Frank Puglia
Encyclopedia
Frank Puglia was an Italian film actor. Puglia had small but memorable roles in films including Casablanca
(a Moroccan rug merchant) and 1942's The Jungle Book. Born in Sicily
, the actor started his career as a teen on stage in Italian operas. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and worked in a laundry before joining an Italian language theater group in New York. While appearing on stage, he was discovered by D. W. Griffith
, which began an acting career spanning over 150 films. He usually played ethnic types in films, and claimed to have learned English from reading newspapers.
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
(a Moroccan rug merchant) and 1942's The Jungle Book. Born in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, the actor started his career as a teen on stage in Italian operas. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and worked in a laundry before joining an Italian language theater group in New York. While appearing on stage, he was discovered by D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
, which began an acting career spanning over 150 films. He usually played ethnic types in films, and claimed to have learned English from reading newspapers.
Selected filmography
- Orphans of the StormOrphans Of The StormOrphans of the Storm is a drama film by D. W. Griffith set in late 18th century France, before and during the French Revolution.This was the last Griffith film to feature Lillian and Dorothy Gish, and is often considered Griffith's last major commercial success, after boxoffice hits such as Birth...
(1921) - RomolaRomola (film)Romola is a 1924 drama film directed by Henry King and shot on location in Italy. The film stars Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, William Powell and Ronald Colman, and is based on the George Eliot novel of the same name...
(19241924 in film-Events:* Entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer Pictures to create Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
) - Viva Villa!Viva Villa!Viva Villa! is a 1934 American film starring Wallace Beery as Pancho Villa and was written by Ben Hecht, adapted from a biography by Edgecumb Pinchon and Odo B. Stade. The picture was directed by Jack Conway. There was special, uncredited help with the script by Howard Hawks, James Kevin...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - The Public PaysThe Public PaysThe Public Pays is a 1936 short crime film directed by Errol Taggart. It won an Academy Award in 1937 for Best Short Subject .-Cast:* Richard Alexander - Drunken Hood Who Knocks Over Milk Wagon...
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - The Fatal HourThe Fatal HourThe Fatal Hour is a 1940 American thriller/ crime drama film. It was directed by William Nigh, and starred Boris Karloff, Grant Withers, and Marjorie Reynolds.The film is also known as Mr. Wong at Headquarters in the United Kingdom.-Cast:...
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Charlie Chan in PanamaCharlie Chan in Panama-Cast:*Sidney Toler as Charlie Chan*Jean Rogers as Kathi Lenesch*Lionel Atwill as Cliveden Compton*Mary Nash as Miss Jennie Finch*Victor Sen Yung as Jimmy Chan *Kane Richmond as Richard Cabot*Chris-Pin Martin as Sergeant Montero...
(1940) - Torrid ZoneTorrid ZoneTorrid Zone is a 1940 adventure film starring James Cagney, Ann Sheridan and Pat O'Brien.-Plot summary:Steve Case has to deal with trouble at his tropical fruit company's Central American banana plantation...
(1940) - Arise, My LoveArise, My LoveArise, My Love is a 1940 American romantic comedy film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett and Jacques Théry, and starring Claudette Colbert and Ray Milland....
(1940) - That Night in RioThat Night in RioThat Night in Rio is a 1941 musical comedy film starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda and Don Ameche . It is one of several film adaptations of a play called The Red Cat by Rudolph Lothar and Hans Adler...
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) - Secret Agent of JapanSecret Agent of JapanSecret Agent of Japan is the first American anti-Japanese war film produced by a major studio after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It stars Preston Foster as a nightclub owner in Shanghai who becomes involved in espionage revolving around preparations for the infamous sneak attack.-Cast:*Preston...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - Jungle BookJungle Book (1942 film)Jungle Book is a 1942 American color action-adventure film based on the Rudyard Kipling book, The Jungle Book. The film was directed by Zoltán Korda based on a screenplay adaptation by Laurence Stallings. The cinematography was by Lee Garmes and W. Howard Greene and music by Miklós Rózsa...
(1942) - The Boogie Man Will Get YouThe Boogie Man Will Get YouThe Boogie Man Will Get You is a 1942 comedy horror film, directed by Lew Landers and starring Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. One of six pictures Karloff made with Columbia...
(1942) - Phantom of the OperaPhantom of the Opera (1943 film)Phantom of the Opera is a 1943 Universal horror film starring Nelson Eddy, Susanna Foster and Claude Rains, directed by Arthur Lubin, and filmed in Technicolor. The original music score was composed by Edward Ward....
(1943) - Blood on the SunBlood on the SunBlood on the Sun is a film starring James Cagney and Sylvia Sidney. The film is based on the history behind the Tanaka Memorial document....
(19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) - Without ReservationsWithout ReservationsWithout Reservations is a comedy film starring Claudette Colbert and John Wayne, directed by Mervyn LeRoy, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film was adapted by Andrew Solt from the novel Thanks, God! I'll Take It From Here by Jane Allen and Mae Livingston.The opening shot shows "Arrowhead"...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - My Favorite BrunetteMy Favorite BrunetteMy Favorite Brunette is a 1947 movie spoofing movie detectives and the film noir style. Starring Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, it also features Lon Chaney, Jr...
(19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Colorado TerritoryColorado Territory (film)Colorado Territory is a 1949 western film, a remake of the 1941 High Sierra. Both films were directed by Raoul Walsh. It was the first film premiered at a drive-in theater...
(19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) - Walk Softly, StrangerWalk Softly, StrangerWalk Softly, Stranger is a 1950 film that tells the story of a small-time crook on the run who later becomes reformed by the love of a crippled woman. This would be the last RKO credit for famed film producer Dore Schary, who would leave the studio soon after the completion of the film. Privately,...
(19501950 in filmThe year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:*Ambush...
) - The Desert HawkThe Desert Hawk (1950 film)The Desert Hawk is a 1950 fantasy adventure film starring Yvonne De Carlo, Richard Greene, Jackie Gleason, and Rock Hudson.-Summary:An arranged marriage forces Arabian Princess Sharahazade to marry Prince Murad, a cruel ruler. A thief known as the Desert Hawk hears about the wedding, disguises...
(1950) - Accused of MurderAccused of MurderAccused of Murder is a 1956 film noir, based on the novel Vanity Row by W. R. Burnett and directed and produced by Joseph Kane. Accused of Murder was filmed in Trucolor and stars David Brian, Verna Ralston and Sidney Blackmer.-Plot:...
(19561956 in filmThe year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
) - 20 Million Miles to Earth20 Million Miles to Earth20 Million Miles to Earth is a 1957 American science fiction film written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. The film was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures and directed by Nathan H. Juran...
(19571957 in filmThe year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
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