Maurice Black

Maurice Black

Birth : 1891-01-14, Queens, New York, USA

Death : 1938-01-18

History

Maurice Black (January 14, 1891 – January 18, 1938) was an American character actor known for his portrayal of mobsters. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1928 to 1938, when he died of pneumonia, four days after his 47th birthday. He was married to Edythe Raynore. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maurice Black, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Maurice Black

Movies

Walking Down Broadway
Norton
Five closely knit showgirls sign a pact to reunite one year after the closing of their Broadway production, but the lives of all five take many different turns, often for the worse.
The Canary Comes Across
Scarpuss
A prisoner with a good singing voice escapes, only to grow jealous when an opera singer who looks like him is delivered back to the prison and receives attention, especially from Ann, the warden's daughter who leads the prison glee club.
Adventure's End
Blackie
Pacific pearl diver Duke Slade escapes angry natives by joining a whaler whose dying captain persuades him to marry his daughter who is already being wooed by the first mate.
The Game That Kills
Jeff
Ferguson is a rough-and-tumble hockey player who discovers that his chosen profession is nothing more than a racket, a plaything for game-fixing racketeers. When his brother is killed in a highly suspicious accident, Ferguson and team trainer Holland join forces to bring the killers to justice.
The Californian
Pancho
Native son returns from school in Spain to California in 1855 and finds corrupt politicians stealing land from old California families. He becomes a sort of Robin Hood in order to fight them.
Three Legionnaires
Gen. Stavinski's aide
Set in the post-WWI days in the Siberian tank town of Skzavoskanoff, U. S. Army Sergeant Chuck Connors and Private Jiimy Barton are charged with upholding the principles of American Democracy in the face of the exotic charms of Olga, and a dastardly plot by the phony General Stavinski and his treacherous aide. Finally the impostors are exposed.
Under Strange Flags
General Pancho Villa
Not quite a western, not quite a historical drama, Under Strange Flags is a little bit of both, and a lot of former RKO Radio cowboy hero Tom Keene. The star is cast as Tom Kenyon, a roving adventurer in Mexico during the Revolution. Hoping to protect the silver mine owned by heroine Dolores De Vargas (Luana Walters), Tom receives unexpected assistance from none other than rebel leader Pancho Villa (Maurice Black).
Ellis Island
Nails
It opens in 1926 when three bank robbers, Theodore Kedrich, Jan Imarski, and Petra Lonelli, stage a daring daylight bank robbery and get away with a million dollars in cash. They are soon apprehended and sent to prison for ten years but the money is not recovered. Flash forward to 1936 when all three men have been released from prison and are about to be deported back to where they came from via the Deportation department at Ellis Island. They arrive by the ferry boat and already on hand to bid them adieu, and possibly learn where they stashed the missing money, is gang leader Dude and his three henchmen, Nails, Moxie and Bugs, and also Kendrich's niece Betty Parker there to bid old Uncle Ted a fond goodbye. Also on Ellis Island is a crook called Solo, who has an upper hand as he has stolen the credentials of a Treasury Agent named Peter James and has access to the prisoners, and has cut a deal with Kendrichs to get him off of Ellis Island.
Silly Billies
Bandit with Toothache
The boys are a dentist and his assistant traveling to the Old West to open a new practice. Once in town, they buy a business--only to wake up the next day and see that the entire population of this bustling town had left for the California gold fields early that morning! Then, they discover an evil plot to sell out these settlers to some hostile Indians, so they spring to the rescue.
Laughing Irish Eyes
Tony Martin
An Irish crooner flirts with prize-fighting.
Stars Over Broadway
Jim Flugel
An aggressive agent turns a hotel porter into an overnight sensation.
Bonnie Scotland
Khan Mir Jutra
Stan and Ollie stow away to Scotland expecting to inherit the MacLaurel estate. When things don't quite turn out that way, they unwittingly enlist in the Scottish army and are posted to India.
The Daring Young Man
Florist
The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.
The Bride of Frankenstein
Gypsy (uncredited)
Dr. Pretorius, a deranged scientist, forces Henry Frankenstein to help him create a companion for the monster.
West of the Pecos
Shorty Evans
Richard Dix stars as Pecos Smith, a strong, silent Westerner suspected of cattle rustling.
Wake Up and Dream
Tom Romero
The story of a small-time vaudeville trio and their rise to the big time.
Down to Their Last Yacht
Joe Spilatti (uncredited)
Left only with their yacht after going broke in the Great Depression, a high-society family sets sail for the South Seas. Screwball comedy, with songs.
Friends Of Mr. Sweeney
Pierre, the Headwaiter
Asaph (Charles Ruggles) is a meek, mild-mannered homebody who occasionally shows some backbone to his prudish, overbearing boss, only to be beaten down again. With the encouragement of his secretary Beulah (Ann Dvorak), his old college team-mate Wynn (Eugene Pallette) and some liquor, Asaph regains some of his wild-man soul. Watch out world!
Half a Sinner
Mike
A con man poses as a hillbilly preacher.
Sixteen Fathoms Deep
Nick - Henhman / Crewman
A sponge diver hopes to make enough money to buy his own boat and marry his girlfriend. A rival diver, however, has other plans for him.
Murder on the Campus
Blackie Atwater
A popular young student finds herself accused of a series of murders that have occurred on the college campus. Her boyfriend, a reporter for the local newspaper, knows she didn't do it, and and sets out to prove her innocence and catch the real killer.
Flying Down to Rio
Greek #2
A dance band leader finds love and success in Brazil.
Twin Husbands
Feets
The film begins with a guy waking up from a bump on the head. The people around him try in vain to convince him that five years have passed and that he's a rich guy. However, none of this makes sense to the character played by Miljan AND none of it makes any sense to the audience...none. After this plot is quickly abandoned, the film begins to get better. It seems that a wife and her business partner are trying to use Miljan as a double for her estranged and missing husband.
Night Flight
Nightclub Manager (uncredited)
Story of South American mail pilots, and the dangers they face flying at night.
Ship of Wanted Men
George Spinoli
A shipful of fugitives from justice pulls up on a Pacific Island where there are no extradition laws. The island is a magnet for the scum of the earth, as well as a few honest guys who were framed. Into this den of iniquity swims socialite Dorothy Sebastian, who jumped off a yacht after apparently murdering her lecherous host. To remain on the Island, Sebastian is told that she must pay $5,000 to head honcho Fred Kohler -- and if she hasn't got the money, it is implied, there are other methods of collection.
Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles
Henchman
When the fiendish Sinclair Sable arranges the kidnapping of the beautiful Benecia Beamish, only the members of the Beer and Bicycle Club can save her.
I Cover the Waterfront
Ortegus
An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.
The Keyhole
Cuban Jewelry Salesman (uncredited)
A private eye specializing in divorce cases falls for the woman he's been hired to frame.
Blondie Johnson
Tony (uncredited)
A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
The Face on the Barroom Floor
Cesar Vanzetti
Bill Bronson is a likable young bank clerk, whose congenital thirst for liquor is kept under control until he joins his wife Mary at getting blotto at a company party. From there it is a downward spiral.
The King Murder
Philip Scott
A beautiful blonde makes a career out of seducing and then blackmailing wealthy married men. She is found murdered after demanding a $5000 payoff from her latest victim, and the detective investigating the case finds out that she was involved in a lot more than just blackmail.
Tiger Shark
Jean Fernandez, a Shipwrecked Crewman (uncredited)
A Portuguese tuna fisherman catches his bride with his first mate.
While Paris Sleeps
Roca
To save his daughter Manon from falling into the hands of a vicious gang of pimps, convict Jacques Costard escapes from jail. Jacques' problems are twofold: he must keep Manon from being abducted into a life of prostitution, and he must also hide his true identity from the girl, who has been raised to believe that Jacques died a hero in WWI.
Scarface
Jim - Headwaiter (uncredited)
In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio "Tony" Camonte, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.
Steady Company
Blix
Truck driver Norman Foster has aspirations to become a prize fighter, but romantic interest June Clyde finds the idea deplorable. Henry Armetta and ZaSu Pitts supply the laughs.
Dancers in the Dark
Max
A bandleader tries to romance a dancer by sending her boyfriend, a musician, out of town. However, things get complicated when he finds out that a gangster has designs on her too.
Julius Sizzer
Tony
After the success of "Little Caesar," "Public Enemy" and "Scarface," here is the inevitable parody, in which Liddle Sizzer engages in a vicious Chicago gang war. He's aided by his innocent twin brother, Julius, a greenhorn from the Old Country. Both are played by Benny Rubin.
Stout Hearts and Willing Hands
Stout Hearts and Willing Hands is a 1931 short comedy film directed by Bryan Foy. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1932 for Best Short Subject (Comedy), but was disqualified.
Smart Money
Greek Barber
Two brothers' trip to the big city to do a little gambling results in a fateful turn of events.
Let's Do Things
Nightclub Manager (uncredited)
Zasu & Thelma go out with two idiots to a nightclub.
The Front Page
Diamond Louie
Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter is looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.
Lonely Wives
Taxi Driver
A highly respectable lawyer becomes a sexual animal after working hours. Live-in mother-in-law tries to keep him in line.
Little Caesar
Little Arnie Lorch
A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?
No Limit
Happy
Theater usherette Bunny O'Day (Clara Bow) inadvertently becomes hostess of a private gambling den, and gets involved in a romance with a ne'er-do-well gambler.
Renegades
Cafe Manager (uncredited)
Four one-for-all and all-for-one privates in the French Foreign Legion are all in jail for disorderly conduct, but they break out and rejoin their regiment and fight off a band of marauding Arabs, and are soon in Casablanca getting decorated by the French Minister of War. Deucalion spots Eleanor, a spy who had done him dirt and after tangling with the local gendarmes, they take her and head back for Morocco where they are charged with desertion, and have to go out and defeat some more marauding natives, and dodge the machine-gun fire directed at them by the highly-displeased Eleanor, and one thing just follows another.
The Sea God
Rudy
The Sea God is an early sound melodrama about two men vying for Fay Wray and wealth in the South Pacific.
Abraham Lincoln
Conspirator (uncredited)
A biopic dramatizing Abraham Lincoln's life through a series of vignettes depicting its defining chapters: his romance with Ann Rutledge; his early years as a country lawyer; his marriage to Mary Todd; his debates with Stephen A. Douglas; the election of 1860; his presidency during the Civil War; and his assassination in Ford’s Theater in 1865.
Live and Learn
Mr. Brown
A jealous husband endeavors to reach his wife who is quarantined in an apartment with her former spouse.
Numbered Men
Lou Rinaldo
Prison drama from 1930. Mary Dane and falsely imprisoned Bud Leonard love each other, but Lou Rinaldo, who framed Bud to get Mary, and escape-minded King Callahan, set events in motion to prove that love and justice will prevail.
The Runaway Bride
'Red' Dugan
Mary Gray elopes to Atlantic City, NJ, but begins having second thoughts about the marriage. Then she becomes inexplicably locked in her hotel room, and a series of cops, robbers and kidnappers passes through. Desperate, Mary trusts the shifty chambermaid Clara who whisks her away to the mansion of wealthy George Blaine. There, Mary must pretend to be a lowly cook, but that seems better than sticking with the guy she was engaged to.
Show Girl in Hollywood
Actor in Scene
Broadway actress leaves New York to become a star in Hollywood, and succeeds despite sleazy directors and her own ego.
Framed
Bing Murdock
Rose Manning swears revenge for the unjust slaying of her father by Inspector McArthur. Five years later, as a nightclub hostess, she is sought by Chuck Gaines, secretly a bootlegger, but she centers her attentions on young Jimmy Carter, who, she learns, is the son of McArthur.
Street of Chance
Nick
'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 Francis), wants to divorce him because of his addiction and lifestyle, but they agree on a reconciliation and second honeymoon together and 'Natural' promises to give up gambling. However, his plans change when his brother, 'Babe' (Regis Toomey), arrives in town looking to score big, and 'Natural' has to devise a plan quickly to put him off gambling forever.
Playing Around
Joe
New York girl has a dull boyfriend and seems destined for a dull marriage when she meets a rich playboy who has money to burn and places to go.
Dark Streets
Beefy Barker
Pat and Danny McGlone are identical twin brothers, rivals and competitors in everything they do, and Pat grows up and becomes a policeman while Danny turns to a life of crime. They now find themselves on the opposite sides of the law, and both are in love with a pretty Irish girl from their neighborhood, Kate Dean. Before long one has to prove that blood is thicker than water.
Broadway Babies
Nick Stepanos
Dee is a naive chorus girl living in a boarding house full of low-paid actors. Dee and Billy are in love and he helps her to move from chorus girl to star. Things run afoul when jealousy, misunderstandings and sleazy men enter the picture.
Leaping Love
Nate/Club Manager
Charley falls for both a mother and her daughter.
The Carnation Kid
Tony
It's a case of mistaken identity in this comedy that centers around a country bumpkin mistaken for a Chicago hitman.
Marked Money
Donovan
Marked Money stars Junior Coghlan as the orphaned son of a seafaring man. His late father has left instructions that The Boy is to be delivered to the home of Captain Fairchild (Bert Woodruff) the father's old sailing master, along with $25,000 in cash to finance the boy's education. The villains aren't interested at all in The Boy, but they do dearly covet the 25 grand he carries with him in a box. (From the Rotten Tomatoes page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/marked_money/)
Show Folks
Vaudeville Performer
Eddie Kehoe is a young vaudeville hoofer who thinks his inability to hit the big time is the fault of stage managers, agents, musicians...everybody but himself. Eddie likes to tell others how good he is, but seldom shows them. Kitty Mayo, an old-time burlesque queen, who is with the McNary Vaudeville Company, advises Eddie to get himself a partner, as his solo abilities can only be stretched so far. He decides to follow her advice and, while in a theatrical supply shop, he sees Rita Carey rehearsing her dancing act that includes a trained duck. Eddie tells Rita he is a good friend of McNary's, and, with him as her partner, her future in show business will be secured. She agrees to join him and Eddie promptly names the act "Eddie Kehoe and Partner". Despite his conceit, Rita likes Eddie, as do others in the troupe, including Cleo a little gold-digger.
Captain Swagger
Manager, Viennese Club
Hugh Drummond goes broke living too high and turns to crime in order to pay his bills.