Betty Blythe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Betty Blythe (born Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter, September 1, 1893 – April 7, 1972) was an American actress best known for her dramatic roles in exotic silent films such as The Queen of Sheba (1921). She appeared in 63 silent films and 56 talking pictures (known as talkies) over the course of her career.
She is famous for being one of the first actresses to appear on film in the nude, or nearly so, during the Roaring Twenties.
She is reported to have said, "A director is the only man besides your husband who can tell you how much of your clothes to take off."
Blythe began her stage work in such theatrical pieces as So Long Letty and The Peacock Princess. She worked in vaudeville as the "California Nightingale" singing songs such as "Love Tales from Hoffman".
After touring Europe and the States, she entered films in 1918 at the Vitagraph Studios in Brooklyn, then she was brought to Hollywood's Fox studio as a replacement for actress Theda Bara.
As famous for her revealing costumes as for her dramatic skills, she became a star in such exotic films as The Queen of Sheba (1921) (in which she wore nothing above the waist except a string of beads), Chu-Chin-Chow (made in 1923; released by MGM in the US 1925) and She (1925).
She was also seen to good advantage in less revealing films like Nomads of the North (1920) with Lon Chaney and In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter (1924), produced by Samuel Goldwyn.
Other roles were as an opera star, unbilled in Garbo's The Mysterious Lady. She continued to work as a character actress. One of her last roles was a small uncredited role in a crowd scene in 1964's My Fair Lady.
Betty Blythe's name lives on through the Betty Blythe Vintage TeaRoom in West Kensington.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.7795 |
| Birthday | 1893-08-31 |
| Place of Birth | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Also Known As | Elizabeth Blythe Slaughter, |
1941
Tuxedo Junction
10/1
The Weaver Brothers and Elviry have migrated from their usual hard-scrabble digs in the Ozarks and have taken up truck-farming.
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Tuxedo Junction
1939
The Women
7.145/176
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
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The Women
1940
Earl of Puddlestone
10/1
When Betty's father sees the condescending attitude displayed toward her by a rich family, he decides to get back at them by making them believe that...
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Earl of Puddlestone
1935
I've Been Around
4/4
Romantic problems of a society girl and an engineer.
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I've Been Around
1946
The Postman Always Rings Twice
7.065/372
A married woman and a drifter fall in love, then plot to murder her husband.
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The Postman Always Rings Twice
1916
Slander
2.3/3
The wife of attorney John Blair (T. Jerome Lawler), heroine Helene (Kalich) finds herself in an untenable position when two of Blair's clients, Harry...
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Slander
1947
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
6.808/138
Walter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream b...
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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1934
The Scarlet Letter
5.133/15
In the seventeenth century, in Massachusetts, a young woman is forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress for bearing a child out of wedlock.
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The Scarlet Letter
1947
Something in the Wind
7/9
A grandson of a recently deceased millionaire mistakes a beautiful female disc jockey for her aunt, who once dated the grandfather.
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Something in the Wind
1944
Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
6.618/17
To solve the murder of a man shot in a locked room, Chan must wade through a Fun House, the writings of an unscrupulous author, and chess pieces.
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Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat
1938
Gangster's Boy
6/2
A popular high school valedictorian and star athlete becomes a pariah when it's discovered that his father is a former bootlegger.
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Gangster's Boy
1951
Hollywood Story
6.688/24
An independent producer unwisely opens a can of worms after he decides to make a movie about the unsolved murder of a famous silent film director.
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Hollywood Story
1925
Percy
10/1
Western melodrama about a sheltered youth who makes his way out West by playing the fiddle.
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Percy
1935
The Spanish Cape Mystery
5.636/11
Ellery Queen's vacation is interrupted when murder strikes next door to his oceanside cabin.
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The Spanish Cape Mystery
1931
Stars of Yesterday
9/1
Stars of Yesterday documentary film.
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Stars of Yesterday
1943
Crime Doctor
6.357/14
Robert is found beside the highway with a head injury and amnesia. His amnesia motivates him to become a Physician and the country's leading criminal...
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Crime Doctor
1924
Southern Love
9/1
Gypsy dancer Dolores flees an arranged marriage and faces ruin by a count. After her admirer kills the count the other gypsies swoop in to save her fr...
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Southern Love
1943
Girls in Chains
4.667/7
A fired teacher finds work at a girls reform school and helps a detective on a case.
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Girls in Chains
1936
The Gorgeous Hussy
5.533/15
It's the early nineteenth century Washington. Young adult Margaret O'Neal, Peggy to most that know her, is the daughter of Major William O'Neal, who i...
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The Gorgeous Hussy
1932
Lena Rivers
7/3
Young Lena Rivers, who was born out of wedlock, goes to live with a rich uncle. Unfortunately, her uncle's wife and daughter make no secret of their d...
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Lena Rivers
1925
She
6.25/4
Mr. Blackwell discovers a relic that informs him about Blythe (as Ayesha, or "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed"), who loved his father and others in the ancestr...
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She
1935
The Perfect Clue
6/5
Mona Stewart, madcap, spoiled daughter of a wealthy man, becomes upset when she learns that her father is engaged to a woman she hates. She runs away,...
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The Perfect Clue
1936
Murder at Glen Athol
7/3
A famous detective is invited to a swanky party at an elegant mansion, but before the night is over he finds himself involved with gangsters, blackmai...
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Murder at Glen Athol
1933
Before Midnight
4.6/10
A detective tries to figure out who killed a man who predicted his own death.
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Before Midnight
1942
Freckles Comes Home
5.8/5
Freckles Winslow comes home from college and the sheriff accuses him of murder, gangsters put him on the spot, and his girl friend, Jane, falls in lov...
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Freckles Comes Home
1923
The Truth About Wives
8/1
Helen Frazer marries Harold Lawton to please her domineering grandmother. However, Harold continues his dalliance with chorus girl Letty Lorraine, and...
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The Truth About Wives
1944
A Fig Leaf for Eve
4.8/10
A nightclub dancer, raised in an orphanage, learns she might be the long-lost heiress to a hair tonic fortune.
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A Fig Leaf for Eve
1934
A Girl of the Limberlost
3/3
Elnora Comstock is the badly abused daughter of Katherine Comstock, who blames her because her father was drowned while on the way home the night she...
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A Girl of the Limberlost
1924
Chu-Chin-Chow
9/1
In Baghdad a girl escapes from a robber sheikh and thwarts a plot to rob a merchant.
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Chu-Chin-Chow
1918
Over the Top
0/0
The film is based on a book of the same name by Arthur Guy Empey, detailing his service as an American volunteer with the British Army on the Western...
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Over the Top
1941
Federal Fugitives
6.3/5
A government agent goes undercover in order to apprehend a saboteur who caused a plane crash.
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Federal Fugitives
1945
Adventure
6.417/12
A rough and tumble man of the sea falls for a meek librarian.
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Adventure
1943
Sarong Girl
7/1
A dancer in a girlie show plots revenge when a judge orders her show closed.
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Sarong Girl
1938
Romance of the Limberlost
6.5/2
An orphaned girl is being raised in the Limberlost by her aunt, who hates her because the girl's mother married the man that the aunt loved. The girl'...
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Romance of the Limberlost
1938
Delinquent Parents
7.333/3
A woman is forced to keep her marriage and past indiscretions a secret from those she loves.
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Delinquent Parents
1940
Misbehaving Husbands
5.222/9
Marital comedy in which a department store mannequin is mistaken for "the other woman".
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Misbehaving Husbands
1935
Western Courage
8/2
Wealthy Henry Hanley takes his family to a dude ranch. But his daughter Gloria's boyfriend Eric is waiting and he is after Hanley's money. Ken overhea...
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Western Courage
1943
Mr. Muggs Steps Out
8/1
Ordered by a judge to get a job, Muggs McGinnis is hired by wealthy Mrs. Murray, who has a penchant for picking up trouble-prone servants. At an engag...
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Mr. Muggs Steps Out
1919
The Undercurrent
10/1
Jack Duncan returns from the war in France to his wife and baby and learns that his job as a draftsman at the Loring Steel Mills has been taken. Given...
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The Undercurrent
1921
The Queen of Sheba
9/1
The story of the ill-fated romance between Solomon, king of Israel, and the Queen of Sheba.
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The Queen of Sheba
1924
In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
9/1
A sequel of sorts, the Jewish ethnic comedy characters of Potash and Perlmutter return from their 1923 debut film, also produced by Goldwyn, but with...
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In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter
1948
Letter from an Unknown Woman
7.773/339
A pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember. As she tells the story of her lifelong love for him, he is forc...
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Letter from an Unknown Woman
1934
Two Heads on a Pillow
7/1
A lawyer handing a divorce case discovers the attorney for the opposition is his ex-wife.
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Two Heads on a Pillow
1948
Shed No Tears
5.079/19
A man listens to his wife and fakes his own death so that she can get her hands on his insurance policy.
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Shed No Tears
1934
Money Means Nothing
4/2
At Joe's Roadside, a popular but rundown New York roadhouse where the wealthy and not-so-wealthy hang out, a wealthy Manhattan girl and a struggling B...
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Money Means Nothing
1928
Domestic Troubles
9/1
Twin brothers James and Horace Bullard have opposite personalities. James, a fun dandy, marries a club-woman. Horace, introvert and prudish, marries a...
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Domestic Troubles
1934
Night Alarm
5.4/5
A reporter itching to get off the boring gardening "beat" gets a chance to investigate a series of arson fires that have been plaguing the city. He be...
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Night Alarm
1938
Life in Sometown, U.S.A.
8.5/2
A satirical visualization of strange and forgotten, but (at that time) nevertheless still existing laws in the U.S.A.
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Life in Sometown, U.S.A.
1938
Hold That Kiss
7/3
Two young people meet at a wedding and begin dating, each thinking the other is extremely wealthy. Comedy.
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Hold That Kiss
1932
Back Street
6.429/14
A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.
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Back Street
1945
Docks of New York
8/2
The East Side Kids are pursued by killers seeking a stolen necklace.
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Docks of New York
1935
Cheers of the Crowd
5.8/5
To draw attention to a popular show, a publicity expert hires a former carnival character, not knowing that the man is on the run from the law.
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Cheers of the Crowd
1934
Ever Since Eve
9/1
Neil Rogers, a young man who owns a substantial share of a Western gold mine, comes East and falls in love with the rather wild Elizabeth Vandegrift.
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Ever Since Eve
1956
Runaway Daughters
4.25/6
Three teenagers with troubled families are unable to adjust at home and in high-school. Tempted with an easy, carefree life they soon pass from misdem...
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Runaway Daughters
1928
Stolen Love
7/1
The story of a girl whose past casts a shadow over her future happiness with the man who loves her. How much of her past must a girl tell the man she...
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Stolen Love
1941
Puddin' Head
6.5/2
On the day that United Broadcasting System's new building is dedicated, bumbling vice-president Harold L. Montgomery, Sr. discovers that he gave the w...
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Puddin' Head
1941
Sis Hopkins
6.333/3
An unsophisticated farm girl enrolls in college and stars in the campus musical.
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Sis Hopkins
1937
Espionage
7/6
Two reporters pose as man and wife in order to get the goods on a munitions supplier and the rumours of war in Europe.
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Espionage
1936
Rainbow on the River
8.667/3
A young boy is forced to leave his family in the South and move in with relatives he doesn't know in New York.
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Rainbow on the River
1928
Glorious Betsy
6/10
Vitaphone production reels #2471-2478; third Warner Bros. feature film - the first being The Jazz Singer and the second Tenderloin - to include talkin...
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Glorious Betsy
1936
Yours for the Asking
5.333/3
Casino operator Johnny Lamb hires down-on-her-luck socialite Lucille Sutton as his casino hostess, in order to help her and to improve casino income....
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Yours for the Asking
1943
Spotlight Scandals
5/3
A down-on-his luck actor teams up with a singing barber to do a vaudeville act. Its success eventually leads them to Broadway, but things start to go...
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Spotlight Scandals
1948
Madonna of the Desert
8/2
A jeweled Madonna, property of rancher Joe Salinas, attracts two crooks to his ranch, Monica Dell, a smooth operator, and ruthless Nick Julian. Joe be...
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Madonna of the Desert
1941
The Miracle Kid
5.5/4
A young boxer finds his life turned upside down when he meets with sudden success in the ring.
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The Miracle Kid
1941
Top Sergeant Mulligan
6.5/2
Frank Faylen and Charlie Hall (a longtime Laurel & Hardy foil) star as Dolan and Doolittle, a pair of goofy druggists who join the army to escape...
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Top Sergeant Mulligan
1942
House of Errors
10/1
Former silent screen comic Harry Langdon earned above-title billing for the final time in his long career in this roughhewn but amusing World War II f...
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House of Errors
1932
Tom Brown of Culver
6.833/3
Boy who thought his father a war hero finds he was really a deserter.
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Tom Brown of Culver
1942
Piano Mooner
7/1
Harry is a workaholic piano tuner whose bride-to-be's brother threatens to kill him if he doesn't marry his sister. His latest job assignment involves...
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Piano Mooner
1927
A Million Bid
7/1
To satisfy her controlling mother and secure both of their futures, a daughter hesitantly enters a loveless marriage to a wealthy businessman. Years l...
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A Million Bid
1937
Topper
6.743/138
Madcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of thei...
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Topper
1941
Our Wife
6.75/4
A musician's ex-wife wants him back after he finds love and success.
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Our Wife
1927
The Girl from Gay Paree
7/1
Mary Davis, alone and destitute in New York City, pilfers a meal from a restaurant and eludes the police by ducking into the Cafe Royale, where she is...
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The Girl from Gay Paree
1942
Dawn on the Great Divide
5.333/9
Buck Roberts is leading a wagon train of railroad supplies and Jim Corkle and his henchman Loder are out to stop them by using white men dressed as In...
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Dawn on the Great Divide
1946
The Undercover Woman
3.25/4
Two women private detectives arrive at a dude ranch in time to investigate the murder of their client's philandering husband.
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The Undercover Woman
1943
Bar 20
4.9/5
Stagecoach robbers take the money Hoppy was going to use to buy cattle so Hoppy, California and Lin go after them.
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Bar 20
1941
Honky Tonk
6.361/18
Fast-talking con-man and grifter Candy Johnson rises to be the corrupt boss of Yellow Creek, but his wife's alcoholic father tries to set things right...
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Honky Tonk
1948
Luxury Liner
5.833/6
Capt. Jeremy Bradford has a particularly exciting luxury liner cruise in store when he's charged with transporting a troupe of opera singers to Rio de...
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Luxury Liner
1921
Disraeli
7/1
The story of British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and the purchase by England of the Suez Canal.
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Disraeli
1921
Charge It
8/1
A woman's excessive spending brings difficulty to her family.
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Charge It
1964
My Fair Lady
7.506/1420
A snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.
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My Fair Lady
1920
Nomads of the North
5.714/7
A Canadian Mountie allows an innocent fugitive to escape with the women he loves.
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Nomads of the North
1937
What Do You Think? (Number Two)
9/1
John Jones, newlywed, attends a party with his wife, when an incident occurs with his mother-in-law. His sweetie believes him to be the culprit of a s...
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What Do You Think? (Number Two)
1927
Snowbound
10/1
Assuming he is marrying a wealthy girl, Peter Foley passes a fraudulent check. To save him from jail, Julia Barry poses as his wife. Peter is actually...
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Snowbound
1946
Undercurrent
5.922/51
After a rapid engagement, a dowdy daughter of a chemist weds an industrialist, knowing little of his family or past. He transforms her into an elegant...
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Undercurrent
1943
Presenting Lily Mars
6.417/12
Starstruck Indiana small-town girl Lily is pestering theatrical producer John Thornway for a role but he is reluctant.
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Presenting Lily Mars
1946
Joe Palooka, Champ
8/1
After losing heavyweight contender Al Costa to mob boss Florini fight promoter Knobby Walsh recruits small town boy Joe Palooka to take his place. Fir...
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Joe Palooka, Champ
1919
Beating the Odds
7/1
Political graft collector, David Power forced by the district attorney to leave New York takes cabaret singer Hebe Norse with him. Showing talent in a...
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Beating the Odds
1947
Jiggs and Maggie in Society
8/1
Maggi continues her forever-ever efforts to crash Manhattan's top society, while Jiggs still mingles with his old construction cronies at the bar of D...
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Jiggs and Maggie in Society
1942
Inflation
6.333/3
The Devil works with Adolf Hitler to cause inflation in the United States.
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Inflation
1933
Only Yesterday
7.333/6
On the back of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a young businessman is about to commit suicide. With a note to his wife scribbled down and a gun in his...
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Only Yesterday
1934
Badge of Honor
5.333/6
Hoping to impress a pretty girl he's after, a playboy poses as a newspaperman and goes after a big story.
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Badge of Honor
1928
Sisters of Eve
8/1
Young London realtor Leonard Tavernake becomes involved with two sisters, one good and one evil, which leads to much melodrama but things work out in...
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Sisters of Eve
1945
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
5.768/28
When two bumbling barbers act as agents for a talented but unknown singer, they stage a phony murder in order to get him a plum role.
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood
1920
The Silver Horde
10/1
A young man who has proven a failure in business goes to Alaska and enters the salmon-fishing industry, in direct competition with the father of the w...
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The Silver Horde
1922
How Women Love
8/1
Singer Rosa Roma signs a contract with backer Ogden Ward, forbidding love, public appearances, and using her real name. She breaks the contract by fal...
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How Women Love
1924
Folly of Vanity
8/1
This drama had two directors: Maurice Elvey handled most of the film, but the fantasy sequence was directed by Henry Otto. Newlyweds Alice and Robert...
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Folly of Vanity
1922
Fair Lady
8/1
Countess Margherita is a Sicilian girl who is about to be married, but Caesar Maruffi, the head of a criminal syndicate, wants her for himself. He arr...
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Fair Lady
1945
They Were Expendable
6.534/131
After a demonstration of new PT boats, navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the a...
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They Were Expendable
1920
Burnt Wings
8/1
Struggling artist Ned Templeton and his wife Joan are leading a poverty-stricken life in Paris. Threatened by starvation and eviction, Joan is forced...
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Burnt Wings
1933
Pilgrimage
7.079/19
A mother from Arkansas is very possessive of her grown son. To prevent him from getting married she has him drafted into WW I.
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Pilgrimage
1928
Into No Man's Land
7/1
A refined criminal keeps his life secret from his daughter. When he gets trouble from the police after shooting one of his underworld associates, he e...
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Into No Man's Land
1920
Occasionally Yours
8/1
When Bruce Sands, a dilettante artist with a history of amorous peccadilloes, discovers that his latest flame Bunny Winston wants to marry him, he see...
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Occasionally Yours
1924
The Spitfire
9/1
Following a scandalous poker party, Douglas Kenyon acts as escort to Marcia Walsh, a showgirl whom he "wins" in a game. When it is discovered that she...
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The Spitfire
1924
The Breath of Scandal
9/1
When Charles Hale is visiting his mistress, Sybil Russell, he is shot in the arm by Sybil's estranged and outraged husband. Hale's daughter, Marjorie,...
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The Breath of Scandal
1918
Miss Ambition
0/0
A beautiful and ambitious young woman leaves her boyfriend for a famous sculptor, and later--after she models for his statue "Miss Ambition"--marries...
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Miss Ambition
1922
His Wife's Husband
7/1
Olympia Brewster marries John Brainerd to escape a life of drudgery and immediately realizes that he does not love her but only desires her physically...
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His Wife's Husband
1918
The Business of Life
0/0
Carrying on with the antique business of her deceased father, Jacqueline Nevers is asked to catalog James Desboro's collection. When they fall in love...
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The Business of Life
1920
The Third Generation
7/1
When Alden Van Dusen, a third-generation member of a prestigious old New York family, is faced with the alternatives of allowing his firm to go bankru...
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The Third Generation
1918
The Green God
10/1
Major Temple vainly tries to purchase of the priests the Green God he sees on a visit to China. He commissions Robert Ashton to get it for him, promis...
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The Green God
1918
A Game with Fate
0/0
After Henry Dawson and Robert Harwell quarrel at Elaine Huntington's garden party, Henry disappears and Robert is accused of murder. Although Robert i...
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A Game with Fate
1918
The King of Diamonds
7/1
A man is drugged and appears to be a leper, until he is cured. He returns a wealthy man, but unrecognizable to his wife, who has married another man....
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The King of Diamonds
1921
Mother o' Mine
8/1
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Mother o' Mine
1950
Rebecca
0/0
A play version of Daphne du Maurier’s book starring Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier
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