Wendy Barrie

Wendy Barrie

Born: April 18, 1912
Died: February 2, 1978
in Hong Kong, British Crown Colony [now China]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wendy Barrie (18 April 1912 – 2 February 1978) was a British actress who worked in British and American films.

Barrie was born in London to English parents. Her father, Francis Charles John Graigoe Jenkin KC (1883 – 1936), was an employee of Great Western (according to the 1901 census), who then joined the Royal Fusiliers in 1902. Her mother was Ellen McDonagh. Hollywood gave her a more exotic parentage with her father being a King's Counsel and her mother a Russian-Jewish actress who had performed in the world's first professional Yiddish-language theater troupe. She received her education at a convent school in England and a finishing school in Switzerland.

In 1932, Barrie made her screen debut in the film Threads, which was based upon a play. She went on to make a number of motion pictures for London Films under the Korda brothers, Alexander and Zoltan, the best known of which is 1933's The Private Life of Henry VIII, in which she portrayed Jane Seymour.

In 1934, she appeared in Freedom of the Seas and was contracted by Fox Film Corporation for a film directed by Scott Darling that was made in Britain. The following year, she moved to the United States and made her first Hollywood film for Fox opposite Spencer Tracy in the romantic comedy It's a Small World, followed by Under Your Spell with Lawrence Tibbett. Loaned to MGM, Barrie starred opposite James Stewart in the 1936 film Speed. In 1939 she starred with Richard Greene and Basil Rathbone in the 20th Century Fox version of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and with Lucille Ball in RKO's Five Came Back. During 1939 and the early 1940s, Barrie made several of The Saint and The Falcon mystery films with George Sanders. She made her final motion picture in 1954.

With the dawn of television, in the late 1940s, Barrie turned to roles in that medium.

In 1956, she had a disc jockey program, the Wendy Barrie Show, on WMGM in New York City. She also hosted a widely syndicated radio interview show into the mid-1960s.

After appearances in more than 15 films in Britain and more than 30 in Hollywood, Barrie's contribution to the industry was recognized with a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street, near the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Her star was dedicated February 8, 1960.

Barrie became a naturalized American citizen in 1942. She was reportedly engaged to and had a daughter named Carolyn with the infamous gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, and at one time was married to textile manufacturer David L. Meyer.

She died in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1978, aged 65, following a stroke that had left her debilitated for several years. She was buried in the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Movies for Wendy Barrie...

It Should Happen to You
Title: It Should Happen to You
Character: Guest Panelist
Released: January 15, 1954
Type: Movie
Gladys Glover has just lost her modeling job when she meets filmmaker Pete Sheppard shooting a documentary in Central Park. For Pete it's love at first sight, but Gladys has her mind on other things, making a name for herself. Through a fluke of advertising she winds up with her name plastered over 10 billboards throughout city.
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Title: Your Show of Shows
Released: February 25, 1950
Type: TV
Your Show of Shows was a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC, from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, Judy Johnson, The Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza. José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series. The series was telecast from the now-demolished International Theatre at 5 Columbus Circle and the Century Theater, now demolished, in New York. During 2002, Your Show of Shows was ranked #30 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
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Title: What's My Line?
Character: Self - Panelist
Released: February 2, 1950
Type: TV
Four panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
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Submarine Alert
Title: Submarine Alert
Character: Ann Patterson
Released: June 28, 1943
Type: Movie
Nazi spies use a stolen shortwave transmitter prototype to broadcast top secret shipping info to an offshore Japanese sub. To nab the spy ring, the Government has the West Coast's top radio engineers fired and shadowed to see if the Nazis recruit them to complete work on the prototype radio. Radio engineer Lew Deerhold, a resident alien without a job to pay for his adorable little ward Gina's life-saving operation, falls prey to the spy ring, and is swept up in a maelstrom of deceit and danger.
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Follies Girl
Title: Follies Girl
Character: Anne Merriday
Released: June 26, 1943
Type: Movie
In PRC's Follies Girl, Wendy Barrie plays dress designer Anne Merriday, who becomes the object of middle-aged millionaire J. B. Hamlin's (J.C. Nugent) affections. To save his dad from throwing his life away on a supposed golddigger, Hamlin's son, Army private Jerry Hamlin (Gordon Oliver), begins courting Anne-and, of course, falls genuinely in love with her himself. Meanwhile, the rogueish J.B. tries to mount a Broadway burlesque show, with costumes designed by Our Heroine.
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Forever and a Day
Title: Forever and a Day
Character: Edith Trimble-Pomfret
Released: January 21, 1943
Type: Movie
In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Leslie Trimble, tries to dissuade him from selling by telling him the 140-year history of the place and the connections between the Trimble and Pomfret families.
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Eyes of the Underworld
Title: Eyes of the Underworld
Character: Betty Standing
Released: October 2, 1942
Type: Movie
Blackmail and murder in a tale of an auto-theft ring.
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A Date with the Falcon
Title: A Date with the Falcon
Character: Helen Reed
Released: January 16, 1942
Type: Movie
In the second film of the series (and not a second part of anything), Gay Lawrence, aka The Falcon, is about to depart the city to marry his fiancée, Helen Reed, when a mystery girl, Rita Mara, asks for his aid in disposing of a secret formula for making synthetic diamonds. He deliberately allows himself to be kidnapped by the gang for which Rita works. His aide, "Goldy" Locke, trails the kidnappers and brings the police. But the head of the gang escapes, and the Falcon continues the pursuit.
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Gangs Of The City
Title: Gangs Of The City
Character: Bonnie Parker
Released: October 30, 1941
Type: Movie
Heiress Bonnie Parker, tired of newspaper stories about her society high-life, gives a false story to energetic reporter Bill Raymond, who has frequently pestered her for a scoop. When Bill is dismissed for the phony item, Bonnie realizes that she carried the prank too far.....
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The Gay Falcon
Title: The Gay Falcon
Character: Helen Reed
Released: October 24, 1941
Type: Movie
Having forsaken the detective business for the safer confines of personal insurance, Gay Laurence is compelled to return to his sleuthing ways. Along with sidekick Jonathan "Goldie" Locke, he agrees to look into a series of home party robberies that have victimized socialite Maxine Wood. The duo gets more than they bargained for when a murder is committed at Wood's home, but Lawrence still finds time to romance the damsel.
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Repent at Leisure
Title: Repent at Leisure
Character: Emily Baldwin
Released: April 4, 1941
Type: Movie
Everyone in a large department store knows that a rising star is married to the owner's daughter, except her husband.
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The Saint In Palm Springs
Title: The Saint In Palm Springs
Character: Elna Johnson
Released: January 24, 1941
Type: Movie
George Sanders makes his final appearance as crook-turned-detective Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint," in The Saint in Palm Springs. The gimmick in this one is a set of rare stamps, smuggled from England. Wendy Barrie is the true heir to this treasure, and the Saint is engaged to protect her and the stamps. Our hero meets Barrie in a posh Palm Springs resort, where a gang of homicidal thieves have converged to relieve the girl of her inheritance. Three murders and one kidnapping attempt later, the villains are foiled by the Saint, with the aid of his onetime partner in crime Pearly Gates (Paul Guilfoyle). The Saint in Palm Springs is the sixth in RKO's series of films based on the character created by Leslie Charteris.
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Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Title: Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Character: Sally Ambler
Released: November 1, 1940
Type: Movie
When a much-despised matriarch is murdered, or apparently murdered, all of her relatives and "friends" fall under suspicion. Sheriff Gregory is the official investigator, but most of the clue gathering is done by amateur sleuths Kirk Pierce and Sally Ambler.
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Men Against the Sky
Title: Men Against the Sky
Character: Kay Mercedes
Released: September 6, 1940
Type: Movie
A draftswoman, the sister of an aging, alcoholic pilot, secretly uses her brother's ideas to solve design problems for an experimental military plane in an attempt to save the company and salvage her brother's reputation.
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Cross-Country Romance
Title: Cross-Country Romance
Character: Diane North
Released: July 12, 1940
Type: Movie
A runaway heiress hides in a doctor's trailer for a rollicking trip to San Francisco.
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The Saint Takes Over
Title: The Saint Takes Over
Character: Ruth Summers
Released: June 7, 1940
Type: Movie
The Saint Takes Over, released in 1940 by RKO Pictures, was the fifth motion picture featuring the adventures of Simon Templar, a.k.a. "The Saint" the Robin Hood-inspired crimefighter created by Leslie Charteris. This film focuses on the character of Inspector Henry Farnack. When Farnack is framed by a gang he is investigating, it is up to The Saint to clear his name.
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Women in War
Title: Women in War
Character: Pamela Starr
Released: June 5, 1940
Type: Movie
A "good-time girl", raised by her somewhat lax divorced father, finds herself involved in an accidental death, and the only way she's able to get out of it is to volunteer--albeit reluctantly--to be a nurse in the war effort. She travels to England and is assigned to a hospital under a very strict matron. What the girl doesn't know is that the matron is the mother she has never seen.
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Day-time Wife
Title: Day-time Wife
Character: Kitty Fraser
Released: November 24, 1939
Type: Movie
When a young wife discovers her husband of two years is involved with his beautiful secretary, she applies for a job as secretary to a business rival.
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The Witness Vanishes
Title: The Witness Vanishes
Character: Joan Marplay
Released: September 22, 1939
Type: Movie
In this mystery, a newspaper executive and three of his colleagues conspire to have the owner of the highly-respected London Sun committed to an insane asylum. The hapless publisher manages to escape. Soon after, the four collaborators begin dying one-by-one. Oddly their obituaries appear in a rival publication before they are actually killed.
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Five Came Back
Title: Five Came Back
Character: Alice Melbourne
Released: June 23, 1939
Type: Movie
Twelve people are aboard Coast Air Line's flagship the Silver Queen enroute to South America when the airplane encounters a storm and is blown off course. Crashing into jungles known to be inhabited by head hunters, pilots Bill and Joe race against time to fix the engines and attempt a take off. The situation brings out the best and worst in the stranded dozen as they create a makeshift runway and prepare to escape before the natives attack. But damage to the plane and low fuel reserves means that only 5 people can be carried to safety.
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
Title: The Hound of the Baskervilles
Character: Beryl Stapleton
Released: March 24, 1939
Type: Movie
On his uncle's death Sir Henry Baskerville returns from Canada to take charge of his ancestral hall on the desolate moors of Devonshire, and finds that Sherlock Holmes is there to investigate the local belief that his uncle was killed by a monster hound that has roamed the moors since 1650, and is likely to strike again at Sir Henry.
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The Saint Strikes Back
Title: The Saint Strikes Back
Character: Valerie 'Val' Travers
Released: March 8, 1939
Type: Movie
Suave private detective Simon "The Saint" Templar arrives in San Francisco and meets Val, a woman whose police inspector father killed himself after being accused of corruption and dismissed from the force. Convinced of the man's innocence, Templar takes it upon himself to vindicate the memory of Val's father. To do so he must take on the city's most dangerous criminal gang, while also battling hostile members of the police department.
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Pacific Liner
Title: Pacific Liner
Character: Ann Grayson
Released: January 6, 1939
Type: Movie
An outbreak of cholera threatens a luxury liner in this surprisingly low-budget melodrama from RKO. En route from Shanghai to San Francisco, chief engineer Crusher McKay (Victor McLaglen) and shipboard doctor Tony Craig (Chester Morris) become rivals for the attention of nurse Ann Grayson (Wendy Barrie). A Chinese stowaway, meanwhile, infects the stokehold with cholera and it is left to Crusher to keep the engines at full throttle until reaching harbor. But morale sinks to an all-time low when Crusher himself is stricken and the overworked men threaten with mutiny. Tony attempts to keep the stokers in check but the situation is growing more dangerous by the minute when a heroic Crusher rises from his sickbed. Leaving their previous petty squabbles behind, Tony and Crusher manage to guide the ship safely to harbor, where the doc and Ann rekindle their romance.
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Newsboys' Home
Title: Newsboys' Home
Character: Gwen Dutton
Released: December 24, 1938
Type: Movie
A beautiful girl inherits a newspaper that sponsors a charity home for boys.
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I Am the Law
Title: I Am the Law
Character: Frances 'Frankie' Ballou
Released: August 25, 1938
Type: Movie
With the aid of his former law students, a professor-turned-prosecutor battles corruption and organized crime.
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Prescription for Romance
Title: Prescription for Romance
Character: Valerie Wilson
Released: December 12, 1937
Type: Movie
In this romance, a detective teams up with a count and travels to Budapest in search of an embezzler. While there, the two get involved with a female physician in whose house the criminal is concealed (the doctor doesn't know this). Soon the detective and the doctor are involved.
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A Girl with Ideas
Title: A Girl with Ideas
Character: Mary Morton
Released: November 1, 1937
Type: Movie
A rich banker's zany daughter gains control of a large newspaper.
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Dead End
Title: Dead End
Character: Kay
Released: August 27, 1937
Type: Movie
Mobster "Baby Face" Martin returns home to visit the New York neighborhood where he grew up, dropping in on his mother, who rejects him because of his gangster lifestyle, and his old girlfriend, Francey, now a syphilitic prostitute. Martin also crosses paths with Dave, a childhood friend struggling to make it as an architect, and the Dead End Kids, a gang of young boys roaming the streets of the city's East Side slums.
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What Price Vengeance
Title: What Price Vengeance
Character: Polly Moore
Released: May 25, 1937
Type: Movie
A cop hesitates in using his gun to stop a robbery, & the robbers get away. He is forced to quit the police force, and he turns to a life of crime.
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Wings Over Honolulu
Title: Wings Over Honolulu
Character: Lauralee Curtis
Released: May 16, 1937
Type: Movie
A Navy pilot gets involved in a romantic triangle while stationed in Hawaii.
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Breezing Home
Title: Breezing Home
Character: Gloria Lee
Released: February 1, 1937
Type: Movie
Bookmakers try to fix a horse race.
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Under Your Spell
Title: Under Your Spell
Character: Cynthia Drexel
Released: November 6, 1936
Type: Movie
A famous singer, bored with music and fans, goes to live in Mexico. His manager sends a woman to bring him back. They fall in love.
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Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Title: Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Character: Self
Released: September 11, 1936
Type: Movie
Viewers are provided a visit to Ken Maynard's private circus; Bette Davis poses for her portrait; Frank McHugh plays with his children; a visit to the West Side Tennis Club affords glimpses of many stars.
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Ticket to Paradise
Title: Ticket to Paradise
Character: Jane Forbes
Released: June 24, 1936
Type: Movie
A man on his way to closing a million dollar deal has an accident and gets amnesia.
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Speed
Title: Speed
Character: Jane Mitchell
Released: May 8, 1936
Type: Movie
Terry is the chief car tester for Emery Motors and Frank is an Engineer. Jane has just been hired to work in publicity. Frank and Terry both want Jane to be their girl. Terry has designed a new carburetor that should bring him fame and money, but he cannot get it to work correctly. Terry and Gadget have tested it for over a year, but it still is not perfected. Emery Motors assigns Frank to help Terry with the carburetor, but Terry is not happy because Frank is an Engineer and is also vying for Jane. They finish the carburetor, and to test it, they enter a car in the Indianapolis 500 race. Terry is not yet satisfied with the carburetor before the big race even though it has passed all the tests.
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Love on a Bet
Title: Love on a Bet
Character: Paula Gilbert
Released: March 6, 1936
Type: Movie
Aspiring Producer Michael McCreigh convinces Uncle Carlton to finance a play on the condition that he lives the play's ridiculous plot. If Michael fails, he must work in Carlton's meat packing plant.
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Millions in the Air
Title: Millions in the Air
Character: Marion Keller
Released: December 12, 1935
Type: Movie
A broadcasting musical.
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A Feather in Her Hat
Title: A Feather in Her Hat
Character: Pauline Anders
Released: October 25, 1935
Type: Movie
After the woman who raised him claims he's not her son, Richard searches for clues about his identity. Urged on by his mentor, Capt. Randolph Courtney, Richard focuses on Julia Trent Anders, a middle-aged actress who just might be his real mother. But soon, Richard begins to fall for Julia's stepdaughter. Amidst the upheaval, Richard schemes to return Julia to the stage -- but he's in for another big surprise.
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The Big Broadcast of 1936
Title: The Big Broadcast of 1936
Character: Sue
Released: September 20, 1935
Type: Movie
Two-bit radio station owner Spud Miller doubles as the station's sole announcer. On the verge of bankruptcy, Spud is receptive to the wacky notions of George and Gracie, who've just invented a television device that can pick up and transmit any signal, any time, anywhere.
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College Scandal
Title: College Scandal
Character: Julie Fresnel
Released: June 21, 1935
Type: Movie
Julie Fresnel is a co-ed at Redgate University and her father, Dr. Henri Fresnel, is the new French professor. Julie attraction from the make students drops a bit when two of her admirers are found murdered. When an attempt on the life of a third one is made. Seth Dunlap, an instructor at the school, decides to turn detective and find the killer. Assisted by his sister, who is in love with the third student, Dunlap begins to follow the the small trail of clues left by the killer.
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It's A Small World
Title: It's A Small World
Character: Jane Dale
Released: April 12, 1935
Type: Movie
Socialite, privileged, Jane Dale and lawyer Bill Shevlin meet in an automobile accident at night, on a dirt road, in a storm, near a hick town which fleeces travelers through corrupt law enforcement.
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Freedom of the Seas
Title: Freedom of the Seas
Character: Phyllis Harcourt
Released: June 12, 1934
Type: Movie
George Smith, a mild-mannered clerk with a crush on his boss's daughter, is led astray by an old friend of his father. A midday sojourn to a public bar results in him insulting his boss, getting sacked and enlisting in the Navy. Will he still remain a feeble second-best, or will active service make a man of him?
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Give Her a Ring
Title: Give Her a Ring
Character: Karen Svenson
Released: June 11, 1934
Type: Movie
A telephonist falls for her employer.
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This Acting Business
Title: This Acting Business
Character: Joyce
Released: December 19, 1933
Type: Movie
A British comedy film directed by John Daumery
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The House of Trent
Title: The House of Trent
Character: Angela Fairdown
Released: December 1, 1933
Type: Movie
It follows a doctor who faces both a scandal and a moral dilemma when a patient of his dies while he is making love to a press magnate's daughter.
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Cash
Title: Cash
Character: Lilian Gilbert
Released: October 8, 1933
Type: Movie
A formerly wealthy man and his daughter try to regain wealth by selling a scheme to some investors, when they come upon a huge amount of unclaimed cash that a young electrician has in his tool box.
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The Private Life of Henry VIII
Title: The Private Life of Henry VIII
Character: Jane Seymour
Released: August 17, 1933
Type: Movie
Renowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With Anne Boleyn, his second wife, executed on charges of treason, King Henry weds maid Jane Seymour, but that marriage also ends in tragedy. Not one to be single for long, the king picks German-born Anne of Cleves as his bride, but their union lasts only months before an annulment is granted, and King Henry continues his string of spouses.
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It's a Boy
Title: It's a Boy
Character: Mary Bogle
Released: June 6, 1933
Type: Movie
"It's a Boy" stars Horton as Dudley Leake, who is betrothed to Mary Bogle (the very pretty Wendy Barrie). Shortly before the wedding, Dudley blurts a confession to his friend and best man, Jim Skippett: 20 years ago, Dudley had a brief affair with a certain Miss Piper, but he's never heard from her since then. Next day, who should suddenly appear? A youth about 19 or 20 years old, claiming to be named Joe Piper. Is he Horton's son, or is Skippett playing a practical joke?
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Where Is This Lady?
Title: Where Is This Lady?
Character: Lucie Kleiner
Released: November 17, 1932
Type: Movie
A British musical film directed by Victor Hanbury and Ladislao Vajda
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The Barton Mystery
Title: The Barton Mystery
Character: Phyllis Grey
Released: November 1, 1932
Type: Movie
British crime film directed by Henry Edwards
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Wedding Rehearsal
Title: Wedding Rehearsal
Character: Lady Mary Rose Wroxbury
Released: October 1, 1932
Type: Movie
The grandmother of a British nobleman, reluctant to marry, plays matchmaker. He outmaneuvers her by getting all of the matches married off .
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Collision
Title: Collision
Character: Joyce Maynard
Released: July 18, 1932
Type: Movie
Conniving con artist Mrs Oliver targets the family of Mrs Carruthers, seducing her husband and framing her son for the theft of a valuable necklace. With her family facing ruin and disgrace, Mrs Carruthers resorts to increasingly violent measures to protect them.
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The Callbox Mystery
Title: The Callbox Mystery
Character: Iris Banner
Released: March 29, 1932
Type: Movie
A British crime film directed by G.B. Samuelson.
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Threads
Title: Threads
Character: Olive Wynn
Released: March 14, 1932
Type: Movie
A British drama film directed by G.B. Samuelson