H.B. Warner
Henry Byron Warner was the definitive cinematic Jesus Christ in Cecil B. DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). He was born into a prominent theatrical family on October 26, 1875 in London. His father was Charles Warner, and his grandfather was James Warner, both prominent English actors. He replaced J.B. Warner as Jesus in The King of Kings (1927) when J.B. died of tuberculosis at age 29. (J.B. was not Henry's brother. J.B. had taken the professional last name "Warner" because Henry's family took him in.) Henry Warner's family wanted him to become a doctor, and he graduated from London University but eventually gave up his medical studies. The theater was in his blood, and he studied acting in Paris and Italy before joining his father's stock company, making his debut in the English production of "Drink." It was from his father that he honed his craft. Warner made it to America in the early 1900s, after touring the British Empire. Billed as Harry Warner, he made his Broadway debut in the American colonial drama "Audrey" at Hoyt's Theatre on November 24, 1902, starring James O'Neill, the father of playwright Eugene O'Neill. He was billed as H.B. Warner in his next appearance on Broadway, in the 1906 comedy "Nurse Marjorie." He appeared in 13 more Broadway productions in his career, from the twin-bill of "Susan in Search of a Husband" & "A Tenement Tragedy" (also 1906) to "Silence" in 1925. He moved into motion pictures, making his debut in the Mutual short Harp of Tara (1914). Also in 1914, he appeared in a film written by Cecil B. DeMille for Famous Players Lasky, The Ghost Breaker (1914), in which he had played on Broadway the year before. Warner became a leading man and a star in silent pictures, reaching the zenith of his career playing Jesus in DeMille's The King of Kings (1927). His excellent performance was actually enhanced by the silent screen, allowing the audience to imagine how Jesus would sound. Warner could be extremely moving in silent pictures, notably in the melodrama Sorrell and Son (1927) as a war veteran father who sacrifices all for his son. When talkies arrived, he became a busy supporting player. A favorite of Frank Capra , appeared in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Cast again by Capra, he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Lost Horizon (1937). He also appeared in You Can't Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). Other major talkies included The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) and Topper Returns (1941). Other than Jesus, the role he is best remembered role for today is in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), in which he played Mr. Gower, the druggist who is saved from committing a lethal medication error by the young George Bailey (the James Stewart character as a child). H.B. Warner appeared in Sunset Blvd. (1950) as himself. His last credited role was as Amminadab in DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), a remake of the earlier silent The Ten Commandments (1923). He last role was an uncredited bit part in Darby's Rangers (1958).
A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the...
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Escaping death, a Hebrew infant is raised in a royal household to become a prince. Upon...
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Sunset Boulevard
as H.B. WarnerA hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into...
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You Can't Take It with You
as Mr. RamseyAlice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with...
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A Tale of Two Cities
as Theophile GabelleThe exciting story of Dr. Manette, who escapes the horrors of the infamous Bastille prison in...
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
as Senate Majority LeaderNaive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed to the United...
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The King of Kings
as Jesus, The ChristThe King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In...
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Lost Horizon
as ChangBritish diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash land in the Himalayas, and...
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Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
as Judge MayLongfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies...
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High Wall
as Mr. SlocumSteven Kenet, suffering from a recurring brain injury, appears to have strangled his wife....
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The Rains Came
as MaharajahIndian aristocrat Rama Safti returns from medical training in the U.S. to give his life to the...
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All That Money Can Buy
as Justice HawthorneFarmer Jabez Stone, about to lose his land, agrees to sell his soul to the devil, known as Mr....
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Let Freedom Ring
as RutledgeA Harvard man fights a railroad baron with a disguise and the power of the press.
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Hellfire
as Brother JosephZeb Smith is a gambler with a larcenous streak, but when an itinerant preacher takes a bullet...
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Topper Returns
as Mr. CarringtonTopper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards,...
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Supernatural
as Dr. Carl HoustonAfter her brother's death, Roma Courtney becomes the heiress to his fortune. When fake psychic...
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Strange Impersonation
as Dr. Mansfield, plastic surgeonA female research scientist conducting experiments on a new anesthetic has a very bad week. Her...
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Five Star Final
as Michael TownsendSearching for headlines at any cost, an unscrupulous newspaper owner forces his editor to print...
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James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
as Self (archive footage)Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
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The Phantom of Crestwood
as Priam AndesFive men have to prove their innocence when a blackmailer is murdered.
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The Gracie Allen Murder Case
as Richard LawrenceThe zany plot follows nitwit Gracie Allen trying to help master sleuth Philo Vance solve a murder.
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Viva Villa!
as ManIn this fictionalized biography, young Pancho Villa takes to the hills after killing an overseer...
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A Yank in Libya
as Herbert ForbesAmerican correspondent Mike Malone uncovers a Nazi plot for an uprising of the Arab tribes in...
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Rogues' Gallery
as Professor ReynoldsReporter Patsy Reynolds and photographer Eddie Porter are assigned to interview John Foster,...
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Crossroads
as Prosecuting AttorneyA French diplomat who's recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can't remember.
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The Judge Steps Out
as Chief Justice HayesA judge flees the pressures of professional and family life for a job as a short-order cook.
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The Prince Of Thieves
as Gilbert HeadAfter fighting in the Crusades alongside Richard I of England Sir Allan Claire is returning home...
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Hitler's Children
as The BishopThis lurid exposé of the Hitler Youth follows the woes of an American girl declared legally...
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Moonlight Murder
as Godfrey ChilternAn escaped lunatic, a mysterious swami, and various lovers all have designs on a famous opera...
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Grand Canary
as Dr IsmayBased on an AJ Cronin novel, a disgraced doctor exiled to the Canary Islands, meets and falls in...
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Action in Arabia
as Abdul al-RashidReporter Michael Gordon uncovers intrigue in Damascus, where the Allies and Nazis struggle for...
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Zaza
as Bernard DufresneZaza is an actress and the favorite at an open-air theater in a small French town. When diplomat...
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Here Comes the Groom
as Uncle ElihuForeign correspondent Pete Garvey has 5 days to win back his former fiancée, or he'll lose the...
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On Your Back
as Raymond PryorOn Your Back is a 1930 American drama film directed by Guthrie McClintic and written by Howard...
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Victoria the Great
as Lord MelbourneThe film biography of Queen Victoria focussing initially on the early years of her reign with...
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A Woman of Experience
as Hugh SchmidtIt is 1915 in Vienna and the Great War has caused many casualties. Elsa, a beautiful prostitute,...
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Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
as Colonel NielsonCaptain Drummond and his girlfriend want to marry but a hidden treasure in the house in which...
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The Second Floor Mystery
as Inspector BrayIn this mystery, a man and woman have been corresponding through a "personal" column under the...
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Born to Gamble
as Carter MathewsA wealthy man relates how gambling had tragic consequences for his family.
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El Paso
as Judge FletcherEx-confederate officer Clay Fletcher jumps at the chance to reunite with his once lady-friend,...
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Kidnapped
as Angus RankeillerRobert Louis Stevenson's hero David Balfour joins rebel Alan Breck Stewart in 18th-century...
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Journey Into Light
as Wiz, the WinoJohn Burrows, an ordained minister from a small village in the East, envisions himself with a...
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Liliom
as Chief MagistrateA carousel barker falls in love with a young woman. Both are fired from their jobs, and when the...
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The First Legion
as Father José SierraA Catholic priest fights against his colleagues' immediate acceptance of an ambiguous “miracle”.
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Tom Brown of Culver
as Dr. BrownBoy who thought his father a war hero finds he was really a deserter.
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The Girl of the Golden West
as Father SiennaA bandit disguises himself as an officer in an attempt to woo a saloon singer.
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Sorrell and Son
as Stephen SorrellStephen Sorrell, a decorated war hero, raises his son Kit alone after Kit's mother deserts...
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Night Alarm
as Henry B. SmithA reporter itching to get off the boring gardening "beat" gets a chance to investigate a series...
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The Menace
as Inspector TracyA man framed for murder escapes from prison in order to prove his innocence.
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The Corsican Brothers
as Dr. Enrico PaoliCultured Mario and outlaw Lucien, twins separated at birth, join forces to avenge their parents'...
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The Divine Lady
as Sir William HamiltonLady Hamilton's love affair with Admiral Horatio Nelson rocks the British Empire.
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Show of Shows
as The Victim - Guillotine Sequence (uncredited)Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see...
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Driftwood
as Rev. HollingsworthAn orphan helps a doctor fight an epidemic in a small western town, in one of Allan Dwan’s...
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Behold My Wife!
as Hubert CarterAfter Michael Carter's fiancée commits suicide, Michael vows to seek revenge on his wealthy...
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The Adventures of Marco Polo
as Chen TsuThe Venetian traveler Marco Polo meets Kublai Khan and foils a plotter with fireworks in...
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New Moon
as Father MichelA revolutionary leader romances a French aristocrat in Louisiana.
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Women in Bondage
as Pastor RenzWomen in Bondage is a 1943 World War II film about conditions for women under Hitler's regime....
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The Doctor's Secret
as Richard GarsonThe Doctor's Secret is a 1929 American drama film directed by William C. deMille and written by...
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Bulldog Drummond's Bride
as Colonel NielsonHugh “Bulldog” Drummond is on the precipice of matrimony to his beloved Phyllis -- but a bank...
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Charlie Chan's Chance
as Inspector FifeCharlie is the intended murder victim here, and he avoids death only by chance. To find the...
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Faces in the Fog
as Defense Attorney RankinsTom and Cora Elliott love their active social life so much that they neglect their daughter Mary...
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Bulldog Drummond in Africa
as Colonel J. A. NielsenDrummond has to leave for Morocco on his wedding day with his fiancee and trusted friends to...
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The Princess and the Plumber
as Prince Conrad of DaritziaA derogated prince hopes to restore his wealth and power by marrying off his daughter to...
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Stark Mad
as Prof. DangerfieldAn expedition sets out through the jungle to find a missing explorer, but stumbles upon an...
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The Garden Murder Case
as Major Fenwicke-RalstonDetective Philo Vance is in charge of the investigation of several mysterious murders. Things...
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Jennie Gerhardt
as William GerhardtThis turn-of-the-century tragedy chronicles the sorrowful travails of a woman who endures a...
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The Seventh Sin
as FeodorThis story of gluttony was the final installment in the seven films based on the Seven Deadly...
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The Son-Daughter
as Sin KaiYoung Asians in San Francisco find their love thwarted by clan warfare.
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The Green Goddess
as Major CrespinAn airplane carrying three Brits crash lands in the kingdom of Rukh. The Rajah holds them...
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Gentleman Joe Palooka
as Sen. McCardenIn the second film of Monogram's Joe Palooka series, Joe is 'used', by two state senators...
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Cross-Examination
as Gerald WaringDefense Atorney Gerald Waring uses great skill and ingenuity in his efforts to save the life of...
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Shell 43
as William BernerWilliam Berner is an English spy who is doing his job behind German lines. While working for the...
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Army Girl
as Col. ArmstrongA young captain hoping to replace the U.S. Army's horses with mechanized vehicles faces...
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The Ghost Breaker
as Warren JarvisCarmen, a maid, steals a locket belonging to the Aragon princess Maria Theresa and sells it to...
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Arrest Bulldog Drummond
as Colonel NielsenThe invention of a machine that can cause remote explosions brings the attention of Scotland...
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City of Missing Girls
as Capt. McVeighA female reporter goes undercover to investigate the series of mysterious disappearances of...
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Nurse Edith Cavell
as Hugh GibsonBritish nurse Edith Cavell is stationed at a hospital in Brussels during World War I. When the...
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The Toy Wife
as Victor BrigardA Southern belle finds herself torn between two suitors.
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Enemy of Women
as Col. Eberhart BrandtPlaywright Joseph Goebbels turns Nazi propagandist and loses his girlfriend to another man.
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In Old Santa Fe
as Charlie MillerGangster Chandler and his accomplice Tracy arrive at a dude ranch. Cowboy Kentucky arrives at...
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Unholy Love
as Dr. Daniel GregoryAn adaptation of Madame Bovary transported to Rye, New York in the 1930's. All characters have...
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The Reckless Hour
as Walter NicholsSeduced and abandoned, with child, by a charming cad, a former New York fashion model learns to...
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Blackmailer
as Michael RankinDinner party guests become murder suspects when an extortionist they all hated turns up dead.
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Silence
as Jim WarrenJim Warren, a crook, is married to Norma, but there was a flaw in their marriage papers and he...
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Sorrell and Son
as Captain Stephen SorrellStephen Sorrell, a decorated war hero, raises his son Kit alone after Kit's mother deserts...
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The Lost Paradise
as Reuben WarrenUnknown to Reuben Warren, the foreman of an ironworks, his invention, the volta-dynamo, was...
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Wild Company
as Henry GraysonThe son of a wealthy politician falls in with a notorious gangster planning to rob a night club.
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Whispering Smith
as 'Whispering Smith'Railroad foreman Murray Sinclair is dismissed by George McCloud, division superintendent, for...
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Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime
as Ray JardinSeveral days after one of his company's dams burst, ruining the life savings of several...
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South of Tahiti
as High Chief KawalimaThree men survive a plane crashes on an uncharted Pacific island, south of Tahiti. One falls in...
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The Trial of Mary Dugan
as District Attorney GalwayA woman is tried for the murder of her lover. Director Bayard Veiller's 1929 courtroom drama...
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Expensive Women
as Melville RaymondA wealthy young woman struggles to find love while surrounded by possible suitors.
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God's Man
as Arnold L'HommedieuArnold L'Hommedieu and his friends Archie Hartogensis and Hugo Waldemar go to New York to find...
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Christopher Bean
as Maxwell DavenportWhen the painter Christopher Bean dies, some unscrupulous art dealers try to get several of his...
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Rose of the Rancho
as Don Pasqual CastroIt is California in 1852 that only recently being surrendered by Mexico to the United States and...
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The Boss of Big Town
as Jeffrey MooreQuality was seldom a consideration in the low-budget films of PRC Studios; still, the company...
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The Crusader
as Phillip BrandonGangsters scheme to get rid of a crusading District Attorney by blackmailing him through his...
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Lux Æterna: The Art of Filmmaking
as The Son of GodAn experimental shortfilm in line with "Lux Æterna", showcasing the footage from Cecil B....
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The Gamblers
as James DarwinA father-and-son team of cons gamble their firm’s assets. The son is caught investing money that...
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Wedding Rings
as Lewis DikeTwo sisters battle for the love of a man.
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The Raiders
as Scott WellsScott Wells, a lowly clerk in the offices of railroad magnate David Haldeman, overhears a plot...
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Romance of a Rogue
as Bruce LowryA low-key silent drama of a man seeking vengeance on the villain whose lies sent him to prison...
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The Man from Broadway
as James Sanford RichardsonTiring of Broadway, James Sanford "Jim" Richardson moves to Arizona, where he finds trouble of...
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Captain Tugboat Annie
as Judge AbbottThis tale of two tugboats focuses upon the rivalries between two operators competing to win a...
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A Woman Commands
as Col. StradimirovitschIn order to keep his lover, Maria Draga, in luxury, Captain Alex Pastitsch contracts huge debts...
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The Furies
as Oliver BedlowFifi Sands, whose husband is constantly unfaithful, is prevented from obtaining a divorce by...
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When We Were Twenty-One
as Richard CareweDick Audaine, known affectionately as the "Imp," is engaged to Phyllis Ericson, even though she...
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The Argyle Case
as HurleyA multimillionaire is murdered, and his will leaves all his money to a beautiful young blonde....
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Is Love Everything?
as Jordan SouthwickVirginia Carter accedes to her family's pressures and marries Jordan Southwick, who comes from a...
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The Market of Vain Desire
as John ArmstrongA young girl is betrothed to a rich Count by her family who have hopes of partaking in the...
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Man-Made Women
as Jules MoretThe man who loved her showed her how to hold the man she loved. A novel picture story packed...
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Danger Trail
as John HowlandJohn Howland travels to the frozen North to build a branch of the Hudson Bay Railroad. There he...
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The Pagan God
as Bruce WinthropBruce Winthrop, disguised as a clerk in the American consulate near the Mongolian border, is...
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French Dressing
as Phillip GreyPhilip and Cynthia Grey are a pair of recently-wed Bostonians, and Cynthia is properly back-bay...
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One Hour Before Dawn
as George ClaytonWhen a hypnotist named Norman Osgood mesmerizes a man named Harrison Kirke without his consent,...
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Seven Deadly Sins: Wrath
as uncreditedTells the tale of the Grand Duke of Transcaspia, a Russian province, and his son Feodor who...
Movie pageFelix O'Day
as Felix O'DayFelix O'Day lives to fulfill but one desire: to impose revenge on Austin Bennett, the man who...
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Conquest
as James FarnhamTwo pilots are in love with the same girl. On a flight over the Antarctic, the plane suddenly...
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Prospecting for Petroleum
as The Voice of History (voice)All-puppet animation tells the story of how oil is formed through ages of geological change, how...
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