner of the FIRST Oscar for Best Direction – Frank Borzage
Shalboub - Michael ….. born 10th April 1932 ….. as Omar Shariff he achieved notoriety by giving the FIRST screen kiss seen in the Arab world
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon ..... U.S.A ..... 1949 ..... John Ford’s FIRST Western in colour and it won an Oscar for best colour cinematography
Shearer - Douglas ..... U.S.A ..... winner of the FIRST Sound Recording Oscar in 1929 for The Big House
Shoeshine ..... U.S.A ..... 1947 ..... FIRST foreign language movie to be given an uncontested special award. In 1956 these movies were considered in an Oscar category
Shrek ..... U.S.A ..... 2002 - received the FIRST Oscar awarded for Best Animation
Singleton - John ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST black director to win an Academy Award nomination. Also, at the age if 23, he was the youngest direction nominee ever
Spellbound ..... U.S.A ..... 1945 ….. FIRST picture about psycho-analysis
Spider Man ..... U.S.A ..... in May 2002 it became the FIRST film to hit the $100m in sales at the box office in its first weekend
Stewart - Charles Joseph ..... U.K ..... in April 1910 he was issued with one of Manchester's FIRST cinematograph licences in respect of the Free Trade Hall
Stewart - James ….. U.S.A ..... born 20th May 1908 ….. in 1950 in the film Winchester’73 he became the FIRST modern star to insist on a share of the box office thereby creating a trend which many were to follow
Story of Louis Pasteur – The ..... U.S.A ..... 1936 ….. FIRST of William Dieterle’s distinguished Warner biographies of the 30s. It won 3 Oscars
Strada La ..... U.S.A ..... 1956 ….. Federico Fellini’s FIRST film and the FIRST official foreign language winner of an Oscar
Sunrise ..... U.S.A ..... 1927/28 ….. received the FIRST Oscar award for cinematography
*** T
Taylor - Robert …... U.S.A ..... born 5th August 1911 died 8th June 1969 ….. FIRST star from a major film studio to appear on television when he appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show The Talk Of The Town
The Covered Wagon ..... U.S.A ..... 1923 ..... the FIRST Western spectacular celebrated the pioneers who crossed mountains, prairies and rivers and survived Indian attacks on their way to California and Oregon in the mid 1800s
The Iron Horse ..... U.S.A ..... John Ford's stirring film about the building of the FIRST trans-continental railroad in the late 1860s
The King of the Kongo ….. U.S.A ..... 1929 ..... produced by Mascot Pictures a film company of the 20s and 30s it was the FIRST serial to include sound
The Railroad Porter ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST black film was a comedy with an all-black cast directed by the black film maker Bill Foster
The Silence Of The Lambs ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST film to be released on video and cable before winning the Best Picture Oscar
The Terror ..... U.S.A ..... 1928 ..... the FIRST "horror talkie" made by Warner Bros
Tibbett - Lawrence ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST screen star to be nominated for an Oscar for his FIRST film when nominated for Best Actor in The Rogue Song 1929-30
The Towering Inferno ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST ever joint production between two major studios - Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox
Tracy - Spencer ….. U.S.A ..... born 5th April 1900 died 1967 ….. the FIRST actor to win 2 best acting Oscars in succession- 1937 Captain’s Courageous and in 1938 for Boy’s Town. He never won another Oscar but was nominated seven times more
Trimmingham - Ernest ….. FIRST black screen actor in Britain when he starred in Her Bachelor Guardian
Tudawali - Robert ….. FIRST Aboriginal film star – 1955
Twister ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST film ever released on DVD
*** U
Unaccustomed As We Are ..... U.S.A ..... 1929 ….. FIRST talkie film of Laurel and Hardy. Co-stars included Mae Busch, Thelma Todd and Edgar Kennedy
Underworld ..... U.S.A ..... 1927/28 ….. one of the very FIRST major gangster films and the award it received for Best Original Story was the FIRST of its kind to be awarded by the Academy
*** V
Valentino - Rudolph ….. U.S.A ..... born 6th May 1895 died 1926 .…. the world’s FIRST great screen lover whose death provoked a number of suicides. More than 100 people were injured at his funeral and 1000 policemen were called out to control the crowds. His screen career began in 1917 and he was soon acclaimed as a star both in the USA and abroad. During 1918-1920 he appeared in 17 minor films but from 1921-26 played the leading part in 14 major films. At the height of his career and at the age of 31 he died of peritonitis
Victim ….. film starring Dirk Bogarde which was the FIRST British film to explore homosexuality.
*** W
Walker - Joseph B ….. U.S.A ..... cameraman and FIRST winner of the Gordon Sawyer Award established to recognise an individual’s long term contribution to the advancement of motion picture science or technology
Warner Brothers ..... American film production company founded in 1923 by Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack Warner. In 1927 it released the FIRST talking film The Jazz Singer and became one of the major Hollywood studios
Wayne - John ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST global popular culture icon in the history of the cinema
Weissmuller - Johnny ….. U.S.A ..... born 2nd June 1904 died 20th January 1984 ….. the sixth screen Tarzan and the FIRST to talk. The film was Tarzan and The Ape Man. As Weissmuller he was also the FIRST man to swim 100 metres in under one minute and was the FIRST member of America's Hall of Fame
West Side Story ..... U.S.A ..... 1961 ….. FIRST time that the Oscar for Best Direction had been shared – Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
White Shadows in the South Seas ..... U.S.A ..... 1928/29 ….. FIRST MGM sound film
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf ..... U.S.A ..... in 1966 it became the FIRST film in history whose entire cast were nominated for Academy Awards - Elizabeth Taylor received Best Actress and Sandy Dennis won Best Supporting Actress.
Wilcox - Herbert ..... U.K ..... FIRST director to film on a Pinewood set
Williams - Bert ..... U.S.A ..... the FIRST black actor in the Ziegfield Follies
Wilson - Lewis ….. the FIRST Batman
Wings ..... U.S.A ..... 1927/28 ….. FIRST Best Picture Oscar winner. It was also the last time that the award went to a non-speaking movie
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Yank at Oxford – A ….. film starring Robert Taylor and one which was the FIRST American movie to be filmed at MGM’s new studio in Denham, London
Yeh Dil Aap Ka Huwa ( This Heart Becomes Yours) ..... the FIRST Lollywood film to hit the UK in December 2002. Lollywood is Pakistan's main film industry and earned its name because it is based in Lahore. Bollywood is Bombay-based
Yerby - Frank ..... U.S.A ..... FIRST black writer to sell film rights to a novel when his 1946 novel The Foxes Of Harrow sold over one million copies and was acquired by 20th Century Fox
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Zanuck - Darryl F ..... U.S.A ..... winner of the FIRST Irving G Thalberg Memorial Award in 1937
Zukor - Adolf ….. born 7th January 1873 ….. Hungarian pioneer of the film industry and its FIRST centenarian