Murder at the Savoy (film)
Murder at the Savoy is a Swedish/ German film from 1993, based on the book" Murder at the Savoy".
Window to Paris
Window to Paris is a 1993 Russian drama film directed by Yuri Mamin.
Some French friends suggested that Yuri Mamin should make a joint Russian- French film, which led to the creation of the 1993 film" Window to Paris" or" Salade Russe".
The film starts with residents of a Saint Petersburg communal apartment of 1990s finding a window hidden behind a cupboard that leads to a mansard roof and shows the effect of this discovery.
The film is a grotesque prediction of the effect of fall of the Iron Curtain on the life in Europe, about the invasion of Russian demoralized businessmen and the humiliation of the intelligentsia in Russia.
At the end of the film, the main character, Nikolai Chizhov, a school music teacher and a member of the Russian intelligentsia, gives a persuasive speech to the children, who have decided to remain in Paris.
In his words:" You were born in a terrible time in a poor, devastated country.
But it is your country, after all!
Do n't you want to make it better?"
At that time, this was a rather rare demonstration of patriotism; the authors of the film and all its actors were quite sincere.
As a division of Lenfilm, the film company Troitsky Most refused to participate in financing the project, thus putting the French partners on the edge of financial collapse and threatening the production of the film.
Because of this situation, Yuri Mamin was urged to establish his own film company in order to attract support from commercial businesses that were thriving in post -Perestroika Russia.
That is how Yuri Mamin's Fountain Fund for Support and Development of Cinematography was created.
The name of the fund," Fountain", is from Mamin's preceding film that won the grand prize at a French film festival, which had been organized under the patronage of Madame Danielle Mitterrand, the wife of the French then- president François Mitterrand.
It was this in particular that facilitated financing for the film" Window to Paris" from the French fund CNC.
The comedy" Window to Paris" attained such success in France and at the Berlin Film Festival that Michael Barker, the co-president of the American distribution company Sony Pictures Classics, arranged for the film to be released in the United States, and twice requested Goskino to submit the film" Window to Paris" for the 1994 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Barker wrote:" The response to the film at screenings in Los Angeles and New York has been terrific with both the critics and the audiences.
It seems to communicate the message of bringing two cultures together in a warm and enlightening manner ... should' Salade Russe' be the Official Russian Entry to the Academy for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, we feel confident the picture will not only be nominated for the Award, but has a very good chance to ultimately win the Award itself."
However, at that time Nikita Mikhalkov, with his freshly finished film" Burnt by the Sun", greatly wished to be considered for the Oscar.
After the chairman of the Russian Oscar Committee, Elem Klimov, did not agree to submit Mikhalkov ’s film to the competition, Mikhalkov demonstrated his outstanding skills in behind- the- scenes intrigues.
Elem Klimov was immediately replaced by Mikhalkov's brother, Andrey Konchalovsky, who agreed to send the film" Burnt by the Sun" to the United States.
Thus, Mamin was deprived of the opportunity to win the Oscar.
The members of the Russian Oscar Committee remain under the control of Nikita Mikhalkov, who shapes the politics of Russian cinematography.
Therefore, in Mamin's opinion, neither the best nor the most talented films are being submitted to the American Film Academy, but rather the ones created by Mikhalkov's favorite artists.
Nikita Mikhalkov is currently Vladimir Putin's cinematography adviser.
The idea of a mystical window, a dimensional portal between Russia and Paris, came to the mind of the Moscow screenwriter Felix Mironer long before Gorbachev's Perestroika.
He told this idea to the filmmaker Aleksey German, who sold it 20 years later to Arkady Tigai, Yuri Mamin' co-author, for a bottle of cognac.
Henry Moore (cricketer)
Henry Walter Moore( 1849 – 20 August 1916) was an English- born first- class cricketer who spent most of his life in New Zealand.
Wale Adebanwi
Wale Adebanwi( born 1969) is a Nigerian- born first Black Rhodes Professor at St Antony's College, Oxford.
Carl Brisson
Carl Brisson( 24 December 1893 – 25 September 1958), born Carl Frederik Ejnar Pedersen, was a Danish film actor and singer.
He appeared in thirteen films between 1918 and 1935, including two silent films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
In the 1934 film" Murder at the Vanities", he introduced the popular song" Cocktails for Two".
Yuri Mamin
Yuri Mamin( born 8 May 1946) is a Soviet and Russian film director, stage director, screenwriter, composer, author and television host, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation.
His" Window to Paris"( 1993) remains one of the most popular movies in Russia.
His Buddhist- themed film" Do n't Think About White Monkeys"( 2008) is popular among the Russian noncomformist youth, including punks and rockers.
Yuri Mamin is the only person in Russia to have won the Chaplin's Golden Cane award.
The award was presented by Charlie Chaplin's widow, Oona Chaplin, at the festival marking 100 years since the birth of the great comedian.
The festival was held in the Swiss city of Vevey, where Chaplin was buried.
Mamin's works are known for a strong emphasis on social justice and criticism of hypoctitical social norms.
Because of this, he found difficult to find support for his productions in the totalitarian USSR, as well as in today's Russia, where film makers became dependent on corporate oligarchy.
His characters often portray an inspired citizen in the fight for social justice against corporate capitalism.
Yuri Mamin began his directing career under the communist regime.
He was never a communist and was always opposed to the oppressive power of the Communist Party.
Because of this, he could not create his films until the beginning of Perestroika in 1985 and Mikhail Gorbachev's arrival to power.
His works are popular among alternative socialist groups who criticize both capitalism and the Soviet system.
The Gorbachev period ended in 1991 and Yuri Mamin again became a persona non grata for the criminal tycoons who almost immediately took over all the leading positions in Russian cinema and mass media.
From the early 1990s, a group of official Russian film critics, controlled by the regime, began a period of notorious denigration of the film director and his art.
Against this background, Mamin's films won the love of audiences throughout the nation.
Almost all of his films received numerous grand prizes and other awards.
The official state- supported Russian Encyclopedia of National Cinema, edited by L. Arkus, contains offensive critical reviews of Mamin's films, while acknowledging his talent and important place in the history of Russian cinematography.
Mitchell Leisen
Mitchell Leisen( October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American director, art director, and costume designer.
John McMahon (Surrey and Somerset cricketer)
John William Joseph McMahon( 28 December 1917 – 8 May 2001) was an Australian- born first- class cricketer who played for Surrey and Somerset in England from 1947 to 1957.
Murder at the Vanities
Murder at the Vanities is a 1934 American Pre- Code musical film based on the 1933 Broadway show with music by Victor Young.
It was released by Paramount Pictures.
It was directed by Mitchell Leisen, stars Victor McLaglen, Carl Brisson, Jack Oakie, Kitty Carlisle, Gertrude Michael, Toby Wing, and Jessie Ralph.
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra are featured in the elaborate finale number.
The film is primarily a musical, based on Earl Carroll's long- running Broadway revue" Earl Carroll's Vanities", combined with a murder mystery.
Songs featured in the film by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow include" Cocktails for Two" sung by Brisson," Sweet Marijuana" sung by Michael," Where Do They Come From( and Where Do They Go)" sung by Carlisle, and" Ebony Rhapsody" by Ellington.
In the film, Lucille Ball, Ann Sheridan, and Virginia Davis had small roles as chorines.
It was released on DVD( as part of a six disc set entitled" Pre- Code Hollywood Collection") on April 7, 2009.
Hartley Lobban
Hartley W Lobban (9 May 1926 – 15 October 2004) was a Jamaican-born first-class cricketer who played 17 matches for Worcestershire in the early 1950s.

Question: Which film whose director was born first, Window To Paris or Murder At The Vanities?
Answer: Murder At The Vanities