In this documentary on the life of Joan Crawford, we learn why she should be remembered as the great actress she was, and not only as "mommie dearest." caricature she has become. Friends, fellow actors, directors, and others reminisce about their association with her, and numerous film clips show off her talent from her start in silents to bad science fiction/horror movies at the end of her career.

There never was a star quite like her. Adored by adults and children alike, at four she already led at the box office — ahead of Gable and Cooper. Her films saved a movie studio from bankruptcy, and a President credited her with raising the morale of Depression-weary Americans. Her earliest movies gave a foretaste of her talents and soon would become the songs and dances that helped make those movies immortal.

A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell).

Tomboy, Frances 'Frankie' Addams, dreams of running away with her brother and new fiancée away from the Deep South.

During the World War II in Italy, Sergeant Joe Mooney is leading his small squad on the front-lines but is ordered to avoid rescuing a soldier trapped in no man's land.

Omnibus is an American, commercially sponsored, educational television series.

Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.

Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.

Buffalo Bill Cody battles a gang of outlaws secretly headed by an unscrupulous lawyer.

A college student takes a break and goes out to sea with his father, the captain of a shark-hunting boat. When his inexperience results in an accident in which his father and a crewman are badly injured, he tries to make up for it by rounding up another crew and going back out on the hunt. However, things don't turn out quite the way he planned.

A crippled boy discovers a wounded bald eagle, nurses it back to health, tames and teaches it to fly. One day, a rattlesnake is about to strike the boy, when the bird attacks the snake and a vicious fight erupts between the snake and the bird. In the excitement, the boy forgets his crutches and finds himself able to walk without them...

Hoping to become a lawyer, Alec (Roddy McDowall) becomes a tuna fisherman in order to pay a debt. This turn of events puts Alec on the outs with his taciturn family. Eventually, the lad proves himself on all fronts, and is welcomed back into the family fold.

A lawman tries to find the source of a juvenile delinquent's bad behavior.

Behind the locked doors of a mental institution resides crooked politico Judge Drake, free from prosecution so long as he pretends to be crazy. To get the goods on Drake, private detective Ross Stewart has himself committed to the asylum as a patient. Meanwhile, reporter Kathy Lawrence, posing as Stewart's wife, acts as his liaison to the outside world.

A bitterly jealous sponge fisherman tries to sabotage a fellow diver.

Jeff Carter has put an end to the town's delinquency with a boys' club. Young hoodlum Danny shows up and influences teenagers Doris, Willy and Leo. They hang out at a juke joint where Eve works. When Jeff tries to stop a robbery planned by Danny, he is killed and Danny goes on trial.

Jeff Bailey seems to be a mundane gas station owner in remote Bridgeport, California. He is dating local girl Ann Miller and lives a quiet life. But Jeff has a secret past, and when a mysterious stranger arrives in town, Jeff is forced to return to the dark world he had tried to escape.

After their annual free concert at Chicago's Dearborn Settlement, Benny Goodman and his band are packing up to go to their next engagement when a kid steals Goodman's clarinet. Goodman and Popsie pursue him to a tenement flat where he has led them to hear his brother play the trombone. Shenanigans ensue following Goodman's offering the brother a job with the band.

The teens of a defense-plant town hop on the road to juvenile delinquency while their parents are busy with the war.

Quizz West is conscripted into the United States Army in late 1940. Prior to being shipped out first to San Francisco, then the Philippines, Quizz and his hometown girlfriend Janet discuss their future plans.

A young classical musician becomes the conductor a high-school all-girl jive band to entertain the troops.

An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence.

Spoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.

A poor girl falls for a wealthy young man. He invites her to his gala birthday party, but she doesn't have the right kind of dress to wear, so her family and friends band together to raise money to get her the proper dress.

Author writes about his experiences sailing at sea, struggles to get his work published.

Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.

A publicity man promotes his newspaper, but finds his boss always steals the credit.

German Julius Reuter sends 19th-century news by carrier pigeon and then by wire, founding a news agency.

An ungrateful girl and her little brother are transported in their dreams by a fairy to a wonderland, tasked with finding the mythical blue bird of happiness, meeting friends and foes along the way.

Dr. Garfield gets so involved in his research for an antitoxin for severe burns that he completely neglects his wife, Virginian, and their young son, Steve. Virginia divorces him and takes the son with her. Their paths cross again in a life-or-death situation.

A young city girl from a poor family is invited to spend the summer at a camp for girls from wealthy families. At first made fun of and ridiculed because of her background, she determines to show the snooty rich girls she's just as good as they are.

This short chronicles Abraham Lincoln's presidency from his inauguration through delivery of the Gettysburg Address.

The Arkansas Traveler, an itinerant printer, returns to a small town to help save The Daily Record, a newspaper started by Mr. Allen, an old friend who is now deceased.

A man returns to college and is talked into joining he football team and is a real joke on the team, until he is given a drug that gives him super strength.

An impoverished widow fights scandal for the sake of her four children.

Comedy about a weak husband, afraid to say "no" to his new wife, who realizes he must assert himself to save his marriage.

A poor singer in a bar masquerades as a rich society woman thanks to a rich benefactor.

An alcoholic woman was charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that she is his mother, takes the assignment to defend her in court.

Biopic of the famous French writer Emile Zola and his involvement in the Dreyfus Affair.

Upset by discipline at school, a 17-year-old runs away to New York City and learns there are worse problems than going to his little red school house.

A true story about Louis Pasteur, who revolutionized medicine by proving that much disease is caused by microbes, that sanitation is paramount and that at least some diseases can be cured by vaccinations.

Timothy (Dickie Moore), an orphan, is sent with his sister, Gay (Sally Martin), to a farm run by Vilda Cummins (Elizabeth Patterson, an old maid with a dislike for children. Timothy eventually wins her over, and also pushes along the romance for her niece, Martha (Eleanore Whitney), with David Masters (Tom Keene).

During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.

When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.

Baseball player Terry McCall is a very good baseball player, who doesn't mind bragging about his skills on the baseball diamond and also his off-the-field skills at wooing and winning women. An accident causes his luck to turn bad and results in him turning blind, but he later regains his sight after being instrumental in saving the life of Mickey Malone, the team's young mascot. He then promises Mary Malone, Mickey's sister, for whose affection he has been competing with a teammate, that he is through showing off and bragging. But, in the end, he is still blowing smoke.

Struggling architect David Cole is encouraged by his boss, Phil Graham, to fraternize with high society as a means of drumming up business. This inadvertently leads to him having an affair with a rich older woman. When his wife Sue discovers the infidelity, she divorces him and takes away their two children. It turns out this was Phil's intent all along - so he could marry Sue. With David now living in Europe, the two children grow up spoiled and self-centered under Phil and Sue's neglectful care. When one of them is shot while roughhousing, David realizes he must own up to his responsibilities as a father...but it may be too late to make a difference in his children's lives...

When a young man marries a Russian girl, he finds that he has "married" her entire family.

When a middle aged woman accepts a job at a day care center she comes across the child she gave up early in life.

A look at how his parents' divorce affects the life of a young boy.

The story of a theatrical producer, his divorced wife and their four children.

Shortly after his arrival from South America to New York, Steven Humbolt is found dead in his apartment at the Savoia Hotel. Inspector Decker Dawes investigates the case and although the cause of death is described as apoplexy, Dawes is convinced it as murder, especially after he learns that Humbolt had been married fifteen times.

Professor John Sylvestus Applegate has been dismissed from his college teaching position for objecting too loudly to the predominant part that football and other sports play in the curriculum, and soon finds himself dead broke when publishers show no interest in the dry material he brings to them. He meets a young boy, Laury and his mother, Sharon in the park and is quite taken with them. He gets a job-prospect letter, as a private tutor, and applies at once. His employer is Mr. Morley, a surly, sour, mean-tempered old man who informs John he is to act as a tutor for his grandson, who turns out to be Laury. Sharon, Morleys daughter had eloped against her father's wishes and was abandoned by her husband after Laury's birth.

A railroad tycoon, disillusioned with his marriage, starts seeing a showgirl. Things go agreeably until the woman's manager decides to blackmail the millionaire.

A family man becomes innocently involved in an embezzlement.

The former Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for homeless boys. One of the boys, Nat, invites Dan, a street kid, to come to the school, where the boys are all loved and well cared for. Dan is a young tough, but his heart is good, and when he is accused of theft at the school, Jo continues to believe in him and that the true thief will be found out.

Unwed mother gives up baby for adoption and hopes to get it back when the adoptive mother dies.

An unemployed man turns to crime when he gets his girlfriend pregnant.

In a deeply cloistered convent, nun Dorothea Wieck (Mädchen in Uniform) raises a foundling to be Evelyn Venable. But at 17, what if, guided by a kindly doctor, she sees the world and finds love?

When Cap's back pension finally comes in, he treats the gang to a day at an amusement park.

The gang goes to a circus sideshow to visit Dickie and Spanky's uncle, mistakenly believing he is "The Wild Man from Borneo."

A political hack becomes President during the height of the Depression and undergoes a metamorphosis into an incorruptible statesman after a near-fatal accident.

In this drama, an immigrant barber becomes a US citizen and works hard to uphold his ideals of personal freedom and rights. He is a total supporter of the system, and when he is held-up, decides to reform the criminal by feeding him and finding him work. Later, a local politician attempts to tell people how to vote, but the barber is not swayed and becomes an example to others in his neighborhood.

An orphan boy in 1830s London is abused in a workhouse, then falls into the clutches of a gang of thieves.

A truant officer spots the kids in an amusement park. They try to escape him.

A race-car driver whose career is on the skids because of his drinking falls for a rich society girl. That motivates him to clean up his act and resume his career, but it may be too late for that.

Gabby Denton, a hard-drinking, down-on-his-luck drifter, seems to get a chance at redemption when his brother-in-law helps get him a job as a mechanic. Not realizing the garage he works for is actually a front for a stolen car ring, Gabby soon finds himself mixed up in both murder and a liaison with the boss's girl.

Dickie throws a birthday party to try to raise money to buy his mother a birthday present.

Modest programmer denotes a young man's rise to fame in wrestling matches he doesn't realize have been "fixed", and ensuing romantic turbulence.

Stymie takes Dickie for a ride in his runaway car and cures his stiff neck.

In an effort to be able to afford expensive treatment for her gravely ill American husband, a retired German entertainer returns to the cabaret as Blonde Venus and catches the eye of a wealthy politician.

The gang, while playing firemen, come upon a real fire.

Overworked boxer Jim goes to a health ranch in New Mexico to recover where he falls in love with Peggy and her sickly son. Once recovered, Jim leaves to return to the ring. Can their romance survive the distance?

A small country on the verge of bankruptcy is persuaded to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a means of raising money.

A farmer's widow takes on the land and her late husband's tempestuous son.

When motorcycle cop Dick Fay gives a ticket to Phyllis Crawford, her father's graft-fed influence leads to his demotion to foot patrolman.

An elderly gentleman arrives for an extended stay with his grown son in Chicago.

Joe Grant is an inventor, fireman and baseball player in his small hometown. He gets an offer to play in a big team and hopes to get more money for his inventions. But Joe's invited to present his invention to a fire extinguisher company at the same time when he is supposed to play. Will he be able to show the effectiveness of his invention and win the game?

Among the travelers of varied backgrounds that meet and interact on one night at Union Depot, a metropolitan train station, are Chick and his friend Scrap Iron, both newly released from prison after serving time for vagrancy. Hungry and desperate for a break, Chick fortuitously comes across across a valise abandoned by a drunken traveler. In it he finds a shaving kit and a suit of clothes with a bankroll, which help transform the affable tramp into a dashing gent. After buying himself a meal, Chick seeks some female companionship among the many hustlers who walk the station. He propositions Ruth Collins, a stranded, out-of-work showgirl and takes her to the station's hotel.

Director Lloyd Bacon's 1931 drama takes a different look at the Broadway arena by focusing on the owners of a theatrical costume shop.

A tough District Attorney goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals.

Jim Wyngate, an English aristocrat, comes to the American West under a cloud of suspicion for embezzlement actually committed by his cousin Lord Henry. In Wyoming, Wyngate runs afoul of cattle rustler Cash Hawkins by rescuing the Indian girl Naturich from Hawkins. Wyngate marries Naturich, but then learns that his cousin Lord Henry has been killed and has cleared his name before dying. As Wyngate has long loved Lady Diana, Lord Henry's wife, he is perplexed at his situation. But fate takes a hand and resolves matters as Wyngate could not have predicted.

A young college student gets pregnant by the man she loves, but circumstances prevent their marrying, so she marries a classmate she doesn't love. Soon, however, her lover returns, and she finds herself in a dilemma as to who to choose.

A bank teller's love life falls apart when he's accused of embezzling.

Bart is a clerk for a publishing company; he has written a novel. His wife Peggy and he have five children. Bart's former girlfriend Mildred is manager of the company's Paris office. She manages to get the novel published and talks Bart into marrying her after he divorces Peggy. Initially successful, Bart must turn to writing trash to keep Mildred in money. When he sees how well his four sons and daughter Margaret have grown without his help, he asks Peggy to let them all come live with him and Mildred. Peggy agrees, but the arrival of his beloved children puts Mildred's future in jeopardy. Written by Ed Stephan

In the South Seas, a half-caste island girl refuses to follow tradition and marry a fellow islander, instead falling in love with a white man and heir to an American fortune.

A bored society woman invites scandal and heartache when she falls in love with her low-born chauffeur.

Larry, a publisher, wants Kate to write a book about the 'Office Wife'. An executive stenographer's duties creates a relationship approaching that of his wife. Little does Larry know that sometimes literature mirrors life.

Five years after Adolphe's death in a train wreck, he is discovered very much alive and with amnesia. Unfortunately he and his first wife are remarried and with children.

A 1930 American pre-Code film directed by Paul Sloane and starring Louise Dresser, Tom Patricola and Kenneth MacKenna. It was distributed by Fox Film Corporation five years before they would become Twentieth Century Fox. It is unknown whether a print of the film still exists.

The popular Caucasian-looking son (Richard Barthelmess) of a wealthy Chinese businessman lives away from his widowed father and passes as white, but experiences prejudice, rejection, insult, and heartache when the socialite (Constance Bennett) he loves learns of his heritage.

A young, unfaithful wife and mother is thrown out by her cold, unforgiving husband, the Attorney General of France. She is barred from ever seeing her three year old son again despite her earnest attempts to make amends. For many years the mother seeks refuge overseas and in Absinthe. In the end, her son, a young and promising lawyer unknowingly defends her in court. Ruth Chatterton gives a marvelous performance in this early talkie in her portrayal of Madame X.

Better known for her work in talkie "weepers," Helen Twelvetrees made a few preliminary appearances in such late silent films as Fox's Blue Skies. The audience was expected to believe that the twentysomething Twelvetrees and Frank Albertson are teenagers living together platonically in an orphan asylum. A wealthy old man comes calling to adopt Albertson -- who, feeling sorry for Twelvetrees, trades places with the girl. Thus it is that the heroine is carted off to a luxurious mansion, while Albertson remains behind. One year later, the old man discovers Albertson's deception, whereupon he invites the boy to live with him as well. By this time, Twelvetrees and Albertson are of marriageable age, thus the film ends with a wedding in the offing.

François Villon, in his lifetime the most renowned poet in France, is also a prankster, an occasional criminal, and an ardent patriot.