William Demarest

William Demarest

Birth : 1892-02-27, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Death : 1983-12-28

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known for playing Uncle Charley in My Three Sons. A veteran of World War I, Demarest became a prolific film and television actor, appearing in over 140 films, beginning in 1926 and ending in the 1970s. He frequently played crusty but good-hearted roles. Demarest started in show business working in vaudeville, appearing with his wife Estelle Collette (real name Esther Zychlin) as "Demarest and Colette", then moved on to Broadway. Demarest worked regularly with director Preston Sturges, becoming part of a "stock" troupe of actors that Sturges repeatedly cast in his films. He appeared in ten films written by Sturges, eight of which were under his direction, including The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels and The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Demarest was such a familiar figure at the Paramount studio that just his name was used in the movie Sunset Boulevard as a potential star for William Holden's unsold baseball screenplay. Demarest appeared with veteran western film star Roscoe Ates in the 1958 episode "And the Desert Shall Blossom" of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In the story line, Ates and Demarest appear as old timers living in the Nevada desert. The local sheriff, played by Ben Johnson, appears with an eviction notice, but he agrees to let the pair stay on their property if they can make a dead rosebush bloom within the next month. In 1959 Demarest was named the lead actor of the 18-week sitcom Love and Marriage on NBC in the 1959–1960 season. Demarest played William Harris, the owner of a failing music company who refuses to handle popular rock and roll music, which presumably might save the firm from bankruptcy. Joining Demarest on the series were Jeanne Bal, Murray Hamilton and Stubby Kaye. Demarest appeared as Police Chief Aloysius of the Santa Rosita Police Department in the film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), as well as on a memorable episode ("What's in the Box") of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone as a hen-pecked husband driven to the murder of his wife. His most famous television role was in the ABC and then CBS sitcom My Three Sons from 1965 to 1972, playing Uncle Charley O'Casey. He replaced William Frawley, whose failing health had made procuring insurance impossible. Demarest had worked with Fred MacMurray previously in the films Hands Across the Table (1935), Pardon My Past (1945), On Our Merry Way (1948), and The Far Horizons (1955) and was a personal friend of MacMurray. Also, he worked with Irene Dunne in Never a Dull Moment (1950).

Profile

William Demarest

Movies

Miss
A narrative feature made from a collage of clips from various films around the world.
The Millionaire
Oscar Pugh
Three people's lives are drastically changed when they are suddenly given one million dollars each by an eccentric billionaire in this pilot to a prospective new series which the producers hoped would equal the success of the original one that ran from 1955 to 1960.
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Studio Gatekeeper
A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.
The Wild McCullochs
Father Gurkin
A story about the rich McCulloch Family, their overbearing father and the children's misguided blaming him for everything that doesn't go right.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Mr. Harris
A young couple inherits an old mansion inhabited by small demon-like creatures who are determined to make the wife one of their own.
That Darn Cat!
Mr. MacDougall
A young woman suspects foul play when her cat comes home wearing a wristwatch. Convincing the FBI, though, and catching the bad guys is tougher than she imagined.
Viva Las Vegas
Mr. Martin
Lucky Jackson arrives in town with his car literally in tow ready for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix - once he has the money to buy an engine. He gets the cash easily enough but mislays it when the pretty swimming pool manageress takes his mind off things. It seems he will lose both race and girl, problems made more difficult by rivalry from Elmo Mancini, fellow racer and womaniser.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Police Chief Aloysius
A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is the madcap adventures of those strangers as each attempts to claim the prize for himself.
Son of Flubber
Mr. Hummel
Beleaguered professor Ned Brainard has already run into a pile of misfortunes with his discovery of the super-elastic substance "Flubber." Now he hopes to have better luck with a gravity-busting derivative he's dubbed "Flubbergas." Ned's experiments, constantly hampered by government obstruction, earn the consternation of his wife, Betsy. But a game-winning modification to a football uniform may help Ned make the case for his fantastic new invention.
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
Jeb
Feature-length Western based on the hit TV show 'Tales of Wells Fargo,' about a Wells Fargo Company troubleshooter who becomes the target of an outlaw he helped send to prison.
Twenty Plus Two
Desmond Slocum
A famous movie star's fan club secretary has been brutally murdered. She has in her office old newspaper clippings regarding a missing heiress. Did the secretary know something about the mystery of the heiress?
King of the Roaring 20's – The Story of Arnold Rothstein
Henry Hecht
Gambler Arnold Rothstein marries an actress, avenges his buddy and meets an underworld fate.
Pepe
Movie Studio Gateman
Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno is a hired hand, Pepe, employed on a ranch. A boozing Hollywood director buys a white stallion that belongs to Pepe's boss. Pepe, determined to get the horse back (as he considers it his family), decides to take off to Hollywood. There he meets film stars including Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa Gabór, Bing Crosby, Maurice Chevalier and Jack Lemmon in drag as Daphne from Some Like It Hot. He is also surprised by things that were new in America at the time, such as automatic swinging doors. When he finally reaches the man who bought the horse, he is led to believe there is no hope of getting it back. However, the last scene shows both him and the stallion back at the ranch with several foals.
The Mountain
Father Belacchi
Selfish Chris Teller pressures his older brother, a retired climber, to accompany him on a treacherous Alpine climb to loot the bodies of plane crash victims.
The Rawhide Years
Brand Comfort
Ben Matthews gives up the flashy life of a riverboat gambler, hoping to settle down in Galena with his girlfriend, luscious entertainer Zoe. But Galena's leading citizen is murdered on the boat; Ben, on arrival, finds a lynch mob after his neck, and flees. Three years of wandering later, Zoe's letters stop coming and Ben returns to find her and attempt the hopeless task of clearing himself.
Hell on Frisco Bay
Dan Bianco
A cop framed for a murder he did not commit hunts the San Francisco waterfront for the Mob racketeers who are responsible.
Sincerely Yours
Sam Dunne
He dazzled America for decades with his musical artistry. Now fans as well as those curious about this exciting entertainer’s unique appeal can relive the Liberace magic in his only starring film, Sincerely Yours. In a poignant story scripted by Irving Wallace, Liberace plays a concert pianist threatened by deafness. Plunged into despair, he finds escape from personal sorrow by secretly involving himself in the problems of strangers. Liberace touches the heart and delights the ear with sparkling renditions of 31 selections from Chopin to Chopsticks. Along the way he romances Joanne Dru and Dorothy Malone, trades barbs with old pro William Demarest and in a warmly humorous nightclub scene, pokes fun at his own image as the 1950s matinee idol of the little-old-lady set. From beginning to end, Sincerely Yours perfectly captures the charisma and sheer musicality of the legendary Mr. Showmanship.
Lucy Gallant
Charles Madden
Director Robert Parrish's 1955 drama, spanning many years, stars Jane Wyman as a spirited western shopkeeper who watches as her small store flourishes and grows into a hugely profitable business empire. The cast also includes Charlton Heston, Claire Trevor, Thelma Ritter, William Demarest and Wallace Ford.
The Private War of Major Benson
John
A Major noted for advancing with his mouth before thinking is given a choice: to be drummed out of the Army, or take command of and shape up the ROTC program at Sheridan Academy before it fails its next inspection. At Sheridan he encounters three hundred pre-teen cadets who range from rascally to adorable, and a female doctor who has just the right prescription for him.
The Far Horizons
Sgt. Gass
Virginia, 1803. After the United States of America acquires the inmense Louisiana territory from France, a great expedition, led by William Lewis and Meriwether Clark, is sent to survey the new lands and go where no white man has gone before.
Jupiter's Darling
Mago
Rome is on the verge of being conquered by Hannibal. While Rome's ruler, Fabius Maximus, plots a defense against Hannibal's armies, Fabius' fiancée, Amytis, is curious about the fearless conqueror. Amytis travels to Hannibal's camp just to get a look at him, but she ends up being captured. However, she is instantly smitten by the Carthaginian commander, so she tries to shift his attentions away from Rome -- and to her instead.
The Yellow Mountain
Jackpot Wray
A formula brawling-buddies western where one goes bad and then returns to the fold. Pete Menlo owns some gold claims in Nevada where he is joined by his old friend Andy Martin. Crooked mine-owner Bannon wants to merge their interests so they can create a monopoly but is turned down. Pete is interested in "Nevada" Wray, daughter of mine-owner "Jackpot" Wray, but she has eyes only for Andy. The rejected Pete joins forces with Bannon and they learn that, because of location, "Jackpot" Wray may be the owner of all the gold in the respective veins. Bannon and his men try to get rid of Andy.
Escape from Fort Bravo
Campbell
A Southern belle frees a Rebel officer and his men from a Union captain's Arizona fort.
Here Come the Girls
Dennis Logan
Bob Hope stars as an inept member of the chorus boy in a turn of the century stage show. After being fired, he finds himself starring acting as a decoy when a killer goes after the real star.
Dangerous When Wet
Pa Higgins
The health conscious, dairy-farming Higgins family begin each day with an invigorating swim. One day, traveling health-tonic salesman, Windy Weebe, comes to town and suggests they could swim the English Channel. Sponsored by "Liquapep" and coached by Windy, the family arrive in Europe. There it is decided that daughter Katie is the only one strong enough to enter the contest. But while she should be focused on the difficult and risky task ahead, Katie is pursed by dashing Frenchman, André Lanet... This comedic musical is well remembered for the scene when Katie dreams she is swimming with cartoon characters Tom & Jerry!
The Lady Wants Mink
Harvey Jones
A woman raises mink to get the coat she's always wanted.
The Blazing Forest
Syd Jessup
Estranged brothers (John Payne, Richard Arlen) find themselves on the same lumberjack crew hired by a feisty widow to clear the timber from her Nevada property.
What Price Glory
Corporal Kiper
Two military men, Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt, who are rivals to begin with, grow more at odds with each other when Quirt is made Flagg's top sergeant. And when a local beauty comes between them, their rivalry escalates even further. But when they discover that the woman has marriage in mind, they now compete to try to avoid marching down the aisle - that is, until they are called upon to march into battle.
Behave Yourself!
O'Ryan
A young man takes in a dog that turns out to be wanted by mobsters.
The Strip
Fluff
Drummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of murder.
Excuse My Dust
Harvey Bullitt
Joe, inventor in an American Small town of 1895 has problems with his new invention, a car, driven with a gasoline motor. Everybody is making fun about his "crazy invention", only his girl friend believes in him. When he's halfway successful, another woman tries to win his heart, and his girl-friend thinks he has quit with her. But on a race for those new horse-less vehicles, he gets in trouble and only his former girl friend is able to help him.
The First Legion
Monsignor Michael Carey
A Catholic priest fights against his colleagues' immediate acceptance of an ambiguous “miracle”.
Never a Dull Moment
Mears
Kay Kingsley, a sophisticated and successful songwriter in New York City. falls in love with a widowed rancher, Chris Heyward, she meets at the Madison Square Garden Rodeo and they get married, and leave for his ranch in the west. Her friends warn her of an early disillusionment with life on a ranch, far away from the glitter and bright lights of Broadway. Kay makes one difficulty adjustment after another, as the ranch is presided over by Chris's kids, and an incident occurs with a neighbor that prompts Kay to return to her glamorous life in New York. But she soon finds her heart is with Chris and his children.
Riding High
Happy
A horse trainer who has fallen on hard times looks to his horse, Broadway Bill, to finally win the big race.
He's a Cockeyed Wonder
Bob Sears
An orange packer (Mickey Rooney) foils robbers with magic and wins the boss's (William Demarest) daughter (Terry Moore).
When Willie Comes Marching Home
Herman Kluggs
When Willie leaves home to join the war effort he is all ready to become a hero, but he is only frustrated when his posting ends up to be in his home town, and he is recruited into training, keeping him from the action. However, when he finds himself accidently behind enemy lines he unexpectedly becomes a hero after all.
Red Hot and Blue
Charlie Baxter, Press Agent
A Broadway director rescues a starlet from mobsters who blame her for a shooting.
Jolson Sings Again
Steve Martin
In this sequel to The Jolson Story, we pick up the singer's career just as he has returned to the stage after a premature retirement. But his wife has left him and the appeal of the spotlight isn't what it used to be. This time Jolson trades in the stage for life in the fast lane: women, horses, travel. It takes the death of Moma Yoelson and World War II to bring Jolson back to earth - and to the stage. Once again teamed with manager Steve Martin, Jolson travels the world entertaining troops everywhere from Alaska to Africa. When he finally collapses from exhaustion it takes young, pretty nurse Ellen Clark to show him there's more to life than "just rushing around".
Sorrowful Jones
Regret
A young girl is left with the notoriously cheap Sorrowful Jones as a marker for a bet. When her father doesn't return, he learns that taking care of a child interferes with his free-wheeling lifestyle. Sorrowful must also evade crooked gangsters and indulge in a bit of horse-thieving.
Whispering Smith
Bill Dansing
Smith is an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Lt. Shawn
When heiress Jean Courtland attempts suicide, her fiancée Elliott Carson probes her relationship with John Triton. In flashback, we see how stage mentalist Triton starts having terrifying flashes of true precognition. His partner, Whitney Courtland, uses Triton's talent to make money; but Triton's inability to prevent what he foresees, causes him to break up the act and become a hermit. Years later, Triton has new visions and desperately tries to prevent tragedies in the Courtland family. Can his warnings succeed against suspicion, unbelief, and inexorable fate?
The Sainted Sisters
Vern Tewilliger
Two female con artists from New York City, fleeing the law with loot from their latest scam, hide out in a small Maine town, near the Canadian border. However - the residents of this small town aren't quite as unsophisticated as the girls think they are.
On Our Merry Way
Floyd
Oliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him?
Variety Girl
Barker
Dozens of star and character-actor cameos and a message about the Variety Club (a show-business charity) are woven into a framework about two hopeful young ladies who come to Hollywood, exchange identities, and cause comic confusion (with slapstick interludes) throughout the Paramount studio.
The Perils of Pauline
George 'Mac' McGuire
Funloving Pearl White, working in a garment sweatshop, gets her big chance when she "opens" for a delayed Shakespeare play...with a comic vaudeville performance. Her brief stage career leads her into those "horrible" moving pictures, where she comes to love the chaotic world of silent movies, becoming queen of the serials. But the consequences of movie stardom may be more than her leading man can take
The Jolson Story
Steve Martin
This movie shows the idealized career of the singer Al Jolson, a little Jewish boy who goes against the will of his father in order to be in showbiz. He becomes a star, falls in love with a non-Jewish dancer, and marries her. In the end he chooses success on the stage.
Our Hearts Were Growing Up
Peanuts Schultz
Russell and Lynn are a pair of college students in the 1920s. They get mixed up with kind-hearted bootlegger Donlevy who helps them get their boy friends back.
Pardon My Past
Chuck Gibson
Eddie York (MacMurray) is mistaken for playboy Francis Pemberton and gets into trouble.
Hollywood Victory Caravan
Bill, the Security Guard
A girl is desperate to get to Washington D.C. to be with her lonesome brother, a wounded G.I. She persuades Bing Crosby to let her join his caravan.
Duffy's Tavern
William Demarest
The staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.
Along Came Jones
George Fury
An easy-going cowboy is mistaken by the townsfolk for a notorious gunman. The cowboy decides it would be best to leave town, until he meets the gunman's girlfriend.
Salty O'Rourke
Smitty
A gambler and his buddy find a wise-guy jockey for their long-shot horse.
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek
Constable Edmund Kockenlocker
A small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember.
Hail the Conquering Hero
Sgt. Heppelfinger
Having been discharged from the Marines for a hayfever condition before ever seeing action, Woodrow Lafayette Pershing Truesmith delays the return to his hometown, feeling that he is a failure. While in a moment of melancholy, he meets up with a group of Marines who befriend him and encourage him to return home to his mother by fabricating a story that he was wounded in battle with honorable discharge.
The Great Moment
Eben Frost
The biography of Dr. W.T. Morgan, a 19th century Boston dentist, during his quest to have anesthesia, in the form of ether, accepted by the public and the medical and dental establishment.
Once Upon a Time
Brandt
Broadway producer Jerry Flynn is anxious to recapture the magic and reclaim the crowds after a set of costly flops. Outside his theater one night, Flynn meets a young boy who just might save the day. Inside a small box the boy shows Flynn his pride and joy: a caterpillar named Curly that dances to Yes Sir, That's My Baby. Word quickly spreads about the amazingly talented hoofer, and the caterpillar becomes a symbol of hope for wartime America. Soon, offers are pouring in to capitalize on this sensational insect.
Nine Girls
Walter Cummings
One of the members of a sorority is found murdered. Although the police are called in to investigate, some of the girls decide to do some sleuthing on their own to unmask the killer.
True to Life
Uncle Jake
A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins to secretly write about their true life antics. The show becomes a big hit, but he begins to feel guilty about his charade when he falls in love with the family's pretty older daughter.
Dangerous Blondes
Detective Gatling
Mystery writer Barry Craig (Allyn Joslyn) and his wife Jane (Evelyn Keyes), prefer solving crimes rather than writing about them. They get a chance when killings plague the fashion photography studio of Ralph McCormick (Edmund Lowe). After his secretary, Julie Taylor(Anita Louise) reports an attempt to murder her there, Erika McCormick's (Ann Savage) Aunt Isabel Fleming (Mary Forbes) is stabbed and the evidence points to Madge Lawrence (Bess Flowers) an older model and an apparent suicide. Police Inspector Joseph Clinton (Frank Craven) declares the case closed...but then Erika is murdered.
Stage Door Canteen
William Demarest
A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theater and films appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance
Johnny Doughboy
Harry Fabian
As sixteen year old Ann Winters begins a relationship with an older actor to further her career, lookalike fan Penelope Ryan is recruited by a group of former child stars to perform in a USO show.
Life Begins at Eight-Thirty
Police Officer
Kathy lives in a cramped New York flat with her father Madden Thomas, a celebrated actor brought down by drink. Lame from an early age and feeling trapped with her father in her small world, Kathy is delighted to meet fellow tenant Robert. When Madden is offered the lead in a new King Lear and Robert lands a composing job in Hollywood, better times seem for a while to beckon.
Behind the Eight Ball
McKenzie
The story takes place at a summer theater in the Berkshire Mountains, where heroine Joan Barry (Carol Bruce) is staging a Broadway-bound musical comedy. Only one problem: two guest stars are shot and killed on two successive evenings, right in front of the audience. Hoping to solve the mystery, detective William Demarest demands that everyone -- actors and theatergoers alike -- return the following weekend to restage the show. But with no major performer willing to assume the fatal guest-star slot, Joan is forced to hire the Three Jolly Jesters (Al, Harry and Jimmy Ritz), Manhattan washroom attendants with showbiz aspirations.
The Palm Beach Story
First Member Ale and Quail Club
A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry (Geraldine), decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.
Pardon My Sarong
Detective Kendall
A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their arrest, they tag along with a playboy on a boat trip that finds them on a tropical island, where a jewel thief has sinister plans for them.
My Favorite Spy
Flower Pot Policeman
The Army takes a bandleader (Kay Kyser) away from his bride (Ellen Drew) and sends him on a spy mission with a woman (Jane Wyman).
True to the Army
Sgt. Butts
A wire-walker, on the run from gangsters, masquerades as a soldier at her boyfriend's Army base.
All Through the Night
Sunshine
Broadway gamblers stumble across a plan by Nazi saboteurs to blow up an American battleship.
Glamour Boy
Papa Doran
Former child star Jackie Cooper headlines this sentimental behind-the-scenes comedy drama. He plays an ex-child star who now jerks sodas for a living in Hollywood. He gets back into the movie business when he overhears a conversation between producers discussing their newest prodigy. Cooper butts in and suggests the producers remake Skippy (a real-life 1931 film that made young Cooper a star). The bigwigs like the idea and then hire Cooper to become the boy's acting coach. Once back on the backlot, Cooper finds both trouble and romance while helping the young boy adjust to life as a movie star.
Sullivan's Travels
Mr. Jones
Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.
Dressed to Kill
Inspector Pierson
A detective's wedding is postponed when gunshots are heard nearby.
Country Fair
Stogie McPhee
Johnny Campbell isa glib campaign manager for gubenatorial candidate Stogie McPhee. Having impulsively promised Johnny that she'll marry him if McPhee wins, heroine Pepper Wilson begins canvassing the voters on behalf of rival candidate Gildersleeve. But the race is won by a dark horse, blacksmith Gunther Potts, who single-handedly cleans out the corrupt element in the local government.
Ride on Vaquero
Bartender Barney
The Cisco Kid is captured while keeping a rendezvous with cantina dancer Dolores but is released by his captor, the commander of a U.S. Army regiment, to help break up a kidnap ring. On his way to Las Tables with his pal, Gordito, he makes a stop at the Martinez Rancho, where they learn that his friend Carlos has been kidnapped, from his wife Marquerita. At the Crystal Palace Saloon, Cisco runs into an old girlfriend, Sally, who he once jilted for a tight-rope walker, but she doesn't betray him when the sheriff and an army officer enter searching for Cisco.
Rookies on Parade
Mike Brady
The story details the misadventures of two itinerant songwriters named Duke (Crosby) and Cliff (Foy) as they try to survive Army boot camp. Intending to boost the morale of their fellow draftees, our heroes stage a big musical show, which they eventually hope will graduate to Broadway.
The Devil and Miss Jones
First Detective
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. There is labor unrest at the store, and the employees' anger is directed at him, who they hang in effigy outside the store despite not knowing what he looks like. Merrick, not happy at what he sees going on, decides to mete out the rabble-rousers. So he goes undercover as a sales clerk in the shoe department.
The Lady Eve
Muggsy
It's no accident when wealthy Charles falls for Jean. Jean is a con artist with her sights set on Charles' fortune. Matters complicate when Jean starts falling for her mark. When Charles suspects Jean is a gold digger, he dumps her. Jean, fixated on revenge and still pining for the millionaire, devises a plan to get back in Charles' life. With love and payback on her mind, she re-introduces herself to Charles, this time as an aristocrat named Lady Eve Sidwich.
Little Men
Constable Tom Thorpe
Jo March and her husband Professor Bhaer operate the Plumfield School for poor boys. When Dan, a tough street kid, comes to the school, he wins Jo's heart despite his hard edge, and she defends him when he is falsely accused. Dan's foster father, Major Burdle, is a swindler in cahoots with another crook called Willie the Fox. When the Plumfield School becomes in danger of foreclosure, the two con men cook up a scheme to save the home.
Christmas in July
Mr. Bildocker
An office clerk loves entering contests in the hopes of someday winning a fortune and marrying the girl he loves. His latest attempt is the Maxford House Coffee Slogan Contest. As a joke, some of his co-workers put together a fake telegram which says that he won the $25,000 grand prize.
Comin' Round the Mountain
A Tennessee boy (Bob Burns) returns from the big city, runs for mayor and puts his musical kin on the radio.
The Golden Fleecing
Swallow
A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.
The Great McGinty
Skeeters - The Politician
Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan...
The Farmer's Daughter
Victor Walsh
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.
Wolf of New York
Bill Ennis
A New York attorney defends a young man with a criminal past who has been accused of murdering a police inspector.
Laugh It Off
Barney 'Gimpy' Cole
Four former actresses decide to restart their careers by opening up a nightclub.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Bill Griffith
Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed to the United States Senate by the puppet governor of his state. He soon discovers, upon going to Washington, many shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss.
Miracles for Sale
Quinn
A maker of illusions for magicians protects an ingenue likely to be murdered.
The Cowboy Quarterback
Rusty Walker
Football scout for the Chicago Packers Rusty Walker signs Harry Lynn, a legendary broken-field runner. Harry won't leave his home town without his girlfriend Maizie Williams. He gets tangled up with gamblers and Rusty's girl Evelyn Corey makes a play for him.
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
Police Sgt. Ernest Heath
The zany plot follows nitwit Gracie Allen trying to help master sleuth Philo Vance solve a murder.
King of the Turf
Arnold
Mason is a former race-horse owner who gave up everything and started to drink after the death of one of his jockeys. One day he meets Goldie who has run away from home, hoping to find a job around horses; his biggest hobby. When he finds out the real identity of Mason, Goldie takes care of him. The two find an occasion to buy a horse for only two dollars, and start entering competitions. Goldie is an instant celebrity, but his mom reads the newspapers and tracks him down. Mason is very surprised to see her, his ex-wife, and even more astonished to hear that Goldie is his own son. However, Goldie must go back to school and so they decide to keep the secret. Since Goldie does not want to leave Mason behind, he goes to the bookies and fixes the next race, hoping to disappoint Goldie by asking him to lose on purpose.
The Great Man Votes
Charles Dole
In 1923, Gregory Vance, a widower with two children, is a former scholar who has turned from book to bottle. He works, slightly, as a night-watchman, and his children, who know him for what he is and what he isn't, are his only admirers. Then, it is discovered that he is the only registered voter in a key precinct and the politicians, from both parties, arrive in droves bearing inducements. What he does about this situation, and the relatives who want to take his children away from him make up the story.
While New York Sleeps
Red Miller
Newspaperman (Whalen) looks into the deaths of bond-carriers while romancing a show girl (Rogers).
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
Daro
Trouble-prone Billy Peck and his gang descend on a traveling circus that has just hit town, and before long their antics are causing the circus owner all kinds of problems.
Josette
Joe, Diner Owner
Two young men try to wrest their father from the clutches of a gold digger but by mistake think the woman is a young nightclub singer with whom they both fall in love.
One Wild Night
Collins
Frenzied comedy starring June Lang as a reporter investigating the mysterious disappearances of four men who had all withdrawn large sums of money from the local bank in Stockton, Ohio.
Romance on the Run
Police Lt. Eckhardt
A (rather shady?) private detective specializing in recovering highly insured items gets involved in recovering a stolen necklace. In the process also gets involved with a secretary at the insurance company.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
Harry Kipper
Rebecca's Uncle Harry leaves her with Aunt Miranda who forbids her to associate with show people. But neighbor Anthony Kent is a talent scout who secretly set it up for her to broadcast.
Rosalie
Army Coach
West Point cadet Dick Thorpe falls in love with a girl, who turns out to be a princess from an European kingdom.
Big City
Mr. Beecher
Anna and Joe are newly married, playful and deeply in love. Joe is scraping by as cab driver in New York City during a period of corruption, mob control and violence between cab companies.
Wake Up and Live
Radio Center Tour Guide
Satire on radio, built around the supposed feud between bandleader Ben Bernie and journalist Walter Winchell.
Blonde Trouble
Paul Sears
Fred Stevens is an aspiring songwriter from Schenectady who journeys to New York City, hoping to make a name for himself. On the train he meets dental assistant Edna Baker, and the two embark upon a friendship that evolves into her falling for him. While struggling in Tin Pan Alley, Fred falls in with his composer partner's gold-digging sister-in-law Eileen. Eileen really becomes interested when she finds out Fred is carrying his life savings.
Easy Living
Wallace Whistling
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 the window, it lands on poor hard-working girl Mary Smith. But it isn't so easy to just give away something so valuable, as he soon learns.
The Great Gambini
Sergeant Kirby
A millionaire is found murdered in his apartment. Suspicion falls on a variety of suspects, including his fiancée and her parents, the butler, and a professional mentalist known as The Great Gambini.
The Great Hospital Mystery
Mr. Beatty
A nurse's brother who's pursued by the mob, hides out in a hospital by pretending to be a patient.
The Hit Parade
Parole Officer
Agent Pete Garland is fired by society singer Monica Barrett after he got her a new radio contract, because she thinks her lawyer friend Teddy Leeds fits in better with her social status. To get even, Pete wants to make an unknown singer into a star. He finds Ruth Allison, drives her hard through rehearsals and makes her a star. But she is worried about her past, something she hasn't told Pete: She's an ex-convict and jumped bail in order to keep her partners in crime out of it. Further she's in love with Pete, but feels that he's still carrying a torch for Monica. When Monica's popularity is decreasing, Pete is able to get Ruth a stint on the program, the result is Monica is fired and Ruth get her job, but Monica takes revenge by revealing Ruth's past. Ruth considers it is best for her to disappear before being arrested, but she has become a star in public opinion. Will she get Pete or will she go to prison again?
Oh, Doctor
Marty Short
A hypochondriac is afraid he will die before he gets an inheritance that will "cure" him.
Don't Tell the Wife
Larry 'Horace' Tucker
After being released from prison, con man Thurston Hall gathers his gang of cronies--along with innocent chump Guy Kibbee--to help him sell worthless stock in a New Mexico gold mine.
Time Out for Romance
Willoughby Sproggs
A girl escapes marriage and hitchhikes with a young man in whose car a jewel thief has planted his loot.
Mind Your Own Business
Droopy
Nature reporter Orville Shanks retreats to the woods for material for his "Our Wild Friends" column and to volunteer for his favorite cause, the Boy Scouts. When Orville's editor, Crane, orders him to spice up his column, Orville's wife Melba writes a gossip column using animals as metaphors for people. Crane loves Melba's article and gives Orville a raise, and the column becomes a hit.
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Sergeant Kelly
A dangerous amnesiac escapes from an asylum, hides in the opera house, and is suspected of getting revenge on those who tried to murder him 13 years ago.
Love on the Run
Editor
A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry chase across Europe and uncover a spy plot.
Wedding Present
'Smiles' Benson
Charlie Mason and Rusty Fleming are star reporters on a Chicago tabloid who are romantically involved as well. Although skilled in ferreting out great stories, they often behave in an unprofessional and immature manner. After their shenanigans cause their frustrated city editor to resign, the publisher promotes Charlie to the job, a decision based on the premise that only a slacker would be able crack down on other shirkers and underachievers. His pomposity soon alienates most of his co-workers and causes Rusty to move to New York. Charlie resigns and along with gangster friend Smiles Benson tries to win Rusty back before she marries a stuffy society author.
White Lies
Roberts
A powerful publisher John Mitchell whose pursuit of sensational headlines at the expense of all else takes a personal toll when his daughter Joan is implicated in a murder.
Hands Across the Table
Regi's Date Natty (uncredited)
A manicurist and an engaged loafer, both planning to marry money, meet and fall in love.
Diamond Jim
Harry Hill
A loose biopic based on the life of Gilded Age tycoon "Diamond" Jim Brady.
Bright Lights
Detective
Husband-and-wife vaudeville stars separate when success goes to his head.
The Murder Man
'Red' Maguire
Steve Grey, reporter for the Daily Star, has a habit of scooping all the other papers in town. When Henry Mander is investigated for the murder of his shady business partner, Grey is one step ahead of the police to the extent that he often dictates his story in advance of its actual occurrence. He leads the police through an 'open and shut' case resulting in Mander being tried, convicted and sentenced to death. Columnist Mary Shannon is in love with Steve but she sees him struggle greatly with his last story before Mander's execution. When she starts typing out the story from his recorded dictation, she realizes why.
The Casino Murder Case
Auctioneer
When Philo Vance receives a note that harm will befall Lynn at the casino that night, he takes the threat seriously while the DA dismisses it. At the casino owned by Uncle Kinkaid, Lynn is indeed poisoned under the watchful eye of Philo. However, he recovers, but the same cannot be said for Lynn's wife Virginia, who is at the family home. Only a family member could have poisoned Lynn and Virginia and everyone has their dark motives. Philo will follow the clues and find the perpetrator.
After Office Hours
Police Detective (uncredited)
A managing editor sends a socialite reporter to spy on her boyfriend, mixed up in murder.
Fugitive Lady
Steve Rogers
In this thriller, a young woman marries a dashing young man who, unbeknownst to her, is a jewel thief.
Many Happy Returns
Brinker
Gracie Allen assumes the "management" of the shop owned by her papa Horatio Allen, turning it into a radio station and then an aviary---with the usual Gracie Allen logic---while distracted Papa is trying to get younger daughter, beauty contest winner Florence, married before she can head to Hollywood and get into the movies.
Fog Over Frisco
Spike Smith
Val takes the assistance of a society reporter and a journalist to investigate the disappearance of her half-sister Arlene, a wealthy socialite who is involved in criminal activities.
Seeing Things
The Heir
The heir to a fortune will only receive his inheritance if he spends the night in a supposedly haunted house.
The Butter and Egg Man
Jack McLure
Peter Jones is a young man who arrives on Broadway from Chillicothe, Ohio, hoping to invest $20,000 in a play and turn a profit sufficient to buy a local hotel back home. He is conned by Joe Lehman and Jack McClure into backing their play with a 49-percent stake. The play opens out-of-town in Syracuse and bombs. Lehman and McClure want out, and Jones buys them out
Pay as You Enter
'Terrible Bill' McGovern
Trolley car conductor Clyde Jones and bus conductor "Terrible Bill" Jones are arch rivals for the hand of coffee-shop owner Mary Smith.
A Girl in Every Port
Man in Bombay (uncredited)
Two sailors with a rivalry over chasing women become friends. But when one decides to finally settle down, will this mysterious young woman come between them?
Sharp Shooters
'Hi Jack' Murdock
A "love-'em-and-leave-'em" sailor hooks up with a dance-hall girl in Paris while waiting for his ship to sail. She falls in love with him, and when his ship leaves port she decides to show up at its next stop and reunite with her lover. However, when she arrives at the ship's next destination, she discovers that her "lover" has already found another local girl to spend his time with. Complications ensue.
The Crash
Louie
The Crash (1928)
The Night Court
Defense Counsel
A police raid on a night club results in the entire cast of the club's floor show being hauled into court, where they must perform their routines for the judge.
The Jazz Singer
Buster Billings (uncredited)
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first full length feature film to use synchronized sound, and is the original film musical.
A Sailor's Sweetheart
Detective
Cynthia Botts is the headmistress of a girls' school who has left a fortune on the condition that no scandal could ever be associated with her name. But scandal, in the form of Sandy McTavish, a romantic sailor and Charlotte Ralston is just around the corner.
The First Auto
The Village Cut-Up
The transition from horses to automobiles at the turn of the century causes problems between a father and son.
What Happened To Father
Detective Dibbin
Film was released in 1927
The Black Diamond Express
Train Engine Fireman
Dan Foster, the engineer of the Black Diamond Express express train falls in love with Jeanne Harmon, whose snobbish, high society mother, Mrs. Harmon, does not approve of the blue-collar, rough-at-the-edges Dan Foster as a suitable husband for Jeanne.
Simple Sis
Simple Sis is a 1927 American silent comedy-melodrama directed by Herman C. Raymaker and starring Louise Fazenda as a poor, plain laundress hoping for romance, supported by Clyde Cook as a shy suitor and Myrna Loy as a cruel beauty. No copies of Simple Sis are known to exist; it is presumed lost.
A Million Bid
George Lamont
To satisfy her controlling mother and secure both of their futures, a daughter hesitantly enters a loveless marriage to a wealthy businessman. Years later, after she has uncovered and overcome her mother's deceptions and manipulations, her newfound happiness is threatened with the appearance of a mysterious "man from the sea."
Don't Tell the Wife
Ray Valerian
The Carters, a nouveau riche couple from Peoria, Illinois, decide to take a trip to Europe in the company of John Carter's best friend Henry. While in Paris, Henry begins squiring the coquettish Suzanne, who throws him over in favor of Carter.
Finger Prints
Cuffs Egan
A gang of inept crooks and even more inept lawmen search for a cache of hidden money.