Ridley Scott

Ridley Scott

Born: November 30, 1937
in South Shields, County Durham, England, UK
Sir Ridley Scott (born November 30, 1937) is an English filmmaker. He was raised in an Army family, meaning that for most of his early life, his father — an officer in the Royal Engineers — was absent. Ridley's older brother, Frank, joined the Merchant Navy when he was still young and the pair had little contact. During this time the family moved around, living in (among other areas) Cumbria, Wales and Germany. He has a younger brother, Tony, also a film director. After the Second World War, the Scott family moved back to their native north-east England, eventually settling in Teesside (whose industrial landscape would later inspire similar scenes in Blade Runner). He enjoyed watching films, and his favourites include Lawrence of Arabia, Citizen Kane and Seven Samurai. Scott studied in Teesside from 1954 to 1958, at Grangefield Grammar School and later in West Hartlepool College of Art, graduating with a Diploma in Design. He progressed to an M.A. in graphic design at the Royal College of Art from 1960 to 1962.

At the RCA he contributed to the college magazine, ARK and helped to establish its film department. For his final show, he made a black and white short film, Boy and Bicycle, starring his younger brother, Tony Scott, and his father. The film's main visual elements would become features of Scott's later work; it was issued on the 'Extras' section of The Duellists DVD. After graduation in 1963, he secured a job as a trainee set designer with the BBC, leading to work on the popular television police series Z-Cars and the science fiction series Out of the Unknown. Scott was an admirer of Stanley Kubrick early in his development as a director. For his entry to the BBC traineeship, Scott remade Paths of Glory as a short film.

He was assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, which would have entailed realising the famous alien creatures. However, shortly before Scott was due to start work, a schedule conflict meant that he was replaced on the serial by Raymond Cusick.

At the BBC, Scott was placed into a director training programme and, before he left the corporation, had directed episodes of Z-Cars, its spin-off, Softly, Softly, and adventure series Adam Adamant Lives!

In 1968, Ridley and Tony Scott founded Ridley Scott Associates (RSA), a film and commercial production company.Five members of the Scott family are directors, all working for RSA. Brother Tony has been a successful film director for more than two decades; sons, Jake and Luke are both acclaimed commercials directors as is his daughter, Jordan Scott. Jake and Jordan both work from Los Angeles and Luke is based in London.

In 1995, Shepperton Studios was purchased by a consortium headed by Ridley and Tony Scott, which extensively renovated the studios while also expanding and improving its grounds.  

Movies for Ridley Scott...

L'Âge d'or de la pub
Title: L'Âge d'or de la pub
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: June 2, 2023
Type: Movie
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Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
Title: Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
Character: Self
Released: August 12, 2022
Type: Movie
Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.
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The Making of the Last Duel
Title: The Making of the Last Duel
Character: Self
Released: November 29, 2021
Type: Movie
Get unprecedented access to renowned director Ridley Scott as he collaborates with the cast and crew to make critical decisions about location, cinematography and performances.
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The Blade Runner Phenomenon
Title: The Blade Runner Phenomenon
Character: Self - Director (1982)
Released: May 27, 2021
Type: Movie
Ridley Scott's cult film Blade Runner, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick and released in 1982, is one of the most influential science fiction films ever made. Its depiction of Los Angeles in the year 2019 is oppressively prophetic: climate catastrophe, increasing public surveillance, powerful monopolistic corporations, highly evolved artificial intelligence; a fantastic vision of the future world that has become a frightening reality.
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Kreka: Dreamcatcher
Title: Kreka: Dreamcatcher
Character: Self
Released: May 16, 2021
Type: Movie
The career of the famous production designer Miljen Kljaković – Kreka and reveals all the beauty and importance of film scenography.
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Sword-and-Sandal
Title: Sword-and-Sandal
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: April 14, 2019
Type: Movie
The silent cinema had already created colossal movies based on ancient civilizations, but it is in the 1950s when peplums reach their apogee in Hollywood. Then, peplums take root at Cinecittà studios, in Rome, where cheap cinema is produced with bodybuilders as heroes. The genre decays in the late 1960s, but rises again decades later, when a modern classic is released in 2000.
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Memory: The Origins of Alien
Title: Memory: The Origins of Alien
Character: Self (archival footage)
Released: January 24, 2019
Type: Movie
The untold origin story behind Ridley Scott's Alien - rooted in Greek and Egyptian mythologies, underground comics, the art of Francis Bacon, and the dark visions of Dan O'Bannon and H.R. Giger. A contemplation on the symbiotic collaborative process of movie-making, the power of myth, and our collective unconscious.
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Trumbull Land
Title: Trumbull Land
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: October 15, 2018
Type: Movie
Everyone has seen a Trumbull sequence in Stanley Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey", Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" or Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". Recognized and respected SFX maestro, he has also directed two full-length films which left their mark on sci-fi cinema: "Silent Running" and "Brainstorm". Today, at over 70, Trumbull-the-pioneer continues his quest for innovation and still dreams of a cinema which places spectators into the film. "Trumbull Land" is an immersive portrait of Douglas Trumbull in his studios and a diving headfirst in his cinema.
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Title: James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
Character: Self
Released: April 29, 2018
Type: TV
Explore the evolution of sci-fi from its origins as a small genre with a cult following to the blockbuster pop-cultural phenomenon we know today. In each episode, James Cameron introduces one of the “Big Questions” that humankind has contemplated throughout the ages and reaches back into sci-fi’s past to better understand how our favorite films, TV shows, books, and video games were born.
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The Dream Palace: A People's History of Tyneside Cinema
Title: The Dream Palace: A People's History of Tyneside Cinema
Released: March 2, 2018
Type: Movie
In 2017 Tyneside Cinema turned 80.
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Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies
Title: Laddie: The Man Behind the Movies
Character: Self
Released: November 12, 2017
Type: Movie
Profile of the producer and former studio head of 20th Century Fox in the 1970s, Alan Ladd Jr.
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Robin Hood - En vert et contre tous
Title: Robin Hood - En vert et contre tous
Character: himself
Released: July 30, 2017
Type: Movie
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The Long Way Home: Making 'The Martian'
Title: The Long Way Home: Making 'The Martian'
Character: Self
Released: June 7, 2016
Type: Movie
A long form documentary on the making of Ridley Scott's film, "The Martian," featuring interviews with its cast and crew.
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Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Title: Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Character: Himself (archive footage)
Released: August 7, 2015
Type: Movie
When Steve Jobs died the world wept. But what accounted for the grief of millions of people who didn’t know him? This evocative film navigates Jobs' path from a small house in the suburbs, to zen temples in Japan, to the CEO's office of the world's richest company, exploring how Jobs’ life and work shaped our relationship with the computer. The Man in the Machine is a provocative and sometimes startling re-evaluation of the legacy of an icon.
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Title: Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Character: Self
Released: August 2, 2015
Type: TV
Some of this year's most talked about talent open up about the challenges and triumphs of creating critically acclaimed series and performances.
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Keepers of the Covenant: Making 'Exodus: Gods and Kings'
Title: Keepers of the Covenant: Making 'Exodus: Gods and Kings'
Character: Self
Released: March 17, 2015
Type: Movie
An in-depth documentary on the making of Ridley Scott's "Exodus: Gods and Kings," featuring interviews with the cast and crew. Featured in the Deluxe Edition Blu-ray set.
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Truth of the Situation: Making 'The Counselor'
Title: Truth of the Situation: Making 'The Counselor'
Character: Self
Released: February 11, 2014
Type: Movie
A 13-segment documentary examining production aspects of "The Counselor" (2013): Tragic Consequences A Different Southwest The Counselor Pool Party Reiner Laura Malkina Polo Club Lensing the Dark World Westray Downward Spiral The Cheetahs The Bolito
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Trespassing Bergman
Title: Trespassing Bergman
Character: Self
Released: August 28, 2013
Type: Movie
In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, left Stockholm and went to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special cinephiles, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (An abridged version of Bergmans video, 2012.)
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The Furious Gods: Making Prometheus
Title: The Furious Gods: Making Prometheus
Character: Self
Released: October 11, 2012
Type: Movie
An in-depth documentary on the making of Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," featuring cast and crew interviews, outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage. Released on the 4-disc Collector's Edition Blu-ray set.
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Bergmans video
Title: Bergmans video
Character: Self
Released: August 22, 2012
Type: Movie
In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, left Stockholm and went to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special cinephiles, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (Released in 2013, edited and abridged, as Trespassing Bergman.)
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Title: Prophets of Science Fiction
Character: Himself - Presenter
Released: November 9, 2011
Type: TV
The series covers the life and work of leading science fiction authors of the last couple of centuries. It depicts how they predicted and, accordingly, influenced the development of scientific advancements by inspiring many readers to assist in transforming those futuristic visions into everyday reality.
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The Real Robin Hood
Title: The Real Robin Hood
Character: Self
Released: May 11, 2010
Type: Movie
Was there really a Robin Hood? Did he steal from the rich and give to the poor? This History Channel program revisits the popular legend of the valiant folk hero, revealing Robin's true origins as a composite of multiple figures from the distant past, reviewing their amazing exploits, and seeking insights from historians as well as cast members of the 2010 adventure film "Robin Hood" and its director, Ridley Scott.
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Dangerous Days: Making 'Blade Runner'
Title: Dangerous Days: Making 'Blade Runner'
Character: Self
Released: December 18, 2007
Type: Movie
The definitive 3½-hour documentary about the troubled creation and enduring legacy of the science fiction classic 'Blade Runner', culled from 80 interviews and hours of never-before-seen outtakes and lost footage.
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Fashion Forward: Wardrobe and Styling
Title: Fashion Forward: Wardrobe and Styling
Character: Self
Released: December 3, 2007
Type: Movie
A look back to the 2019 fashions, costumes and make-up as seen in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.
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The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth
Title: The Light That Burns: Remembering Jordan Cronenweth
Character: Self
Released: December 3, 2007
Type: Movie
Cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth's work on Blade Runner is remembered by friends, colleagues and relatives.
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Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
Title: Deck-A-Rep: The True Nature of Rick Deckard
Character: Self
Released: December 3, 2007
Type: Movie
Fans, filmmakers and people involved with the making of Blade Runner debate if main character Rick Deckard is himself in fact a Replicant or not.
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Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. the Film
Title: Sacrificial Sheep: The Novel vs. the Film
Character: Self
Released: December 3, 2007
Type: Movie
A summary of the differences and similarities between Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep and Blade Runner.
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Postcards From Provence
Title: Postcards From Provence
Character: Self
Released: February 27, 2007
Type: Movie
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Black Rain: Making The Film
Title: Black Rain: Making The Film
Character: Self
Released: October 10, 2006
Type: Movie
A documentary on the making of the film, Black Rain, which actually encompasses 4 parts, Production, Filming, The Script and Cast, Post-Production
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50 Films to See Before You Die
Title: 50 Films to See Before You Die
Character: Self
Released: July 22, 2006
Type: Movie
Celebrating the relaunch of Film4 as a free-to-air TV channel, Channel4 counts down their list of the fop 50 films to see before you die, as compiled by film critics and personalities.
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The Path to Redemption
Title: The Path to Redemption
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 2006
Type: Movie
From pre-production to release, we are given an exclusive look into the making of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005). Interviews with the cast and crew members take up the bulk of this film, but are accompanied by plenty of on-set footage. We are also given a glimpse at a lot of the deleted material, much of which will be in the director's cut.
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Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Title: Ben-Hur: The Epic That Changed Cinema
Character: Self
Released: September 13, 2005
Type: Movie
Current filmmakers such as Ridley Scott and George Lucas reflect on the importance and influence of the epic classic "Ben-Hur".
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Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us
Title: Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us
Character: Self
Released: July 5, 2005
Type: Movie
Directors Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott and James Cameron discuss the science fiction movies of the 1950s that influenced them.
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Strength and Honor: Creating the World of 'Gladiator'
Title: Strength and Honor: Creating the World of 'Gladiator'
Character: Self
Released: June 7, 2005
Type: Movie
An in-depth look at the entire making of Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Consisting of: Tale Of The Scribes: Story Development, The Heat Of Battle: Production Journals, Attire Of The Realm: Costume Design, Shadow And Dust: Resurrecting Proximo, The Glory Of Rome: Visual Effects, Tools Of War: Weapons, Echoes In Eternity: Release And Impact,and final Production Credits.
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Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Title: Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Character: Self
Released: March 1, 2005
Type: Movie
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Murder by Numbers
Title: Murder by Numbers
Character: Self
Released: March 16, 2004
Type: Movie
A documentary on serial killer films.
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The Beast Within: Making Alien
Title: The Beast Within: Making Alien
Character: Self
Released: December 2, 2003
Type: Movie
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Alien,” the terrifying classic about a spaceship crew trapped with a hideous monster that's hunting them one by one.
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Thelma & Louise: The Last Journey
Title: Thelma & Louise: The Last Journey
Character: Self
Released: February 4, 2003
Type: Movie
Nearly every major element of making the 1991 film Thelma & Louise is examined here from how the script was written to how Ridley Scott got involved, to how the big tanker explosion was pulled off. Some funny stories are shared and some great trivia as to what was improvised on set and actually left in the film.
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Duelling Directors: Ridley Scott & Kevin Reynolds
Title: Duelling Directors: Ridley Scott & Kevin Reynolds
Character: Self
Released: December 3, 2002
Type: Movie
Directors Ridley Scott and Kevin Reynolds talk about the film The Duellists. Reynolds interviews Scott while watching the movie, and they examine some of the key visual shots that Scott created and that eventually got him recognized as one of the best visual directors of our time.
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Creating a Myth... the Memories of 'Legend'
Title: Creating a Myth... the Memories of 'Legend'
Character: Himself
Released: May 21, 2002
Type: Movie
This 51 minute documentary of the movie "Legend" can be found as an extra on the 2002 2-disc boxed-set 'Ultimate Edition' DVD release of "Legend". The first part of the documentary deals with the fruition of the idea and the making of the movie. It includes interviews with almost all the main participants of the feature, with the exception of actor Tom Cruise, who was a no show. The second half is much more fascinating and deals with what went wrong with the movie, and it's marketing failures.
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Breaking the Silence: The Making of Hannibal
Title: Breaking the Silence: The Making of Hannibal
Character: Self
Released: August 21, 2001
Type: Movie
Several aspects of Ridley Scott's masterpiece Hannibal (2001) are examined through interviews with the cast and crew, and behind the scenes footage. We are even taken to two premieres and get to see some of the audience's reactions while they're watching the film.
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Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul
Title: Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul
Character: Self
Released: April 1, 2001
Type: Movie
Documentary about legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis who's credits range from Fellini's La Strada to today's Hannibal franchise. This profile follows octogenarian De Laurentiis in Hollywood and returning to Rome to set up a new film.
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Gladiator Games: The Roman Bloodsport
Title: Gladiator Games: The Roman Bloodsport
Character: Self
Released: November 21, 2000
Type: Movie
A look at the making of the Gladiator (2000) and the historical aspects presented within the film. Interviews with cast, crew and historical professors tell us a little bit more about certain locations and characters than what was in the movie.
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On the Edge of 'Blade Runner'
Title: On the Edge of 'Blade Runner'
Character: Self
Released: July 15, 2000
Type: Movie
This is the rare UK Channel 4 documentary about Blade Runner, giving insights into it's history with interviews of Ridley Scott, the writers and nearly all the cast. Interviews with production staff, including Ridley, give details into the creative process and turmoil during preproduction. Stories from Paul M. Sammon and Fancher provide insight into Philip K. Dick and the origins of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Interweaved are cast interviews with the notable exceptions of Harrison Ford and Sean Young. Through these interviews we get a sense of how difficult and frustrating the film was to make as a result of an exacting director without allies and hot, wet, smoggy conditions; which added to the high pressure atmosphere everyone increasingly felt as the film went over budget. There is also a tour of some locations, most notably the Bradbury Building and the Warner Brothers backlot that was the LA 2019 streets, which look very different from Ridley's dark version.
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The Alien Legacy
Title: The Alien Legacy
Character: Self
Released: June 1, 1999
Type: Movie
A behind the scenes look at the making of 'Alien'
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Title: The Directors
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1999
Type: TV
Documentary biography series featuring profiles of various famous film directors.
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Hollywood Halloween
Title: Hollywood Halloween
Character: Himself
Released: January 1, 1997
Type: Movie
Horror documentary with interviews to William Friedkin, Stan Winston, John McNaughton, Tom Holland and Ridley Scott.
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The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Title: The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Character: Self
Released: November 17, 1996
Type: Movie
An examination of the evolution of commercials as an artistic medium, featuring interviews with media luminaries who relate how the in-your-face stylistic conventions of commercials have influenced feature films and the visual arts. A documentary film talking about art and advertising divided in three parts: 1. Crossing Over - from cinema to ads from ads to cinema 2. Humour - How humour affects us in advertising 3. Shock - The way shock is used to sell
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Title: Kulturzeit
Character: self
Released: October 2, 1995
Type: TV
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A Turnip Head’s Guide To The British Cinema
Title: A Turnip Head’s Guide To The British Cinema
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1986
Type: Movie
Documentary presenting Alan Parker’s view of British cinema with comments from Richard Lester and others and location report from King’s Lynn on the making of Hugh Hudson’s Revolution, starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland, and Nastassja Kinski.
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Giger's Alien
Title: Giger's Alien
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1979
Type: Movie
Documentary about Giger's work for the movie Alien (1979).
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Title: The Hollywood Greats
Released: August 4, 1977
Type: TV
Hollywood Greats was a BBC Television series, which began in 1977. The film critic Barry Norman wrote and narrated a series of in depth profiles on major Hollywood film personalities, in which he interviewed surviving associates. He later made a series called British Greats in 1980. A series of books, entitled The Hollywood Greats, The Movie Greats and The British Greats, which were authored by Norman were subsequently published. A series of the same name was later presented by Jonathan Ross from 1999 to 2006.
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One of the Missing
Title: One of the Missing
Character: Unionist officer (uncredited)
Released: December 2, 1968
Type: Movie
A Southern soldier in the American Civil War is sent to reconnoiter the enemy positions and becomes trapped beneath a huge pile of rubble by Northern cannon fire. His loaded gun is left pointing precariously at him and he is faced with imminent death.