William Frawley
Birthday: Born in 1887-02-25 in Burlington, Iowa, USA
Deathday: 1966-03-03
William Frawley was born in Burlington, Iowa. As a boy he sang at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad. He did vaudeville with his brother Paul, then joined pianist Franz Rath in an act they took to San Francisco in 1910. Four years later he formed a light comedy act with his new wife Edna Louise Broedt, "Frawley and Louise", touring the Orpheum and Keith circuits until they divorced in 1927. He next moved to Broadway and then, in 1932, to Hollywood with Paramount. By 1951, when he contacted Lucille Ball about a part in her TV show I Love Lucy (1951), he had performed in over 100 films. His Fred Mertz role lasted until the show ended in 1960, after which he did a five-year stint on My Three Sons (1960). Poor health forced his retirement. He collapsed of a heart attack on March 3, 1966, aged 79, walking along Hollywood Boulevard after seeing a movie. He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery.
TV Credits
My Three Sons
Character: Bub O'Casey
A widower and aeronautical engineer named Steven Douglas raises three sons with the help of his father-in-law, and later the boys' great-uncle. An adopted son, a stepdaughter, wives, and another generation of sons join the loving family in later seasons....
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
Character: Fred Mertz
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a collection of thirteen one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960, and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. Its original network title was The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the first season, and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Presents The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the following seasons. It was the successor to the classic comedy, I Love Lucy, and featured the same major cast members. The production schedule avoi...
The Lucy Show
Character: Trainer
The Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962–68. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965–66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star. The earliest scripts were entitled The Lucille Ball Show, but when this title was declined, producers thought of calling the ...
I Love Lucy
Character: Fred Mertz
Cuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana where he works, and make life comically frantic in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz, who also happen to be their best friends....
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Character:
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables....
This Is Your Life
Character: Self
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience, including special guest appearances by colleagues, friends and family. Edwards revived the show in 1971-72, while Joseph Campanella hosted a version in 1983. Edwards returned for some specials in the late 1980s, before his death in 2005. T...
Letter to Loretta
Character: Sam
Letter to Loretta is an American anthology drama series telecast on NBC from September 1953 to June 1961 for a total of 165 episodes. The filmed show was hosted by Loretta Young who also played the lead in various episodes. Letter to Loretta was sponsored by Procter & Gamble from 1953 through 1960. The final season's sponsor was Warner-Lambert's Listerine....
The Bob Hope Show
Character: Self
The Bob Hope Show hosted by Bob Hope, debuted on April 9, 1950. During the 1952-1953 season, NBC rotated with other variety shows in a Sunday night block known as "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (Sept. 1950 to Dec. 1955). Also known as, "The Chevy Show with Bob Hope." When the first special debuted in October of 1950 it was the most expensive television program made up to that point - costing an astronomical $1,500 a minute to produce. Bob Hope had his own television show and radio show at the same ti...
The Ed Sullivan Show
Character: Self
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time....
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character: Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time....
Movie Credits
Blondie in Society
Character: Waldo Pincus
Dagwood brings home a pedigreed Great Dane which an important company client wants and which Blondie enters in the big dog show....
Blondie's Anniversary
Character: Sharkey the Loen Shark
Blondie finds a valuable watch that has been hidden by hubby Dagwood. She assumes that it's a surprise wedding gift, but the truth is that Dagwood has been guarding the watch on behalf of a client who bought the gift for his own wife, which soon leads to trouble with his boss, a loan shark, and crooked building contractors....
Blondie's Hero
Character: Marty Greer
Dagwood enters the Army Reserve and Blondie visits only to discover that he has caused all sorts of problems which lead to numerous conflicts....
Lady on a Train
Character: Desk Sgt. Brennan
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers....
The Fighting Seabees
Character: Eddie Powers
Construction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them. After a series of attacks by the Japanese, something new is tried, Construction Battalions (CBs=Seabees). The new CBs have to both build and be ready to fight....
Roberta
Character: Bartender
Football player John Kent tags along as Huck Haines and the Wabash Indianians travel to an engagement in Paris, only to lose it immediately. John and company visit his aunt, owner of a posh fashion house run by her assistant, Stephanie. There they meet the singer Scharwenka (alias Huck's old friend Lizzie), who gets the band a job. Meanwhile, Madame Roberta passes away and leaves the business to John and he goes into partnership with Stephanie....
The Princess Comes Across
Character: Benton
A Swedish princess boards an ocean liner in Europe en route to an acting career in America and finds herself getting inconveniently attached to a bandleader returning home. To complicate matters, a blackmailer on board apparently knows she is not who she claims to be - and he has his sights set on other passengers with secrets of their own. In the meantime an escaped killer has stowed away under someone else's identity, and is killing again to cover his tracks; five international police detectiv...
The Lemon Drop Kid
Character: Gloomy Willie
When the Lemon Drop Kid accidentally cheats gangster Moose Moran out of his track winnings, the Kid promises to repay Moose the money by Christmas. Creating a fake charity for "Apple Annie" Nellie Thursday, the Kid tricks his gang into donning Santa suits and "collecting dough for old dolls" like Nellie who have nowhere to live....
Miracle on 34th Street
Character: Charlie Halloran
Kris Kringle, seemingly the embodiment of Santa Claus, is asked to portray the jolly old fellow at Macy's following his performance in the Thanksgiving Day parade. His portrayal is so complete that many begin to question if he truly is Santa Claus, while others question his sanity....
Red Light
Character: Hotel Night Clerk
Nick Cherney, in prison for embezzling from Torno Freight Co., sees a chance to get back at Johnny Torno through his young priest brother Jess. He pays fellow prisoner Rocky, who gets out a week before Nick, to murder Jess... who, dying, tells revenge-minded Johnny that he'd written a clue "in the Bible." Frustrated, Johnny obsessively searches for the missing Gideon Bible from Jess's hotel room....
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man
Character: Det. Roberts
As novice detectives, Bud and Lou come face to face with the Invisible Man....
Welcome Home
Character: Painless
A con artist attends a reunion in his hometown and discovers that his former classmates are trying to trick an old millionaire into returning to build a factory....
Flame of Barbary Coast
Character: Wolf Wylie
Duke Fergus falls for Ann 'Flaxen' Tarry in the Barbary Coast in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. He loses money to crooked gambler Boss Tito Morell, goes home, learns to gamble, and returns. After he makes a fortune, he opens his own place with Flaxen as the entertainer; but the 1906 quake destroys his place....
Rancho Notorious
Character: Baldy Gunder
A man in search of revenge infiltrates a ranch, hidden in an inhospitable region, where its owner, Altar Keane, gives shelter to outlaws fleeing from the law in exchange for a price....
One Night in the Tropics
Character: Roscoe
Jim "Lucky" Moore, an insurance salesman, comes up with a novel policy for his friend, Steve: a 'love insurance policy', that will pay out $1-million if Steve does not marry his fiancée, Cynthia. The upcoming marriage is jeopardized by Steve's ex-girlfriend, Mickey, and Cynthia's disapproving Aunt Kitty. The policy is underwritten by a nightclub owner, Roscoe, who sends two enforcers - Abbott and Costello - to ensure that the wedding occurs as planned....
Rhubarb
Character: Len Sickles
Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet he names Rhubarb. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiancée Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb....
The Babe Ruth Story
Character: Jack Dunn
The baseball player goes from wayward youth to Boston Red Sox pitcher to New York Yankees home-run hero....
Gentleman Jim
Character: Billy Delaney
As bare-knuckled boxing enters the modern era, brash extrovert Jim Corbett uses new rules and dazzlingly innovative footwork to rise to the top of the boxing world....
Rose of Washington Square
Character: Harry Long
Rose Sargent, a Roaring '20s singer, becomes a Ziegfeld Follies star as her criminal husband gets deeper in trouble....
Mad About Music
Character: Dusty Turner
A young woman at a girl's school in Switzerland makes up stories about and writes herself letters from an imaginary explorer-adventurer father; and is eventually put in a position where she has to produce him. Interesting things happen as she talks a visiting Englishman into helping her out....
Footsteps in the Dark
Character: Det. 'Hoppy' Hopkins
A high-society gent has a secret life - he writes murder mysteries and hangs out with the police attempting to solve crimes. This causes him no end of problems when his wife wants to know about his little disappearances and exceptionally late nights out....
The Crime Doctor
Character: Fraser
When he finds out that his wife is having an affair, a criminologist commits the perfect murder--and pins the crime on his wife's boyfriend so well that the man is convicted of the murder....
Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye
Character: Byers
Ralph Cotter, a ruthless criminal, escapes violently from a farm prison. Then, he seduces a dead inmate’s sister, gets back quickly into the crime business, faces corrupt local cops who run the city’s underworld and meets a powerful tycoon’s whimsical daughter....
The Inner Circle
Character: Det. Lt. Webb
A fresh-faced young detective gets set up, framed for murder, and alibied by a smart blonde....
Rose Bowl
Character: 'Soapy' Moreland
Paddy O'Riley and Ossie Merrill, Bellport high school football heroes, enroll in distant colleges; Paddy at a small school in the East, where he is barely a substitute, and Ossie at a powerhouse-football school, where he is an instant star and all-American candidate. They leave behind Cheers Reynolds, who is fond of Paddy, who works in her family's drugstore, but she loves Ossie almost as much as he loves himself. Paddy makes friends with team fullback Dutch Schultz, who accompanies him on vacat...
Professor Beware
Character: Snoop Donlan
Egyptologist, Dean Lambert, accused of car-theft, skips bail and begins a cross-country trek to join a group in New York headed for Egypt. With the police close on his trail he gets in and out of scrapes along the way....
Whistling in Brooklyn
Character: Detective Ramsey
Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself....
Double or Nothing
Character: John Pederson
A philanthropist's will dictates that four people receive $5,000 apiece, with the stipulation that the first one who can double the amount -- without dishonesty-- will win a cool million. Hindering the four are the avaricious relatives of the late millionaire....
Something to Sing About
Character: Hank Mayers
James Cagney has a rare chance to show his song-and-dance-man roots in this low-budget tale of a New York bandleader struggling with a Hollywood studio boss....
Roxie Hart
Character: O'Malley
A café in Chicago, 1942. On a rainy night, veteran reporter Homer Howard tells an increasing audience the story of Roxie Hart and the crime she was judged for in 1927....
Crime Doctor's Man Hunt
Character: Police Inspector Harry B. Manning
A criminal psychologist investigates the murder of a veteran with amnesia....
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Character: The 'Duke'
Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River....
Desire
Character: Mr. Gibson
Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses American engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love....
The Virginian
Character: Honey Wiggen
Arriving at Medicine Bow, eastern schoolteacher Molly Woods meets two cowboys, irresponsible Steve and the "Virginian," who gets off on the wrong foot with her. To add to his troubles, the Virginian finds that his old pal Steve is mixed up with black-hatted Trampas and his rustlers...then finds himself at the head of a posse after said rustlers; and Molly hates the violent side of frontier life....
Mother Wore Tights
Character: Mr. Schneider
In this chronicle of a vaudeville family, Myrtle McKinley (class of 1900) goes to San Francisco to attend business school, but ends up in a chorus line. Soon, star Frank Burt notices her talent, hires her for a "two-act", then marries her. Incidents of the marriage and the growing pains of eldest daughter Miriam are followed, interspersed with nostalgic musical numbers....
Moonlight and Pretzels
Character: Mac
A song plugger is stranded in a small town. There he meets a girl who later helps him to put on a show on Broadway....
Rhythm on the River
Character: Mr. Westlake
Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers meet at an inn, they fall in love and then try to sell their songs under their own name. The problem is every song publisher thinks they're copying Courtney's style....
Golden Gloves
Character: Emory Balzar
An amateur boxer's girlfriend inspires him to face a ring pro entered by a gangster....
Strike Me Pink
Character: Mr. Copple
Meek Eddie Pink becomes manager of an amusement park beset by mobsters....
The Dirty Look
Character:
The Dirty Look is a 1954 comedy-short film, directed by Robert Altman, with Leonard Belove and William Frawley. Duration 24 minutes. This 1954 film was used by the Gulf Oil Company as a training film on keeping your Gulf Oil filling station clean....
Alibi Ike
Character: Cap
Idiosyncratic new recruit Francis "Ike" Farrell tries to help the Cubs to the pennant with his pitching and hitting....
The Lady Takes a Sailor
Character: Oliver Harker
Jennifer Smith heads a "Consumer Reports"-type company and her reputation for honesty is her greatest asset. While out boating one day she encounters a secret prototype submarine piloted by Bill Craig. Trying to explain her absence after her boat sinks becomes very difficult as Bill and his cohorts attempt to discredit her story....
Safe at Home!
Character: Bill Turner
A Florida boy (Bryan Russell) tells his Little League buddies that his father knows two New York Yankees (Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris)....
Here Is My Heart
Character: James Smith
A rich and famous singer disguises himself as a waiter in order to be near the woman he loves, a European princess....
Pretty Baby
Character: Corcoran
A young woman living in Manhattan pretends to be the mother of an infant in order to get a seat on the subway....
The Lone Wolf and His Lady
Character: Inspector Crane
A newspaper man, and former jewel thief, is accused of gem theft....
Bolero
Character: Mike DeBaere
The complicated relationship between an ambitious, ruthless nightclub dancer and the woman he loves....
Chicken Every Sunday
Character: George Kirby
A woman takes in boarders to support her husband's harebrained financial schemes....
Blossoms On Broadway
Character: Francis X. Rush
A young singer hopes to become a success on Broadway....
Shoot the Works
Character: Larry Hale
The story of seedy sideshow barker Nicky, who uses everyone he meets to get ahead. Nicky isn't even above exploiting his singing sweetheart Lily to suit his purposes, but this time it is he who ends up the loser -- at least until he gets wise to himself....
Moonlight in Havana
Character: Barney Crane
A talented baseball player discovers he can only sing beautifully when he has a cold, leading a nightclub manager to hilariously attempt to keep him sick while featuring a host of musical performances....
Miss Fane's Baby Is Stolen
Character: Captain Murphy
Miss Madeline Fane is a famous California screen star who has been devoted to her baby son Michael since her husband's death the previous year. One morning she awakens to find Michael has been kidnapped. After a day, she calls in the police, who instantly begin an all-out search....
Sons of the Legion
Character: Uncle Willie Lee
Sons of The Legion is a film about a group of young men looking to start a squadron in their Legion Post. However, because the boy's father wrongfully received a dishonorable discharge after World War I, his father cannot join the Legion and in turn his son cannot join the squadron [wikipedia]...
The Witching Hour
Character: Jury Foreman
Jack Brookfield, a gambler with clairvoyant and hypnotic powers, is able to win at cards through his unique gift. But when he inadvertently hypnotizes young Clay Thorne, Thorne kills an enemy of Brookfield's while under a trance. No one believes Brookfield's protestations that Thorne is innocent of any murderous intent, so Brookfield teams up with retired lawyer Martin Prentice in hopes of saving the young man from the gallows....
Three Married Men
Character: Bill Mullins
Jennie Mullins and her fiancé Peter Cary are happily in love but their families are miserable about their relationship. The Carys and Mullinses have been feuding for years over the apparent failure of the Carys' business which was caused by the now-deceased Mr. Mullins. Despite familial pressure to the contrary, Jennie and Peter proceed with their wedding. Just before the wedding, Peter receives advice from his soon-to-be brothers-in-law, Jeff and Bill Mullins. Both men warn him about the drudge...
College Scandal
Character: Chief of Police Magoun
Julie Fresnel is a co-ed at Redgate University and her father, Dr. Henri Fresnel, is the new French professor. Julie attraction from the make students drops a bit when two of her admirers are found murdered. When an attempt on the life of a third one is made. Seth Dunlap, an instructor at the school, decides to turn detective and find the killer. Assisted by his sister, who is in love with the third student, Dunlap begins to follow the the small trail of clues left by the killer....
Dancing on a Dime
Character: Mac
Director Ted Brooks and comedians Jack Norcross, Dandy Joslyn and Phil Miller are part of a troupe of promising young players rehearsing for a WPA show at the Garrick Theater in New York and are stunned when the government withdraws their funding on the day of the show's dress rehearsal. Destitute, the troupe plans to return home when Mac, the stage doorman, offers to allow four of the men, Phil, Dandy, Jack and Ted, to use the theater for a boardinghouse. After accepting Mac's offer, the men im...
We've Never Been Licked
Character: Traveling Salesman
Young Brad Craig enters the military school with a chip on his shoulder which upperclassmen quickly knock off. Once adjusted, Craig falls in love with a professor's beautiful daughter, only to find she is in love with his roommate....
Car 99
Character: Training Sgt. Barrel
A story of the Michigan State Police and the strong sense of loyalty and duty it instills in its men. It follows the career of a newly-inducted rookie, Ross Martin, who has joined the force at the urging of his sweetheart, Mary Adams. Martin soon distinguishes himself by his bravery in the apprehension of criminals. But when the leader of a gang of bank robbers falls into his hands and then escapes, because of carelessness on Martin's part, he is suspended from the force....
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
Character: Agent
Eddie Tayloe's grandfather leaves him six thousand dollars and the money belt it came in, freeing Tayloe to leave his dull newspaper job in Texas and move to New York to become a playwright. Along the way, his car breaks down and a girl walking along the highway asks for a lift. It turns out she's a nice girl, named Perry, running away from a job at a gasoline station. Soon they're off to New York together, but part ways once they arrive. Time passes and Eddie is failing to sell his play; Perry ...
Hitchhike to Happiness
Character: Sandy Hill
An aspiring playwright gets a job in a New York City restaurant favored by celebrities in hopes of getting a break. Unfortunately, most of them believe that the waiter lacks the talent to make it big. Only an aspiring songwriter, and a former waitress who has become a famous Hollywood radio star, really believe in him. When the ex-waitress drops by the restaurant to say hello, she and the others decide to play a trick on an arrogant producer by making him believe the waiter has written a sure-fi...
Wildcat
Character: Oliver Westbrook
Wildcatter Johnny Maverick and his pal go to a town in oil country offering $25,000 to the person who brings in the first well. They find oil on the outskirts but have to sell a share to a promoter who hires Johnny's old enemy....
F-Man
Character: Detective Rogan
Johnny Dime has aspiration of becoming a "G-Man" , gums up the work of Rogan, an actual government agent is his pursuit of Public Enemy No. 1. Dimes ambitious goal is to improve his "F" rating to a "G". His sweetheart, Evelyn hopes to not get shot in the process....
The Bride Came C.O.D.
Character: Sheriff McGee
A financially-strapped charter pilot hires himself to an oil tycoon to kidnap his madcap daughter and prevent her from marrying a vapid band leader....
My Wild Irish Rose
Character: William Scanlon
Musical biography of Irish 19th century tenor Chauncey Olcott....
Should Husbands Be Watched?
Character: Beat Cop
Mr. Jump has come into some money and informs his wife that they can now hire a maid and won't have to do anymore housework. Circumstances cause Mrs. Jump to suspect that Mr. Jump is cavorting with the new maid....
High, Wide and Handsome
Character: Mac
The setting is a small town in 1870s Pennsylvania. Sally Waterson and her father have stopped in town with their traveling medicine show, but when their wagon catches fire, they find themselves stranded. They're taken in by Mrs. Cortlandt and her grandson, Peter, who is trying to set up a pipeline that will supply oil throughout the state. Sally and Peter soon fall in love and marry. Neither their marriage nor Peter's pipe dreams flow too smoothly....
Cracked Nuts
Character: James Mitchell
A young man in a small town wins $5000 in a radio contest. He goes to New York City to propose to his girlfriend, but gets mixed up with a crooked attorney and two con men......
Down to Earth
Character: Police Lieutenant
Upset at a new Broadway musical mocking The Nine Muses, Greek goddess Terpsichore comes down to earth to land a part in the show and change it....
Those Were the Days!
Character: Prisoner
At a family gathering, an elderly man reflects on the follies of his youth during his freshman year at college....
I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
Character: Jim Mason
A biopic of the career of Joe Howard (12 Feb.,1878 - 19 May, 1961), famous songwriter of the early 20th Century. Howard wrote the title song, Goodbye, My Lady Love; and Hello, My Baby among many others. Mark Stevens was dubbed by Buddy Clark, well known singer of the 30's and 40's...
Grand Jury Secrets
Character: Bright Eyes
A newspaper reporter gets involved with shady stock promoters when he listens in on a jury room session....
The Farmer's Daughter
Character: Scoop Trimble
Broadway producer Nickie North and press agent Scoop Trimble find an investor for their next show who insists that they cast his ex-girlfriend, Clarice Sheldon, in the lead role and rehearse out of town. The crew set up on a family farm, and all is well until the leading man falls for the farmer's daughter, Patience Bingham. When flighty starlet Sheldon finds out he has a new girlfriend, she takes off, leaving North and Trimble to find a new leading lady....
Untamed
Character: Les Woodbury
A courageous doctor braves a fierce blizzard in the Canadian wilderness to save a remote community from a deadly epidemic. He has come North to visit and ends up stealing a wife from her husband. When the epidemic hits, he and the wife begin their arduous journey....
Going My Way
Character: Max Dolan (Publicher)
Youthful Father Chuck O'Malley led a colorful life of sports, song, and romance before joining the Roman Catholic clergy. After being appointed to a run-down New York parish, O'Malley's worldly knowledge helps him connect with a gang of boys looking for direction, eventually winning over the aging, conventional Parish priest....
Rendezvous with Annie
Character: General Trent
A homesick American soldier stationed in England during World War II makes an unauthorized trip to see his wife and returns to England with only two people knowing he was home for a few hours. When she learns that she is pregnant, she does not disclose that her husband had paid her a visit as to not get him into trouble. The townspeople are unanimous in their condemnation of her. But, after his discharge, he enlists the aid of a nightclub singer, the only other person who knew he came home....
It's a Great Life
Character: Lt. McNulty
Desperate for work, Johnny Barclay leaves Ma and Grandpop to join the newly formed Civilian Conversation Corps. On the way he meets cynical young hobo Roscoe "Rockie" Johnson, and, although Rockie believes that hopping freight trains is a great life, Johnny convinces him to join the Corps....
Monsieur Verdoux
Character: Jean La Salle
The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine....
It Happened in Flatbush
Character: Sam Sloan
A washed up baseball player returns to Brooklyn to manage his old team but an old sports reporter is eager to prove that he is a loser....
Harmony Lane
Character: Edwin P. 'Ed' Christy
The life and loves of composer Stephen Foster, from his early success through his decline, degradation, and death from alcoholism....
Stop, Look and Love
Character: Joe Haller
Daughter has trouble holding onto boyfriends because of her critical mother until understanding father comes to her aid....
Ambush
Character: Inspector J.L. Weber
Four bandits swoop down on a California bank and flee with $98,000, leaving a truck as the only clue to their identity. Jane Hartman, bank secretary, recognizes the truck as one on which her brother Charles worked. Fleeing to her brother, she is trapped by the gang, composed of its master-mind, Gibbs, Sidney, a gunman, and Randall, a blackballed airplane pilot. Under threat of bodily harm to her brother, she lures truck-driver Tony Andrews to the hideout, and he is forced to help them in their e...
Persons in Hiding
Character: Alec Inglis
During a stick-up, a woman is excited by the criminal and joins him on his crime spree....
The Quarterback
Character: Coach
A comedy featuring Morris in a dual role as a dumb twin and a star football player, and a smart twin studying to become a college professor. They both are smitten with Kay Merrill as well. Of course, gamblers are also involved....
Six Lessons From Madame La Zonga
Character: Chauncey Beheegan
The brash, opinionated owner of a nightclub manages to drive everybody crazy on a boat trip to Havana....
Give Out, Sisters
Character: Harrison
The Andrews Sisters headline this musical. They play the lead act at a popular nightclub. The trouble begins when they hire a few students from a financially foundering dance school for their newest production. One of the dancers, a rich young socialite, desperately wants to be in it too, but her prurient maiden aunts refuse to allow her to disgrace their family by becoming a common chorine. She and the club owner (who must have the aunt's permission because the girl is underage) try to convince...
Larceny with Music
Character: Mike Simms
A former bootlegger is now the prosperous owner of a popular nightclub. A hustling promoter manages to pass off a young singer as the heir to a fortune and gets her booked at the club....
St. Louis Blues
Character: Major Martingale
A Broadway musical comedy star tires of the same old grind and flees the city. She runs into the skipper of a showboat who befriends her, and they make plans to put together a musical revue. But a competing carnival owner hatches a scheme to put an end to the show before it begins....
East Side, West Side
Character: Bill the Bartender
A vain businessman puts strains on his happy marriage to a rich, beautiful socialite by allowing himself to be seduced by a former girlfriend....
I Love Lucy: The Movie
Character: Fred Mertz
The film plays out, with three first-season episodes edited together into a single story: "The Benefit", "Breaking the Lease", and "The Ballet", with new footage included between episodes to help transition the episodes into one coherent storyline. As the series routinely took the format of filming scenes in chronological order, this adds to the "show within a show within a show" format of the film, as viewers watch the cast perform the episodes live. The film itself ends with a "curtain call", ...
Home in San Antone
Character: O'Fleery
Posing as unemployed musicians, Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys, are being helped by Ted Gibson owner of the Harmony Inn in San Antonio, Texas. Gibson is impoverished because he keeps buying his kleptomaniac Uncle Zeke out of trouble, supports his Ma, and Grandpa. He wants to marry Jean Wallace, and doesn't know that Acuff and his musicians are traveling incognito for the radio show "Who Am I Helping?" If he guesses their identity, he wins $100,000....
Good Sam
Character: Tom
Sam Clayton has a good heart and likes to help out people in need. In fact, he likes to help them out so much that he often finds himself broke and unable to help his own family buy the things they need--like a house....
Lake Placid Serenade
Character: Jiggers
On a peaceful, pre-war winter in Czechoslovakia, the genial godfather, Jaroslav Haschek, of Vera Hascheck, presents the young girl with her first pair of ice skates. Soon, she astonished the warm-hearted people of her village with her skill, and she is acclaimed a marvel-on-ice....
Kill the Umpire
Character: Jimmy O'Brien
Ex-baseball player Bill Johnson, failing at many jobs when his ball-playing days are over, reluctantly takes the advice of his father-in-law, Jonah Evans, a retired umpire, and enters an umpire-training school. Assigned to the Texas League, he does fine until the championship play-offs when a riot develops over one of his calls. The involved player is knocked unconscious in the proceedings and cannot verify that Bill made the correct call. Despite lynch mob plans to at least tar-and-feather him,...
The Lemon Drop Kid
Character: William Dunhill aka The Professor
The Lemon Drop Kid is a fast-talking racetrack bum who swindles $100 from an old, ailing man. He takes it on the lam with his sidekick, The Professor....
The General Died at Dawn
Character: Brighton
China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot....
Sandy Gets Her Man
Character: Police Chief J. A. O'Hara
A young widow lets her baby be the deciding factor as to which eligible bachelor she should marry....
Lucy's Really Lost Moments
Character: Fred Mertz
The legendary Lucille Ball as you've never seen her before! Laugh along with Lucy and Desi in these extremely rare television appearances, beautifully restored! Includes a rare appearance of the I Love Lucy cast on the Bob Hope Show and the lost Lucy pilot. A must-have collection of gems from the first lady of comedy! - The I Love Lucy cast on the Bob Hope Show - Westinghouse special with Lucy and Desi - Segment with Lucy on the game show I've Got a Secret with panelist Johnny Carson - A rare lo...
The Yankee Doodler
Character:
Ancestors of music videos, YANKEE DOODLER, ROSIE THE RIVETER, and DEAR ARABELLA were made during World War II for coin-operated jukebox devices found in restaurants, bars and train stations. On built-in glass screens, they projected 16mm films of artists performing popular tunes. These examples, although not in perfect condition, are time capsules of their era. William Frawley was a vaudevillian and musical comedy performer decades before he played Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy....
Night Work
Character: Bruiser Brown
The Fitch family is managing an apartment building when the grandfather of their adopted son Butch decides the family isn't worthy of raising his grandson....
Ex-Champ
Character: Mushy Harrington
A former prizefighter tries to help his son pay off his gambling debts....
Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
Character: Knobby Walsh
Joe is scheduled for the big fight as usual. This one has more fight sequences than plot....
Ziegfeld Follies
Character: Martin (segment "A Sweepstakes Ticket")
The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld looks down from heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style....
Opened by Mistake
Character: Matt Kingsley
A wise-guy reporter and a tippling sportswriter acquire an unclaimed trunk with a corpse inside....
Hold 'Em Yale
Character: Sunshine Joe
A pretty young socialite falls for a charming but shady hustler, who abandons her when he finds that she has been disowned by her wealthy father. Three of the hustler's partners, who have also been left high and dry by heir former associate, come up with a plan to get her to the annual Yale-Harvard football game to reunite with her former sweetheart, an honest but nerdy bookworm....
I Love Lucy Christmas Special
Character:
Celebrate the holidays with the I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, a new one-hour special featuring two back-to-back colorized classic episodes of the series. In "The Fashion Show," Lucy's lifelong dream of appearing in a motion picture seems to have come true when Ricky arranges for her to play a showgirl in a new musical. Unfortunately, the enormous feathered headdress she is expected to wear as she descends a staircase proves to be too cumbersome. After numerous mishaps on the stairs, the musical...
Ship Cafe
Character: Briney O'Brien
The singing stoker and the vamp....
The Girl from Manhattan
Character: Mr. Bernouti
A small-town girl who's made it big in New York as a fashion model returns home, only to find that her somewhat dotty uncle has mortgaged his boarding house to the hilt. In her efforts to help him keep his boarding house, she becomes involved with a handsome young minister and his superior, an older bishop....