HARRY POTTER & GOBLET OF FIRE - ERIC SYKES - Personally Signed Autograph Card

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HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE - ERIC SYKES as Frank Bryce - Personally Signed Autograph Card ARTBOX.

Eric Sykes CBE (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor, and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers, John Antrobus, and Johnny Speight. Sykes first came to prominence through his many radio credits as a writer and actor in the 1950s, most notably through his collaboration on The Goon Show scripts. He became a TV star in his own right in the early 1960s when he appeared with Hattie Jacques in several popular BBC comedy television series.

Early life

Sykes was born on 4 May 1923 in Oldham, Lancashire; his mother died three weeks after his birth. He was the second child of his parents' marriage; his older brother (by two years) was named Vernon. Sykes's father was a labourer in a cotton mill and a former army sergeant. When Sykes was two, his father remarried and he gained a half-brother named John. Sykes was educated at Ward Street Central School in Oldham. He joined the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, qualifying as a wireless operator with the rank of leading aircraftman.

Career

Sykes's entertainment career began during the Second World War while serving in a Special Liaison Unit, when he met and worked with then Flight Lieutenant Bill Fraser. Sykes also collaborated with fellow RAF servicemen Denis Norden and Ron Rich in the production of troop entertainment shows. Whilst preparing for one of these shows in 1945, Sykes, accompanied by Norden and Rich, went to a nearby prison camp in search of stage lighting; the camp turned out to be the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, which had recently been liberated by the Allies. Sykes, Norden and Rich organised a food collection amongst their comrades to feed the starving camp inmates.

When the war ended Sykes decided to try his luck in London, arriving in the middle of the coldest winter in living memory (1946–47). He rented lodgings, expecting to find work quickly, but by the end of the first week he was cold, hungry, and penniless. The turning point in his life and career came on the Friday night of his first week in London: he had a chance meeting in the street with Bill Fraser, who was by now featuring in a comedy at the Playhouse Theatre. Fraser took the impoverished Sykes to the theatre, offered him food and drink, and then asked if Sykes would like to write for him. Sykes began providing scripts for both Fraser and Frankie Howerd and soon found himself in demand as a comedy writer. Forming a partnership with Sid Colin, he worked on the BBC radio ventriloquism show Educating Archie , which began in 1950, and also Variety Bandbox . Working on Educating Archie led to him meeting Hattie Jacques for the first time.

1950s

Sykes had begun to write for television as early as 1948, but from the early 1950s Sykes began to make an ultimately successful transition from radio to TV, writing a number of series episodes and one-off shows for the BBC. His credits in this period include The Howerd Crowd (1952), Frankie Howerd's Korean Party , Nuts in May , and The Frankie Howerd Show , as well as The Big Man (1954) starring Fred Emney and Edwin Styles. Sykes also made his first screen appearance at this time in the army film comedy Orders Are Orders (1954), which also featured Sid James, Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers, Bill Fraser, and Donald Pleasence.

Sykes's small office above a grocer's shop at 130 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, was shared from around 1953 by Spike Milligan. (Sykes and Milligan later jointly formed Associated London Scripts (ALS) with Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, a writers' agency which lasted for well over a decade until being effectively dissolved in 1967). Late in 1954, Sykes began collaborating with Spike Milligan on scripts for The Goon Show , easing Milligan's workload. Their first collaborative script was for a Goon Show special called Archie in Goonland , a crossover between The Goon Show and Educating Archie . The special was broadcast in June 1954 and featured the regular Goon Show cast (Harry Secombe was then appearing in both) plus Peter Brough, his dummy Archie Andrews and Hattie Jacques. It was not a success, however, and neither recording nor the script has survived. Sykes and Milligan are credited as the co-writers of all but the first six of the 26 episodes in Series 5 (1954–55) and three episodes of Series 6 (1955–56); Sykes also wrote a 15-minute Goon Show Christmas special, The Missing Christmas Parcel , broadcast during the Children's Hour on 8 December 1955.

In 1955, Sykes wrote and performed in a BBC Christmas spectacular, a spoof pantomime called Pantomania , which featured many well-known BBC personalities of the era; it was directed by Ernest Maxin, who went on to produce some of the most famous comedy routines for Morecambe & Wise. That same year Sykes signed a contract as scriptwriter and variety show presenter for the newly formed independent television company ATV, while continuing to write and perform for the BBC.

In 1956, Sykes performed, wrote scripts, and acted as script editor for the pioneering Rediffusion TV comedy The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d , the first attempt to translate the humour of the Goons to television. It starred Peter Sellers, with Sykes, Kenneth Connor, and Valentine Dyall. During this year he also made his second film appearance, playing a minor role in the Max Bygraves film Charley Moon , which also featured Bill Fraser, Peter Jones, Dennis Price, and (as a child) Jane Asher. During 1956–57, Sykes also wrote for and performed in The Tony Hancock Show , where he again worked with Hattie Jacques.

His next venture for the BBC was a one-hour special, Sykes Directs a Dress Rehearsal , playing a harassed director in a fictional TV studio rehearsal room, just before going live to air. Later that year he wrote and appeared in another all-star spectacular called Opening Night which celebrated the opening of the 1956 National Radio Show at Earl's Court. In 1957, he created Closing Night , which closed the 1957 show.

By this time Sykes had developed hearing problems; he subsequently lost most of his hearing, but learned to lip-read and watch other performers say their lines to get his cues. In 1957, he wrote and appeared in an edition of Val Parnell's Saturday Spectacular , the first of two shows in this series that he wrote for Peter Sellers. The first went out under the title of Eric Sykes Presents Peter Sellers , and the second, in 1958, was called The Peter Sellers Show .

In 1959, Sykes wrote and directed the one-off BBC special Gala Opening , with a cast that included 'Professor' Stanley Unwin and Hattie Jacques, and played a small supporting role in the Tommy Steele film Tommy the Toreador .

1960s

At the turn of the decade Eric Sykes and his old friend and colleague Hattie Jacques co-starred in a new 30-minute BBC TV sitcom, Sykes and a... , which Sykes created in collaboration with writer Johnny Speight, who had worked with him earlier in the 1950s on the two Tony Hancock series for ITV. The original concept for the new series had Eric living in suburbia with his wife, with simple plots centring on everyday problems, but Sykes soon realised that by changing the house-mate from wife to sister it offered more scope for storylines and allowed either or both to become romantically entangled with other people.

In the revised concept, Sykes played a version of his established stage persona, a bumbling, work-shy, accident-prone bachelor called Eric Sykes, who lives at 24 Sebastopol Terrace, East Acton, with his unmarried twin sister Harriet, played by Jacques. The other regular cast members were Deryck Guyler as local constable Wilfred "Corky" Turnbull and Richard Wattis as their snobbish, busybody neighbour Charles Brown. Wattis left the show after series 3 and his departure was explained by having Mr Brown emigrating to Australia. Other guests included Hugh Lloyd, John Bluthal, Leo McKern, and Arthur Mullard.

The first series (five episodes, all written by Johnny Speight) premiered on 29 January 1960 and were an immediate hit, establishing 'Eric and Hat' as one of Britain's most popular and enduring comedy partnerships. The second series of six episodes (written from storylines suggested by Speight) were mostly written by Sykes, although he co-wrote one episode each with John Antrobus and Spike Milligan. All subsequent episodes were written solely by Sykes.

Nine short seasons of Sykes and A... were made between 1960 and 1965, ranging between six and nine episodes each, plus a short 1962 special in the BBC's annual Christmas Night with the Stars programme, now lost. Twenty-five of the original fifty-nine episodes have survived in the BBC archives. It was during this series that Sykes introduced one of his best known creations, the wordless slapstick routine The Plank , which originally appeared in Episode 2, Series 7 of Sykes And A... , first broadcast on 3 March 1964 under that title.

In December 1961, Sykes co-starred with Warren Mitchell in Clicquot et Fils , a one-off, 30-minute comedy written by Associated London Scripts colleagues Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. This was the premiere episode of a new BBC series Comedy Playhouse , which became an important proving ground for many successful TV comedy series.

In 1962, Sykes played his first starring film role, being a travelling salesman in the comedy Village of Daughters , set in an Italian village, but featuring a mostly British cast including John Le Mesurier (who was at that time married to Hattie Jacques), and Roger Delgado. This was followed by a supporting role in the MGM British comedy, Kill or Cure , starring Terry-Thomas with a cast of British comedy stalwarts including one of the first film appearances by Ronnie Barker. Both films were made by the same writer-director team behind the popular Margaret Rutherford Miss Marple film, Murder She Said .

During 1965, Sykes made what proved to be the final series of Sykes and A... and appearing in three major films. He had a small role in Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines , joining an all-star cast of British and American TV and film luminaries. The spy spoof The Liquidator was directed by Jack Cardiff and starred Rod Taylor with Sykes in a secondary role. His third film of that year was the Boulting brothers' Rotten to the Core starring Anton Rodgers (who replaced Peter Sellers) with Sykes. Sykes had a minor film role in another spy comedy The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), written by Galton and Simpson.

In 1967, Sykes expanded one of his routines into a 45-minute wordless colour short, The Plank which features, among others, Sykes, Tommy Cooper, Jimmy Edwards, Graham Stark, Hattie Jacques, and future Goodies star Bill Oddie. (The film was later remade for Thames Television in 1978.) Also in 1967, Sykes and his old friend Jimmy Edwards started touring with the theatrical farce Big Bad Mouse which, while keeping more or less to a script, gave them rein to ad lib and address the audience. They would return to the production on and off until 1975, touring the UK twice and also taking the show abroad, including to Australia.

Returning to television, Sykes and Jacques appeared in the 1967 special Sykes Versus ITV with Tommy Cooper and Ronnie Brody. In 1968, he had a supporting role in an Anglo-American film co-production, the Edward Dmytryk western Shalako , starring Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot.

In 1969, Sykes co-starred with Spike Milligan in the ill-fated television sit-com Curry and Chips , a satire on racial prejudice created and written by Johnny Speight and made for London Weekend Television. Milligan, who had grown up in British India, played Kevin O'Grady, a half-Pakistani half-Irish man who comes to work in a British factory and ends up boarding with his ineffectual foreman Arthur Blenkinsop (Sykes), who has to regularly defend Kevin against his racist workmates. The supporting cast included pop singer turned actor Kenny Lynch, Geoffrey Hughes, Norman Rossington, Sam Kydd, Jerrold Wells, and Fanny Carby as Arthur and Kevin's landlady. The series provoked a storm of complaints about its liberal use of racist epithets and bad language (although Sykes refused to swear, as he did throughout his career). It was cancelled on the instruction of the Independent Broadcasting Authority after a series of six episodes.

Sykes also made another minor film appearance in 1969 in the comedy Monte Carlo or Bust! , which was also titled as Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies .

1970s

In 1970, Sykes returned to BBC television with a guest appearance in an episode of Till Death Us Do Part . This was followed in 1971 by a six-episode series, Sykes and a Big, Big Show , for the BBC and a special, Sykes: With the Lid Off , for Thames Television.

In 1972, seven years after the cancellation of Sykes and A... , the BBC revived the series under the title Sykes .

Sixty-eight colour episodes of Sykes were made between 1972 and 1979; forty-three of the shows were re-workings of scripts from the 1960s series, which had been recorded in monochrome. These included a remake of the 1960s episode Sykes and a Stranger , guest-starring Peter Sellers as the stranger, Tommy Grando, in what was to be Sellers’s final TV part. During the 1970s, Sykes and Jimmy Edwards took part in a performance of Big Bad Mouse entertaining Rhodesian troops for Ian Smith, the Prime Minister of Rhodesia.

In 1973, Sykes had a small role as a police sergeant in the Douglas Hickox thriller Theatre of Blood .

In 1977, Sykes wrote and starred in another television special, Eric Sykes Shows a Few of Our Favourite Things . He also wrote the script for the 1977 Yorkshire Television adaptation of Charley's Aunt and appeared in the role of Brassett.

The third version of The Plank was made in 1979 for Thames TV as a half-hour TV special.

Sykes was the subject of Thames Television's This Is Your Life , broadcast on 25 December 1979.

1980s

Sykes wrote and appeared in two Thames Television specials broadcast during 1980 – The Likes of Sykes and Rhubarb Rhubarb . The latter special, a remake of his 1969 short film Rhubarb which Sykes also directed, featured many of his old friends including Jimmy Edwards, Bob Todd, Charlie Drake, Bill Fraser, Roy Kinnear, Beryl Reid, and Norman Rossington. It was his last screen appearance with Hattie Jacques. The film employed an idea drawn from the British showbiz tradition in which extras used the word "rhubarb" to simulate low-level background dialogue, which had also been a running joke in The Goon Show . In 1981, Sykes wrote, directed, and starred in the offbeat comedy If You Go Down in the Woods Today for Thames, with a cast including Roy Kinnear, Fulton Mackay, and George Sewell.

During 1982, Sykes played the Chief Constable in the slapstick police comedy film The Boys in Blue , which starred the comedy duo Cannon and Ball, with Jon Pertwee. For Thames TV that year, he also appeared in and wrote The Eric Sykes 1990 Show with Tommy Cooper and Dandy Nichols and It's Your Move , a wordless slapstick comedy depicting the travails of a couple (Richard Briers and Sylvia Syms) moving into a new home, who hire an accident-prone firm of house removers, headed by Sykes. It featured an all-star cast including Tommy Cooper, Bernard Cribbins, Jimmy Edwards, Irene Handl, Bob Todd, and Andrew Sachs. Sykes produced one further silent movie for Thames in 1988, Mr. H. Is Late , set at a funeral. In 1984, Sykes played the Genie in the children's film Gabrielle and the Doodleman , which also featured Windsor Davies (who would also appear with Sykes in the BBC's Gormenghast in 2000), Bob Todd, Lynsey de Paul, and Gareth Hunt.

In 1985, he played the Mad Hatter in the Anglia Television serial adaptation of Alice in Wonderland , joining an all-star cast that included Michael Bentine, Leslie Crowther, and Leonard Rossiter, and he also had an uncredited role (as an arcade attendant) in the Julien Temple film musical Absolute Beginners (1986) which stars Patsy Kensit. In 1986, Sykes played Horace Harker in "The Six Napoleons", an episode of the Granada TV adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes stories starring Jeremy Brett.

Sykes toured Australia with the play Run for Your Wife (1987–88) with a cast that included Jack Smethurst, David McCallum, and Katy Manning. In 1989, in his first series since the Sykes series ended in 1979, Sykes starred as the secretary in the ITV situation comedy The Nineteenth Hole , written by Johnny Speight. The series was not a success and ran for only one series, being dropped by ITV for being unfunny, racist, and sexist.

1990s

In 1994, Sykes appeared in both episodes of Paul Merton's Palladium Story , a documentary series celebrating the history of the London Palladium. From March 1997, Sykes, together with Tim Whitnall, Toyah Willcox and Mark Heenehan, provided narration for the BBC pre-school TV series Teletubbies . It is his voice that announces "Teletubbies!" during the title sequence and on the show's theme song, "Teletubbies say "Eh-oh!"", which became a number one single in December 1997. In 1998, Sykes appeared in one episode of Dinnerladies as the father of Stan (Duncan Preston).

2000s

In 2000, Sykes appeared as Mollocks, the servant of Dr Prunesquallor, in the BBC's mini-series adaptation of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast , which was the last production to feature both Milligan and Sykes (although they did not appear together on screen). In 2001, he had one of his few serious screen roles, playing a servant in the blockbuster supernatural thriller film The Others , starring Nicole Kidman. In 2005, he played Frank Bryce in Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire .

In 2007, he appeared in Last of the Summer Wine and in New Tricks , as well as taking a small role in an episode of the sitcom My Family . In October 2010 Sykes appeared in Hallowe'en Party , an episode in the twelfth series of Agatha Christie's Poirot .

His autobiography, If I Don't Write It, Nobody Else Will , was published in 2005, by Harper Perennial.

Personal life

Sykes became partially deaf as an adult. His hearing started to deteriorate in the Second World War, and he had an operation in 1952 followed by another two years later. Recovering from the second procedure he discovered he was profoundly deaf. His spectacles contained no lenses but were a bone-conducting hearing aid. Disciform macular degeneration, brought about by age and possibly smoking, left Sykes partially sighted, and he was registered as blind. He was a patron of the Macular Disease Society. He stopped smoking cigarettes in November 1966, but continued to smoke cigars until 1998. He underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1997, and suffered a stroke in 2002.

In the 1970s, Sykes and his friend Jimmy Edwards took part in a show for Ian Smith in Rhodesia.

He married Edith Eleanore Milbrandt on 14 February 1952, and they had three daughters and a son. In the year Sykes died they marked their 60th wedding anniversary.

In the 2005 New Year Honours List, Sykes was promoted within the Order of the British Empire from Officer (OBE) to Commander (CBE) level. He had been appointed an OBE in 1986 for services to drama, following a petition by MPs. Sykes was an honorary president of the Goon Show Preservation Society.

Sykes was a follower of Oldham Athletic and was an honorary director of the club in the 1970s.

Awards
  • 1961 Guild of TV Producers and Directors' Lifetime Achievement Award

  • 1964 BBC Television Personality of the Year

  • 1980 Pye Colour TV Award

  • 1980 The Golden Rose of Montreux (for The Plank )

  • 1985 The 25th Golden Rose of Montreux

  • 1986 OBE

  • 1988 Freedom of the City of London

  • 1992 Lifetime Achievement Award from Writers' Guild of Great Britain

  • 1992 Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Comedy Awards

  • 1998 Honorary Fellowship of the University of Lancaster

  • 1998 Eric Morecambe Award from Comic Heritage

  • 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grand Order of Water Rats

  • 2001 Bernard Delfont Award for outstanding contribution to show business from the Variety Club of Great Britain

  • 2002 Oldie of the Year

  • 2004 CBE

  • 2009 Aardman Slapstick Visual Comedy Award for the outstanding contribution to the field of visual comedy he had made over his career

Film and television

Films he created and appeared in
  • Pantomania, or Dick Whittington (1956 TV film)

  • Dress Rehearsal (1956 TV film) as Director

  • Opening Night (1956 TV film) as Himself

  • Closing Night (1957) as Himself

  • Gala Opening (1959) as Himself

  • The Plank (1967) as Smaller Workman

  • It's Your Move (1969)

  • Rhubarb (1969 short) as Insp. Rhubarb

  • Mr. H is Late (1969)

  • Sykes: With the Lid Off (1971 TV film)

  • Eric Sykes Shows a Few of our Favourite Things (1977) as Eric / Jack

  • The Plank (1979 TV short), a remake of The Plank (1967)

  • The Likes of Sykes (1980 TV film)

  • Rhubarb Rhubarb (1980), a remake of Rhubarb (1969), as Police Inspector / Groom

  • If You Go Down in the Woods Today (1981) as Mr. Pangbourne

  • The Eric Sykes 1990 Show (1982 TV film) as Producer

  • It's Your Move (1982 TV short), a remake of It's Your Move (1969), as Head Removal Man

  • Mr. H Is Late (1988 TV short) as Senior undertaker

  • The Big Freeze (1993 TV film) as Mr. Blick

Television series he created and appeared in
  • Sykes and a... (1960–1965) as Himself

  • Sykes and a Big Big Show (1971)

  • Sykes (1972–1979) as Himself

Other acting roles

The following entries are films unless otherwise stated.

  • Orders Are Orders (1954) as Pvt. Waterhouse

  • Charley Moon (1956) as Brother-in-Law

  • Tommy the Toreador (1959) as Martin

  • Watch Your Stern (1960) as Civilian Electrician #2

  • Very Important Person (1961) as Willoughby, Sports Officer

  • Invasion Quartet (1961) as Band Conductor

  • Village of Daughters (1962) as Herbert Harris

  • Kill or Cure (1962) as Rumbelow

  • Heavens Above! (1963) as Harry Smith

  • The Bargee (1964) as The Mariner

  • One Way Pendulum (1964) as Mr. Groomkirby

  • Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) as Courtney

  • Rotten to the Core (1965) as William Hunt

  • The Liquidator (1965) as Griffen

  • Big Bad Mouse (1966, TV Movie) as Mr. Bloome

  • The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966) as Wrigley

  • Sykes Versus ITV (1967, TV Movie)

  • Shalako (1968) as Mako

  • Monte Carlo or Bust (1969) as Perkins

  • Big Bad Mouse (1972, TV Movie) as Mr. Bloome

  • Theatre of Blood (1973) as Sergeant Dogge

  • Charlie's Aunt (1977, TV Movie) as Brassett

  • The Boys in Blue (1982) as Chief Constable Cranshaw

  • Gabrielle and the Doodleman (1984) as Genie

  • The Six Napoleons (1986) as the journalist Horace Harker

  • Splitting Heirs (1993) as Jobson the Doorman

  • Dinnerladies (1998, TV Series) as Jim

  • Mavis and the Mermaid (2000, Short) as Skip

  • Gormenghast (2000, miniseries) as Mollocks

  • The Others (2001) as Mr. Edmund Tuttle

  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) as Frank Bryce

  • Son of Rambow (2007) as Frank

  • Agatha Christie's Poirot : Hallowe'en Party (2010 TV episode) as Mr. Fullerton (final appearance)

Records
  • "Dr Kildare"/"Bedtime Story" (Y7092, 7-inch single, Decca Records 1962) with Hattie Jacques

  • Eric and Hattie and Things (LK 4507, LP, Decca Records 1962) with Hattie Jacques

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in some countries as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ) is a 2001 British-American fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the long-running Harry Potter film series, and was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Its story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.

Warner Bros. bought the film rights to the book in 1999 for a reported £1 million ($1.275 million) Production began in the United Kingdom in 2000, with Chris Columbus being chosen to create the film from a short list of directors that included Steven Spielberg and Rob Reiner. Rowling insisted that the entire cast be British or Irish, and the film was shot at Leavesden Film Studios and historic buildings around the United Kingdom.

The film was released in theatres in the United Kingdom and the United States on 16 November 2001. It became a critical and commercial success, grossing $974.8 million at the box office worldwide. It was the highest grossing film of 2001. It was nominated for many awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. It was followed by seven sequels, beginning with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002 and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011, nearly ten years after the first film's release. It is the 31st-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 .

Plot

Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Rubeus Hagrid, professors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, deliver an orphaned infant named Harry Potter to his only remaining relatives, the Dursleys in Little Whinging, Surrey, England. Ten years later, Harry has been battling a disjointing life with the Dursleys, and after inadvertently causing an accident on a family outing and receiving several unsolicited letters by owl, Hagrid appears and informs Harry that he is a wizard, known for being the first and only one to survive an attack by Lord Voldemort (giving Harry the title "The Boy Who Lived"), a once-powerful dark wizard who terrorised the Wizarding World and murdered those who stood in his way, including Harry's parents James and Lily Potter. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been accepted into Hogwarts. After purchasing school supplies from the hidden London street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9¾ at King's Cross station.

On the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley, a boy from a large but poor pure-blood wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, a witch born to non-magical parents. After entering Hogwarts, Harry meets many other students, including Draco Malfoy, who eventually becomes a rival to Harry. At the great hall, Harry and all the other first-year students are sorted between four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Because Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and witches, Harry convinces the Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin. He ends up in Gryffindor along with Ron and Hermione. Ron's older brothers were all placed in Gryffindor as well: mischievous twins Fred and George, Percy the prefect, Charlie (who researches dragons in Romania) and Bill (who works for Gringotts Bank).

At Hogwarts, Harry begins learning wizardry and discovers more about his past and his parents. He is recruited for Gryffindor's Quidditch (a sport in the wizarding world where people fly on broomsticks) team as a Seeker, which is rare for first-year students, as his father was before him. One night, he, Ron, and Hermione discover a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy (owned by Hagrid) at a restricted area of the school. They later find out Fluffy is guarding the Philosopher's Stone, an item that can be used to grant its owner immortality, as long as it is constantly used. Harry concludes that his potions teacher, Severus Snape, is trying to obtain the stone in order to return Voldemort to a human form.

After hearing from Hagrid that Fluffy will fall asleep if played music, Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to find the stone before Snape does. They face a series of tasks that are helping guard the stone which include surviving a deadly plant known as Devil's Snare, flying amidst winged, flying keys, and winning a dangerous, life-sized game of chess.

After getting past the tasks, Harry discovers that it was Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Professor Quirrell who was trying to claim the stone, and that Snape was protecting Harry all along. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals Voldemort to be living on the back of his head. Voldemort attempts to convince Harry to give him the stone (which Harry suddenly finds in his pocket as the result of an enchantment by Dumbledore), by promising to bring his parents back from the dead, but Harry refuses. Quirrell attempts to kill him and take the stone, but Harry's touch turns Quirrell into dust. When Harry gets back up, Voldemort's spirit rises from Quirrell's ashes and passes through Harry, knocking him unconscious before fleeing.

Harry wakes up at the school's hospital wing with Dumbledore at his side. Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed and that, despite Ron nearly being killed in the chess match, he and Hermione are both fine. The headmaster reveals that Harry was able to defeat Quirrell because when Harry's mother died to save him, her death gave Harry a magical, love-based protection against Voldemort. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are rewarded with house points for their heroic performances, and Neville Longbottom is rewarded for bravely standing up to them, winning Gryffindor the House Cup. Before Harry and the rest of the students leave for the summer, Harry realises that while all other students are going home, Hogwarts is truly his home.

Cast

Rowling insisted that the cast be kept British. Susie Figgis was appointed as casting director, working with both Columbus and Rowling in auditioning the lead roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione. Open casting calls were held for the main three roles, with only British children being considered. The principal auditions took place in three parts, with those auditioning having to read a page from the novel, then to improvise a scene of the students' arrival at Hogwarts, and finally to read several pages from the script in front of Columbus. Scenes from Columbus' script for the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes were also used in auditions. On 11 July 2000, Figgis left the production, complaining that Columbus did not consider any of the thousands of children they had auditioned "worthy". On 8 August 2000, the virtually unknown Daniel Radcliffe and newcomers Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were selected to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively.

  • Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, an 11-year-old British orphan raised by his unwelcoming aunt and uncle, who learns of his own fame as a wizard known to have survived his parents' murder at the hands of the psychopathic dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant when he is accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Columbus had wanted Radcliffe for the role since he saw him in the BBC's production of David Copperfield , before the open casting sessions had taken place, but had been told by Figgis that Radcliffe's protective parents would not allow their son to take the part. Columbus explained that his persistence in giving Radcliffe the role was responsible for Figgis' resignation. Radcliffe was asked to audition in 2000, when Heyman and Kloves met him and his parents at a production of Stones in His Pockets in London. Heyman and Columbus successfully managed to convince Radcliffe's parents that their son would be protected from media intrusion, and they agreed to let him play Harry. Rowling approved of Radcliffe's casting, stating that "having seen his screen test I don't think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry." Radcliffe was reportedly paid £1 million for the film, although he felt the fee was "not that important". William Moseley, who was later cast as Peter Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia series, also auditioned for the role.

  • Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts. He decided he would be perfect for the part "because he has got ginger hair," and was a fan of the series. Having seen a Newsround report about the open casting he sent in a video of himself rapping about how he wished to receive the part. His attempt was successful as the casting team asked for a meeting with him.

  • Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's other best friend and the trio's brains. Watson's Oxford theatre teacher passed her name on to the casting agents and she had to do over five interviews before she got the part. Watson took her audition seriously, but "never really thought she had any chance of getting the role." The producers were impressed by Watson's self-confidence and she outperformed the thousands of other girls who had applied.

  • John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Hogwarts' Gryffindor House.

  • Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant and Hogwarts' Groundskeeper. Coltrane was Rowling's first choice for the part. Coltrane, who was already a fan of the books, prepared for the role by discussing Hagrid's past and future with Rowling. According to Figgis, Robin Williams was interested in participating in the film, but was turned down for the Hagrid role because of the "strictly British and Irish only" rule which Columbus was determined to maintain.

  • Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms Master and head of Hogwarts' Ravenclaw House.

  • Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle (non-magical) uncle.

  • Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts' Headmaster and one of the most famous and powerful wizards of all time. Harris initially rejected the role, only to reverse his decision after his granddaughter stated she would never speak to him again if he did not take it.

  • Ian Hart as Quirinus Quirrell, the slightly nervous Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, and also Lord Voldemort's voice. David Thewlis auditioned for the part; he would later be cast as Remus Lupin in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban .

  • John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander, the owner of Ollivanders , a highly regarded wandmaker.

  • Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions Master and head of Hogwarts' Slytherin House. Tim Roth was the original choice for the role, but he turned it down for Planet of the Apes .

  • Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.

  • Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, head of Gryffindor and transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts. Smith was Rowling's personal choice for the part.

  • Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, Ron's caring mother. She shows Harry how to get to Platform 9 34. Before Walters was cast, American actress Rosie O'Donnell held talks with Columbus about playing Mrs. Weasley.

Rik Mayall was cast in the role of Peeves, a poltergeist who likes to prank students in the novel. Mayall had to shout his lines off camera during takes, but the scene ended up being cut from the film.

Production

Development

In 1997, producer David Heyman searched for a children's book that could be adapted into a well-received film. He had planned to produce Diana Wynne Jones' novel The Ogre Downstairs , but his plans fell through. His staff at Heyday Films then suggested Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , which his assistant believed was "a cool idea." Heyman pitched the idea to Warner Bros. and in 1999, Rowling sold the company the rights to the first four Harry Potter books for a reported £1 million (US$1,982,900). A demand Rowling made was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, nonetheless allowing for the inclusion of Irish actors such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where characters from the book are specified as such.  Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would have enabled Warner Bros. to make non-author-written sequels.

Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the film, he declined the offer. Spielberg reportedly wanted the adaptation to be an animated film, with American actor Haley Joel Osment to provide Harry Potter's voice, or a film that incorporated elements from subsequent books as well. Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, it was like "shooting ducks in a barrel. It's just a slam dunk. It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge. Rowling maintains that she had no role in choosing directors for the films and that "anyone who thinks I could (or would) have 'veto-ed'  Spielberg needs their Quick-Quotes Quill serviced." Heyman recalled that Spielberg decided to direct A.I. Artificial Intelligence instead.

After Spielberg left, talks began with other directors, including: Chris Columbus, Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Demme, Mike Newell, Alan Parker, Wolfgang Petersen, Rob Reiner, Ivan Reitman, Tim Robbins, Brad Silberling, M. Night Shyamalan and Peter Weir. Petersen and Reiner both pulled out of the running in March 2000, and the choice was narrowed down to Silberling, Columbus, Parker and Gilliam. Rowling's first choice director was Terry Gilliam, but Warner Bros. chose Columbus, citing his work on other family films such as Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire as influences for their decision. Columbus pitched his vision of the film for two hours, stating that he wanted the Muggle scenes "to be bleak and dreary" but those set in the wizarding world "to be steeped in color, mood, and detail." He took inspiration from David Lean's adaptations of Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), wishing to use "that sort of darkness, that sort of edge, that quality to the cinematography," taking the colour designs from Oliver! and The Godfather .

Steve Kloves was selected to write the screenplay. He described adapting the book as "tough", as it did not "lend itself to adaptation as well as the next two books." Kloves often received synopses of books proposed as film adaptations from Warner Bros., which he "almost never read", but Harry Potter jumped out at him. He went out and bought the book, and became an instant fan of the series. When speaking to Warner Bros., he stated that the film had to be British, and had to be true to the characters. Kloves was nervous when he first met Rowling as he did not want her to think he was going to "destroy her baby." Rowling admitted that she "was really ready to hate this Steve Kloves," but recalled her initial meeting with him: "The first time I met him, he said to me, 'You know who my favourite character is?' And I thought, You're gonna say Ron. I know you're gonna say Ron. But he said 'Hermione.' And I just kind of melted." Rowling received a large amount of creative control, an arrangement that Columbus did not mind.

Warner Bros. had initially planned to release the film over 4 July 2001 weekend, making for such a short production window that several proposed directors pulled themselves out of the running. Due to time constraints, the date was put back to 16 November 2001.

Filming

Two British film industry officials requested that the film be shot in the United Kingdom, offering their assistance in securing filming locations, the use of Leavesden Film Studios, as well as changing the UK's child labour laws (adding a small number of working hours per week and making the timing of on-set classes more flexible). Warner Bros. accepted their proposal. Filming began in September 2000 at Leavesden Film Studios and concluded on 23 March 2001, with final work being done in July. Principal photography took place on 2 October 2000 at North Yorkshire's Goathland railway station. Canterbury Cathedral and Scotland's Inverailort Castle were both touted as possible locations for Hogwarts; Canterbury rejected Warner Bros. proposal due to concerns about the film's "pagan" theme. Alnwick Castle and Gloucester Cathedral were eventually selected as the principal locations for Hogwarts, with some scenes also being filmed at Harrow School. Other Hogwarts scenes were filmed in Durham Cathedral over a two-week period; these included shots of the corridors and some classroom scenes. Oxford University's Divinity School served as the Hogwarts Hospital Wing, and Duke Humfrey's Library, part of the Bodleian, was used as the Hogwarts Library. Filming for Privet Drive took place on Picket Post Close in Bracknell, Berkshire. Filming in the street took two days instead of the planned single day, so payments to the street's residents were correspondingly increased. For all the subsequent film's scenes set in Privet Drive, filming took place on a constructed set in Leavesden Film Studios, which proved to have been cheaper than filming on location. London's Australia House was selected as the location for Gringotts Wizarding Bank, while Christ Church, Oxford was the location for the Hogwarts trophy room, London Zoo was used as the location for the scene in which Harry accidentally sets a snake on Dudley, with King's Cross Station also being used as the book specifies.

Because the American title was different, all scenes that mention the philosopher's stone by name had to be re-shot, once with the actors saying "philosopher's" and once with "sorcerer's". The children filmed for four hours and then did three hours of schoolwork. They developed a liking for fake facial injuries from the makeup staff. Radcliffe was initially meant to wear green contact lenses as his eyes are blue, and not green like Harry's, but the lenses gave Radcliffe extreme irritation. Upon consultation with Rowling, it was agreed that Harry could have blue eyes.

Design and special effects

Judianna Makovsky designed the costumes. She re-designed the Quidditch robes, having initially planned to use those shown on the cover of the American book, but deemed them "a mess." Instead, she dressed the Quidditch players in "preppie sweaters, 19th century fencing breeches and arm guards.  Production designer Stuart Craig built the sets at Leavesden Studios, including Hogwarts Great Hall, basing it on many English cathedrals. Although originally asked to use an existing old street to film the Diagon Alley scenes, Craig decided to build his own set, comprising Tudor, Georgian and Queen Anne architecture.

Columbus originally planned to use both animatronics and CGI animation to create the magical creatures, including Fluffy. Nick Dudman, who worked on Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace , was given the task of creating the needed prosthetics, with Jim Henson's Creature Shop providing creature effects. John Coppinger stated that the magical creatures that needed to be created had to be designed multiple times. The film features nearly 600 special effects shots, involving numerous companies. Industrial Light & Magic created Lord Voldemort's face on the back of Quirrell, Rhythm & Hues animated Norbert (Hagrid's baby dragon); and Sony Pictures Imageworks produced the Quidditch scenes. 

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a 2002 British-American fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film, which is the second movie in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts as the Heir of Salazar Slytherin opens the Chamber of Secrets, unleashing a monster that petrifies the school's denizens.

The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and is followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban .

The film was released on 15 November 2002 in the United Kingdom and North America. It was very well received critically and commercially, making US$879 million worldwide. It is the seventh-highest-grossing film in the Harry Potter series and the 45th-highest-grossing film of all time. It was nominated for three BAFTA Film Awards in 2003.

Plot

After his first year at Hogwarts, Harry Potter spends the summer without receiving letters from his Hogwarts friends. In his room, Harry meets Dobby, a house-elf who warns him bad things will happen if he returns to Hogwarts, and reveals he intercepted his friends' letters. Harry chases him downstairs, where Dobby destroys a cake. The Dursleys lock Harry up, but Ron, Fred and George Weasley rescue him in their father's flying Ford Anglia.

While buying school supplies, Harry and the Weasley family encounter Rubeus Hagrid and Hermione Granger, and they attend a book-signing by celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart, who announces he will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Harry also encounters Draco Malfoy and his father Lucius, who slips a book in Ginny Weasley's belongings. When Harry and Ron are blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters (later revealed to be Dobby's doing), they fly to Hogwarts in the Ford Anglia and crash into the hostile Whomping Willow. Ron's wand is damaged, and the car throws them out before driving off. They are allowed back into school but face detention.

While serving detention with Lockhart, Harry hears strange voices and later finds caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, petrified, and a message written in blood announcing the "Chamber of Secrets has been opened, Enemies of the Heir, beware". Professor McGonagall explains that one of Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin, supposedly constructed a secret Chamber and placed inside it a monster that only his Heir can control, to purge the school of impure-blooded wizards and witches. More attacks occur over the course of the year. Harry and Ron suspect Malfoy is the Heir, so Hermione suggests they question him while disguised using polyjuice potion. Their makeshift laboratory is in a disused bathroom haunted by a ghost, Moaning Myrtle.

When Harry communicates with a snake (something Salazar Slytherin could do) the school suspects him as the Heir. At Christmas, Harry and Ron learn that Malfoy is not the Heir, but he mentions that a girl died when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. Harry finds an enchanted diary, owned by a former student named Tom Riddle, which shows him a flashback to fifty years before, where Riddle accused Hagrid, then a student, of opening the Chamber. When the diary disappears and Hermione is petrified, Harry and Ron question Hagrid. Professor Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy come to take Hagrid to Azkaban, but he discreetly tells the boys to "follow the spiders". Lucius has Dumbledore suspended. In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron find Aragog, a giant spider who reveals Hagrid's innocence and that the dead girl was found in a bathroom. Aragog then sets his colony of Acromantula on the boys, but the now-wild Ford Anglia saves them.

A book page in Hermione's hand identifies the monster is a basilisk, a giant serpent that instantly kills those who make direct eye contact with it; the petrified victims saw it indirectly. The school staff learn that Ginny was taken into the Chamber, and convince Lockhart to save her. Harry and Ron find Lockhart, exposed as a fraud, planning to flee; knowing Myrtle was the girl the Basilisk killed, they drag him to her bathroom and find the Chamber's entrance. Once inside, Lockhart uses Ron's damaged wand against them, but it backfires, wiping his memory, and causes a cave-in.

Harry enters the Chamber alone and finds Ginny unconscious and dying guarded by Tom Riddle. Harry works out that Riddle is the Heir and he used the diary to manipulate Ginny and reopen the Chamber. Riddle then reveals his full name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, from which he created the anagram for his future new identity, "I am Lord Voldemort". After Harry expresses support for Dumbledore, Dumbledore's Fawkes flies in with the Sorting Hat, and Riddle summons the Basilisk. Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, and the Sorting Hat eventually produces a sword with which Harry battles and slays the Basilisk, but he is poisoned by its fangs.

Harry defeats Riddle and revives Ginny by stabbing the diary with a basilisk fang. Fawkes' tears heal him, and he returns to Hogwarts with his friends and a baffled Lockhart. Dumbledore, reinstated as headmaster, praises them and orders for Hagrid's release. Dumbledore shows Harry that the sword he wielded was Godric Gryffindor's own sword, and says he is different from Voldemort because he chose Gryffindor House instead of Slytherin House. Harry accuses Lucius, Dobby's master, of putting the diary in Ginny's cauldron and tricks him into freeing Dobby. The Basilisk's victims are healed, Hermione reunites with Harry and Ron, and Hagrid returns.

In a post-credits scene, Lockhart is revealed to have published a new autobiography, entitled "Who Am I?".

  • Condition: Ungraded
  • Subject Type: TV & Movies
  • Card Size: Standard
  • Autographed: Yes
  • Set: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • Character: Frank Bryce
  • Autograph Format: Hard Signed
  • Signed By: Eric Sykes
  • Film: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
  • Custom Bundle: No
  • Card Condition: Near Mint
  • Material: Card Stock
  • Year Manufactured: 2005
  • Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
  • Franchise: Harry Potter
  • Card Thickness: 25 Pt.
  • Type: Non-Sport Trading Card
  • Language: English
  • Manufacturer: ArtBox
  • Features: Autograph, Personally Signed Autograph Card
  • Featured Person/Artist: Eric Sykes
  • Genre: Magic, Boarding School, Wizardry, Cult Book and Film Series, Harry Potter, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, JK Rowling
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

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