Hollywood Chinese Actor Jackie Chan Launches Chinese TV Show

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(Free-Press-Release.com) April 8, 2007 -- Jackie Chan on Saturday launched a Chinese TV competition aimed at scouting out new action movie talent, saying more than 100,000 people have already signed up for a shot at kung fu stardom.

"A lot of actors are good at fighting but (their style) is not beautiful," the Chinese star and stunt man, who turned 53 Saturday, said in Beijing.

"If you can incorporate dance with an ability to perform kung fu, that would be better," Chan told an audience that included a selected 20 of the show's contestants and some Chinese celebrities.

The TV show, whose English title is "The Disciple" is jointly produced by Chan and Beijing TV Station, known as BTV.

The show will run from March to October, with 10 winners appearing in a movie to be produced by Chan, organizers said. The movie will be released before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chan said.

The TV show, whose English title is "The Disciple" is jointly produced by Chan and Beijing TV Station, known as BTV.

The show will run from March to October, with 10 winners appearing in a movie to be produced by Chan, organizers said. The movie will be released before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chan said.

About 70 photos on display mostly black and whites record Morath's 18-day road trip to Reno from New York City and her time on the set for the photography agency Magnum Photos, which was hired to document the shooting of the offbeat movie about a group of Nevada loners.

"The Misfits," filmed almost exclusively around Reno from July to November 1960, was the only movie Monroe and Gable appeared in together, and was the last completed film for both.

"(Morath) is not interested in simply capturing the star power and the legends," said Ann Wolfe, the museum's curator. "She was looking for a greater truth behind the surface. It was a bittersweet melancholy encapsulated in some of her photos."

The Austrian-born photographer's Reno assignment was among the highlights of a prolific career that spanned more than 50 years, said John Jacob, director of The Inge Morath Foundation based in New York City. Morath, who won international awards, was involved as a photographer, writer or both in the publication of more than two dozen books. Her interests ranged from celebrities to the Soviet Union.

The charming, witty Morath had a knack for capturing the essence of her subjects, Jacob said.
"Most people put up a wall when they have their picture taken," he said. "She seemed to be able to allow people to let down their guard. Her time in Reno has to be one of the highlights of her career because that's where she met her husband. They certainly became friendly then, but not involved then."

One of Morath's more captivating photos shows Monroe and Miller alone in their suite at Reno's Mapes Hotel after a day's shooting. Miller, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, gazes at Monroe as she peers out a window, her back to him.
Monroe and Miller took separate rooms during the filming, and divorced in 1961. A year later, Morath became Miller's third wife and remained married to him until her death in 2002 at age 77. Miller, who wrote the Pulitzer and Tony Award winning play "Death of a Salesman," died in 2005 at age 89.

"I think there's a real melancholic sense in that photo. I think she was able to capture (the Monroe-Miller) relationship. ... A very ephemeral moment," Wolfe said. "It's quite fascinating that Morath is documenting this relationship and only two years later finds herself married to him."

Also revealing are a portrait of a smiling Monroe in a bathrobe and a color photo of her in a black dress and high heels preparing for a sidewalk scene near a group of gawking bystanders.

"(The latter photo) captures her in an in-between state. She's focused on her job, but forced to reckon with her stardom and fishbowl existence. She seems to be caught in the headlights," Wolfe said.

"The portrait of Monroe in the bathrobe is not as simple as it appears. If you look closely, you can see this distant gaze kind of an emptiness."

Among other photos, Gable is shown leaning over next to Monroe as she sits in bed with only a sheet draped over her. Another captures Gable relaxing with director John Huston during a break in shooting.

Source: http://movies.yahoo.com

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