Louise Beavers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s until 1960, most often cast in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. She was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American sororities. Beavers was a breakthrough actress for black women and became known as a symbol of a "mammy" on the screen. A mammy archetype "is the portrayal within a narrative framework or other imagery of a black domestic servant, generally good-natured, often overweight, and loud". Louise Beavers started her career in the 1920s. At the time, black people in films were limited to acting in only very few roles, usually as slaves or domestic help. She played the "mammy" in many of the movies she acted in. She started to gain more attention in the acting world after she played the role of Julia in Coquette, which starred Mary Pickford. In this film she played the black maid and mother figure to a young white woman. She once received a review which stated: "Personally, Miss Beavers is just splendid, just as fine as she appears on screen, but she also has a charm all her own, which needs no screen role for recognition. She has a very pleasing personality, one that draws people to her instantly and makes them feel that they are meeting a friend instead of a Hollywood Star." Beavers had an attractive personality, and often played roles in which she helps a white protagonist mature in the course of the movie. In 1934, Beavers played Delilah in Imitation of Life in a dramatic role. Her character again plays a black maid, but instead of the usual stereotypical comedic or purely functional role, Delilah's story line is a secondary parallel plot. The public reacted positively to Beavers' performance. It was not only a breakthrough for Beavers, but was also "the first time in American cinema history that a black woman's problems were given major emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture". Some in the media recognized the unfairness of Hollywood's double standard regarding race. For example, California Graphic Magazine wrote, "the Academy could not recognize Miss Beavers. She is black!" As Beavers' career grew, some criticized her for the roles she accepted, alleging that such roles institutionalized the view that blacks were subservient to whites. Beavers dismissed the criticism. She acknowledged the limited opportunities available, but said: "I am only playing the parts. I don't live them." As she became more famous, Beavers began to speak against Hollywood's portrayal and treatment of black Americans, both during production and after promoting the films. Beavers became active in public life, seeking to help support African Americans. In later life, Beavers was plagued by health issues, including diabetes. She died on October 26, 1962, at the age of 60, following a heart attack. Beavers was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976.
Holiday Inn
as MamieLovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants...
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Imitation of Life
as Delilah JohnsonA struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter....
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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
as GussieAn advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the...
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42nd Street
as Pansy (uncredited)A producer puts on what may be his last Broadway show, and at the last moment a chorus girl has...
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Reap the Wild Wind
as Maum MariaThe Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the...
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Make Way for Tomorrow
as MamieAt a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed....
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Made for Each Other
as Lily (uncredited)A couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.
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She Done Him Wrong
as PearlNew York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more men friends than you can imagine. One of...
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Doctor X
as Louise (Uncredited)A wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.
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Shadow of the Thin Man
as StellaHigh society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while...
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Good Sam
as ChloeSam Clayton has a good heart and likes to help out people in need. In fact, he likes to help...
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Bullets or Ballots
as Nellie LaFleurAfter Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake...
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Midnight Mary
as Mary's Maid Anna (uncredited)While on trial for her life, a young woman recalls her tough upbringing and her involvement with...
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Hold Your Man
as Elite Club Attendant (uncredited)Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie...
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Du Barry was a Lady
as NiagaraHat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with...
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The Big Street
as Ruby, Gloria's Maid (Uncredited)Meek busboy Little Pinks is in love with an extremely selfish nightclub singer who despises and...
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The Jackie Robinson Story
as Jackie's MotherBiography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century....
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Bombshell
as LorettaA glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.
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What Price Hollywood?
as Mary's Maid BonitaSassy and ambitious waitress Mary Evans amuses and befriends amiable seldom-sober Hollywood film...
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Belle Starr
as Mammy LouAfter her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain...
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Girls About Town
as HattieA dynamic duo in silk and ermine entertain hick businessmen looking for a good time while in...
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No Time for Comedy
as ClementineAn aspiring playwright finds himself an overnight Broadway success.
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Never Wave at a WAC
as ArtamesaA divorced socialite decides to join the Army because she hopes it will enable her to see more...
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Tammy and the Bachelor
as OsiaAn unsophisticated young woman from the Mississippi swamps falls in love with an unconventional...
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All the Fine Young Cannibals
as RoseAn ambitious farm girl rushes into marriage with a rich man, almost destroying four lives in the...
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The Last Gangster
as GloriaA crime boss goes searching for his ex-wife and son after a ten-year prison stint. His old gang...
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A Shriek in the Night
as MaidRival newspaper reporters Pat Morgan and Ted Rand find themselves unraveling the mystery behind...
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The Story of Temple Drake
as MinnieThe coquettish granddaughter of a respected small-town judge is stranded at a bootleggers’...
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The Facts of Life
as GussieMiddle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages....
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Brother Rat
as JennyStory of three buddies at the Virginia Military Institute. Cadet Bing Edwards is secretly...
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The Dark Horse
as Kay's Maid LevinniaThe Progressive Party convention is deadlocked for governor, so both sides nominate the dark...
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The Goddess
as The CookA woman adored by the people around her ultimately struggles to be happy with herself.
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All by Myself
as WillieCareer woman Jean. almost a partner in Mark's advertising firm, has been falling in love with...
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Coquette
as JuliaA Southern belle's flirtation with a working man leads to tragedy.
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Delightfully Dangerous
as HannahYoung Sherry Williams dreams of having a singing career, and she idolizes her older sister...
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The Midnight Patrol
as Maid (scenes deleted)Novice policemen Stan and Ollie bungle a burglary investigation.
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Thunderbolt
as Black Cat Cafe Patron (uncredited)A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed...
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Paid
as Convict (uncredited)Mary Turner gets a three years prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she...
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Back Pay
as Nellie - Hester's MaidBored with small town life, a woman leaves for the big city and winds up becoming the mistress...
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Wide Open
as EasterAn eccentric, fluttery bachelor is dismayed to discover an undressed woman in his apartment.
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Barbary Coast Gent
as BedeliaHonest Plush Brannon is a con-man thrown out of the Barbary Coast in San Francisco in the 1880s...
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Primrose Path
as Woman Talking to Police (uncredited)Ellie Mae lives on Primrose Hill with her good-hearted and fancy free mother, her drunken...
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Don't Bet on Women
as Maid (uncredited)At a big party, Roger Fallon, now a woman-hater, right to the core - this all due to a failed...
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Wall Street
as MagnoliaA very topical early talkie from low-budget company Columbia Pictures, Wall Street starred Ralph...
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Tell It to the Judge
as Cleo, Marsha's Maid (uncredited)Marsha Meredith, an attorney-at-law, is nominated for a federal judgeship, but her nomination is...
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Safety in Numbers
as MessalinaBefore handing over a large inheritance, a guardian hires three chorus girls to educate his...
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Outside the Law
as Judy the MaidFingers is planning a half-million-dollar bank robbery in gang boss Cobra Collins' territory....
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General Spanky
as CorneliaOrphaned shoeshine boy Spanky is working on a Mississippi riverboat during the Civil War. There...
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Hell's Highway
as Rascal's Sweetheart at Visitor's Center (uncredited)A prison-camp convict learns that his younger brother will soon be joining him behind bars.
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You Can't Run Away from It
as MaidA reporter stumbles on a runaway heiress whose story could salvage his career.
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Top Man
as CleoIn this WW II musical, a young man suddenly finds himself in charge of his family when his...
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Pick-up
as Magnolia (uncredited)The scheme of a pair of married con artists goes awry when their victim dies, and they are both...
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Sign of the Wolf
as BeulahTwo German shepherds and their mistress (Grace Bradley) crash-land in Canada by a fox breeder's...
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Seven Sweethearts
as Petunia, the MaidLittle Delft, Michigan follows the customs of old-world Holland and is known for its Tulip...
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Millie
as Maid (uncredited)After a tumultuous first marriage, Millie Blake learns to love her newfound independence and...
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Central Airport
as Hotel Maid (uncredited)Aviator Jim Blaine and his brother Neil are rivals not only as daredevil flyers, but also for...
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Only Yesterday
as Abby (Uncredited)On the back of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a young business man is about to commit suicide....
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The Expert
as LuluAn elderly gentleman arrives for an extended stay with his grown son in Chicago.
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Young America
as Maid (Uncredited)Mrs. Doray sits with a Juvenile Court Judge to learn more about problem children and what to do...
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The Greeks Had a Word for Them
as Beautician (uncredited)A trio of money-hungry women rent a luxurious penthouse, spending their dough on drink and...
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I've Got Your Number
as CrystalTwo telephone repairmen have many adventures and romance a pair of blondes.
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Rainbow on the River
as ToinetteA young boy is forced to leave his family in the South and move in with relatives he doesn't...
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Young Widow
as RosieA young bride tries to rebuild her life after she learns her husband has been killed in the war.
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The Phantom Broadcast
as MinnieA handsome radio singer has it all--fame, money, adoring fans--but what no one knows is that his...
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A Southern Yankee
as Laundry WomanRed Skelton plays Aubrey Filmore, a feather-brained but lovable bellboy who dreams of becoming...
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Our Blushing Brides
as Amelia - The Mannequins' Maid (uncredited)Jerry, Connie, and Franky are small-town girls seeking wealthy husbands in New York City. But,...
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My Blue Heaven
as SelmaRadio star Kitty Moran, long married to partner Jack, finds she's pregnant, but miscarries. For...
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Bright Lights
as AngelaA successful Broadway star ready to retire from her wild career announces her engagement. But...
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Palooka
as CrystalJoe Palooka is a naive young man whose father Pete was a champion boxer, but his lifestyle...
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Sundown Trail
as Auntie JennyDorothy, and her big city lawyer boyfriend, return to the Lazy 'B' ranch to read her late...
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Election Day
as Farina's motherThis film revolves around Election Day, a day on which Jay R. and Joe are fighting to get votes....
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Wild Girl
as Mammy Lou (uncredited)Salomy Jane, a California mountain girl, is sought after by a number of men in the nearby small...
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Colorado Sundown
as Mattie, Jackie's MaidThe Hurley's own a lumber mill and want to harvest all the timber in the valley. They kill the...
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The Woman Condemned
as SallyWhen a radio star is found murdered in her home, everyone assumes that the mysterious young...
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Divorce In The Family
as RosettaA child struggles to come to terms with his parents' divorce. Director Charles Reisner's 1932...
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For the Love of Mary
as BerthaYoung girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.
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Parole Fixer
as Aunt LindyThis expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover,...
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She Couldn't Say No
as CoraA night club singer falls for a gangster.
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I Dream of Jeanie
as MammyThe life and career of famed American composer Stephen Foster.
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The Headleys at Home
as HyacinthIn this domestic comedy, a social climbing wife inadvertently creates trouble when she insists...
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Notorious But Nice
as OpheliaA lover selflessly steps aside to let her guy go so he can hook up with a rich dame. Sadly, the...
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Bedside
as PansyBob Brown uses his bedside manner to charm his patients while his partner makes the actual...
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Women Without Names
as IvoryJoyce and Fred MacNeil's honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused...
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Night World
as Maid (uncredited)"Happy" MacDonald and his unfaithful wife own a Prohibition era night club. On this eventful...
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The Big Cage
as MandyA circus on the verge of bankruptcy decides to save itself by staging a animal act with lions...
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The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
as Washroom Attendant (uncredited)A fast-talking reporter befriends a young woman and her male companion who are wanted for a...
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Manslaughter
as RoseA spoiled young rich girl is sent to prison for accidentally running down a pedestrian. There...
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Registered Nurse
as Flo - Sadie's MaidIn this sudsy hospital melodrama, a married nurse finds herself falling in love with one of two...
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There's Something About a Soldier
as BirdieFive officer candidates fight to prove their mettle during training.
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Wings Over Honolulu
as MammyA Navy pilot gets involved in a romantic triangle while stationed in Hawaii.
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Street of Women
as Mattie, Natalie's maidAn architect has an affair with a woman who inspires him. Her brother is in love with the...
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The Vanishing Virginian
as Aunt EmmelineThe perineal District Attorney and conservative southern patriarch cherishes the old ways and...
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Unashamed
as AmandaA debutante's (Helen Twelvetrees) brother (Robert Young) stands trial for killing her no-good lover.
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Kisses for Breakfast
as ClotildaA newlywed develops amnesia and can't remember his wife.
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Beggar's Holiday
as HeliotropeA young woman falls in love with the man of her dreams, not knowing that he's an embezzler who's...
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Virginia
as OpheliaPost-Civil War romantic drama about defeated Southerners, starring Madeleine Carroll and Fred...
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Young America
as PansyYoung America is a 1942 American drama film directed by Louis King and written by Samuel G....
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Six Cylinder Love
as uncreditedTroubles begin for the Sterlings when they buy an expensive car and friends start pressing them...
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A Modern Hero
as Azais's MaidA 1920s circus performer uses every means at his disposal to achieve fame and fortune at the...
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In the Money
as LilyWhen the chemical company owned by eccentric Professor Higginbottom files for bankruptcy, the...
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Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
as CasseyTrouble-prone Billy Peck and his gang descend on a traveling circus that has just hit town, and...
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Glad Rag Doll
as HannahShe sought to conquer...but found Cupid her master! This is one of many lost films of the...
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Dixie Jamboree
as OpalA medicine man on the last show boat on the Mississippi is mistaken by two gangsters as a...
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Dixie Jamboree
as Sam the DeckhandA medicine man on the last show boat on the Mississippi is mistaken by two gangsters as a...
Movie pageTeenage Rebel
as WillamayNancy Fallon gets her teenage daughter back from her ex-husband when she remarries and must win...
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Dr. Monica
as Sarah - Mary's Maid (uncredited)A prominent New York doctor, unable to have a child, discovers her philandering husband has...
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Honey
as Black RevivalistA once-wealthy sister and brother rent out their Southern mansion and stay on as cook and butler.
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Banjo
as LindyFamily drama about a young farm girl, suddenly orphaned, who must give up her beloved dog when...
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Gambling Lady
as Suzy - Peter's Cook (uncredited)A businesslike syndicate runs all the gambling joints in town; least profitable is honest Mike...
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West of the Pecos
as MaureeRichard Dix stars as Pecos Smith, a strong, silent Westerner suspected of cattle rustling.
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I Want a Divorce
as CelestineComedy about newlyweds wondering if their marriage was a mistake.
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I Give My Love
as MaidAfter accidentally killing her no-good husband, Judy makes her true love promise not to tell her...
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Recaptured Love
as MaidIn this drama, a 50-year-old married man (played by John Halliday) goes with his wife (Belle...
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It's Tough to Be Famous
as Ada, Janet's MaidScotty, an unwilling Navy war hero is cast into the limelight. He wants to get married and be an...
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Too Busy to Work
as MammyA hobo searches the countryside for the daughter he lost when his wife left him...
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Good Sport
as SeptemberMarilyn Parker decides not to accompany her husband Rex on his business trip to Europe when she...
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Good-bye, My Lady
as Bonnie DrewAn old man and a young boy who live in the southeastern Mississippi swamps are brought together...
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Annapolis Farewell
as MirandaCommodore Fitzhugh, an old retired naval officer, lives at the Annapolis Naval Academy and,...
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Life Goes On
as Sally WestonThe husband of Sally Weston dies, and she decides to move to New York City where she feels her...
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Ladies of the Big House
as IvoryA woman tries to save her husband from the electric chair after both are sent to prison for a...
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Scandal Street
as ClairceJoe McKnight temporarily leaves his fiancée, Nora Langdon, for an expedition in a South American...
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The Lady's from Kentucky
as Aunt TinaGood-natured gambler Marty Black falls into ownership of a booking joint but soon falls on hard...
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What Price Innocence?
as HannahA young woman has to pay the price for fooling around with men.
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South of Dixie
as Magnolia Brown / ChloeTo save their music publishing firm from bankruptcy, Bill "Brains' Watson creates a colorful...
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Lover Come Back
as MarthaA wife decides to take revenge when she learns her husband has been unfaithful.
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Lover Come Back
as Martha, Kay's MaidA wife decides to take revenge when she learns her husband has been unfaithful.
Movie pageMerry Wives of Reno
as Derwent's Client - Black Mother of 12 Wanting a Divorce (uncredited)Three couples raise a ruckus when they travel to Nevada for quickie divorces.
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The Merry Frinks
as CamilleAn heiress abandons an out-of-work husband, two sons and a lovesick daughter.
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Her Splendid Folly
as AnastasiaSolomon Ginsberg is the President of International Pictures Corporation and hires Joan...
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Girl Missing
as Julie, Daisy's Maid (Uncredited)Kay and June, two showgirls, are hurt when they seek financial help from Daisy. On Daisy's...
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Party Husband
as Laura's MaidParty Husband finds ex-Ziegfield Girl Dorothy playing the better half of a thoroughly “modern...
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Barnum Was Right
as MaidFreddie owns a failing old hotel. To attract new business he spreads the rumor that there's...
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Her Bodyguard
as Margot's MaidThe "sugar daddy" of a Broadway star hires a bodyguard to protect her from thieves out to steal...
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Good Morning, Judge
as CleoA songwriter is sued for libel, and when he gets to court he discovers that his girlfriend is...
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Wives Never Know
as FlorabelleHomer Bigelow has an ideal marriage, with a wife who loves him very much as does he in return. ...
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Reform School
as Mother BartonA female warden takes over at a state reform school and attempts to bring about needed changes. ...
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True to the Navy
as Maid (uncredited)Ruby is a counter girl at the San Diego Soda Shop with a habit of being a girlfriend to Sailors...
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Second Choice
as Maid (uncredited)Vallery Grove is in love with Don Warren but her mother opposes the match because he is poor and...
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Cheaters
as LilyA criminal gang is after a rich man's money. A female member of the gang gets the bright idea of...
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Bourbon Street Beat
as Mrs. Teale"Bourbon Street Beat" is a private detective series produced by Warner Brothers Television which...
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The Danny Thomas Show
as LouiseDanny Thomas, an entertainer, tries to balance his home life with the needs of his career, with...
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The Swamp Fox
as uncreditedThe story of Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion, an American patriot who fought the British...
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