Knox Manning

Knox Manning

Born: January 17, 1904
Died: August 26, 1980
in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Knox Manning (born Charles Knox Manning, January 17, 1904 – August 26, 1980) was an American radio and film announcer/narrator/commentator and film actor. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. He and Annette North Manning are interred at Ivy Lawn Cemetery in Ventura, California.

A former radio newscaster at KNX and announcer, Manning entered the motion picture field in 1939 as an offscreen narrator. His distinctive voice and phrasing were noticed by other studios, and he quickly became one of the movies' busiest voice artists. Very often he was the trademark voice of several concurrent series.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Movies for Knox Manning...

Mysterious Island
Title: Mysterious Island
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: September 13, 1951
Type: Movie
It is 1865 and Union prisoners use a military balloon to escape a Southern prison camp near the end of the Civil War. The balloon drifts for days and finally lands on a mysterious volcanic island with very unusual inhabitants. Also landing, in a better aircraft, is Rulu, a visitor from Mercury. She seeks a radio-active material that will enable her to manufacture an explosive that will destroy the world or, at least, the portion known as Earth in this 15 Chapter Serial from the 1950s.
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Destination Moon
Title: Destination Moon
Character: Himself (uncredited)
Released: June 27, 1950
Type: Movie
A team composed of an aerospace scientist, an ex-Air Force general, and an industrialist conceives an ambitious plan to land Americans on the moon. From their base in the Mojave Desert, they construct and successfully launch a spacecraft named "Luna" that contains a cargo of four astronauts. But a critical miscalculation of needed power to escape the moon's gravitational pull may put the astronauts' lives in danger.
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Cody of the Pony Express
Title: Cody of the Pony Express
Released: April 6, 1950
Type: Movie
Buffalo Bill Cody battles a gang of outlaws secretly headed by an unscrupulous lawyer.
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Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey
Title: Joe Palooka Meets Humphrey
Character: Radio Announcer
Released: February 5, 1950
Type: Movie
Newlyweds Joe and Anne Palooka are delayed in their honeymoon plans by the helpful Humphrey Pennyworth and by considerably-less-helpful manager, Knobby Walsh.
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Wild Weed
Title: Wild Weed
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: July 20, 1949
Type: Movie
A chorus girl's career is ruined and her brother is driven to suicide when she starts smoking marijuana.
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The Lawton Story
Title: The Lawton Story
Character: Narrator
Released: March 31, 1949
Type: Movie
Most of the footage is devoted to the annual Passion Play at Lawton, Oklahoma, enacted by volunteers from several nearby communities. This portion of The Lawton Story was directed by Harold Daniels and narrated by radio announcer Knox Manning. To bring the film up to feature length, a fictional plotline concerning the preparations for the pageant was hastily assembled, featuring such familiar Hollywood character players as Forrest Taylor, Willa Pearl Curtis and Maude Eburne.
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Congo Bill
Title: Congo Bill
Character: Narrator
Released: October 28, 1948
Type: Movie
Congo Bill is hired to locate an heiress lost somewhere in Africa.
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The Babe Ruth Story
Title: The Babe Ruth Story
Character: Narrator
Released: September 16, 1948
Type: Movie
The baseball player goes from wayward youth to Boston Red Sox pitcher to New York Yankees home-run hero.
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Hollywood Wonderland
Title: Hollywood Wonderland
Character: Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Released: August 9, 1947
Type: Movie
Two tour guides take visitors on a promotional tour of Warner Bros.' studios.
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A Day at Hollywood Park
Title: A Day at Hollywood Park
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: June 7, 1947
Type: Movie
A little feature on horse racing.
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Buck Privates Come Home
Title: Buck Privates Come Home
Character: Commentator
Released: April 4, 1947
Type: Movie
Two ex-soldiers return from overseas--one of them having smuggled into the country a French orphan girl he has become attached to. They wind up running into their old sergeant--who hates them--and getting involved with a race-car builder who's trying to find backers for a new midget racer he's building.
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Stan Kenton and His Orchestra
Title: Stan Kenton and His Orchestra
Character: Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Released: February 6, 1947
Type: Movie
A brief history of Stan Kenton's musical career from taxi-dance gigs to his successful big band orchestra.
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Facing Your Danger
Title: Facing Your Danger
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: May 11, 1946
Type: Movie
This Warner Bros. The Sports Parade series short chronicles the attempt by a group of men to navigate the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead. Led by Norman D. Nevills, nine men undertake a nineteen days trip in three specially built rowboats through the more than 200 rapids, some which run at 30 mph. Along the way, they see the remnants of previous expeditions. They also visit abandoned Pueblo Indian cave dwellings.
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Smart as a Fox
Title: Smart as a Fox
Character: Narrator
Released: April 27, 1946
Type: Movie
Smart as a Fox is a 1946 short documentary film supervised by Gordon Hollingshead. In this short film, a fox cub experiences life in the forest. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short, One-Reel.
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The Kid from Brooklyn
Title: The Kid from Brooklyn
Character: Radio Announcer
Released: March 21, 1946
Type: Movie
Shy milkman Burleigh Sullivan accidentally knocks out drunken Speed McFarlane, a champion boxer who was flirting with Burleigh's sister. The newspapers get hold of the story and photographers even catch Burleigh knock out Speed again. Speed's crooked manager decides to turn Burleigh into a fighter. Burleigh doesn't realize that all of his opponents have been asked to take a dive. Thinking he really is a great fighter, Burleigh develops a swelled head which puts a crimp in his relationship with pretty nightclub singer Polly Pringle. He may finally get his comeuppance when he challenges Speed for the title.
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Peeks at Hollywood
Title: Peeks at Hollywood
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: January 26, 1946
Type: Movie
Two young beautiful starlets use the Griffith Observatory telescope to find stars in Hollywood.
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The Forest Commandos
Title: The Forest Commandos
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: January 19, 1946
Type: Movie
This short film focuses on Ontario's fire rangers, who keep watch over Canada's forests.
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Cavalcade of Archery
Title: Cavalcade of Archery
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: January 12, 1946
Type: Movie
This short tells the story of archery through the ages, mostly using Warner Brothers archive footage. Noted archer Howard Hill demonstrates his skills with various trick shots.
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Hitler Lives
Title: Hitler Lives
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: December 29, 1945
Type: Movie
This short film, produced at the end of WWII, warns that although Adolf Hitler is dead, his ideas live on.
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Are Animals Actors?
Title: Are Animals Actors?
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: December 29, 1945
Type: Movie
A short film that looks at various animal acts training and working in Hollywood.
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So You Think You're Allergic
Title: So You Think You're Allergic
Character: Narrator
Released: December 1, 1945
Type: Movie
Joe McDoakes thinks he's allergic.
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Story of a Dog
Title: Story of a Dog
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: October 27, 1945
Type: Movie
Story of a Dog is a 1945 short documentary film under the supervision of Gordon Hollingshead. In the film, a dog trains for the battlefield and becomes a crucial part of the United States military. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short, One-Reel.
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Know Your Enemy: Japan
Title: Know Your Enemy: Japan
Character: Narrator
Released: August 9, 1945
Type: Movie
Frank Capra-directed propaganda film produced during World War II depicting the United States' new enemy: Japan.
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The Birds and the Beasts Were There
Title: The Birds and the Beasts Were There
Character: Narrator (Voice)
Released: December 30, 1944
Type: Movie
Visits to three animal parks in Miami, Florida: the Rare Bird Farm, with it's many chickens, cranes, and other birds; the Monkey Jungle, where the visitors are caged and the simian inhabitants roam freely; and finally the Parrot Jungle.
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The Unwritten Code
Title: The Unwritten Code
Character: Narrator (uncredited)
Released: October 26, 1944
Type: Movie
The Unwritten Code is an offbeat, better-than-average Columbia wartime "B" picture. Though Ann Savage and Tom Neal are top-billed, the central character is supporting-actor Roland Varno. He plays a Nazi spy who sneaks into the U.S., hoping to release hundreds of German prisoners. He fails, but not until plenty of bullets have been spent. The most interesting aspect of The Unwritten Code is the casting of Savage and Neal as the "good" characters: in 1945, these two cult favorites would play the decidedly unsavory protagonists of the film noir classic Detour.
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Jammin' the Blues
Title: Jammin' the Blues
Character: Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Released: May 5, 1944
Type: Movie
In this short film, prominent jazz musicians of the 1940s gather for a rare filming of a jam session. This highly stylized chronicle features tenor sax legend Lester Young.
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Up in Arms
Title: Up in Arms
Character: Narration (voice)
Released: February 17, 1944
Type: Movie
Hypochondriac Danny Weems gets drafted and accidentally smuggles his girlfriend aboard his Pacific-bound troopship.
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Good Old Corn
Title: Good Old Corn
Character: Narrator
Released: September 30, 1943
Type: Movie
Good Old Corn was released theatrically in 1943 and later as a small 8mm silent film for the home market. Uses clips from silent films.
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Batman
Title: Batman
Character: Narrator
Released: July 16, 1943
Type: Movie
Japanese master spy Daka operates a covert espionage-sabotage organization located in Gotham City's now-deserted Little Tokyo, which turns American scientists into pliable zombies. The great crime-fighters Batman and Robin, with the help of their allies, are in pursuit.
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The Man Killers
Title: The Man Killers
Character: Narrator
Released: May 29, 1943
Type: Movie
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The Rear Gunner
Title: The Rear Gunner
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: April 10, 1943
Type: Movie
Documentary-style drama on training of aerial rear gunners in World War II. Private PeeWee Williams, a Kansas farm boy, transforms his home-grown shooting skills into those necessary to an aerial gunner in the tail turret of an American bomber.
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Flight Characteristics of the A-20
Title: Flight Characteristics of the A-20
Character: Narrator
Released: January 24, 1943
Type: Movie
Tom, a young Army Air Forces pilot, begins instruction with his captain on flying the A-20 attack aircraft. The captain demonstrates to Tom the pre-flight routine and checklists, then pilots the plane with Tom as his passenger. The captain demonstrates the flight parameters of the plane, the synchronization of the engines, stall recovery, and emergency procedures. Finally, the instructor shows Tom how to fly the plane on one engine and how to land in such a circumstance.
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Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer
Title: Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer
Character: Narrator
Released: January 2, 1943
Type: Movie
The third film of Frank Capra's 'Why We Fight" propaganda film series, dealing with the Nazi conquest of Western Europe in 1940.
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This is Your Enemy
Title: This is Your Enemy
Character: Narrator
Released: January 1, 1943
Type: Movie
Footage from a Nazi propaganda film about the invasion of Poland is translated from German.
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Beyond the Line of Duty
Title: Beyond the Line of Duty
Character: Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Released: November 7, 1942
Type: Movie
This short film in support of the war effort focuses on the training and missions of Army Air Corps Captain Hewitt T. Wheless just after the U.S. entry into World War II.
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The Secret Code
Title: The Secret Code
Character: Narrator
Released: September 4, 1942
Type: Movie
A superhero known as The Black Commando battles Nazi agents who use explosive gases and artificial lightning to sabotage the war effort.
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Perils of the Royal Mounted
Title: Perils of the Royal Mounted
Character: Narrator
Released: May 29, 1942
Type: Movie
Sergeant MacLane of the Mounties investigates the disruptive activities of a bunch of troublemakers.
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Rocky Mountain Big Game
Title: Rocky Mountain Big Game
Character: Narrator
Released: May 2, 1942
Type: Movie
An expedition into the Rockies is chronicled.
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Wedding Yells
Title: Wedding Yells
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: March 7, 1942
Type: Movie
Sardonic commentary over an abridged version of DOWN ON THE FARM (1920).
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Soldiers in White
Title: Soldiers in White
Character: Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Released: February 7, 1942
Type: Movie
A young intern is drafted and placed in the Army Medical Corps as a buck private and is none too happy about it. Injured, he is placed in the hospital where a Major comes by and explains how army doctors make important advances in medical science. The private is inspired and promises to make a good soldier. He is even more inspired when a nurse becomes his superior officer.
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A Yank on the Burma Road
Title: A Yank on the Burma Road
Character: Radio Announcer
Released: January 29, 1942
Type: Movie
A celebrated New York cabbie is pressed into service for a perilous journey through World War II China.
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Remember Pearl Harbor
Title: Remember Pearl Harbor
Character: News Reporter at Airport (uncredited)
Released: January 2, 1942
Type: Movie
A man tries to redeem himself after ducking out on his comrades before the fatal attack.
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A Ship Is Born
Title: A Ship Is Born
Character: Narrator
Released: January 1, 1942
Type: Movie
This Vitaphone 'Technicolor Special' (production number 8001) portrays the behind-the-scenes story of the building and manning, during World War Two, of the USA supply line to Victory against the Axis powers, the United States Merchant Marine service.
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At the Stroke of Twelve
Title: At the Stroke of Twelve
Character: Carson
Released: November 15, 1941
Type: Movie
This entry in Warner's "Broadway Brevity" series of shorts is based on Damon Runyon's short story, "The Old Doll's House". Racketeer Lance McGowan, on the night he has decided to go straight, finds himself caught between the gunfire of two rival gangsters and, wounded by a bullet, he finds refuge in the home of a wealthy recluse. One of the gangsters is found riddled with bullets from the gun Lance dropped while making his escape, and he is arrested and tried for murder. The reclusive widow comes to the trail and testifies that Lance was her guest that night when the clock struck twelve, the time of the killing. Lance, while innocent, is also lucky, as the widow had her all her clocks set to always strike twelve, as the time her husband had died.
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The Tanks Are Coming
Title: The Tanks Are Coming
Character: Narrator
Released: October 4, 1941
Type: Movie
Educational short about the status of battle tanks and tankist training in the American Army in pre-War 1941, featuring a comical Army trainee from the Bronx.
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Kings of the Turf
Title: Kings of the Turf
Character: Commentator (voice)
Released: September 27, 1941
Type: Movie
Kings of the Turf is a 1941 American short documentary film about horse racing, directed by Del Frazier. This entry in The Sports Parade series shows us how Mortimer, a Standardbred horse, is trained for harness racing. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 14th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject.
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Polo with the Stars
Title: Polo with the Stars
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: September 20, 1941
Type: Movie
A short in the WB Hollywood Novelty series (production number 7301) about the training of polo ponies. Buddy Rogers buys one of the ponies in training, and later uses him in a match where Jack Holt and Joe E. Brown are among the players. Edward G. Robinson and Jack Oakie are among the spectators who see Joe. E. Brown knock in the winning score.
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Tanks a Million
Title: Tanks a Million
Character: Radio Interviewer Cardigan
Released: September 12, 1941
Type: Movie
Chubby William Tracy starred as Dodo Doubleday, a feckless Army draftee blessed (or cursed) with a photographic memory. Inexplicably promoted to sergeant, Doubleday becomes the bane of topkick Sgt. Ames' (Joe Sawyer) existence.
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Harmon of Michigan
Title: Harmon of Michigan
Character: Broadcaster
Released: September 11, 1941
Type: Movie
A former University of Michigan football star (Tom Harmon) rejects an opportunity to play professional football. Instead, he marries his college sweetheart (Anita Louise) and begins a career as a college football coach.
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Carnival of Rhythm
Title: Carnival of Rhythm
Character: Narrator (uncredited)
Released: August 23, 1941
Type: Movie
A colorful music and dance tribute to the peasants and workers of Brazil.
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The Iron Claw
Title: The Iron Claw
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: August 15, 1941
Type: Movie
The heirs of Anton Benson are searching Bensonhurst for hidden gold; they are joined by a reporter, a gangster...and a masked fiend known as The Iron Claw.
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Tom, Dick and Harry
Title: Tom, Dick and Harry
Character: Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Released: June 13, 1941
Type: Movie
Janie is a telephone operator who is caught up in the lines of love of three men: car salesman Tom, Chicago millionaire Dick and auto mechanic Harry. But Janie just can't seem to make up her mind between them. While fantasizing about her futures with each of the men, Janie spends her time desperately trying to juggle between them until she can make a decision.
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Meet John Doe
Title: Meet John Doe
Character: Radio Announcer
Released: March 14, 1941
Type: Movie
As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.
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The Monster and the Girl
Title: The Monster and the Girl
Character: Announcer
Released: February 28, 1941
Type: Movie
After a young woman is coerced into prostitution and her brother framed for murder by an organized crime syndicate, retribution in the form of an ape visits the mobsters.
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Cheers for Miss Bishop
Title: Cheers for Miss Bishop
Character: Anton Radcheck
Released: February 21, 1941
Type: Movie
Ella Bishop is an inhibited girl whose frustrations grow as she approaches womanhood. As a women, her ambitions to teach cause her to lose her only opportunity for true love. Ella's life becomes one of missed chances and wrong choices. As she reaches old age, she reflects back and realizes she allowed the years to go by without achieving what she believes to be her true fulfillment. However, her years have not been without glory, and her moment of triumph arrives when her numerous now-famous students from over the years, return to honor their beloved Miss Bishop.
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Angels of Mercy
Title: Angels of Mercy
Character: Commentator (voice)
Released: November 10, 1940
Type: Movie
Short film in support of the Red Cross showing civilian volunteers'work, radio and movie personalities at a fund-raising gala and encouraging recruitment. Deanna Durbin performs a song dedicated to the nurses.
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The Green Archer
Title: The Green Archer
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: October 25, 1940
Type: Movie
The struggle over the Bellamy estate ends with Michael Bellamy accused of murder and killed on the way to prison, while his brother Abel Bellamy takes control of the estate for his own nefarious plans.
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Deadwood Dick
Title: Deadwood Dick
Character: Narrator
Released: July 19, 1940
Type: Movie
Columbia's 11th serial and the first western serial that James W. Horne solo-directed.
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Wild Boar Hunt
Title: Wild Boar Hunt
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: January 21, 1940
Type: Movie
This short film showcases the skills of Howard Hill, known as the "World's Greatest Archer".
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Spills for Thrills
Title: Spills for Thrills
Character: Narrator (voice)
Released: January 7, 1940
Type: Movie
Warner Bros. short about stuntmen and stuntwomen and how they do their work, featuring real-life stunt artists Harvey Parry, Mary Wiggins, and Allen Pomeroy.
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Sabotage
Title: Sabotage
Character: Announcer
Released: October 13, 1939
Type: Movie
The night before his grandson, Tommy Grayson, a mechanic at the Midland Aircraft Corporation, is to marry Gail, a former showgirl, Major Matt Grayson, a war veteran and watchman at the plant, catches two men breaking into the machine shop. The men run, but the major shoots one of them.....
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Mandrake the Magician
Title: Mandrake the Magician
Character: Narrator
Released: May 6, 1939
Type: Movie
Mandrake and his team attempt to prevent "The Wasp" from stealing and using a new Radium invention.
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The Flying Irishman
Title: The Flying Irishman
Character: Commentator
Released: April 7, 1939
Type: Movie
This is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan starred in this film, which chronicled his infamous flight. On July 17, 1938, Mr. Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline (40 hours worth) into the tiny, single engine plane. While expressing his intent to fly west to Long Beach, CA, Mr. Corrigan flew out of Floyd Bennett Field heading east over the Atlantic. Instrumentation in the plane included two compasses (both malfunctioned) and a turn-and-bank indicator. The cabin door was held shut with baling wire. Nearly 29 hours later, he landed in Baldonnel near Dublin. He forever claimed to be surprised at arriving in Ireland rather than California. He returned to the US as a hero, with a ticker tape parade in New York and received numerous medals and awards.