Mantan Moreland

Mantan Moreland

Born: September 3, 1902
Died: September 28, 1973
in Monroe, Louisiana, USA
Although his brand of humor has been reviled for decades, Negro character actor Mantan Moreland parlayed his cocky but jittery character into a recognizable presence in the late 1930s and early 1940s, appearing in a long string of comedy thrillers . . . and was considered quite funny at the time!

Born just after the turn of the century in Louisiana, Mantan began running away from home at age 12 to join circuses and medicine shows, only to be brought back time and again. During these times he sharpened his comic skills and developed routines and acts that eventually became popular on the vaudeville stage, or what was then called the "chitlin' circuit." A solo performer by nature, he often teamed up with other famous comics (such as Ben Carter) to keep working, and became a deft performer of "indefinite talk" routines, where two quicksilver comics continually topped each other in mid-sentence, as if reading each other's mind (i.e., "Say, did you see...?" "Saw him just yesterday...didn't look so good"). Mantan's focus gradually shifted his trade toward film, where he initially appeared in servile bits (shoeshine men, porters, waiters). However, his talent for making people laugh couldn't be overlooked and he soon earned featured status in Harlem-styled western parodies and grade "A" comedy films playing the superstitious, ever-terrified manservant running from any kind of impending doom.

Moreland's peak in movies came with his recurring role as Birmingham, the skittish chauffeur, in the "Charlie Chan" series, where he was forever forewarning his boss to stay away from an obviously dangerous case or situation. Though haunted mansions were an ideal place for setting off his stereotyped character, Mantan would be haunted in a different way by this Hollywood success in years to follow. By the 1950s, racial attitudes began to change and, with the rise of the civil rights movement, what was once considered hilarious was now interpreted as demeaning and offensive to both blacks and whites. Mantan and others, such as Stepin Fetchit, were ostracized and ridiculed by Hollywood for their past negative portrayals. It took decades for audiences to forgive and newer generations to forget the Depression-era comedy of Mantan Moreland in order for the actor to come back.

In the late 1960s he managed a modest resurgence on TV and in commercials and occasional films, allowing him to work again with such comic heavyweights as Bill Cosby, Godfrey Cambridge and director Carl Reiner. It was all too brief, however, for Mantan, long suffering from ill health, died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1973, just as he was settling in to his renewed popularity. Today, audiences tend to be kinder and more understanding of Moreland, remembering him as a highly talented comic who, in the only way he knew, broke major barriers and opened the doors for others black actors to follow.

Movies for Mantan Moreland...

Horrible Horror
Title: Horrible Horror
Character: Jefferson Jackson in 'King of the Zombies'
Released: January 1, 1986
Type: Movie
A collection of trailers and previews from various low-budget horror films of the '50s and '60s.
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The Young Nurses
Title: The Young Nurses
Character: Old Man
Released: March 1, 1973
Type: Movie
Sexy young nurses apply special therapy in their daily rounds, as they work against a drug ring operating out of the hospital
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Watermelon Man
Title: Watermelon Man
Character: Joe the Counterman
Released: May 27, 1970
Type: Movie
A racist insurance agent lives in a typical suburban neighborhood. But his bigoted world of taunting and harassing black people on and off the job is turned upside down when his skin inexplicably turns dark overnight.
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Title: The Bill Cosby Show
Character: Uncle Dewey
Released: September 14, 1969
Type: TV
The Bill Cosby Show is an American situation comedy that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday night schedule from 1969 until 1971, under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble. There were 52 episodes made in the series. It marked Bill Cosby's first solo foray in television, after his co-starring role with Robert Culp in I Spy. The series also marked the first time an African American starred in his or her own eponymous comedy series.
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Title: Adam-12
Character: Philip Richards
Released: September 21, 1968
Type: TV
Adam-12 is a television police drama that followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12.
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Title: Julia
Character: Harry James
Released: September 17, 1968
Type: TV
Julia is an American sitcom notable for being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show stars actress and singer Diahann Carroll, and ran for 86 episodes on NBC from September 17, 1968 to March 23, 1971. The series was produced by Savannah Productions, Inc., Hanncar Productions, Inc., and 20th Century-Fox Television. During pre-production, the proposed series title was Mama's Man. The series was also unique in that it was among the few situation comedies in the late 1960s that did not use a laugh track; however, 20th Century-Fox Television added them when the series was reissued for syndication and cable rebroadcasts in the late 1980s.
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Spider Baby
Title: Spider Baby
Character: Messenger
Released: December 24, 1967
Type: Movie
A caretaker devotes himself to three demented siblings after their father's death. But then money-hungry relatives show up to usurp their inheritance. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
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Enter Laughing
Title: Enter Laughing
Character: Subway Rider
Released: February 25, 1967
Type: Movie
A machinist's apprentice in Depression-era New York, David dreams of becoming the new Ronald Colman. Defying the wishes of his parents, David lands a nonpaying job in a seedy theatrical production directed by broken-down ham Marlowe.
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The Patsy
Title: The Patsy
Character: Barber Shop Porter
Released: June 24, 1964
Type: Movie
When a star comedian dies, his comedy team decides to train a 'nobody' to play the Star in a big TV show (a Patsy). But the man chosen, bellboy Stanley Belt (Lewis), can't do anything right. The TV show is getting closer, and Stanley is getting worse.
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Rockin' the Blues
Title: Rockin' the Blues
Character: Self
Released: October 11, 1956
Type: Movie
DJ Hal Jackson is the all-rhyming onstage host of this all-black musical.
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Sky Dragon
Title: Sky Dragon
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: April 27, 1949
Type: Movie
All the passengers on an airplane headed for San Francisco are drugged, and when they wake up, it is discovered that a quarter-million dollars is missing. Charlie Chan--and, of course, his #1 son--must discover the identity of the person who doped the passengers and stole the money.
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Come On, Cowboy!
Title: Come On, Cowboy!
Character: Mantan
Released: January 1, 1949
Type: Movie
Mr. Wilson hires Mantan to travel out West and clean out an old property. Mantan runs into trouble in believing the house is haunted while a gang uses it as a hideout. A race film Western produced by the Toddy Company; made for $500 over two days. Restoration by the Academy Film Archive and Blackhawk Films with funding from the estate of David Shepard from the only surviving 35mm nitrate print donated by Giancarlo Esposito and Laurence Fishburne.
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The Feathered Serpent
Title: The Feathered Serpent
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: December 19, 1948
Type: Movie
In order to learn the location of a fabled Aztec treasure, a professor kidnaps his colleague, the only man able to read the ancient Aztec script that is supposed to reveal the location of the treasure. Charlie Chan and his #1 and #2 sons journey to the jungles of Mexico to find the victim and bring the kidnapper and his gang to justice.
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The Golden Eye
Title: The Golden Eye
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: August 29, 1948
Type: Movie
A gold mine in Arizona, that was formerly losing a lot of money, suddenly turns into a veritable money-making machine. However, the owner, instead of being happy about his now profitable business, insists to Charlie that something is fishy and that someone is out to murder him. Charlie and his "crew" travel to the mine, pretending to be tourists staying at a nearby dude ranch so as not to arouse suspicion, and discover that the owner may well be right--it looks like the mine is being used as a cover for criminal activities, and that someone is indeed out to murder him.
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Shanghai Chest
Title: Shanghai Chest
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: July 11, 1948
Type: Movie
Charlie attempts to solve a triple murder in which a dead man's finger prints show up at all three murder sites, and all three victims were connected with the conviction and execution of an evidently innocent man.
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Docks of New Orleans
Title: Docks of New Orleans
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: March 21, 1948
Type: Movie
Detective Charlie Chan springs into action when top officials of a New Orleans chemical company begin dropping like flies.
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The Chinese Ring
Title: The Chinese Ring
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: December 6, 1947
Type: Movie
Soon after a Chinese princess comes to the US to buy planes for her people, she is murdered by a poison dart fired by an air rifle.
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Return of Mandy's Husband
Title: Return of Mandy's Husband
Character: Mantan
Released: May 22, 1947
Type: Movie
In order to make some cash, buddies Mantan and Alex found the "Ghost Association," which will hold mock seances for the local residents. After studying the details of the locals' various deceased relatives, Alex insist that the reluctant Manta, who is afraid of ghost, play "Prince Alabastar Amsterdam" and fool people into thinking that he is in communication with their dead loved ones.
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The Trap
Title: The Trap
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: November 30, 1946
Type: Movie
When a troupe of showgirls with their impresario and press agent vacation at a Malibu Beach resort, two of them are garroted. Charlie takes on the case assisted by Number Two Son Jimmy and faithful chauffeur Birmingham Brown.
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Shadows Over Chinatown
Title: Shadows Over Chinatown
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: June 27, 1946
Type: Movie
In San Francisco's Chinatown, Charlie helps two different people search for their missing relatives and uncovers a murder for insurance scheme.
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Tall, Tan and Terrific
Title: Tall, Tan and Terrific
Character: Mantan Moreland
Released: June 26, 1946
Type: Movie
Professional gambler The Duke (Dots Johnson) attempts to cheat Handsome Harry Hansom (Monte Hawley), who owns a successful Harlem nightclub, out of his club and his contract with his lead singer and girlfriend Tall, Tan, and Terrific (Francine Everett). This leads to a murder that is solved by club comic Mantan Moreland and club photographer Butterbeans (Barbara Bradford). But the plot takes little screen time, most of which is devoted to stage acts at the nightclub.
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Dark Alibi
Title: Dark Alibi
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: May 25, 1946
Type: Movie
After three men are convicted of bank robberies, Charlie becomes suspicious. After some investigation Charlie finds the men are innocent and that the fingerprint evidence used to convict them had been forged. Charlie then proceeds to find the true bank robbers.
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Riverboat Rhythm
Title: Riverboat Rhythm
Character: Mantan
Released: February 16, 1946
Type: Movie
A financially-strapped showboat captain struggles to stay in business.
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Mantan Messes Up
Title: Mantan Messes Up
Released: January 1, 1946
Type: Movie
Mantan takes a job as office boy at a new TV station and gets to watch several pre-recorded musical numbers.
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The Spider
Title: The Spider
Character: Harry
Released: December 1, 1945
Type: Movie
An ex-cop is suspected of murder after he is found with a dead woman. The private detective is on the run -- attempting to prove his innocence.
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She Wouldn't Say Yes
Title: She Wouldn't Say Yes
Character: Porter (uncredited)
Released: November 29, 1945
Type: Movie
Susan Lane is a gifted psychiatrist, grounded in self-control. Before returning by train to her practice in Chicago, she spends time back East with war veterans, building their self-esteem, but frowning on the impulsive, as represented by a favorite comic strip called "The Nixie." She bumps into Michael Kent, an officer and the comic strip's author. He likes her instantly and she dislikes him. He's headed to the Pacific, sees her on the train, gets off in Chicago, and with her father's help, pursues her and hatches a plan to marry her. Meanwhile, she has her own plan to get rid of him with the help of a blond patient. Will the Nixie get into her psyche?
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Captain Tugboat Annie
Title: Captain Tugboat Annie
Character: Pinto
Released: November 17, 1945
Type: Movie
This tale of two tugboats focuses upon the rivalries between two operators competing to win a major shipping contract. Meanwhile a tugboat office secretary and an ex-con who wants to go straight, fall in love. Tugboat Annie is put in charge of a child violinist. When a waterfront fire breaks out, the two warring captains join forces to put it out.
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The Shanghai Cobra
Title: The Shanghai Cobra
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: September 29, 1945
Type: Movie
Someone is attempting to steal radium stored in a bank. Death by cobra venom connects a number of murders. Charlie Chan investigates.
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The Scarlet Clue
Title: The Scarlet Clue
Character: Birmingham Brown, Chauffeur
Released: May 11, 1945
Type: Movie
Chinese sleuth Charlie Chan discovers a scheme for the theft of government radar plans while investigating several murders.
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Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask
Title: Charlie Chan in The Jade Mask
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: January 26, 1945
Type: Movie
The latest assignment for respected detective Charlie Chan has come directly from the government and involves the disappearance of a scientist named Harper, who was working on an extremely important serum. When the scientist is killed, Chan must sort through all very likely suspects, including the man's sister and his butler.
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Bowery to Broadway
Title: Bowery to Broadway
Character: Alabam
Released: November 3, 1944
Type: Movie
Two Bowery vaudevillians find success in producing shows on Broadway, but when one of them suddenly departs to work for a beautiful woman, a feud erupts.
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Black Magic
Title: Black Magic
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: August 19, 1944
Type: Movie
Chinese detective Charlie Chan solves a murder linked to the occult. This movie had an alternative title: Meeting at Midnight.
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South of Dixie
Title: South of Dixie
Character: The Porter
Released: June 23, 1944
Type: Movie
To save their music publishing firm from bankruptcy, Bill "Brains' Watson creates a colorful life-story about his partner, Danny Lee, representing him as a descendant of Louisiana's famous Josh Lee family and rightful poet laureate of Dixieland.
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Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Title: Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
Character: Birmingham Brown, Taxi Driver
Released: May 20, 1944
Type: Movie
To solve the murder of a man shot in a locked room, Chan must wade through a Fun House, the writings of an unscrupulous author, and chess pieces.
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Pin Up Girl
Title: Pin Up Girl
Character: Train Station Porter (uncredited)
Released: April 25, 1944
Type: Movie
Glamorous Lorry Jones, the toast of a Missouri military canteen, has become "engaged" to almost every serviceman she's signed her pin-up photo for. Now she's leaving home to go into government service (not, as she fantasizes, to join the USO). On a side trip to New York, her vivid imagination leads her to True Love with naval hero Tommy Dooley; but increasingly involved Musical Comedy Complications follow.
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Moon Over Las Vegas
Title: Moon Over Las Vegas
Character: Porter
Released: April 1, 1944
Type: Movie
A beautiful woman goes to Las Vegas in a scheme to make her husbnd jealous, but once she gets there she becomes involved with another man.
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See Here, Private Hargrove
Title: See Here, Private Hargrove
Character: Train Porter (uncredited)
Released: March 18, 1944
Type: Movie
Journalist Marion Hargrove enters the Army intending to supplement his income by writing about his training experiences. He muddles through basic training at Fort Bragg with the self-serving help of a couple of buddies intent on cutting themselves in on that extra income.
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Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Title: Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
Character: Birmingham Brown
Released: February 14, 1944
Type: Movie
Charlie Chan is an agent of the US government working in Washington DC and he is assigned to investigate the murder of the inventor of a highly advanced torpedo. Aiding Chan is his overeager but dull-witted son Tommy and his daughter Iris.
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Chip Off the Old Block
Title: Chip Off the Old Block
Character: Porter
Released: February 1, 1944
Type: Movie
The son of a strict Navy officer falls for the daughter of a musical-comedy star.
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Swing Fever
Title: Swing Fever
Character: Woody, Nick's Valet (uncredited)
Released: November 1, 1943
Type: Movie
Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
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Swing Fever
Title: Swing Fever
Character: Woody
Released: November 1, 1943
Type: Movie
Comedy about a bandleader with hypnotic powers.
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You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Title: You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith
Character: Porter
Released: October 22, 1943
Type: Movie
A young woman marries a soldier to fulfill the conditions of a will. However, when she gets ready to divorce him, she realizes that she actually loves him, and determines to find a way to keep him.
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Revenge of the Zombies
Title: Revenge of the Zombies
Character: Jefferson 'Jeff' Johnson
Released: September 17, 1943
Type: Movie
When Dr. Von Altermann's wife Lila dies mysteriously at his spooky mansion her relations suspect murder. They also suspect the doctor is turning her into a zombie, to join the army of living dead he hopes to devote to the Nazi cause. However, Lila, though dead, has developed a will of her own.
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Melody Parade
Title: Melody Parade
Character: Skidmore
Released: August 27, 1943
Type: Movie
The owner and staff of a Hollywood nightclub struggle to keep their establishment from closing.
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We've Never Been Licked
Title: We've Never Been Licked
Character: Willie
Released: July 29, 1943
Type: Movie
Young Brad Craig enters the military school with a chip on his shoulder which upperclassmen quickly knock off. Once adjusted, Craig falls in love with a professor's beautiful daughter, only to find she is in love with his roommate.
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Sarong Girl
Title: Sarong Girl
Character: Maxwell
Released: June 11, 1943
Type: Movie
A dancer in a girlie show plots revenge when a judge orders her show closed.
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Hit the Ice
Title: Hit the Ice
Character: Porter with Snowshoes (uncredited)
Released: June 2, 1943
Type: Movie
Flash Fulton (Bud Abbott) and Weejie McCoy (Lou Costello) take pictures of a bank robbery. Lured to the mountain resort hideout of the robbers and accompanied by Dr. Bill Elliott (Patric Knowles) and Peggy Osborn (Elyse Knox), they also meet old friend Johnny Long (Johnny Long) and his band and singer Marcia Manning (Ginny Simms). Dr. Elliott and Peggy are being held in a remote cabin by the robbers, but Weejie rescues them by turning himself into a human snowball that becomes an avalanche that engulfs the crooks.
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Cabin in the Sky
Title: Cabin in the Sky
Character: First Idea Man
Released: April 9, 1943
Type: Movie
When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for six months to prove that he deserves to be in heaven. He awakens, remembering nothing and struggles to do right by his devout wife, Petunia, while an angel known as the General and the devil's son, Lucifer Jr., fight for his soul.
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He Hired the Boss
Title: He Hired the Boss
Character: Bootblack
Released: April 2, 1943
Type: Movie
A shy bookkeeper accidentally discovers that the company where he works is targeted in a series of late-night robberies.
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Slightly Dangerous
Title: Slightly Dangerous
Character: Waiter at Swade's (uncredited)
Released: April 1, 1943
Type: Movie
Small-town soda-jerk Peggy Evans quits her dead-end job and moves to New York where she invents a new identity.
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Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Title: Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Character: Eustace Smith
Released: January 29, 1943
Type: Movie
Cosmo Jones, a correspondence-school detective from a small town, comes to the big city to offer his services to the police. He happens by where a gangster is killed by an opposing gang. Socialite Phyllis Blake is running around with gang member Tom and the opposing gang plan on kidnapping her. Cosmo is with Sergeant Flanagan when the attempt is made in front of a night club, where a bystander is seriously wounded in the gun-battle. Police Chief Murphy blames Flanagan for the shooting and demotes him. Cosmo, with the aid of a porter, Eustace and Flanagan's fiancée, Susan, tries to find the killer. Phyllis is finally kidnapped and Cosmo decides the act was committed by one of the two gangs. He has her father place an ad in the newspaper that contact has been made with the kidnappers. Each gang thinks the other is pulling a double cross, and one gang wipes out the other.
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Andy Hardy's Double Life
Title: Andy Hardy's Double Life
Character: Prentiss - The Benedict Butler (uncredited)
Released: December 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Andy is about to head off to college but he's got a few things to take care of before leaving. For starters, he must try and sell his junk car for $20 to pay for a bill and he must convince his father not to go with him to college. Worst of all is that Polly wants to make up but her best friend decides to give Andy a test.
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Eyes in the Night
Title: Eyes in the Night
Character: Alistair
Released: October 16, 1942
Type: Movie
Blind detective Duncan Maclain gets mixed up with enemy agents and murder when he tries to help an old friend with a rebellious stepdaughter.
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Girl Trouble
Title: Girl Trouble
Character: Flint's Chauffeur
Released: October 9, 1942
Type: Movie
A South American in New York rents the apartment of a socialite who pretends to be his maid.
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Phantom Killer
Title: Phantom Killer
Character: Nicodemus
Released: October 2, 1942
Type: Movie
Well-known philanthropist and deaf-mute John G. Harrison is identified leaving the scene of several murders but evades successful prosecution as there are hundreds of witnesses who have also seen him emceeing benefits at the exact same time as the murders.
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A-Haunting We Will Go
Title: A-Haunting We Will Go
Character: Porter (uncredited)
Released: August 7, 1942
Type: Movie
Stan and Ollie get involved with con men, crooks, a genial magician, and two interchangeable coffins with disastrous but funny results.
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Footlight Serenade
Title: Footlight Serenade
Character: Amos
Released: August 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Conceited World Champion boxer Tommy Lundy decides to test his popularity in a Broadway show. Tommy always has an eye for the ladies and he starts paying attention to beautiful chorus girl Pat Lambert. Pat's boyfriend Bill Smith isn't impressed with Tommy even though Tommy gets him a boxing part in the show. When Tommy finds out that Pat and Bill were secretly together the night before the show opens, he angrily plans to turn the boxing scene with Bill into a real bout.
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Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Title: Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost
Character: Lightnin'
Released: June 26, 1942
Type: Movie
Carmelita and Uncle Matt find themselves in a haunted house, but the "ghosts" are actually enemy agents who are trying to frighten away visitors in order to develop a nitroglycerin bomb.
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Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Title: Mr. Washington Goes to Town
Character: Schenectady Jones
Released: May 9, 1942
Type: Movie
While serving time in county prison, Wallingford sees a story in the newspaper that his cellmate, Schenectady, has inherited a mansion from his recently deceased uncle. Hearing this, Schenectady dreams of luxury.
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Tarzan's New York Adventure
Title: Tarzan's New York Adventure
Character: Sam, the Nightclub Janitor (uncredited)
Released: May 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York.
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The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Title: The Strange Case of Doctor Rx
Character: Horatio B.Fitz Washington
Released: March 27, 1942
Type: Movie
Private eye Jerry Church is hired by a criminal defense lawyer after five mobsters he has gotten acquitted are apparently strangled by a serial killer.
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Professor Creeps
Title: Professor Creeps
Character: Washington
Released: February 28, 1942
Type: Movie
Two cut-rate private detectives are broke, hungry and down to their last nickel. They decide to hock their banjo in order to get some money for food, and while one partner is negotiating the deal, the other one falls asleep and dreams that a wealthy society matron has hired them to investigate a string of suitors.
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Lucky Ghost
Title: Lucky Ghost
Character: Washington
Released: February 10, 1942
Type: Movie
An all-black horror comedy starring Mantan Moreland and sometimes partner (and straight man) F.E. Miller, Lucky Ghost is amusing low-brow fare that exploits the more base, stereotypical elements of old-time black life (chicken thievin', gamblin', runnin' from ghosteses) for laughs -- sort of like the BET of its day. Mantan and Miller win a house-cum-casino in a craps game, only to discover that the deceased former owners aren't too pleased that their old home is being used for "jitterbugging, jiving, and hullaballooing". I hate hullaballooing. The ghosts decide to scare everyone off by opening doors and windows, pulling out chairs, even playing the drums.
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Law of the Jungle
Title: Law of the Jungle
Character: Jefferson "Jeff" Jones
Released: February 6, 1942
Type: Movie
Nona Brooks, former member of a stranded theatrical troupe, earns a temporary living singing in a café in Duakwa, British Rhodesia, Africa. The café owner is secretly in league with two foreign agents with a goal of making the natives restless. American explorer Larry Mason leaves for the jungle with his servant, Jeff and a safari. Nona escapes the café into the jungle but is followed by the agents as, unknowing to her, she is carrying a report of the agent's activities. She joins the safari just as all hands are captured by a tribe of natives
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Treat 'Em Rough
Title: Treat 'Em Rough
Character: 'Snake-Eyes'
Released: January 30, 1942
Type: Movie
When his father is accused of graft, a former boxer returns home to clear his name.
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Four Jacks and a Jill
Title: Four Jacks and a Jill
Character: Cicero - Wash Room Attendant (uncredited)
Released: January 23, 1942
Type: Movie
Karanina "Nina" Novak, is befriended by Nifty, the leader of a four-piece orchestra, and in return, secures an engagement for them at the Little Aregal Cafe, with herself as the vocalist, by pretending she once knew the King or Aregal back in the old country. Steve shows up pretending to be the King of Aregal, and complicates the growing romance between Nina and Nifty. When Steve runs off with Opa, the real King of Aregal (also Steve) appears and complicates things again.
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Freckles Comes Home
Title: Freckles Comes Home
Character: Jeff the porter
Released: January 2, 1942
Type: Movie
Freckles Winslow comes home from college and the sheriff accuses him of murder, gangsters put him on the spot, and his girl friend, Jane, falls in love with a confidence man.
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Marry the Boss's Daughter
Title: Marry the Boss's Daughter
Character: Diner Cook
Released: November 28, 1941
Type: Movie
Young man from Kansas goes to New York to work for his tycoon-hero. His superiors won't listen to his ideas about business, but the boss and his daughter do.
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Birth of the Blues
Title: Birth of the Blues
Character: Black Trumpet Player (uncredited)
Released: November 7, 1941
Type: Movie
Jeff grows up near Basin Street in New Orleans, playing his clarinet with the dock workers. He puts together a band, the Basin Street Hot-Shots, which includes a cornet player, Memphis. They struggle to get their jazz music accepted by the cafe society of the city. Betty Lou joins their band as a singer and gets Louie to show her how to do scat singing. Memphis and Jeff both fall in love with Betty Lou.
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It Started with Eve
Title: It Started with Eve
Character: Railway Porter (uncredited)
Released: September 26, 1941
Type: Movie
A young man asks a hat check girl to pose as his fiancée in order to make his dying father's last moments happy. However, the old man's health takes a turn for the better and now his son doesn't know how to break the news that he's engaged to someone else, especially since his father is so taken with the impostor.
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Let's Go Collegiate
Title: Let's Go Collegiate
Character: Jeff
Released: September 12, 1941
Type: Movie
Rawley University is about to receive a star athlete who could give it the first championship rowing team it's ever had. Unfortunately, he gets drafted into the army before he's able to join the team. Two of the team's members get the bright idea of passing off a burly truck driver as the "athlete". Complications ensue.
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Dressed to Kill
Title: Dressed to Kill
Character: Rusty
Released: August 8, 1941
Type: Movie
A detective's wedding is postponed when gunshots are heard nearby.
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Cracked Nuts
Title: Cracked Nuts
Character: Burgess
Released: July 2, 1941
Type: Movie
A young man in a small town wins $5000 in a radio contest. He goes to New York City to propose to his girlfriend, but gets mixed up with a crooked attorney and two con men...
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The Gang's All Here
Title: The Gang's All Here
Character: Jefferson 'Jeff' Smith
Released: June 11, 1941
Type: Movie
Two friends take jobs as truck drivers, unaware that the trucking company is being targeted by a gang of saboteurs who will stop at nothing, including murder, to stop them.
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King of the Zombies
Title: King of the Zombies
Character: Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson
Released: May 14, 1941
Type: Movie
During World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. Guided by a faint radio signal, they crash-land on an island. The passenger, his manservant and the pilot take refuge in a mansion owned by a doctor. The quick-witted yet easily-frightened manservant soon becomes convinced the mansion is haunted by zombies and ghosts.
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Sign of the Wolf
Title: Sign of the Wolf
Character: Ben
Released: March 25, 1941
Type: Movie
Two German shepherds and their mistress (Grace Bradley) crash-land in Canada by a fox breeder's (Michael Whalen) farm.
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Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Title: Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
Character: Roy
Released: March 24, 1941
Type: Movie
Chinese ventriloquist Gordon Cobb is murdered by a gang of jewel thieves. Baffled by the contradictory clues, Inspector Queen asks his son Ellery to help out.
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Sleepers West
Title: Sleepers West
Character: Porter (uncredited)
Released: March 14, 1941
Type: Movie
Private eye Mike Shayne encounters a large amount of trouble while attempting to guard a murder witness.
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You're Out of Luck
Title: You're Out of Luck
Character: Jeff Jefferson
Released: January 20, 1941
Type: Movie
An elevator operator and a janitor team up to solve two murders that may be connected to an illegal gambling operation. Monogram.
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Up Jumped the Devil
Title: Up Jumped the Devil
Character: Washington
Released: January 1, 1941
Type: Movie
Two ne'er-do-wells, Washington and Jefferson, just out of prison are looking for jobs so they won't get arrested for vagrancy. They find out that the wealthy Mrs. Brown is looking to hire a butler and a maid, and Jefferson talks Washington into dressing up as a woman so they can get both jobs. They get the jobs, but they soon run into Bad News Johnson, a crook they met in prison. They find out that Johnson is planning to pull a con on Mrs. Brown and he wants them to go in on it with him. Complications ensue.
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Four Shall Die
Title: Four Shall Die
Character: Beefus - Touissant's Chauffeur
Released: October 15, 1940
Type: Movie
Helen Fielding, heir to the fortunes of the late millionaire Roger Fielding, Sr., has broken off her relationship with the unscrupulous Lew Covey to pursue a romance with reporter Bill Summers. Covey, determined to get at Helen's inheritance, vows to win her back.
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Drums of the Desert
Title: Drums of the Desert
Character: Sergeant 'Blue' Williams
Released: October 6, 1940
Type: Movie
On his way to a post as special adviser of the new parachute troops of the French Foreign Legion in Morocco, Paul Dumont meets the beautiful Helene on the ship. A romance ensues, but the two decide to part when Paul learns that Helene is the fiancée of his best friend and fellow officer Raoul. Raoul is wounded during an Arab attack and the wedding is postponed, and Helene and Paul are thrown together and find it impossible to hide their feelings. The meet in the tent of Hassan, a fortune teller, not knowing the tent is a storage place for arms and ammunition belonging to Addullah, an Arab leader determined to avenge the death of his brother Ben Ali.
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While Thousands Cheer
Title: While Thousands Cheer
Character: Nash
Released: September 15, 1940
Type: Movie
Kenny Harrington, the star football player of Gilmore College, leads his team to many victories, raising hopes that Gilmore will play in the "Peach Bowl," the championship playoffs of the Western conference. Unknown to Kenny, Downey, the head of a gambling syndicate, has placed a $100,000 bet against the Gilmore team.
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Up in the Air
Title: Up in the Air
Character: Jeff Jefferson
Released: September 9, 1940
Type: Movie
A none-too-popular (nor good) radio singer, Rita Wilson is murdered while singing on the air in a radio studio. Radio page boy, Frankie Ryan, and his janitor pal, Jeff, solve the mystery for the none-too-sharp police.
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Laughing at Danger
Title: Laughing at Danger
Character: Jefferson
Released: August 12, 1940
Type: Movie
Frankie Kelly, pageboy at the beauty salon ran by Madam Celeste, and his helper Jefferson find the routine broken when the body of one of the operators, Florence, is found in the dumbwaiter. She had been shot just before she was to give Detective Dan Haggerty information about a blackmail gang. Since Mary Baker, Frankie's girl friend saw her last, she is suspected, and Frankie determines to clear her using his own sleuthing methods. He has hardy begun when Pierre, another member of the staff, and Florence's fiancée is found dead.
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Maryland
Title: Maryland
Released: July 19, 1940
Type: Movie
A woman tormented by the hunting death of her husband forbids her son to have anything to do with horses. But when he falls for the daughter of his father's trainer, he defies his mother by entering the Maryland Hunt.
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On the Spot
Title: On the Spot
Character: Jefferson White
Released: June 11, 1940
Type: Movie
Frankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and an attempted killing suddenly swing Midvale into national prominence. Frankie and his pal, Jefferson, become involved when a wounded gangster starts to tell them where $300,000 in stolen loot is hidden, but he is murdered before he can give them all of the information. The search is on.
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Girl in 313
Title: Girl in 313
Character: Porter
Released: May 31, 1940
Type: Movie
A priceless necklace goes missing at a plush party. Police close in on the jewel thieves but is one cop getting too close to one of the crooks?
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Viva Cisco Kid
Title: Viva Cisco Kid
Character: Memphis - The Cook
Released: April 12, 1940
Type: Movie
Cisco saves a stagecoach from being robbed and takes a shine to one of the passengers whose father is in cahoots with a vicious criminal who plans to murder him.
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Star Dust
Title: Star Dust
Character: Waiter on Train
Released: April 6, 1940
Type: Movie
When Hollywood film studios reject her because she's too young, an Arkansas woman sets out to build a career as an actress on her own.
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Millionaire Playboy
Title: Millionaire Playboy
Character: Bellhop
Released: March 14, 1940
Type: Movie
A young millionaire gets hiccups whenever he kisses a pretty woman.
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Chasing Trouble
Title: Chasing Trouble
Character: Thomas H. Jefferson
Released: January 30, 1940
Type: Movie
A delivery boy for a flower shop, who thinks of himself as an amateur detective, finds out that his boss is mixed up with a foreign espionage ring.
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City of Chance
Title: City of Chance
Character: Anxious Man
Released: January 13, 1940
Type: Movie
Texas girl goes to New York, becomes a newspaper reporter, and tries to get her gambler boyfriend to come home.
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The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Title: The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
Character: Robbins
Released: January 11, 1940
Type: Movie
A man involved in a crime (Nolan) kills his key witness by mistake and resigns himself to death. He changes his name so as not to harm his family. The law is not content with his explanation, however.
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Irish Luck
Title: Irish Luck
Character: Jefferson
Released: August 22, 1939
Type: Movie
A spunky young bellhop investigates the murder of a hotel guest.
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Riders of the Frontier
Title: Riders of the Frontier
Character: Chappie, the Cook
Released: August 15, 1939
Type: Movie
The Rancho Grande, a Texas border ranch, cut off from the law by a gang of outlaws led by ranch foreman Bart Lane, who is holding the elderly owner of the ranch, Sarah Burton, a prisoner. Tex Lowery, an undercover Texas Ranger, rescues Martha Williams, a nurse sent for by the ailing Sarah, from a stagecoach holdup by Lane's henchmen. He later convinces Laner that he is a wanted outlaw named Ed Carter, and gains entry to Rancho Grande. But the real Ed Carter shows up.
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Tell No Tales
Title: Tell No Tales
Character: Sport Black at the Wake (uncredited)
Released: June 12, 1939
Type: Movie
A newspaper editor turns a kidnapping into the banner headlines and exclusive story that could save his publication.
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Gang Smashers
Title: Gang Smashers
Character: Gloomy
Released: December 30, 1938
Type: Movie
An undercover police woman poses as a nighclub entertainer to catch the main man behind the racketeers going on around Harlem. Meanwhile two men are falling for her.
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Next Time I Marry
Title: Next Time I Marry
Character: Tilby
Released: December 9, 1938
Type: Movie
Heiress Nancy Crocker Fleming will only receive her inheritance if she marries a "plain American." Her late father was afraid a foreign gigolo would steal her heart and money. So Nancy pays Tony Anthony, working on a WPA road project, to marry, then divorce her. When Nancy inadvertently drives off with Tony's dog, Tony seemingly kidnaps her to retrieve the pooch, which leads to a cross-country race between the two to reach Reno and the divorce court since neither one wants to be the second to file papers.
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Frontier Scout
Title: Frontier Scout
Character: Norris Family Butler
Released: September 16, 1938
Type: Movie
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant has a job for Wild Bill Hickok (George Houston) and his sidekick (Al St. John).
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Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Title: Two-Gun Man from Harlem
Character: Bill Blake
Released: May 1, 1938
Type: Movie
A cowboy is wrongfully accused of murder. He winds up in Harlem, where he assumes the identity of a preacher-turned-gangster who looks like him. He infiltrates the gang to catch the men who framed him.
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Spirit of Youth
Title: Spirit of Youth
Character: Creighton 'Crickie' Fitzgibbons
Released: April 1, 1938
Type: Movie
The story of the rise of boxer Joe Thomas, which paralleled the life of Joe Louis.
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Harlem on the Prairie
Title: Harlem on the Prairie
Character: Mistletoe
Released: December 9, 1937
Type: Movie
A cowboy helps a pretty young woman find lost gold. Restored by the Academy Film Archive with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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That's the Spirit
Title: That's the Spirit
Character: Night Watchman
Released: April 15, 1933
Type: Movie
In this musical short, two night watchmen hear songs performed in a haunted pawn shop.
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One Dark Night
Title: One Dark Night
Character: Samson Brown
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
Samson Brown is a lazy and shiftless husband who lets his wife, Hannah, support the family. He is constantly insulted and annoyed by his in-laws, who live with them, and finally takes off for points unknown. At home, life goes on as usual with the exception of a former suitor who shows up to court Hannah when it is believed Samson is dead. While wandering around the desert Samson discovers a valuable radium deposit. The now-rich Samson plans to return home and sort out the family matters but first he buys a nightclub.