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From the Ends of the Earth (1939)
Character: Self
An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Featuring footage from the MGM films being made at the time. Such as The Women, Thunder Afloat, Siren of the Tropics, Ninotchka, Northwest Passage, and At the Circus.
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The Hollywood Gad-About (1934)
Character: Self (uncredited)
A parade highlights the Screen Actors Guild's Film Stars Frolic, hosted by Walter Winchell as Master of Ceremonies.
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Pirate Party on Catalina Isle (1935)
Character: Pirate Captain (uncredited)
Various Hollywood performers put on a pirate-themed variety show on Catalina Island, with a number of amiable stars in the audience.
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A String of Beads (1961)
Character: Walter Harmon
An ordinary girl's life is radically changed by the mistaken receipt of a $60,000 strand of pearls.
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
Character: Self (archive footage)
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
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Corsair (1931)
Character: John Hawks
A stock market broker plans to liven up his boring life by taking up piracy on the high seas.
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The Bat Whispers (1930)
Character: Detective Anderson
Infamous burglar "The Bat" commits a daring jewelry theft despite heavy police presence. Soon after, a bank theft occurs, which may be the work of the criminal as well. Meanwhile, Cornelia Van Gorder has various people arrive at her old mansion, including her niece, Dale, a bank employee, and police detective Anderson. When guests start turning up dead, Cornelia begins to suspect that The Bat may be lurking around the estate.
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The She-Creature (1956)
Character: Dr. Carlo Lombardi
A mysterious hypnotist reverts his beautiful assistant back into the form of a prehistoric sea monster that she was in a past life.
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No Hands on the Clock (1941)
Character: Detective Humphrey Campbell
A wise-cracking private detective's honeymoon is interrupted by a kidnapping case.
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Girl from God's Country (1940)
Character: Jim Holden / Dr. Gary Currier
Jim Holden, a young doctor practicing in Alaska, eagerly awaits the arrival of his new nurse, Anne Webster. All of his previous left within a few weeks by the rigors of the Alaskan winter....
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Boston Blackie and the Law (1946)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black
Blackie performs in a magic show at a women's prison, which gives an inmate an opportunity to escape.
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The Big House (1930)
Character: John Morgan
Convicted of manslaughter for a drunken driving accident, Kent Marlowe is sent to prison, where he meets vicious incarcerated figures who are planning an escape from the brutal conditions.
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Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941)
Character: Boston Blackie
A murder is committed during the auction of a valuable statue. The prime suspect is Boston Blackie, whose reputation for living on the edge of the law makes him an easy target for the police. When the body disappears, Blackie must find it to prove his innocence.
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Double Exposure (1944)
Character: Larry Burke
In New York City, a newly hired photographer becomes embroiled in a scandal when her photo is mistaken for evidence of a murder and she must try to prove her own innocence.
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High Explosive (1943)
Character: Buzz Mitchell
Mike Douglas (Barry Sullivan), owner of a nitroglycerin concern hires his old friend "Buzz" Mitchell (Chester Morris), a race-driver of midget-auto cars who has been banned from racing, to go to work hauling nitro. "Buzz" makes a play for Connie Baker (Jean Parker), Mike's secretary and girlfriend, and also for Doris Lynch (Barbara Lynn), fiancée of Connie's younger brother, Jimmy ('Rand Brooks'), and gets Jimmy to replace him on a dangerous nitro haul and Jimmy, of course, has an accident and gets killed. But "Buzz" finds a way to redeem himself. The hard way.
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Society Doctor (1935)
Character: Dr. Morgan
Two surgeons (Chester Morris, Robert Taylor) in love with a nurse (Virginia Bruce) end their rivalry in the operating room.
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Wagons Westward (1940)
Character: David Cook / Tom Cook
David Cook and twin brother Tom are poles apart in disposition and traits. When their father dies, Tom goes to New Mexico to live with his Uncle Hardtack while David remains behind to care for their mother. The grown Tom becomes an outlaw while brother David becomes a government lawman. David is charged with apprehending Tom...
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Gift of Gab (1934)
Character: Doyle
Conceited radio announcer irritates everyone else at the station.
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The Miracle Man (1932)
Character: John 'Doc' Madison
A gang of crooks evade the police by moving their operations to a small town. There the gang's leader, John Madison, encounters a faith healer and uses him to scam the gullible public of funds for a supposed chapel. But when a real healing takes place, a change comes over the gang.
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Smashing the Rackets (1938)
Character: Jim "Socker" Conway
Jim 'Socker' Conway, former boxer and FBI hero, is maneuvered for political reasons into a do-nothing job in the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, he meets wild debutante Letty Lane, girlfriend of mob mouthpiece Steve Lawrence; and Letty's much nicer sister Susan. Now the slot machine gang brutally beats Jim's friends Franz and Otto. And Jim finds a way to use his nominal position to go into the racket- busting business. But his success puts Letty in deadly peril...
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Complicated Women (2003)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.
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Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood (1942)
Character: Boston Blackie
Blackie receives a call from a friend who asks him to retrieve some money from his apartment and deliver it to him in California. Performing this good deed, he is accused of theft, but is allowed to proceed to Hollywood to help the police find a lost diamond.
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Blind Spot (1947)
Character: Jeffrey Andrews
A mystery writer becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation when a publisher he last saw is found dead.
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The Phantom Thief (1946)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black
Boston Blackie, in the 11th film of the Columbia series, indulges in some wit-trading with a squirmy spiritualist who deals in blackmail, murder and the occult. "Blackie" out to help his pal, "Runt," recover some jewels, finds himself involved in the homicides, and also finds himself as the prime suspect, and now has to find the real culprit in order to clear himself. So "Blackie,", a man of many talents and already a proved magician from cases past, shows he knows a little bit about dancing skeletons, walking phantoms and spiritualism himself, and holds a séance to unmask the murderer.
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They Met in a Taxi (1936)
Character: Jimmy Donlin
A cab driver takes in a young woman who claims to be a reluctant bride, and becomes involved in the search for a stolen necklace.
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The Case of Sergeant Grischa (1930)
Character: Sergeant Grischa
This film earned an Oscar nomination for Sound Recording. It is the only film nominated in this category that is among the lost. No negative or print material is known to have survived. Contemporary reviews were scathing, describing the film as a vastly overlong and boring talk-fest.
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The Great White Hope (1970)
Character: Pop Weaver
A black champion boxer and his white female companion struggle to survive while the white boxing establishment looks for ways to knock him down.
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The Divorcee (1930)
Character: Ted
When a woman discovers that her husband has been unfaithful, she decides to pay him back in kind.
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Three Godfathers (1936)
Character: Robert 'Bob' Sangster
In a town called New Jerusalem, three bandits hold up a bank. After a gun battle with the townspeople, the three robbers retreat into the scorching Arizona desert. There, they happen upon an ill woman stranded with her child. As the mother dies, she begs the men to take care of her infant. The fugitives want to save the baby -- but to do so, they'll have to travel back to New Jerusalem, where they are wanted men. Remade as 3 Godfathers (1949).
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Tomorrow at Seven (1933)
Character: Neil Broderick
People in an old, dark mansion are menaced by a maniac called "The Black Ace".
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Let's Talk It Over (1934)
Character: Mike McGann
A young sailor saves a woman from drowning. The woman turns out to be a rich heiress; unfortunately for the sailor, she was only pretending to be drowning so that another young man she had her eye on would save her.
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Red-Headed Woman (1932)
Character: William 'Bill' / 'Willie' Legendre Jr.
Lil works for the Legendre Company and causes Bill to divorce Irene and marry her. She has an affair with businessman Gaerste and uses him to force society to pay attention to her.
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Five Came Back (1939)
Character: Bill Brooks
Twelve people are aboard Coast Airline's flagship the Silver Queen enroute to South America when the airplane encounters a storm and is blown off course. Crashing into jungles known to be inhabited by head hunters, pilots Bill and Joe race against time to fix the engines and attempt a take off. The situation brings out the best and worst in the stranded dozen as they create a makeshift runway and prepare to escape before the natives attack. But damage to the plane and low fuel reserves means that only 5 people can be carried to safety.
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Pursuit (1935)
Character: Mitch Mitchell
"Mitch" Mitchell is an aviator who has been hired to take a child in a guardianship suit out of California into Mexico. He is accompanied by Maxine Rush, the secretary of the head of a private-detective agency who has been hired to care for the kid until the suit is over. (Overview written by Les Adams )
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Embarrassing Moments (1934)
Character: Jerry Randolph
Jerry Randolph is an inveterate and obnoxious practical joker. Things take a serious turn when it looks as though Jerry's latest prank has resulted in the death of his best friend.
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The Gay Bride (1934)
Character: Jimmie 'Office Boy' Burnham
Mary wants to marry a gangster because that is where the money is. Unfortunately, the life expectancy and finances of a gangster are unstable.
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Playing Around (1930)
Character: Nickey Solomon
New York girl has a dull boyfriend and seems destined for a dull marriage when she meets a rich playboy who has money to burn and places to go.
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Devil's Playground (1937)
Character: Robert Mason
A remake of Frank Capra's Submarine (1928), Devil's Playground is a snappy Columbia "B plus" picture starring Richard Dix and Chester Morris. Submarine officers Dorgan (Dix) and Mason (Morris) battle on land for the affections of dance-hall girl Carmen (Dolores del Rio). She marries Dorgan but makes a play for Mason when her husband is on duty. The romantic rivalry is forgotten when Dorgan must rescue Mason and his crew from a sunken sub.
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Golden Harvest (1933)
Character: Chris Martin
A play by Nina Wilcox Putnam was the source for the empire-building drama Golden Harvest. Ambitious grain trader Chris Martin corners the wheat market and becomes a millionaire. Outgrowing his humble farm beginnings, Chris makes a bid for respectability by marrying Chicago socialite Cynthia Flint.
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Wrecking Crew (1942)
Character: Duke Mason
Follows a crew as they work under a deadline set by their boss to complete the demolition of a building. Touches on the lives of several of the crew in their lives away from the job and shows rhe comraderie of the crew in their work and even away from work.
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Trapped by Boston Blackie (1948)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black
Blackie is the natural suspect when an expensive pearl necklace is stolen while he is supposed to be guarding it.
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King for a Night (1933)
Character: Bud Williams
A prizefighter is convicted of a murder that was actually committed by his sister.
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Moonlight Murder (1936)
Character: Steve Farrell
An escaped lunatic, a mysterious swami, and various lovers all have designs on a famous opera singer.
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Fast Life (1929)
Character: Paul Palmer
A man is tried and convicted for the murder of a man who flirted with his wife., and sentenced to death However, it turns out that he is innocent of the murder and that the real killer has close ties to a powerful politician.
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Law of the Underworld (1938)
Character: Gene Fillmore
A respected citizen with secret ties to the local mob is faced with revealing his criminal connections to save two innocent people from execution
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I Live on Danger (1942)
Character: Jeff Morrell
A cocky radio reporter sets out to prove an ex-convict is innocent in the murder of a mob boss.
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Blind Alley (1939)
Character: Hal Wilson
A gangster takes a doctor and his family hostage.
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Tornado (1943)
Character: Pete Ramsey
The owner of an Illinois coal mine struggles to keep his business in operation, all the while unaware that among his employees is a saboteur planning destruction and chaos.
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Alibi (1929)
Character: Chick Williams
Chick Williams, a prohibition gangster, rejoins his mob soon after being released from prison. When a policeman is murdered during a robbery, he falls under suspicion. The gangster took Joan, a policeman's daughter, to the theater, sneaked out during the intermission to commit the crime, then used her to support his alibi. The detective squad employs its most sophisticated and barbaric techniques, including planting an undercover agent in the gang, to bring him to justice.
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Alias Boston Blackie (1942)
Character: Boston Blackie
It is the Christmas Holidays and reformed thief, Boston Blackie goes to Castle Theater to pick up players who will perform for prisoners that are still in prison. He takes a girl with him who has a brother already in prison. She has visited the prison twice in the month, so is not suppose to visit again. However when the group is completed the girl is included as well as Inspector Farrady. One of the clowns in the show is kidnapped and replaced by a con who wants to get even with two ex-partners. Boston Blackie figures out that a con has replaced one of his clowns but is unable to stop him. Blackie's clothes are stolen and a murder is committed. Of course, the Inspector immediately suspects Blackie of being involved. Now it is Blackie's job to find the killer, exonerate himself and help the girl free her brother.
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The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black
A mad scramble for stolen loot ensues after Boston Blackie has prisoners released for work in a wartime defence plant.
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Secret Command (1944)
Character: Jeff Gallagher
Sam Gallagher returns home to Los Angeles as an undercover spy for the Navy, getting a job at the shipyards where his brother, Jeff, is a foreman. Jeff still resents Sam for abandoning the family years ago and fears he may steal away Lea Damaron, his current girlfriend -- who is Sam's old flame. While Sam tries to sniff out Nazi saboteurs in the plant, he grows closer to Jill McGann, the agent tasked with pretending to be his wife.
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Woman Trap (1929)
Character: Ray Malone
In Woman Trap, Hal Skelly is hard-bitten police sergeant Dan Malone, whose mission in life is to rid his community of gangsters. The revelation that Dan's own brother Ray is the secret head of all local criminal activities does not weaken Dan's resolve in the least. The barely relevant title is a reference to "heroine" Kitty Evans, the wife of a minor gang functionary. Screenwriter Joseph L. Mankiewicz, presumably on a dare, makes a brief appearance as a crime reporter.
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Pacific Liner (1939)
Character: Doctor Craig
The S. S. Arcturus sails from Shanghai to San Francisco, and Dr. Jim Craig takes the post of ship's physician in order to be near Ann Grayson, the ship's nurse. Chief Engineer 'Crusher" McKay also has his eyes on Ann, and this brings an immediate conflict between the two men. When an epidemic breaks out below decks, Craig tells McKay the engine-and-fire rooms must be put under quarantine, but all of Craig's efforts to keep the disease from spreading are opposed by McKay.
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A Close Call for Boston Blackie (1946)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black / Cyrus Peyton
Blackie runs into a woman he formally loved who now is married with a kid. When her husband gets out of prison he's killed in Blackie's apartment and of course the police thing Blackie pulled the trigger. Blackie must set out to prove his innocence as well as capture the real killers.
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One Way to Love (1946)
Character: Barry Cole
A Chicago team of radio scriptwriters must split up when he takes a job with his bride-to-be's father, and the other must write commercial jingles.
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Counterfeit (1936)
Character: John Joseph Madden
A cop goes undercover to infiltrate and break up a counterfeiting ring.
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Show of Shows (1929)
Character: Performer in $20 Bet Sketch and 'Bicycle Built for Two' Numbers
Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!
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Sinners in the Sun (1932)
Character: Jimmie Martin
A New York fashion model finds herself being pursued by a poor but honest garage mechanic and a rich philanderer.
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The Marines Fly High (1940)
Character: Lt. Jim Malone
Marine lieutenants Dan and Jim fight bandits in the South American jungle, while competing for the attention of beautiful Joan Grant.
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Rough, Tough and Ready (1945)
Character: Brad Crowder
The story is the old bromide about two brawling buddies, duking it out over the same girl, in this case pert Jo Matheson (Jean Rogers). Owen and Brad own a salvage company, but split up over Jo. Both separately sign up for the army, and both are reunited in the Pacific.
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Unchained (1955)
Character: Kenyon Scudder
This fact-based prison drama tells the tale of a band of prisoners living in the innovative 2,600-acre prison at Chino, California. The place takes a humanistic approach to reform and there are no armed guards, no lockups and no uniforms. The underlying philosophy is that if these things are not there, the prisoners will not want to escape, and will instead accept their punishment. A new inmate arrives and soon accustoms himself to the new idea. The story includes the Oscar nominated song Unchained Melody.
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One Mysterious Night (1944)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black
After a rare gem is stolen from an exhibition at a posh hotel, Inspector Farraday decides to recruit former thief Boston Blackie to find the stone. Along with his assistant, "The Runt", Blackie focuses his investigation on the hotel manager, George Daley, and his sister, Eileen. Through disguises and ruses, Blackie and the Runt try to trick their way to discovering the thieves.
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Meet Boston Blackie (1941)
Character: Boston Blackie
When a murder occurs on an ocean liner docked in New York, the trail leads to Coney Island and a spy ring.
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Second Choice (1930)
Character: Don Warren
Vallery Grove is in love with Don Warren but her mother opposes the match because he is poor and has no social standing. Don decides to terminate his engagement to Vallery after attending a party where he meets a spoiled rich girl who is interested in him.
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Gambler's Choice (1944)
Character: Ross Hadley
The professional gambler Ross Hadley is the owner of a posh gaming establishment in the heart of New York...
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Infernal Machine (1933)
Character: Robert Holden
This pre-Code comedy-thriller centers on Robert Holden, a broke and discouraged veteran, who meets fellow American Elinor Green at a cafe in Paris. After their first encounter, Holden's attempt to return Green's thought-to-be stolen purse ends up rendering him a stowaway on board a ship bound for America. Also aboard is a collection of characters, including Green's banker fiancé, a famed scientist, and an opera singer. Romance begins to blossom between Holden and Green, just as a radiogram claims that an “infernal machine,” or bomb, is aboard the ship. Quickly each passenger accuses the others of planting the bomb until eventually Holden, jealous of Green's attention to her undeserving fiancé, falsely admits to being the culprit. In his role as assumed perpetrator, Holden tests the group further.
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Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937)
Character: Chester Morris
A series of vignettes with a loose plot. Featured are Frank Morgan, Groucho Marx, Frank McHugh, Robert Benchley and The Brian Sisters. Not bad, more interesting for the historical significance than for entertainment.
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Princess O'Hara (1935)
Character: Vic Toledo
When King's beloved horse dies, Princess tries to purchase a new nag, and that's how she inadvertently gets her hands on a "stolen" race horse. Our heroine nearly ends up with a lengthy prison term before the story is resolved during the climactic Big Race.
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Thunder Afloat (1939)
Character: 'Rocky' Blake
A tugboat captain serves under his rival as a U-boat chaser in World War I.
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Sky Giant (1938)
Character: Kenneth 'Ken' Stockton
Given the job of training young pilots for important post-war cargo flights, hard-boiled Col. Stockton forces ex-officer Stag Cahill back into the military to be his aide at the academy. Complications arise when Stockton's son Kenneth arrives for training and Stockton, believing his son to be a slackard, looks for an excuse to drop him from the program. Rivalry develops between Stag and Ken as well, as they fall for the same girl.
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Public Hero Number 1 (1935)
Character: Jeff Crane
G-Man Jeff Crane poses as a crook to infiltrate the notorious Purple Gang, a band of hoodlums which preys upon other hoodlums. Orchestrating the jailbreak of the gang's leader, Crane joins him in a Dillinger-like flight across the country.
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Flight from Glory (1937)
Character: Paul Smith
Director Lew Landers' 1937 B-film, about a crew of misfit pilots working for an Argentinian air service, stars Chester Morris, Van Heflin, Whitney Bourne, Onslow Stevens, Richard Lane, Douglas Walton, Paul Guilfoyle, Solly Ward, Walter Miller and Rita LaRoy.
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The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
Character: Jimmie Burnham in 'The Gay Bride' (archive footage)
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
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Blondie Johnson (1933)
Character: R. Burton "Danny" Jones
A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
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Aerial Gunner (1943)
Character: Foxy Pattis
Old rivals are pitted against each other in basic training and fight for the same woman.
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Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (1949)
Character: Horatio 'Boston Blackie' Black
Blackie is seen leaving a Chinese laundry where the proprietor has been murdered, and must track down the real killer in Chinatown.
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