Wayne Morris
Birth : 1914-02-17, Los Angeles, California, USA
Death : 1959-09-14
History
Wayne Morris (February 17, 1914 – September 14, 1959), born Bert DeWayne Morris in Los Angeles, was an American film and television actor, as well as a decorated World War II fighter ace. He appeared in many notable films, including Paths of Glory (1957), The Bushwackers (1952) and the title role of Kid Galahad in 1937. While filming Flight Angels (1940), Morris became interested in flying and became a pilot. With war in the wind, he joined the Naval Reserve and became a Navy flier in 1942, leaving his film career behind for the duration of the war. Flying the F6F Hellcat off the aircraft carrier USS Essex, Morris shot down seven Japanese planes and contributed to the sinking of five ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. Morris was considered by the Navy as physically 'too big' to fly fighters. After being turned down several times as a fighter pilot, he went to his brother in law, Cdr. David McCampbell, imploring him for the chance to fly fighters. Cdr. McCampbell said "Give me a letter." He flew with the VF-15, the famed "McCampbell Heroes." He married Patricia O'Rourke, an Olympic swimmer, and sister to B-movie actress Peggy Stewart. Following the war, Morris returned to films, but his nearly four-year absence had cost him his burgeoning stardom. He continued to act in movies, but the pictures, for the most part, sank in quality. Losing his boyish looks but not demeanor, Morris spent most of the fifties in low-budget westerns. He made an unusual career move in 1957, making his Broadway debut as a washed-up boxing champ in William Saroyan's The Cave Dwellers. He also appeared as a weakling in Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957). Morris suffered a massive heart attack while visiting aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard in San Francisco Bay and was pronounced dead after being transported to Oakland Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. He was 45. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Wayne Morris (American actor), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Self
A collection of behind the scenes and home movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
Roche
In this western, the Indians claim that their government rations are being stolen and they threaten to fight back. A pair of agents look into it and bring the culprits to justice.
Commando Munson
A spectacular heist starts to unravel as the crooks take it on the lam.
Lt. Roget/Singing man
A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.
Mike Conlin
An American detective unmasks a gambler as the head of a banknote counterfeiting gang.
Jimmy Baxter
A tense thriller that tears the lid off Soho's underworld and reveals the cunning organization behind a gang of safe-breakers who will stop at nothing, not even murder, to achieve their goals.
Tex Parker
Charter-boat owner "Tex" Parker is framed on a murder rap by a gang of jewel-and-American currency smugglers operating from the coasts of England and France, with a mid-channel rendezvous. The smugglers use him, his boat and partner, "Soapy", to carry their goods back and forth across the English. During one of the trips, "Tex" is thrown overboard, but is picked up by a French fishing boat and the fisherman take him back to their village, Porte Soliare, where he meets Jacqueline. People who appear to be quite dead early on turn out to be not dead later on, and money and swag and goods keep changing hands with such regularity that, at one point, one guy is searching for something he already has (and doesn't know it), while another guy isn't searching for it because he thinks he has it...but doesn't.
Major Thomas Brent
Following WW II, a U.S. army officer stationed in West Germany is assigned with keeping classified information away from the Communists. Unfortunately, Red spies know that he suffers from sudden black-outs and use this to hypnotise him, and make it appear that he is a traitor.
Dandy Dayton
Back from the Indian wars, a cowboy wages a single-handed war against a land baron and his henchmen. After his shooting hand is disabled, he masters the bow and arrow to take on the gang one arrow at a time!
Jeff Wood
The jungle boy tries to stop a herd of rogue elephants.
Stanley Povich
The new warden of a large American harbor raises the hackles of sailors and fishermen by his strict enforcement of all the safety rules. He takes the time, though, to romance the sister of his biggest rival.
Gary Holden
Yankee charter pilot Morris inadvertently finds himself in the midst of thieves who have purloined a costly antique jade figure from an exhibit. He tracks the thieves to Battersea, where he rescues the fair Germaine from their unsavory clutches, and the Buddha boosters gain only jaded justice.
Deputy Jim Blake
In the last of his four western programmers for Allied Artists, Wayne Morris plays frontiersman Jim Bisby. Mistaken for a notorious gunslinger, Jim is appointed deputy sheriff of a wide-open cattle town. Playing along, our hero gets down to business -- and by the time his true identity is revealed, it hardly matters, since most of the bad guys are pushing up daisies on boot hill. Beverly Garland turns in another exceptional performance as the heroine, while Morris Ankrum, Roy Barcroft and I. Stanford Jolley fulfill their usual responsibilities. Two Guns and a Badge is of historical interest as the very last "B"-grade "series" western ever produced in Hollywood.
Sam Garrett
"Only a fool sticks his neck out for somebody else. Don't get in the habit of it." Outlaw gunslinger Sam Garrett offers that sage wisdom to fellow fugitive Tom Cameron, who's on the run from the "Bluebellies," Texas State Police officers who wield a brutal iron fist of enforcement in the early 1870s. But quick-draw, hard-bitten Garrett soon decides not to take his own advice after young Cameron heads home to surrender - and instead gets framed for a revenge murder by a jealous rival for the affections of his girl.
Deputy Sheriff Tub Murphy
When a stagecoach guard tries to warn a town of an imminent raid by a band of outlaws, the people mistake him for one of the gang
Walt
Wayne Morris' B-western series was the last of its kind to be produced in Hollywood. Texas Bad Man casts Morris as a sheriff who happens to be the son of inveterate thief Frank Ferguson. Knowing full well that Ferguson's gang intends to steal a shipment of gold, Morris must stay up nights trying to second-guess his crafty dad. While there's no shortage of action, the resolution to the story relies more on brawn than brain. Western "regulars" Sheb Wooley, Myron Healey and Denver Pyle do their usual in secondary roles, as does Elaine Riley as the requisite (but hardly crucial) heroine.
Deputy Marshal Jim Burke
A US Marshal hunts down three bank robbers that are living under new identities.
Deputy Marshal Mike Martin
Mike Martin becomes a deputy marshal and takes on a gang of cattle rustlers.
Texas Ranger Ed Ryan / Robert Larkin
Ed Ryan is a Texas ranger who goes undercover to trap a criminal gang headed by Luke Andrews. Posing as the wanted killer Robert Larkin, Ed is able to move freely amongst the town riffraff. Marshal Bullock learns that the brains behind the gang of Luke Andrews is a group of supposed respectable businessmen.
Mike Wien
Mike Wein, an Alaskan bush pilot operating the the Bering Sea area, makes friends with John W. Wetherby, posing as a wealth United States businessman. But, in reality, he is a Russian spy on his way to Siberia carrying microfilms of the United States' defense installations. (imdb)
Ford Smith
In 1852, two friends left the Nevada prospector region to relocate from en route he meets the beautiful Marie who decides to make a trek with two friends, but on the way he is attacked by three Arabs who installs camels, take these Arab adventurers to the Indians.
Marshal John Harding
Confederate veteran Jeff Waring arrives in Independence, Missouri shortly after the Civil War, intending never again to use a gun. He finds that rancher Artemus Taylor and his henchmen are forcing out the settlers in order to claim their land for the incoming railroad.
Mike Donovan
WWII veteran Mike Donovan decides to sell his fishing boat after suffering a a series of accidents, the worst of which sends his father, Captain John Donovan, to the hospital suffering from amnesia. His decision is opposed by hie sweetheart, Nina Torres, and his loyal crew, but supported by his father's nurse, Jean Elliott, who also has romantic designs on Mike.
Kenny Blake
Hoping to strike it rich, four people--two best buddies, a blonde waitress and a cheerful oldtimer--pool their resources so they can drill for oil. A Columbia Pictures B-film from 1951.
Johnny Yorke
When young Johnny York witnesses the murder of his father, he joins a travelling variety troupe and trains up as a sharpshooter so he might one day get his revenge.
Barney Broderick
A group of outlaws posing as Southern sympathizers and led secretly by freight-line owner Jim Maroon are raiding stagecoaches, and this is a threat to the Union communications. Grif Holbrook, a trouble-shooter for the Butterfield Stage Line, and Union man Barney Broderick team up to try and put a stop to the activity, when they aren't fighting over the charms of Kate Crocker.
Bill Shaw
Set in a rugged Northwest logging camp, this drama follows the exploits of the lumberjack who inherits the camp. For a long time, he has been courting a pretty young thing, and now that she believes him wealthy, she decides to finally accept his proposal. When she finds out that the company has many financial woes and that living in the woods takes guts and courage, she turns into a nagging shrew, constantly urging him to sell-out to a major corporation. Meanwhile his treacherous foreman, an agent of the bigger company, uses sabotage to change the stubborn camp owner's mind.
Dane Cory
Johnny One-Eye was adapted from one of Damon Runyon's lesser-known stories. Martin Martin and Dane Cory were former partners in crime who have long since split up. When a new district attorney puts the heat on, Cory, anxious to save his own hide, accuses Martin of an unsolved murder. Holed up in abandoned house, Martin is befriended by a little girl and her dog. It so happens that the girl is the daughter of the crusading DA, and thereby hangs the rest of this tale.
Dave Joslin
Dave Joslin, the managing editor of a big-city newspaper, is demoted and moved to the Miss Lonely Hearts column-writing department by the newspaper's publisher, J. B. Grennell, because Joslin refuses to desist in printing stories linking a gangster, Matthew Keever, to a murder. But Joslin, aided by Kit Williams, a newspaper woman with whom he is in love, investigate the murder case on their own time.
McKinney
After learning the finer points of carrier aviation in the 1920s, career officer Jonathan Scott and his pals spend the next two decades promoting the superiority of naval air power. But military and political "red tape" continually frustrate their efforts, prompting Scott to even consider leaving the Navy for a more lucrative civilian job. Then the world enters a second World War and Scott finally gets the opportunity to prove to Washington the valuable role aircraft carriers could play in winning the conflict. But what will it cost him and his comrades personally?
Cole Younger
Brothers who rode with a notorious outlaw gang led by Frank and Jesse James decide to go straight and try to get pardons so they can return to a law-abiding life.
Bruce Arnold
Eric Phillips's manager buys him a building with tenants, one of whom catches his eye.
Lt. Victor O'Leary
After four long years apart, there are so many things returning World War II soldier John Lawrence wants to tell his sweetheart, Mary McKinley. That he loves her. That he's missed her. And that he's married.
Self
The Warner Bros. annual blooper reel for 1949.
Tom
Joe spends a lot of his time at Nick's Pacific Street Saloon. Tom, who credits Joe with once saving his life, stops by regularly to run errands for Joe. Today, Tom notices a woman named Kitty when she comes into Nick's, and he quickly falls in love with her. Meanwhile, a distraught young man repeatedly calls his girlfriend, begging her to marry him. Nick himself muses on all the various persons who come into his bar, some to ask for work and others just to pass the time.
Chris Thorgenson
Gangsters frame a boxer for murder when he refuses to throw a fight.
Comm. Ned Burling
An aspiring Broadway actress falls in love with a soldier on leave during a weekend in New York City.
Jeff Barker
A shy California farm girl falls head-over-heels in love with Barry Burnett, a fugitive from a chain gang building a road through the wilderness.
Himself (uncredited)
Aspiring actor Joe McDoakes blows his first part at Warner Bros. and has to settle for being a stand-in.
Self
Warner Brothers bloopers of 1947
Alexander "Lucky" Downing
Elinor Bentley Fairchild's previous three grooms-to-be have either died or been maimed. Her aunt hires Lucky Downing to become engaged to her for a month to break the curse. But Lucky becomes a target of what appears to be the ghost of one of the former fiances.
Charley Patterson
Three reckless brothers dodge the draft then sign up and become men.
Bob Younger
The Younger brothers return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.
Tom Cassidy
Told in flashback, this drama follows the training and personal lives of three recruits in the Army Air Corps: a wealthy playboy, a college jock, and an auto mechanic. Love interest is supplied by a female photographer and a sultry blonde.
Jimmy Jones and Billy Jones
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.
Corey Lake
A small town farmer, who happens to be very wealthy, meets and falls for an actress, but his friends warn him she's only interested in his money.
Jim Carter
A reporter enlists the help of a gangster's secretary to obtain evidence to bring her boss to justice.
Artie Dixon
Federal Airlines ace pilot Chick Faber is grounded by Flight Superintendent Bill Graves when a doctor says his eyesight is failing. Aided by Mary Norvell and Nan Hudson, Graves persuades Chick to take a job as teacher in the school for airline hostesses, and Chick and Mary get married. He learns that the Army is going to test a stratosphere plane that he and Artie Dixon designed and feels that he should make the first flight but permission is refused.
Mac McClure
A pair of slick Broadway producers con a wealthy cowboy into backing their show.
Stephen Wayne
A man's ex-wife is found murdered, and he finds himself to be the prime suspect.
Billy Randolph
Three comrades graduate from Viriginia Military Institute. Bing has a chance to return to VMI as a football coach.
Walter Wichita Garrett
When news reporter Walter Garrett arrives at the hotel room of bombshell actress Angela Merrova to conduct an interview, he finds her dead from multiple stab wounds. He returns with the police to find the hotel empty and the body vanished. Garrett writes about the incident but is fired when Merrova, alive and well, goes to the paper to complain. Now his only chance to get his job back is to find the truth, which involves the grisly scheme of a madman.
Homer Baston
Gruff boxing manager "Square Shooting Murph" Murphy manages a naive boxer from Indiana, Homer Baston.Homer is willing to give up his boxing career searching for his parents, so Murphy hires two jailbirds to play his long lost parents to keep him in the ring.
Billy Randolph
Story of three buddies at the Virginia Military Institute. Cadet Bing Edwards is secretly married and soon to be a father.
Bill Cardigan
A lumberman takes on a sleezy corporate giant wanting to move in and do whatever it takes to drive everyone else out of business.
Jimmy Hall
Linda works at an advertising agency, but, unlike the other women in the secretarial pool, she hopes to succeed in the business rather than just find a husband. She rises through the ranks, becoming a copywriter, and attracts the attention of Jimmy, an amorous coworker who wants to marry her. But Jimmy is jealous of Linda's career and of Harry, a radio executive who works with Linda, and their marriage gets off to a very rough start.
Wayne Morris
When the ballerina star of a musical feature walks off in a huff, aided by the fit-throwing director, her understudy steps in and a star is born.
Ted Painter
Comedy about a weak husband, afraid to say "no" to his new wife, who realizes he must assert himself to save his marriage.
Rush Conway
A ring veteran turns a Texas tenderfoot into a winning fighter.
"Sock" McGillis
Butch Rogers and Sock McGillis are old submarine hands stationed in Panama. On land, Butch and Sock battle over pretty Ann Sawyer. At sea and underwater, however, our two heroes are inseparable.
Ward 'Kid Galahad' Guisenberry
Fight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.
Dave Seymour
A wild cowboy changes course and becomes a sheriff after his father is murdered.
Dallas
Set in the springtime of 1863 in Chancellorsville, Virginia during the War Between the States, this colorful short profiles the heroic Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson the night before he would meet his fate in battle.
Sailor on Nirvana
Dr. Frank Brace (Joe King) is an important doctor with son Jerry (Gordon Oliver) as well as foster son Steven (Donald Woods). The sons are both interns at Frank's hospital. Steven is the better doctor who takes blame for Jerry's mistakes.Steven has his license revoked when he is blamed for two deaths. Steven goes through years of hell trying to redeem himself.
Railroad Information Clerk (uncredited)
Ambitious reporter Torchy Blane guides her policeman boyfriend to correctly pinpoint who shot the man she was interviewing.
Bill "Jumbo" Mullins
Gamblers try to pressure a star hockey player into throwing a game.
Spectator (uncredited)
A young man allergic to horses decides he has to learn to play polo in order to impress the girl he loves. Comedy.
Bill
A radio commentator avenges an old wrong by blowing the whistle on Hollywood scandals
Self
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 West Side Tennis Club affords glimpses of many stars.
Navigator on Clipper
An aviator ignores skeptics to make the first commercial flight from San Francisco to China.
