Somehow he did convince Shaw to give him the rights to his plays, beginning with "Pygmalion" (1938), which was an enormous international hit, both critically and financially. Pascal followed up "Pygmalion" with "Major Barbara" (1941) which he directed as well as produced. "Major Barbara" was filmed in London during the bombing by the Nazis. During air raids the crew and cast had to dodge into bomb shelters. Pascal never stopped the production and the movie was completed on schedule. But Pascal became more and more extravagant, finally losing his credibility with "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945) which was the most expensive British movie ever made at that time and a terrible financial and critical flop, although it is more highly regarded today. Pascal famously insisted on importing sand from Egypt to achieve the right cinematic colors for this extravaganza. Shaw had become more difficult to work with also. After the success of "Pygmalion", which was shortened in its transition from stage to screen, as plays generally are, he increasingly refused to let his plays be cut. The result was that "Major Barbara" and "Caesar and Cleopatra" were not only filmed virtually complete, but with additional scenes by Shaw himself. Each of the two movies ran over two hours.
Pascal did manage to produce one more movie, "Androcles and the Lion", in 1952. By this time he was increasingly sick with cancer of the liver.
In spring of 1954, in New York City, just before his passing Pascal had planned a trip to India to see Meher Baba one last time. He was having an affair and divorcing his wife at the time. One day he impulsively wrote on a piece of hotel stationery to his mistress, "If I die on my trip to India I leave my entire estate to you." He signed and dated it before two witnesses, a cook and a maid in the hotel who did not speak English but only Chinese. This was an absurd gesture since Pascal was totally in debt. He died within a short time of this letter in July 1954, and within two years of his death the musical "My Fair Lady", which Pascal had managed to retain an option on by borrowing money from a Baba follower named Margaret Scott, opened on Broadway. Thus, soon after his death, his estate, which had been worth nothing on his deathbed, grew to an estimated value of two million dollars. There was a large court battle in which his wife Valerie (who he was not fully divorced from at the time of his death) and the mistress fought over his estate. His odd last will and testament on the hotel stationery was entered as evidence in support of his mistress and the case was well-publicized. Several Meher Baba followers were involved in his life at the end including Harold Rudd who testified at his trial. The result of the trial was an even split of Pascal's royalties from "My Fair Lady" between the mistress and Pascal's estranged wife, each receiving well over one million dollars in settlement. His wife Valerie attempted to pay back the borrowed option money to Margaret Scott, but by the time the settlement came through Mrs. Scott had fallen from a New York apartment window to her death. Valerie therefore paid the money to Margaret's daughter instead.
Pascal is best remembered as one of the big Hungarian movie producers, like the famous Alexander Korda. He was the only producer ever to have major movie deals with seven separate countries on three continents: Hungary, Italy, Germany, China, India, England, and the US. He was also the only man to ever convince George Bernard Shaw to adjust his scripts to the new medium of cinema, gaining concessions from Shaw that no other man could. Pascal even invented the famous line for Pygmalion, later appearing in the theatrical and movie versions of "My Fair Lady," "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" and Shaw, by now publicly referring to Pascal as a "genius," wrote the line into the script. He was one of the most extravagant men of his time, named in 1938 as one of the world's most famous men by "Time" magazine along with Adolf Hitler. He is less known for his deep interest in the spiritual and his boundless enthusiasm for art as a direct and honest route to God. He is even less known for his lifelong devotion to spiritual master Meher Baba. His life is well documented in the beautifully written biography by his wife Valerie, "The Disciple and His Devil," published by McGraw-Hill in 1970 and republished by iUniverse in 1984. After Pascal's death, Valerie married the famous publisher and philanthropist George T. Delacorte Jr. and spent the rest of her life supporting charitable foundations under the name Valerie Delacorte.
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a Formula 1 racing team. McLaren was started by Bruce McLaren in 1963. McLaren's current drivers are Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris.
McLaren also makes road cars at its Woking factory.
Haylie Duff
Haylie Katherine Duff (born February 19, 1985) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her supporting role on the television series "7th Heaven". She is the sister of Hilary Duff.
Duff was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Susan Duff, is a producer. Robert Erhard Duff, Haylie's father, lives at the family home in Houston. Haylie is two and a half years older than her sister.
Hilary Duff is her younger sister.
Duff wrote or co-wrote several songs on two of her sister Hilary's albums, "Metamorphosis" (2003), "Hilary Duff" (2004) and the song, "Gypsy Woman", on Hilary's 4th album, "Dignity". She has also done many songs for different soundtracks with her sister.
20th Century Studios
20th Century Studios (formerly known from 1914 to 1931 as Fox Film, 1933 to 1935 as 20th Century Pictures, 1935 to 1985 and 1985 to 2020 (and informally) as Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation or Twentieth Century Fox or 20th Century Fox Film Corporation) is a large American company that makes movies ("motion picture studio"). It is in the Century City area of Los Angeles, California, USA, just west of Beverly Hills. 20th Century Studios (co-creator character: Lucy the Mouse).
Before 2013, 20th Century Fox was a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company before it was split into two companies. After that, one of those companies, 21st Century Fox, became the studio's owner. On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company said that it has acquired many of 21st Century Fox's subsidiaries, including 20th Century Fox. Thus, the studio is now owned by Disney and became 20th Century Studios.
20th Century Studios was formed in 1935 when Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century Pictures joined together to form the company. 20th Century Fox Television is a part of the company that makes television series.
Marquette, Michigan
Marquette is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Close to 20,000 people live there. Marquette is in the Upper Peninsula, on Lake Superior and is an important port on that lake. Much of the iron ore that was taken from mines in the Upper Peninsula was loaded onto ships in Marquette. Marquette is in the United States of America.
John Taverner
John Taverner (born about 1490 – died 18 October, 1545) was the most important English composer of his time. He was also an organist.
We cannot be sure exactly when Taverner was born. Some people think that he was a boy chorister at the church of Tattershall in Lincolnshire but his name does not appear on the list of choristers there. People now think that he worked there later as a lay clerk.
He got a job at Cardinal College (now called Christ Church) in Oxford but he could not stay very long because King Henry VIII made lots of changes to the way people had to worship in church. Taverner even hid some books which the king had forbidden under the floor, and he got into trouble for doing this. In the end the Cardinal did not punish him because, he said, he was “only a musician”.
In 1530 he seems to have gone back to Lincolnshire and stayed there for the rest of his life. He probably wrote no more music, but he was quite rich.