Martha O'Driscoll
Birth : 1922-03-04, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Death : 1998-11-03
History
Martha O'Driscoll (March 4, 1922 - November 3, 1998) was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chicago.
Self (archive footage)
Starting with "The Wolf Man" (in 1941), Universal Studios made five movies featuring The Wolf Man, a character portrayed by Lon Chaney, Jr. Monster by Moonlight! explores these movies. Rick Baker explains how the make-up was done on Chaney's character. Screenwriter Curtis Siodmak took very little from earlier werewolf legends, providing his own story for some of the films. This documentary displays clips from several other movies, including "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) and "House of Dracula" (1945).
Self
A collection of behind the scenes and home movies from the golden age of Hollywood.
Ruth Haines
A young Irishwoman comes to the United States to live and work with her mother as a cleaning lady at Carnegie Hall. She becomes attached to the place as the people she meets there gradually shape her life. The film also includes a variety of performances from some of the foremost musical artists of the times: conductors Bruno Walter & Leopold Stokowski, solists Arthur Rubinstein & Jascha Haifetz, singers Lily Pons & Jan Peerce and bandleader Vaughn Monroe among many others.
Georgia Gale
A lawyer who is planning to run for District Attorney accidentally kills a gangster who owns the nightclub where the attorney's girlfriend is a singer. Although he manages to cover up his involvement in the crime, his girlfriend discovers the body and is subsequently charged with the murder.
Jane Colwell
Musical - Romance and music accompany this comedy about a film director searching for a mule to star in his new movie. - Martha O'Driscoll, John Carradine, Eddie Dean
Marian Gale
Soon after a young woman breaks off her engagement to a doctor, the doctor is found murdered. Suspicion falls on his ex-fiancé and a pilot with a checkered past.
Miliza Morelle
A scientist working on cures for rare afflictions, such as a bone softening agent made from molds to allow him to correct the spinal deformity of his nurse, finds the physical causes of lycanthropy in wolf-man Larry Talbot and of vampirism in Count Dracula, but himself becomes afflicted with homicidal madness while exchanging blood with Dracula.
Mary Bohannon
The notorious Dalton Boys have decided to go straight and move to Argentina. Just before they leave, they learn of a friend whose land is about to be seized by a greedy land company. Before they can help, the man is killed by a company assassin. The brothers do manage to rescue his widow and head for the hills. There, they decide to revert back to outlaw life. Meanwhile, a newspaper publisher's daughter falls for one of the brothers.
Gloria Wendell
A crook becomes the victim of a crafty card player who works for the District Attorney.
Connie
In this romantic comedy, three man-hungry sisters consult a fortune-teller to help them with their romantic futures.
Molly McCarthy
Molly, her brother, Slats, and his pal, Oliver, are taxi dancers at the Miramar Ballroom. As a publicity stunt, Slats plants an article about Molly claiming her ambition is to earn enough money to attend staid, all-girl Bixby College. Bixby's progressive dean offers Molly a scholarship. Molly accepts on the condition that Slats and Oliver come along too as campus caretakers. But the pompous Chairman threatens to foreclose on the school's mortgage if Molly isn't expelled. Together, the trio, with the help of some new friends, concocts a scheme to raise enough money to save the school. The plan involves a bet on the Bixby basketball team, which is playing in a game rated at 20 to 1 by the local bookie. But the bookie has other plans for their dough and hires a group of ringers to step in for the opponents. All is not lost, at least while Oliver has the chance to turn things around for his friends-one way or another.
Katie Wells
An Arizona teacher (Noah Beery Jr.) saves a vaudeville star (Martha O'Driscoll) and her troupe from a bandit (Leo Carrillo).
Patty Callahan
Part of the series of Universal B-musicals teaming Martha O'Driscoll and Noah Beery Jr., this film is also a remake of the 1937 comedy Love in a Bungalow. Patty Callahan (O'Driscoll) offers residence in a model home to soldier Jeff (Beery) and soon falls in love with him. Although the pair are unmarried, they enter a marital contest intended to celebrate the "Happiest G.I. Couple." Winning the contest brings on all sorts of farcical troubles until the couple are able to be united for real. Songs include "Don't Sweetheart Me" and "Best of All."
Pat Bradley
Newlywed bliss surround O'Driscoll and Beery until they get on board the ship for their honeymoon in South America. Then she starts sneezing, and hay fever's uncontrollable grip does not seem to want to let up.
Susanna Marshall
Two zanies get mixed up with a Southern colonel, his beautiful daughters, a nightclub and a haunted mansion.
Martha O'Driscoll (uncredited)
During World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every star on the lot--often playing themselves--in musical numbers and comedy skits, and were meant as morale-boosters to both the troops overseas and the civilians at home. This was Universal Pictures' effort. It features everyone from Donald O'Connor to the Andrews Sisters to Orson Welles to W.C. Fields to George Raft to Marlene Dietrich, and dozens of other Universal players.
Two young women, frustrated by war rationing, have a dream illustrating the likely results on prices in America should the measure were prematurely lifted.
Barbara 'Babs' Bradley / Barbara Lake
A run-away socialite "Babs" Bradley (Martha O'Driscoll), using an alias, wants to join the WACs, finds romance with a shipyard worker, Johnny Adams (Noah Beery Jr.), while dodging sheriffs, policemen and others who are searching for her.
Marjorie Nelson / Marjorie Wyndingham
Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson are Broadway stars who return to Universal Studios to make another movie. The mere mention of Olsen and Johnson's names evacuates the studio and terrorizes the management and personnel. Undaunted, the comedians hire an assistant director and unknown talent, and set out to make their own movie.
Whitney 'The Imp' Parker
Imprisoned during the Spanish Civil War, John "Kit" McKittrick is released when a New York City policeman pulls some strings. Upon returning to America, McKittrick hears that a friend has committed suicide, and he begins to smell a rat. During his investigation, McKittrick questions three beautiful women, one of whom has a tie to his refugee past. Pursued by Nazi operatives, McKittrick learns of the death of another friend, and begins to suspect the dark Dr. Skaas.
Deede Dunham
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.
Dottie Coburn
For those, if any, who have wondered why so many Paramount contractees appeared in United Artists' films during the war years, this is another one of the Paramount productions that was sold to United Artists in the early-40's when U.A. was having trouble meeting their exhibitor contracts because of lack of product, mainly due to their loss of production in England. A group of starving, but young and willing, actors band together to share finances and an apartment. Norman Reese (William Holden) orders no love nonsense between the boys and girls till they are set on broadway, but Marge Benson (Barbara Britton) and Tony Dennison (James Beown) are already secretly married. A friend drops in to see Dottie Coburn (Martha O'Driscoll) and is shocked to find the boys and girls sharing the same apartment and insists it is her duty to inform Dottie's father (Jay Fassett.)
Joyce Whitman
A distinguished professor finds his well-ordered life tospy-turvy after he is forced to take in a pregnant widow.
Sally Carlyle
In this musical, a gang of college students decide to play a little trick by creating the perfect student. The fictional gal has everything a university would ever want. The trouble begins when the campus psych professor becomes determined to meet this girl. If the gang cannot bring her forward, they will be expelled. They hire a New York actress to portray the imaginary girl and all is well at the end. Songs include: "It Seems I've Heard That Song Before," "You're So Good to Me" "If It's Love," "Man," "Gotcha Too Ta Mee," "You Got to Study, Buddy." All the songs were penned by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne who went on to become one of Hollywood's top song-writing teams.
Ivy Devereaux
The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.
District Attorney's Secretary
When Andrew Long, hyper-efficient small town accountant, finds a $1240 discrepancy in the city budget, his superiors try to explain it away. When he insists on pursuing the matter, he's in danger of being blamed himself. In his trouble, the spirit of Andrew Jackson, whom he idolizes, visits him, and in turn, summons much high-powered talent from American history...which only Andrew can see.
Mary Jones
Falsely convicted of murder, young Robert Draper (Robert Preston) escapes custody during a practice blackout drill. Under cover of darkness, Draper hopes to find the real killer, who turns out to be a member of a Nazi sabotage ring. Completed shortly before America entered WW2.
Mary Aldrich
Henry Aldrich finds himself in a heated election for high-school class president.
Julie Harris
15-year-old Penelope (Penny) Wood has two great interests - Chuck Harris and the hope that some day she might become a famous,great writer. Chuck also has two interests - his home-made glider and the hope that some day he will go to Tech college. His indifference to Penny is her chief source of annoyance. Mervyn Roberts, Penny's uncle who is only five years older than she is, arrives home with a guest, Roger Van Vleck, and Penny falls for Roger's sophistication. Chuck, resentful, continues to work on his glider over his father's objections. His father wants it destroyed but Elmer Tuttle, their hired man, hides it.
Martha
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.
Daisy Mae Scraggs
Li'l Abner becomes convinced that he is going to die within twenty-four hours, so agrees to marry two different girls: Daisy Mae (who has chased him for years) and Wendy Wilecat (who rescued him from an angry mob). It is all settled at the Sadie Hawkins Day race.
Helen Lee
In his first starring Western for RKO, young Tim Holt must not only carry on his father's freight business but also hunt down his murderer. A certain Matt Gardner wants to corner the freight business to Pecos and persuades young Zack Sibley's wagon master to switch sides. Zack also earns the enmity of Gardner's son Coe, who takes umbrage to the youngster's flirtation with pretty Helen Lee. It all comes to a head during a food shortage in Pecos, a near-disaster that persuades the wagon master to switch sides once again. When the dust settles, Zack learns that old man Gardner is actually Carl Anderson, the man who murdered his father.
Combines airplane trips and fashion. Heavy on the fashion.
Janette
An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.
Sally Stanton
Handsome Laddie Stanton courts neighbor Pamela Pryor, meeting opposition from her stern military father, recently immigrated from England.
Leonora Horton
Judge Hardy guides Andy through problems with girls, money and an essay contest.
Mrs. Roberts
Intern Kildare heals a millionaire's daughter and tricks Dr. Gillespie into taking a vacation.
Grace
Wealthy high school girls are sent to a boarding school to learn proper etiquette. Linda Simpson stays out all night. She tells her roommate, Betty Fleet, that it was because she's planning to elope. Linda gets in trouble when the faculty finds out from a monitor's report submitted by reluctant Natalie Freeman, a poor girl attending on scholarship.