text: By 20 July, the film had taken in $158.7 million in the US and $236 million from 85 other markets, for a worldwide tally of $394.7 million. This broke the record for biggest-ever worldwide five-day opening, surpassing "Spider-Man 3"s $381 million. In the US, it surpassed all of its predecessors by a wide margin, achieving the sixth-largest-ever five-day opening in that country. The film held this worldwide record for two years until it was topped by "Deathly Hallows – Part 2" ($483.2 million). In the UK, the film grossed £19.75 million (equivalent to about $38.13 million), the highest opening for both the series and releases of 2009. At the end of the film's US and Canadian box office run, the total ticket sales of the film were $302.3 million; making it the third-most successful film in the franchise, after "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2009 in these regions behind "Avatar" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". As with all of the previous films in the franchise, "Half-Blood Prince" proved to be extremely successful globally with an estimated non-US total gross of $632.1 million, totalling approximately $934.5 million worldwide. This made it the second-highest-grossing film of 2009, behind "Avatar". It is the fifth-highest-grossing film in the franchise, behind "Philosopher's Stone", both parts of "Deathly Hallows", and "Order of the Phoenix". It was once the eighth-highest grossing film of all time.


title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

text: In South Africa, the film opened with the number-one position, grossing $789,176; it maintained the number-one position during the second week, with a total of $242,336.


text: In Australia, the film broke records with a debut of $11,492,142. Opening at number one, it maintained a second week at number one with a total of $5,278,096 (down 54%), and grossed a total of $24,208,243.


text: In France, the film debuted at $20,541,239 from 949 cinemas. In Japan, the film held the top spot in the box office rankings until the release of "", which took the top spot in its first weekend.


text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Dark, thrilling, and occasionally quite funny, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is also visually stunning and emotionally satisfying." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film scored an 87 from professional critics at the Broadcast Film Critics Association; it is the first "Harry Potter" film to receive a Critic's Choice certificate. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


text: The first review of the film came three weeks before the official release: Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com ranked the film with "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy and called the film a possible Oscar contender. He highly praised the performance of Sir Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe. He commented, ""Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is a tour-de-force that combines style and substance, special effects and heart and most importantly great performances from all of the actors young and not-so-young". Another early review came from Devin Faraci of the UK tabloid Chud.com, who called the film the best in the "Harry Potter" series, and also in the year.


text: Andrew Pulver of "The Guardian" gave a positive review, scoring it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Todd McCarthy of the trade magazine "Variety" said that the film is "dazzlingly well made" and "less fanciful than the previous entries". He praised Alan Rickman's performance, described Helena Bonham Carter as "mesmerising", and Jim Broadbent as a "grand eccentric old professor". BBC News's Tim Masters praised the film's cinematography, visual effects, production design, acting and darker plotline. "The Hollywood Reporter" Kirk Honeycutt felt that the film's first half is "jerky and explosive", but in the second half, the film finds better footing. He also praised Nicholas Hooper's composition, Bruno Delbonnel's cinematography, and Stuart Craig's set design. Chris Tilly of IGN UK commented on the length of the film, saying "while on occasion it drags, the 153-minute run-time never feels too long, thanks in no small part to the astonishing visuals and (largely) marvellous performances," and felt that it was the best film in the series.


text: However, Dave Golder of SFX Magazine found some aspects of the film to be a disappointment, mainly due to the large number of opportunities the director and screenwriter had sacrificed to devote "huge swathes of the film to subplots of Harry and his chums' teenage romances," but nevertheless found the film to be a large enjoyment, praising the performances of Broadbent and Rickman. "Screen Daily" commented, "David Yates and his team struggle to whip J.K. Rowling’s 608-page tome into a consistently thrilling cinematic experience", but praised the shooting of some scenes and Bonham Carter's acting. David Stratton, of "Margaret and David at the Movies", gave the film a 2.5 out of a possible 5 stars, remarking, "For non-readers [of the Harry Potter series] the films are now borderline incomprehensible", and that the film was "a little tedious" and "generally less interesting visually than its predecessors." He, however, praised the acting of Gambon and Broadbent.


text: The film was nominated for BAFTA Awards in Production Design and Visual Effects, and was in the longlists for five other categories, including Best Supporting Actor for Alan Rickman. Bruno Delbonnel was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 82nd Academy Awards. The film was also one of the final seven contenders for Best Visual Effects. "Half-Blood Prince" is the only film in the series to be nominated for the Best Cinematography accolade at the Academy Awards.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Michael Anthony Hall (born April 14, 1968), known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor best known for his leading role as Johnny Smith in "The Dead Zone" from 2002 to 2007. He also rose to fame starring in films with John Hughes, which include the teen classics "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club", and "Weird Science".


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall diversified his roles to avoid becoming typecast as his geek persona, joining the cast of "Saturday Night Live" (1985–1986) and starring in films such as "Out of Bounds" (1986), "Johnny Be Good" (1988), "Edward Scissorhands" (1990) and "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993). After a series of minor roles in the 1990s, he starred as Microsoft's Bill Gates in the 1999 television film "Pirates of Silicon Valley" and starred in 2001 comedy "Freddy Got Fingered". He had the leading role in the USA Network series "The Dead Zone" from 2002 to 2007. In 2008, he appeared in a minor role in "The Dark Knight". In 2020, he appeared in ABC's "The Goldbergs". Additionally, he starred in the slasher film "Halloween Kills" (2021).


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall was born on April 14, 1968 in the West Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. He is the only child of blues-jazz singer Mercedes Hall's first marriage. She divorced Hall's father, Larry, an auto-body-shop owner, when their son was six months old. When Hall was three, he and his mother relocated to the West Coast, where she found work as a featured singer. After a year and a half, they returned to the East, eventually moving to New York City, where Hall grew up. Hall's ancestry is English, Irish and Italian. He has one half-sister, Mary Chestaro, from his mother's second marriage to Thomas Chestaro, a show business manager. His half-sister is pursuing a career as a singer under the name of Mary C. Hall uses the name Anthony, rather than Michael. He transposed his first and middle names when he entered show business because there was another actor named Michael Hall who was already a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Hall attended St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School of New York before moving on to Manhattan's Professional Children's School. Hall began his acting career at age eight and continued throughout high school. "I did not go to college," he has said, "but I'm an avid reader in the ongoing process of educating myself." Through the 1980s, Hall's mother managed his career, eventually relinquishing that role to her second husband.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: At the age of seven, Hall started his career in commercials. He was the Honeycomb cereal kid and appeared in several commercials for toys and Bounty. His stage debut was in 1977, when he was cast as the young Steve Allen in Allen's semi-autobiographical play "The Wake". He went on to appear in the Lincoln Center Festival's production of "St. Joan of the Microphone", and in a play with Woody Allen. In 1980, he made his screen debut in the Emmy-winning TV movie "The Gold Bug", in which he played the young Edgar Allan Poe. In 1981 he started as Huck Finn in "" but it was not until the release of the 1982 Kenny Rogers film "Six Pack" that he gained real notice.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: The following year, Hall landed the role of Rusty Griswold, Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo's son, in "National Lampoon's Vacation", catching the attention of the film's screenwriter John Hughes, who was about to make the jump to directing. "For [Hall] to upstage Chevy, I thought, was a remarkable accomplishment for a 13-year-old kid," said Hughes. The film was a significant box office hit in 1983, grossing over $61 million in the United States. After "Vacation", Hall moved on to other projects and declined to reprise his role in the 1985 sequel.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall's breakout role came in 1984, when he was cast as "Geek", the scrawny, braces-wearing geek who pursued Molly Ringwald's character in John Hughes' directing debut "Sixteen Candles". Hall tried to avoid the clichés of geekiness. "I didn't play him with 100 pens sticking out of his pocket," he said. "I just went in there and played it like a real kid. The geek is just a typical freshman." Hall landed a spot on the promotional materials along with co-star Ringwald. Reviews of the film were positive for Hall and his co-stars, and one for "People Weekly" even claimed that Hall's performance "pilfer[ed] the film" from Ringwald. Despite achieving only moderate success at the box office, the film made overnight stars of Ringwald and Hall.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: In 1985, Hall starred in two additional teen-oriented films written and directed by Hughes. He was cast as Brian Johnson, "the brain," in "The Breakfast Club", co-starring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, and Molly Ringwald. Film critic Janet Maslin praised Hall, stating that the 16-year-old actor and Ringwald were "the movie's standout performers." Hall and fellow co-star Molly Ringwald dated for a short period after filming "The Breakfast Club". Later that year, Hall portrayed Gary Wallace, another likable misfit, in "Weird Science". Critic Sheila Benson from the "Los Angeles Times" said Hall was "the role model supreme" for the character, but she also acknowledged that "he [was] outgrowing the role" and "[didn't] need to hold the patent on the bratty bright kid." "Weird Science" was a moderate success at the box office but was generally well received by critics. Those roles established him as the 80s "nerd-of-choice," as well as a member of Hollywood's Brat Pack. Hall, who portrayed Hughes' alter egos in "Sixteen Candles", "The Breakfast Club" and "Weird Science", credits the director for putting him on the map and giving him those opportunities as a child. "I had the time of my life," he said. "I'd consider [working with Hughes again] any day of the week."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live (SNL)" during its 1985–86 season at the age of 17. He was, and remains, the youngest cast member in the show's history. His recurring characters on the show were Craig Sundberg, Idiot Savant, an intelligent, talented teenager with a vacant expression and stilted speech, and Fed Jones, half of the habitually high, hustling pitchmen known as The Jones Brothers. Art Garfunkel, Edd Byrnes, Robert F. Kennedy, and Daryl Hall were among Hall's celebrity impersonations. Hall had admired the show and its stars as a child, but he found the "SNL" environment to be far more competitive than he had imagined. "My year there, I didn't have any breakout characters and I didn't really do the things I dreamed I would do," he said, "but I still learned a lot and I value that. I'll always be proud of the fact that I was a part of its history." Hall was one of six cast members (the others being Joan Cusack, Robert Downey, Jr., Randy Quaid, and Terry Sweeney) who were dismissed at the end of that season.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: To avoid being typecast, Hall turned down roles written for him by John Hughes in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (Cameron Frye) and "Pretty in Pink" (Phil "Duckie" Dale), both in 1986. Instead, he starred in the 1986 film "Out of Bounds", Hall's first excursion into the thriller and action genre. The film grossed only $5 million domestically and was a critical and financial disappointment. Critic Roger Ebert described "Out of Bounds" as "an explosion at the cliché factory," and Caryn James from "The New York Times" claimed that not even "Hall, who made nerds seem lovable in John Hughes' "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club", [could] do much to reconcile" the disparate themes of the movie.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall was offered the starring role in the 1987 film "Full Metal Jacket" in a conversation with Stanley Kubrick, but after an eight-month negotiation, a financial agreement could not be reached. "It was a difficult decision, because in that eight-month period, I read everything I could about the guy, and I was really fascinated by him," Hall said when asked about the film. "I wanted to be a part of that film, but it didn't work out. But all sorts of stories circulated, like I got on set and I was fired, or I was pissed at him for shooting too long. It's all not true." He was replaced with Matthew Modine. His next film was 1988's "Johnny Be Good", in which he worked with Uma Thurman and fellow "Saturday Night Live" cast member Robert Downey, Jr. The film was a critical failure, and some reviewers panned Hall's performance as a high school football star, stating that he, the movies' reigning geek, was miscast in the role. A review for "The Washington Post" claimed that the film was "crass, vulgar, and relentlessly brain-dead."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: After a two-year break due to a reported drinking problem, Hall returned to acting by starring opposite Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder in Tim Burton's 1990 hit "Edward Scissorhands", this time as the film's villain. By then in his 20s, he shifted to more mature roles, trying to establish himself as an adult actor. After "Scissorhands", he appeared in a series of low-budget films, including the 1992 comedy "Into the Sun", where he starred as a visiting celebrity at a military air base. Film critic Janet Maslin praised his performance, writing that "Hall, whose earlier performances (in films like "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "Sixteen Candles") have been much goofier, remains coolly funny and graduates to subtler forms of comedy with this role." The following year, he played a gay man who teaches down-and-out Will Smith to dupe rich people in the critically acclaimed film "Six Degrees of Separation"; Hall claimed that it was "the hardest role [he] ever had."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: In 1994, Hall starred in and directed his first feature film, a low-budget Showtime comedy titled "Hail Caesar" about a would-be rock star who works in a pencil eraser factory. The film also co-starred Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey, Jr., and Judd Nelson. In addition, he produced the soundtrack for the film with composer Herbie Tribino. The film featured songs written and performed by Hall.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: After a series of appearances in low-budget films and guest roles on TV series in the mid and late 1990s, he gained media attention once again in the 1999 Emmy-nominated TNT original movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley", co-starring Noah Wyle as Apple Computer's Steve Jobs. Hall was widely praised for his portrayal of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates. "I really fought for this part because I knew it would be the role of a lifetime," Hall said. "It was a thrill and a daunting challenge to play someone of his stature and brilliance." Hall described his physical appearance as 20-year-old Gates to the "San Francisco Chronicle":


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: After making a cameo appearance as himself in the 2000 comedy film "Happy Accidents", Hall appeared in several made-for-TV films. He starred opposite Sheryl Lee as a cheating husband in the 2001 USA Network cable movie "Hitched". In the same year, he played renowned music producer Robert "Mutt" Lange in VH1's movie "Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story" and starred as legendary lefty baseball pitcher Whitey Ford in Billy Crystal's highly acclaimed HBO film, "61*".


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: On the big screen, Hall took on supporting roles in the mystery-drama "The Caveman's Valentine" (2001) opposite Samuel L. Jackson, the critically panned "Freddy Got Fingered" (2001) opposite Tom Green, and the action-comedy "All About the Benjamins" (2002) opposite Ice Cube.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall began his first regular series role in 2002, starring as Johnny Smith in USA Network's supernatural drama "The Dead Zone", a TV series adapted from Stephen King's best-selling novel. He was cast in the show after executive producer Michael Piller saw his performance in "Pirates of Silicon Valley". The show debuted on June 16, 2002, and drew higher ratings for a premiere than any other cable series in television history with 6.4 million viewers. "The Dead Zone" quickly developed a loyal audience, with the show and Hall receiving strong reviews. The "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review" wrote that "Hall's Johnny flashes the qualities - comic timing, great facial expressions - that made him a star in the 1980s movies "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club"." "The Dead Zone", Hall said, "has transformed my career." The show proved to be one of USA Network's top shows and one of the highest-rated programs on basic cable.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: "The Dead Zone" opening credits list Hall as co-producer (seasons 1–3), producer (seasons 5) and co-executive producer (season 6). Hall also directed an episode from season three, "The Cold Hard Truth," guest starring standup comic Richard Lewis. "['The Cold Hard Truth'], I feel, is my best work as a director, because I had this great crew that knows me well and has been working with me," said Hall. "I also had the best script that I've had an opportunity to direct." The show's sixth and final season premiered on June 17, 2007. USA Network officially canceled "The Dead Zone" in December 2007.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall develops film and television projects under his production company banner AMH Entertainment. Hall starred in "Aftermath", a 2010 independent crime-drama film, with Tony Danza and Frank Whaley. In 2008, Hall appeared as Gotham City television reporter/anchor Mike Engel in "The Dark Knight".


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall reprised his role as Rusty Griswold in 2012 in a series of Old Navy holiday commercials featuring the Griswold family. In 2011, he played the main antagonist in Season 3 of "Warehouse 13". He played Walter Sykes, a man who once benefited from the use of an artifact but harboured a deep-seated anger towards the Warehouse and its agents when the artifact was taken from him (episodes 3.09, 3.11, 3.12). He also guest-starred in "Z Nation" in the role of Gideon, a former communications manager leading a group of zombie apocalypse survivors (only episode 2.11).


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: In 2016, Hall plays himself as the customer being serviced in an AT&T Mobile commercial. The same year, Hall was cast in a recurring role on the TNT drama series "Murder in the First".


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall assists at-risk youth through his literacy program, The Anthony Michael Hall Literacy Club, in association with Chapman University. The club provides an opportunity for the students to improve their literacy skills by exploring genres not typically used to enhance literacy, such as films, music and lyrics, scripts, and novels with audio. Following family tradition, Hall pursues his other passion, music. He is the lead singer and songwriter for his band, Hall of Mirrors, formed in 1998. The band released an album, "Welcome to the Hall of Mirrors", through Hall's own RAM Records label in 1999, with collaborations from former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke and Prince's former keyboard player Tommy Barbarella.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: On August 26, 2019, it was announced that Hall would join the cast as Tommy Doyle in the "Halloween" sequel, "Halloween Kills".


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall appeared as "Rusty" the security guard (original role played by John Candy) at the amusement park visited by the Goldberg family in the TV series "The Goldbergs" in their 2019 season premiere spoof of "National Lampoon's Vacation".


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall became a regular subject of tabloid media after "New York" magazine named him a member of the "Brat Pack", the group of young actors who became famous in the 1980s and frequently starred together. In the late 1980s, Hall's drinking problem, which began in his early teens, made headlines. Hall eventually quit drinking and became fully sober by 1990. "The truth is, I had my partying nights, but I never really bounced at the bottom," he said. "I never went to rehab...I was able to govern myself and continue my work."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: In 1990, Hall's physical appearance in "Edward Scissorhands" caught audiences off guard. His more muscular image provoked rumors of steroid use, but Hall later said that "the weight gain was natural."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: Hall's role in the 1993 film "Six Degrees of Separation" made news not because of what occurred onscreen, but rather what failed to occur. Hall played a gay love interest to Will Smith, who had previously agreed to a kissing scene between the two. However, on the day of the shoot, Smith backed off. Smith told the press that he called Denzel Washington for advice, who told him that an onscreen same-sex kiss was a bad career move. When asked about the incident during an interview, Hall said, "I didn't care. I wasn't that comfortable with it, either, and ultimately, we used a camera trick."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: The 2001 film "Not Another Teen Movie" pays tribute to Hall's numerous appearances in the teen-oriented, 1980s comedy films parodied by the movie. A brief shot of the sign over the door of a high school cafeteria reveals that the facility is named the Anthony Michael Dining Hall. In 2006, Hall was ranked #4 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Teen Stars" and #41 in "100 Greatest Kid Stars."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: In June 2005, "The Breakfast Club" was rewarded with the Silver Bucket of Excellence Award at the MTV Movie Awards, in honor of the film's twentieth anniversary. For the show, MTV attempted to reunite the original cast. Sheedy, Ringwald, and Hall appeared together on stage, and Paul Gleason gave the award to his former castmates. Estevez could not attend because of family commitments, and Nelson appeared earlier on the red carpet, but left before the on-stage reunion, for reasons unknown. Hall joked that the two were "in Africa with Dave Chappelle."


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: On November 17, 2016, the Los Angeles District Attorney charged Hall with felony assault with serious bodily injury following a September 13 confrontation with a neighbor at Hall's Playa del Rey condominium complex. In September 2017, Hall pleaded no contest to a lesser charge, was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years probation and 40 hours of community service. He was subsequently sued by the victim.


title: Anthony Michael Hall

text: , Hall lives in the Playa del Rey neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is godfather to Robert Downey Jr.'s son, Indio Falconer Downey.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The NeverEnding Story () is a 1984 fantasy film co-written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (in his first English-language film), and based on the 1979 novel "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende. The film was produced by Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Giessler. It stars Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Patricia Hayes, Sydney Bromley, Gerald McRaney and Moses Gunn, with Alan Oppenheimer providing the voices of both Falkor and Gmork (as well as other characters). The film follows a boy who happens upon a magical book that tells of a young warrior who is given the task of stopping the Nothing, a dark force, from engulfing the wonderland world of Fantasia.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside the United States or the Soviet Union. The film was the first in "The NeverEnding Story" film series. The film adapts only the first half of the book, and consequently does not convey the message of the title as it was portrayed in the novel. The second half of the book was subsequently used as a rough basis for the second film, "" (1990). The third film, "The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia" (1994), has an original plot not based on the book.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Ten-year-old Bastian Bux is a shy and outcast bibliophile and lives with his widowed father. One day on his way to school, Bastian is chased by bullies but escapes by hiding in a bookstore, annoying the bookseller, Mr. Coreander. Bastian's interest in books leads him to ask about the one Coreander is reading, but the bookseller advises against reading it, saying that it is not a "safe" story like regular books. With his curiosity piqued, Bastian secretly takes the book, titled "The Neverending Story", leaving a note promising to return it, and hides in the school's attic to read.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The book describes the fantasy world of Fantasia slowly being devoured by a malevolent force called "The Nothing". The Childlike Empress, who rules Fantasia, has fallen ill, and the young warrior Atreyu is tasked to discover a cure, believing that once the Empress is well, the Nothing will no longer be a threat. Atreyu is given a medallion called the Auryn that can guide and protect him in the quest. As Atreyu sets out, the Nothing summons a vicious and highly intelligent wolf-like creature named Gmork to kill Atreyu.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Atreyu's quest directs him to the giant, turtle-like adviser Morla the Ancient One in the Swamps of Sadness. Though the Auryn protects Atreyu, his beloved horse Artax is lost to the swamp, and he continues alone. Morla, who is allergic to youth, doesn't have the answers that Atreyu seeks, but reluctantly directs him to the Southern Oracle, ten thousand miles distant. Gmork closes in as Atreyu succumbs to exhaustion trying to escape the Swamps, but is narrowly saved by the luck dragon Falkor. Falkor takes him to the home of two gnomes who live near the gates to the Southern Oracle. Atreyu crosses the first gate, but is perplexed when the second gate—a mirror that shows the viewer's true self—reveals a boy which Bastian recognizes as himself. Atreyu eventually meets the Southern Oracle, who tells him that the only way to save the Empress is to find a human child who lives beyond the boundaries of Fantasia to give her a new name. Atreyu and Falkor flee, as the Nothing consumes the Southern Oracle.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: In flight, Atreyu is knocked from Falkor's back into the Sea of Possibilities, losing the Auryn in the process. He wakes on the shore of some abandoned ruins, where he finds several murals depicting his adventure, including one of Gmork. Gmork then reveals himself and explains that Fantasia represents humanity's imagination and is thus without boundaries, while the Nothing is a manifestation of the loss of hopes and dreams. Atreyu battles and kills Gmork, as the Nothing begins to consume the ruins.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Falkor manages to retrieve the Auryn and rescue Atreyu. The two find themselves in a void with only small fragments of Fantasia remaining, fearing that they have failed, until they spot the Empress' Ivory Tower among the fragments. Inside, Atreyu apologizes for failing the Empress, but she assures him that he has succeeded in bringing to her a human child who has been following his quest Bastian. She further explains that, just as Bastian is following Atreyu's story, "others" are following Bastian's, making this part of the Neverending Story. As the Nothing begins to consume the Tower, the Empress explains that Bastian must call out her new name to save Fantasia. Disbelieving he has been incorporated with the story, he denies these events actually happened. He gives in after she pleads directly to him to call out her new name, running to the window of the attic to call out "Moon Child".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Bastian awakens with the Empress, who presents him with a grain of sand the sole remnant of Fantasia. The Empress tells Bastian that he has the power to bring Fantasia back with his imagination. Bastian re-creates Fantasia and flies on Falkor's back to see the land and its inhabitants restored, including Atreyu and Artax. When Falkor asks what his next wish will be, Bastian brings Falkor to the real world to chase down the school bullies. The film narrates that Bastian had many more wishes and adventures, "But that's another story".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Author Michael Ende was initially happy about his book being turned into a film. Ende worked with Wolfgang Petersen as a script advisor and was paid only $50,000 for the rights to his book.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Ende claimed that Petersen later rewrote the script without consulting him, and felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from the spirit of his book "Fantastica reappears with no creative force from Bastian" that he requested that production either be halted or the film's title be changed. When the producers did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case. Ende called the film a "gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush and plastic" ().


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Helmut Dietl was originally attached to direct the film, but later dropped out and was replaced with Wolfgang Petersen.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The adaptation only covered the first half of the book. German producer Bernd Eichinger saw his children reading the book, and they urged him to make a film out of it. He was reluctant to adapt the book, but agreed to do so and acquired the rights to the book. The bulk of the film was shot at Stage 1 of the Bavaria Studios in Munich, with the street scenes and the school interior in the real world shot in Vancouver, Canada (the Gastown Vancouver Steam Clock can be seen in the bully chase scene at the end of the film, as the three bullies are chased down Cambie Street past the steam clock at the intersection of Water Street and then on down Blood Alley), and the beach where Atreyu falls, which was filmed at Playa de Mónsul in San Jose, Almería, Spain.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The film score of "The NeverEnding Story" was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song of the English version of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder, with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Christopher "Limahl" Hamill, once the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, and Beth Anderson. Released as a single in 1984, it peaked at No. 4 on the UK singles chart, No. 6 on the US "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 17 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The song has been covered by Armonite, The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, Kenji Haga and New Found Glory. More recent covers were done by Norwegian synthpop group Echo Image on their 2001 maxi-single "Skulk" and by German techno group Scooter on their 2007 album "Jumping All Over the World". This Limahl song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack, is not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's orchestral score exclusively. It was also performed by Dustin and Suzie from the television series "Stranger Things".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: In 1994, Italian house music group Club House released the song "Nowhere Land", featuring Carl, which combines the melody of the tune "Bastian's Happy Flight" with original lyrics.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: An official soundtrack album was released featuring Doldinger's score and Moroder's theme tune (Moroder also rescored several scenes for the version released outside Germany). The track listing (Doldinger is responsible for everything from track 6 onwards) is as follows:


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The film performed very well at the box office, grossing US$100 million worldwide against a production budget of DM 60 million (approximately US$25–27 million at the time). Almost 5 million people went to see it in Germany, a number rarely achieved by German productions, resulting in a gross of about US$20 million domestically. It also grossed a similar amount in the United States; only a modest sum in the American market, which director Wolfgang Petersen ascribed to the film's European sensibilities.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 83% based on reviews from 46 critics, with an average rating of 7.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A magical journey about the power of a young boy's imagination to save a dying fantasy land, "The NeverEnding Story" remains a much-loved kids adventure." Metacritic gives the film a score of 46 out of 100 based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave it 3 out of 4 stars and praised its visual effects, saying that "an entirely new world has been created" because of them, a comment echoed by "Variety". Ebert's co-host Gene Siskel said that the film's special effects and art direction were cheap-looking and that Falkor the luckdragon resembled the sort of stuffed toy you'd win at a county fair and throw out when you left. He also referred to Noah Hathaway as a "dullard" and said that the film was "much too long", even after Ebert pointed out that the film was only 90 minutes long. Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend referred to it as "one of a scant few true fantasy masterpieces".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Vincent Canby panned the film as a "graceless, humorless fantasy for children" in a 1984 review in "The New York Times". Canby's criticism charged that parts of the film "sounded like 'The Pre-Teenager's Guide to Existentialism. He further criticized the "tacky" special effects and that the construction of the dragon looked like "an impractical bathmat".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Colin Greenland reviewed "The NeverEnding Story" for "Imagine" magazine and stated that "perhaps the heroic quest of young Atreyu to save the land of Fantasia from the all-consuming Nothing might have been more convincing if it hadn't been so clumsily edited".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: The region-1 DVD was first released in 2001 by Warner Bros, containing only the North American release of the film. The only audio option is a 2.0 stereo mix in either English or Spanish. The theatrical trailer is the lone extra feature presented.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: There is also a lavish 2003 European version, which is a two-disc special edition with packaging shaped like the book from the film, and containing both the North American and German releases of the film. Various extras, such as a 45-minute documentary, music video, and galleries, are presented on the second disc. There is no English audio for the German version of the film. This edition has gone out of print. The standard single-disc edition is also available for the region-2 market.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: A Dutch import has also appeared on the Internet in various places, which not only contains the North American release of the film, but also includes a remastered DTS surround sound track, which is not found in either the German or the region-1 releases.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Warner released a region-A Blu-ray edition of the film in March 2010. The disc includes a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which marks the first time a 5.1 surround track has been included in a US home-video version of the film. No special features or theatrical trailer are included.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: Recent German releases feature the original Klaus Doldinger soundtrack with the original English audio track.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: An 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released in October 2014, which duplicates the DTS surround track of its predecessor. Originally described as a "newly" remastered version of the film, Warner released a statement indicating that "the only remastered version is The NeverEnding Story II", while not elaborating further on this current US release. The 30th Anniversary Edition contains the original theatrical trailer, a commentary track by director Wolfgang Petersen, documentaries and interviews from both 1984 and 2014, and a German-language/English-subtitled feature detailing the digital restoration process of the film.


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: In 2009, Warner Bros., The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions were in the early stages of creating another adaptation of Ende's novel. They intended to "examine the more nuanced details of the book" rather than remake the original film by Petersen. In 2011, producer Kathleen Kennedy said that problems securing the rights to the story may mean that a second adaptation is "not meant to be".


title: The NeverEnding Story (film)

text: In September 2022, it was reported that a bidding war for the film and TV rights of The NeverEnding Story between studios and streamers had emerged.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress, animal rights activist, and former fashion model.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: A successful fashion model who appeared on the front covers of "Life" and "Glamour" magazines, among others, Hedren became an actress after she was discovered by director Alfred Hitchcock while appearing on a television commercial in 1961. She achieved great praise for her work in two of his films: the suspense-thriller "The Birds" (1963), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, and the psychological drama "Marnie" (1964). She has appeared in over 80 films and television shows, including Charlie Chaplin's final film "A Countess from Hong Kong" (1967), the political satire "Citizen Ruth" (1996), and the existential comedy "I Heart Huckabees" (2004). Among other honors, her contributions to world cinema have been recognized with the Jules Verne Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren's strong commitment to animal rescue began in 1969 while she was shooting two films in Africa and was introduced to the plight of African lions. In an attempt to raise awareness for wildlife, she spent over a decade bringing "Roar" (1981) to the screen. She started her own nonprofit organization, the Roar Foundation, in 1983; it supports the Shambala Preserve, an wildlife habitat that enables her to continue her work in the care and preservation of lions and tigers. Hedren has also set up relief programs worldwide following earthquakes, hurricanes, famine and war. She was also instrumental in the development of Vietnamese-American nail salons.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Nathalie Kay Hedren was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, on January 19, 1930, to Bernard Carl and Dorothea Henrietta (née Eckhardt) Hedren. For much of her career, her year of birth was misreported as 1935. In a 2004 A&E "Biography", however, she acknowledged that she was actually born in 1930 (which is consistent with the birth registration index at the Minnesota Historical Society). Her paternal grandparents were Swedish immigrants, while her mother was of German and Norwegian descent. Her father ran a small general store in Lafayette, Minnesota, and gave her the nickname "Tippi." When she was four, she moved with her parents to Minneapolis. She has an older sister, Patricia (b. 1926). As a teenager, she took part in department store fashion shows. Her parents relocated to California while she was a high school student at West High School in Minneapolis.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: On reaching her 20th birthday, Hedren bought a ticket to New York City, where she joined the Eileen Ford Agency. Within a year, she made her unofficial film debut as "Miss Ice Box" in the musical comedy "The Petty Girl." In interviews, she referred to "The Birds," her first credited role, as her first film. Although she received several film offers during that time, Hedren had no interest in acting, as she knew it was very difficult to succeed.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: She had a highly successful modeling career during the 1950s and early 1960s, appearing on the covers of "Life," "The Saturday Evening Post," "McCall's," and "Glamour," among others. In 1961, after seven years of marriage to the actor Peter Griffith, Hedren divorced and returned to California with her daughter, Melanie, and rented an expensive home in Sherman Oaks. She later said, "I thought I could continue my career as it had been in New York. I thought everything would be just fine, and it wasn't. So I thought, 'well, I don't type, what shall I do?'"


title: Tippi Hedren

text: On October 13, 1961, she received a call from an agent who told her a producer was interested in working with her. When she was told it was Alfred Hitchcock, who while watching "The Today Show," saw her in a commercial for a diet drink called Sego, she agreed to sign a seven-year contract. During their first meeting, the two talked about everything except the role for which he was considering her. Hedren was convinced for several weeks it was for his television series, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." Hitchcock later said, "I was not primarily concerned with how she looked in person. Most important was her appearance on the screen, and I liked that immediately. She has a touch of that high-style, lady-like quality which was once well-represented in films by actresses like Irene Dunne, Grace Kelly, Claudette Colbert, and others, but which is now quite rare."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Being an unknown actress with little training, Hitchcock put Hedren through an extensive color screen test that lasted two days and cost $25,000, doing scenes from his previous films, such as "Rebecca," "Notorious," and "To Catch a Thief" with actor Martin Balsam. According to Balsam, Hedren was very nervous, but studied every line, did every move she was asked to, and tried to do everything right. Hitchcock asked costume designer Edith Head to design clothes for Hedren's private life and he personally advised her about wine and food. He also insisted for publicity purposes that her name should be printed only in single quotes, 'Tippi.' The press mostly ignored this directive from the director, who felt that the single quotes added distinction and mystery to her name. Hitchcock was impressed with Hedren. As production designer Robert F. Boyle explained, "Hitch always liked women who behaved like well-bred ladies. Tippi generated that quality."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Afterward, Hedren was invited to lunch with Hitchcock, his wife, Alma, and Lew Wasserman, head of Universal, at one of Hitchcock's favorite restaurants, Chasen's. There, she was presented with a golden pin of three birds in flight, adorned by three tiny seed pearls, and was asked by Hitchcock to play the leading role in his upcoming film "The Birds." "I was so stunned. It never occurred to me that I would be given a leading role in a major motion picture. I had great big tears in my eyes," Hedren later recalled.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: "The Birds" (1963) was Hedren's screen debut. Hitchcock became her drama coach, and gave her an education in film-making, as she attended many of the production meetings such as script, music, or photography conferences. Hedren said, "I probably learned in three years what it would have taken me 15 years to learn otherwise." She learned how to break down a script, to become another character, and to study the relationship of different characters. Hedren portrayed her role of Melanie Daniels as Hitchcock requested. She said, "He gives his actors very little leeway. He'll listen, but he has a very definite plan in mind as to how he wants his characters to act. With me, it was understandable, because I was not an actress of stature. I welcomed his guidance."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: During the six months of principal photography, Hedren's schedule was tight, as she was only given one afternoon off a week. At first, she found the shooting "wonderful." Hitchcock told a reporter, after a few weeks of filming, that she was remarkable, and said, "She's already reaching the lows and highs of terror." Nonetheless, Hedren recalled the week she did the final bird attack scene in a second-floor bedroom as the worst of her life. Before filming it, she asked Hitchcock about her character's motivations to go upstairs, and his response was, "Because I tell you to." She was then assured that the crew would use mechanical birds. Instead, Hedren endured five solid days of prop men, protected by thick leather gloves, flinging dozens of live gulls, ravens, and crows at her (their beaks clamped shut with elastic bands). In a state of exhaustion, when one of the birds gouged her cheek and narrowly missed her eye, Hedren sat down on the set and began crying. A physician ordered a week's rest. Hitchcock protested, according to Hedren, saying nobody but her was left to film. The doctor's reply was, "Are you trying to kill her?" She said the week also appeared to be an ordeal for the director.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Universal's executives, who did not back Hitchcock's decision to hire Hedren in the first place, were impressed with her performance and Wasserman described it as "remarkable." While promoting "The Birds," Hitchcock was full of praise for his new protégée, and compared her to Grace Kelly. "Tippi has a faster tempo, city glibness, more humor [than Grace Kelly]. She displayed jaunty assuredness, pertness, an attractive throw of the head. And she memorized and read lines extraordinarily well and is sharper in expression." The film was screened out of competition in May at a prestigious invitational showing at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival. Hedren's performance was praised in "Variety"s review: "Aside from the birds, the film belongs to Hedren, who makes an auspicious screen bow. She virtually has to carry the picture alone for the first 45-minute stretch, prior to the advent of the first wave of organized attackers from the sky. Miss Hedren has a star quality and Hitchcock has provided her with a potent vehicle to launch her career." Hedren received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, tied with Elke Sommer and Ursula Andress. Her role as Melanie Daniels was named by "Premiere" as one of the greatest movie characters of all time.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hitchcock was so impressed with Hedren's acting abilities, he decided to offer her the leading role of his next film, "Marnie" (1964), a romantic drama and psychological thriller from the novel by Winston Graham, during the filming of "The Birds." Hedren was stunned and felt extremely fortunate to be offered to play "such a complicated, sad, tragic woman," and later said, "I consider my acting, while not necessarily being method acting, but one that draws upon my own feelings. I thought Marnie was an extremely interesting role to play and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." She voiced doubts about her ability to play the demanding role, but Hitchcock assured her she could do it. As opposed to "The Birds," where she had received little acting guidance, for this film Hedren studied every scene with Hitchcock.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren recalled "Marnie" as her favorite of the two films she did with Hitchcock for the challenge of playing an emotionally battered young woman who travels from city to city assuming various guises to rob her employers. During the filming, Hitchcock was quoted as saying about Hedren, "an Academy Award performance is in the making." On release, the film was greeted by mixed reviews and indifferent box-office returns, and received no Oscar nominations. "Variety" wrote, "Hedren returns in a particularly demanding role. Miss Hedren, undertaking a role originally offered Grace Kelly for a resumption of her screen career, lends credence to a part never sympathetic. It's a difficult assignment which she fulfills satisfactorily." Hedren later said that "Marnie" was "ahead of its time" because "people didn't talk about childhood and its effects on adult life. It was taboo to discuss sexuality and psychology and to put all that into a film was shocking." Despite its original lukewarm reception, the film was later acclaimed and described as a "masterpiece" and Hedren's performance is now regarded as one of the finest in any Hitchcock film. Richard Brody of "The New Yorker" wrote in his 2016 review of the film "Hedren's performance is one of the greatest in the history of cinema."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: "Marnie" was the second and last collaboration between Hedren and Hitchcock. In 1973, she admitted that a major lifestyle difference caused a split in their relationship. "He was too possessive and too demanding. I cannot be possessed by anyone. But, then, that's my own hangup." In 1983, author Donald Spoto published his second book about Hitchcock, "The Dark Side of Genius," for which Hedren agreed to talk for the first time in detail about her relationship with the director.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: The book was controversial, as several of Hitchcock's friends claimed the Hitchcock portrayed in the book was not the man they knew. For years after its release, Hedren was not keen to talk about it in interviews, but thought the chapter devoted to her story was "accurate as to just what he was." Hedren later explained her long silence before telling her story, "It was embarrassing and insulting—there were a lot of reasons why I didn't want to tell the story. I didn't want it to be taken advantage of, twisted, turned, and made into an even uglier situation than it was."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: According to Spoto's book, Hitchcock brought in two members of his crew during the filming of "The Birds" and asked them to keep careful watch on the activities of Hedren, "when she left the set—where she went, who she visited, how she spent her free time". He then advised her on what she should eat, whom she should see, and how she should live. He told the cast and crew they were not allowed to talk to her. Hedren's co-star in "The Birds," Rod Taylor, later remembered, "Hitch was becoming very domineering and covetous of 'Tippi,' and it was very difficult for her. No one was permitted to come physically close to her during the production. 'Don't touch the girl after I call "Cut!"' he said to me repeatedly." Hitchcock also attempted, on one occasion, to grab and violently kiss Hedren in the back of a car as they drove onto the set. Hedren told his assistant, Peggy Robertson, and the studio chief, Lew Wasserman, that she was becoming very unhappy about the whole situation. "But he was Alfred Hitchcock, the great and famous director, and I was Tippi Hedren, an inexperienced actress who had no clout". She decided she could not quit her contract because she was afraid to be blacklisted and unable to find work. Hedren's own daughter, Melanie Griffith, remembered that while Hedren was doing "The Birds," she thought Hitchcock was taking her mother away from her. "Suddenly, I wasn't allowed even to visit my mom at the studio."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: During the filming of "Marnie," Hedren found Hitchcock's behavior toward her increasingly difficult to bear as filming progressed. "Everyone -— I mean everyone -— knew he was obsessed with me. He always wanted a glass of wine or champagne, with me alone, at the end of the day. He was really isolating me from everyone." Hedren's co-star in "Marnie," Diane Baker, later recalled, "She was never allowed to gather around with the rest of us, and he demanded that every conversation between her and Hitch be held in private... Nothing could have been more horrible for me than to arrive on that movie set and to see her being treated the way she was."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hitchcock revealed to Hedren one day he had a recurring dream where she came up to him and said, "Hitch, I love you -— I'll always love you." When she heard this, Hedren replied "But it was a dream. Just a dream," and excused herself from his presence. She believed Hitchcock had no consideration for her feelings and remembered she was humiliated after he asked her to touch him, just before shooting a scene. "He made sure no one else could hear, and his tone and glance made it clear exactly what he meant". Hedren asked Hitchcock's permission one day to travel to New York to appear on "The Tonight Show", where she was supposed to be presented an award as the "Most Promising New Star". Hitchcock refused, according to his biographer, because he claimed the break would affect her performance. During that meeting, he apparently "made an overt sexual proposition" that Hedren "could neither ignore nor answer casually, as she could his previous gestures". In Spoto's third book about Hitchcock, "Spellbound by Beauty" (2008), Hedren revealed that Hitchcock actually made offensive demands on her. "He stared at me and simply said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, that from this time on, he expected me to make myself sexually available and accessible to him—however and whenever and wherever he wanted". Hitchcock's demands led to a "horrible, horrible fight", according to Hedren. "He made these demands on me, and no way could I acquiesce to them".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren then told him "Marnie" would be their last film together and later recalled how Hitchcock told her he would destroy her career. "I said I wanted to get out of my contract. He said: 'You can't. You have your daughter to support, and your parents are getting older'. I said: 'Nobody would want me to be in this situation, I want to get out'. And he said: 'I'll ruin your career'. I said: 'Do what you have to do'. And he did ruin my career. He kept me under contract, paid me to do nothing for close on two years". Hedren felt so humiliated, she called the director a "fat pig" in front of people on the set. Hitchcock made only a comment about it to his biographer, John Russell Taylor: "She did what no one is permitted to do. She referred to my weight". The two communicated only through a third party for the rest of the film. According to "Marnie"'s screenwriter, Jay Presson Allen, Hitchcock was "mad" for Hedren. She felt unhappy for both and described the situation as "an old man's" cri de coeur"", adding that Hitchcock had a "Pygmalion complex about Tippi". She advised Hedren to finish the film and then get on with her life and be happy. Hedren's hairdresser, Virginia Darcy, even told Hitchcock he should not be possessive with Hedren. "Tippi felt rightly that she was not his property, but he'd say, 'You are, I have a contract'". Although Hitchcock thought he might mend fences with Hedren and make another film with her, she refused to reconsider her decision. Hedren's contract terms gave Hitchcock the final say as to any work she could take on and he used that power to turn down several film roles on her behalf. She was particularly disappointed when French director François Truffaut told her he had wanted her for one of them. In 1966, Hitchcock finally sold her contract to Universal Studios after Hedren appeared in two of their TV shows, "Kraft Suspense Theatre" (1965) and "Run for Your Life" (id.). The studio ultimately released her from her contract after she refused to appear on a television Western for them.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: In 2012, "The Girl", an HBO/BBC film about Hedren and Hitchcock's relationship, based on Donald Spoto's 2009 book "Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies", was released. When she was first told about the project, Hedren said she had mixed feelings about it, "To be still alive and have a film made about you is an awesome and incredibly frightening experience". Hedren and Hitchcock were respectively portrayed by Sienna Miller and Toby Jones.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Although she was thrilled with the choice of Miller, Hedren was worried she would not be portrayed "as strong a character as I was—and still am. I had to be extremely strong to fight off Mr. Hitchcock". She described the moment she saw the film as "probably one of the most involved, emotionally tense 90 minutes that I have ever lived". Upon the film's release, Hedren said although she believed the film accurately portrays Hitchcock's behavior towards her, the time constraints of a 90-minute film prevented telling the entire story of her career with him. "It wasn't a constant barrage of harassment. If it had been constantly the way we have had to do it in this film, I would have been long gone". She recalled there were times she described as "absolutely delightful and wonderful”, and insisted that “Hitchcock had a charm about him. He was very funny at times. He was incredibly brilliant in his field". The film was controversial, as others who knew and worked with Hitchcock responded to it negatively. Kim Novak, who worked on Hitchcock's "Vertigo" (1958), disputed Hitchcock's portrayal as a sexual predator in "The Girl": "I never saw him make a pass at anybody or act strange to anybody. And wouldn't you think if he was that way, I would've seen it or at least seen him with somebody? I think it's unfortunate when someone's no longer around and can't defend themselves". Novak previously described Hitchcock as a gentleman, and when asked about reports of his behavior, she said, "Maybe I just wasn't his type". Novak also stated, "I won't dispute Tippi if that's what she saw."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren herself was asked why her account of sexual harassment contrasted with the many interviews she gave about her time with Hitchcock, her presence at the AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony honoring him in 1979, and her presence at his funeral. She explained that, "He ruined my career, but he didn't ruin my life. That time of my life was over. I still admire the man for who he was". She also said, "I've been able to separate the two. The man who was the artist. I mean, what he gave to the motion picture industry can never be taken away from him and I certainly wouldn't want to try. But on the other side, there is that dark side that was really awful".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren's first feature film appearance after "Marnie" was in the 1967 film "A Countess from Hong Kong", starring Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren. She was told by writer-director Charlie Chaplin that he was offering her a major supporting role as Brando's estranged wife but had to accept the role without reading the script. However, when she arrived in England, where the filming took place, she finally received the script and realized that her part was little more than a cameo. She asked Chaplin why he had lied to her.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: "Every actor in the world was asking if they could do this film, to just do a walk-on, without even being paid for it. When I said, 'Why didn't you just tell me that it was a cameo? I would have done this film anyway?' He said, 'I didn't think you would come,' which was very sweet. He was a very clever man." Hedren asked Chaplin to expand the role, and although he tried to accommodate her, he could not, as the story mostly takes place on a ship, which Hedren's character boards near the end of the film.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: In the end, she remained in the film and later said that it was both amusing and strange to work with Chaplin. She found him to be a very serious man and loved his approach to directing. She later said, "I wish someone would have been allowed to do a documentary. The way he directed was unlike anyone I ever saw. He acted out all the parts himself. He did Sophia's part, then Marlon's part, then mine, and then he'd say, 'Okay, now you can do it.' Which would be impossible, to mimic the master. It was incredible. None of us believed it. Marlon hated it."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: After the release of "A Countess from Hong Kong", Hedren's career was described as "spectacular" by the press. She told a reporter at the time, "I don't want to wait myself out of this business, but working for Hitch and Charlie has been very special to me, and now I'm going to wait for something special to come along". In 1968, she signed on to do the American Civil War drama "Five Against Kansas" with Farley Granger and Jeffrey Hunter, but the project was never realized. In 1968, Hedren returned to film as a socialite who helps her boyfriend (played by George Armstrong) catch a killer, in "Tiger by the Tail". From 1970 to 1971, she guest-starred twice on "The Courtship of Eddie's Father". She agreed to take part in "Satan's Harvest" (1970) and "Mister Kingstreet's War" (1973)—which were shot back-to-back despite the discrepancy in their release dates—for the sole reason that they were being filmed in Africa.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: In 1973, Hedren played a teacher at an experimental sex school in "The Harrad Experiment", which starred James Whitmore and Don Johnson—the latter who would later marry her daughter, Melanie Griffith. Hedren felt that the film "deals with vital themes—themes like the decline in importance of ideas like possession and jealousy and, by inference, marriage. I have four teenaged children and I think this picture says some valuable things to them." She confessed at the time that she was occasionally depressed because she was not doing any major films, and told a magazine, "My husband just cancelled all the trade magazines because he felt I should cut off the source of my discontent. He's the type who won't stand for sustained down feelings".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren and husband Noel Marshall watched a pride of lions move into a house after a game warden moved out in 1969, during the filming of "Satan's Harvest" in Africa. She said, "We were delighted with the way they adapted themselves to living there. And they were so funny we knew we had an idea for a picture." Marshall wrote a script titled "Lions, Lions and More Lions" based on their experience; it was retitled "Roar" and centered on a family's misadventures in a research park filled with lions, tigers, and other wild cats.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren played the lead role and co-starred with her daughter Melanie, husband Marshall, and his own sons Jerry and John. They attempted to rent Hollywood animals for a nine-month shoot, but upon approaching animal trainers for support, they were discouraged and nobody would rent them 30 or 40 lions, as the script required, because of their natural tendency to fight. They were encouraged to start collecting and training their own exotic beasts. Animal trainer Ron Oxley told them, "to get to know about lions, you've got to live with them for a while". They started to raise a lion cub named Neil in their Sherman Oaks house and made sure that the animal slept in their bed. "Life" photographer Michael Rougier documented their life in 1971 and photographed the lion with the whole family inside and outside the house, from Hedren's daughter's bed to the living room to the swimming pool. After complaints from their neighbors, Hedren and Marshall bought a ranch outside of Los Angeles in Acton that would serve as the set for "Roar". They got permission there to rescue and raise several lions, tigers, African elephants, and other exotic felines.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Filming started in 1974 and took five years just to complete the photography. Every scene involving lions was improvised and shot with four or sometimes eight cameras. More than 100 people worked on the film, as well as more than 150 untrained lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs. During production, no animals were hurt, but more than 70 members of the cast and crew were mauled. Hedren fractured a leg and also had scalp wounds when an elephant bucked her off its back while she was riding it. She was also bitten in the neck by a lion and required 38 stitches; this incident can be seen in the film. Melanie Griffith was also attacked, receiving 50 stitches to her face; it was feared that she would lose an eye, but she recovered and was not disfigured. Marshall was attacked so many times that he eventually was diagnosed with gangrene. In one of those incidents, he was clawed by a cheetah when protecting the animals during a bushfire that occurred in 1979. All animals were evacuated, and several years were needed for him to recover from his injuries. In 1978, a flood destroyed the movie sets and killed three of the lions. The project was set back several years. Hedren said that they were all determined to finish the film: "We were so sure the film was going to be a success that we thought everything (financing the ranch and the lions, etc.) would take care of itself."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: "Roar" was released worldwide in 1981 with the exception of the United States, because according to Hedren, "The United States distributors wanted the lion's share of the profits, and we thought it ought to go to the beautiful animals that made the movie." The film cost $17 million and grossed only $2 million, but it was a turning point in Hedren's life. In 1983, she established the nonprofit The Roar Foundation to take care of the big cats. "After our movie was over," she explained, "it was unconscionable to see the animals go any place else." "Roar" was re-released in 2015, but Hedren declined to discuss it, as she felt that promotion for the film was filled with "inaccuracies".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: After "Roar", Hedren accepted any low-budget television or cinema role that could help bring funds to her foundation to provide protection, shelter, care, and maintenance for the animals at the Shambala Preserve. In 1982, she co-starred with Leslie Nielsen in "Foxfire Light". She appeared in several television series, including "Hart to Hart" in 1983 and the late-night horror series "Tales from the Darkside" in 1984. In the 1985 pilot episode of "The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents", she made a brief appearance as a waitress in a bar who berates a customer, played by her daughter Melanie Griffith. In 1990, she had a nonspeaking, minor part as a wealthy widow romanced by Michael Keaton in the film "Pacific Heights" (1990), which also starred her daughter. That same year, she had a role on "The Bold and the Beautiful", a daytime soap opera she said she was "proud to have in my resume".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: In 1994, Hedren appeared in the made-for-cable sequel, "", in a role different from the one she had played in the original. She was, however, disappointed that she did not get a starring role and admitted before the film's release, "I wish that it was more than a cameo. I think they made a mistake by not doing that, but it has helped me to feed my lions and tigers." When asked about what could have been Hitchcock's opinion on the film, she answered: "I'd hate to think what he would say!" However, in a 2007 interview Hedren said of the film: "It's absolutely horrible, it embarrasses me horribly."


title: Tippi Hedren

text: From 1994 to 1996, Hedren had a guest-starring role in "Dream On". The sitcom gave her "the opportunity to do comedy. I'd never done comedy before and it was just wonderful for me to be able to do that. Everybody just thought of me as a serious actress, so I owe that to John Landis (the executive producer), giving me that opportunity." In 1996, she played an abortion rights activist in Alexander Payne's political satire "Citizen Ruth" with Laura Dern. In 1998, she co-starred alongside Billy Zane and Christina Ricci in "I Woke Up Early the Day I Died", a film she felt was "incredible". "I must say I really love that film. It was a unique kind of film to do also, because of the fact that it had no dialogue in it. It was very, very different". That same year, she guest-starred in a special episode titled "Psychodrama" of the television series "Chicago Hope", that paid tribute to the Hitchcock movies. Hedren's character, Alfreda Perkins, was a reference to Alfred Hitchcock and actor Anthony Perkins, who starred in the director's 1960 film "Psycho".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: After appearing in a number of little-exposed films between 1999 and 2003, Hedren had a small but showy role in the 2004 David O. Russell comedy "I Heart Huckabees", as a foul-mouthed attractive older woman who slaps Jude Law in an elevator. She felt that the director, who had a reputation for being difficult, was "totally crazy", but also "very interesting. I was able to work well with him." She also added it was a strange experience as, "... all of a sudden, he'd be like, 'Now I'm going to do it this way,' and you'd think, 'How is he going to edit this? How is this going to work?' But he made it work." In 2006, Hedren was a cast member of the short-lived primetime soap opera "Fashion House" with Bo Derek and Morgan Fairchild, and continued to guest-star in television series such as "The 4400" (2006) and "" (2008). In 2012, Hedren and her daughter guest-starred together on an episode of "Raising Hope". That same year, she appeared in "Free Samples", an indie film where she had a supporting role as an old movie star. In 2013, she made an appearance as herself in the fourth-season finale of "Cougar Town".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren published her autobiography, "Tippi: A Memoir", co-written with Lindsay Harrison, in 2016 through William Morrow and Company, as she felt it was "about time I stop letting everyone else tell my story and finally tell it myself." In 2018, at age 88, Hedren became the new face of Gucci's timepieces and jewelry and starred as a mysterious fortune teller in the brand's commercial ad, "The Fortune Teller".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: A Louis Vuitton ad campaign in 2006 paid tribute to Hedren and Hitchcock with a modern-day interpretation of the deserted railway station opening sequence of "Marnie". Her look from "The Birds" (1963) inspired designer Bill Gaytten to design for John Galliano Pre-Fall 2012 collection.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Naomi Watts stated that her character interpretation in "Mulholland Drive" (2001) was influenced by the look and performances of Hedren in Hitchcock films. Watts and Hedren both appeared in "I Heart Huckabees" (2004), but did not share any scenes together. Off screen, the film's director David O. Russell introduced them both, and Watts said of Hedren: "I was pretty fascinated by her then, because people have often said we're alike." Watts dressed up as Hedren's title character from "Marnie" for a photo shoot for March 2008 issue of "Vanity Fair". In the same issue, Jodie Foster dressed up as Hedren's character, Melanie Daniels, from "The Birds".


title: Tippi Hedren

text: In 1981, Hedren produced "Roar", an 11-year project that ended up costing $17 million and starred dozens of African lions. "This was probably one of the most dangerous films that Hollywood has ever seen", remarked the actress. "It's amazing no one was killed." During the production of "Roar", Hedren, her husband at the time, Noel Marshall, and daughter Melanie were attacked by lions; Jan de Bont, the director of photography, was scalped. Hedren later co-wrote "Cats of Shambala" (1985) about the experience. "Roar" made only $2 million worldwide. Hedren ended her marriage to Marshall a year later in 1982. The film directly led to the 1983 establishment of the nonprofit The Roar Foundation and Hedren's Shambala Preserve, located at the edge of the Mojave Desert in Acton, California, between the Antelope Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley, northeast of Los Angeles. Shambala houses some 70 animals. Hedren lives on the Shambala site and conducts monthly tours of the preserve for the public. In a 2015 interview with magazine "Ability", Hedren emphasized that there is no human contact with the animals and that all of the cats are spayed and neutered, since they are being raised in captivity. Hedren was the founding president of the American Sanctuary Association, a post she still holds.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: She took in and cared for Togar, a lion that belonged to Anton LaVey, after he was told by San Francisco officials that he could not keep a fully grown lion as a house pet. Shambala became the new home for Michael Jackson's two Bengal tigers, Sabu and Thriller, after he decided to close his zoo at his Neverland Valley Ranch in Los Olivos. Thriller died in June 2012 of lung cancer.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: On December 3, 2007, Shambala Preserve made headlines when Chris Orr, a caretaker for the animals, was mauled by a tiger named Alexander. Several documentaries have focused on Shambala Preserve, including the 30-minute "Lions: Kings of the Serengeti" (1995), narrated by Melanie Griffith, and Animal Planet's "Life with Big Cats" (1998), which won the Genesis Award for best documentary in 1999. The animals at the preserve served as the initial inspiration for the life's work of artist A.E. London, who started her career working for Hedren.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: As of 2020, Hedren still maintains more than a dozen lions and tigers; her granddaughter Dakota Johnson is involved in their care.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren met future advertising executive Peter Griffith while doing a walk-on role on "The Aldrich Family" in 1951, when she was 21 and he was 17. On October 24, 1951, a day after Griffith turned 18, the couple took out a marriage license in New York, and were married the following year. Their daughter Melanie was born on August 9, 1957. They divorced in 1960, after which Hedren dated comedian Mort Sahl. On September 27, 1964, Hedren married her then-agent Noel Marshall, who later produced three of her films. They divorced in 1982, with Hedren securing a restraining order forbidding Marshall from coming within 20 feet of her. On February 15, 1985, she married steel manufacturer Luis Barrenechea, but they divorced in 1992. According to Hedren, Barrenechea "was everything I wanted in a man, except that he was an alcoholic and that was unbearable." Hedren was engaged to veterinarian Martin Dinnes from 2002 until their breakup in mid-2008. In September 2008, Hedren told "The Sunday Times" "I'm waiting for someone to sweep me off my feet." Hedren has three grandchildren.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren played a role in the development of Vietnamese-American nail salons in the United States. In 1975, while an international relief coordinator with Food for the Hungry, she began visiting with refugees at Hope Village outside Sacramento, California. When she learned the women were interested in her manicured nails, she employed her manicurist to teach them the skills of the trade and worked with a local beauty school to help them find jobs. Hedren's work with the Vietnamese-Americans was the subject of several documentaries: "Happy Hands", directed by Honey Lauren, which won Best Documentary Short at the Sonoma International Film Festival in 2014 and "Nailedit: Vietnamese and the Nail Industry" which won the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) 2014 Documentary Fund Award. CND and Beauty Changes Lives Foundation (BCL) have announced the BCL CND Tippi Hedren Nail Scholarship Fund to support professional nail education and will be administered starting January 1, 2014.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren was instrumental in helping a desperate Nguyen Thi Chinh to enter the US after the fall of the South Vietnam government in 1975, she arranged for an air ticket and a visa for her and then invited her to stay in her house.


title: Tippi Hedren

text: Hedren suffered from severe and persistent headaches for a long time, which rendered her unable to accept several projects, including a television series produced by and starring Betty White. After she got a titanium plate put in her neck, she improved and then agreed, with the blessing of her doctor, to take the part of a dying woman in the soap opera "Fashion House". While she was rehearsing a scene, a gallon of water fell from the ceiling onto her head. The headaches returned after the incident and persisted. Hedren filed a suit to receive recompense following her inability to work. Hedren's lawyer, Joseph Allen, made a mistake in his discussions with the defendants that allowed them to block him from filing suit. Hedren sued Allen for malpractice. In 2013, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Hedren had been awarded a $1.5 million settlement, including $213,400 for past lost earnings and $440,308 for future lost earnings, against her former lawyer. Hedren was hurt by the report since she had not collected the award. She gave an interview to explain that her former lawyer does not have the money to pay her, and discussed how the report put her in a difficult situation since her foundation was in dire need of funds. She explained that she has to raise $75,000 monthly just to keep it going. "Chances are I won't ever even see the money, and that's what hurts so badly, that in all of this pain and suffering that publication ran with a swift and not researched story, which told people around the world who have been so gracious and thoughtful about sending donations, that I no longer needed them."


title: Turin

text: Turin ( , ; ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is mainly on the western bank of the Po River, below its Susa Valley, and is surrounded by the western Alpine arch and Superga Hill. The population of the city proper is 847,287 (31 January 2022) while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.


title: Turin

text: The city used to be a major European political centre. From 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the House of Savoy, and the first capital of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1865. Turin is sometimes called "the cradle of Italian liberty" for having been the political and intellectual centre of the "Risorgimento" as well as the birthplace of notable individuals who contributed to it, such as Cavour. Although much of its political influence had been lost by World War II (having been a center of anti-fascist movements during the "Ventennio" including the Italian resistance), Turin became a major European crossroad for industry, commerce and trade, and is part of the "industrial triangle" along with Milan and Genoa. It is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, the city is the world's 78th richest by purchasing power. As of 2018, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma-level global city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, hosting the headquarters of FIAT, Lancia and Alfa Romeo.


title: Turin

text: The city has a rich culture and history, and it is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries, museums and other venues. Turin is well known for its Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, and Art Nouveau architecture. Many of Turin's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant "palazzi", such as the Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. A part of the historical center of Turin was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. In addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana, the city's architectonical symbol, which in turn hosts the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. Turin's attractions make it one of the world's top 250 tourist destinations and the tenth most visited city in Italy in 2008. The city also hosts some of Italy's best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, and the Turin Polytechnic. Turin is also worldwide famous for icons like the gianduja, the Holy Shroud, the automobile brand FIAT and the association football club Juventus, which competes with its rival Torino in the "Derby della Mole", the city's derby. The city, among other events, was one of the host cities of the 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, along with hosting the 2006 Winter Olympics; Turin hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 and is hosting the tennis ATP Finals from 2021 until 2025.


title: Turin

text: The Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont.


title: Turin

text: In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Insubres. The Taurini chief town ("Taurasia") was captured by Hannibal's forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are rarely mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established after 28 BC under the name of "Julia Augusta Taurinorum" (modern Turin). Both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurini's country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times.


title: Turin

text: In the first century BC (probably 28 BC), the Romans founded "Augusta Taurinorum". Via Garibaldi traces the exact path of the Roman city's decumanus which began at the "Porta Decumani", later incorporated into the "Castello" or Palazzo Madama. The Porta Palatina, on the north side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the cathedral. Remains of the Roman-period theatre are preserved in the area of the "Manica Nuova". Turin reached about 5,000 inhabitants at the time, all living inside the high city walls.


title: Turin

text: After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the town, along with the rest of the Italian peninsula, was conquered by the Heruli and the Ostrogoths, recaptured by the Romans, but then conquered again by the Lombards whose territory then fell into the hands of the Franks under Charlemagne (773). The "Contea di Torino" (countship) was founded in the 940s and was held by the Arduinic dynasty until 1050. After the marriage of Adelaide of Susa with Humbert Biancamano's son Otto, the family of the Counts of Savoy gained control. While the title of count was held by the Bishop as count of Turin (1092–1130 and 1136–1191) it was ruled as a prince-bishopric by the Bishops. In 1230–1235 it was a lordship under the Marquess of Montferrat, styled Lord of Turin. At the end of the 13th century, when it was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy, the city already had 20,000 inhabitants. Many of the gardens and palaces were built in the 15th century when the city was redesigned. The University of Turin was also founded during this period.


title: Turin

text: Emmanuel Philibert, also known under the nickname of "Iron Head" (Testa 'd Fer), made Turin the capital of the Duchy of Savoy in 1563. Piazza Reale (named Piazza San Carlo today) and Via Nuova (current Via Roma) were added along with the first enlargement of the walls, in the first half of the 17th century; in the same period the "Palazzo Reale" (Royal Palace of Turin) was also built. In the second half of that century, a second enlargement of the walls was planned and executed, with the building of the arcaded Via Po, connecting Piazza Castello with the bridge on the Po through the regular street grid.


title: Turin

text: In 1706, during the Battle of Turin, the French besieged the city for 117 days without conquering it. By the Treaty of Utrecht the Duke of Savoy acquired Sicily, soon traded for Sardinia, and part of the former Duchy of Milan, and was elevated to king; thus Turin became the capital of a European kingdom. The architect Filippo Juvarra began a major redesign of the city; Turin had about 90,000 inhabitants at the time.


title: Turin

text: Turin, like the rest of Piedmont, was annexed by the French Empire in 1802. The city thus became the seat of the prefecture of Pô department until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, when the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia was restored with Turin as its capital. In the following decades, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia led the struggle towards the unification of Italy. In 1861, Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed united Kingdom of Italy having been the political and intellectual centre of the "Risorgimento" movement, until 1865, when the capital was moved to Florence, and then to Rome after the 1870 conquest of the Papal States. The 1871 opening of the Fréjus Tunnel made Turin an important communication node between Italy and France. The city in that period had 250,000 inhabitants. Some of the most iconic landmarks of the city, like the Mole Antonelliana, the Egyptian Museum, the Gran Madre di Dio church and "Piazza Vittorio Veneto" were built in this period. The late 19th century was also a period of rapid industrialization, especially in the automotive sector: in 1899 Fiat was established in the city, followed by Lancia in 1906. The Universal Exposition held in Turin in 1902 is often regarded as the pinnacle of Art Nouveau design, and the city hosted the same event in 1911. By this time, Turin had grown to 430,000 inhabitants.


title: Turin

text: After World War I, harsh conditions brought a wave of strikes and workers' protests. In 1920 the Lingotto Fiat factory was occupied. The Fascist regime put an end to the social unrest, banning trade unions and jailing socialist leaders, notably Antonio Gramsci. On the other hand, Benito Mussolini largely subsidised the automotive industry, to provide vehicles to the army.


title: Turin

text: Turin was then a target of Allied strategic bombing during World War II, being heavily damaged by the air raids in its industrial areas as well as in the city centre. Along with Milan, Genoa, and La Spezia, Turin was one of Italy's four cities that experienced area bombing by the RAF; the heaviest raid took place on 13 July 1943, when 295 bombers dropped 763 tons of bombs, killing 792 people. Overall, these raids killed 2,069 inhabitants of Turin, and destroyed or damaged 54% of all buildings in the city.


title: Turin

text: The Allied's campaign in Italy started off from the South and slowly moved northwards in the following two years, leaving the northern regions occupied by Germans and collaborationist forces for several years. Turin was not captured by the Allies until the end of Spring Offensive of 1945. By the time the vanguard of the armoured reconnaissance units of Brazilian Expeditionary Force reached the city, it was already freed by the Italian Partisans, that had begun revolting against the Germans on 25 April 1945. Days later, troops from the US Army's 1st Armored and 92nd Infantry Divisions came to substitute the Brazilians.


title: Turin

text: In the postwar years, Turin was rapidly rebuilt. The city's automotive industry played a pivotal role in the Italian economic miracle of the 1950s and 1960s, attracting hundreds of thousands of immigrants to the city, particularly from the rural southern regions of Italy. The number of immigrants was so big that Turin was said to be "the third southern Italian city after Naples and Palermo". The population soon reached 1 million in 1960 and peaked at almost 1.2 million in 1971. The exceptional growth gains of the city gained it the nickname of "Capitale dell'automobile" (Automobile Capital), being often compared with Detroit, the major centre of the U.S. automobile industry (both cities has been "twinned" in 1998). In the 1970s and 1980s, the oil and automotive industry crisis severely hit the city, and its population began to sharply decline, losing more than one-fourth of its total in 30 years. The long population decline of the city has begun to reverse itself only in recent years, as the population grew from 865,000 to slightly over 900,000 by the end of the century. In 2006, Turin hosted the Winter Olympic Games.


title: Turin

text: Turin is in northwest Italy. It is surrounded on the western and northern front by the Alps and on the eastern front by a high hill that is the natural continuation of the hills of Monferrato. Four major rivers pass through the city: the Po and three of its tributaries, the Dora Riparia (once known as "Duria Minor" by the Romans, from the Celtic noun "duria" meaning "water"), the Stura di Lanzo and the Sangone.


title: Turin

text: Located in northwestern Italy at the foot of the Alps, Turin features a mid-latitude, four seasons humid subtropical climate (Köppen: "Cfa"), similar to that of Grenoble, located not far away in the French Alps although Turin's average annual rainfall is lower.


title: Turin

text: Winters are moderately cold and dry, summers are mild in the hills and quite hot in the plains. Rain falls mostly during spring and autumn; during the hottest months, otherwise, rains are less frequent but heavier (thunderstorms are frequent). During the winter and autumn months banks of fog, which are sometimes very thick, form in the plains but rarely on the city because of its location at the end of the Susa Valley. Snowfalls are not uncommon during the winter months, although substantial accumulation is quite uncommon.


title: Turin

text: Its position on the east side of the Alps makes the weather drier than on the west side because of the föhn wind effect.


title: Turin

text: Turin is split up into 8 boroughs, locally called "circoscrizioni"; these do not necessarily correspond to the historical districts of the city, which are rather called "quartieri", "rioni", "borghi", "borgate" or "zone". The "circoscrizioni" system originally comprised 10 of them, that were reduced to 8 by merging borough 9 into 8, and 10 into 2.


title: Turin

text: The Mayor of Turin is directly elected every five years. The current mayor of the city is Stefano Lo Russo (PD), elected in 2021.


title: Turin

text: Turin's historical architecture is predominantly Baroque and was developed under the Kingdom of Savoy. Nonetheless, the main street of the city centre, "Via Roma", was built during the Fascist era (from 1931 to 1937) as an example of Italian Rationalism, replacing former buildings already present in this area.


title: Turin

text: Via Roma runs between Piazza Carlo Felice and Piazza Castello. Buildings on the portion between Piazza Carlo Felice and Piazza San Carlo were designed by rationalist architect Marcello Piacentini. These blocks were built into a reticular system, composed by austere buildings in clear rationalist style, such as the impressive "Hotel Principi di Piemonte" and the former "Hotel Nazionale" in "Piazza CLN". Porches are built in a continuous entablature and marked with double columns, to be consistent with those of Piazza San Carlo. The section of the street between Piazza San Carlo and Piazza Castello was built in an eclectic style, with arcades characterised by Serliana-type arches. To this day Via Roma is the street featuring the most fashionable boutiques of the city.


title: Turin

text: Via Roma crosses one of the main squares of the city: the pedestrianized Piazza San Carlo, built by Carlo di Castellamonte in the 17th century. In the middle of the square stands the equestrian monument to Emmanuel Philibert, also known as "Caval ëd Brons" in the local dialect ("Bronze Horse"); the monument depicts the Duke sheathing his sword after the Battle of St. Quentin. Piazza San Carlo arcades host the most ancient cafés of the city, such as "Caffé Torino" and "Caffé San Carlo".


title: Turin

text: On the northern edge of Via Roma stands "Piazza Castello", regarded as the heart of the city. The half-pedestrianized square hosts some significant buildings such as "Palazzo Reale" (Former Savoy Royal House), the "Palazzo Madama" (which previously hosted the Savoy senate and, for few years, the Italian senate after Italian unification), the former Baroque Teatro Regio di Torino (rebuilt in modern style in the 1960s, after being destroyed by fire), the Royal Library of Turin which hosts the Leonardo da Vinci self-portrait, and the baroque Royal Church of San Lorenzo. Moreover, Piazza Castello hosts a Fascist era building, the Torre Littoria, a sort of skyscraper which was supposed to become the headquarters of the Fascist party, although it never served as such. The building's style is quite different from the Baroque style of Piazza Castello. The square regularly hosts the main open space events of the city, live concerts included.


title: Turin

text: As for the southern part of the street, Via Roma ends in "Piazza Carlo Felice" and in its "Giardino Sambuy", a wide fenced garden right in the middle of the square. Across from Piazza Carlo Felice stands the monumental façade of Porta Nuova railway station, the central station of the city built between 1861 and 1868 by the architect Alessandro Mazzucchetti. The passengers building was renovated to host a shopping mall and more efficient passenger service offices. However, it is still an example of monumental architecture, with its stately foyer and some Baroque sights, such as the "Sala Reale" (the former Royal waiting room).


title: Turin

text: In "Piazza Castello" converge some of the main streets of the city centre. Among them, one of the most significant is the arcaded "Via Po", built by Amedeo di Castellamonte in 1868 and featuring some interesting buildings, such as the first and original building of the University of Turin and the historical Caffè Fiorio, which was the favourite café of the 19th-century politicians. Via Po ends in Piazza Vittorio Veneto (simply called Piazza Vittorio locally), the largest Baroque square in Europe and today heart of Turin nightlife. Piazza Vittorio features the most fashionable bars and not far from here, along the Po riverfront, the "Murazzi" quays used to host several bars and nightclubs open until the morning until a few years ago.


title: Turin

text: Parallel to Via Roma, the other two popular pedestrian streets, namely "Via Lagrange" and "Via Carlo Alberto", cross the old town from Via Po to "Corso Vittorio Emanuele II". Their recent pedestrianisation has improved their original commercial vocation. In particular, Via Lagrange has recently increased the presence of luxury boutiques. This street also hosts the Egyptian Museum of Turin, home to what is regarded as one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities outside of Egypt.


title: Turin

text: Via Lagrange and Via Carlo Alberto cross two significant squares of the city, respectively. The former crosses "Piazza Carignano", well known mainly for the undulating “concave – convex-concave” Baroque façade of Palazzo Carignano. This building used to host the "Parlamento Subalpino" (the “Subalpine Parliament”, Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia which also became the Italian Parliament for a few years, after the Italian unification) and today houses the Museum of the Risorgimento. The square also features the Teatro Carignano, a well-conserved Baroque theatre.


title: Turin

text: Via Carlo Alberto crosses "Piazza Carlo Alberto", a big square hosting the rear façade of Palazzo Carignano, in eclectic style. On the other side stands the monumental "Biblioteca Nazionale" (National Library).


title: Turin

text: Not far from Via Po stands the symbol of Turin, namely the Mole Antonelliana, so named after the architect who built it, Alessandro Antonelli. Construction began in 1863 as a Jewish synagogue. Nowadays it houses the National Museum of Cinema and it is believed to be the tallest museum in the world at . The building is depicted on the Italian 2-cent coin.


title: Turin

text: Just behind "Piazza Castello" stands the Turin Cathedral, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, which is the major church of the city. It was built during 1491–1498 and is adjacent to an earlier bell tower (1470). Annexed to the cathedral is the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, the current resting place of the Shroud of Turin. The chapel was added to the structure in 1668–1694, designed by Guarini. The Basilica of Corpus Domini was built to celebrate an alleged miracle which took place during the sack of the city in 1453, when a soldier was carrying off a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament; the monstrance fell to the ground, while the host remained suspended in air. The present church, erected in 1610 to replace the original chapel which stood on the spot, is the work of Ascanio Vitozzi.


title: Turin

text: Next to the Turin Cathedral stand the Palatine Towers, an ancient Roman-medieval structure that served as one of four Roman city gates along the city walls of Turin. This gate allowed access from north to the "cardo maximus", the typical second main street of a Roman town. The Palatine Towers are among the best preserved Roman remains in Northern Italy. Close to this site, the "Piazza della Repubblica" plays host to the biggest open market in Europe, locally known as "mercato di Porta Palazzo" ("Porta Palazzo" or "Porta Pila" are the historical and local names of this area).


title: Turin

text: West of the Porte Palatine stands the "Quadrilatero Romano" (Roman Quadrilateral), the old medieval district recently renewed. The current neighbourhood is characterised by its tiny streets and its several medieval buildings and today it is popular for its "aperitivo" bars and its small shops run by local artisans. The hub of the Quadrilatero is "Piazza Emanuele Filiberto".