Claire McDowell
Claire McDowell (2 November 1877 – 23 October 1966) was an American actress. She appeared in 360 films between 1908 and 1945. Still somewhat of a youthful beauty when she started in early silent films, McDowell appeared in numerous films, eventually graduating to playing character and mother types. She can be seen to good advantage in Douglas Fairbanks's 1920 The Mark of Zorro. McDowell appeared in two of the biggest films of the silent era, The Big Parade (1925) and Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), both in which she played mothers. She was married to silent screen character actor Charles Hill Mailes from 1906 to his 1937 death. The couple appeared in numerous silent films together, including The Mark of Zorro. They had two sons, Robert Mailes and Eugene Mailes. Claire McDowell died, aged 88, in Hollywood, California. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It Happened One Night
as Mother on Bus (uncredited)A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end...
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Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
as Princess of HurErstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with...
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The Big Parade
as Mrs. AppersonThe story of an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to...
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This Land Is Mine
as Woman in BathroomSomewhere in Europe, in a city occupied by the Nazis, a gentle school teacher finds himself torn...
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Imitation of Life
as Teacher Outside Classroom (uncredited)A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter....
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Hangmen Also Die!
as Counterwoman (uncredited)During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda, a Czech patriot,...
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Adventure
as Woman in Library (uncredited)A rough and tumble man of the sea falls for a meek librarian.
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Du Barry was a Lady
as Subway PassengerHat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with...
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Boys Town
as Nun (uncredited)Devout but iron-willed Father Flanagan leads a community called Boys Town, a different sort of...
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Test Pilot
as Funeral Home Associate (uncredited)Jim is a test pilot. His wife Ann and best friend Gunner try their best to keep him sober. But...
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The Mark of Zorro
as Dona Catalina PulidoDon Diego Vega pretends to be an indolent fop as a cover for his true identity, the masked...
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Lady Scarface
as Mrs. TuckermanA Chicago gang led by Slade carries out an audacious brokerage robbery. Lieutenant Bill Mason...
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Wild Boys of the Road
as Mrs. SmithAt the height of the Great Depression, Tommy's mother has been out of work for months when...
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Keeper of the Flame
as uncreditedFamed reporter Stephen O'Malley travels to a small town to investigate the death of a national hero.
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Murder by Television
as Mrs. HoughlandJames Houghland, inventor of a new method by which television signals can be instantaneously...
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The Big House
as Mrs. MarloweConvicted of manslaughter for a drunken driving accident, Kent Marlowe is sent to prison, where...
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Three Comrades
as Landlady Frau Zalewski (uncredited)A love story centered on the lives of three young German soldiers in the years following World...
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Small Town Girl
as Woman in Bed (uncredited)Kay is a girl living in a small rural town whose life is just too dull and repetitious to bear....
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The New York Hat
as The Main GossipTo fulfill a dying mother's bequest for her daughter, the town pastor purchases the daughter a...
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Young Tom Edison
as Woman at StationInventor Thomas Edison's boyhood is chronicled and shows him as a lad whose early inventions and...
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The Golden Fleecing
as Pedestrian (uncredited)A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.
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The Massacre
as Stephen's Belle - In PrologueThe story of the massacre of an Indian village, and the ensuing retaliation.
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Under Eighteen
as Seamstress (uncredited)Working girl Margie Evans has decided there are two kinds of opportunities for a slum kid during...
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A Failure at Fifty
as Minor Role (uncredited)The story of Abraham Lincoln's 30-year struggle of persistence-through-failure is told to an...
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The Famous Ferguson Case
as Brooks' Landlady (uncredited)A foreword warns against the peril of yellow journalism, and the story illustrates it by...
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Miracles for Sale
as Jack of Diamonds WomanA maker of illusions for magicians protects an ingenue likely to be murdered.
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Union Depot
as Little Boy's Mother (uncredited)Among the travelers of varied backgrounds that meet and interact on one night at Union Depot, a...
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An American Tragedy
as Mrs. Samuel GriffithsA social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.
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Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
as GossiperJoe and Ethel Turp are up in arms when their faithful old mailman is fired. Unable to get...
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The Show Off
as Mom FisherA blowhard who poses as a railroad executive (but is really just a $30-a-week clerk) catches a...
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Two Heads on a Pillow
as Mrs. Helen GormanA lawyer handing a divorce case discovers the attorney for the opposition is his ex-wife.
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Idiot's Delight
as Crying MotherA group of disparate travelers are thrown together in a posh Alpine hotel when the borders are...
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Journal of a Crime
as Sister at Hospital (uncredited)A woman murders her husband's mistress and someone else gets accused of the crime.
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The Old Actor
as At AuditionAn elderly actor who lives with his wife and daughter is dismissed from his acting job because...
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Tillie the Toiler
as Ma JonesTillie is a secretary always dressed in the height of fashion who tries to capture a millionaire...
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Two Daughters of Eve
as The MotherCalumny is one of the most despicable crimes against our neighbor, and while the wife in this...
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A Cry for Help
as The Thief's Wife - the Charity PatientKnocked down by an automobile, the intoxicated tramp is taken to the doctor's house, received...
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Dr. Kildare Goes Home
as Nurse for Mr. Winslow (uncredited)A young doctor gives up big-city success to help his father set up a small-town clinic.
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The Flying Fleet
as Mrs. Hastings (uncredited)Six friends, all hoping to become aviators, are to graduate the next day from the United States...
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So Near, Yet So Far
as Rich Woman in Other TownIt's love at first sight for the Boy, but obstacles-- namely shyness, and the temerity of other...
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British Agent
as Woman Saying 'Lenin will Live' (uncredited)In the days leading up to the Russian Revolution, Stephen Locke, a minor British diplomat in St...
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The Devil's Circus
as Mrs. PetersonIn 1913, Carl is released from prison, where he served a sentence for stealing. Spurned by his...
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The House of Discord
as The Sister-in-LawIn her youth the mother was saved from the fatal mistake by an accident, but it caused her years...
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Bedside
as NurseBob Brown uses his bedside manner to charm his patients while his partner makes the actual...
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Heart o' the Hills
as Martha HawnFamily tensions in the Kentucky hills are inflamed by an outsider's dishonest scheme to exploit...
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The Shamrock Handicap
as Molly O'SheaBecause he refuses to collect rent payments from his impoverished tenants, kindly Irish nobleman...
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Judgment of the Storm
as Mrs. Heathfamed for being written by an amateur
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Angel of Mercy
as Mother (uncredited)This MGM Passing Parade series short tells the story of Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross.
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What Every Woman Knows
as Comtesse de la BrièreAlick Wylie agrees to give railroad porter John Shand $300 to help him secure his education and...
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Presenting Lily Mars
as DowagerStarstruck Indiana small-town girl Lily is pestering theatrical producer John Thornway for a...
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The House of Darkness
as The Doctor's WifeA potentially violent patient in an insane asylum is calmed when he hears a nurse playing the...
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The Female of the Species
as The Miner's WifeA man and three women leave an abandoned mining town and travel across the desert. After the...
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Stand Up and Fight
as WomanA southern aristocrat clashes with a driver transporting stolen slaves to freedom.
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Thunder Afloat
as Nurse (uncredited)A tugboat captain serves under his rival as a U-boat chaser in World War I.
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A Flash of Light
as At First PartyAn experiment goes wrong and blinds a newly married chemist. The chemist's wife does not want to...
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Lawyer Man
as Gilmurry's Secretary (uncredited)Idealistic attorney Anton Adam makes headlines when he successfully prosecutes a prominent New...
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The Tragedy of Youth
as MotherNeglected by shallow husband Dick, young bride Paula Wayne seeks male companionship outside the...
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The Usurer
as Despairing Mother / One of the Third DebtorsA wealthy, callous moneylender finds a terrifying way to learn about money's limitations.
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A Night at the Movies
as Movie Patron (uncredited)A Night at the Movies is a short film starring Robert Benchley. It was Benchley's greatest...
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A Successful Calamity
as Struthers' Secretary (uncredited)Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy 'Sweetie'...
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By Appointment Only
as Mrs. Mary CarrollWhen a mother dies of heart failure in a doctor's office, the physician--feeling somewhat guilty...
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Under Burning Skies
as The FriendJoe, "The Bad Man of San Fernand," is one tough customer. He sets his sights on a lovely young...
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Nice People
as Margaret RainsfordTeddy Gloucester, one of the group of jazz age "nice people," is caught in a farmhouse during a...
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The Primal Call
as The WomanA young woman who is engaged to a millionaire she doesn't love meets and falls in love with a...
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One Against the World
as Jane Todd Crawford (uncredited)This short film presents the story of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, who came under scrutiny for his...
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The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
as Ann Marie's Caregiver Mrs. Schiller (uncredited)A fast-talking reporter befriends a young woman and her male companion who are wanted for a...
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The Second Floor Mystery
as Aunt HattieIn this mystery, a man and woman have been corresponding through a "personal" column under the...
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His Trust
as Col. Frazier's wifeA Confederate officer is called off to war. He leaves his wife and daughter in the care of...
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August Week End
as Alma WashburneAt a high-society dinner party, a wealthy, older and married man sets his sights on a beautiful...
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The Devil
as uncreditedMack Sennett appears as a waiter in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
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The Working Man
as Benjamin's SecretaryA successful shoe manufacturer named John Reeves goes on vacation and meets the grown children...
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Penrod
as Mrs. SchofieldYoung rapscallion Penrod Schofield causes a good deal of trouble in his community, all in the...
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Central Airport
as Mrs. BlaineAviator Jim Blaine and his brother Neil are rivals not only as daredevil flyers, but also for...
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The Sunbeam
as The SpinsterSet in a tenement, a lonely confirmed bachelor occupies a room across the hall from a dour...
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His Trust Fulfilled
as Mrs. FrazierContinuing where His Trust (1911) leaves off, George takes care of his deceased master's...
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The Jack-Knife Man
as Lize MerdinA dying mother left his child with an old man, but the village people want to take the child...
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Redemption
as Anna PavlovnaIn Russia in the early 1900s, Fedya, a handsome, self-indulgent womanizer, falls in love with...
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Love Among the Roses
as uncreditedIn the Kingdom of Never-Never Land there live a great Lord and Lady, each presiding over their...
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Secrets
as Elizabeth ChanningAn old woman's memories are rekindled as she rereads her diary. She recalls her youth in England...
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Circus Days
as Martha10-year-old Toby runs away from his abusive uncle to join the Big Top.
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Swords and Hearts
as Irene LambertA poor girl is secretly in love with a wealthy young planter.
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The Tower of Lies
as KatrinaAfter his beloved daughter leaves for the city to pay off his debt, an old farmer goes mad when...
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Silks and Saddles
as Mrs. CalhounJockey Johnny Spencer loses his job with Mrs. Calhoun for throwing a race. An adventuress named...
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Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
as Dr. Standish's Servant (uncredited)Andy is going to Wainwright College as did his father. He sees a pretty blonde on the train and...
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A Temporary Truce
as Mexican Jim's WifeA Mexican is thrown out of a bar by a young prospector and swears to get even. Later, he kidnaps...
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The Oath and the Man
as RebelA rich nobleman steals a perfume merchant's wife just prior to the French Revolution, in which...
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Midsummer Madness
as Mrs. OsborneBecause Bob Meredith (Jack Holt) spends all his time working, his wife Margaret (Lois Wilson)...
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The Phantom Express
as Ma NolanRailroad foes cause terror on the tracks with the illusion of a ghost train.
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Human Wreckage
as Mrs. BrownAn attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.
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Man's Genesis
as Cave WomanAn old man tells his grandchildren about prehistoric man: Caveman Weakhands is unable to court a...
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The Shield of Honor
as Mrs. MacDowellCan Jack MacDowell, the first flying policeman on the force, save his dad from stop-at-nothing...
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Cornered
as Jane's AuntShortly after Moody Pierson saves Sheriff Tim's life, Moody is arrested for murder. Tim doesn't...
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Wilful Peggy
as HousemaidPeggy is a high-spirited young woman from a poor family. One day she catches the eye of a...
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The Telephone Girl and the Lady
as The LadyD.W. Griffith short intercuts two different stories before mixing them together at the end. The...
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The Switchtower
as The Switchman's Wife"He was a regular boy and his father a switchman. The boy determined to be like his dad and...
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Prudence on Broadway
as Miss GraysonPrudence's ( Olive Thomas ) parents send her from their Pennsylvania Quaker colony to a...
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The Golden Supper
as Lady-in-WaitingJulian loves his cousin and foster sister Camilla, who is wooed and won by Lionel, his friend...
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The Adventures of Billy
as Rich WomanBilly witnesses two tramps accidentally kill someone during a robbery. The tramps lock him up...
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The Manicure Lady
as Lunchroom HostessThe manicure lady spurns the barber and dates a rich cad instead.
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Ashes of Vengeance
as Margot's AuntThis historical piece, set in the Huguenot days of France, is Norma Talmadge's 37th feature film...
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Dr. Monica
as Miss Bryerly (uncredited)A prominent New York doctor, unable to have a child, discovers her philandering husband has...
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The Quitter
as Mrs. AbbottNeal Abbott (Ben Lyon), a disgraced surgeon, regains his self-respect after operating on and...
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Waking Up the Town
as Mrs. JoyceJim Joyce runs a garage with old Abner Hope. When Hope's granddaughter, Mary Ellen, comes to...
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A Sailor’s Heart
as The Sailor's Third SweetheartA short film directed by Wilfred Lucas for the Biograph Company.
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Waiter No. 5
as The Chief of Police's WifeAfter conducting a raid on a Rebel camp, a Czarist officer discovers that his wife has joined...
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The Long Road
as Ned's WifeEdith enters a convent after losing her fiancé to someone else. Years later, Edith finds him...
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Mothers Cry
as Mary's MotherHaving raised four children alone, widow Mary Williams still manages to love her eldest son,...
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The Unwelcome Guest
as The WifeJust before she dies, an elderly married woman stashes the horde of money she's secretly...
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The Black Diamond Express
as Martha FosterDan Foster, the engineer of the Black Diamond Express express train falls in love with Jeanne...
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Love Never Dies
as Liz TrottJohn and Tilly's happy marriage is ruined when Tilly's father finds out about the scandalous...
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Something to Think About
as HousekeeperWealthy cripple Markley finances the education of blacksmith's daughter Ruth. When she returns...
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Rose o' Salem Town
as uncreditedA young girl living in Salem attracts the attentions of The Puritan. After he's brushed off by...
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The Unknown Soldier
as John Phillips' sisterThe Unknown Soldier is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Renaud Hoffman and written...
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The Viking
as Lady Editha (as Claire MacDowell)In this historical adventure based on traditional legend concerning Leif Ericsson and the first...
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Manhattan Parade
as Nancy - the MaidDirector Lloyd Bacon's 1931 drama takes a different look at the Broadway arena by focusing on...
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The Clean-Up
as Vera VincentA publicist for a racy burlesque troupe romances the daughter of the head of The Purity League,...
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Billy's Stratagem
as Billy's MotherWhile their mother is away from home, Billy and his sister are set upon by marauding Indians,...
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The White Raven
as DaisyWilliam Baldwin, ruined in business by his partner, John Blaisdell, implores Blaisdell's aid,...
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What Shall We Do with Our Old?
as The Old Carpenter's WifeAn elderly carpenter is told by a doctor that his wife is seriously ill. Soon afterwards, an...
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Fate's Turning
as At Hotel/At WeddingA young girl working as a waitress at a resort for the wealthy is swept off her feet by a rich...
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The Wanderer
as The Female LoverA little over six minutes survive of this Biograph short. Not to be confused with another...
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The Canceled Mortgage
as The Widowed MotherTwo road agents hold up the stagecoach and rob the passengers. In making their getaway, one of...
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The Strong Man's Burden
as Ida Glynn, The NurseA crime drama in which a police officer does everything possible to help his criminal younger...
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A Stranger from Somewhere
as OlgaA rancher moves to the city, and finds competition for the affections of an heiress in the form...
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The Squaw's Love
as Silver FawnWild Flower follows her banished lover, Gray Fox, into the wilderness. Her departure is...
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The Gates of Doom
as Indore / AgathaIndore, an Indian woman married to the English Captain Terence Unger is imprisoned by the prince...
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The Taxi Dancer
as Aunt MaryA southern girl tries her luck as a dancer in New York City.
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The Man on the Rock
as Napoleon's Mother (uncredited)A look at whether Napoleon Bonaparte indeed died on the island of St. Helena in 1821.
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In the Aisles of the Wild
as The Elder DaughterA widower and his two daughters live in the wilds of the north woods. They form the acquaintance...
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The West~Bound Limited
as Mrs. Bill BuckleyThe plot, old-hat though it is, does provide an opportunity for that wonderfully seedy villain,...
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The Sands of Dee
as Artist's fianceeA young girl who lives by the sea with her parents, is the object of one fellows affection. One...
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They're Always Caught
as Mrs. Fletcher (uncredited)This MGM Crime Does Not Pay series short shows the role the crime laboratory plays in the...
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Prisoners of Love
as Her MotherBlanche Henry, a vivacious young woman, finds what she believes is true love with a handsome...
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Thy Name Is Woman
as Juan's MotherA Spanish soldier seduces and falls in love with the young wife of a smuggler.
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The Woman in the Suitcase
as Mrs. James B. MorelandMary Moreland discovers the photograph of a woman not her mother in her father's suitcase and...
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The Auctioneer
as Mrs. Tim EaganSimon, a young Jewish man emigrating to the US, adopts the daughter of a dying woman on the...
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Lena and the Geese
as Lena's MotherA first-born baby girl is sent away and placed in the care of Gretchen, a trusted peasant woman,...
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Fisher Folks
as At FairA crippled girl marries a fisherman, who also has eyes for the town flirt.
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Michael O'Halloran
as Nancy HardingOrphan newsboy Michael O'Halloran "adopts" Peaches, a little crippled girl, when her...
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The Midnight Flyer
as Liza SlaterThe speed of lightning; the roar of thunder; the thrills of an earthquake; it's "The midnight...
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Two-Fisted Sheriff
as Miss Herrick - Molly's AuntThis is a remake of Columbia's 1932 "Cornered" that starred Tim McCoy. Bob Pearson saves the...
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Rent Free
as Countess de MourneyA penniless artist moves into an abandoned house, but is discovered by the daughter of its...
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Muggsy Becomes a Hero
as One of the Sisters FrostTwo spinsters on their way to church, are accosted by a couple of burly tramps. When Mabel is...
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Concentration
as The MotherThe dead man's decentralized life is exemplified in a half-finished will and an incompleted...
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The School Teacher and the Waif
as The Street Fakir's SweetheartNora, the waif, is forced to attend school. She warms to her teacher for the way that he defends...
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The Baby and the Stork
as The MotherBobby is jealous of the new baby, so he takes it to the zoo and tries to return it to the stork.
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The Baby and the Stork
as The WorkmanBobby is jealous of the new baby, so he takes it to the zoo and tries to return it to the stork.
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as Mrs. John HollandJohn Holland, a planter in a small way, is devotedly attached to his wife and infant child. The...
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Ponjola
as Mrs. HopePonjola is a 1923 American silent drama film based on the novel of the same name by Cynthia...
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The Feud
as Mary LynchTwo Southern clans, the Lynches and the Summers, have been at odds with each other since long...
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The End of the World
as Mrs. JoyceJack Joyce, who worked in old Abner Hope's garage, was always dreaming of big schemes, but had...
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Heart's Haven
as May CarolineA fine cast brings depth to this melodrama of a crippled boy, an unhappy marriage, an injured...
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Wild Company
as Mrs. Laura GraysonThe son of a wealthy politician falls in with a notorious gangster planning to rob a night club.
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The Flaming Forest
as Mrs. McTavishNorth-West Mounted Police Sgt. David Carrigan takes a breather from fighting as he brings a...
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Song of Revolt
as Artistocratic Dowager (uncredited)This MGM Tabloid Musical short tells the story of how France's national anthem, "La...
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The Gift Supreme
as Lalia GraunBradford Vinton falls in love with a girl singer from the slums, but his father makes plans to...
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The Bronze Bride
as A-Che-CheeDisgusted with his son Harvey's attitude since his return from college, wealthy William Ogden...
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Mixed Blood
as Nita ValyezFor Nita Valyez, who is half-Spanish and half-Irish, Carlos represents potential violence and...
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Quincy Adams Sawyer
as Mrs. PutnamQuincy Adams Sawyer is a young attorney who one day meets a girl in the park and is immediately...
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Young Desire
as Mrs. SpencerA carnival sideshow dancer falls in love with a handsome young man.
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Olaf—An Atom
as A ParentBroken by grief after his mother's death, Olaf becomes a wanderer. He is treated cruelly until...
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Those Who Dare
as Mrs. RollinsCaptain Manning, a seasoned salt, is ordered to remove his battered ship, the Swallow, from the...
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A Country Cupid
as The Half-Wit's MotherSchoolteacher Edith breaks off her engagement after an argument with her fiancé. She writes him...
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A Little Journey
as Aunt LouiseA girl travelling by train to meet her boyfriend meets another young man and falls in love with him.
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Almost Human
as Mrs. LivingstonJohn Livingston is a rich mama's-boy, who owns a blooded dog named Paul. Paul meets Maggie Mutt,...
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The Follies Girl
as NinaThe relatives of dying Edward Woodruff, Nina Leffingwell, her brother Frederic, and her cousin...
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The Dixie Merchant
as Josephine FippanyGoodnatured J. P. Fippany loses his home and takes to the road on a chicken-wagon with his wife...
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Brothers
as Bess NaughtonBob Naughton and Eddie Connolly are identical-twin brothers that were separated in infancy. Bob...
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