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Recognized as one of the founding fathers of the American film industry, David Wark Griffith, known as D. W. Griffith, was born in Crestwood, Kentucky on January 22, 1875. He was the fourth son of Mary Perkins Oglesby, a devout Methodist who came from a prominent Southern family, and Jacob Wark Griffith, a Confederate States Army colonel who had fought in the American Civil War. When Jacob died suddenly in 1885, the Griffith family was left in debt-ridden poverty. Four years later, David moved with his mother and siblings to nearby Louisville, where they were forced to take in boarders to make ends meet. After school, David would help the family by working as a newspaper boy and selling vinegar on commission to local grocers.    D. W. Griffith (1875-1948), one of the most influential directors in motion picture history.   In 1890, he abandoned high school to seek full-employment. He briefly worked as a cash boy at the J. C. Lewis Dry Goods store, before his boss promoted...

This week on «Film Friday» I bring you a picture that had its New York City premiere exactly 63 years ago today. Incidentally, this is the film that introduced me to the wonders of classic cinema and made me fall madly in love with Gene Kelly. Theatrical release poster Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, Singin' in the Rain (1952) opens at the 1927 premiere of The Royal Rascal , a swashbuckling epic starring popular silent film couple Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) and Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), whom their studio, Monumental Pictures, has publicized as lovers both on-screen and off. To escape from his f ans after the premiere, Don jumps into a passing convertible driven by Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), a nightclub performer and aspiring actress. They meet again later at a party held by studio head R. F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), where Kathy performs with a group of chorus girls. A romantic relationship soon blossoms between Don and Kathy, which makes Lina jealous. W...

The once called «Queen of the Movies» was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1904 (although some sources cite 1905 or 1906), in San Antonio, Texas. As a child, Billie, as she liked to be called, loved to watch vaudeville acts perform and would spend hours backstage at her stepfather's opera house, mingling with the artists and dreaming of becoming a performer herself one day. After three years of dancing in the choruses of travelling revues, she was spotted by producer Jacob J. Shubert, who then offered her a spot in his latest Broadway show, Innocent Eyes . Later that year, she got a screen test with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's producer Harry Rapf and immediately secured a contract with the studio. «My future was in Hollywood, not the theater.» (Joan Crawford) LEFT: Joan Crawford as a child. RIGHT: Joan Crawford c. 1926. Credited as Lucille LeSueur, her first job in the film industry was as Norma Shearer's body-double in Monta Bell's romantic drama Lady of the Night ...