title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Work continued on the script for "Dracula", and the second draft was submitted to the BBFC. Audrey Field commented on 8 October 1957:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: "The uncouth, uneducated, disgusting and vulgar style of Mr Jimmy Sangster cannot quite obscure the remnants of a good horror story, though they do give one the gravest misgivings about treatment. [...] The curse of this thing is the Technicolor blood: why need vampires be messier eaters than anyone else? Certainly strong cautions will be necessary on shots of blood. And of course, some of the stake-work is prohibitive."


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Despite the success of "The Curse of Frankenstein", the financing of "Dracula" proved awkward. Universal was not interested, and the search for money eventually brought Hammer back to a.a.p.'s Eliot Hyman, through another of his companies, Seven Arts (which later merged with Warner Bros., now the successor-in-interest to a.a.p.). Although an agreement was drawn up, it is alleged that the deal was never realised and funding for "Dracula" eventually came from the National Film Finance Council (£33,000) and the rest from Universal in return for worldwide distribution rights. However, recent research suggests that the issue of who exactly funded "Dracula" is still not entirely clear (see Barnett, 'Hammering out a Deal: The Contractual and Commercial Contexts of "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957) and "Dracula" (1958)’, "Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television", published online 19 November 2013).


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: With a final budget of £81,412, "Dracula" began principal photography on 11 November 1957. Peter Cushing again had top-billing, this time as Doctor Van Helsing, whilst Christopher Lee starred as Count Dracula, with direction by Terence Fisher and a set design by Bernard Robinson that was radically different from the Universal adaptation; it was so radical, in fact, that Hammer executives considered paying him off and finding another designer.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: "Dracula" was an enormous success, breaking box-office records in the U.K., the U.S. (where it was released as "Horror of Dracula"), Canada, and across the world. On 20 August 1958, the "Daily Cinema" reported:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: "Because of the fantastic business done world-wide by Hammer's Technicolor version of "Dracula", Universal-International, its distributors, have made over to Jimmy Carreras' organisation, the remake rights to their entire library of classic films."


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Establishing the fanged vampire in popular culture, Lee also introduced a dark, brooding sexuality to the character. The academic Christopher Frayling writes, “"Dracula" introduced fangs, red contact lenses, décolletage, ready-prepared wooden stakes and – in the celebrated credits sequence – blood being spattered from off-screen over the Count's coffin". The film magazine "Empire" ranked Lee's portrayal as Dracula the 7th Greatest Horror Movie Character of All Time. 1960 saw the release of the first in a long line of sequels, "The Brides of Dracula", with Cushing returning to the role of Van Helsing, though Lee did not play Dracula again until "", released in 1966.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: With the agreement in place, Hammer's executives had their pick of Universal International's horror icons and chose to remake "The Invisible Man", "The Phantom of the Opera", and "The Mummy's Hand". All were to be filmed in colour at Bray Studios, by the same team responsible for "The Curse of Frankenstein" and "Dracula". "The Mummy" (the title used for the remake of "The Mummy's Hand", which also incorporated significant story elements from that film's first two sequels, "The Mummy's Tomb" and "The Mummy's Ghost") was made in 1959, "The Phantom of the Opera" followed in 1962, and Hammer collaborated with William Castle on a remake of "The Old Dark House" in 1963. "The Invisible Man" was never produced.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Principal photography for "The Mummy" began on 23 February 1959 and lasted until 16 April 1959. Once again it starred both Peter Cushing (as John Banning) and Christopher Lee (as Kharis the Mummy), and was directed by Terence Fisher from a screenplay from Jimmy Sangster. "The Mummy" went into general release on 23 October 1959 and broke the box-office records set by "Dracula" the previous year, both in Great Britain and the U.S. when it was released there in December.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer consolidated their success by turning their most successful films into series. This was a practice they had making "Dick Barton" movies which they continued to their horror movies and other genres.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: The success of "The Quatermass Xperiment" (1955; "The Creeping Unknown" in the U.S.) led to two sequels:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: All starred Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein, except "The Horror of Frankenstein" (which was not a sequel, but a tongue-in-cheek remake of "The Curse of Frankenstein"), in which Ralph Bates took the title role. "The Evil of Frankenstein" stars Cushing but due to an agreement made with Universal to more closely pastiche their version of the Frankenstein story, it re-tells the Baron's history in flashbacks that bear no resemblance to the two earlier Hammer Frankenstein films and it portrays the Baron with a very different personality, resulting in a film which permanently breaks the chronological continuity of the series. Each subsequent movie in the series contains elements that do not relate to (or flatly contradict) the events of the movie that went before, whilst the characteristics of Cushing's Baron vary wildly from film to film, resulting in a series that does not progress as a self-contained narrative cycle.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: David Prowse was the only actor to star as the creature twice in the Hammer Frankenstein series; he reprised the role from "The Horror of Frankenstein" in "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell".


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer also produced a half-hour pilot titled "Tales of Frankenstein" (1958) that was intended to premiere on American television; it was never picked up, but is now available on DVD. Anton Diffring took over Cushing's role of Baron Frankenstein.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Peter Cushing appeared in the first and final three sequels (with archive footage also used in "Dracula: Prince of Darkness"). Christopher Lee appeared in all the sequels except the first and last.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: The first five sequels were direct sequels to the original. "The Brides of Dracula" did not include Dracula but is still considered part of the series since Peter Cushing reprises his role as Doctor Van Helsing and battles vampire Baron Meinster (David Peel) and the film makes several direct references to the 1958 original. Christopher Lee returned as Dracula for the following six films, which employed ingenuity in finding new ways to resurrect the Count. Only archive footage of Cushing was used in "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" and he wouldn't return to the Dracula series until "Dracula A.D. 1972". Hammer upped the graphic violence and gore with "Scars of Dracula" in an attempt to re-imagine the character to appeal to a younger audience, but the movie performed poorly at the box-office which led to a further change of style with the remaining three films. "Dracula A.D. 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" were not period pieces like their predecessors, but had a contemporary 1970s London setting. Now set in a new timeline, Peter Cushing appeared in both films, playing Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing, as well as his own grandfather (Lawrence Van Helsing) in the prologue of the first of the two films. Cushing returned for a final time as Professor Van Helsing in the horror / martial arts crossover "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires", a movie this time set primarily in 1904.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Christopher Lee grew increasingly disillusioned with the direction the character was being taken and with the poor quality of later scripts, although he did improve these slightly himself by adding lines of dialogue from the original novel. Lee speaks at least one line taken from Bram Stoker in every Dracula film he appeared in, except for "Dracula: Prince of Darkness" in which the Count does not talk at all (Lee claimed repeatedly he was appalled by his dialogue in that film and refused to speak it, but Jimmy Sangster rebutted that no dialogue was written for the character). He was also concerned about typecasting, and after filming "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" he finally quit the series. John Forbes-Robertson took over the role for one final outing as the Count.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee appeared in none of the Mummy sequels, which had stories and characters unrelated to the 1959 film and all three were relegated to second feature status, as by the mid-1960s, Hammer's films were often intended for double features. Often two films would be shot back-to-back with the same sets and costumes to save money, and then each film would be shown on a separate double feature to prevent audiences noticing any recycling, as for example in "The Plague of the Zombies" and "The Reptile" (both 1966). "The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb" supported the slightly more prestigious "The Gorgon", whilst "The Mummy's Shroud" was a second feature for "Frankenstein Created Woman".


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: "Blood from the Mummy's Tomb" was a modern-day take on Bram Stoker's "The Jewel of Seven Stars" and featured Valerie Leon as a reincarnated Egyptian princess, rather than a mummy. The same novel served as the basis for the 1980 Charlton Heston film, "The Awakening", and a later direct-to-video feature, "Bram Stoker's Legend of the Mummy", starring Lou Gossett Jr.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In addition to their "Dracula" series, Hammer produced a number of other horror movies on the vampire theme, including:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer also made a loose trilogy of films, known as ″The Karnstein Trilogy″, based on Sheridan Le Fanu's early vampire novella "Carmilla", written by newcomer Tudor Gates. These films include:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Running alongside production of their 1960s gothic horror films, Hammer made a series of what were known as "mini-Hitchcocks" mostly scripted by Jimmy Sangster, and directed by Freddie Francis and Seth Holt. These low-budget suspense thrillers, often in black-and-white, were made in the mould of "Les Diaboliques" (1955), although more often compared to the later "Psycho". This series of mystery thrillers, which all had twist endings, comprised:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer had some success with films set in (or with strong connections to) the prehistoric/ancient world, including:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer were less well known for their comedies, but they made a number in the 1950s and early 1960s, returning to the genre in the 1970s:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: On 29 May 1968, Hammer was awarded the Queen's Award to Industry in recognition of their contribution to the British economy. The presentation ceremony took place on the steps of the Castle Dracula set at Pinewood Studios, during the filming of "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave".


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer films had always sold, in part, on their violent and sexual content. In the late 1960s, with the release of Hollywood films like "Bonnie and Clyde", "Rosemary's Baby", and "The Wild Bunch", the studio struggled to maintain its place in the market. Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" was a successful example of psychological horror, while "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Wild Bunch" exposed mainstream audiences to more explicit gore, and were more expertly staged than Hammer films. Meanwhile, George A. Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) had set a new standard for graphic violence in horror films.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In 1969 Tony Hinds resigned from the Hammer board and retired from the industry. Hammer was not the same without him; it responded to the new reality by bringing in new writers and directors, testing new characters, and attempting to rejuvenate their vampire and Frankenstein films with new approaches to familiar material. (1974's "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell", for example, features a scene where the Baron treads on a discarded human brain.)


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: The company soon realised, however, that if they could not be as gory as the new American productions, they could follow a trend in European films of the time and instead play up the sexual content of their films.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: While the studio remained true to previous period settings in their 1971 release "Vampire Circus", "Dracula AD 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" (1973), for example, abandoned period settings in pursuit of a modern-day setting and a "swinging London" feel. "The Satanic Rites of Dracula", then called "Dracula is Dead... and Well and Living in London", indulged the turn toward self-parody suggested by the title, with some humour appearing in the script, undercutting any sense of horror. These latter films were not successful and drew fire not only from critics but from Christopher Lee himself, who refused to appear in any more Dracula films after these. Speaking at a press conference in 1973 to announce "Dracula is Dead... and Well and Living in London", Lee said:


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer Films had commercial success with some atypical output during this period, with film versions of several British TV situation comedies, most notably the ITV series "On the Buses" (1971). The first spin-off made was Hammer's biggest domestic earner of the 1970s and was popular enough to produce two sequels, "Mutiny on the Buses" (1972) and "Holiday on the Buses" (1973), seeing Hammer return to their pre-horror practice of adapting television properties for the cinema as they had once done with "PC 49" and "Dick Barton".


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In the latter part of the 1970s, Hammer made fewer films, and attempts were made to break away from the then-unfashionable Gothic horror films on which the studio had built its reputation. "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" (1974), a co-production with Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers which attempted to combine Hammer's brand of horror with the then popular martial arts genre, and "To the Devil a Daughter" (1976), their third adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel, were both quite successful at the U.K. box office, but Hammer was unable to capitalise on them as most of the profits went to other financial backers.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer Films struggled on throughout the 1970s before going into liquidation in 1979. Hammer's last production, in 1979, was a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 thriller "The Lady Vanishes", starring Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd. ("The Encyclopedia of British Film" characterized the remake as "about as witless and charmless as could be conceived".)


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In the 2000s, although the company seemed to be in hibernation, frequent announcements had been made of new projects. In 2003, for example, the studio announced plans to work with Australian company Pictures in Paradise to develop new horror films for the DVD and cinema market. On 10 May 2007, it was announced that Dutch producer John De Mol had purchased the Hammer Films rights via his private equity firm Cyrte Investments. In addition to holding the rights to over 300 Hammer films, De Mol's company plans to restart the studio. According to an article in Variety detailing the transaction, the new Hammer Films was to be run by former Liberty Global execs Simon Oakes and Marc Schipper. In addition, Guy East and Nigel Sinclair of L.A.-based Spitfire Pictures are on board to produce two to three horror films or thrillers a year for the U.K.-based studio. The first output under the new owners is "Beyond the Rave", a contemporary vampire story which premièred free online, exclusively, on Myspace in April 2008 as a 20 × 4 min. serial.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: The company began shooting a new horror/thriller film in Donegal in 2008, backed by the Irish Film Board. The film is titled "Wake Wood" and was scheduled for release in the United Kingdom in the autumn of 2009.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: The film was produced in collaboration with the Swedish company Solid Entertainment, makers of the vampire film "Frostbiten", which pays homage to the Hammer vampire films among others. It was given a limited UK/Ireland theatrical release in March 2011. In the summer of 2009, Hammer produced in the U.S. "The Resident," a thriller directed and co-written by Finnish filmmaker Antti Jokinen and starring Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Christopher Lee. It was released in the US and UK in March 2011. In 2010, Hammer, in partnership with Overture Films and Relativity Media, released "Let Me In", a remake of Swedish vampire film "Let the Right One In".


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In June 2010, it was announced that Hammer acquired "Wake", a script by Chris Borrelli for an action feature to be directed by Danish filmmaker Kasper Barfoed. In February 2012, the Hammer and Alliance Films adaptation of "The Woman in Black" was released. Daniel Radcliffe stars as lawyer Arthur Kipps. Jane Goldman wrote the film's screenplay, with James Watkins in the director's chair. In April 2012, the company announced it was to make a sequel to "The Woman in Black" titled "The Woman in Black: Angel of Death". Also in 2012, Hammer and Alliance Films announced two more films going into production during 2012, entitled "The Quiet Ones" and "Gaslight". "The Quiet Ones" tells the story of an unorthodox professor (Jared Harris) who uses controversial methods and leads his best students off the grid to take part in a dangerous experiment: to create a poltergeist. It was released on 10 April 2014 in the UK and 25 April in the US.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: After a few quiet years, the film "The Lodge" had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 25 January 2019. It was scheduled to be released on 15 November 2019, by NEON.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In November 2021, it was announced Network Distributing had united with Hammer to form Hammer Studios Ltd.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: Hammer's horror films were often praised by critics for their visual style, although rarely taken seriously. "Altogether this is a horrific film and sometimes a crude film, but by no means an unimpressive piece of melodramatic storytelling" wrote one critic of "Dracula" in "The Times" in 1958. Critics who specialise in cult films, like Kim Newman, have praised Hammer Horror more fully, enjoying their atmosphere, craftsmanship and occasional camp appeal. In "A History of Horror", Mark Gatiss remarked that Hammer's earlier films were taken seriously at the time, in comparison to the trademark camp appeal of their later works.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In a 2013 retrospective for "The Guardian", Michael Newton wrote:Shot in Eastmancolor, the first batch of Hammer Horror movies – Terence Fisher's "The Curse of Frankenstein" (1957), "Dracula" (1958) and "The Mummy" (1959) – are among the loveliest-looking British films of the decade... The early Hammer films offer a last gasp of British romanticism, the solid sets drenched in a soft brilliance of shadows, of greys, reds and blues; when these films stray into the far woods, it's always autumn there, never spring. The leaves fall, and the light shines golden and clear; compared with the well-lit contemporary look of the "angry young men" films, Hammer's mournful sumptuousness must have been even more striking. They play out a 1950s reverie of contagion, lust and post-Suez anxiety. Questions of guilt circulate in these films, where the virtuous can be transformed into vampires through one moment of sexual weakness...


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: This was a fantasy, science fiction and supernatural anthology series which dealt with normal people in everyday situations that found themselves having to experience something out of the ordinary. 17 episodes of approximately 50 minutes each were produced by Hammer Film Productions and 20th Century Fox Television. In America, eight episodes from the series were broadcast as four made-for-television films consisting of twinned episodes along with new segment introduction footage provided by actors Patrick McGoohan, Sebastian Cabot and Joan Crawford serving as hosts. The series was first aired on ABC from 26 September, 1968 to 30 January, 1969, prior to broadcast in the UK on ITV in 1969.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: In 1980, Hammer Films created an anthology series for British television, "Hammer House of Horror". Shown on ITV, it ran for 13 episodes with a running length of approximately 51 minutes each. In a break from their cinema format, these self-contained episodes featured plot twists which usually saw the protagonists fall into the hands of that episode's horror at the end. The series featured a different kind of horror each week, including witches, werewolves, ghosts, devil worship and voodoo, but also included non-supernatural horror themes such as cannibalism, confinement and serial killers. All the stories were set in contemporary England.


title: Hammer Film Productions

text: A second television anthology series, "Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense", was produced in 1984 and ran for 13 episodes. The stories were originally to have been the same 51 min. length as their previous series, but it was decided to expand them to feature-length to market them as 'movies of the week' in the US. The running time varied from 69 to 73 minutes. The series was made in association with 20th Century Fox (who broadcast films as "Fox Mystery Theater") and as such, the sex and violence seen in the earlier series was toned down considerably for US television. Each episode featured a star, often American, known to US viewers. This series was Hammer's final production of the 20th century, and the studio went into semi-permanent hiatus.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with several punk and post-punk bands and continues to perform regularly.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: His recorded output has mainly relied on musical backing from the Invisible Girls, which featured Martin Hannett, Steve Hopkins, Pete Shelley, Bill Nelson, and Paul Burgess.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke was born in Salford, Lancashire, in 1949. He lived in the Higher Broughton area of the city and became interested in poetry after being inspired by his English teacher, John Malone, whom he described as "a real outdoor guy, an Ernest Hemingway type, red blooded, literary bloke". During an April 2018 episode of Steve Jones' radio show "Jonesy's Jukebox", Clarke revealed one of his early inspirations to be the poet Sir Henry Newbolt, reciting from memory a portion of Newbolt's poem "Vitaï Lampada".


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: His first job was a laboratory technician at Salford Tech. He began his performance career in Manchester folk clubs, where he began working with Rick Goldstraw and his band the Ferrets. His first releases were on Tosh Ryan and Martin Hannett's independent label Rabid, starting with the EP "Innocents" in October 1977. Rabid also released his debut LP "Où est la maison de fromage'?" (catalogue number NOZE 1), which was a collection of live recordings, demos and rehearsals. He toured with Bill Nelson's band Be-Bop Deluxe in 1978 and was signed by Epic Records, who issued the studio album "Disguise In Love", produced by Hannett, in 1978.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke has attributed his early success in part to the influence of the English poet Pam Ayres. Her run of success on the British TV show "Opportunity Knocks" led both Clarke and his mother to believe that he could make a living at poetry.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: In 1979, he had his only UK top 40 hit with "Gimmix! (Play Loud)". Clarke toured with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and has performed on the same bill as bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Fall, Joy Division, Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Elvis Costello, Rockpile and New Order (including at their May 1984 Music for Miners benefit concert at London's Royal Festival Hall). His set is characterised by lively rapid-fire renditions of his poems, usually performed a cappella. Often referred to as "the bard of Salford", he usually refers to himself on stage as "Johnny Clarke, the name behind the hairstyle".


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: In October of 1981 Clarke appeared in episode 2 of series 3 of The Innes Book of Records (TV series), reciting "Evidently Chickentown".


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke appeared in a 1982 music documentary compilation "Urgh! A Music War", in which he performed his poem "Health Fanatic". The film featured live performances of mainstream artists (the Police, the Go-Go's, XTC, Devo) as well as more obscure bands (Pere Ubu, Invisible Girls, the Alley Cats, Athletico Spizz '80, Chelsea) using concert footage from around the world. He also starred in another 1982 film titled "John Cooper Clarke – Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt" produced for the Arts Council of Great Britain and Channel 4. Somewhere between a narrative film, a series of music videos and a documentary, the film features interviews and performances by Clarke and Linton Kwesi Johnson among others.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke released "Zip Style Method" in 1982, but thereafter performed his live act less frequently, spending much of the 1980s mired in heroin addiction, living in a "domestic partnership" with singer and fellow addict Nico. He described this period of his life: "It was a feral existence. I was on drugs. It was hand to mouth." In 1987, he performed live (on crutches owing to a broken ankle) at the Albany Empire in London with Suns of Arqa, recorded two tracks ("Libera Me" and "The Truth Lies Therein") for their album "Seven", and featured in the music video for the latter. In 1988, he made an appearance in two UK adverts for Sugar Puffs, taking second billing to the Honey Monster. He returned to live performance in the 1990s, appearing again with Suns of Arqa in 1992 at The Witchwood in Ashton-under-Lyne. His vocals from both of his Suns of Arqa tracks have been used on numerous remixes by the band ever since.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: After 20 years of performing the same material, Clarke re-established contact with guitarist Rick Goldstraw, who had founded Blue Orchids and played with The Fall and Nico. Goldshaw began handling Clarke's affairs, and the two toured with the Mescaleros and several times supporting the Fall. He also duetted with Reverend Jon McClure at a Reverend and the Makers concert at London's Spread Eagle, performing the poem "Last Resort", which would later be released as the B-side for the band's single "Heavyweight Champion of the World". Clarke also recorded a song with the band entitled "Dead Man's Shoes". Clarke's recording of "Evidently Chickentown" from his album "Snap, Crackle & Bop" was also featured prominently in the closing scene of "The Sopranos" episode "Stage 5". A live performance of the same poem appears in the film "Control", with Clarke portraying himself in a re-creation of a 1977 concert in which he supported Joy Division, despite being 30 years older than the events depicted in the film. "Evidently Chickentown" (recited by Christopher Eccleston) is featured in the made-for-television film "Strumpet".


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke's poem "Out of Control Fairground" was printed inside the Arctic Monkeys' 2007 single "Fluorescent Adolescent" CD. The poem is also the inspiration behind the single's video, in which clowns brawl. The band's Alex Turner has said he is very fond of Clarke's work and takes inspiration for lyrics from his poems.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke was the subject of a BBC Four documentary, "Evidently... John Cooper Clarke", in May 2012, screened as part of the BBC's "Punk Britannia" season. That same year, Clarke featured in rapper Plan B's feature film "Ill Manors" and subsequently the "Ill Manors" album.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: In July 2013, Clarke was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts by the University of Salford in "acknowledgement of a career which has spanned five decades, bringing poetry to non-traditional audiences and influencing musicians and comedians." Upon receipt, Clarke commented: "Now I'm a doctor, finally my dream of opening a cosmetic surgery business can become a reality." His poem "I Wanna Be Yours" was adapted by Arctic Monkeys and frontman Alex Turner for the band's fifth album, "AM", released on 9 September 2013. On their 2020 eponymous debut album, English band Working Men’s Club pays homage to the poet in the track "John Cooper Clarke", referencing his poem "Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman" and book "The Luckiest Guy Alive". In October 2020 Clarke published an autobiography which took its title from his poem "I Wanna Be Yours".


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: 2015 saw Clarke present a documentary on Thomas De Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" in the BBC's second series of "The Secret Life of Books". He has appeared as a guest on the comedy panel show "Would I Lie To You?" on 14 August 2015 and again on 7 January 2022.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: In January 2018 Clarke appeared as a contestant on an academic version of BBC One's "Pointless Celebrities" partnered with historian Suzannah Lipscomb; they reached the head-to-head round. He has also been a panellist on "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown".


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: In July 2019 Clarke was the guest for BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs". A fan of the show for 60 years, he described it as having "all the finality of a suicide note, without the actual obligation of topping yourself". His book choice was "Against Nature" by Joris-Karl Huysmans, his luxury item was a boulder of opium twice the size of his head and his favourite track was "How Great Thou Art" by Elvis Presley.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: In November 2019 Clarke was a participant, alongside Phill Jupitus, in BBC's "Celebrity Antiques Road Trip". Four of Clarke's five lots made a loss, giving a total loss of £233.54.


title: John Cooper Clarke

text: Clarke has lived for nearly 20 years in Colchester, Essex, with his second wife, Evie, who is French. They have one daughter, Stella.


title: East Berlin

text: East Berlin was the "de facto" capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 until 9 November 1989, East Berlin was separated from West Berlin by the Berlin Wall. The Western Allied powers did not recognize East Berlin as the GDR's capital, nor the GDR's authority to govern East Berlin. On 3 October 1990, the day Germany was officially reunified, East and West Berlin formally reunited as the city of Berlin.


title: East Berlin

text: With the London Protocol of 1944 signed on 12 September 1944, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union decided to divide Germany into three occupation zones and to establish a special area of Berlin, which was occupied by the three Allied Forces together. In May 1945, the Soviet Union installed a city government for the whole city that was called "Magistrate of Greater Berlin", which existed until 1947. After the war, the Allied Forces initially administered the city together within the Allied Kommandatura, which served as the governing body of the city. However, in 1948 the Soviet representative left the Kommandatura and the common administration broke apart during the following months. In the Soviet sector, a separate city government was established, which continued to call itself the "Magistrate of Greater Berlin".


title: East Berlin

text: When the German Democratic Republic was established in 1949, it immediately claimed East Berlin as its capital—a claim that was recognized by all communist countries. Nevertheless, its representatives to the People's Chamber were not directly elected and did not have full voting rights until 1981.


title: East Berlin

text: In June 1948, all railways and roads leading to West Berlin were blocked, and East Berliners were not allowed to emigrate. Nevertheless, more than 1,000 East Germans were escaping to West Berlin each day by 1960, caused by the strains on the East German economy from war reparations owed to the Soviet Union, massive destruction of industry, and lack of assistance from the Marshall Plan. In August 1961, the East German Government tried to stop the population exodus by enclosing West Berlin within the Berlin Wall. It was very dangerous for fleeing residents to cross because armed soldiers were trained to shoot illegal migrants.


title: East Berlin

text: East Germany was a socialist republic. Eventually, Christian churches were allowed to operate without restraint after years of harassment by authorities. In the 1970s, the wages of East Berliners rose and working hours fell.


title: East Berlin

text: The Soviet Union and the Communist bloc recognized East Berlin as the GDR's capital. However, Western Allies (the US, UK, and France) never formally acknowledged the authority of the East German government to govern East Berlin. Official Allied protocol recognized only the authority of the Soviet Union in East Berlin in accordance with the occupation status of Berlin as a whole. The United States Command Berlin, for example, published detailed instructions for U.S. military and civilian personnel wishing to visit East Berlin. In fact, the three Western commandants regularly protested against the presence of the East German National People's Army (NVA) in East Berlin, particularly on the occasion of military parades. Nevertheless, the three Western Allies eventually established embassies in East Berlin in the 1970s, although they never recognized it as the capital of East Germany. Treaties instead used terms such as "seat of government".


title: East Berlin

text: On 3 October 1990, East and West Germany and East and West Berlin were reunited, thus formally ending the existence of East Berlin. Citywide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all-Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring at the time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became the first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin.


title: East Berlin

text: Since reunification, the German government has spent vast amounts of money on reintegrating the two halves of the city and bringing services and infrastructure in the former East Berlin up to the standard established in West Berlin.


title: East Berlin

text: After reunification, the East German economy suffered significantly. Under the adopted policy of privatization of state-owned firms under the auspices of the Treuhandanstalt, many East German factories were shut down—which also led to mass unemployment—due to gaps in productivity with and investment compared to West German companies, as well as an inability to comply with West German pollution and safety standards in a way that was deemed cost-effective. Because of this, a massive amount of West German economic aid was poured into East Germany to revitalize it. This stimulus was part-funded through a 7.5% tax on income for individuals and companies (in addition to normal income tax or company tax) known as the "Solidaritätszuschlaggesetz" (SolZG) or "solidarity surcharge", which though only in effect for 1991–1992 (later reintroduced in 1995 at 7.5 and then dropped down to 5.5% in 1998 and continues to be levied to this day) led to a great deal of resentment toward the East Germans.


title: East Berlin

text: Despite the large sums of economic aid poured into East Berlin, there still remain obvious differences between the former East and West Berlins. East Berlin has a distinct visual style; this is partly due to the greater survival of prewar façades and streetscapes, with some still showing signs of wartime damage. The unique look of Stalinist architecture that was used in East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) also contrasts markedly with the urban development styles employed in the former West Berlin. Additionally, the former East Berlin (along with the rest of the former GDR) retains a small number of its GDR-era street and place names commemorating German socialist heroes, such as Karl-Marx-Allee, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, and Karl-Liebknecht-Straße. Many such names, however, were deemed inappropriate (for various reasons) and, through decommunization, changed after a long process of review (so, for instance, Leninallee reverted to Landsberger Allee in 1991, and Dimitroffstraße reverted to Danziger Straße in 1995).


title: East Berlin

text: Another symbolic icon of the former East Berlin (and of East Germany as a whole) is the "Ampelmännchen" (tr. "little traffic light men"), a stylized version of a fedora-wearing man crossing the street, which is found on traffic lights at many pedestrian crosswalks throughout the former East. Following a civic debate about whether the Ampelmännchen should be abolished or disseminated more widely (due to concerns of consistency), several crosswalks in some parts of the former West Berlin also employ the Ampelmännchen.


title: East Berlin

text: Twenty-five years after the two cities were reunified, the people of East and West Berlin still had noticeable differences between them, which became more apparent among the older generations. The two groups also had sometimes-derogatory slang terms to refer to each other. A former East Berliner (or East German) was known as an ""Ossi"" (from the German word for east, "Ost"), and a former West Berliner (or West German) was known as a ""Wessi"" (from the German word for west, "West"). Both sides also engaged in stereotyping the other. A stereotypical "Ossi" had little ambition or poor work ethic and was chronically bitter, while a stereotypical "Wessi" was arrogant, selfish, impatient and pushy.


title: Peter Gotti

text: Peter Arthur Gotti (October 15, 1939 – February 25, 2021) was an American mobster. He was the boss of the Gambino crime family, part of the American Mafia, and the elder brother of the former Gambino boss John Gotti.


title: Peter Gotti

text: Gotti was born in the Bronx, New York, on October 15, 1939. He was one of 13 children (two had died at birth) of John Joseph Gotti Sr. and Philomena "Fannie" DeCarlo. Gotti's brothers included John J. Gotti, capo Gene Gotti, capo Richard V. Gotti, and soldier Vincent Gotti. The brothers grew up in East New York, Brooklyn. Gotti married Catherine in 1960 and fathered one child, Peter Gotti Jr. Gotti's nickname "One Eye" derives from blindness from glaucoma in one eye.


title: Peter Gotti

text: Around 1960, at age 21, Gotti started working as an associate for the Gambino family. In 1988, at age 49, the family inducted Gotti as a made man. John J. Gotti designated Peter as caretaker of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club, and as a driver for John and Gene. By 1989, Peter was promoted to capo. John J. Gotti did not believe Peter had the ability to lead the crime family, which led to Peter's reputation as "the Dumbest Don".


title: Peter Gotti

text: Like his father, Gotti had a legitimate job as a sanitation worker for the New York City Department of Sanitation. Gotti eventually retired from the Sanitation Department with a disability pension after injuring his head against the back end of a garbage truck.


title: Peter Gotti

text: In April 1992, his brother, John J. Gotti (Jr.), received a life sentence for racketeering and related offenses. His brother asserted his prerogative to retain his title as boss until his death or retirement, with John's son John A. Gotti and Peter relaying orders on his behalf. Federal prosecutors say Peter became head of the Gambino organization after Gotti Jr. was sent to prison in 1999, and is believed to have formally succeeded his brother John J. Gotti shortly before the latter's death in June 2002.


title: Peter Gotti

text: In June 2002, a few days before his brother John's death, Gotti was indicted on federal racketeering charges. During Gotti's trial, federal prosecutors released information revealing that Gotti was having an affair with Marjorie Alexander, a longtime girlfriend. Alexander then publicly acknowledged the liaison and declared her love for Gotti. In response, Gotti berated Alexander for causing the publicity and broke off all contact with her. Alexander later committed suicide in 2004. During this time, his wife Catherine filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2006.


title: Peter Gotti

text: On March 17, 2003, Gotti was convicted of extortion, money laundering, and racketeering activities centered on the Brooklyn and Staten Island waterfronts, and for the attempted extortion of film actor Steven Seagal. On April 15, 2004, Judge Frederic Block of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York sentenced Gotti to nine years and four months in prison for the charges. During the trial, Gotti's lawyers stated that he was blind in one eye and suffered from thyroid goiter, sciatica, emphysema, rheumatoid arthritis, postconcussion syndrome, and depression.


title: Peter Gotti

text: On December 22, 2004, Gotti was convicted in a separate trial of racketeering charges related to extortion in the construction industry and conspiring to murder government informant and former Gambino underboss Sammy Gravano. On July 27, 2005, Judge Richard C. Casey sentenced Gotti to 25 years in prison for the charges. Gotti was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Complex, Butner. His projected release date was September 10, 2031.


title: Peter Gotti

text: Gotti's requests for compassionate release under the First Step Act, citing his failing health, were both denied: that of July 2019 in September, and that of December 2019 in January 2020.


title: Peter Gotti

text: On February 25, 2021, Gotti died of natural causes at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina, at the age of 81.


title: Pranali Rathod

text: Pranali Rathod (born 15 October 1996) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi television. Rathod is best known for her portrayal of Saudamini Bhaumik in "Barrister Babu", Radha Sahani in "Kyun Utthe Dil Chhod Aaye" and Akshara Goenka Birla in "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai".


title: Pranali Rathod

text: Rathod made her acting debut in 2018 with "Pyaar Pehli Baar". She portrayed Saanvi in the show's first episode.


title: Pranali Rathod

text: In 2019, she portrayed Suman Pandey in "Jaat Na Poocho Prem Ki" opposite Kinshuk Vaidya. It marked her fiction debut.


title: Pranali Rathod

text: She then portrayed Saudamini Bhaumik Greenwood in "Barrister Babu" in 2020, opposite Pravisht Mishra and Jason Shah.


title: Pranali Rathod

text: In 2021, she portrayed Radha Sahani in "Kyun Utthe Dil Chhod Aaye" opposite Yash Tonk. In the same year, she made her web debut with "Chutzpah", where she portrayed Richa.


title: Pranali Rathod

text: Since October 2021, Rathod is seen portraying Akshara Goenka Birla in "Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai" opposite Harshad Chopda. The show proved as a major turning point in her career. She received ITA Award for Best Actress Popular for her performance.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Jessica Lowndes (; born November 8, 1988) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her roles as Adrianna Tate-Duncan on The CW teen drama series "90210," appearing in several Hallmark Channel movies, and the 2020 Lifetime Channel movie "Too Close for Christmas" which she co-produced with co-star Chad Michael Murray.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes knew from an early age that she had a passion for singing and acting. Lowndes also produced much of her own music from an early age. During the summer before her senior year, Lowndes worked on a project for Showtime. With encouragement from her parents, Lowndes moved to Los Angeles at the age of 16 and began her career.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes made her acting debut on the 2005 television film "Saving Milly" as Andrea Kondracke at the age of 16. This was followed by a guest role on an episode of "Masters of Horror", she was later cast as Becky, a recurring role in the sitcom "Alice, I Think". She also made a guest appearance on "Kyle XY". Her next film role was a supporting role in the Lifetime movie "To Have and to Hold" released in 2005, followed by a pilot called "Pretty/Handsome" in 2007—which did not get picked up.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: In 2008, Lowndes appeared in "Autopsy" and "The Haunting of Molly Hartley" along with another recurring role, this time as Mandi, in the television drama series "Greek". She also landed a recurring role as Adrianna Tate-Duncan in the series "90210", a spin-off of the '90s teen drama series "Beverly Hills, 90210". In November 2008, her role was upgraded to series regular.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes starred in the Canadian horror film "Altitude" in 2010. BuddyTV ranked her #58 on its TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2011 list. In April 2012, she starred in "The Devil's Carnival", a short musical film screened on tour.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: In 2015, Lowndes starred in Lifetime's dramatic-thriller comedy film "A Deadly Adoption" alongside Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes made her musical debut in the pilot episode of TV series "90210" singing "Mama Who Bore Me" from "Spring Awakening" in the school's musical, in the 2009 episode "Women's Intuition". In the "90210" episode "What's Past is Prologue", Lowndes sang "Jolene" for a rock band audition. She also sang a few other songs as the lead female vocalist on "90210"s "The Glorious Steinem"'s band.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes also performed "One More Time" (feat. Diego Boneta) in the "90210" episode "Meet the Parent". During season 4 of "90210", her single "Fool" was featured and sung by her character in the episode "Benefit of the Doubt". In the episode "Bride And Prejudice", her song "Teardrops Fall" was featured. "I Don't Want You Anymore" was featured in the episode "Tis Pity". During season 5, her next single "Snake Charmer" was featured in the episode "Into The Wild" and sung by her in "99 Problems". In the second-to-last episode, her song "The Last Time" was sung by her character. Just as she finishes, the stage collapses on her, catches on fire and leaving her trapped under rubble.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: In March 2009, she released the song "Fly Away" on Myspace. She was both the writer, singer and lead guitarist in the track.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: On September 19, 2009, Lowndes performed "God Bless America" for a Dodgers game at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: She was featured on British rapper Ironik's single "Falling In Love", released on October 24, 2010, and revealed on OK! TV that she was finishing off her debut EP in the United Kingdom. She described the album as "sexy, pop dance music, like Rihanna and Katy Perry."


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes later teamed up with music producers James Rendon and Kayden Boche to record a featuring version of French American Idol finalist Jérémy Amelin's single "Undone" — which premiered online on May 6, 2011 and was released worldwide on May 23, 2011.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Shortly after, Lowndes released her follow-up single "I Wish I Was Gay", alongside its official music video directed by Frank E. Flowers, on November 11, 2011.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: On January 25, 2012, Lowndes released her debut EP—featuring singles "I Wish I Was Gay" and "Nothing Like This", along with two new songs "Stamp of Love" and "Go Back".


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: The "Devil's Carnival" soundtrack also features a song titled "In All My Dreams I Drown" performed by Lowndes and released on April 3, 2012.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: On May 14, 2012, her single "The Other Girl" premiered on Complex.com. The single was released on iTunes on May 16, 2012. On February 6, 2013, Lowndes announced that she would release her self-written second EP titled "TBT (Throwback Thursday)" on March 14, 2013, along with one track off it every Thursdays for four weeks. On February 7, 2013, Aperture Entertainment released "Fly Away" as the lead single from her EP.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: On September 9, 2014, Lowndes released her single "Silicone in Stereo". The official music video premiered on September 6, 2014, both on YouTube and Vevo. The song peaked at number 35 on "Billboard" Canada's Top 50 and number 65 on the US Top 100.


title: Jessica Lowndes

text: Lowndes was included on "People" magazine's list of World's Most Beautiful People of 2009, along with co-stars from the series "90210".


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Clash of the Titans is a 1981 fantasy adventure film directed by Desmond Davis and written by Beverley Cross, loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Starring Harry Hamlin, Judi Bowker, Burgess Meredith, Maggie Smith and Laurence Olivier, the film features the final work of stop-motion visual effects artist Ray Harryhausen.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Co-produced between the United Kingdom and United States, it was theatrically released on June 12, 1981 and grossed $41 million at the North American box office, which made it the eleventh highest grossing film of the year. A novelization by Alan Dean Foster was also published in 1981. A 3D remake of the same name was released by Warner Bros. on April 2, 2010.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: King Acrisius of Argos imprisons his daughter Danaë, trying to prevent a prophecy that her child will bring about his demise. When the god Zeus impregnates Danaë, Acrisius banishes her and her newborn son Perseus to sea in a wooden chest. In retribution, Zeus kills Acrisius and orders Poseidon to release the last of the Titans, a gigantic sea monster called the Kraken, to destroy Argos. Danaë and Perseus safely float to the island of Seriphos, where Perseus grows to adulthood.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Calibos, the spoiled son of the sea goddess Thetis, is betrothed to Princess Andromeda, daughter of Queen Cassiopeia of Joppa; but for committing several atrocities against Zeus, including destroying Zeus' sacred flying horses (except for Pegasus), Calibos is transformed into a deformed, satyr-like creature.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: In revenge, Thetis transports an adult Perseus to an abandoned amphitheater in Joppa, where he befriends a soldier, Thallo, and an elderly poet named Ammon. Perseus learns that Andromeda is under a curse and cannot marry unless her suitor successfully answers a riddle concocted by Calibos. Zeus sends Perseus a god-crafted helmet from Athena which makes its wearer invisible, a magical sword from Aphrodite, and a shield from Hera. After capturing Pegasus, Perseus follows Calibos's giant vulture carrying off Andromeda's spirit during her sleep to learn the next riddle. Perseus is discovered and nearly killed by Calibos. In the ensuing fight, Calibos looses his left hand, and Perseus, his helmet.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: The next morning, Perseus presents himself as a suitor and correctly answers the riddle — that answer being the ring given to Calibos by his mother which is still attached to the amputated hand — winning Andromeda's hand in marriage. Finding that Thetis cannot act against Perseus, Calibos instead demands that she take vengeance on Joppa. At the wedding in Thetis' temple, an earthquake starts, causing the head of the statue of Thetis to break off and crash to the floor.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Thetis, using the statue's head to speak through, demands Andromeda be sacrificed to the Kraken on pain of Joppa's destruction. Perseus seeks a way to defeat the Kraken. However, Pegasus is captured by Calibos and his men. Zeus commands Athena to give Perseus her owl Bubo, but she refuses. Instead, she orders Hephaestus to build a mechanical replica that leads Perseus, Andromeda, Ammon, Thallo and some soldiers to the Stygian Witches. By taking their magic eye, Perseus forces them to reveal that the only way to defeat the Kraken is by using the head of the gorgon Medusa, whose gaze can turn any living thing into stone. Medusa lives on an island in the River Styx at the edge of the Underworld. The next day, the group continues on their journey while Andromeda and Ammon return to Joppa.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: On the Gorgon's island, most of Perseus' men are killed. Perseus fights and kills Medusa's guardian, a two-headed dog named Dioskilos. At the Gorgon's lair, Perseus uses the reflective underside of his shield to deceive Medusa, decapitate her, and collect her head. However, the shield is dissolved by her caustic blood. As Perseus and his party set to return, Calibos enters their camp and punctures the cloak carrying Medusa's head, causing her blood to spill and produce three giant scorpions. Calibos and the scorpions attack and kill Perseus's remaining escorts. Alone, Perseus overcomes the scorpions and kills Calibos.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Weakened by his struggle, he sends Bubo to rescue Pegasus from Calibos' henchmen. After reaching the amphitheater in Joppa, Perseus collapses from exhaustion. Andromeda is shackled to the sacrificial rock outside Joppa, and the Kraken is summoned. Bubo distracts the beast until Perseus, whose strength was secretly restored by Zeus, appears on Pegasus. Using Medusa's head, Perseus petrifies the Kraken, causing it to crumble to pieces. He then tosses the head into the sea, frees Andromeda, and marries her.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: The gods predict that Perseus and Andromeda will live happily, rule wisely, and produce children, and Zeus forbids the other gods to pursue vengeance against them. The constellations of Perseus, Andromeda, Pegasus and Cassiopeia are created in their honor.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: The film was the idea of writer Beverley Cross. In 1978, Andor Films submitted a copy of the script to the British Board of Film Classification, seeking advice on how to secure either a "U" or an "A" certificate. The draft script included scenes that the BBFC considered would be unacceptable under those certificates, including the Kraken tearing Pegasus to pieces and Andromeda appearing naked during the climax of the film. Changes to the script and, on submission, some cuts to Perseus's final battle with Calibos were made and the film secured the "A" certificate: "Those aged 5 and older admitted, but not recommended for children under 14 years of age".


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Ray Harryhausen used stop-motion animation to create the various creatures in the film, including Calibos, his vulture, Pegasus, Bubo the mechanical owl, Dioskilos, Medusa, the scorpions and the Kraken. Harryhausen was also co-producer of the film, and retired from film-making shortly after it was released. Despite Bubo's similarities to the droid R2-D2 of the 1977 film "Star Wars", Harryhausen claimed Bubo was created before "Star Wars" was released. The BBFC, reviewing the film for certification in 1981, said Harryhausen's effects were well done and would give entertainment to audiences of all ages, but might appear a little "old hat" to those familiar with "Star Wars" and "Superman".


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Columbia Pictures were initially set to distribute the film having made most of Harryhausen and producer Charles H. Schneer's films, but after a change of guard at the studio, they dropped the project during pre-production, saying it was too expensive. Schneer took it to Orion Pictures who insisted on Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the lead but the producer refused as the role involved too much dialogue. He then tried Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who agreed to finance. "They loved the material, they loved the picture, and they were wonderful to us," said Schneer. "As I put the film together and the castings came up, they approved the additional castings and added that expense to the budget."


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Schneer deliberately sought better known actors to play the Gods to improve the film's chances at the box office. "If we had played this picture with no recognised actors it might be assumed to be what it isn't. It might suffer the fate of an Italian Western." The scenes involving the Gods only took eight days. Claire Bloom said she only agreed to make it "because I was told Olivier was doing it and it only lasts a week."


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: MGM overruled Schneer's choice of John Gielgud to portray the playwright Ammon, and asked for Burgess Meredith to be cast instead. "I saw the sense in that," said Schneer. "They preferred an American actor. They didn't want the public to think it was totally an English picture."


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Schneer picked Desmond Davis to direct in part because Davis had made several BBC Shakespeare films and he wanted someone with experience dealing with Shakespearean actors.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Malcolm McDowell, Michael York and Richard Chamberlain were considered for Perseus before Hamlin was cast.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Stars Harry Hamlin and Ursula Andress were romantically involved at the time of production. Their son, Dimitri, was born in 1980 after filming was completed, and their relationship ended in 1983.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Jack Gwillim, who appeared as Poseidon, had earlier played the role of King Aeëtes in the original "Jason and the Argonauts" in 1963.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: The film's screenwriter, Beverley Cross, was married to Maggie Smith, who played Thetis, until his death in 1998. Cross worked with producer Charles H. Schneer before, writing the screenplay for Schneer's production of "Jason and the Argonauts".


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: "Clash of the Titans" was released on June 12, 1981 and grossed $6,565,347 from 1,127 theaters in its opening weekend, second behind "Raiders of the Lost Ark" at the U.S. box office, which was released on the same date. By the time it finished its theatrical run, it had grossed $41 million in North America. The film had a worldwide gross of over $70 million and was one of 1981's biggest hits.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 49 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A goofy, old-school sword-and-sandal epic, "Clash of the Titans" mines Greek mythology for its story and fleshes it out with Ray Harryhausen's charmingly archaic stop-motion animation techniques."


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three and a half out of four stars and called it "a grand and glorious romantic adventure, filled with brave heroes, beautiful heroines, fearsome monsters, and awe-inspiring duels to the death. It is a lot of fun." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" also gave the film three and a half stars out of four and called it "a special effects spectacular that succeeds brilliantly as an old-fashioned adventure film based on the legends of Greek mythology." "Variety" called it "an unbearable bore of a film that will probably put to sleep the few adults stuck taking the kids to it. This mythical tale of Perseus, son of Zeus, and his quest for the 'fair' Andromeda, is mired in a slew of corny dialog and an endless array of flat, outdated special effects that are both a throwback to a bad 1950's picture." Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote, "Though not very witty, the adventures are many and involve a lot of Mr. Harryhausen's specialities," though he thought the monsters were "less convincing than interesting." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" stated that the film "has charm, it has imagination, but it is also too often stodgy. It is an instance of the whole not being nearly as good as its parts. However, Harryhausen's contributions do delight, and this may be more than enough for his ardent admirers and most youngsters." Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" wrote that Hamlin was "always a magnetic presence" but the film's appeal was "quaint and stilted." Geoff Brown of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote that the film "unfortunately fails to shake much dust off the genre ... Despite the producers' protracted labours, there's a real possibility that some audiences will be turned to stone before Medusa shows up." "Time" stated "The real titan is Ray Harryhausen."


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: Christopher John reviewed "Clash of the Titans" in "Ares Magazine" #9 and commented that ""Clash of the Titans" is still one of Harryhausen's best works. It has a decent script, a fine cast, and a lot of good effects. The problem lies in the little things. If, in truth, it was to be a clash of the titans, then that is who should have been featured; it should have been either the gods' or Perseus' story, not both. The film falls between two schools... and even Harryhausen can't save it no matter how excellent his magic."


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: In a book published in 2000, Stephen R. Wilk suggested that "most people today who are aware of the story of Perseus and Medusa owe their knowledge to" the film.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: The four-issue comic book miniseries "Wrath of the Titans" (2007), released by TidalWave Productions as part of their Ray Harryhausen Signature Series, picked up the story 5 years after the events of the film.


title: Clash of the Titans (1981 film)

text: The 3D remake "Clash of the Titans" (2010) and its sequel "Wrath of the Titans" (2012) were released by the property's current rights holder Warner Bros. (through Turner Entertainment Co., WB's sister company) The Kraken would appear in "The Lego Batman Movie" as one of the villains rallied by the Joker to destroy Gotham City. Bubo made an appearance in "The Trouble With Truth", an episode of the animated series "Justice League Action".


title: The Hindu

text: The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the second most circulated English-language newspaper in India, after "The Times of India". , "The Hindu" is published from 21 locations across 11 states of India.


title: The Hindu

text: "The Hindu" has been a family-owned newspaper since 1905, when it was purchased by S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar from the original founders. It is now jointly owned by Iyengar's descendants, referred to as the "Kasturi family", who serve as the directors of the holding company. The current chairperson of the group is Malini Parthasarathy, a great-granddaughter of Iyengar.


title: The Hindu

text: Except for a period of about two years, when S. Varadarajan held the editorship of the newspaper, the editorial positions of the paper were always held by members of the family or held under their direction.


title: The Hindu

text: "The Hindu" was founded in Madras on 20 September 1878 as a weekly newspaper, by what was known then as the Triplicane Six consisting of four law students and two teachers:- T. T. Rangacharya, P. V. Rangacharya, D. Kesava Rao Pantulu and N. Subba Rao Pantulu, led by G. Subramania Iyer (a school teacher from Tanjore district) and M. Veeraraghavacharyar, a lecturer at Pachaiyappa's College. Started in order to support the campaign of Sir T. Muthuswamy Iyer for a judgeship at the Madras High Court and to counter the campaign against him carried out by the Anglo-Indian press, "The Hindu" was one of the newspapers of the period established to protest the policies of the British Raj. About 100 copies of the inaugural issue were printed at Srinidhi Press, Georgetown, on one rupee and twelve annas of borrowed money. Subramania Iyer became the first editor and Veera Raghavacharya, the first managing director of the newspaper.


title: The Hindu

text: The paper was initially printed from Srinidhi Press but later moved to Scottish Press, then to The Hindu Press, Mylapore. Started as a weekly newspaper, the paper became a tri-weekly in 1883 and an evening daily in 1889. A single copy of the newspaper was priced at four annas. The offices moved to rented premises at 100 Mount Road on 3 December 1883. The newspaper started printing at its own press there, named "The National Press," which was established on borrowed capital as public subscriptions were not forthcoming. The building itself became "The Hindu"s in 1892, after the Maharaja of Vizianagaram, Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju, gave The National Press a loan both for the building and to carry out needed expansion.


title: The Hindu

text: 'Its editorial stances have earned it the nickname, the 'Maha Vishnu of Mount Road'. "From the new address, 100 Mount Road, which was to remain "The Hindu"<nowiki>'s</nowiki> home till 1939, there issued a quarto-size paper with a front-page full of advertisements—a practice that came to an end only in 1958 when it followed the lead of its idol, the pre-Thomson "Times" [London]—and three back pages also at the service of the advertiser. In between, there were more views than news." After 1887, when the annual session of Indian National Congress was held in Madras, the paper's coverage of national news increased significantly, and led to the paper becoming an evening daily starting 1 April 1889.


title: The Hindu

text: The partnership between Veeraraghavachariar and Subramania Iyer was dissolved in October 1898. Iyer quit the paper and Veeraraghavachariar became the sole owner and appointed C. Karunakara Menon the editor. However, "The Hindu"s adventurousness began to decline in the 1900s and so did its circulation, which was down to 800 copies when the sole proprietor decided to sell out. The purchaser was "The Hindu"s Legal Adviser from 1895, S. Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, a politically ambitious lawyer who had migrated from a Kumbakonam village to practise in Coimbatore and from thence to Madras. Iyengar's son, Kasturi Srinivasan, became managing editor of The Hindu upon his father's death in 1923 and Chief Editor in February 1934. The Kasturi family, descendants of Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, have since owned and, through most of the paper's life, held the top editorial positions in the company.


title: The Hindu

text: Joint managing director N. Murali said in July 2003, "It is true that our readers have been complaining that some of our reports are partial and lack objectivity. But it also depends on reader beliefs." N. Ram was appointed on 27 June 2003 as its editor-in-chief with a mandate to "improve the structures and other mechanisms to uphold and strengthen quality and objectivity in news reports and opinion pieces", authorised to "restructure the editorial framework and functions in line with the competitive environment". On 3 and 23 September 2003, the reader's letters column carried responses from readers saying the editorial was biased. An editorial in August 2003 observed that the newspaper was affected by the 'editorialising as news reporting' virus, and expressed a determination to buck the trend, restore the professionally sound lines of demarcation, and strengthen objectivity and factuality in its coverage.


title: The Hindu

text: In 1987–88, "The Hindu"'s coverage of the Bofors arms deal scandal, a series of document-backed exclusives, set the terms of the national political discourse on this subject. The Bofors scandal broke in April 1987 with Swedish Radio alleging that bribes had been paid to top Indian political leaders, officials and Army officers in return for the Swedish arms manufacturing company winning a hefty contract with the Government of India for the purchase of 155 mm howitzers. During a six-month period, the newspaper published scores of copies of original papers that documented the secret payments, amounting to $50 million, into Swiss bank accounts, the agreements behind the payments, communications relating to the payments and the crisis response, and other material. The investigation was led by a part-time correspondent of "The Hindu", Chitra Subramaniam, reporting from Geneva, and was supported by Ram in Chennai. The scandal was a major embarrassment to the party in power at the centre, the Indian National Congress, and its leader Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The paper's editorial accused the Prime Minister of being party to massive fraud and cover-up.


title: The Hindu

text: In 1991, Deputy Editor N. Ravi, Ram's younger brother, replaced G. Kasturi as editor. Nirmala Lakshman, Kasturi Srinivasan's granddaughter and the first woman in the company to hold an editorial or managerial role, became Joint Editor of "The Hindu" and her sister, Malini Parthasarathy, Executive Editor.


title: The Hindu

text: In 2003, the Jayalalitha government of the state of Tamil Nadu, of which Chennai is the capital, filed cases against "The Hindu" for breach of privilege of the state legislative body. The move was perceived as a government's assault on freedom of the press. The paper garnered support from the journalistic community.


title: The Hindu

text: In 2010, "The Indian Express" reported a dispute within the publisher of "The Hindu" regarding the retirement age of the person working as the editor-in-chief, a post which was then being served by N. Ram. Following this report, Ram decided to sue "The Indian Express" for defamation, a charge which the "Indian Express" denied. N. Ravi and Malini Parthasarathy voiced concern about Ram's decision, saying that doing so goes against "The Hindu"’s values and that journalists shouldn’t fear “scrutiny”, respectively. During subsequent events, Parthasarathy tweeted that “issues relating to management of newspaper have come to the surface, including editorial direction” in her response to a question. Later, Parthasarathy called N. Ram and other "The Hindu" employees “Stalinists”, alleging that they were trying to oust her from the newspaper.


title: The Hindu

text: In 2011, during the resignation of N. Ram, the newspaper became the subject of a succession battle between the members of the Kasturi family. Ram had appointed Siddharth Varadarajan as his successor as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper who justified the appointment on the ostensible basis of separation of ownership and management, which was opposed by N. Ravi as it deviated from the publication's tradition of family members retaining editorial control over it. Varadarajan was subsequently accused by the dissident family members of being left leaning and the matter of Varadarajan's appointment was brought in front of the board of directors of the parent company, Kasturi & Sons. During the dispute, Narasimhan Murali alleged that N. Ram ran "The Hindu" “like a banana republic, with cronyism and vested interests ruling the roost”. In the end the board voted 6–6 over a review of the appointment, the tie was broken by a deciding vote from Ram in his capacity as the chairman of the company and in favor of his decision.


title: The Hindu

text: On 2 April 2013 "The Hindu" started "The Hindu in School" with S. Shivakumar as editor. This is a new edition for young readers, to be distributed through schools as part of "The Hindu"'s "Newspaper in Education" programme. It covers the day's important news developments, features, sports, and regional news. On 16 September 2013, The Hindu group launched its Tamil edition with K. Ashokan as editor.


title: The Hindu

text: On 21 October 2013, changes were made in Editorial as well as business of "The Hindu". N. Ravi took over as Editor-in-chief of "The Hindu" and Malini Parthasarathy as Editor of "The Hindu". As a consequence, Siddarth Varadarajan submitted his resignation. N. Ram became Chairman of Kasturi & Sons Limited and Publisher of The Hindu and Group publications; and N. Murali, Co-chairman of the company.


title: The Hindu

text: During the 2015 South Indian floods, for the first time since its founding in 1878, the newspaper did not publish a print edition in Chennai market on 2 December, as workers were unable to reach the press building.


title: The Hindu

text: On 5 January 2016, Malini Parthasarathy, the Editor of the newspaper, resigned with immediate effect. It was reported by the media that she resigned her post, citing "general dissatisfaction" with her performance. However, she continues to be a Wholetime Director of Kasturi & Sons Ltd.


title: The Hindu

text: Over the course of its history, the Kasturi Ranga Iyengar family has usually run "The Hindu" through the presence of family in editorial and business operations as well as on the Board. It was headed by G. Kasturi from 1965 to 1991, N. Ravi from 1991 to 2003, and by his brother, N. Ram, from 27 June 2003 to 18 January 2011.


title: The Hindu

text: On 15 August 2009, the 130-year-old newspaper launched the beta version of its redesigned website at beta.thehindu.com. This was the first redesign of its website since its launch. On 24 June 2010 the beta version of the website went fully live at www.thehindu.co.in.


title: The Hindu

text: On 15 August 2022, for the first time in its 144-year-old history, "The Hindu" started publishing Hindi-translated editorials on its website.


title: The Hindu

text: In 1965, "The Times" listed "The Hindu" as one of the world's ten best newspapers. Discussing each of its choices in separate articles, "The Times" wrote: ""The Hindu" takes the general seriousness to lengths of severity... published in Madras, it is the only newspaper which in spite of being published only in a provincial capital is regularly and attentively read in Delhi. It is read not only as a distant and authoritative voice on national affairs but as an expression of the most liberal—and least provincial—southern attitudes... Its Delhi Bureau gives it outstanding political and economic dispatches and it carries regular and frequent reports from all state capitals, so giving more news from states, other than its own, than most newspapers in India... It might fairly be described as a national voice with a southern accent. "The Hindu" can claim to be the most respected paper in India."


title: The Hindu

text: In 1968, the American Newspaper Publishers Association awarded "The Hindu" its World Press Achievement Award. An extract from the citation reads:


title: The Hindu

text: "Throughout nearly a century of its publication The Hindu has exerted wide influence not only in Madras but throughout India. Conservative in both tone and appearance, it has wide appeal to the English-speaking segment of the population and wide readership among government officials and business leaders... "The Hindu" has provided its readers a broad and balanced news coverage, enterprising reporting and a sober and thoughtful comment... It has provided its country a model of journalistic excellence... It has fought for a greater measure of humanity for India and its people... and has not confined itself to a narrow chauvinism. Its Correspondents stationed in the major capitals of the world furnish "The Hindu" with world-wide news coverage... For its championing of reason over emotion, for its dedication to principle even in the face of criticism and popular disapproval, for its confidence in the future, it has earned the respect of its community, its country, and the world."


title: The Hindu

text: In 2012, "The Hindu" became the only Indian newspaper to appoint a Readers Editor, an independent internal news ombudsman.


title: The Hindu

text: A 2014 article in the "Indian Journal of Pharmacology" praised "The Hindu"'s ongoing journalism and critique of clinical trials in India.


title: The Hindu

text: On October 7, 2019, "The Hindu" announced that "Two editorial meetings a month will be opened up to readers in order to expand conversations and build trust", a first in India's media industry.


title: The Hindu

text: The newspaper currently has foreign bureaus in eleven locations – Islamabad, Colombo, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Beijing, Moscow, Paris, Dubai, Washington, D.C., London, and most recently Addis Ababa.


title: Port Moresby

text: As of the 2011 census, Port Moresby had 364,145 inhabitants. An unofficial 2020 estimate gives the population as 383,000. The place where the city was founded has been inhabited by the Motu-Koitabu people for centuries. The first Briton to see it was Royal Navy Captain John Moresby in 1873. It was named in honour of his father, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Fairfax Moresby.


title: Port Moresby

text: Although Port Moresby is surrounded by Central Province, of which it is also the capital, it is not part of that province but forms the National Capital District. The traditional landowners, the Motu and Koitabu people, are represented by the Motu Koita Assembly.


title: Port Moresby

text: Port Moresby hosted the APEC summit in November 2018. However, there were concerns about security given the capital's reputation for violent crime.


title: Port Moresby

text: In 1883, Queensland attempted to annex the south-eastern corner of the New Guinea Island (subsequently known as Papua), fearing that Germany would take control of the entire eastern half of the island. British authorities refused to approve the annexation following the German annexation of New Guinea in 1884, but four years later it established a protectorate over Papua as British New Guinea.


title: Port Moresby

text: In 1905, the recently federated Australian government passed the Papua Act which came into effect in 1906. The act transferred Papua, with Port Moresby as its capital, to direct Australian rule. From then until 1941 Port Moresby grew slowly. The main growth was on the peninsula, where port facilities and other services were gradually improved. The first butcher's shop and grocery opened in 1909, electricity was introduced in 1925, and piped water supply was provided in 1941.


title: Port Moresby

text: During World War II, some Papuan men enlisted in the Papua Infantry Battalion and others as carriers over trails and rough terrains (porters) as supply support to Allied and Japanese armies during long jungle marches. Historian William Manchester outlines in his biography of General Douglas MacArthur, "American Caesar", that acting as porters was well down the natives' list of acceptable voluntary activities and that they would fade away without great inducements. Many Papuan residents of Port Moresby either returned to their family villages or were evacuated to camps when the threat of Japanese invasion loomed. By September 1942, the city was an important Allied complex of bases, and thousands of troops were stationed in the area or more often, staged through it, as it was the last Allied bastion on the island and, conversely, a key staging and jumping off point as the Allies began conducting offensive warfare themselves, pushing back the Japanese advances. General MacArthur located his headquarters in Port Moresby from November 1942 to October 1944.


title: Port Moresby

text: In 1945, the Territory of Papua and New Guinea was formed when Papua and the former German New Guinea, which had been administered by Australia since 1918, were amalgamated under a single Australian administration though several laws remained in two territories and remain so, which can be complicating with provinces sitting on two sides of the otherwise extinct boundary. Port Moresby became the capital of the new combined territory and a focal point for the expansion of public services. Port Moresby was granted city status in 1972, with Oala Oala-Rarua becoming the first Lord Mayor.


title: Port Moresby

text: In September 1975, Papua New Guinea became an independent country with Port Moresby as its capital city. Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, represented the Queen of Papua New Guinea at the celebrations. New government, intellectual and cultural buildings were constructed in the suburb of Waigani to supplement and replace those of downtown Port Moresby. They included those for government departments, including a National Parliament Building, which was opened in 1984 by Prince Charles and blends traditional design with modern building technology.


title: Port Moresby

text: The Papua New Guinea National Museum and National Library are in Waigani. A mansion was built in Port Moresby just west of the old legislative building but the last pre-independence chief minister and first prime minister of the sovereign state declared it not nearly grand enough; it was made the residence of Australian high commissioners and a mansion suitable to Somare's demands was built in Waigani.


title: Port Moresby

text: Several of the government buildings have been abandoned due to long-term neglect. Chief amongst these are Marea Haus (known to most locals as the "Pineapple Building") and the Central Government Offices. Nearby buildings, such as Morauta Haus and Vulupindi Haus, are starting to show significant signs of decay due to a lack of maintenance. However, widespread restoration rather than demolition of long-disused office buildings has been highly active since the first decade of the 21st century. The legislative building before independence and the first parliament building is long-gone but the old court house in town Port Moresby remains, bearing its pre-independence label with its previous title.


title: Port Moresby

text: The population of the Port Moresby area expanded rapidly after independence. In 1980, the census return registered a population of 120,000; by 1990, this had increased to 195,000.


title: Port Moresby

text: Moresby has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: "Aw") with relatively constant temperatures throughout the year. Port Moresby's average yearly rainfall is just over , making it the driest place in New Guinea.


title: Port Moresby

text: The wet season starts in December and ends in May; the dry season covers the remaining six months. This is due to the south easterly trade winds running parallel to the coast, and the city being surrounded by high mountains. The average high temperatures range from depending on time of year, while the average low temperature shows very little seasonal variation, hovering around the mark. It tends to be slightly cooler in the city during the dry season.


title: Port Moresby

text: Port Moresby is the single district of the National Capital District, which contains three Local Level Government (LLG) areas. For census purposes, the LLG areas are subdivided into wards and those into census units.


title: Port Moresby

text: The National Capital District machinery of government also incorporates the Motu Koita Assembly, established by an act of parliament to represent the traditional landowners of Port Moresby, the Motu and Koitabu people. The Assembly governs the traditional lands and inhabitants of the ten recognised villages, and is the only entity of its kind in Papua New Guinea. The Chair of the Motu Koita Assembly also holds the position of Deputy Governor of the National Capital District.


title: Port Moresby

text: Port Moresby refers to both the urbanised area of the National Capital District and more specifically to the main business area, known locally as "Town".


title: Port Moresby

text: Since the 1990s the original town centre has ceased to have restaurants and night life, though it is very successful and prosperous-looking as an office centre. The affluent housing region north of downtown along and up from the coast remains so, though there are now few modest residential houses, most of which are replaced with substantial mansions and apartment buildings.


title: Port Moresby

text: The suburb of Boroko, once the commercial heart of Port Moresby, is very idle, with many former shopping buildings now empty; the west is full of high rises, shopping centres and affluent housing. Other neighbourhoods of Port Moresby include Koki, with its popular fresh produce market, Newtown, Konedobu, Kaevaga, Badili, Gabutu, Kila Kila, Matirogo, Three Mile, Kaugere, Sabama, Korobosea, Four Mile, Hohola, Hohola North, Boroko, Gordons, Gordons North, Erima, Saraga, Waigani, Morata and Gerehu. There are villages like Hanuabada, the largest in Papua New Guinea.


title: Port Moresby

text: "Al Jazeera" describes Port Moresby as "one of the most dangerous cities in the world". Parts of Port Moresby have security problems with house break-ins being the main problem. "ABC Australia" reports that "many homes have big fences covered in metal sheeting, locked gates and internal steel security doors."


title: Port Moresby

text: Carjacking is now rife in the capital and stopping at the few functional traffic lights is not recommended after dark when marauding gangs gather at the intersections. Security guards are widely employed as the police force is underresourced and weakened by internal corruption. Travel by foot is not recommended in and about the city and suburbs due to continuing breakdown in law and order. The UN Global Compact Cities Programme, using a method called Circles of Sustainability, has assessed the urban security of Port Moresby as 'critical'.


title: Port Moresby

text: Port Moresby is served within the city by buses and privately owned taxis. Flights are vital for transport about the country, highways not being widely available. Port Moresby is served by Jacksons International Airport, the biggest international airport and Papua New Guinea Defence Force Air Wing base in the country.


title: Port Moresby

text: As the national highway system is not fully linked, there are many internal flights to other towns, such as Lae and Madang, which have no direct road connection to Port Moresby.


title: Port Moresby

text: Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources, which account for two thirds of their export earnings. Though PNG is filled with resources, the lack of development led foreign countries to take over some sites. Continuing foreign demand for PNG's resources led the United States to set up an oil company that began to export in 2004. This was the largest project in PNG's history. The project increased the potential to triple PNG's export revenue. Papua New Guinea gained much assistance from Australia and was offered two hundred million dollars a year in aid, and many countries such as Singapore, Japan and China have also played a great part in PNG's industry business. The decision to host the 2018 APEC meeting, bringing a large number of world leaders to Port Moresby, indicates the speed with which Port Moresby is entering the world economy.


title: Port Moresby

text: There has been substantial building of housing, office towers, shopping malls and commercial establishments over much of the city. The waterfront area has been completely redeveloped with apartments, restaurants and shopping centres. Sporting facilities were upgraded significantly for the 2015 South Pacific Games, and further development took place in preparation for the 2016 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup.


title: Port Moresby

text: Air Niugini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea, and Airlines PNG, the second biggest airline in the country, have their head offices on the grounds of Jacksons International Airport.


title: Port Moresby

text: The 1969 South Pacific Games, held from 13 to 23 August 1969 at Port Moresby, were the third South Pacific Games to be held. A total of 1,150 athletes participated.


title: Port Moresby

text: The 1991 South Pacific Games held from 7–21 September 1991 at Port Moresby and along Lae were the ninth South Pacific Games to be held. This was the first time that events at one games had been held in two cities. The decision to do so was to allow both locations to benefit from the construction of new facilities.


title: Port Moresby

text: Cricket PNG is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Papua New Guinea. Its headquarters is in Port Moresby. Cricket PNG is Papua New Guinea's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an associate member and has been a member of that body since 1973. It is also a member of the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council.


title: Port Moresby

text: The city hosted the 2017 FIBA Melanesia Basketball Cup, where the Papua New Guinea national basketball team won the gold medal.


title: Port Moresby

text: The city is home to the Port Moresby Vipers rugby league team who play in the Papua New Guinea National Rugby League. The National football stadium is also home to the PNG Hunters, a rugby league team that compete in the majority Australian Queensland Cup.


title: Port Moresby

text: The 2015 Pacific Games was held in Port Moresby from 4 to 18 July 2015. In September 2009, the Pacific Games Council, at its meeting coinciding with the 2009 Pacific Mini Games, elected Port Moresby as the host of the 2015 Games. The final vote was 25–22 in favour of Port Moresby over Tonga to host.


title: Port Moresby

text: The 2015 Pacific Games involved 24 countries from the Pacific regions competing in 28 sports events, including: basketball, soccer, touch rugby, table tennis, weightlifting, triathlon, swimming, cricket, squash, shooting, sailing, va'a, rugby 7s, powerlifting, rugby league 9s, volleyball, beach volleyball, athletics, hockey, netball, karate, lawn bowls, bodybuilding, boxing, softball, taekwondo, golf, and canoeing. Papua New Guinea ranked first with the most medals followed by New Caledonia and Tahiti.


title: Port Moresby

text: The opening ceremony took place on the 4th of July 2015 involving various traditional dances. The closing ceremony involved singers such as J Boog, Fiji, O-Shen and George Mamua Telek.


title: Port Moresby

text: The venue has hosted the PNG national side since 1975 and has previously hosted Rugby League World Cup matches in 1986 and 1990. It is also home of the Hunters, the local Papua New Guinea team who play in the Intrust Super Cup which is the Queensland NRL tournament.


title: Port Moresby

text: The International Education Agency provides private education via six international schools; Korobosea International School, Boroko International School, Ela Murray International School, Gordon International School, Port Moresby International School and IEA TAFE college. There are approximately three hundred staff.


title: Port Moresby

text: The Port Moresby International School (POMIS) has been operating since the 1950s. It is an International Education Agency school and is the premier international high school in Port Moresby. It enrolls nearly 1000 students from Grades 7 to 12.


title: Port Moresby

text: Port Moresby Japanese Language School (ポート・モレスビー補習授業校 "Pōto Moresubī Hoshū Jugyō Kō") was a supplementary Japanese school in the city. It closed in August 2009.


title: Festival

text: A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes typical cases of glocalization, as well as the high culture-low culture interrelationship. Next to religion and folklore, a significant origin is agricultural. Food is such a vital resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn, such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere and Easter in the southern.


title: Festival

text: Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanking to the gods, goddesses or saints: they are called patronal festivals. They may also provide entertainment, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. Festivals that focus on cultural or ethnic topics also seek to inform community members of their traditions; the involvement of elders sharing stories and experience provides a means for unity among families. Attendants of festivals are often motivated by a desire for escapism, socialization and camaraderie; the practice has been seen as a means of creating geographical connection, belonging and adaptability.


title: Festival

text: The word "festival" was originally used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century, deriving from Latin via Old French. In Middle English, a "festival dai" was a religious holiday. Its first recorded used as a noun was in 1589 (as "Festifall"). Feast first came into usage as a noun circa 1200, and its first recorded use as a verb was circa 1300.


title: Festival

text: The word gala comes from Arabic word "khil'a", meaning robe of honor. The word gala was initially used to describe "festive dress", but came to be a synonym of "festival" starting in the 18th century.


title: Festival

text: Festivals have long been significant in human culture and are found in virtually all cultures. The importance of festivals, to the present, is found in private and public; secular and religious life. Ancient Greek and Roman societies relied heavily upon festivals, both communal and administrative. Saturnalia was likely influential to Christmas and Carnival. Celebration of social occasions, religion and nature were common. Specific festivals have century-long histories and festivals in general have developed over the last few centuries – some traditional festivals in Ghana, for example, predate European colonisation of the 15th century. Festivals prospered following the Second World War. Both established in 1947, Avignon Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe have been notable in shaping the modern model of festivals. Art festivals became more prominent by the turn of the 21st century. In modern times, festivals are commodified as a global tourist prospect although they are commonly public or not-for-profit.


title: Festival

text: Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities. The most important religious festivals such as Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha serve to mark out the year. Others, such as harvest festivals, celebrate seasonal change. Events of historical significance, such as important military victories or other nation-building events also provide the impetus for a festival. An early example is the festival established by Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses III celebrating his victory over the Libyans. In many countries, royal holidays commemorate dynastic events just as agricultural holidays are about harvests. Festivals are often commemorated annually.


title: Festival

text: There are numerous types of festivals in the world and most countries celebrate important events or traditions with traditional cultural events and activities. Most culminate in the consumption of specially prepared food (showing the connection to "feasting") and they bring people together. Festivals are also strongly associated with national holidays. Lists of national festivals are published to make participation easier.


title: Festival

text: The scale of festivals varies; in location and attendance, they may range from a local to national level. Music festivals, for example, often bring together disparate groups of people, such that they are both localised and global. The "vast majority" of festivals are, however, local, modest and populist. The abundance of festivals significantly hinders quantifying the total there of. There exists significant variation among festivals, beyond binary dichotomies of sacred and secular, rural and urban, people and establishment.


title: Festival

text: Among many religions, a feast is a set of celebrations in honour of God or gods. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable. Most religions have festivals that recur annually and some, such as Passover, Easter and Eid al-Adha are moveable feasts – that is, those that are determined either by lunar or agricultural cycles or the calendar in use at the time. The Sed festival, for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptian pharaoh's rule and then every three (or four in one case) years after that. Among the Ashantis, most of their traditional festivals are linked to gazette sites which are believed to be sacred with several rich biological resources in their pristine forms. Thus, the annual commemoration of the festivals helps in maintaining the buoyancy of the conserved natural site, assisting in biodiversity conservation.


title: Festival

text: In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are two principal feasts, properly known as the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) and the Feast of the Resurrection (Easter), but minor festivals in honour of local patron saints are celebrated in almost all countries influenced by Christianity. In the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican liturgical calendars there are a great number of lesser feasts throughout the year commemorating saints, sacred events or doctrines. In the Philippines, each day of the year has at least one specific religious festival, either from Catholic, Islamic, or indigenous origins.


title: Festival

text: Buddhist religious festivals, such as Esala Perahera are held in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Hindu festivals, such as Holi are very ancient. The Sikh community celebrates the Vaisakhi festival marking the new year and birth of the Khalsa.