Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American actress celebrated as one of the defining screen personalities of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Known for her quick wit, expressive voice, and understated charm, she became one of the era’s most beloved comedic leading ladies, especially in the screwball comedy genre. Film historian James Harvey noted that “no one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur,” and her work remains central to the style’s legacy.
Arthur rose to prominence in the mid‑1930s and became best known for her collaborations with director Frank Capra, starring in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), You Can’t Take It with You (1938), and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). These films cemented her image as the relatable, spirited heroine of Depression‑era American cinema. She earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance in The More the Merrier (1943).
Although she famously disliked the pressures of Hollywood and often retreated from public life, Arthur continued to work selectively after the 1940s. She delivered a memorable dramatic turn as Marian Starrett in George Stevens’ classic Western Shane (1953). She later returned to acting on television, appearing in a 1965 episode of Gunsmoke and starring in the 1966 sitcom The Jean Arthur Show.
After leaving acting, Arthur taught drama at Vassar College and the North Carolina School of the Arts, where students remembered her as a passionate and generous instructor. She lived a largely private life in her later years and died in 1991 at the age of 90.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.6428 |
| Birthday | 1900-10-17 |
| Place of Birth | Plattsburgh, New York, USA |
| Also Known As | Gladys Georgianna Greene, |
1939
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
7.827/1185
After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. Soon, the naive and earnest new...
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1953
Shane
7.344/678
A weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
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Shane
1942
The Talk of the Town
7.319/127
Hilarity ensues when a falsely accused fugitive from justice hides at the house of his childhood friend, which she has recently rented to a high-princ...
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The Talk of the Town
2008
Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You
0/1
The director's son gives interesting anecdotes about Frank Capra's making of the 1938 hit comedy, "You Can't Take It With You."
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Frank Capra Jr. Remembers... You Can't Take It with You
1937
History Is Made at Night
6.676/54
An American woman falls in love with a romantic Parisian head waiter who tries to save her from her possessive wealthy ex-husband who wants to keep he...
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History Is Made at Night
1936
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
7.542/404
Longfellow Deeds lives in a small town, leading a small town kind of life. When a relative dies and leaves Deeds a fortune, Longfellow moves to the bi...
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Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
1935
Public Hero Number 1
6.2/10
G-Man Jeff Crane poses as a crook to infiltrate the notorious Purple Gang, a band of hoodlums which preys upon other hoodlums. Orchestrating the jailb...
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Public Hero Number 1
1938
You Can't Take It with You
7.499/449
Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish m...
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You Can't Take It with You
1940
Arizona
6.483/29
Phoebe Titus is a tough, swaggering pioneer woman, but her ways become decidedly more feminine when she falls for California bound Peter Muncie. But P...
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Arizona
1941
The Devil and Miss Jones
7.664/64
The wealthiest man in the world, John P. Merrick, is a private person who likes to stay anonymous. One of his many assets is Neeley's Department Store...
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The Devil and Miss Jones
1939
Only Angels Have Wings
7.278/275
A traveling performer arrives at a remote South American port town where the head of an air freight service must risk his pilots' lives to earn a majo...
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Only Angels Have Wings
1936
The Plainsman
6.473/37
Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, and Buffalo Bill go up against Indians and a gunrunner.
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The Plainsman
1948
A Foreign Affair
7.1/155
In occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi café singer and the US congresswoman investigating her.
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A Foreign Affair
1953
Yesterday and Today
7/1
A compilation of early-day silent films that serves as a glimpse back to the formative days of the movie industry as a salute to Hollywood's Golden Ye...
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Yesterday and Today
1943
A Lady Takes a Chance
5.81/21
A city girl on a bus tour of the West encounters a handsome rodeo cowboy who helps her forget her city suitors.
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A Lady Takes a Chance
1937
Easy Living
7.147/68
J.B. Ball, a rich financier, gets fed up with his free-spending family. He takes his wife's just-bought (very expensive) sable coat and throws it out...
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Easy Living
1935
The Whole Town's Talking
6.864/59
Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He's never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to h...
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The Whole Town's Talking
1929
The Canary Murder Case
5.732/28
A beautiful showgirl, name "the Canary" is a scheming nightclub singer. Blackmailing is her game and with that she ends up dead. But who killed "the C...
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The Canary Murder Case
1943
The More the Merrier
6.952/93
It's World War II and there is a severe housing shortage everywhere - especially in Washington, D.C. where Connie Milligan rents an apartment. Believi...
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The More the Merrier
1925
The Iron Horse
6.687/75
Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west. He sets off with his son, Davy, to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will...
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The Iron Horse
1936
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
6.25/32
A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
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The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
1929
The Greene Murder Case
6.083/12
Philo Vance investigates when a murderer preys upon members of a wealthy family on New York's Upper East Side.
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The Greene Murder Case
1936
Adventure in Manhattan
6.071/14
The story of an egotistical crime writer who gets involved with the case of a notorious art thief (who is believed to be dead) while at the same time...
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Adventure in Manhattan
1940
Too Many Husbands
6.476/21
Long-missing Bill Cardew returns to find his wife Vicky remarried...and in no hurry to settle for just one husband.
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Too Many Husbands
1934
Most Precious Thing in Life
5.833/5
An unwed mother watches as her illegitimate son is raised by others. Director Lambert Hillyer's 1934 drama stars Jean Arthur, Richard Cromwell, Donald...
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Most Precious Thing in Life
1935
If You Could Only Cook
7.526/19
An auto engineer and a professor's daughter pose as married servants in a mobster's mansion.
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If You Could Only Cook
1935
Party Wire
8.333/3
When a small-town girl's boyfriend leaves in disgrace, gossips spread false reports of her pregnancy.
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Party Wire
1929
The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
5.962/13
A Chinese doctor vows revenge against the allied troops who killed his wife and child during the Boxer Rebellion.
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The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu
1930
The Silver Horde
5.5/15
A salmon fisherman has to choose between a bad girl and a society doll.
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The Silver Horde
1938
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12
6/1
A visit to Buck Jones's new ranch and his horse, Silver, to James Gleason and his dog, to Charles Ruggles and his kennels; on the set of 'You Can't Ta...
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Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 12
1929
The Saturday Night Kid
4.727/11
Mayme and sister Janie are salesgirls in Ginsberg's Department Store. Mayme is in love with store clerk Bill, but Janie tries to steal him from her. H...
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The Saturday Night Kid
1944
The Impatient Years
6.688/8
Standing before a divorce court judge are Sergeant Andy Anderson and Janie Anderson asking him to dissolve their marriage. Janie's father, William Smi...
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The Impatient Years
1931
Danger Lights
6.056/18
Head railroad man Dan is as ugly as he is honorable. When he spots a drifter who'd hopped a freight held up by a landslide, Dan offers the man a job;...
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Danger Lights
1930
Street of Chance
6.773/11
'Natural' Davis (William Powell) is a respected gambler who follows a ruthless code of honor with those who cheat against him. His wife, Alma (Kay Fra...
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Street of Chance
1935
The Public Menace
6/2
1935 comedy in which an immigrant (Jean Arthur), a reporter (George Murphy) and a gangster (Douglass Dumbrille) cross paths.
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The Public Menace
1924
Wine of Youth
8.333/3
Based on a play be Rachel Crothers, WINE OF YOUTH is a solid drama about "the modern young generation" and how they think they know it all. It's also...
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Wine of Youth
1936
More Than a Secretary
6.5/8
When the co-owner of a secretarial school visits a magazine editor to find out why he runs through secretaries, she's mistaken for an applicant. Drawn...
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More Than a Secretary
1930
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
5.344/16
The sinister Dr. Fu Manchu returns to destroy the people he holds responsible for the death of his family.
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The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu
1999
Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
8.25/4
Clara Bow: Discovering the 'It' Girl features scenes from 25 of her films, as well as interviews with family members and acquaintances.
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Clara Bow: Discovering the "It" Girl
1931
The Lawyer's Secret
6.2/5
Sailor Joe Hart, who is spending his shore leave at a gambling joint, sells his gun to young Laurie Roberts after losing terribly. After Hart again lo...
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The Lawyer's Secret
1926
The Block Signal
9/1
Joe Ryan, a veteran train engineer, is demoted to a flagman position after a disastrous crash-- one caused by his cowardly and opportunistic partner....
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The Block Signal
1934
The Defense Rests
7.1/10
A sleazy lawyer's female assistant sets out to end his cheating ways.
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The Defense Rests
1934
Whirlpool
6.389/9
An ex-convict tries to connect with the daughter who doesn't even know he exists.
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Whirlpool
1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s
9/2
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually get...
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Going Hollywood: The '30s
1927
Flying Luck
9/1
A naive young man joins the Army in order to become a pilot.
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Flying Luck
1923
Cameo Kirby
6/10
Wrongfully blamed for the death of Col. John Randall, Cameo Kirby (Gilbert) must find the true villain and clear his name before he can declare his lo...
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Cameo Kirby
1935
Diamond Jim
6.5/2
A loose biopic based on the life of Gilded Age tycoon "Diamond" Jim Brady.
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Diamond Jim
1925
Seven Chances
7.515/323
Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday -- which is today -- he'll inherit $7 million fro...
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Seven Chances
1931
Ex-Bad Boy
8/1
A man gets in trouble with his girlfriend when a beautiful movie star and her fiance come to his small town.
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Ex-Bad Boy
1930
Young Eagles
7/3
Lieut. Robert Banks, an American aviator on leave in Paris, meets Mary Gordon, a young American who lives abroad, but their romance is cut short by hi...
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Young Eagles
1928
Brotherly Love
8/1
Oscar, a tough guard at Newberry Prison, gets into an argument with Jerry, a smallish barber. He causes Jerry to be arrested as a fugitive, and gets h...
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Brotherly Love
1927
The Poor Nut
10/1
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The Poor Nut
1929
Half Way to Heaven
6/3
A trapeze artist causes the death of another over their mutual love of a girl. When a new artist joins the troupe and falls in love with her, she must...
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Half Way to Heaven
1998
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
7/1
Known for his personification of the Western Hero, it was Montana-born Gary Cooper's horse-riding skills that first brought him bit parts in movies. A...
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Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
1927
Winners Of The Wilderness
7.667/3
During the French and Indian War the Indians under Pontiac kidnap Rene. Colonel O'Hara hopes to rescue and wed her.
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Winners Of The Wilderness
1930
Paramount on Parade
6.111/9
This 1930 film, a collection of songs and sketches showcasing Paramount Studios' contract stars, credits 11 directors
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Paramount on Parade
1928
Warming Up
9/1
Bert, a pitcher for a baseball team in a small town, is given the opportunity to try out for a team in the big leagues. Unfortunately, he incurs the e...
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Warming Up
1933
The Past of Mary Holmes
10/1
Mary Holmes (MacKellar), once a famous opera star known as Maria di Nardi, now lives in a run-down shanty and suffers from alcoholism. Known for her e...
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The Past of Mary Holmes
1988
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
8.2/5
This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.
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The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1925
The Drug Store Cowboy
10/1
This comedy-melodrama focuses on Marmaduke Grandon, who's a drug store clerk with aspirations to be a movie star.
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The Drug Store Cowboy
1936
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
6/1
Viewers are provided a visit to Ken Maynard's private circus; Bette Davis poses for her portrait; Frank McHugh plays with his children; a visit to the...
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Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
1931
The Gang Buster
6.167/6
Naïve insurance agent 'Cyclone' Case falls in love with Sylvia Martine, whose father has a dispute with gangster Mike Slade. When Sylvia is kidnapped...
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The Gang Buster
1927
Horse Shoes
9/1
A Monty Banks comedy that includes the 'Undressing in the Upper Berth' routine
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Horse Shoes
1926
The Cowboy Cop
7/1
A cowboy joins the Low Angeles mounted police unit.
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The Cowboy Cop
1939
Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1
6/0
The four Westmore brothers work their make-up magic on a variety of Hollywood stars.
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Screen Snapshots Series 19, No. 1
1926
Ridin' Rivals
10/1
Attracted to a girl, a cowboy takes a job on the adjoining ranch hoping to see her again and he gets his chance when her horse becomes a runaway.
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Ridin' Rivals
1928
Wallflowers
10/1
Sandra and her sister Dody (Theodora) leave the Virginia countryside to join Washington's social set. Dody determines to marry wealth, while Sandra wa...
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Wallflowers
1923
Somebody Lied
10/1
Two reeler served as Jean Arthur's screen debut.
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Somebody Lied
1925
Tearin' Loose
9/1
Jim Dorn, owner of the Bar X Ranch, is accused of crime he actually committed by Bud Deering, his girlfriend Ann's brother.
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Tearin' Loose
1926
Eight-Cylinder Bull
9/1
Used-car salesman Ralph Slippery has found the perfect way to unload old worn-out automobiles; he places a cardboard model of a new, luxury car next t...
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Eight-Cylinder Bull
1927
The Broken Gate
7/1
In the small farming community of Spring Valley, young Aurora Lane has caused a scandal by bearing a son by townsman Lucius Henderson, who refuses to...
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The Broken Gate
1924
Bringin' Home the Bacon
8/1
Plot concerns happy-go-lucky rancher who decides to spruce up in order to win the affection of a girl. Enemies seeking to have him put out of the way,...
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Bringin' Home the Bacon
1926
Born to Battle
7/1
Dennis Terhune, ranch foreman for John Morgan, an eastern capitalist, discovers that there is oil on Morgan's ranch shortly after Morgan has deeded th...
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Born to Battle
1924
Fast and Fearless
7/1
Lightning Bill Lewis sets out to capture Gómez, the leader of a ruthless gang that has been tormenting a border town. He prevents Gómez from kidnappin...
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Fast and Fearless
1925
The Fighting Smile
8/1
A cowboy who has been away from home for a long time returns, only to find that the area he grew up in has been taken over by a vicious gang of cattle...
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The Fighting Smile
1926
Lightning Bill
9/1
Lightnin' Bill Williams, the owner of a 50,000-acre ranch near the town of Cactusville, takes a fall off a cliff, and the experience affects him to th...
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Lightning Bill
1924
Travelin' Fast
10/1
Evil Red Sampson and his band of rustlers shoot up Mineral Point, the ranch of William Conway, owner of a gold mine. Shot and dying, Conway reveals th...
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Travelin' Fast
1926
The Fighting Cheat
7/1
A drifter befriends wounded outlaw Lafe Wells. Having promised to deliver a sack of gold to the man's family, Wales promptly falls for the daughter of...
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The Fighting Cheat
1927
Husband Hunters
4/3
Marie Devere and Helen Gray are two sophisticated, gold-digging chorus girls on the look-out to marry a rich man, who measure the men they meet by the...
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Husband Hunters
1927
Hello Lafayette
7/1
A salmon taster enlists and is put to work passing out salmon to the troops. When he is assigned to take the salmon in the lines he gets absent minded...
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Hello Lafayette
1924
The Powerful Eye
10/1
Two cowboys are in love with a single lass. A hypnotist shows up one as a sheik which turns her affections to the other. Morrison as the "sheik" desir...
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The Powerful Eye
1926
Double Daring
10/1
A timid bank clerk has to toughen up during the search for a gang of bank robbers.
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Double Daring
1926
Twisted Triggers
8/1
Barely out of prison, Jim Regan is arrested once again, this time for the attempted shooting of Denver Dan Norris, the villain who framed him in the f...
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Twisted Triggers
1924
Case Dismissed
7/1
Slim appears as a police court judge and Bobby as one of the jurors who is later given a job as bailiff. The reel deals with three or four different c...
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Case Dismissed
1925
Thundering Through
7/1
Ruth Burroughs the daughter of a beleaguered rancher whose valuable property is threatened by a greedy railroad company
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Thundering Through
1926
The Roaring Rider
7/1
A cowboy arrives to help a girl who has a note due. He plans to sell her cattle to raise the money but they are stampeded and most are killed. Knowing...
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The Roaring Rider
1927
The Masked Menace
10/1
The mill of an old woman and her ward, Faith Newton, is being terrorized by the masked menace of the title known as "Still Face". The women are helped...
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The Masked Menace
1929
Stairs of Sand
0/0
An outlaw with a Heart of Gold sacrificing his own life for the happiness of two young people in love.
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Stairs of Sand
1924
Thundering Romance
7/1
A cowboy sets out to help a pretty young girl who is about to lose her ranch when crooks plan to foreclose on it because she doesn't have enough money...
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Thundering Romance
1924
Biff Bang Buddy
10/1
Buddy Walters is a cowboy falsely accused of a crime actually committed by nasty Al Richmond.
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Biff Bang Buddy
1926
Under Fire
10/1
Lt. Tom Brennan is cashiered from the 7th Cavalry on two charges, both unjust: that of deserting his men in the face of a cruel Indian attack, and of...
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Under Fire
1926
The Mad Racer
8/1
Van Bibber is spending his vacation with Colonel Paddock's party at the ranch owned by Paddock's friend. The peace and quiet is often disturbed by a d...
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The Mad Racer
1923
Spring Fever
9/1
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Spring Fever
1927
Bigger and Better Blondes
10/1
Following a jewelry store robbery, Charley becomes the prime suspect due to his flashy antics and accidental collaborations with the true perpetrators...
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Bigger and Better Blondes
1925
The Hurricane Horseman
8/1
When a bank is robbed, the cashier is killed and suspicion for the murder unjustly falls on Jim Marden. He gives himself up, and his brother, Wally, p...
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The Hurricane Horseman
1925
A Man of Nerve
8/1
While romancing the millinery store owner, Custer finds himself falsely accused of murdering his boss and is soon fleeing from a vicious lynch mob.
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A Man of Nerve
1926
The College Boob
9.5/2
Ally Appleby is a country boy headed for the college campus, courtesy of his Aunt Polly and Uncle Lish. They're financing his education providing that...
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The College Boob
1928
Sins of the Fathers
8/2
A married restaurant owner is persuaded to become a bootlegger by a beautiful young girl. When he starts making money at it, she steals it, then runs...
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Sins of the Fathers
1931
Virtuous Husband
8/1
When a rich young man marries, he lets the books and letters left him by his dead mother guide his life.
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Virtuous Husband
1933
Get That Venus
7.5/2
A fast-talking philanderer and sometime reporter gets caught up in an octogenarian antiquarian's scheme to steal a classical masterwork, the famous Ve...
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Get That Venus
1923
Monks a la mode
0/0
Dress shop owner Madame Maxine employs two chimps to serve in her establishment. It goes about as well as you would expect!
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Monks a la mode
2017
Becoming Cary Grant
6.6/42
For the first time one of Hollywood's greatest stars tells his own story, in his own words. From a childhood of poverty to global fame, Cary Grant, th...
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