John Ridgely

John Ridgely

Born: September 6, 1909
Died: January 18, 1968
in Chicago, Illinois, USA
​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Ridgely (born John Huntington Rea, September 6, 1909 – January 18, 1968) was an American film character actor with over 175 film credits.

He appeared in the 1946 Humphrey Bogart film The Big Sleep as blackmailing gangster Eddie Mars and had a memorable role as a suffering heart patient in the film noir Nora Prentiss (1947). He appeared in a large number of other Warner Bros. films in the 1930s and 1940s.

Freelancing after 1948, John Ridgely continued to essay general-purpose parts until he left films in 1953. Thereafter, he worked in summer-theater productions and television until his death from a heart attack at the age of 58 in 1968.

Movies for John Ridgely...

Off Limits
Title: Off Limits
Character: Lt. Cmdr. Parnell
Released: December 30, 1952
Type: Movie
Wally Hogan has things going his way. He is the manager-trainer of Bullet Bradley, a fighter who has just won the lightweight championship. However, life suddenly takes a not-so-happy turn when Bullet gets drafted.
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The Greatest Show on Earth
Title: The Greatest Show on Earth
Character: Assistant Manager
Released: February 16, 1952
Type: Movie
To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
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Fort Osage
Title: Fort Osage
Character: Henry Travers
Released: February 10, 1952
Type: Movie
Rod Cameron stars as frontier scout Tim Clay, assigned to guide a wagon train through Indian territory. Clay knows that he's in for a lot of trouble because of the treaty-violating activities of white criminals Pickett and Keane. Fortunately for the hero, Pickett and Keane double-cross each other somewhere along the line, weakening their ability to foment an all-out Indian attack.
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Room for One More
Title: Room for One More
Character: Harry Foreman
Released: January 10, 1952
Type: Movie
Anne and "Poppy" Rose have three quirky kids. Anne has a generous heart and the belief in the innocence of children. To the unhappy surprise of her husband she takes in the orphan Jane, a problem child who already tried to kill herself once.
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The Blue Veil
Title: The Blue Veil
Character: Doctor (Uncredited)
Released: October 26, 1951
Type: Movie
A World War I widow loses her only child and spends the rest of her life as a children's nurse.
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As You Were
Title: As You Were
Character: Captain
Released: October 5, 1951
Type: Movie
In a train station, Army recruiting sergeant Ames attempts to enlist a group of young men with blandishments of travel and glamour in the Army.
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A Place in the Sun
Title: A Place in the Sun
Character: Coroner
Released: June 12, 1951
Type: Movie
An ambitious young man wins an heiress's heart but has to cope with his former girlfriend's pregnancy.
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When the Redskins Rode
Title: When the Redskins Rode
Character: Christopher Gist
Released: May 30, 1951
Type: Movie
A French spy (Mary Castle) flirts with an Indian chief's son (Jon Hall) amid war in 1753 Williamsburg, Va.
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Half Angel
Title: Half Angel
Character: Tim McCarey
Released: May 5, 1951
Type: Movie
Nurse Nora Gilpin plans are to marry building contractor Tim McCarey and settle down. But one night a sleepwalking Nora slips into a provocative dress and goes to the home of startled lawyer John Raymond, for whom she doesn't care much during the day. She does not reveal her name and he cannot figure out where they have met, but they spend several hours together until she gets away before John notices.
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Thunder in God's Country
Title: Thunder in God's Country
Character: Bill Stafford
Released: April 7, 1951
Type: Movie
Hidden Valley has managed to retain its Old Western atmosphere, free of modern-day corruption, until escaped convict Smitty arrives with plans of taking over and opening the town up as a gambling resort. It's up to Rex Allen and his pals to put a stop to it and sing a few songs along the way.
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The Last Outpost
Title: The Last Outpost
Character: Sam McQuade
Released: April 4, 1951
Type: Movie
The cavalry defend a small town from indians.
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Al Jennings of Oklahoma
Title: Al Jennings of Oklahoma
Character: Railroad Detective Dan Hanes
Released: January 17, 1951
Type: Movie
Bank robber serves his time in prison, tries to go straight.
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Saddle Tramp
Title: Saddle Tramp
Character: Slim
Released: September 21, 1950
Type: Movie
Carefree Chuck Connor is on his way west and stops off to see an old friend and his four lads. When his host is killed in a riding accident Chuck realises he must take care of the family. They hit the road and he takes a job on a ranch, but he has to keep the children hidden as his boss hates kids. There's also tension with the neighbouring ranch, and when a girl on the run from her nasty uncle joins the family unannounced Chuck wonders what he has done to deserve all this.
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Pal, Canine Detective
Title: Pal, Canine Detective
Character: Gary's Father
Released: September 17, 1950
Type: Movie
Gary and his dog Pal are having fun working on make-believe crime cases, though Gary's father, a city detective, disapproves. Gary and Pal soon find themselves involved in a real case involving fur thieves.
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South Sea Sinner
Title: South Sea Sinner
Character: Don Williams
Released: August 30, 1950
Type: Movie
A tramp steamer lands sick crewman Jake Davis on rubber-growing island Oraka, from which voluptuous, bedroom-eyed saloon singer Coral is about to be ejected because "men like her too much." But Coral's slimy boss Cognac gets her a reprieve so she can learn Jake's secret.
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The Petty Girl
Title: The Petty Girl
Character: Patrolman
Released: August 17, 1950
Type: Movie
An artist famous for his calendar portraits of beautiful women becomes fascinated by a prim and proper professor and tries to get her to pose for his arwork. She declines his offer, but he's determined not to take no for an answer.
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Edge of Doom
Title: Edge of Doom
Character: Detective #1
Released: August 3, 1950
Type: Movie
A priest sets out to catch the man who killed one of his colleagues.
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The Lost Volcano
Title: The Lost Volcano
Character: Fred Barton
Released: June 25, 1950
Type: Movie
Little David Gordon lives in the jungle with his parents Ruth and Fred, along with their servant Nona. David likes living there while his father captures wild animals; he's made friends with Bomba the jungle boy, who has shown him a great deal about life in the jungle. One day two adventurers come looking for ancient treasure in the shadow of a live volcano.
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Beauty on Parade
Title: Beauty on Parade
Character: Jeffrey Woodstock
Released: May 4, 1950
Type: Movie
Marian Medford Woodstock gave up a chance twenty years ago to compete for the Miss USA beauty title in order to marry Jeffrey Woodstock. She hopes to realize her past ambitions for fame and fortune through her daughter Kay, whom she persuades to enter a local beauty contest. Kay wins and is interviewed by reporter Gil McRoberts, who advises her to get married and settle down. Jeffrey is very upset with his wife's and daughter's passion for beauty contests and, when Kay enters the national contest, he informs Marian that she must choose between him and her chase after empty honors for Kay.
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Backfire
Title: Backfire
Character: Plainclothesman (uncredited)
Released: January 26, 1950
Type: Movie
When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey goes on a search for his army buddy Steve Connolly. A reformed crook, Connolly is on the lam from a trumped-up murder rap, and Corey hopes to clear his pal. Tagging along is Army nurse Julie Benson, who has fallen for Corey.
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Border Incident
Title: Border Incident
Character: Mr. Neley
Released: October 28, 1949
Type: Movie
The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
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Once More, My Darling
Title: Once More, My Darling
Character: Burke
Released: September 10, 1949
Type: Movie
An actor is recalled to active duty with the Army's C.I.D. to find the thief who stole historical jewels in occupied Germany and the trail leads to the boyfriend of a young debutante from Bel Air.
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Task Force
Title: Task Force
Character: Dixie Rankin
Released: August 30, 1949
Type: Movie
After learning the finer points of carrier aviation in the 1920s, career officer Jonathan Scott and his pals spend the next two decades promoting the superiority of naval air power. But military and political "red tape" continually frustrate their efforts, prompting Scott to even consider leaving the Navy for a more lucrative civilian job. Then the world enters a second World War and Scott finally gets the opportunity to prove to Washington the valuable role aircraft carriers could play in winning the conflict. But what will it cost him and his comrades personally?
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Tucson
Title: Tucson
Character: Ben
Released: April 27, 1949
Type: Movie
The story of Andy Bryant, a University of Arizona student whose grades suffer because of his preoccupation with an upcoming intercollegiate rodeo. Andy's father is more interested in embarrassing a rival at the rodeo than he is with his son's academic progress. When his lack of focus nearly causes a tragic accident in the university chemistry lab, Andy decides to hunker down and study.
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Command Decision
Title: Command Decision
Character: James Carwood
Released: December 23, 1948
Type: Movie
High-ranking officers struggle with the decision to prioritize bombing German factories producing new jet fighters over the extremely high casualties the mission will cost.
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Trouble Makers
Title: Trouble Makers
Character: 'Silky' Thomas
Released: December 10, 1948
Type: Movie
Slip and Sach are in the sidewalk star-gazing business when they see a murder committed in a room at the El Royale Hotel.
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Luxury Liner
Title: Luxury Liner
Character: Chief Officer Carver
Released: November 9, 1948
Type: Movie
Capt. Jeremy Bradford has a particularly exciting luxury liner cruise in store when he's charged with transporting a troupe of opera singers to Rio de Janeiro. Anxious to become a singer herself, Bradford's young daughter, Polly, decides to skip out on school and sneak onto the ship before it departs. Angry that his daughter disobeyed him, Bradford puts her to work on the ship for punishment, but Polly has her own ideas about how to spend the trip.
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Sealed Verdict
Title: Sealed Verdict
Character: Lance Nissen
Released: November 5, 1948
Type: Movie
John Hoyt plays a high-ranking Nazi being prosecuted by an army tribunal in the aftermath of World War II. Sentenced to death, the general appeals to the American investigating Major (Ray Milland), claiming mitigating circumstances, and providing the names of witnesses who will clear his name. This sends the Major in a search through the ruins of post-war Germany to determine the degree of the general's guilt.
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Night Wind
Title: Night Wind
Character: Walters
Released: September 1, 1948
Type: Movie
A boy tries to protect his dog, a German shepherd that served with U.S. Army forces after it begins attacking strangers several years after the war.
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High Wall
Title: High Wall
Character: Assistant District Attorney David Wallace (as John Ridgeley)
Released: December 17, 1947
Type: Movie
Steven Kenet, suffering from a recurring brain injury, appears to have strangled his wife. Having confessed, he's committed to an understaffed county asylum full of pathetic inmates. There, Dr. Ann Lorrison is initially skeptical about Kenet's story and reluctance to undergo treatment. But against her better judgement, she begins to doubt his guilt.
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Cry Wolf
Title: Cry Wolf
Character: Jackson Laidell
Released: August 19, 1947
Type: Movie
A woman uncovers deadly secrets when she visits her late husband's family.
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That's My Man
Title: That's My Man
Character: Ramsey
Released: June 1, 1947
Type: Movie
A poor young man is finally able to achieve his dream of running a horse at the track, but when he starts becoming successful, he begins to lose sight of what mattered to him before.
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Possessed
Title: Possessed
Character: Chief investigator of drowning
Released: May 29, 1947
Type: Movie
After being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor the complex story of how she wound up there.
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Nora Prentiss
Title: Nora Prentiss
Character: Walter Bailey, Heart Patient
Released: February 22, 1947
Type: Movie
Quiet, organised Dr Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a street accident. Despite her misgivings they become heavily involved and Talbot finds he is faced with the choice of leaving Nora or divorcing his wife. When a patient expires in his office, a third option seems to present itself.
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That Way with Women
Title: That Way with Women
Character: Sam
Released: February 14, 1947
Type: Movie
A bored millionaire matches his daughter with his partner in a gas station.
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The Man I Love
Title: The Man I Love
Character: Roy Otis
Released: December 26, 1946
Type: Movie
Tough torch singer Petey Brown, visiting her family, finds a nest of troubles: her sister, brother, and the neighbor's wife are involved in various ways with shady nightclub owner Nicky Toresca. Petey has what it takes to handle Nicky, but then she meets San Thomas, formerly great jazz pianist now on the skids, and falls for him hard.
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The Big Sleep
Title: The Big Sleep
Character: Eddie Mars
Released: August 23, 1946
Type: Movie
Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.
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Two Guys from Milwaukee
Title: Two Guys from Milwaukee
Character: Mike Collins
Released: July 26, 1946
Type: Movie
Balkan Prince Henry has two wishes, to meet Lauren Bacall and see the "real" America. He befriends cabbie Buzz Williams and, without knowing the microphone is live, the two stage a debate on democracy versus monarchy broadcast back to the Prince's homeland. A plebiscite there puts Henry out of a job. Flying to Milwaukee to become a beer salesman, he meets Bacall on the seat next to his, but a tap on his shoulder means he must give up his seat (and dream) to Bogie.
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My Reputation
Title: My Reputation
Character: Cary Abbott
Released: January 25, 1946
Type: Movie
Tongues begin to wag when a lonely widow becomes romantically involved with a military man. Problems arise when the gossip is filtered down to her own children.
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Danger Signal
Title: Danger Signal
Character: Thomas Turner
Released: November 21, 1945
Type: Movie
After robbing and murdering his married lover and then making her death look like suicide, conniving philanderer Ronnie Mason relocates to Los Angeles. Under a new identity and claiming to be a writer, Ronnie finds lodging at the home of Hilda Fenchurch and her mother. He woos Hilda, knowing she has money, but when he discovers that Hilda's sister, Anne, has just inherited $25,000, he switches his attentions to her.
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Pride of the Marines
Title: Pride of the Marines
Character: Jim Merchant
Released: August 24, 1945
Type: Movie
Marine hero Al Schmid is blinded in battle and returns home to be rehabilitated. He readjusts to his civilian life with the help of his soon to be wife.
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God Is My Co-Pilot
Title: God Is My Co-Pilot
Character: David 'Tex' Hill
Released: April 7, 1945
Type: Movie
Robert L. Scott has dreamed his whole life of being a fighter pilot, but when war comes he finds himself flying transport planes over The Hump into China. In China, he persuades General Chennault to let him fly with the famed Flying Tigers, the heroic band of airmen who'd been fighting the Japanese long before Pearl Harbor. Scott gets his chance to fight, ultimately engaging in combat with the deadly Japanese pilot known as Tokyo Joe.
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Hollywood Canteen
Title: Hollywood Canteen
Character: Self
Released: December 15, 1944
Type: Movie
Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at a club offering free of charge food, dancing, and entertainment for servicemen on their way overseas. Club founders Bette Davis and John Garfield give talks on the history of the place.
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The Doughgirls
Title: The Doughgirls
Character: Julian Cadman
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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Arsenic and Old Lace
Title: Arsenic and Old Lace
Character: Officer Saunders
Released: September 1, 1944
Type: Movie
Mortimer Brewster, a newspaper drama critic, playwright, and author known for his diatribes against marriage, suddenly falls in love and gets married; but when he makes a quick trip home to tell his two maiden aunts, he finds out his aunts' hobby - killing lonely old men and burying them in the cellar!
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Destination Tokyo
Title: Destination Tokyo
Character: Reserve Officer Raymond
Released: December 31, 1943
Type: Movie
During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.
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Northern Pursuit
Title: Northern Pursuit
Character: Jim Austen
Released: November 7, 1943
Type: Movie
Canadian Mountie Steve Wagner captures a German Luftwaffe officer on a spy mission, who later escapes from the prison camp. To catch the spy ring, the Mounties employ a ruse so that the spies, believing Steve to be sympathetic, enlist him in their plans.
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Air Force
Title: Air Force
Character: Pilot
Released: March 20, 1943
Type: Movie
The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.
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Secret Enemies
Title: Secret Enemies
Character: John Trent
Released: September 17, 1942
Type: Movie
FBI agents Carl Becker and John Trent raid a New York hotel, sending Nazi spies to an upstate hunting lodge.
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Wings for the Eagle
Title: Wings for the Eagle
Character: Alec Johnson
Released: July 18, 1942
Type: Movie
Aircraft workers during during World War II become involved in a love triangle.
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The Big Shot
Title: The Big Shot
Character: Tim
Released: June 13, 1942
Type: Movie
Duke Berne, former big shot but now a three-time loser, fears returning to crime because a fourth conviction will mean a life sentence. Finally, haunted by his past and goaded by his cohorts, he joins in planning an armoured car robbery.
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Bullet Scars
Title: Bullet Scars
Character: Hank O'Connor
Released: March 7, 1942
Type: Movie
Dr. Steven Bishop is taken to the hideout of Frank Dillon and his gang to treat the wounded Joe Madison. Joe's nurse sister Nora Madison is also taken. Dillon tells Bishop that if Joe dies, he will be killed, but Bishop knows he will be either way. Joe dies, but Nora and Steve conceal it from Dillon and send a plea for help in a prescription that Bishop writes in Latin.
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The Man Who Came to Dinner
Title: The Man Who Came to Dinner
Character: Radio Man
Released: December 24, 1941
Type: Movie
An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in indefinitely with a Midwestern family.
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Dangerously They Live
Title: Dangerously They Live
Character: John, Nazi Henchman
Released: December 24, 1941
Type: Movie
A doctor tries to rescue a young innocent from Nazi agents.
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Steel Against the Sky
Title: Steel Against the Sky
Character: Joe (uncredited)
Released: December 13, 1941
Type: Movie
Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.
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They Died with Their Boots On
Title: They Died with Their Boots On
Character: 2nd Lt. Davis (uncredited)
Released: November 20, 1941
Type: Movie
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.
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At the Stroke of Twelve
Title: At the Stroke of Twelve
Character: Reporter
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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Nine Lives Are Not Enough
Title: Nine Lives Are Not Enough
Character: Garage Mechanic (uncredited)
Released: September 20, 1941
Type: Movie
A reporter is constantly in trouble for jumping to conclusions.
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Navy Blues
Title: Navy Blues
Character: 'Jersey'
Released: September 13, 1941
Type: Movie
On a layover in Hawaii two conniving Navy seamen borrow money to lay down bets that their ship will win the upcoming gunnery practice trophy, having found out that the current gunnery champ has just transferred aboard their ship. What they haven't learned, however, is that the marksman's enlistment is up before the contest is supposed to take place.
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Highway West
Title: Highway West
Character: Alex, Armored Car Guard
Released: August 7, 1941
Type: Movie
A young woman marries a man who turns out to be a bank robber.
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Million Dollar Baby
Title: Million Dollar Baby
Character: Ollie Ward
Released: May 31, 1941
Type: Movie
A sudden windfall has unexpected consequences on a working class girl during the Great Depression.
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The Wagons Roll at Night
Title: The Wagons Roll at Night
Character: Arch
Released: April 25, 1941
Type: Movie
An escaped circus lion provides the impetus for the meeting of carnival owner Nick Coster and Matt Varney, a small-town man who suddenly becomes a lion tamer when he manages to subdue the big cat. While acclimating to carnival life, Matt begins a romance with Nick's sister, Mary, causing tension between Matt and Nick. The latter must also juggle his stormy relationship with glamorous circus star Flo Lorraine.
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Strange Alibi
Title: Strange Alibi
Character: Tex Alexander (prisoner)
Released: April 19, 1941
Type: Movie
An undercover cop finds himself on the wrong side of the law when the mob discovers his true identity.
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Knockout
Title: Knockout
Character: Pat Martin
Released: March 29, 1941
Type: Movie
Johnny Rocket (Arthur Kennedy) needs to fight one more match to have enough money to get married to Angela (Olympe Bradna) and start on his dream to run and then own a gym. However, his manager makes sure that this does not happen and eventually Johnny embraces being a fighter, but Angela becomes increasingly unhappy.
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Here Comes Happiness
Title: Here Comes Happiness
Character: Jim
Released: March 15, 1941
Type: Movie
Jessica leaves her upper class home to assume an anonymous working class identity. She meets a blue collar guy, Chet and falls in love with the poor but ambitious man. Chet observes a series of suspicious, clandestine meetings with her rich father and his chauffeur which makes him think she is stringing along a "Sugar Daddy" on the side. Financial trickery and sequences of misunderstandings and coincidences culminate with a wedding that turns out much differently than planned.
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The Great Mr. Nobody
Title: The Great Mr. Nobody
Character: Eddie Williams
Released: February 15, 1941
Type: Movie
A publicity man promotes his newspaper, but finds his boss always steals the credit.
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Skinnay Ennis and His Orchestra
Title: Skinnay Ennis and His Orchestra
Character: Assistant (uncredited)
Released: January 4, 1941
Type: Movie
Skinnay Ennis leads his orchestra as they play "Three Little Words," "Let's Do It," and "Birth of the Blues". He also sings his composition "A Boy, A Girl and the Lamplight."
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March On, Marines
Title: March On, Marines
Character: Hap
Released: December 14, 1940
Type: Movie
Marine Sergeant Bob Lansing has just completed a tour of duty in the Pacific and is off to study at the Officer's Academy in Annapolis if he passes the entrance exam. He soon finds out that his younger brother, Jimmy Lansing, just recently made sergeant as well, will also be taking the exam with him. The Lansing brothers are hard working and patriotic military men and both deserve to be accepted into the Academy, but they learn there is only one spot available. As entrance into Annapolis is dependent both on their exam results and their record, they are encouraged by the base colonel to enter into a friendly rivalry for the three weeks on the base prior to the exam. They also enter into a friendly rivalry for the affections of Penelope Hayworth, the admiral's daughter.
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Lady with Red Hair
Title: Lady with Red Hair
Character: Actor Playing Paul (uncredited)
Released: November 30, 1940
Type: Movie
An actress hopes to regain her lost son by making it to the top.
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The Letter
Title: The Letter
Character: Driver (uncredited)
Released: November 21, 1940
Type: Movie
After a woman shoots a man to death, a damning letter she wrote raises suspicions.
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Father Is A Prince
Title: Father Is A Prince
Character: Salesman
Released: November 18, 1940
Type: Movie
Carpet-sweeper manufacturer John Bower has no patience with inefficiency, lawyers, or vacuum cleaners. He's a bit of a skinflint, too. His family thinks he works too hard. He feels inferior for not having gone to college, so now he doesn't want his children going, either. His daughter Connie is afraid to break the news of her engagement to Gary Lee, especially since not only is Gary a lawyer and a college grad, but his father owns a vacuum-cleaner company, too.
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No Time for Comedy
Title: No Time for Comedy
Character: Cashier (uncredited)
Released: September 14, 1940
Type: Movie
An aspiring playwright finds himself an overnight Broadway success.
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Service with the Colors
Title: Service with the Colors
Character: Army Lieutenant (uncredited)
Released: August 31, 1940
Type: Movie
Service with the Colors is a 1940 American short drama film directed by B. Reeves Eason. This drama is "dedicated to the soldiers of the United States Army." Men with diverse backgrounds enlist in the army and are all assigned to the same post. Some adapt easily to army life, while others have trouble making the adjustment. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 13th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).
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Money and the Woman
Title: Money and the Woman
Character: Doctor (uncredited)
Released: August 17, 1940
Type: Movie
An embezzler's wife begs his boss for forgiveness, only to fall in love with him.
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River's End
Title: River's End
Character: Jeffers
Released: August 10, 1940
Type: Movie
An escaped criminal pretends to be a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in order to prove his innocence of murder. Star Dennis Morgan plays two roles.
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They Drive by Night
Title: They Drive by Night
Character: Hank Dawson (uncredited)
Released: July 26, 1940
Type: Movie
Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.
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The Man Who Talked Too Much
Title: The Man Who Talked Too Much
Character: Brooks
Released: July 16, 1940
Type: Movie
A young law graduate joins his older brother's legal practice, only to discover the firm's clients are mostly mobsters. Director Vincent Sherman's 1940 crime melodrama stars George Brent, William Lundigan, Richard Barthelmess, Virginia Bruce, Brenda Marshall, Marc Lawrence, Henry Armetta, George Tobias, John Litel, Alan Baxter, Louis Jean Heydt, Clarence Kolb, Sam McDaniel and Mary Gordon.
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Brother Orchid
Title: Brother Orchid
Character: Texas Pearson
Released: June 7, 1940
Type: Movie
When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.
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Flight Angels
Title: Flight Angels
Character: Lt. Parsons
Released: May 18, 1940
Type: Movie
Federal Airlines ace pilot Chick Faber is grounded by Flight Superintendent Bill Graves when a doctor says his eyesight is failing. Aided by Mary Norvell and Nan Hudson, Graves persuades Chick to take a job as teacher in the school for airline hostesses, and Chick and Mary get married. He learns that the Army is going to test a stratosphere plane that he and Artie Dixon designed and feels that he should make the first flight but permission is refused.
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Torrid Zone
Title: Torrid Zone
Character: Gardner
Released: May 18, 1940
Type: Movie
A Central American plantation manager and his boss battle over a traveling showgirl.
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Saturday's Children
Title: Saturday's Children
Character: Mr. MacReady (voice) (uncredited)
Released: May 4, 1940
Type: Movie
An inventor and his bride get testy in the city as they try to make ends meet.
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'Til We Meet Again
Title: 'Til We Meet Again
Character: Junior Officer (uncredited)
Released: April 20, 1940
Type: Movie
Dying Joan Ames meets criminal Dan Hardesty on a luxury liner as he is being transported back to America by policeman Steve Burke to face execution. Joan and Dan fall in love, their fates unbeknownst to one another.
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Alice in Movieland
Title: Alice in Movieland
Character: Bill (uncredited)
Released: March 3, 1940
Type: Movie
In a U.S. town that could be anywhere, 18-year-old Alice Purdee wins a free trip to Hollywood. With the assistance of a cheerful porter, she takes the night train and dreams about her arrival. Instead of instant success, she meets disappointment after disappointment, and she needs the unexpected encouragement of her grandmother and an aging, former star whom she meets at a talent night. Finally, she gets a call to be an extra, and she's so hopeful that the regulars decide to make a fool of her. Is this the end of Alice's dream? Not if the porter has anything to say about it.
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Teddy the Rough Rider
Title: Teddy the Rough Rider
Character: Reporter
Released: February 21, 1940
Type: Movie
This short follows the political career of Theodore Roosevelt, beginning in 1895, when he was appointed police commissioner of New York City. In 1897 he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy. His charge up San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War in 1898 is re-created. He becomes vice president in March 1901 and assumes the presidency when William McKinley is assassinated six months later. According to the narrator, Roosevelt refused to be beholden to political bosses, doing what he believed to be right for the American people.
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Castle on the Hudson
Title: Castle on the Hudson
Character: Intake Guard (uncredited)
Released: February 17, 1940
Type: Movie
A hardened crook behind bars comes up against a reform-minded warden.
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The Fighting 69th
Title: The Fighting 69th
Character: Moran (uncredited)
Released: January 27, 1940
Type: Movie
Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.
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Spills for Thrills
Title: Spills for Thrills
Character: Movie Director (uncredited)
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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Invisible Stripes
Title: Invisible Stripes
Character: Employment Clerk (uncredited)
Released: December 30, 1939
Type: Movie
A gangster is unable to go straight after returning home from prison.
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Private Detective
Title: Private Detective
Character: Donald Norton
Released: December 9, 1939
Type: Movie
A female private eye joins forces with a police detective to investigate the suspicious murder of a millionaire.
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A Child Is Born
Title: A Child Is Born
Character: Intern Going to See Operation (uncredited)
Released: December 7, 1939
Type: Movie
A pregnant prison inmate shares her problems with the patients in a maternity ward.
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The Return of Doctor X
Title: The Return of Doctor X
Character: Rodgers
Released: November 23, 1939
Type: Movie
When news reporter Walter Garrett arrives at the hotel room of bombshell actress Angela Merrova to conduct an interview, he finds her dead from multiple stab wounds. He returns with the police to find the hotel empty and the body vanished. Garrett writes about the incident but is fired when Merrova, alive and well, goes to the paper to complain. Now his only chance to get his job back is to find the truth, which involves the grisly scheme of a madman.
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On Dress Parade
Title: On Dress Parade
Character: Fort Lewis Firing Range Sergeant (uncredited)
Released: November 18, 1939
Type: Movie
The final feature in the "Dead End Kids" film series finds a youth trying to adjust to life at a military school.
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Kid Nightingale
Title: Kid Nightingale
Character: Whitey
Released: November 4, 1939
Type: Movie
A waiter becomes a singing prizefighter.
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The Roaring Twenties
Title: The Roaring Twenties
Character: Cabbie at Grand Central (uncredited)
Released: October 28, 1939
Type: Movie
After World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.
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Smashing the Money Ring
Title: Smashing the Money Ring
Character: Policeman (uncredited)
Released: October 21, 1939
Type: Movie
T-Man Brass Bancroft goes undercover in a prison which has a secret counterfeit operation set up in the print shop.
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Slapsie Maxie's
Title: Slapsie Maxie's
Character: Reporter (uncredited)
Released: September 16, 1939
Type: Movie
In this comedic short, when a waiter accidentally knocks out boxing champ Tiger Dorsey in Slapsie Maxie's restaurant, Maxie arranges a boxing match between the reluctant waiter and the champ.
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Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Title: Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Character: Reporter
Released: September 9, 1939
Type: Movie
Nancy helps two aging spinsters fulfill the byzantine provisions of their father's will, but the murder of their chauffeur complicates matters.
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Angels Wash Their Faces
Title: Angels Wash Their Faces
Character: Reporter at Pillory (uncredited)
Released: August 26, 1939
Type: Movie
A young man just released from a reformatory moves to a new neighborhood with his sister, intending to start a new life. However, he gets mixed up with the local mob boss and corrupt politicians and soon finds himself being framed for an arson and murder he didn't commit.
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Everybody's Hobby
Title: Everybody's Hobby
Character: Ranger Mike Morgan
Released: August 26, 1939
Type: Movie
A hobby-mad family makes their obsessions pay off.
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The Bill of Rights
Title: The Bill of Rights
Character: Massachusetts Congressman
Released: August 19, 1939
Type: Movie
This short subject is a lavish costumed color production which dramatizes the birth of the American Bill of Rights. It depicts leading political figures of the American Revolution and the despotic British colonial rule which led to the creation of the Bill of Rights.
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Each Dawn I Die
Title: Each Dawn I Die
Character: Reporter (uncredited)
Released: August 19, 1939
Type: Movie
A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
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Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite
Title: Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite
Character: Reporter at Match
Released: August 12, 1939
Type: Movie
Torchy Blane and Steve McBride try to nab a gangster by tracking his moll.
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Indianapolis Speedway
Title: Indianapolis Speedway
Character: Ted Horn
Released: August 5, 1939
Type: Movie
A champion auto racer who unhappily learns his kid brother wants to enter the same profession rather than finish school.
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The Cowboy Quarterback
Title: The Cowboy Quarterback
Character: Mr. Walters
Released: July 29, 1939
Type: Movie
Football scout for the Chicago Packers Rusty Walker signs Harry Lynn, a legendary broken-field runner. Harry won't leave his home town without his girlfriend Maizie Williams. He gets tangled up with gamblers and Rusty's girl Evelyn Corey makes a play for him.
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Quiet, Please
Title: Quiet, Please
Character: Sears' Assistant (uncredited)
Released: July 1, 1939
Type: Movie
A temperamental director multiple times completely changes the concept during a movie's production.
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Naughty But Nice
Title: Naughty But Nice
Character: Harry, Hudson's Assistant (uncredited)
Released: June 23, 1939
Type: Movie
Donald Hardwick (Dick Powell) is a stuffed-shirt, classical music professor. His family and small-town music college that he works are of equal mindset. When Don visits his black-sheep aunt in New York in order to find a buyer for his Rhapsody he is exposed to her shocking swing music crowd. His life begins to make dramatic changes after drinking a "lemonade" that turns out to be a Hurricane.
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Torchy Runs for Mayor
Title: Torchy Runs for Mayor
Character: Photographer in Mayor's Office (uncredited)
Released: May 13, 1939
Type: Movie
Torchy conducts a one woman campaign against a corrupt mayor and crime boss, and when the reform candidate is murdered, she takes up the banner.
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Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Title: Confessions of a Nazi Spy
Character: Army Hospital Clerk (uncredited)
Released: May 6, 1939
Type: Movie
FBI agent Ed Renard investigates the pre-War espionage activities of the German-American Bund.
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Dark Victory
Title: Dark Victory
Character: Man Making Crack About Judith (uncredited)
Released: April 20, 1939
Type: Movie
Socialite Judith Traherne lives a lavish but emotionally empty life. Riding horses is one of her few joys, and her stable master is secretly in love with her. Told she has a brain tumor by her doctor, Frederick Steele, Judith becomes distraught. After she decides to have surgery to remove the tumor, Judith realizes she is in love with Dr. Steele, but more troubling medical news may sabotage her new relationship, and her second chance at life.
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Women in the Wind
Title: Women in the Wind
Character: Salesman (uncredited)
Released: April 15, 1939
Type: Movie
A famous aviator helps an amateur enter a cross-country air race for women.
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On Trial
Title: On Trial
Character: Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Released: April 1, 1939
Type: Movie
An ambitious attorney (Edward Norris) tries to prove a man (John Litel) who killed to protect his wife's (Margaret Lindsay) honor was justified.
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You Can't Get Away with Murder
Title: You Can't Get Away with Murder
Character: Gas Station Proprietor
Released: March 23, 1939
Type: Movie
Johnnie learns crime from petty thug Frank Wilson. When Wilson kills a pawnbroker with a gun stolen from Johnnie's sister Madge's fiance Fred Burke, Fred goes to Sing Sing's death house. Wilson uses all the pressure can to keep Johnnie silent, even after he and Johnnie themselves wind up in the big house.
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The Adventures of Jane Arden
Title: The Adventures of Jane Arden
Character: Reporter
Released: March 18, 1939
Type: Movie
Reporter Jane Arden goes undercover to try to expose a gang of jewel thieves and smugglers. Her mission becomes more dangerous when her identity is discovered early on by one of the gang leaders.
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Secret Service of the Air
Title: Secret Service of the Air
Character: Joe LeRoy
Released: March 4, 1939
Type: Movie
Brass Bancroft and his sidekick Gabby Watters are recruited onto the secret service and go undercover to crack a ruthless gang that smuggles illegal aliens.
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Nancy Drew... Reporter
Title: Nancy Drew... Reporter
Character: Beldenburg Hotel Desk Clerk (uncredited)
Released: February 18, 1939
Type: Movie
While participating in a contest at a local newspaper in which school children are asked to submit a news story, local attorney Carson Drew's daughter Nancy intercepts a real story assignment. She "covers" the inquest of the death of a woman who was poisoned. Nancy doesn't think the young woman accused of the crime is guilty and corrals her neighbor Ted into searching for a vital piece of evidence and stumbles onto the identity of the real killer.
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Wings of the Navy
Title: Wings of the Navy
Character: Dan Morrison
Released: February 11, 1939
Type: Movie
Jerry tries to out compete his older brother Cass, a lieutenant Naval aviator. Cass is both tough on and protective of his brother, but Jerry can give it right back.
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Torchy Blane in Chinatown
Title: Torchy Blane in Chinatown
Character: Officer (uncredited)
Released: February 2, 1939
Type: Movie
Torchy Blane joins her police-detective fiance to solve a series of murders involving a set of Chinese grave tablets taken and sold to a collector and death-threats written in Chinese characters.
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They Made Me a Criminal
Title: They Made Me a Criminal
Character: Charles 'Charlie' Magee (Reporter)
Released: January 21, 1939
Type: Movie
A boxer flees, believing he has committed a murder while he was drunk.
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King of the Underworld
Title: King of the Underworld
Character: Jerry
Released: January 14, 1939
Type: Movie
Physician Carole Nelson, suspected of having ties to notorious gangster Joe Gurney, must prove her innocence or the Medical Board will revoke her license. When Gurney seeks her out for treatment after being shot, it could be the break Nelson needs. Now she has a chance to use her medical know-how to outwit Gurney and his goons and reestablish her professional reputation.
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Going Places
Title: Going Places
Character: Desk Clerk
Released: December 31, 1938
Type: Movie
A sports store clerk poses as a famous jockey as an advertising stunt, but gets more than he bargained for.
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Nancy Drew… Detective
Title: Nancy Drew… Detective
Character: Radio Station Technician (uncredited)
Released: November 19, 1938
Type: Movie
After a wealthy dowager who has made a substantial donation to her alma mater suddenly disappears, Nancy Drew sets out to solve the mystery.
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Torchy Gets Her Man
Title: Torchy Gets Her Man
Character: Henchman Bugs
Released: November 12, 1938
Type: Movie
A notorious counterfeiter passes himself off as a Secret Service agent to Steve and gets him to unwittingly help him bilk the racetrack out of tens of thousands.
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Hard to Get
Title: Hard to Get
Character: Burke
Released: November 5, 1938
Type: Movie
When spoiled young heiress Maggie Richards tries to charge some gasoline at an auto camp run by Bill Davis, he makes her work out her bill by making beds. Resolving to get even, she pretends to have forgiven him, and sends him to her father to get financing for a plan Bill has. What happens next was not part of her original revenge plan.
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Garden of the Moon
Title: Garden of the Moon
Character: Sound Control Engineer (uncredited)
Released: September 23, 1938
Type: Movie
Don Vincente is determined to make a success of himself and his band. He gets his break by performing at the Garden of the Moon, which is broadcast over the radio. The problem is that John Quinn is the club's ruthless, scheming manager who will do anything to keep Vincente under his thumb. John's assistant, Toni Blake, falls for Vincente, complicating the escalating war.
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Boy Meets Girl
Title: Boy Meets Girl
Character: Simmons - Friday's Film Cutter
Released: August 27, 1938
Type: Movie
Two lazy screenwriters need a story for the studio's cowboy star. A studio waitress turns out to be pregnant. This gives them the idea for a movie about a cowboy and a baby. The waitress's baby becomes the star. The cowboy and his agent run off with the waitress and her valuable asset. The writers retaliate by hiring an unemployed extra to impersonate the baby's father. But the extra already knows the waitress...
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Racket Busters
Title: Racket Busters
Character: Yellow Stripe Truck Driver (uncredited)
Released: July 16, 1938
Type: Movie
A trucker with a pregnant wife fights a New York mobster's protection racket.
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Cowboy from Brooklyn
Title: Cowboy from Brooklyn
Character: Beacon Reporter
Released: July 9, 1938
Type: Movie
A singing cowboy turns out to be a tenderfoot.
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My Bill
Title: My Bill
Character: Mr. Martin, Florist
Released: July 8, 1938
Type: Movie
An impoverished widow fights scandal for the sake of her four children.
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White Banners
Title: White Banners
Character: Charles Ellis
Released: June 23, 1938
Type: Movie
A homeless woman named Hannah drifts into the lives of the kindly Ward family, in a small Indiana town in 1919. Hannah makes herself useful as a cook and housekeeper and stays with the Wards... but her real interest is in meeting their neighbor, teenager Peter Trimble. It turns out that Peter is the son she bore out of wedlock and gave up for adoption, and now Hannah has returned to town to see what sort of young man her son has become.
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Little Miss Thoroughbred
Title: Little Miss Thoroughbred
Character: Jim (aka Slug)
Released: June 4, 1938
Type: Movie
A young orphan girl wants a small-time gambler to be her father.
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Western Trails
Title: Western Trails
Character: Ben McClure
Released: May 31, 1938
Type: Movie
In a remake of Dawn Trail, Bob Mason is wounded chasing the killers of his father. During his recovery, his nurse is Alice whom his friend Ben plans to marry. He eventually learns the killer was Alice's brother Rudd. But Rudd convinces Ben that Bob is taking Alice away from him. So Ben removes the bullets from Bob's gun just before Bob goes off to face Rudd.
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Torchy Blane in Panama
Title: Torchy Blane in Panama
Character: Sparks (as John Ridgeley)
Released: May 7, 1938
Type: Movie
Torchy, Steve, and Gahagan are on the trail of a bank robber aboard an ocean liner traveling from New York to L.A. via the Panama Canal.
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He Couldn't Say No
Title: He Couldn't Say No
Character: Man-On-The-Street Reporter
Released: March 19, 1938
Type: Movie
A lowly office clerk angers his fiancee and future mother-in-law by spending money intended for marriage furniture on a statue of a pretty girl, which he refuses to part with at any cost.
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Forbidden Valley
Title: Forbidden Valley
Character: Duke Lafferty
Released: February 13, 1938
Type: Movie
In this youth-oriented western, a young man's father is wrongfully accused of murder. Unfortunately, his pa can't prove it and so flees into the rugged mountains. He brings his boy with him. In those lonely hills lives a sad, but wealthy young woman. Love blossoms between the son and the girl as the son struggles to clear his father's name and bring the real villains to justice.
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Blondes at Work
Title: Blondes at Work
Character: Regan
Released: February 5, 1938
Type: Movie
When a rival newspaper publisher complains to his captain about possible collusion between himself and reporter Torchy Blane on scooping her rivals in crime news reporting, Det. Lt. Steve McBride determines to thwart her efforts to get inside information - and she determines to go on getting it, by whatever means necessary.
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The Patient in Room 18
Title: The Patient in Room 18
Character: Jim Warren
Released: January 8, 1938
Type: Movie
Choreographer Bob Connolly and prolific screenwriter Crane Wilbur teamed up on the direction of Warner Bros.' The Patient in Room 18. Patric Knowles delivers a delightfully comic performance as Lance, an outwardly normal young man obsessed with detective stories. When his obsession threatens to lapse over into lunacy, Lance is sent to the hospital for a nice long rest. It isn't long before he gets mixed up in a genuine murder mystery, using his second-hand knowhow to solve the case. Up-and-coming Ann Sheridan is quite amusing as Lance's nurse and confidante, while the murderer is played by a fellow who is usually cast as the murder victim.
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The Spy Ring
Title: The Spy Ring
Character: Spy Ring Member (uncredited)
Released: January 8, 1938
Type: Movie
Two American-army officers are working on a new type of machine-gun for anti-aircraft warfare, when one of them is murdered. The other vows to get the spies that are after the invention and avenge his friend's death.
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Missing Witnesses
Title: Missing Witnesses
Character: Train Ticket Clerk (uncredited)
Released: December 11, 1937
Type: Movie
A detective and his bumbling sidekick join the crackdown on racketeering in '30s New York City.
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The Man Without a Country
Title: The Man Without a Country
Character: Ship's Officer (uncredited)
Released: November 27, 1937
Type: Movie
This short film tells the story of a disgraced U.S. army officer who is charged with treason. At his court martial he is sentenced to lifetime exile aboard American ships at sea, no crew member can mention anything about the United States within his hearing, and in the books he is allowed to read all references to the United States are removed.
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Streamline Express
Title: Streamline Express
Character: Train Steward (uncredited)
Released: September 15, 1935
Type: Movie
A disparate group of people meet as passengers on a superspeed train crossing the U.S. Aboard are a seductive blackmailer and the stage director he intends to frame, a woman chasing her husband who is running away with the blackmail victim, and the stage director's feisty leading lady.