Frances Gifford

Frances Gifford

Born: December 7, 1919
Died: January 15, 1994
in Long Beach, California, USA
Frances Gifford had a somewhat unorthodox introduction to the movie business. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, she had no ambition to be an actress, and in fact had applied to UCLA when, at age 16, she and a friend got to visit the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, where they watched a movie being shot. A studio exec saw her and asked if she would take a screen test. She did, the studio was impressed with the result and put her under contract. Nothing much came of it, however, other than bit parts, and she moved to RKO. Nothing much happened there, either. She had married actor James Dunn and decided to retire, which she did, in 1938. Off the screen for almost two years, she got a small part in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and her career began to revive. She was signed by Paramount, which soon loaned her to Republic, where she made the film she is probably most remembered for: the serial Jungle Girl (1941), based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs story.

Unfortunately, her career never really took off, and she bounced around among several studios. In 1948 she was involved in an auto accident in which she received severe head injuries. Although she seemed to recover physically, her career took a nosedive, and she made her last film in 1953. In 1958 newspaper stories reported that as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident, she was admitted to a California state mental hospital. Nothing further was heard from her or about her until 1983, when a writer for a film magazine found her in Pasadena. She had apparently fully overcome her physical and mental problems and was working for the city library. She died of emphysema in Pasadena in 1994.

Movies for Frances Gifford...

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6
Title: Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6
Character: Doris (archive sound)
Released: May 31, 2004
Type: Movie
Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young boy and a famous dragon fighter team up to teach a docile dragon the art of being a force to be reckoned with. In 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' (1947), Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck confront the fearsome Willie the Giant to try to retrieve the magical singing harp to Happy Valley.
bee
Sky Commando
Title: Sky Commando
Character: Jo McWethy
Released: August 21, 1953
Type: Movie
Colonel Ed Wyatt is regarded by pilots under his command as being a ruthless disciplinarian. His co-pilot, Lt. Hobson Lee, and Jo McWethy, a war correspondent assigned to the squadron become more friendly than meets Wyatt's approval. When Wyatt's plane is forced down behind enemy lines, he orders his crew to proceed to the American lines with the vital film they have shot, while he remains behind to hold off the enemy.
bee
Title: General Electric Theater
Character: Evelyn Crewes
Released: February 1, 1953
Type: TV
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
bee
Riding High
Title: Riding High
Character: Margaret Higgins
Released: April 12, 1950
Type: Movie
A horse trainer who has fallen on hard times looks to his horse, Broadway Bill, to finally win the big race.
bee
Luxury Liner
Title: Luxury Liner
Character: Laura Dene
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.
bee
Little Mister Jim
Title: Little Mister Jim
Character: Jean Tukker
Released: April 1, 1947
Type: Movie
After his mother's death, a young boy tries to help his father stop drinking.
bee
The Arnelo Affair
Title: The Arnelo Affair
Character: Anne Parkson
Released: February 13, 1947
Type: Movie
A neglected wife gets mixed up with an hypnotic charmer and murder.
bee
She Went to the Races
Title: She Went to the Races
Character: Dr. Ann Wotters
Released: November 4, 1945
Type: Movie
A group of scientists develop a system to pick winners at the racetrack. Comedy.
bee
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Title: Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Character: Viola Johnson
Released: September 6, 1945
Type: Movie
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.
bee
Thrill of a Romance
Title: Thrill of a Romance
Character: Maude Bancroft
Released: May 23, 1945
Type: Movie
A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.
bee
Marriage Is a Private Affair
Title: Marriage Is a Private Affair
Character: Sissy Mortimer
Released: August 23, 1944
Type: Movie
Theo has had many boyfriends who wanted to marry her. Since her mother, Mrs. Selworth, has been married many times, Theo is unsure of commitment. Without much thought, she finally accepts the proposal of Air Corps Lieutenant Tom West. After the honeymoon, Tom's father dies and Tom goes into the defense industry. When Theo has a baby, she hates the idea of being matronly and wants to be the old party girl. The problem is that her husband is working constantly. She looks to her friends, who are having their own problems, and to her old flame Captain Lancing. To decide on what she wants to do with her baby and her life, Theo must grow up.
bee
Twenty Years After
Title: Twenty Years After
Character: (archive footage)
Released: January 1, 1944
Type: Movie
This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.
bee
Cry 'Havoc'
Title: Cry 'Havoc'
Character: Helen
Released: November 23, 1943
Type: Movie
The Army nurses on Bataan need help badly, but when it arrives, it sure isn't what they expected. A motley crew, including a Southern belle, a waitress, and a stripper, show up. Many conflicts arise among these women who are thrown together in what is a desperate and ultimately hopeless situation.
bee
Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour
Title: Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour
Character: Hilary Dane
Released: April 30, 1943
Type: Movie
Teenager Henry Aldrich becomes a hometown celebrity when he wins a date with a sexy movie star. The sixth entry in the "Henry Aldrich" series of eleven films.
bee
Tarzan Triumphs
Title: Tarzan Triumphs
Character: Zandra
Released: January 20, 1943
Type: Movie
Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the jungle with plans to conquer her people and take their wealth. Tarzan, the isolationist, becomes involved after the Nazis shoot at him and capture Boy: "Now Tarzan make war!"
bee
American Empire
Title: American Empire
Character: Abigail 'Abby' Taylor, Dan's Sister
Released: December 11, 1942
Type: Movie
Richard Dix as Dan Taylor and Preston S. Foster as Paxton Bryce are two longtime friends seeking their fortune in Texas after the war. The two men decide, not without problems, to establish a cattle empire. Paxton becoming too ambitious, distances himself from Dan and Abby, Paxton's wife. It will only be after a personal tragedy that he will come back to his senses.
bee
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
Title: My Heart Belongs to Daddy
Character: Grace Saunders
Released: November 7, 1942
Type: Movie
A distinguished professor finds his well-ordered life tospy-turvy after he is forced to take in a pregnant widow.
bee
The Glass Key
Title: The Glass Key
Character: Nurse
Released: September 8, 1942
Type: Movie
A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
bee
Beyond the Blue Horizon
Title: Beyond the Blue Horizon
Character: Charlotte (uncredited)
Released: June 25, 1942
Type: Movie
A young girl's parents are killed on a tropical island, and the girl is raised and protected by the jungle animals. When she is found, as a grown woman, she is taken back to the United States to claim her inheritance. There are several people, with vested interests, who stand to gain something if she is shown not to be the missing heir.
bee
Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die
Title: Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die
Character: Ruth Grant
Released: June 13, 1942
Type: Movie
Uneven version of Wyatt Earp vs. the Clanton Gang with a little romance thrown in haphazardly.
bee
The Remarkable Andrew
Title: The Remarkable Andrew
Character: Miss Halsey
Released: March 5, 1942
Type: Movie
When Andrew Long, hyper-efficient small town accountant, finds a $1240 discrepancy in the city budget, his superiors try to explain it away. When he insists on pursuing the matter, he's in danger of being blamed himself. In his trouble, the spirit of Andrew Jackson, whom he idolizes, visits him, and in turn, summons much high-powered talent from American history...which only Andrew can see.
bee
Star Spangled Rhythm
Title: Star Spangled Rhythm
Character: Frances Gifford (uncredited)
Released: March 5, 1942
Type: Movie
Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.
bee
Jungle Girl
Title: Jungle Girl
Character: Nyoka Meredith
Released: June 21, 1941
Type: Movie
Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he settles in the African jungle, where his ability to cure the native ills has resulted in his virtual control of the Masamba tribes, who possess vast diamond mines coveted by a gang of crooks.
bee
West Point Widow
Title: West Point Widow
Character: Daphne
Released: June 20, 1941
Type: Movie
In this romance, a hospital nurse marries a West Point football hero. She soon gets pregnant, but this doesn't stop her from annulling the marriage so as not to interfere with her husband's military career.
bee
The Reluctant Dragon
Title: The Reluctant Dragon
Character: Doris
Released: June 19, 1941
Type: Movie
Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.
bee
Border Vigilantes
Title: Border Vigilantes
Character: Helen Forbes
Released: April 18, 1941
Type: Movie
A town bedeviled with outlaws sends for Hoppy, Lucky and California after their own vigilante committee fails to solve the towns problems. Hoppy discovers that the bad guys are led by the town boss, and so are the vigilantes.
bee
Hold That Woman!
Title: Hold That Woman!
Character: Mary Mulvaney
Released: June 28, 1940
Type: Movie
A skip tracer--someone who collects late payments from people who've purchased appliances, etc., or takes them back them when they don't pay--repossesses a small radio from a deadbeat who's skipped payments. What he doesn't know is that a gang that has stolen diamonds from a Hollywood movie star has stashed them inside the radio, and they start hunting for him.
bee
Forty Little Mothers
Title: Forty Little Mothers
Character: Granville Girl
Released: April 26, 1940
Type: Movie
An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.
bee
Mercy Plane
Title: Mercy Plane
Character: Brenda Gordon
Released: December 4, 1939
Type: Movie
Air-race champions "Speed" Leslie and Branda Fowler combine to open a very profitable airplane service that flies patients to other cities for special treatment. Gangsters soon move in and offer to take over, without an invitation.
bee
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Title: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Character: Hopper Girl (uncredited)
Released: October 19, 1939
Type: Movie
Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed to the United States Senate by the puppet governor of his state. He soon discovers, upon going to Washington, many shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss.
bee
Having Wonderful Time
Title: Having Wonderful Time
Character: Salesgirl (uncredited)
Released: July 1, 1938
Type: Movie
Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.
bee
Maid's Night Out
Title: Maid's Night Out
Character: Ticket Seller - Octopus Concession (uncredited)
Released: March 3, 1938
Type: Movie
A millionaire's son works as a milkman for a month to win a bet with his father. While delivering milk he falls in love with a young debutante whom he mistakes for a maid.
bee
Night Spot
Title: Night Spot
Character: Nightclub Patron
Released: February 25, 1938
Type: Movie
A young singer, Marge Dexter, becomes involved in trouble when she works in a nightclub in which two of the band-members are in reality undercover-police officers who believe that the club is the headquarters of a dangerous gang of crooks.
bee
Living on Love
Title: Living on Love
Character: Bus Passenger
Released: November 12, 1937
Type: Movie
A man and woman, who've never met, are forced by circumstances to share the same apartment. A remake of the 1933 film "Rafter Romance".
bee
There Goes the Groom
Title: There Goes the Groom
Character: Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Released: October 29, 1937
Type: Movie
After striking it rich in Alaskan gold, a young man returns to marry his fiancé only to be snubbed. Her sister, however, is worth considering, until he learns about her gold-digging family.
bee
Stage Door
Title: Stage Door
Character: Mary McGuire (uncredited)
Released: October 7, 1937
Type: Movie
The ups and downs in the lives and careers of a group of ambitious young actresses and show girls from disparate backgrounds brought together in a theatrical hostel. Centres particularly on the conflict and growing friendship between Terry Randall, a rich girl confident in her talent and ability to make it to the top on the stage, and Jean Maitland, a world weary and cynical trouper who has taken the hard knocks of the ruthless and over-populated world of the Broadway apprentice.
bee
New Faces of 1937
Title: New Faces of 1937
Character: Showgirl
Released: July 2, 1937
Type: Movie
A crooked producer makes money from Broadway flops by selling more than 100% interest to multiple parties. He only fails if it makes a profit.