Edith Fellows

Edith Fellows

Born: May 20, 1923
Died: June 26, 2011
in Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Edith Fellows was born on May 20, 1923, in Boston, Massachusetts. When she was a year old, she and her father and grandmother moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. As a toddler, Edith was pigeon-toed and had trouble walking, and one doctor suggested that dance lessons might cure this condition. At age four, Edith entered Henderson's School of Dance, where she was spotted by a man claiming to be a talent scout, who told her grandmother that he could get Edith into show business for a fifty-dollar fee. The dance school raised the money, but when Edith and her grandmother arrived in Hollywood, they discovered that the address the man had given them did not exist, and they realized he was a fraud. Stranded in Hollywood with no means to return to North Carolina, Edith's grandmother began doing housework to earn a living. While she worked, she left Edith with a neighbor and her young son. One day Edith was taken along when the neighbor's son had an audition for the film Movie Night (1929), and she ended up getting the part. Although she never become a child star, Edith appeared in many popular films of the 1930s, most notably Pennies from Heaven (1936). She also proved herself to be a very versatile actress, playing roles ranging from a spoiled rich girl, as in Heart of the Rio Grande (1942), to a poor orphan girl, as in Pennies from Heaven. Edith was even given her own series, The Five Little Peppers, while under contract to Columbia, and she made four of the Pepper films (the first was Five Little Peppers and How They Grew (1939)) in two years. Between 1929 and 1954, Edith appeared in some fifty films, mostly in juvenile roles due to her short 4' 10" stature. But her career suddenly slowed down in the mid-1950s. Between 1955 and 1980, she appeared in only one film, Lilith (1964), in which she had a bit part. During this time, Edith chose to focus on her family life; she had married producer Freddie Fields in 1946, and their only child, daughter Kathy, was born in 1947. But Edith and Fields divorced in 1955, and the end of her marriage, coupled with other factors, caused Edith to have a nervous breakdown. She recovered, and in 1981, she returned to acting in numerous supporting roles on television. In 1985, fellow former child actor Jackie Cooper announced plans to make a TV movie based on Edith's life, but this project never happened.

Movies for Edith Fellows...

Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man
Title: Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man
Character: Self
Released: March 4, 1999
Type: Movie
In the 1942 film "This Gun For Hire," he was only a supporting actor. But his portrayal of a cold, ruthless killer with a core of gentle sadness had an impact on audiences everywhere. Teamed with diminutive Veronica Lake, he became an immediately saleable commodity, and in the process helped launch the age of film noir. By 1954, Photoplay Magazine voted him the world's most popular male film star; his fellow award-winner was Marilyn Monroe. But Alan Ladd's fabulous success already contained within it the mechanism to self-destruct.
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Title: ER
Character: Sadie Hubbell
Released: September 19, 1994
Type: TV
ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room.
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In the Mood
Title: In the Mood
Character: Mrs. Long, Judy's Mother
Released: September 16, 1987
Type: Movie
When 15-year-old Sonny Wisecarver has an affair with his older neighbor Francine and then runs off to marry her, a stern judge has the union annulled. Then, when Sonny finds himself before the same judge after getting involved with another woman in her 20s, the publicity from this case makes him the object of affection for millions of young women
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The Hills Have Eyes Part 2
Title: The Hills Have Eyes Part 2
Character: Mrs. Wilson
Released: August 2, 1985
Type: Movie
A motocross team on their way to trial a new super-fuel head out across the desert lead by Rachel, who, unbeknownst to the rest of the group, is a survivor of the cannibal clan which menaced the Carter family several years before.
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Grace Kelly
Title: Grace Kelly
Character: Edith Head
Released: February 21, 1983
Type: Movie
The fairy tale story of the actress who became a princess is told in this biography that traces her rise from Philadelphia socialite to Hollywood movie star.
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Hollywood’s Children
Title: Hollywood’s Children
Character: Self
Released: February 24, 1982
Type: Movie
A documentary about child actors, since the beginning of motion pictures (narrated by Roddy McDowell).
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Title: The Brady Brides
Released: February 6, 1981
Type: TV
Marcia and Jan Brady marry their sweethearts -- total opposites -- and both couples move in together in this spin-off of The Brady Bunch, which features recurring appearances by Carol and Alice.
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The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell
Title: The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell
Character: Self (clip from "Pennies from Heaven")
Released: May 8, 1968
Type: Movie
Sgt. O'Farrell an Army soldier on an island in the South Pacific during World War II is trying to bring the two basics of life to his fellow servicemen, women and beer. The supply ship carrying the beer is torpedoed and the contingent of nurses consists of six males and ugly nurse Nellie Krause. If he could at least try to salvage the shipment of beer.
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Lilith
Title: Lilith
Character: Patient (uncredited)
Released: October 1, 1964
Type: Movie
Vincent Bruce, a war veteran, begins working as an occupational therapist at Poplar Lodge, a private psychiatric facility for wealthy people where he meets Lilith Arthur, a charming young woman suffering from schizophrenia, whose fragile beauty captivates all who meet her.
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Criminal Investigator
Title: Criminal Investigator
Character: Ellen
Released: October 23, 1942
Type: Movie
A reporter investigates the murder of a showgirl, who was the widow of a millionaire. While digging in to the mysterious murder of a showgirl (Vivian Wilcox), intrepid reporter Bob Martin (Robert Lowery) uncovers a connection between that case and another one he's been working on. An inmate (Lawrence Creighton) holds the key to the crime, but there's one problem: He's deaf and mute. Meanwhile, the murderers (Jan Wiley and Charlie Hall) appear to be working for a very powerful person.
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Stardust on the Sage
Title: Stardust on the Sage
Character: Judy Drew
Released: May 25, 1942
Type: Movie
A singing cowboy (Gene Autry) and his partner (Bill Henry) thwart a foreman who wants their mine.
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Heart of the Rio Grande
Title: Heart of the Rio Grande
Character: Connie Lane
Released: March 11, 1942
Type: Movie
As foreman of a dude ranch, Gene has two problems. One is a guest, the spoiled daughter of a millioniare, and the other is the disgruntled ex-foreman that Gene replaced, now just a ranch hand. Gene eventually gets the daughter straightened out but has to fire the ex-foreman and this leads to trouble when he returns intent on revenge.
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Girls' Town
Title: Girls' Town
Character: Sue Norman
Released: March 6, 1942
Type: Movie
A West Coast version of "Stage Door", set at a Hollywood boarding house for young women hoping for movie careers.
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Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4
Title: Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 4
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Fourth film in the Hedda Hopper series.
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Her First Beau
Title: Her First Beau
Character: Milly Lou
Released: May 8, 1941
Type: Movie
15-year-old Penelope (Penny) Wood has two great interests - Chuck Harris and the hope that some day she might become a famous,great writer. Chuck also has two interests - his home-made glider and the hope that some day he will go to Tech college. His indifference to Penny is her chief source of annoyance. Mervyn Roberts, Penny's uncle who is only five years older than she is, arrives home with a guest, Roger Van Vleck, and Penny falls for Roger's sophistication. Chuck, resentful, continues to work on his glider over his father's objections. His father wants it destroyed but Elmer Tuttle, their hired man, hides it.
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Her First Romance
Title: Her First Romance
Character: Linda Strong
Released: December 25, 1940
Type: Movie
Linda Strong, a bookish, frumpy co-ed, is invited to a formal dance as a sorority pledge initiation prank. Her selfish stepsister and guardian, Eileen, refuses to buy Linda a dress and decides that she is too young to attend. Katy, the cook, buys Linda a dress and with the help of Linda's cousin, Marian, conspires to get Linda to the dance. When Linda's friend Suzy tells her that she was invited as a prank, however, she refuses to go to the dance. Without her glasses and wearing stylish clothes, Linda is quite attractive, but she still rejects all the invitations from the fraternity brothers. She is crying outside the house when Chicago opera star Philip Niles arrives and offers to escort her to the dance. Eileen is at the dance with her fiancé John Gilman, who was Marian's boyfriend until Eileen stole him away.
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Nobody's Children
Title: Nobody's Children
Character: Pat
Released: December 12, 1940
Type: Movie
A radio host broadcasts a show about children living in an orphanage.
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Five Little Peppers in Trouble
Title: Five Little Peppers in Trouble
Character: Polly Pepper
Released: September 1, 1940
Type: Movie
The last of the four "Five Little Peppers" films finds the children having a hard time adjusting to their new boarding school.
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Out West with the Peppers
Title: Out West with the Peppers
Character: Polly Pepper
Released: June 30, 1940
Type: Movie
When her doctor advises her to move West because of her health, Mrs. Pepper takes her five kids and relocates to Oregon to live with her sister. But adjusting to a new home and community isn't easy for the brood. Third entry in the "Five Little Peppers" series of four films.
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Five Little Peppers at Home
Title: Five Little Peppers at Home
Character: Polly Pepper
Released: February 8, 1940
Type: Movie
The second entry in the four "Five Little Peppers" films finds the family struggling to keep their copper mine when their elderly business partner becomes ill.
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Music in My Heart
Title: Music in My Heart
Character: Mary O'Malley
Released: January 4, 1940
Type: Movie
A young woman engaged to a millionaire falls for the understudy in a Broadway musical.
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Pride of the Blue Grass
Title: Pride of the Blue Grass
Character: Midge Griner
Released: October 6, 1939
Type: Movie
A young man is determined to turn his beloved racehorse, which is blind, into a champion.
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Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
Title: Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
Character: Polly Pepper
Released: August 22, 1939
Type: Movie
The first of four films in the "Five Little Peppers" series, based on Margaret Sinclair's popular book, about a widowed mother and her five children. In this one the family inherits co-ownership in a copper mine.
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City Streets
Title: City Streets
Character: Winnie Brady
Released: July 1, 1938
Type: Movie
When her mother dies, wheel-chair bound Winnie Brady is taken in by shopkeeper and neighbor "Uncle" Joe Carmine. Joe convinces Father Ryan to let him informally adopt her. Joe and Winnie live together with Tommy Devlin and his grandmother, Mrs. Devlin, and a dog Winnie names Muriel. Joe sells his shop to pay for an unsuccessful operation on Winnie's legs. This bankrupts Carmine, who then earns a meager living selling fruits and vegetables on the streets. Winnie is sent to live in an orphanage, and Carmine is discouraged from continuing his relationship with her. Carmine is so distraught by grief that he slowly begins to die. Winnie is brought to him by Father Ryan, and she finds the strength to stand and walk to his bedside and sings his favorite song, "Santa Maria." Later, after Winnie has acquired full use of her legs, Joe, in his new catering truck, takes the children on a picnic in the country.
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Little Miss Roughneck
Title: Little Miss Roughneck
Character: Foxine LaRue
Released: January 23, 1938
Type: Movie
Sad-eyed, uniquely talented child actress Edith Fellows was Columbia's "answer" to Shirley Temple, Jane Withers and Deanna Durbin. In Little Miss Roughneck, Fellows is cast as Foxine LaRue, a tomboyish sort who is being prodded into a show-biz career by her stage mother Gert (Margaret Irving). Young Mr. Partridge (Scott Colton) becomes Foxine's agent, principally because he's sweet on the girl's older sister Mary (Jacqueline Wells). Blackballed from Hollywood because of her mother's pushiness, Foxine tries to help out Partridge and her own family by cooking up a bizarre publicity stunt, enlisting the aid of easy-going Mexican "papacita" Pascual (Leo Carrillo).
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Life Begins with Love
Title: Life Begins with Love
Character: Dodie Martin
Released: October 6, 1937
Type: Movie
A spoiled playboy is forced to leave town to avoid the press, which latches on to his statement, while tipsy, that he will give away his fortune. He disguises himself and gets a job as a laborer at a day-care center. He finds himself attracted to the owner, a pretty young girl determined to make life better for her charges, and he soon begins to question his own priorities.
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Pennies from Heaven
Title: Pennies from Heaven
Character: Patsy Smith
Released: November 25, 1936
Type: Movie
Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promises an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help. This delays Larry from following his dream and going to Venice and becoming a gondolier. Instead, he becomes a street singer and, while singing in the street, meets a pretty welfare worker, Susan Sprague. She takes a dim view of Patsy's welfare under the guardianship of Larry and her grandfather and starts proceedings to have Patsy placed in an orphanage.
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Tugboat Princess
Title: Tugboat Princess
Character: 'Princess' Judy
Released: October 15, 1936
Type: Movie
When her parents are drowned at sea, "Princess" Judy is adopted by a soft-hearted old sea captain, Captain Zack, and brought to live on his tugboat.
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And So They Were Married
Title: And So They Were Married
Character: Brenda Farnham
Released: May 10, 1936
Type: Movie
A bitter widow and a grumpy widower find themselves stuck in a hotel that is cut off from the outside by a snowstorm. Although both have no intention of getting married again, they begin to fall for each other. Their children, however, are determined to see that the "romance" never gets off the ground and do everything they can to see that they are kept apart.
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One Way Ticket
Title: One Way Ticket
Character: Ellen
Released: November 25, 1935
Type: Movie
A convict marries the warder's daughter after his escape and she eventually persuades him to finish his sentence.
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She Married Her Boss
Title: She Married Her Boss
Character: Annabel Barclay
Released: September 19, 1935
Type: Movie
A super-efficient secretary at a department store falls for and marries her boss, but finds out that taking care of him at home (and especially his spoiled-brat daughter) is a lot different than taking care of him at work.
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The Keeper of the Bees
Title: The Keeper of the Bees
Character: Jean Marie Meredith / Little Scout
Released: July 14, 1935
Type: Movie
A severely traumatized World War I veteran, believing that he's living on borrowed time, comes upon a peaceful little village and meets an old man called Bee Master and his protégé, Little Scout, who try to convince him that he has more to live for than he thinks he does.
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Dinky
Title: Dinky
Character: Sally
Released: May 11, 1935
Type: Movie
A mother sends her young son to military school so he won't find out she's been sentenced to a prison term on a framed fraud charge.
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Kid Millions
Title: Kid Millions
Character: Little Girl in Ice Cream Number (uncredited)
Released: November 10, 1934
Type: Movie
A musical comedy about a Brooklyn boy who inherits a fortune from his archaeologist father, but has to go to Egypt to claim it.
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Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Title: Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Character: Australia Wiggs
Released: October 28, 1934
Type: Movie
The Wiggs family plan to celebrate Thanksgiving in their rundown shack with leftover stew, without Mr. Wiggs who wandered off long ago an has never been heard from. Do-gooder Miss Lucy brings them a real feast. Her boyfriend Bob arranges to take Wiggs' sick boy to a hospital. Their other boy makes some money peddling kindling and takes the family to a show. Mrs. Wiggs is called to the hopsital just in time to see her boy die. Her neighbor Miss Mazy wants to marry Mr. Stubbins who insists on tasting her cooking. Mrs. Wiggs sneaks her dishes past Stubbins who agrees to marriage. Mr. Wiggs appears suddenly, in tatters, with just the amount of money (twenty dollars) needed to save the family from foreclosure. Miss Lucy and Bob get married.
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Jane Eyre
Title: Jane Eyre
Character: Adele Rochester
Released: August 15, 1934
Type: Movie
Jane Eyre is an orphan who was raised by her aunt until she came to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. But Jane is attracted by the intelligent and energetic Sir Rochester, a man of almost twice her age. But just when Sir Rochester seems to pay attention to her, he invites the beautiful and wealthy Blanche Ingram to stay at his house.
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His Greatest Gamble
Title: His Greatest Gamble
Character: Alice (as a child)
Released: August 10, 1934
Type: Movie
A man escapes from jail in France to free his daughter from her mother's hold.
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Cross Streets
Title: Cross Streets
Character: Little Sister
Released: July 5, 1934
Type: Movie
A man falls in love with a young woman, only to discover that she's the daughter of an ex-girlfriend who jilted him almost 20 years before.
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This Side of Heaven
Title: This Side of Heaven
Character: Felicia - Minister's Daughter (uncredited)
Released: February 2, 1934
Type: Movie
A family man becomes innocently involved in an embezzlement.
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Two Alone
Title: Two Alone
Character: Rogers' Daughter (uncredited)
Released: January 26, 1934
Type: Movie
Mazie, a poor orphan girl, is mistreated by cruel farmer Slag and his wife for whom she works. Mazie, who is growing into a woman, does not like they way Slag has been looking at her lately.
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Mush and Milk
Title: Mush and Milk
Character: Edith
Released: May 27, 1933
Type: Movie
When Cap's back pension finally comes in, he treats the gang to a day at an amusement park.
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Penguin Pool Murder
Title: Penguin Pool Murder
Character: Little Girl at Aquarium (uncredited)
Released: December 9, 1932
Type: Movie
New York schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers assists a detective when a body of unscrupulous stockbroker Gerald Parker suddenly appears in the penguin tank at the aquarium.
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Law and Lawless
Title: Law and Lawless
Character: Betty Kelley
Released: November 29, 1932
Type: Movie
Montana and sidekick Pancho hire on at the Lopez rancho to fight Daggett and his outlaw gang. But Lopez's foreman Barnes is one of Daggett's men and he frames Montana for murder.
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Birthday Blues
Title: Birthday Blues
Character: Girl with String in Mouth
Released: November 12, 1932
Type: Movie
Dickie throws a birthday party to try to raise money to buy his mother a birthday present.
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Divorce In The Family
Title: Divorce In The Family
Character: Little Girl with Kite
Released: August 27, 1932
Type: Movie
A child struggles to come to terms with his parents' divorce. Director Charles Reisner's 1932 drama stars Jackie Cooper, Lewis Stone, Conrad Nagel, Lois Wilson, Jean Parker and Louise Beavers.
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The Rider of Death Valley
Title: The Rider of Death Valley
Character: Betty Joyce
Released: April 23, 1932
Type: Movie
Rigby, Larribee, and Grant each have one third of Bill Joyce's map locating his gold mine. The three plus Joyce's sister Helen head for the mine. An accident with a runaway horse carrying supplies leaves them stranded in the desert with very little water.
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Emma
Title: Emma
Character: Gypsy as a Child (uncredited)
Released: January 2, 1932
Type: Movie
When Fred Smith's wife dies in childbirth, Emma Thatcher, who has been nanny to the couple's three children, cares also for the family's new addition. Fred becomes rich and successful, then he and Emma marry. When Fred dies, his will becomes a source of trouble between the children and Emma.
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Huckleberry Finn
Title: Huckleberry Finn
Character: Schoolgirl (uncredited)
Released: August 7, 1931
Type: Movie
A year after their former exploits, Tom Sawyer's puppy love of Becky Thatcher keeps him home while Huck Finn, chafing under "civilizing" influences like school and shoes, plans to run away. His scapegrace, abusive father intervenes; Tom and black Jim help him escape; and (departing from the novel) all three raft down the Mississippi, where they're joined by two likable rogues and meet pretty orphans Ella and Mary Jane. The latter may change Huck's mind about girls...
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Daddy Long Legs
Title: Daddy Long Legs
Character: Orphan (uncredited)
Released: June 5, 1931
Type: Movie
Wealthy Jervis Pendleton acts as benefactor for orphan Judy Abbott, anonymously sponsoring her in her boarding school. But as she grows up, he finds himself falling in love with her, and she with him, though she does not know that the man she has fallen for is her benefactor.
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Second Hand Kisses
Title: Second Hand Kisses
Character: Orphan girl
Released: March 29, 1931
Type: Movie
Knockabout comedy in which woman marries widower each having a child of their own which the other knows nothing about.
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Cimarron
Title: Cimarron
Character: (uncredited)
Released: January 26, 1931
Type: Movie
When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.
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Shivering Shakespeare
Title: Shivering Shakespeare
Character: Girls Scared of Elephant
Released: January 25, 1930
Type: Movie
The gang is participating in a program sponsored by the Golden Age Dramatic League. They present their own fractured version of Quo Vadis. Things go from bad to worse when the neighborhood tough kids disrupt the show. The pie fight is given a new twist by use of some slow motion sequences.
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Madame X
Title: Madame X
Character: Child at Puppet Show (uncredited)
Released: August 17, 1929
Type: Movie
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.
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Movie Night
Title: Movie Night
Character: Daughter
Released: May 11, 1929
Type: Movie
A family goes on its weekly outing to the movies. Complications ensue...