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Mental Poise (1938)
Character: Patient
In this comedic short, a psychoanalyst encounters a patient who eerily resembles himself.
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An Hour for Lunch (1939)
Character: Harry - Greets Joe (uncredited)
Benchley shows how to budget one's time during lunch hour to get things done efficiently. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned.
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Home Movies (1940)
Character: Party Guest (uncredited)
A comedy short staring Robert Benchley. He tries to show us how to make our own movies.
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How to Watch Football (1938)
Character: Football Fan with Flask
Humorist Robert Benchley illustrates the fine points of attending an American football game.
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Opening Day (1938)
Character: Heckler in Grandstand
The City Treasurer stands in for the mayor, throwing out the first pitch on Opening Day.
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John Smith (1922)
Character: Crook
Upon being released from prison, Lawrence Hilliard takes the name of John Smith and looks for work, and falls in love with Irene Mason, a social secretary, but is reluctant to tell her about his past.
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American Spoken Here (1940)
Character: Man on Subway (uncredited)
This MGM John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short takes a look at the origins of North American slang.
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Money to Loan (1939)
Character: Joe Mello
The MGM crime reporter introduces Norman Kennedy, District Attorney of a large city, he who talks about the general want for money, and the extraordinary lengths some will go to to get it. The loan sharking business has that want for money on both sides. He tells the story of one such loan shark, Stephen Hanley, who tried to pass his company off as a legitimate loan business, but who charged exorbitant rates, and used extortion and fraud to get out of his customers even more than what they may have owed on paper.
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Sucker List (1941)
Character: Gus (uncredited)
In this MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short, a man and his racketeer buddies devise a scheme to bilk those already seemingly desperate for money of what little they have.
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The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1940)
Character: John Finney
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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The Go-Getter (1937)
Character: Ship Officer (uncredited)
A Navy veteran with one leg fights to make himself a success.
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Three Secrets (1950)
Character: Bartender (uncredited)
A five-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a devastating plane crash in the mountains of California. When the newspapers reveal the boy was adopted and that the crash occurred on his birthday, three women begin to ponder if it's the son each gave up for adoption. As the three await news of his rescue at a mountain cabin, they recall incidents from five years earlier and why they were forced to give up their son.
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Sinister Journey (1948)
Character: Storekeeper
Lee Garvin has eloped with the daughter of a railroad man who didn't approve of the marriage. Hoppy steps in when the young man is framed for murder.
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Sorrowful Jones (1949)
Character: Jack, Bettor on Green Demon (uncredited)
A young girl is left with the notoriously cheap Sorrowful Jones as a marker for a bet. When her father doesn't return, he learns that taking care of a child interferes with his free-wheeling lifestyle. Sorrowful must also evade crooked gangsters and indulge in a bit of horse-thieving.
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Some Blondes Are Dangerous (1937)
Character: McNeil
"Iron Man" Mason is a talented but rather dimwitted prizefighter. Against the advice of his crusty old manager George Regan, Mason dumps his ever-loving girlfriend Judy Williams in favor of sexy blonde Rose Whitney.
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Roadblock (1951)
Character: Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
An insurance agent's greedy girlfriend with a taste for mink leads him to a life of crime.
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The Great O'Malley (1937)
Character: Prosecuting Attorney (uncredited)
His role in the plight of an unemployed man (Humphrey Bogart) and his disabled daughter profoundly affects an intractable Irish policeman (Pat O'Brien).
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Stronger Than Desire (1939)
Character: Shopkeeper Having Camera (uncredited)
An attorney handling a murder case is unaware his own wife played a crucial role in the killing.
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Convicted (1950)
Character: Convict Curly (uncredited)
A prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.
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Frontier Marshal (1939)
Character: Harassed Man
Wyatt Earp agrees to become marshal and establish order in Tombstone in this very romanticized version of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
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I Stole a Million (1939)
Character: Logan (uncredited)
A cabbie and petty thief dreams of the big heist that will end his thieving ways.
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Black Legion (1937)
Character: Jenkins - Auto Salesman (uncredited)
When a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence.
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The Reckless Moment (1949)
Character: Pawnbroker (uncredited)
After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
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Shockproof (1949)
Character: Sam Green, Pawnbroker (Uncredited)
Jenny Marsh, recently released from prison for killing a man, finds herself under the watchful eye of her parole officer, Griff Marat, who helps her secure a job caring for his ailing mother.
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Mob Town (1941)
Character: Rummel
Wayward youths get out of trouble thanks to a policeman.
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Young Dr. Kildare (1938)
Character: Coronary Patient (uncredited)
A medical school graduate takes an internship at a big city hospital, only to be subjected to a rigorous (and sometimes embarrassing) testing of his knowledge by the hospital's top dog, Dr. Leonard Gillespie.
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White Heat (1949)
Character: Motorist at Gas Station (uncredited)
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.
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Eyes in the Night (1942)
Character: Taxi Driver (Uncredited)
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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Strangers on a Train (1951)
Character: Blind Man (uncredited)
A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.
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The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
Character: Waiter (uncredited)
When the murdered body discovered by beautiful, vivacious socialite Melsa Manton disappears, police and press label her a prankster until she and her group of friends prove them wrong.
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Too Late for Tears (1949)
Character: Little Man Answering Phone (uncredited)
Through a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder.
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The Undercover Man (1949)
Character: Grocer / Bookie
Frank Warren is a treasury agent assigned to put an end to the activities of a powerful mob crime boss. Frank works undercover, posing as a criminal to seek information, but is frustrated when all he finds are terrified witnesses and corrupt police officers.
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Florian (1940)
Character: Horse Peddlar
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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Fly By Night (1942)
Character: Detective Jenks
Young intern Jeff Burton, impulsively offers a lift to an odd-looking gentlemen. It soon turns out that Jeff's passenger is an inventor has just escaped from a shady sanitarium, where he has been held prisoner by Nazi spies.
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Hunt the Man Down (1950)
Character: Alice's Landlord (uncredited)
A lawyer uncovers secrets behind a 12-year-old murder case.
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The Lawless (1950)
Character: Town Councilman (uncredited)
A newspaper editor takes on the cause of oppressed migrant Mexican fruit pickers.
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Midnight Court (1937)
Character: Kruger's Lawyer
After losing his bid for district attorney, an aspiring young lawyer agrees to defend a ring of car thieves.
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Joe Smith, American (1942)
Character: Elias Canfield (uncredited)
Joe Smith is an ordinary American family man who works in an aircraft factory. Shortly after being a promoted to a much higher position, Joe is kidnapped by enemy agents who are determined to get military secrets out of him by any means possible. Will Joe keep quiet or betray his country...
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The Yellow Cab Man (1950)
Character: Gimpy
Pirdy is accident prone. He has been denied insurance from every company in town because he is always getting hit or hurt in some way. On the day that he meets the lovely Ellen of the Yellow Cab Co., he also meets the crooked lawyer named Creavy. Pirdy is an inventor and when Creavy learns about elastic-glass, his new invention, he makes plans to steal the process. With the help of another con man named Doksteader, and the boys, he will steal this million dollar invention no matter who gets hurt.
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Branded (1950)
Character: Spig
A gunfighter takes part in a scheme to bilk a wealthy cattle family out of half a million dollars by pretending to be their son, who was kidnapped as child.
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Ex-Champ (1939)
Character: Announcer
A former prizefighter tries to help his son pay off his gambling debts.
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The Tall Target (1951)
Character: Miller (uncredited)
A detective tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a train ride headed for Washington in 1861.
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Slightly Dangerous (1943)
Character: 'Tribune' reporter (uncredited)
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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The Set-Up (1949)
Character: Blind Man's Buddy (uncredited)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.
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Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939)
Character: Chuck Ball
Torchy conducts a one woman campaign against a corrupt mayor and crime boss, and when the reform candidate is murdered, she takes up the banner.
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Exposed (1938)
Character: Wendell, Fish Company Owner
A magazine reporter exposes a crooked District Attorney, resulting in his trial. Complications ensue, however, when the man is acquitted.
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Our Very Own (1950)
Character: Poker Player (uncredited)
During a heated argument with her sister Joan, Gail discovers the shocking news that she is adopted. With the reluctant support of her adoptive parents and baby sister Penny, Gail goes in search of her biological mother and true identity.
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It Happens Every Spring (1949)
Character: Fan Visiting with Debbie (uncredited)
A scientist discovers a formula that makes a baseball which is repelled by wood. He promptly sets out to exploit his discovery.
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House of Strangers (1949)
Character: Bartender (uncredited)
Ruthless Italian-American banker Gino Monetti is engaged in a number of criminal activities. Three of his four grown sons refuse to help their father stay out of prison after he's arrested for his questionable business practices. Three of them take over the business but kick their father out. Max, a lawyer, is the only son that remains loyal.
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Third Finger, Left Hand (1940)
Character: Telegrapher at Railroad Station
Magazine editor Margot Merrick pretends to be married in order to avoid advances from male colleagues. Unfortunately, things don't go to plan when Jeff Thompson, a potential suitor, uncovers the deception and decides to show up at Margot's family home posing as her husband!
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Northwest Rangers (1942)
Character: Second Poker Dealer
Boyhood friends grow up into different professions: one a dedicated Canadian Mountie, the other a notorious gambler.
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Code of the Silver Sage (1950)
Character: Charley Speed
Arizona Territory is in the grip of outlaw terror and killer outlaws, secretly organized by Hulon Champion, who covers his power ambitions with the guise of a respectable firearms merchant. Hoping to eradicate the lawlessness plaguing the newspaperman Fred Gately prints a letter asking the president to visit the area. But Fred's killed by secret gang leader Champion, who also plans to assassinate the president. Undercover officer Rocky Lane teams with his assistant, Nugget, and Fred's spunky daughter to combat Champion's head gunslinger.
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Special Agent (1949)
Character: Sam McCreary - Barber (uncredited)
A California railroad agent hunts two brothers for murder and robbing a payroll express.
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Missing Witnesses (1937)
Character: Prosecutor in Wagner Case (uncredited)
A detective and his bumbling sidekick join the crackdown on racketeering in '30s New York City.
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Silent Conflict (1948)
Character: Clerk
One of Hoppy's Bar 20 ranch hands is tricked into participating in nefarious activities after being subjected to hypnosis.
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Behind the News (1940)
Character: Skeptical Newspaper Editor
As suggested by its title, Behind the News was a "stop the presses!" yarn set in a big-city newsroom. Lloyd Nolan is top-billed as a cynical reporter with a penchant for sticking his neck out too far. Frank Albertson costars as a cub reporter fresh out of journalism school, whose presence is resented by Nolan and his fellow workers. But it is Albertson who, after running afoul of the law, is instrumental in breaking up a ring of racketeers. Behind the News was remade by Republic as Headline Hunters (55).
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Marie Antoinette (1938)
Character: Second Municipal Taking the Young Dauphin (uncredited)
The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.
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The Wild North (1952)
Character: Dealer (uncredited)
In the Canadian mountains, a trapper goes on the run accused of a crime and is pursued by a rugged and determined lawman of the Royal North-West Mounted Police.
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Buck Privates (1941)
Character: Supply Sergeant (uncredited)
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A rich young man and his former working class chauffeur are not only in the same unit, they're vying for a pretty girl who seems attracted to both.
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China Clipper (1936)
Character: Second Commerce Inspector (uncredited)
An aviator ignores skeptics to make the first commercial flight from San Francisco to China.
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They're Always Caught (1938)
Character: Concession Stand Owner Montel (uncredited)
This MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short shows the role the crime laboratory plays in the solving of cases, and how even the smallest detail can become a major clue.
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The Unknown Man (1951)
Character: N/A
A scrupulously honest lawyer discovers that the client he's gotten off was really guilty.
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You're a Sweetheart (1937)
Character: Waiter (uncredited)
A Broadway producer is in a quandary when he discovers that the opening of his newest big production coincides with that of a major charity event. He despairs that the show will close after opening night until an ingenious writer suggests that he simply give the production snob-appeal by making the tickets nearly impossible to get by fabricating a story that they were all purchased by a flamboyant Texas oil baron who is totally besotted by the show's star.
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Edison, the Man (1940)
Character: Mechanic
In flashback, fifty years after inventing the light bulb, an 82-year-old Edison tells his story starting at age twenty-two with his arrival in New York. He's on his way with the invention of an early form of the stock market ticker.
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Hollywood Cavalcade (1939)
Character: Telegraph Operator
Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for him as director of her next film. Many silent stars shown making the transition to sound.
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