John Boles

Born: 1895-10-27

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. John Boles (October 28, 1895 – February 27, 1969) was an American singer and actor best known for playing Victor Moritz in the 1931 film Frankenstein. He started out in Hollywood in silent movies, but became a huge star with the advent of talkies. After the war, Boles moved to New York to study music. He quickly became well known for his talents and was selected to replace the leading man in the 1923 Broadway musical Little Jesse James. He became an established star on Broadway and attracted the attention of Hollywood producers and actors. Boles' Broadway credits include One Touch of Venus (1943), Kitty's Kisses (1925), Mercenary Mary (1924), and Little Jessie James (1923). He was hired by MGM to appear in a silent film in 1924. He starred in two more films for that studio before returning to New York and the stage. In 1927, he returned to Hollywood to star in The Love of Sunya (1927) opposite Gloria Swanson, which was a big success for him. Unfortunately, because the movies were still silent he was unable to show off his singing ability until late in the decade. In 1929, Warner Brothers hired him to star in their lavish musical operetta The Desert Song (1929). This film featured sequences in Technicolor and was a box-office success. Soon after, Radio Pictures (later known as RKO) selected him to play the leading man in their extravagant production (the last portion of the film was photographed in Technicolor) of Rio Rita, opposite Bebe Daniels. Audiences were enthralled by his beautiful voice, and John Boles suddenly found himself in huge demand. RCA Victor even hired him to make phonograph records of songs that he had sung in his films. As soon as Rio Rita was completed, Boles went back to Warner Brothers as the leading man in an even more extravagant musical entitled Song of the West (1930) that was filmed entirely in Technicolor. Shortly after this film, Universal Pictures offered John Boles a contract, which he accepted. He starred in a number of pictures for them, most notably the all-Technicolor musical revue entitled The King of Jazz (1930) and a historical operetta entitled Captain of the Guard (1930). In 1931, he starred in One Heavenly Night (1931), which would prove to be his last major musical. Boles portrayed Victor Moritz in Frankenstein (1931). He starred with Irene Dunne in a 1934 film adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel The Age of Innocence directed for RKO Radio Pictures by Philip Moeller, and took the role of Edward Morgan in Curly Top (1935), starring Shirley Temple In 1937, Boles starred alongside Barbara Stanwyck in the King Vidor classic Stella Dallas. In 1943, he co-starred with Mary Martin and Kenny Baker in One Touch of Venus. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Boles, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


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Frankenstein

as Victor Moritz
Released: 1931-11-21

Tampering with life and death, Henry Frankenstein pieces together salvaged body parts to bring a...

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Stella Dallas

as Stephen Dallas
Released: 1937-08-06

After divorcing a society man, a small-town woman tries to build a better life for their daughter.

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The Littlest Rebel

as Capt. Herbert Cary
Released: 1935-12-27

Virgie Cary's father, a rebel officer, sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his dying...

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Curly Top

as Edward Morgan
Released: 1935-07-26

Wealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister...

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Craig's Wife

as Walter Craig
Released: 1936-09-25

Harriet, Walter Craig's wife, is an upper-class woman obsessed with control, material...

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King of Jazz

as Vocalist ('Song of the Dawn' / 'It Happened in Monterey')
Released: 1930-04-20

Made during the early years of the movie musical, this exuberant revue was one of the most...

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The Life of Vergie Winters

as John Shadwell
Released: 1934-06-14

A small town politician, kept from marrying the love of his life, eventually marries another...

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Starlit Days at the Lido

as Self
Released: 1935-09-28

Basically this is a commercial for Hollywood's Lido Lounge and for MGM contract players. The...

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The Last Warning

as Richard Quayle
Released: 1928-12-25

A producer decides to reopen a theater, that had been closed five years previously when one of...

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Sinners in Paradise

as Jim Taylor
Released: 1938-05-19

The survivors from a plane crash are washed up on an island where the only inhabitants are Mr....

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Child of Manhattan

as Paul Vanderkill
Released: 1933-02-11

Paul Vanderkill is extraordinarily wealthy because his grandfather happened to buy farmland in...

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The Age of Innocence

as Newland Archer
Released: 1934-09-14

An engaged attorney and a divorcee fall for each other in 1870s Manhattan.

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Thousands Cheer

as Colonel Bill Jones
Released: 1943-09-13

Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones,...

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Only Yesterday

as James Stanton "Jim" Emerson
Released: 1933-11-01

On the back of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a young business man is about to commit suicide....

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Back Street

as Walter D. Saxel
Released: 1932-08-04

A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back...

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Stand Up and Cheer!

as John Boles
Released: 1934-05-04

President Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in...

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A Message to Garcia

as Lt. Andrew Rowan
Released: 1936-04-10

A fiery Cuban woman guides an emissary from the U.S. president through the jungles of war-torn Cuba.

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Road to Happiness

as Jeff Carter
Released: 1941-12-19

A struggling singer, devoted to his young son, fears the child's super-spoiled, unloving but...

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Rio Rita

as Capt. Jim Stewart
Released: 1929-09-15

Capt. James Stewart pursues the bandit "The Kinkajou" over the Mexican border and falls in love...

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Captain of the Guard

as Rouget de L'isle
Released: 1930-03-28

In this operetta, the captain of the king's guard secretly works for the rebellion during the...

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Fazil

as John Clavering
Released: 1928-06-04

An Arab prince born and raised in the desert and a beautiful Frenchwoman from Paris fall in love...

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As Good as Married

as Alexander Drew
Released: 1937-05-09

When a boss proposes marriage to his secretary, she discovers that the arrangement is solely for...

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Romance of the Underworld

as Stephen Ransome
Released: 1928-11-10

When a gangster's speakeasy is raided by the police, one of the people picked up is the...

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Resurrection

as Prince Dmitri Nekhludoff
Released: 1931-01-27

Katusha, a country girl, is seduced and abandoned by Prince Nekludov. Nekludov finds himself,...

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Beloved

as Carl Hausmann
Released: 1934-01-22

Story about four generations in a family of musicians.

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Between Us Girls

as Steven J. Forbes
Released: 1942-09-04

A 20-year-old stage actress takes on her most challenging role when she pretends to be her own...

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Wild Gold

as Steve Miller
Released: 1934-06-08

A young man desperately in love with a nightclub singer sees an opportunity to spend some time...

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6 Hours to Live

as Karl Kranz
Released: 1932-10-15

A murder victim is brought back to life by a scientific experiment. However, the effects only...

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The Desert Song

as The Red Shadow
Released: 1929-04-08

French General Birabeau has been sent to Morocco to root out and destroy the Riffs, a band of...

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She Married an Artist

as Lee Thornwood
Released: 1937-11-27

Because Thornwood's portraits of comely model Sally Dennis are in such great demand, he is...

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Orchids to You

as Thomas Bentley
Released: 1935-08-09

An unlikely courtroom romance blooms between a flower-shop owner and her unscrupulous landlord's...

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I Believed in You

as Michael Harrison
Released: 1934-04-09

An aspiring writer and her boyfriend, a professional agitator head off to the Big Apple in...

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Seed

as Bart Carter
Released: 1931-05-14

Bart is a clerk for a publishing company; he has written a novel. His wife Peggy and he have...

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Bottoms Up

as Hal Reed
Released: 1934-04-12

Promoter "Smoothie" King helps a pair of phonies con their way into a movie company. As Wanda...

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Rose of the Rancho

as Jim Kearney
Released: 1936-01-09

It is California in 1852 that only recently being surrendered by Mexico to the United States and...

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Babes in Bagdad

as Hassan
Released: 1952-12-07

The Kadi of Bagdad has harem troubles in this low budget comedy from Edgar Ulmer.

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Music in the Air

as Bruno Mahler
Released: 1934-12-13

A songwriter's young daughter (June Lang) begins to dream of stardom when she's offered the lead...

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Fight for Your Lady

as Robert Densmore
Released: 1937-11-05

Wrestling trainer puts himself in charge of a singer's love life when the singer is jilted by a...

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Redheads on Parade

as John Bruce
Released: 1935-09-07

A film star finds herself in trouble with her co-star when she has to flirt with the backer to...

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Man-Made Women

as John Payson
Released: 1928-09-09

The man who loved her showed her how to hold the man she loved. A novel picture story packed...

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The White Parade

as Ronald Hall III
Released: 1934-11-16

The title represents the hopeful, ambitious students at a hospital training school and is...

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So This Is Marriage?

as Uriah
Released: 1924-11-26

The only known copy of this film copy was reported to have been destroyed in the 1967 MGM Vault...

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One Heavenly Night

as Count Mirko Tibor
Released: 1930-12-25

A poor but basically honest flower woman agrees to impersonate a wicked opera star.

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The Sixth Commandment

as John Brant
Released: 1924-06-01

John Brant, a devoted minister, is in love with Marian Calhoun, but must keep it a secret...

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My Lips Betray

as King Rupert aka Captain von Linden
Released: 1933-11-04

In a make-believe, mittleuropean kingdom, a vivacious but dim country girl sings in a beer...

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Romance in the Dark

as Antal Kovach
Released: 1938-03-24

A baritone aids a young servant in making her dream of singing professionally come true.

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Song of the West

as Captain Stanton
Released: 1930-03-15

Captain Stanton, who because of a misunderstanding over a woman with Major Davolo, has been...

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Virgin Lips

as Barry Blake
Released: 1928-07-25

In a banana republic, way south of the Texas border, a dumb-Dora American girl, Norma (Olive...

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Good Sport

as Boyce Cameron
Released: 1931-12-12

Marilyn Parker decides not to accompany her husband Rex on his business trip to Europe when she...

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The Water Hole

as Bert Durland
Released: 1928-08-25

Judith Endicott, the daughter of a wealthy eastern banker, vamps Philip Randolph, an Arizonan,...

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Excuse Me

as Lt. Shaw
Released: 1925-01-19

A sailor and his would-be bride search their train for a clergyman to marry them.

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The Love of Sunya

as Paul Judson
Released: 1927-03-11

A young woman at life's crossroads is granted mystic visions of how her decisions will affect...

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The Shepherd of the Hills

as Young Matt
Released: 1928-01-01

David Howitt, a stranger, comes among the mountain folk of the Missouri hills and, taken in by...

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Careless Lady

as Stephen Illington
Released: 1932-04-02

Innocent Sally Brown thinks men are only attracted to experienced women, so she poses as the...

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Hollywood on Parade No. B-9

as Self
Released: 1934-04-28

Jimmy Durante asks popular song writing team Mack Gordon and Harry Revel to demonstrate some of...

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We Americans

as Hugh Bradleigh
Released: 1928-05-06

We Americans was based on the Broadway play of the same name. Returning to the "melting pot"...

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