Reginald Owen

Reginald Owen

Born: August 4, 1887
Died: November 5, 1972
in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was an English character actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and later in television programmes. The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert Tree's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional debut in 1905. In 1911, he starred in the original production of Where the Rainbow Ends as Saint George which opened to very good reviews on 21 December 1911. Reginald Owen had a few years earlier met the author Mrs. Clifford Mills as a young actor, and it was he who on hearing her idea of a Rainbow Story persuaded her to turn it into a play, and thus "Where the Rainbow Ends" was born.

He went to the United States in 1920 and worked originally on Broadway in New York, but later moved to Hollywood, where he began a lengthy film career. He was always a familiar face in many Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions.

Owen is perhaps best known today for his performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1938 film version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a role he inherited from Lionel Barrymore, who had played the part of Scrooge on the radio every Christmas for years until Barrymore broke his hip in an accident.

Owen was one of only five actors to play both Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr Watson (Jeremy Brett played Watson on stage in the United States prior to adopting the mantle of Holmes on British television, Carleton Hobbs played both roles in British radio adaptations while Patrick Macnee played both roles in US television films). Howard Marion-Crawford played Holmes in a radio adaptation of "The Speckled Band" and later played Watson to Ronald Howard’s Holmes in the 1954-55 television series.

Owen first played Watson in the film Sherlock Holmes (1932), and then Holmes himself in A Study in Scarlet (1933). Having played Ebenezer Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Owen has the odd distinction of playing three classic characters of Victorian fiction only to live to see those characters be taken over and personified by other actors, namely Alastair Sim as Scrooge, Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson.

Later in his career, Owen appeared opposite James Garner in the television series Maverick in the episodes "The Belcastle Brand" (1957) and "Gun-Shy" (1958) and also guest starred in episodes of the series One Step Beyond and Bewitched. He was featured in the Walt Disney films Mary Poppins (1964) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). He had a small role in the 1962 Irwin Allen production of the Jules Verne novel Five Weeks in a Balloon. In August 1964, his Bel-Air mansion was rented out to the Beatles, who were performing at the Hollywood Bowl, when no hotel would book them.

Movies for Reginald Owen...

The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
Title: The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
Character: Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
Released: January 1, 1985
Type: Movie
This documentary examines the making of the Sherlock Holmes cinematic dynasty and includes interviews and archival film clips featuring the original crime-fighter in all his incarnations.
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That's Entertainment!
Title: That's Entertainment!
Character: (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: June 21, 1974
Type: Movie
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
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Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Title: Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Character: Gen. Teagler
Released: October 7, 1971
Type: Movie
Three children evacuated from London during World War II are forced to stay with an eccentric spinster. The children's initial fears disappear when they find out she is in fact a trainee witch.
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Title: McCloud
Released: February 17, 1970
Type: TV
Deputy Marshal Sam McCloud of the small western town of Taos, New Mexico is assigned to the metropolitan New York City Police Department (NYPD) as a special investigator.
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Rosie!
Title: Rosie!
Character: Patrick
Released: November 22, 1967
Type: Movie
An eccentric Los Angeles dowager decides to fight back when her two greedy daughters attempt to have her declared legally insane.
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Title: Run for Your Life
Character: Sir Hillary Cooper
Released: September 13, 1965
Type: TV
Run for Your Life is an American television drama series starring Ben Gazzara as a man with only a short time to live. It ran on NBC from 1965 to 1968. The series was created by Roy Huggins, who had previously explored the "man on the move" concept with The Fugitive.
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Mary Poppins
Title: Mary Poppins
Character: Admiral Boom
Released: December 17, 1964
Type: Movie
Mr Banks is looking for a nanny for his two mischievous children and comes across Mary Poppins, an angelic nanny. She not only brings a change in their lives but also spreads happiness.
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Title: Bewitched
Released: September 17, 1964
Type: TV
Samantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.
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Voice of the Hurricane
Title: Voice of the Hurricane
Released: June 2, 1964
Type: Movie
The struggle of a country and its people.
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The Thrill of It All
Title: The Thrill of It All
Character: Old Tom Fraleigh
Released: July 17, 1963
Type: Movie
A housewife's sudden rise to fame as a soap spokesperson leads to chaos in her home life.
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Tammy and the Doctor
Title: Tammy and the Doctor
Character: Jason Tripp
Released: May 29, 1963
Type: Movie
Tammy becomes a nurse's aide, works in a hospital, cares for an old rich woman, and causes romantic commotion in the life of Dr. Mark Cheswick.
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Five Weeks in a Balloon
Title: Five Weeks in a Balloon
Character: Consul
Released: August 22, 1962
Type: Movie
Professor Fergusson plans to make aviation history by making his way across Africa by balloon. He plans to claim uncharted territories in West Africa as proof of his inventions worth.
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Moochie of Pop Warner Football
Title: Moochie of Pop Warner Football
Released: November 20, 1960
Type: Movie
Moochie joins a Pop Warner Football team, but has troubles with the mayor’s son. When the two make amends, they help the team win and go to the Disneyland Bowl, and get to enjoy a visit to the park.
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Title: Thriller
Character: The Hussar ('A Terribly Strange Bed')
Released: September 13, 1960
Type: TV
Thriller is an American anthology television series that aired during the 1960–61 and 1961–62 seasons on NBC. The show featured host Boris Karloff introducing a mix of self-contained, macabre weird-horror and morbid, hitchockian crime stories, in some of which he also starred.
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Title: Adventures in Paradise
Character: Ambrose Feather
Released: October 5, 1959
Type: TV
Adventures in Paradise is an American television series created by James Michener which ran on ABC from 1959 until 1962, starring Gardner McKay as Adam Troy, the captain of the schooner Tiki III, which sailed the South Pacific looking for passengers and adventure. USA Network aired reruns of this series between 1984 and 1988. The plots deal with the romantic and detective stories of Korean War veteran Troy. The supporting cast, varying from season to season, features George Tobias, Guy Stockwell, and Linda Lawson.
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Moochie of the Little League
Title: Moochie of the Little League
Character: J. Cecil Bennett
Released: October 2, 1959
Type: Movie
A young newspaper boy who is on a Little League team works hard to persuade an elderly Englishman, with whom he had a previous run-in, to donate land for a baseball diamond.
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Title: One Step Beyond
Character: Herbert Blakely
Released: January 20, 1959
Type: TV
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series created by Merwin Gerard. The original series ran for three seasons on ABC from January 1959 to July 1961.
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Title: Maverick
Released: September 22, 1957
Type: TV
Maverick is an American Western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, an adroitly articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother Bart, and from that point on, Garner and Kelly alternated leads from week to week, sometimes teaming up for the occasional two-brother episode. The Mavericks were poker players from Texas who traveled all over the American Old West and on Mississippi riverboats, constantly getting into and out of life-threatening trouble of one sort or another, usually involving money, women, or both. They would typically find themselves weighing a financial windfall against a moral dilemma. More often than not, their consciences trumped their wallets since both Mavericks were intensely ethical. When Garner left the series after the third season due to a legal dispute, Roger Moore was added to the cast as their cousin Beau Maverick. Robert Colbert appeared later in the fourth season as a third Maverick brother, Brent Maverick. No more than two of the series leads ever appeared together in the same episode, and usually only one.
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Title: Maverick
Character: Marquis Norbert Belcastle
Released: September 22, 1957
Type: TV
Maverick is an American Western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, an adroitly articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother Bart, and from that point on, Garner and Kelly alternated leads from week to week, sometimes teaming up for the occasional two-brother episode. The Mavericks were poker players from Texas who traveled all over the American Old West and on Mississippi riverboats, constantly getting into and out of life-threatening trouble of one sort or another, usually involving money, women, or both. They would typically find themselves weighing a financial windfall against a moral dilemma. More often than not, their consciences trumped their wallets since both Mavericks were intensely ethical. When Garner left the series after the third season due to a legal dispute, Roger Moore was added to the cast as their cousin Beau Maverick. Robert Colbert appeared later in the fourth season as a third Maverick brother, Brent Maverick. No more than two of the series leads ever appeared together in the same episode, and usually only one.
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Title: Climax!
Character: Doctor
Released: October 7, 1954
Type: TV
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
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Red Garters
Title: Red Garters
Character: Judge Wallace Winthrop
Released: February 9, 1954
Type: Movie
A spirited cast kicks up its heels in a lively musical spoof of cowboy films crammed with spur-jangling tunes by Jay Livingstone and Ray Evans and decked out with colorfully stylized, Oscar.-nominated sets. Rosemary Clooney heads up the high-kicking, red-gartered girls of the Red Dog Saloon. They can-can. but she won't-won't unless Jason (Jack Carson) asks her to get hitched. Guy Mitchell and Gene Barry are gun-totin' polecats who think they've got a feud to settle. And Frank Faylen and Buddy Ebsen are among the folks who hope the gunslingers get itchy fingered - so they can hold a town barbecue during the funeral!
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The Great Diamond Robbery
Title: The Great Diamond Robbery
Character: Bainbridge Gibbons
Released: January 29, 1954
Type: Movie
Ambrose C. Park, left on a park bench as an infant with an impulsive need to find his parents, is an assistant to a diamond cutter. Shyster lawyer Remlick, in a strategy to get a fabulous uncut diamond through Ambrose, arranges for Emily Drummon, Duke Fargoh and Maggie Drummon to pose as Ambrose's long-lost parents and sister. The diamond, through many comic situations, is acquired and the gang is going to have Ambrose cut the diamond, and relieve him of the two stones and his parental illusions at the same time. But Maggie, who has no taste for the deception, tips Ambrose off and a wild chase ensues. At the end, Ambrose is very happy as he can now marry his "sister."
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Grounds for Marriage
Title: Grounds for Marriage
Character: Dely Delacorte
Released: January 12, 1951
Type: Movie
Opera singer Ina Massine tries to win back former husband Dr. Lincoln I. Bartlett.
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Kim
Title: Kim
Character: Father Victor
Released: December 7, 1950
Type: Movie
During the British Raj, the orphan of a British soldier poses as a Hindu and is torn between his loyalty to a Buddhist mystic and aiding the English secret service.
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The Miniver Story
Title: The Miniver Story
Character: Mr. Foley
Released: October 26, 1950
Type: Movie
The Second World War is over, and the Miniver family is trying to keep themselves together in post-War Britain, among continuing shortages and growing tensions within the family.
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Challenge to Lassie
Title: Challenge to Lassie
Character: Sergeant Davie
Released: October 31, 1949
Type: Movie
When Lassie's master dies, an old friend tries to convince a judge that the dog's life should be spared.
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The Secret Garden
Title: The Secret Garden
Character: Ben Weatherstaff
Released: April 30, 1949
Type: Movie
When Cholera takes the parents of Mary Lennox, she is shipped from India to England to live with her Uncle Craven. Mary changes the lives of those she encounters at her Uncle's remote estate.
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Hills of Home
Title: Hills of Home
Character: Hopps
Released: November 25, 1948
Type: Movie
William McClure is the villlage doctor in a remote Scottish glen. Tricked into buying Lassie, a collie afraid of water, he sets about teaching her to swim. At the same time he has the bigger problem that he is getting older and must ensure the glen will have a new local doctor ready.
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The Three Musketeers
Title: The Three Musketeers
Character: Treville
Released: October 19, 1948
Type: Movie
Athletic adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic adventure about the king's musketeers and their mission to protect France.
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Julia Misbehaves
Title: Julia Misbehaves
Character: Benjy Hawkins
Released: August 8, 1948
Type: Movie
Julia and William were married and soon separated by his snobbish family. They meet again many years later, when their daughter he has raised invites her mother to her wedding, with the disapproval of William's mother.
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The Pirate
Title: The Pirate
Character: The Advocate
Released: June 11, 1948
Type: Movie
A girl is engaged to the local richman, but meanwhile she has dreams about the legendary pirate Macoco. A traveling singer falls in love with her and to impress her he poses as the pirate.
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If Winter Comes
Title: If Winter Comes
Character: Mr. Fortune
Released: December 31, 1947
Type: Movie
The small English town of Penny Green is swarming with scandal when textbook author Mark, unhappily married to the shrewish Mabel, cultivates a friendship with Effie, a young pregnant girl. As the townsfolk theorize that Mark is the baby's father, Effie - already troubled because of her impending motherhood - commits suicide, and circulating rumors lead the authorities to think Mark killed her. The innocent writer must fight to clear his name.
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Thunder in the Valley
Title: Thunder in the Valley
Character: James Moore
Released: November 1, 1947
Type: Movie
The popular Alfred Ollivant novel "Bob, Son of Battle" is the source for this drama about sheep dogs in the Scottish highlands, filmed in mountains in Utah’s Garfield County. Gwenn is a crusty shepherd whose struggling relationship with his son McCallister is complicated by a predatory animal that is attacking the flocks of local shepherds.
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Green Dolphin Street
Title: Green Dolphin Street
Character: Captain O'Hara
Released: January 15, 1947
Type: Movie
Sophie loved Edmund, but he left town when her parents forced her to marry wealthy Octavius. Years later, Edmund returns with his son, William. Sophie's daughter, Marguerite, and William fall in love. Marguerite's sister, Marianne, also loves William. Timothy, a lowly carpenter, secretly loves Marianne. He kills a man in a fight, and Edmund helps him flee to New Zealand. William deserts inadvertently from the navy, and also flees in disgrace to New Zealand, where he and Timothy start a profitable business. One night, drunk, William writes Octavius, demanding his daughter's hand; but, being drunk, he asks for the wrong sister.
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The Imperfect Lady
Title: The Imperfect Lady
Character: Mr. Hopkins
Released: November 29, 1946
Type: Movie
A British peer's romance with a ballerina courts scandal in 1890s London.
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Monsieur Beaucaire
Title: Monsieur Beaucaire
Character: King Louis XV
Released: September 4, 1946
Type: Movie
A bumbling barber in the court of King Louis XV becomes engaged in political intrigue when he masquerades as a dashing nobleman engaged to the princess of Spain.
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Piccadilly Incident
Title: Piccadilly Incident
Character: Judge
Released: August 24, 1946
Type: Movie
A newly married WREN, presumed drowned when her ship is torpedoed, spends three years on a tropical island before returning to England to find her husband remarried with a baby son.
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Cluny Brown
Title: Cluny Brown
Character: Henry Carmel
Released: June 2, 1946
Type: Movie
Amateur plumber Cluny Brown gets sent off by her uncle to work as a servant at an English country estate.
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The Diary of a Chambermaid
Title: The Diary of a Chambermaid
Character: Captain Lanlaire
Released: February 15, 1946
Type: Movie
Celestine, the chamber-maid, has a new job in the country, at the Lanlaires. She has decided to use her beauty to seduce a wealthy man, but Mr. Lanlaire is not a right choice: the house is firmly controlled by Madame Lanlaire, helped by the strange valet Joseph. Then she tries the neighbour, former officer Mauger. This seems to work. But soon the son of the Lanlaires comes back. He is young, attractive and does not share his mother's antirepublican opinions. So Celestine's beauty attracts Captain Mauger, young Georges Lanlaire, and Joseph. Three men, from three different social classes, with three different conceptions of life. Will Celestine be able to convince Georges of her sincerity?
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The Sailor Takes a Wife
Title: The Sailor Takes a Wife
Character: Mr. Amboy
Released: December 28, 1945
Type: Movie
While waiting in New York City to ship out to Europe, a sailor stops by a serviceman's canteen and meets a USO hostess. They immediately fall for each other and get married that night. However, when the sailor is notified that he has been reclassified as 4-F (unfit for service) by the Navy and then discharged, he and his new wife realize that, having to set up house before they expected to, they actually know very little about each other. Complications ensue.
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Captain Kidd
Title: Captain Kidd
Character: Cary Shadwell
Released: November 22, 1945
Type: Movie
Cutthroat pirate William Kidd captures Admiral Blayne's treasure ship and hides the bounty in a cave. Three years later, Kidd, posing as a respectable merchant captain, offers his services to the King of England. Seeking a social position, Kidd also negotiates for Blayne's title and lands, provided he can prove Blayne was associated with piracy. Launched upon his royal mission, Kidd is unaware that Blayne's son Adam is among the crew, determined to clear his father's name.
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She Went to the Races
Title: She Went to the Races
Character: Dr. Pembroke
Released: November 4, 1945
Type: Movie
A group of scientists develop a system to pick winners at the racetrack. Comedy.
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Kitty
Title: Kitty
Character: Duke of Malmunster
Released: October 16, 1945
Type: Movie
Pickpocket Kitty's life changes when painter Thomas Gainsborough makes her portrait. The artwork gains the attention of Sir Hugh Marcy, who later decides to use her for his benefit.
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The Valley of Decision
Title: The Valley of Decision
Character: McCready
Released: May 3, 1945
Type: Movie
Mary Rafferty comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her family objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family which controls the mill. Mary catches the attention of handsome scion Paul Scott, but their romance is complicated by Paul's engagement to someone else and a bitter strike among the mill workers.
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National Velvet
Title: National Velvet
Character: Farmer Ede
Released: January 26, 1945
Type: Movie
Mi Taylor is a young wanderer and opportunist who finds himself in the quiet English countryside home of the Brown family. The youngest daughter, Velvet, has a passion for horses and when she wins the spirited steed Pie in a town lottery, Mi is encouraged to train the horse.
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The Canterville Ghost
Title: The Canterville Ghost
Character: Lord Canterville
Released: July 20, 1944
Type: Movie
The descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
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Madame Curie
Title: Madame Curie
Character: Dr. Becquerel
Released: December 16, 1943
Type: Movie
Poor physics student Marie is studying at the Sorbonne in 1890s Paris. One of the few women studying in her field, Marie encounters skepticism concerning her abilities, but is eventually offered a research placement in Pierre Curie's lab. The scientists soon fall in love and embark on a shared quest to extract, from a particular type of rock, a new chemical element they have named radium. However, their research puts them on the brink of professional failure.
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Salute to the Marines
Title: Salute to the Marines
Character: Mr. Henry Casper
Released: September 2, 1943
Type: Movie
It is a comic book propaganda film which has Beery as a retired USMC NCO who, when the Japanese invade the Philippines, leads a heroic defense, first by strangling a Nazi agent, and then dying in his dress blues uniform while blowing up a bridge.
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Above Suspicion
Title: Above Suspicion
Character: Dr. Mespelbrunn
Released: May 31, 1943
Type: Movie
Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.
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Three Hearts for Julia
Title: Three Hearts for Julia
Character: John Girard
Released: May 21, 1943
Type: Movie
When his wife threatens him with divorce, a reporter courts her again.
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Assignment in Brittany
Title: Assignment in Brittany
Character: Col. Trane
Released: March 11, 1943
Type: Movie
A French Resistance fighter discovers he's a dead ringer for a Nazi official.
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Forever and a Day
Title: Forever and a Day
Character: Simpson
Released: January 21, 1943
Type: Movie
In World War II, American Gates Trimble Pomfret is in London during the Blitz to sell the ancestral family house. The current tenant, Leslie Trimble, tries to dissuade him from selling by telling him the 140-year history of the place and the connections between the Trimble and Pomfret families.
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Reunion in France
Title: Reunion in France
Character: Schultz
Released: December 25, 1942
Type: Movie
Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country.
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Random Harvest
Title: Random Harvest
Character: "Biffer"
Released: December 17, 1942
Type: Movie
An amnesiac World War I vet falls in love with a music hall star, only to suffer an accident which restores his original memories but erases his post-War life.
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White Cargo
Title: White Cargo
Character: Skipper of the Congo Queen
Released: December 12, 1942
Type: Movie
In Africa early in World War II, a British rubber plantation executive reminisces about his arrival in the Congo in 1910. He tells the story of a love-hate triangle involving Harry Witzel, an in-country station superintendent who'd seen it all, Langford, a new manager sent from England for a four-year stint, and Tondelayo, a siren of great beauty who desires silk and baubles. Witzel is gruff and seasoned, certain that Langford won't be able to cut it. Langford responds with determination and anger, attracted to Tondelayo because of her beauty, her wiles, and to get at Witzel. Manipulation, jealousy, revenge, and responsibility play out as alliances within the triangle shift.
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Somewhere I'll Find You
Title: Somewhere I'll Find You
Character: Willie Manning
Released: August 27, 1942
Type: Movie
Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.
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Cairo
Title: Cairo
Character: Philo Cobson
Released: August 17, 1942
Type: Movie
Reporter Homer Smith accidently draws Marcia Warren into his mission to stop Nazis from bombing Allied Conwoys with robot-planes.
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Pierre of the Plains
Title: Pierre of the Plains
Character: Noah Glenkins
Released: July 29, 1942
Type: Movie
A French-Canadian trapper's adventures jeopardize his romance with an innkeeper.
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I Married an Angel
Title: I Married an Angel
Character: 'Whiskers'
Released: July 9, 1942
Type: Movie
A playboy drops his many girlfriends when he falls in love with a grounded angel.
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Mrs. Miniver
Title: Mrs. Miniver
Character: Foley
Released: July 3, 1942
Type: Movie
Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem watch her Oxford-educated son Vin court Carol Beldon, the charming granddaughter of the local nobility as represented by Lady Beldon. Then the war comes and Vin joins the RAF.
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We Were Dancing
Title: We Were Dancing
Character: Maj. Tyler-Blane
Released: April 30, 1942
Type: Movie
A penniless former princess weds an equally cash-strapped baron, so they support themselves by becoming houseguests at the homes of wealthy American socialites.
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Woman of the Year
Title: Woman of the Year
Character: Clayton
Released: February 5, 1942
Type: Movie
Rival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
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Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Title: Tarzan's Secret Treasure
Character: Professor Elliott
Released: December 1, 1941
Type: Movie
A scientific expedition happens to discover that gold exists on Tarzan's escarpment. The villainous Medford and Vandermeer kidnap Jane and Boy to extort from Tarzan the location of the gold.
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Lady Be Good
Title: Lady Be Good
Character: Max Milton
Released: September 18, 1941
Type: Movie
Married songwriters almost split up while putting on a big show.
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Charley's Aunt
Title: Charley's Aunt
Character: Mr. Redcliffe
Released: August 1, 1941
Type: Movie
In 1890, two students at Oxford force their rascally friend and fellow student to pose as an aunt from Brazil--where the nuts come from.
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They Met in Bombay
Title: They Met in Bombay
Character: General Allen
Released: June 27, 1941
Type: Movie
A jewel thief and a con artist are rivals in the theft of a valuable diamond and gem necklace in Bombay and as the Japanese Army invades China.
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A Woman's Face
Title: A Woman's Face
Character: Bernard Dalvik
Released: May 9, 1941
Type: Movie
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possibility of looking like a normal woman.
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Free and Easy
Title: Free and Easy
Character: Sir George Kelvin
Released: February 28, 1941
Type: Movie
This MGM B-picture was adapted from Ivor Novello's play The Truth Game. Max and Florian Clemington pretend to be members of the landed gentry. Max romances the much-older Lady Joan Culver before finding true love in the form of pretty heiress Martha Gray.
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Blonde Inspiration
Title: Blonde Inspiration
Character: Reginald Mason
Released: February 7, 1941
Type: Movie
A writer of pulp Westerns cranks out more words than his editor and publisher want to pay for.
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Hullabaloo
Title: Hullabaloo
Character: 'Buzz' Foster
Released: October 25, 1940
Type: Movie
A radio actor faces trouble when a science-fiction story causes the audience to panic.
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Florian
Title: Florian
Character: Emperor Franz Josef
Released: June 5, 1940
Type: Movie
Set against the backdrop of WWI Europe, a man and woman of different classes are brought together by their love of Lippizan horses.
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The Ghost Comes Home
Title: The Ghost Comes Home
Character: Hemingway
Released: March 8, 1940
Type: Movie
Comic mayhem results when a small town pet store owner, mistakenly believed killed during a sea voyage, turns up very much alive.
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The Earl of Chicago
Title: The Earl of Chicago
Character: Gervase Gonwell
Released: January 5, 1940
Type: Movie
A behind the times Chicago bootlegger goes to England with his lawyer to claim his estate as the Earl of Gorley.
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Remember?
Title: Remember?
Character: Mr. Bronson
Released: December 19, 1939
Type: Movie
Sky and Linda meet on vacation and become engaged. When Sky introduces Linda to his best friend, Jeff, Linda and Jeff fall in love and marry. But Jeff's work puts a strain on the marriage and a divorce is planned. Sky uses an experimental memory loss drug to make Linda and Jeff forget their rough times (and the fact that they were married) and they fall in love all over again.
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Bad Little Angel
Title: Bad Little Angel
Character: Edwards, Marvin's Valet
Released: October 27, 1939
Type: Movie
A bible-guided Victorian orphan befriends a bootblack in a strange town.
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The Real Glory
Title: The Real Glory
Character: Capt. Hartley
Released: September 29, 1939
Type: Movie
Fort Mysang, southern Philippine Islands, under US rule, 1906. A small group of army officers and native troops resist the fierce and treacherous attacks of the ruthless Alisang and his fanatical followers.
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Bridal Suite
Title: Bridal Suite
Character: Sir Horace Bragdon
Released: May 26, 1939
Type: Movie
A carefree playboy with an aversion to marriage falls for a lass he meets in the French Alps.
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Hotel Imperial
Title: Hotel Imperial
Character: General Videnko
Released: May 11, 1939
Type: Movie
It is the fate of a small frontier town, adjoining the no-man's-land where the Russians and Austrians are fighting out one of the final campaigns of World War I, to be occupied one day by the Russians, the next by the Austrians, and the inhabitants soon acquire a complacent view of the changing allegiances. To the town comes Ann Warschaska, intent on avenging the suicide of her sister, who has killed herself after being betrayed by an Austrian officer. She knows no more about his identity than the number of his room at the "Hotel Imperial".
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Fast and Loose
Title: Fast and Loose
Character: Vincent Charlton
Released: February 17, 1939
Type: Movie
The Sloanes tie murder to the theft of a Shakespeare manuscript.
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The Girl Downstairs
Title: The Girl Downstairs
Character: Charlie Grump
Released: December 23, 1938
Type: Movie
A wealthy playboy surreptitiously romances a scullery maid to gain access to her mistress with whom he is in love, but doesn't count on the maid falling in love with him.
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A Christmas Carol
Title: A Christmas Carol
Character: Ebenezer Scrooge
Released: December 16, 1938
Type: Movie
Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.
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A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore
Title: A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore
Character: Scrooge (atchive footage)
Released: December 9, 1938
Type: Movie
A Fireside chat with Lionel Barrymore is, in fact, a trailer for A Christmas Carol (1938) starring Reginald Owen. Barrymore speaks fondly of the Scrooge character and advertises the film.
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Vacation from Love
Title: Vacation from Love
Character: John Hodge Lawson
Released: September 29, 1938
Type: Movie
A socialite dumps her fiancé on their wedding day and runs off with a saxophone player. Comedy.
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Three Loves Has Nancy
Title: Three Loves Has Nancy
Character: William, the Butler
Released: September 2, 1938
Type: Movie
A small-town country homebody goes to New York to find her missing fiancé and gets romantically involved with two sophisticated men.
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Paradise for Three
Title: Paradise for Three
Character: Johann Kesselhut
Released: June 4, 1938
Type: Movie
A businessman mingles with German laborers to learn more about their lives.
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Kidnapped
Title: Kidnapped
Character: Capt. Hoseason
Released: May 27, 1938
Type: Movie
Robert Louis Stevenson's hero David Balfour joins rebel Alan Breck Stewart in 18th-century Scotland.
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Everybody Sing
Title: Everybody Sing
Character: Hillary Bellaire
Released: January 1, 1938
Type: Movie
Boisterous teen Judy Bellaire is expelled from her all-female boarding school for convincing her fellow school chorus members to sing a classical piece with a modern swing beat. She returns to her dysfunctional home, dejected, but, with the encouragement of her family's cook, Judy decides to follow her dream and audition for a Broadway musical.
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Rosalie
Title: Rosalie
Character: Chancellor
Released: December 24, 1937
Type: Movie
West Point cadet Dick Thorpe falls in love with a girl, who turns out to be a princess from an European kingdom.
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Conquest
Title: Conquest
Character: Tallyrand
Released: October 22, 1937
Type: Movie
A polish countess dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to make Poland independent.
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The Bride Wore Red
Title: The Bride Wore Red
Character: Admiral Monti
Released: October 8, 1937
Type: Movie
A poor singer in a bar masquerades as a rich society woman thanks to a rich benefactor.
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Madame X
Title: Madame X
Character: Maurice Dourel
Released: October 1, 1937
Type: Movie
An alcoholic woman was charged and tried for murder and a young defense attorney, unaware that she is his mother, takes the assignment to defend her in court.
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Personal Property
Title: Personal Property
Character: Claude Dabney
Released: March 19, 1937
Type: Movie
Raymond Dabney returns to his family after trouble with the law. He convinces the sheriff to give him a job watching the house and furniture of widow Crystal Wetherby without knowing she is engaged to his brother.
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Dangerous Number
Title: Dangerous Number
Character: William
Released: January 22, 1937
Type: Movie
Hank Medhill, artificial silk manufacturer, has returned to the U.S. from Japan to learn that his former girlfriend, Eleanor Breen is about to marry. Hank convinces Eleanor to leave the groom-to-be and marry him. Shortly after the marriage, they discover that they have nothing in common. They separate. Hank decides to pick any name from the phone book and date them. That date results in a wild and frightful night for Hank, thanks to Eleanor's clever plan.
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Love on the Run
Title: Love on the Run
Character: Baron Otto Spandermann
Released: November 20, 1936
Type: Movie
A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry chase across Europe and uncover a spy plot.
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Adventure in Manhattan
Title: Adventure in Manhattan
Character: Blackton Gregory
Released: October 8, 1936
Type: Movie
The story of an egotistical crime writer who gets involved with the case of a notorious art thief (who is believed to be dead) while at the same time romancing a lovely young actress who's in a play that also happens to be the cover for massive jewel job. Art connoisseur and criminologist George Melville is hired to track down art thieves, assisted by perky Claire Peyton and goaded by Phil Bane, the roaring newspaper editor who has employed him. The mastermind poses as a theatrical impresario and stages a war drama, replete with loud explosions, to divert attention from his band of thieves, who are cracking safes in a bank adjacent to the theater.
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The Girl on the Front Page
Title: The Girl on the Front Page
Character: Archie Biddle
Released: September 26, 1936
Type: Movie
The heiress to a powerful newspaper owner gets a job at the paper under an assumed name and helps break up a blackmail racket.
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Yours for the Asking
Title: Yours for the Asking
Character: Dictionary McKinney
Released: July 23, 1936
Type: Movie
Casino operator Johnny Lamb hires down-on-her-luck socialite Lucille Sutton as his casino hostess, in order to help her and to improve casino income. But Lamb's pals fear he may follow Lucille onto the straight-and-narrow path, which would not be good for business. So they hire Gert Malloy and Dictionary McKinney, a pair of con-artists, to manipulate Johnny back off the path of righteousness.
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Trouble for Two
Title: Trouble for Two
Character: President of Club
Released: May 29, 1936
Type: Movie
A decadent prince unhappy over an impending arranged marriage, looking for a good time in London discovers the existence of a secret society called The Suicide Club, and so he seeks to become a member.
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The Great Ziegfeld
Title: The Great Ziegfeld
Character: Sampston
Released: April 8, 1936
Type: Movie
Lavish biography of Flo Ziegfeld, the producer who became Broadway's biggest starmaker.
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Petticoat Fever
Title: Petticoat Fever
Character: Sir James Felton
Released: March 20, 1936
Type: Movie
A lonely radio operator in Labrador falls for an engaged woman.
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Rose Marie
Title: Rose Marie
Character: Myerson
Released: January 31, 1936
Type: Movie
Opera singer, Marie de Flor, seeks out fugitive brother in the Canadian wilderness. During her trek, she meets a Canadian mountie, Sgt. Bruce, who is also searching for her brother. Romance ensues, resulting in several love duets between the two.
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A Tale of Two Cities
Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Character: Stryver
Released: December 25, 1935
Type: Movie
The exciting story of Dr. Manette, who escapes the horrors of the infamous Bastille prison in Paris. The action switches between London and Paris on the eve of the revolution where we witness 'the best of times and the worst of times' - love, hope, the uncaring French Aristocrats and the terror of a revolutionary citizen's army intent on exacting revenge.
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The Bishop Misbehaves
Title: The Bishop Misbehaves
Character: Guy Waller
Released: September 13, 1935
Type: Movie
On a walking tour of English cathedrals, Donald Meadows meets Hester Granthem in church. Hearing he is from that hot-bed of crime, Chicago, Hester asks Donald to help her in a robbery she has planned. Thinking it a joke, he plays along; but Hester is serious, and hearing that she plans to rob Mr. Waller, the man who has cheated her father out of thousands of pounds, Donald agrees. A robbery at a pub is arranged, but the Bishop of Broadminster, an avid mystery fan, and his sister stumble into it. Playing detective the Bishop complicates matters and each side, the Bishop, the unscrupulous Waller, the gang Hester hires, and Hester and Donald, each get the upper hand along the way.
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Anna Karenina
Title: Anna Karenina
Character: Stiva
Released: August 30, 1935
Type: Movie
In 19th century Russia a woman in a respectable marriage to a senior statesman must grapple with her love for a dashing soldier.
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Call of the Wild
Title: Call of the Wild
Character: Mr. Smith
Released: August 9, 1935
Type: Movie
Jack Thornton has trouble winning enough at cards for the stake he needs to get to the Alaska gold fields. His luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a sled dog that is part wolf to keep him from being shot by an arrogant Englishman also headed for the Yukon. En route to the Yukon with Shorty Houlihan -- who spent time in jail for opening someone else's letter with a map of where gold is to be found -- Jack rescues a woman whose husband was the addressee of that letter. Buck helps Jack win a $1,000 bet to get the supplies he needs. And when Jack and Claire Blake pet Buck one night, fingers touch.
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Escapade
Title: Escapade
Character: Paul
Released: July 5, 1935
Type: Movie
A romantic comedy-drama-musical of mistaken identity, infidelity and farce, set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century.
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The Good Fairy
Title: The Good Fairy
Character: Detlaff
Released: February 18, 1935
Type: Movie
In 1930s Budapest, naïve orphan Luisa Ginglebuscher becomes an usherette at the local movie house, determined to succeed in her first job by doing good deeds for others and maintaining her purity. Luisa's well-meaning lies get her caught between a lecherous businessman, Konrad, and a decent but confused doctor, Max Sporum. When Luisa convinces Konrad that she's married to Max, Konrad tries everything he can to get rid of the baffled doctor.
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Enchanted April
Title: Enchanted April
Character: Henry Arbuthnot
Released: February 1, 1935
Type: Movie
Mrs. Lotty Wilkins is an unhappily wife whom's life husband and romance have departed. In order to possibly salvage some of the missing elements in her life she rents an old Italian mansion and sharing it with three women. Here the four women plan to spend the month of April away from the cares of home, husbands and the everyday monotony.
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Here Is My Heart
Title: Here Is My Heart
Character: Vova
Released: December 28, 1934
Type: Movie
A rich and famous singer disguises himself as a waiter in order to be near the woman he loves, a European princess.
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Music in the Air
Title: Music in the Air
Character: Ernst Weber
Released: December 13, 1934
Type: Movie
A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead role in a new operetta.
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Madame du Barry
Title: Madame du Barry
Character: King Louis XV
Released: October 13, 1934
Type: Movie
Brought to Versailles as the companion of courtier D'Aigullon, former street waif Madame du Barry charms her way into the heart of gouty King Louis XV.
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The Human Side
Title: The Human Side
Character: James Dalton
Released: September 1, 1934
Type: Movie
The story of a theatrical producer, his divorced wife and their four children.
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Of Human Bondage
Title: Of Human Bondage
Character: Thorpe Athelny
Released: July 20, 1934
Type: Movie
A young man finds himself attracted to a cold and unfeeling waitress who may ultimately destroy them both.
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Stingaree
Title: Stingaree
Character: The Governor-General
Released: May 24, 1934
Type: Movie
A young lady named Hilda who works as a servant for the wealthy Clarksons, sheep farmers, and dreams of being a great singer. An upcoming visit by Sir Julian, a famous composer arriving from London, drives jealous Mrs. Clarkson (an interfering biddy who fancies she can sing - but can't) to send away Hilda, so he doesn't hear Hilda has a good voice. Meanwhile, an infamous outlaw named Stingaree has just arrived in town and kidnaps Sir Julian, then poses as him at the Clarksons, where he meets Hilda a few hours before she is to leave.
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Where Sinners Meet
Title: Where Sinners Meet
Character: Leonard
Released: May 17, 1934
Type: Movie
A pair of lovers are secreting away to Paris for a quick divorce and marriage when they find themselves trapped in a "hotel" where they are forced to get to know each other better and reconsider their plans. They learn a lot about each other, and themselves.
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The House of Rothschild
Title: The House of Rothschild
Character: Herries
Released: April 7, 1934
Type: Movie
The story of the rise of the Rothschild financial empire founded by Mayer Rothschild and continued by his five sons. From humble beginnings the business grows and helps to finance the war against Napoleon, but it's not always easy, especially because of the prejudices against Jews.
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The Countess of Monte Cristo
Title: The Countess of Monte Cristo
Character: The Baron
Released: March 18, 1934
Type: Movie
A distraught movie extra flees a movie set with a fancy costume and car. Circumstances lead her to begin impersonating a Countess, while a fellow extra takes on the role of her servant.
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Fashions of 1934
Title: Fashions of 1934
Character: Oscar Baroque
Released: February 14, 1934
Type: Movie
When the Manhattan investment firm of Sherwood Nash goes broke, he joins forces with his partner Snap and fashion designer Lynn Mason to provide discount shops with cheap copies of Paris couture dresses.
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Mandalay
Title: Mandalay
Character: Police Commissioner Col. Thomas Dawson
Released: February 10, 1934
Type: Movie
Abandoned by her lover, a woman becomes the main "hostess" in a decadent nightclub, but tries to put her past behind her on a steamer to Mandalay.
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Nana
Title: Nana
Character: Bordenave
Released: February 1, 1934
Type: Movie
Young Parisian Nana wards off of a boozed-up military officer at a local restaurant, and fellow diner Gaston Greiner is so impressed with her pluck that he decides to make her a performer at his musical theater. Soon, Nana is a star, and the girlfriend of Greiner and two other men. But when he learns that she's been getting around, Greiner fires her. As she tries to reclaim her singing job while dodging yet another suitor, her treachery might get the better of her.
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Queen Christina
Title: Queen Christina
Character: Charles
Released: December 26, 1933
Type: Movie
Queen Christina of Sweden is a popular monarch who is loyal to her country. However, when she falls in love with a Spanish envoy, she must choose between the throne and the man she loves.
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Voltaire
Title: Voltaire
Character: King Louis XV
Released: August 5, 1933
Type: Movie
Writer and philosopher Voltaire, loyal to his king, Louis XV of France, nonetheless writes scathingly of the king's disdain for the rights and needs of his people. Louis admires Voltaire, but is increasingly influenced against him by his minister, the Count de Sarnac.
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The Big Brain
Title: The Big Brain
Character: Lord Darlington
Released: August 4, 1933
Type: Movie
A small-town barber finds himself short of stature but a giant in the world of stock promotion. As his bank account grows, Stone's ethics diminish, and soon he's playing fast and loose with other people's money. Disgruntled investor Fay Wray is the one who finally blows the whistle on the prevaricating hair-snipper.
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Double Harness
Title: Double Harness
Character: Freeman
Released: July 21, 1933
Type: Movie
After tricking him into marriage, a woman tries to win the love of her philandering husband.
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The Narrow Corner
Title: The Narrow Corner
Character: Mr. Frith
Released: July 8, 1933
Type: Movie
An Englishman sought for murder, tries to escape fate to South Seas island.
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A Study in Scarlet
Title: A Study in Scarlet
Character: Sherlock Holmes
Released: May 14, 1933
Type: Movie
In London, a secret society led by lawyer Thaddeus Merrydew collects the assets of any of its deceased members and divides them among the remaining members. Society members start dropping like flies. Sherlock Holmes is approached by member James Murphy's widow, who is miffed at being left penniless by her husband. When Captain Pyke is shot, Holmes keys in on his mysterious Chinese widow as well as the shady Merrydew. Other members keep dying: Malcom Dearing first, then Mr. Baker. There is also an attempt on the life of young Eileen Forrester, who became a reluctant society member upon the death of her father. Holmes' uncanny observations and insights are put to the test.
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Robbers' Roost
Title: Robbers' Roost
Character: Cecil Herrick
Released: December 30, 1932
Type: Movie
Running from the law, Jim Hall joins Hays’ gang. Hays is foreman on the Herrick ranch and plans to rustle Herrick’s cattle. Attracted to Herrick’s sister Helen, Jim decides to tell the Sheriff about the raid. But when his plan is overheard he is made a prisoner.
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Sherlock Holmes
Title: Sherlock Holmes
Character: Dr. Watson
Released: November 5, 1932
Type: Movie
Moriarty is sentenced to death, and Sherlock Holmes prepares to retire to the country and marry his girl. But Moriarty has sworn that Holmes, Lt. Col. Gore-King of Scotland Yard, and his trial judge shall all be hanged too. When Moriarty escapes and proceeds to put his threat into operation, Holmes has to postpone his retirement.
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Downstairs
Title: Downstairs
Character: Baron 'Nicky' von Burgen
Released: August 6, 1932
Type: Movie
In the Austrian manor of Baron and Baroness von Burgen, the relationship between the upstairs aristocracy and the downstairs staff is quite positive. The servants seem to enjoy their time together, and some even fall in love, as head butler Albert and maid Anna have done. But when lecherous new chauffeur Karl Schneider enters the house, affairs and blackmail follow, and the harmony of the home is slowly destroyed.
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The Man Called Back
Title: The Man Called Back
Character: Dr. Herbert Atkins
Released: July 16, 1932
Type: Movie
Fresh from his success with the moody melodrama Murders in the Rue Morgue, director Robert Florey dashed off The Man Called Back at bargain-basement Tiffany Studios. The film is set in the tropics; Conrad Nagel tops the cast as a dissipated, derelict doctor, hopelessly in love with married socialite Doris Kenyon. Doris' insane husband John Halliday commits suicide, but arranges the evidence so that his wife will be charged with murder.
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A Woman Commands
Title: A Woman Commands
Character: The Prime Minister
Released: February 12, 1932
Type: Movie
In order to keep his lover, Maria Draga, in luxury, Captain Alex Pastitsch contracts huge debts which threaten his military career. To save Alex's career, his superior officer, Colonel Strádimirovitsch has an idea of how to fix it.
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Lovers Courageous
Title: Lovers Courageous
Character: Lord Jimmy
Released: January 23, 1932
Type: Movie
A daydreaming dramatist and his beloved persevere through hard times in the hope that one of his plays will be a hit.
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Platinum Blonde
Title: Platinum Blonde
Character: Dexter Grayson
Released: October 31, 1931
Type: Movie
Anne Schuyler is an upper-crust socialite who bullies her reporter husband into conforming to her highfalutin ways. The husband chafes at the confinement of high society, though, and yearns for a creative outlet. He decides to write a play and collaborates with a fellow reporter.
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The Man in Possession
Title: The Man in Possession
Character: Claude Dabney
Released: July 4, 1931
Type: Movie
A deeply in debt heiress tries to land a rich man while a collector from the Sheriff's office is guarding the assets in her house.
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The Letter
Title: The Letter
Character: Robert Crosbie
Released: March 17, 1929
Type: Movie
A planter's wife shoots a neighbor, but tells conflicting stories of what happened.
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Phroso
Title: Phroso
Character: Lord Wheatley
Released: January 13, 1922
Type: Movie
An Englishman, Lord Wheatley, purchases an island over which reigns the supremely beautiful Phroso, thus disposessing her of her land. Revolted, the islanders, supported by an adventurer who desires Phroso, rise against the new master. The English are saved by the British governor, also under the spell of gorgeous Phroso. The latter, for her part, is not wholly insensitive to Lord Wheatley's distinction. The imbroglio still worsens with the meddling of a dark horse : the neighboring sultan.