Ann Dvorak
Ann Dvorak (born Anna McKim; August 2, 1911 – December 10, 1979) was an American stage and film actress. Asked how to pronounce her adopted surname, she told The Literary Digest: "My fake name is properly pronounced vor'shack. The D remains silent." Dvorak was the daughter and only child of silent film actress Anna Lehr and director Edwin McKim. While in New York, she attended St. Catherine's Convent. After moving to California, she attended Page School for Girls in Hollywood. She made her film debut when she was five years old in the silent film version of Ramona (1916), credited as "Baby Anna Lehr". She continued in children's roles in The Man Hater (1917) and Five Dollar Plate (1920), but then stopped acting in films. Her parents separated in 1916 and divorced in 1920; she did not see her father again until 13 years later, when she made a public plea to the press to help her find him. In the late 1920s, Dvorak worked as a dance instructor and gradually began to appear on film as a chorus girl. Her friend, actress Karen Morley, introduced her to billionaire movie producer Howard Hughes, who groomed her as a dramatic actress. She was a success in such pre-Code films as Scarface (1932) as Paul Muni's sister; in Three on a Match (1932) with Bette Davis and Joan Blondell as the doomed, unstable Vivian; in The Crowd Roars (1932) with James Cagney; and in Sky Devils (1932) opposite Spencer Tracy. Known for her style and elegance, she was a popular leading lady for Warner Bros. during the 1930s, and appeared in numerous contemporary romances and melodramas. At age 19, Dvorak eloped with Leslie Fenton, her English co-star from The Strange Love of Molly Louvain (1932), and they married on March 17, 1932. They left for a year-long honeymoon in spite of her contractual obligations to the studio, which led to a period of litigation and pay disputes during which she discovered she was making the same amount of money as the boy who played her son in Three on a Match. She completed her contract on permanent suspension, then worked as a freelancer. Although she worked regularly, the quality of her scripts declined sharply. She appeared as secretary Della Street to Donald Woods' Perry Mason in The Case of the Stuttering Bishop (1937). With her then-husband, Leslie Fenton, Dvorak traveled to England where she supported the war effort by working as an ambulance driver and acted in several British films. She appeared as a saloon singer in Abilene Town with Randolph Scott and Edgar Buchanan, released in 1946. The following year she adeptly handled comedy by giving an assured performance in Out of the Blue (1947). In 1948, Dvorak gave her only performance on Broadway in The Respectful Prostitute. Dvorak's marriage to Fenton ended in divorce in 1946. In 1947, she married Igor Dega, a Russian dancer who danced with her briefly in The Bachelor's Daughters. The marriage ended two years later. Dvorak retired from the screen in 1951, when she married her third and last husband, Nicholas Wade, to whom she remained married until his death in 1975. She had no children.
Scarface
as Cesca CamonteIn 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio "Tony" Camonte, shoots his way...
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Sweet Music
as Bonnie HaydonA midwest band leader and his lead singer share a love-hate relationship as they try for success...
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'G' Men
as Jean MorganJames “Brick” Davis, a struggling attorney, owes his education to a mobster, but always has...
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Dance, Fools, Dance
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)When misfortune hits hard on the Jordan family of Chicago's upper class, Bonnie Jordan, a...
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Three on a Match
as Vivian RevereAlthough Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she...
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Dr. Socrates
as JosephineDr. Socrates gave up his brilliant career as surgeon in a prominent hospital because his...
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The Long Night
as CharleneCity police surround a building, attempting to capture a suspected murderer. The suspect knows...
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Merrily We Live
as Minerva HarlanSociety matron Emily Kilbourne has a habit of hiring ex-cons and hobos as servants. Her latest...
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The Secret of Convict Lake
as Rachel SchaefferAfter a group of convicts escapes from prison, they take refuge in the wilderness. While most of...
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Devil-May-Care
as Chorine (uncredited)A follower of Napoleon escapes the firing squad, flees to a woman's bedroom and winds up butler.
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Abilene Town
as RitaMarshall Dan Mitchell, who is the law in Abilene, has the job of keeping peace between two...
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The Private Affairs of Bel Ami
as Madeleine ForestierA self-serving journalist uses influential women in late-1800s Paris and denies the one who...
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A Life of Her Own
as Mary AshlonA young woman from Kansas moves to New York City, becomes highly successful at a prestigious...
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This Modern Age
as Party Guest (Uncredited)A Harvard football star disobeys his upper class parents and runs off with his true love.
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So This Is College
as Student (uncredited)Scheming coed Babs comes between college buddies Eddie and Biff.
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Bright Lights
as Fay WilsonHusband-and-wife vaudeville stars separate when success goes to his head.
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Breakdowns of 1936
as SelfFlubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1936.
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Thanks a Million
as Sally MasonA show troupe is engaged by Judge Culliman, who is running for Governor, to enhance his...
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Stranger in Town
as Marian CrickleCrickle is a tenacious small-town grocer who stubbornly resists the efforts of a monopolistic...
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Madam Satan
as Zeppelin Reveler (uncredited)A socialite masquerades as a notorious femme fatale to win back her straying husband during a...
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Sky Devils
as Mary WayWilkie and Mitchell, trying to desert their draft into the army, stow away on a ship which takes...
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Housewife
as Nan ReynoldsNan Reynolds encourages her copywriter husband Bill to open his own agency. Nearly out of...
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Politics
as Rally Audience Extra (uncredited)A widow's decision to run for mayor kicks off a battle of the sexes in a small town.
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Free and Easy
as Chorine (uncredited)Gopher City Kansas hosts a beauty contest. The winner, Elvira Plunkett, and her mother go to...
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Midnight Court
as Carol O'NeillAfter losing his bid for district attorney, an aspiring young lawyer agrees to defend a ring of...
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Lord Byron of Broadway
as Chorus GirlA talented songwriter gets his inspiration for songs from others and not from within himself. He...
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The Hollywood Revue of 1929
as Chorus Girl from Omaha (uncredited)An all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.
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Way Out West
as Carnival Show Girl (uncredited)Wise-guy carnival barker Windy bilks a group of cowboys out of their money, gets caught and is...
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College Coach
as Claire GoreRuthless Coach Gore creates turmoil at a college by hiring players and alienating students....
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Gangs of New York
as Connie BensonAn undercover cop infiltrates a powerful New York based crime syndicate.
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Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
as Vivian Revere Kirkwood (archive footage)A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of...
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We Who Are About to Die
as Connie StewartJohn Thompson is kidnapped by mobsters after quitting his job. Then he is arrested, tried, and...
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Blind Alley
as MaryA gangster takes a doctor and his family hostage.
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Side Streets
as Marguerite GilbertA spinster dressmaker falls for a ne'er-do-well.
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Flame of Barbary Coast
as Ann 'Flaxen' TarryDuke Fergus falls for Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry in the Barbary Coast in turn-of-the-century San...
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It's a Great Life
as Chorus GirlCasey and Babe are sisters who work in a department store and each year the store puts on a...
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The Guardsman
as Fan Saying "There He Is" (uncredited)An acclaimed actor and his equally acclaimed actress wife, who have been married for less than a...
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Love Is a Racket
as Sally CondonA gossip columnist helps a Broadway ingenue who's beholden to a penthouse gangster.
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Estrellados
as Chorine (uncredited)A matinée idol and a bumbling manager fight for the love of a would-be starlet. Estrellados is...
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Our Very Own
as Gert LynchDuring a heated argument with her sister Joan, Gail discovers the shocking news that she is...
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The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
as Madeleine Maude 'Molly' LouvainA fast-talking reporter befriends a young woman and her male companion who are wanted for a...
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The Return of Jesse James
as Sue Ellen YoungerFrank James resents and tries to stop a ruthless drifter who has adopted the name of his dead...
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Out of the Blue
as Olive JensenSet in an apartment building whose occupants include Arthur Earthleigh, a meek and mild type...
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Gentlemen Are Born
as Susan MerrillA well-cloistered and protected-against-reality group of college students get their diplomas in...
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The Crowd Roars
as Lee MerrickFamous auto racing champion Joe Greer returns to his hometown to compete in a local race,...
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The Woman Racket
as Chorus GirlDuring a raid, a cop lets a pretty speakeasy employee escape and later begins dating her....
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Friends of Mr. Sweeney
as Miss Beulah BoydAsaph (Charles Ruggles) is a meek, mild-mannered homebody who occasionally shows some backbone...
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Our Blushing Brides
as One of the 'Quartet' of Models with Tony (uncredited)Three department store girls--Connie, Franky, and Gerry--share an apartment on West 91st Street...
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Heat Lightning
as MyraA lady gas station attendant gets mixed up with escaped murderers.
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Children of Pleasure
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)A successful songwriter, dazzled by high society, falls for a society girl who is just playing...
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Bogart: The Untold Story
as Self (archive footage)Stephen H. Bogart narrates the rise to fame of his father, Humphrey Bogart through the use of...
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Escape to Danger
as Joan GrahameDuring the Second World War a British schoolteacher working in Denmark is caught up when the...
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Stronger Than Desire
as Eva McLainAn attorney handling a murder case in unaware his own wife played a crucial role in the killing.
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Cafe Hostess
as JoA dancehall girl meets a sailor and they fall in love, but the club’s owner doesn’t want the...
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A Tailor-Made Man
as Bit (uncredited)John Paul Bart is just a pants-presser in a tailor's shop, but he has big ambitions. One night,...
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Squadron Leader X
as Barbara LucasEquipped with an RAF uniform, an English accent, a photograph of his "wife" and a packet of...
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The Devil's Cabaret
as Chorine in Black (uncredited)At Satan & Co., Inc., the devil is upset because too many people are going up to Heaven rather...
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Midnight Alibi
as JoanAn elderly woman provides an alibi to a man she scarcely knows who is on trial for murder of his...
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Crooner
as Judith 'Judy' MasonFame goes to a priggish singer's head and almost costs him his girlfriend.
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Chasing Rainbows
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)The road-show troupe of a top Broadway show go cross-country while taking the audience along on...
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Girls of the Road
as Kay WarrenA story of the great-depression era about women hobos, tramps, job-seekers, fugitives and...
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The Way to Love
as MadeleineFrancois, a cheerful Parisian bohemian, wants more than anything to be a tour guide in his...
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This Was Paris
as Ann MorganBritish agents operate in Paris during the Second World War.
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Manhattan Merry-Go-Round
as Ann RogersIn this musical comedy, a crooked record producer uses his mob connections to force performers...
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The Walls of Jericho
as Belle ConnorsIn a small town in Kansas, a county attorney in an unhappy marriage falls in love with another...
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Son of India
as Dancer (uncredited)An Indian jewel merchant goes from penniless to wealthy in this story about gratitude.
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Good News
as StudentA college football star falls for his mousy French tutor.
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I Was an American Spy
as Mrs. Claire 'High Pockets' PhillipsAn American nightclub singer in 1940's Singapore becomes a spy for America in an effort to get...
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The Bachelor's Daughters
as Terry WilsonA department store floor walker is persuaded by four husband-seeking salesgirls to pose as their...
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Massacre
as LydiaUpon the death of his father, who was the tribal chieftain, Joe Thunder Horse returns to the...
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A Trip Thru a Hollywood Studio
as Herself (uncredited)This short shows the entrances of the various Hollywood studios, then specifically visits Warner...
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Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
as Connie KepplarHarriet O'Malley tries to solve a murder aboard a train en route to New York.
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Racing Lady
as Ruth MartinA shrewd millionaire who owns races horses for publicity for his automobile business, claims...
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The Song Writers' Revue
as Member of the Chorus (uncredited)This short showcases composers and lyricists of songs that are now considered standards of...
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Hello Pop
as DancerA stage director is trying to put on a musical/comedy revue, but has to contend with...
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The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
as Della StreetA Bishop from Australia comes to Perry to ask him to take a case of a woman wrongly accused of...
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Masquerade in Mexico
as Helen GrantAn American singer stranded in Mexico is hired by a banker to distract a Mexican matador who is...
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I Sell Anything
as BarbaraAuctioneer Spot Cash Cutler is planning the scam of a lifetime, but will he get burned?
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Murder in the Clouds
as Judy WagnerBob Halsey is a first-rate pilot who's in love with stewardess Judy Wagner. He's ordered to...
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She's No Lady
as JerryAlden "Bill" Carter III sees a beautiful woman, Jerry, dining alone at the Park Savoy in New...
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The March of Time
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)Unfinished pre-Code era film consisting of three sections with past performers from the stage...
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Roast-Beef and Movies
as Chorine (archive footage) (uncredited)A trio of amateur film makers try to persuade a group of studio executives to exhibit their new...
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The Man Hater
as Phemie's SisterPhemie, an avowed man-hater, marries Joe, the village blacksmith.
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