Robert Dudley

Robert Dudley

Born: September 12, 1889
Died: November 12, 1955
in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Dudley (September 13, 1869 – September 15*, 1955) was a dentist turned film character actor who, in his 35-year career, appeared in more than 115 films.

Dudley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and was educated at Lake Forest College in Evanston, Illinois and Chicago, where he majored in oral surgery. In 1917 he appeared in his first film, Seven Keys to Baldpate, and then made three other silent films through 1921. After 1922 he worked consistently, appearing in three or four films a year, and making the transition to sound films in 1929 with The Bellamy Trial. Dudley often played characters with a quick temper, including jurors, shopkeepers, ticket agents, court clerks and justices of the peace, as well as an occasional farmer, hobo, or laborer. His performances in these small parts were frequently uncredited.

In the 1940s, Dudley was part of Preston Sturges' unofficial "stock company" of character actors, appearing in six films written and directed by Sturges. His most distinctive and memorable role for Sturges was the "Wienie King" in 1942's The Palm Beach Story, the funny little self-made rich man with a big hat who spontaneously bankrolls Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea on their escapade.

The 5' 9" Dudley, who was the founder of the "Troupers Club of Hollywood", was married to Elaine Anderson, and they had two girls, Jewell and Patricia Lee.

He made his final film, As Young as You Feel, in 1951, and died in 1955 in San Clemente, California.

*[TMDb note: The California Death Index indicates that Mr. Dudley died on 12 November 1955. That date should therefore be considered accurate and official.]

Movies for Robert Dudley...

The Jackpot
Title: The Jackpot
Character: Simpkins
Released: November 1, 1950
Type: Movie
Bill Lawrence wins a bevy or prizes from a radio program, but ends up having to sell them all in order to pay the taxes he's incurred.
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Strike It Rich
Title: Strike It Rich
Character: Pop
Released: December 1, 1948
Type: Movie
When not drinking and fighting, three wildcatters in search of a gusher are enthusiastically drilling for black gold. The trouble begins when one of them grows dissatisfied with their lifestyle and quits so he can be with his new wife. Unfortunately for him, soon after he leaves, the other two find their gusher and become filthy rich. The impoverished quitter is envious and begins looking for an obscure law that will force his pals to share.
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Race Street
Title: Race Street
Character: Pop (Watchman) (uncredited)
Released: September 11, 1948
Type: Movie
A night club owner takes on the crooks who killed his best friend.
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Sleep, My Love
Title: Sleep, My Love
Character: Bar Patron at The Maples
Released: February 18, 1948
Type: Movie
A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
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Christmas Eve
Title: Christmas Eve
Character: Robert - Matilda's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Released: October 31, 1947
Type: Movie
The greedy nephew of eccentric Matilda Reid seeks to have her judged incompetent so he can administer her wealth, but she will be saved if her three long-lost adopted sons appear for a Christmas Eve reunion. Separate stories reveal Michael as a bankrupt playboy loved by loyal Ann; Mario as a seemingly shady character tangling with a Nazi war criminal in South America; Jonathan as a hard-drinking rodeo rider intent on a flirtatious social worker. Is there hope for Matilda?
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Magic Town
Title: Magic Town
Character: Dickey
Released: October 7, 1947
Type: Movie
Rip Smith's opinion-poll business is a failure...until he discovers that the small town of Grandview is statistically identical to the entire country. He and his assistants go there to run polls cheaply and easily, in total secrecy (it would be fatal to let the townsfolk get self-conscious). And of course, civic crusader Mary Peterman must be kept from changing things too much. But romantic involvement with Mary complicates life for Rip; then suddenly everything changes.
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Living in a Big Way
Title: Living in a Big Way
Character: Carpenter
Released: June 10, 1947
Type: Movie
A World War II pilot (Gene Kelly) comes home to a bride (Marie McDonald) who, spoiled by her father (Charles Winninger), now wants a divorce.
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The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Title: The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Character: Robert McDuffy
Released: April 4, 1947
Type: Movie
Twenty-three years after scoring the winning touchdown for his college football team mild-mannered Harold Diddlebock, who has been stuck in a dull, dead-end book-keeping job for years, is let go by his pompous boss, advertising tycoon J.E. Wagglebury, with nothing but a tiny pension. Harold, who never touches the stuff, takes a stiff drink with his new pal... and another, and another. What happened Wednesday?
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Singin' in the Corn
Title: Singin' in the Corn
Character: Gramp McCoy
Released: December 26, 1946
Type: Movie
Judy McCoy, a fortune teller with a circus, learns she has inherited some property and heads west to collect. When she arrives in the desert ghost town, she learns that a stipulation in the will is that she has to return the property to the rightful owners, an Indian tribe, before she gets the remaining inheritance
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San Quentin
Title: San Quentin
Character: Fuller (uncredited)
Released: December 16, 1946
Type: Movie
An ex-con sets up a program to straighten out hard-core prisoners. Things don't go as planned.
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San Antonio
Title: San Antonio
Released: December 29, 1945
Type: Movie
Rancher Clay Hardin arrives in San Antonio to search for and capture Roy Stuart, notorious leader of a gang of cattle rustlers. The vicious outlaw is indeed in the Texan town, intent on winning the affections of a beautiful chanteuse named Jeanne Starr. When the lovely lady meets and falls in love with the charismatic Hardin, the stakes for both men become higher.
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Lady on a Train
Title: Lady on a Train
Released: August 3, 1945
Type: Movie
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.
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Belle of the Yukon
Title: Belle of the Yukon
Character: Storekeeper (uncredited)
Released: December 27, 1944
Type: Movie
Left by a con man, Belle De Valle, a dancer, finds him again in gold-rush Alaska running an honest casino/dance hall.
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The Doughgirls
Title: The Doughgirls
Character: Hotel Waiter
Released: November 25, 1944
Type: Movie
Arthur and Vivian are just married, but when the get to their honeymoon suite in Washington D.C., they find it occupied. Arthur goes to meet Slade, his new boss, and when he comes back, he finds three girls in his suite. He orders Vivian to get rid of them, but they are friends of Vivian's and as time goes by, it looks more like Grand Central Station than the quiet honeymoon suite Arthur expected. As long as there is anyone else in the suite, Arthur will not stay there and there will be no honeymoon.
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Casanova Brown
Title: Casanova Brown
Character: Justice Of The Peace
Released: August 23, 1944
Type: Movie
Cass Brown is about to marry for the second time; his first marriage, to Isabel was annulled. But when he discovers that Isabel just had their baby, Cass kidnaps the infant to keep her from being adopted. Isabel's parents hunt for the child and discover that Cass and Isabel are still hopelessly in love.
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It Happened Tomorrow
Title: It Happened Tomorrow
Character: Justice of the Peace (uncredited)
Released: March 31, 1944
Type: Movie
A young turn-of-the-century newspaper man finds he can get hold of the next day's paper. This brings more problems than fortune, especially as his new girlfriend is part of a phony clairvoyant act.
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Main Street Today
Title: Main Street Today
Character: Frank Hostetter (uncredited)
Released: March 25, 1944
Type: Movie
This patriotic short film promotes America's war effort at home. The story looks at a fictional small town's main street, seeing where additional workforce, for increased production of materials needed by the military, might come from.
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The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Title: The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Character: Man (uncredited)
Released: December 12, 1943
Type: Movie
A small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember.
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Happy Land
Title: Happy Land
Character: Old Man Bowers (uncredited)
Released: November 10, 1943
Type: Movie
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.
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Son of Dracula
Title: Son of Dracula
Character: Justice of the Peace Jonathan Kirby (uncredited)
Released: November 5, 1943
Type: Movie
Carpathian Count Alucard is invited to the U.S. by a young heiress. Her boyfriend and local officials are suspicious of the newcomer, who is interested in the "virile" soil of the new world.
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Honeymoon Lodge
Title: Honeymoon Lodge
Character: Elderly Man
Released: July 23, 1943
Type: Movie
Honeymoon Lodge is a musical variation on the old Awful Truth plotline. Divorce-bound Bob and Carol Sterling (David Bruce, June Vincent) make a last-ditch attempt to avoid their legal breakup by restaging their mountain-resort honeymoon. Things get complicated when a rancher named Big Boy (Rod Cameron, in a Ralph Bellamy-style "sap" role) shows up at the resort in ardent pursuit of Carol, while Lorraine Logan (Harriet Hilliard) sets her cap for Bob.
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The Ghost and the Guest
Title: The Ghost and the Guest
Character: Ben Bowron
Released: April 19, 1943
Type: Movie
Newlyweds Webster and Jackie Frye spend their honeymoon in a sinister old country house. Before long, they are besieged by a gang of crooks, searching for a fortune in diamonds. With the help of chauffeur Harmony Jones, the honeymooners attempt to outsmart the villains.
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The Palm Beach Story
Title: The Palm Beach Story
Character: Wienie King
Released: August 28, 1942
Type: Movie
A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry (Geraldine), decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.
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All That Money Can Buy
Title: All That Money Can Buy
Character: Lem (uncredited)
Released: October 17, 1941
Type: Movie
Farmer Jabez Stone, about to lose his land, agrees to sell his soul to the devil, known as Mr. Scratch, who gives Jabez seven years to enjoy the fruits of his sale before he collects. Over that time, Jabez pays off his debts and helps many neighboring farmers, then becomes an advocate for the upstanding Sen. Daniel Webster. When Jabez's contract with Mr. Scratch concludes, he desperately turns to Webster to represent him in a trial for his soul.
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Citizen Kane
Title: Citizen Kane
Character: Photographer (uncredited)
Released: April 17, 1941
Type: Movie
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
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The Lady Eve
Title: The Lady Eve
Character: Husband on Ship (uncredited)
Released: February 25, 1941
Type: Movie
It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles' fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles' life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich.
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When the Daltons Rode
Title: When the Daltons Rode
Character: Pete Norris - Juror
Released: August 23, 1940
Type: Movie
Young lawyer Tod Jackson arrives in pioneer Kansas to visit his prosperous rancher friends the Daltons, just as the latter are in danger of losing their land to a crooked development company. When Tod tries to help them, a faked murder charge turns the Daltons into outlaws, but more victims than villains in this fictionalized version. Will Tod stay loyal to his friends despite falling in love with Bob Dalton's former fiancée Julie?
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Stranger on the Third Floor
Title: Stranger on the Third Floor
Character: Postman (uncredited)
Released: August 16, 1940
Type: Movie
Newspaper reporter Michael Ward plunges into a nightmare of guilt, fearing that his "evidence" has sentenced the wrong man to death.
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Lucky Partners
Title: Lucky Partners
Character: Bailiff
Released: August 2, 1940
Type: Movie
Two strangers split a sweepstake prize to go on a fake honeymoon with predictable results.
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Haunted House
Title: Haunted House
Character: Hank Edwards
Released: July 21, 1940
Type: Movie
Teenagers try to clear a friend accused of murder.
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The House of the Seven Gables
Title: The House of the Seven Gables
Character: Jury Foreman
Released: April 12, 1940
Type: Movie
In 1828, the bankrupt Pyncheon family fight over Seven Gables, the ancestral mansion. To obtain the house, Jaffrey Pyncheon obtains his brother Clifford's false conviction for murder. Hepzibah, Clifford's sweet fiancée, patiently waits twenty years for his release, whereupon Clifford and his former cellmate, abolitionist Matthew, have a certain scheme in mind.
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Title: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Character: Reporter (uncredited)
Released: October 19, 1939
Type: Movie
Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed to the United States Senate by the puppet governor of his state. He soon discovers, upon going to Washington, many shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss.
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Yankee Doodle Goes to Town
Title: Yankee Doodle Goes to Town
Character: Shopkeeper (uncredited)
Released: June 17, 1939
Type: Movie
Made just before America would be forced into the Second World War, this short subject is a brief dramatized history of American democracy. It targets a perceived threat to democracy from board room and soapbox fascists who advocated a government based upon contemporaneous European models.
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Zenobia
Title: Zenobia
Character: Court Clerk
Released: April 21, 1939
Type: Movie
A modest country doctor in the antebellum South has to contend with his daughter's upcoming marriage and an affectionate medicine show elephant.
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Almost a Gentleman
Title: Almost a Gentleman
Character: Farmer
Released: March 31, 1939
Type: Movie
Saving a dog from the pound gets a man mixed up in murder.
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The Toast of New York
Title: The Toast of New York
Character: Janitor
Released: July 22, 1937
Type: Movie
After the American Civil War, Jim Fisk, a former peddler and cotton smuggler, arrives in New York, along with his partners Nick and Luke, where he struggles to make his way through the treacherous world of Wall Street's financial markets.
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The Mighty Treve
Title: The Mighty Treve
Character: Rancher at Auction
Released: January 17, 1937
Type: Movie
Story of a dog that is fanatically devoted to its master.
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Fury
Title: Fury
Character: Store Owner (uncredited)
Released: June 5, 1936
Type: Movie
Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.
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The Perfect Set-Up
Title: The Perfect Set-Up
Character: Theatre Employee Shooting Victim (uncredited)
Released: February 1, 1936
Type: Movie
In this MGM "Crime Does Not Pay" series short, a radio and television engineer falls into a life of crime by dismantling alarms for robberies.
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Paddy O'Day
Title: Paddy O'Day
Character: Robert - Chauffeur
Released: January 17, 1936
Type: Movie
A wealthy, eccentric collector of stuffed birds and a beautiful Russian singer provide refuge to an orphaned Irish child who has arrived illegally in New York.
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Frisco Kid
Title: Frisco Kid
Character: Vigilante Leader (uncredited)
Released: November 30, 1935
Type: Movie
After a roustabout sailor avoids being shanghaied in 1850s San Francisco, his audacity helps him rise to a position of power in the vice industry of the infamous Barbary Coast.
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3 Kids and a Queen
Title: 3 Kids and a Queen
Character: Shopkeeper
Released: October 21, 1935
Type: Movie
An eccentric, wealthy spinster, 'Queenie' Baxter is erroneously presumed to be kidnapped. She subsequently pretends to indeed be kidnapped, , in order to allow a reward of $50,000 to benefit an impecunious family headed by Tony Orsatti and his three sons, Blackie, Doc and Flash.
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Wild Gold
Title: Wild Gold
Character: Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Released: June 8, 1934
Type: Movie
A young man desperately in love with a nightclub singer sees an opportunity to spend some time alone with her when they're traveling through the Nevada gold country, and he takes the carburetor off her car and throws it in the river, stranding them there. They wind up staying at the cabin of a crusty old prospector, and soon the manager of a nightclub act shows up with his bevy of beautiful showgirls.
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Midnight Mary
Title: Midnight Mary
Character: Mannering's Night Watchman (uncredited)
Released: June 30, 1933
Type: Movie
A young woman is on trial for murder. In flashback, we learn of her struggles to overcome poverty as a teenager -- a mistaken arrest and prison term for shoplifting and lack of employment lead to involvement with gangsters. In a brothel, she meets a young lawyer, scion of a wealthy and prestigious family, who falls for her and helps her turn around her life. But her past catches up with her, and she must face the music rather than cause him scandal.
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Face in the Sky
Title: Face in the Sky
Character: Minister (uncredited)
Released: January 15, 1933
Type: Movie
Joe and Lucky travel around New England painting barns in exchange for an advertisement on one side. The meet Madge, who is cruelly treated by a her father who plans to marry her off to someone she despises.
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Three Wise Girls
Title: Three Wise Girls
Character: Lem - the Druggist
Released: February 10, 1932
Type: Movie
Romantic comedy drama about three friends in New York. Cassie has come to New York and goes to work as a model where her friend Gladys works. She falls in love with wealthy young Jerry who is already married. Gladys has the same probelm with her man Phelps.
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Broken Lullaby
Title: Broken Lullaby
Released: January 19, 1932
Type: Movie
A young French soldier in World War I is overcome with guilt when he kills a German soldier who, like himself, is a musically gifted conscript, each having attended the same musical conservatory in France. The fact that the incident occurred in war does not assuage his guilt. He travels to Germany to meet the man's family.
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An American Tragedy
Title: An American Tragedy
Character: Juror (uncredited)
Released: August 22, 1931
Type: Movie
A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.
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Scandal Sheet
Title: Scandal Sheet
Character: Flint's Secretary
Released: January 31, 1931
Type: Movie
Confirming his principle that no one escapes the news, a tabloid editor prints a scathing story about his wife.
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Conspiracy
Title: Conspiracy
Character: Mr. Christopher (uncredited)
Released: August 10, 1930
Type: Movie
Margaret Holt and her brother Victor set out to smash a narcotics ring responsible for their father's death. Young reporter John Howell and eccentric mystery writer Winthrop Clavering help unravel the truth about the murder.
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Dames Ahoy
Title: Dames Ahoy
Character: Parson
Released: February 9, 1930
Type: Movie
Three sailors go searching for a girl who swindled one of them out of half his pay.
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Burning Up
Title: Burning Up
Character: Sheriff
Released: February 1, 1930
Type: Movie
Racecar-driver Lou Larrigan gets mixed up with a crooked gang of racetrack promoters, and is in love with Ruth Morgan, whose father is marked as a victim by the gang.
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Wide Open
Title: Wide Open
Character: Office Worker
Released: February 1, 1930
Type: Movie
An eccentric, fluttery bachelor is dismayed to discover an undressed woman in his apartment.
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Big News
Title: Big News
Character: Telegraph Editor
Released: September 6, 1929
Type: Movie
A reporter's marriage is jeopardized by his drinking and he finds himself accused of a murder he didn't commit.
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Shanghai Rose
Title: Shanghai Rose
Character: Reformer
Released: January 1, 1929
Type: Movie
Shanghai Rose is the proprietress of a gin mill which doubles as a bordello. A murder occurs, and she is put on trial for her life. A series of flashbacks "reconstruct" the crime from several different points of view -- and as the story progresses, it becomes less and less obvious that Rich is the guilty party.
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Fools for Luck
Title: Fools for Luck
Character: Jim Simpson
Released: June 11, 1928
Type: Movie
Wealthy Sam Hunter is approached by scheming Richard Whitehead about investing in oil. There appears to be no oil, and everyone is angry until oil is re-discovered.
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The Night Flyer
Title: The Night Flyer
Character: Freddy
Released: February 5, 1928
Type: Movie
Jimmy Bradley, a fireman on the old locomotive No. 99, loves Kate Murphy, daughter of the proprietress of the local lunch counter. His rival, Bat Mullins, is engineer of the new mail train scheduled to make a competition run. When Mullins overturns the new train, Bradley completes the run and earns the contract for his company by delivering the mail in record time on No. 99. A promotion to engineer helps him win Kate.
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Casey at the Bat
Title: Casey at the Bat
Character: Farmer (uncredited)
Released: March 8, 1927
Type: Movie
Casey is a slovenly junk man in a turn of the twentieth century hick town who has a remarkable ability to play baseball. An unscrupulous New York scout signs him up, so Casey and his equally dishonest manager go to the big leagues. Eventually, the scout and manager conspire to get him drunk and bet against him for a crucial game with the pennant at stake.
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The Marriage Clause
Title: The Marriage Clause
Character: Secretary
Released: September 12, 1926
Type: Movie
A Broadway actress becomes a star due to the guidance of her director. The two fall in love, but are prevented from marrying due to a clause put into her contract by her producer.
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For Heaven's Sake
Title: For Heaven's Sake
Character: Harold's Secretary (uncredited)
Released: April 5, 1926
Type: Movie
An irresponsible young millionaire changes his tune when he falls for the daughter of a downtown minister.
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A Woman of the World
Title: A Woman of the World
Character: French-speaking party guest
Released: December 28, 1925
Type: Movie
A European countess, after being betrayed by her lover, goes to live in small town Middle America with her cousins and causes havoc among the rather puritanical community members.
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The Last Edition
Title: The Last Edition
Character: Yes Man
Released: November 8, 1925
Type: Movie
A twenty-year veteran of the printing room of The San Francisco Chronicle is passed up for a promotion at the same time his son is accused of graft and involved in scandal. The historical landmarks of old San Francisco are present: The Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Building, City Hall and the Pickwick Hotel-- but they don't distract from the dramatic and emotional perforamces at the film's center.
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The Extra Girl
Title: The Extra Girl
Character: Financier
Released: October 28, 1923
Type: Movie
Sue Graham is a small town girl who wants to be a motion picture star. She wins a contract when a picture of a very pretty girl is sent to a studio instead of her picture. When she arrives in Hollywood, the mistake is discovered and she starts working in the props department of the studio instead. Her parents then come out to California and invest some money with a very shifty individual.
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The Tiger's Claw
Title: The Tiger's Claw
Character: Army Officer
Released: April 22, 1923
Type: Movie
Jack Holt plays Sam Sandell, an American engineer working in India who rescues a pretty half-caste girl (Aileen Pringle) from a tiger's attack, but is badly wounded himself. The girl, Chameli Brentwood, nurses him back to health and out of gratitude he marries her, ignoring the fact that he has a fiancée, Harriet Halehurst (Eva Novak), back home.
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Making a Man
Title: Making a Man
Character: Bailey
Released: December 17, 1922
Type: Movie
Jack Holt, as Horace Winsby, the lead character. Winsby is a millionaire beet sugar king who owns nearly all of California's San Geronimo Valley -- and he has mortgages on what's left over. But he's also a condescending snob who has no mercy for his debtors and that wins him no friends. He even patronizes Patricia Owens, the girl he loves (Eva Novak), and she turns down his marriage proposal.
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The Ninety and Nine
Title: The Ninety and Nine
Character: Abner Blake
Released: December 17, 1922
Type: Movie
Melodramatic thriller, presented in 9.5mm format
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One a Minute
Title: One a Minute
Character: Rogers' Attorney (uncredited)
Released: June 19, 1921
Type: Movie
An excellent silent comedy starring unjustly forgotten star Douglas MacLean. Its indictment of pharmaceutical entrepreneurs is far sharper than Side Effects'.
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Traveling Salesman
Title: Traveling Salesman
Character: Pierce Gill
Released: June 5, 1921
Type: Movie
A practical joke makes a man get off before his intended stop, leading to all sorts of trouble.
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The Fourteenth Man
Title: The Fourteenth Man
Character: Tidmarsh
Released: September 1, 1920
Type: Movie
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Seven Keys to Baldpate
Title: Seven Keys to Baldpate
Character: Clerk
Released: October 16, 1917
Type: Movie
A writer bets a publisher friend that he can write a 10,000-word novel in 24 hours. The publisher takes the bet, and gives him the "only key" to his Baldpate Inn, which has been closed for the winter, so he can write in complete seclusion. Things start heating up, though, when a succession of people who also have keys to the inn begin showing up.