John Berkes

Birth : 1895-06-13, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Death : 1951-07-05

Movies

Journey Into Light
Racky
John Burrows, an ordained minister from a small village in the East, envisions himself with a larger congregation. He is mortified when his wife drunkenly interrupts a sermon, then despondent after her suicide. Burrows travels to Los Angeles for a fresh start, but takes to the bottle himself and ends up arrested for public intoxication. A skid-row con man, Gandy, finds him a bed at a flop house, while a street preacher, Doc Thorssen, and daughter Christine take him to a local mission. Christine is blind. She falls in love with Burrows, enjoying his discussions of the spirit and the soul but knowing little of his past. One day she is struck by a streetcar and knocked unconscious, causing Burrows to once again question his faith. He ultimately accepts the Lord's will and is offered a better place to live and preach. Burrows decides he is better suited to the mission, with Christine by his side.
Ace in the Hole
Papa Minosa
An arrogant reporter exploits a story about a man trapped in a cave to revitalize his career.
Branded
Tattoo
A gunfighter takes part in a scheme to bilk a wealthy cattle family out of half a million dollars by pretending to be their son, who was kidnapped as child.
No Sad Songs for Me
Joe - Restaurant Owner (uncredited)
Mary Scott learns she only has ten months to live before dying of an incurable disease. She manages to keep the news from her husband, Brad and daughter, Polly. She tries to make every moment of her life count, but her effort is weakened by the discovery that Brad is interested in his assistant, Chris Radner. But when she learns that Brad does indeed love her and not Chris, and that Chris is leaving town, she realizes what she must do to ensure the future happiness of Brad and Polly. She persuades Chris to stay, makes a genuine friend of her and watches Polly grow towards Chris.
Dancing in the Dark
Marshall
Emery Slade was one of the brightest stars in Hollywood in 1932, but by 1949 his career has hit the skids. Fortunately, he is able to convince studio head Melville Crossman to cast him in the adaptation of a hit Broadway show. Crossman has one condition: Slade must travel to New York and convince the female star of the stage production to join the film. Slade goes, but, when he eyes the winsome Julie Clarke, he hatches a different scheme.
My Dream Is Yours
Character Actor
Conceited singer Garry Mitchell refuses to renew his radio contract, so agent Doug Blake decides to find a new personality to replace Garry. In New York, he finds Martha Gibson, a single mother with a great voice. He arranges for her to move to Hollywood, but then has a problem trying to sell her to the show's sponsor. Doug tries every trick he can think of to make Martha a star, and as the two work more closely, he falls in love with her. Complicating matters further is when Martha meets and becomes attracted to Garry.
Station West
Pianist
When two US cavalrymen transporting a gold shipment get killed, US Army Intelligence investigator John Haven goes undercover to a mining and logging town to find the killers.
Romance on the High Seas
The Drunk
Georgia Garrett is sent by jealous wife Elvira Kent on an ocean cruise to masquerade as herself while she secretly stays home to catch her husband cheating. Meanwhile equally suspicious husband Michael Kent has sent a private eye on the same cruise to catch his wife cheating. Love and confusion ensues along with plenty of musical numbers.
The Corpse Came C.O.D.
Larry Massey, Photographer
Rival reporters (George Brent, Joan Blondell) investigate a Hollywood star (Adele Jergens) and the box she receives with a dead man inside.
The Egg and I
Geoduck
World War II veteran Bob MacDonald surprises his new wife, Betty, by quitting his city job and moving them to a dilapidated farm in the country. While Betty gamely struggles with managing the crumbling house and holding off nosy neighbors and a recalcitrant pig, Bob makes plans for crops and livestock. The couple's bliss is shaken by a visit from a beautiful farm owner, who seems to want more from Bob than just managing her property.
Johnny O'Clock
Waiter
When an employee at an illegal gambling den dies suspiciously, her sister, Nancy, looks into the situation and falls for Johnny O'Clock, a suave partner in the underground casino. Selfish and non-committal by nature, Johnny slowly begins to return Nancy's affection and decides to run away with her, but conflict within his business threatens their plans. As Johnny tries to distance himself from the casino, his shady past comes back to haunt him.
The Killers
Mr. Plunther (uncredited)
Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.
Inside Job
Freddie
A pair of married ex-convicts trying to go straight get jobs at a department store. A gangster who knows about their past threatens to expose it unless they agree to help him rob the department store.
Two Sisters from Boston
Ticket Man (uncredited)
Abigail Chandler has written her stuffy Boston relatives that she's a successful opera singer in New York. In reality, she works at a burlesque house and is billed as High-C Susie. When her sister Martha comes for a visit, Abigail tries to hide the truth from her.
Blonde Alibi
Louie Comey
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.
Adventure
Bum (uncredited)
A rough and tumble man of the sea falls for a meek librarian.
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Circus Driver
Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Mr. Creckenbox (uncredited)
In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.
Lost in a Harem
Pianist (uncredited)
Two bumbling magicians help a Middle Eastern prince regain his rightful throne from his despotic uncle.
Madame Spy
Hotel Clerk
Joan Bannister is the wife of globe-trotting war correspondent David Bannister. Returning to the US, Bannister becomes suspicious when Joan begins keeping company with known Nazi functionaries, notably the sinister Mr. Peter. Suspecting that his own wife may be the elusive “Madame Spy” wanted by American authorities, Bannister is in for quite a few surprises.
War Dogs
Sam Stoner
A young boy donates his pet, a police dog, to the army to be trained as a war dog.
Bowery at Midnight
Fingers Dolan
A seemingly charitable soup kitchen operator (who moonlights as a criminology professor) uses his Bowery mission as a front for his criminal gang. Police attempt to close in on the gang as they commit a series of robberies, murders and bizarre experiments on corpses.
Mr. Blabbermouth!
Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, America was rife with rumors about the size of Japan's armed forces and how well-equipped they were to wage war against the U.S. Using animation, the first part of this film dispels these rumors by showing that the U.S. had more raw materials and more fighting ships. The narrator also cautions moviegoers against spreading rumors (which are often initiated by enemy infiltrators to create fear and dissention) and believing everything they read in the newspapers. Just because "they say" something, that doesn't make it true.
About Face
Barfly (uncredited)
Two Army sergeants disrupt a bar, a party and an Army-Navy dance.
Gang Busters
Mr. Grubb
Police detectives battle the League of Murdered Men, a gang of resurrected dead criminals.
Woman of the Year
Pal (uncredited)
Rival reporters Sam and Tess fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
Cowboy Serenade
Joe Crowley
Gene Autry heads a cattlemen's association and calls on the inexperienced Jim Agnew to negotiate the sale of five hundred heads of cattle. Jim ends up losing the cattle in a crooked poker game, however, and Gene and his sidekick Frog set out to find the cheating gamblers. It soon becomes clear that the leader of the gamblers is none other than Asa Lock, the dastardly father of Gene's romantic interest Stephanie.
Alex in Wonderland
Man with pie
In this Warner Bros. short film, Alex visits his sister Belinda and her husband Fred. It looks like Alex is going to be around for a while, much to Fred's displeasure. Alex in is New York to look for a job and he sees an ad for a champagne salesman. He decides to crash a swank party given by railroad tycoon J.D. Swinnerton and his wife. Alex has his own zany way of getting an introduction to the man. Mayhem ensues when several of the guests come as Robin Hood and one of them is a jewel thief.
I Stole a Million
Hobo (uncredited)
A cabbie and petty thief dreams of the big heist that will end his thieving ways.
Winter Carnival
Reporter at Terminal
A divorced glamour girl keeps warm with a professor amid sports and romance at Dartmouth College's Winter Carnival.
While New York Sleeps
Eddie - Dance Director
Newspaperman (Whalen) looks into the deaths of bond-carriers while romancing a show girl (Rogers).
Taking the Count
Johnny
Now that they're engaged, Ann wants Joe to retire from the ring, seeing as how he's the heavyweight champ. Ann's mother, who doesn't want her daughter marrying "beneath" the wealthy family's standing, to set Ann up with a European count. What the mother doesn't know is that the "count" is after the family's money more than he is Ann.
Black Legion
Convicted Black Legion Member (uncredited)
When a hard-working machinist loses a promotion to a Polish-born worker, he is seduced into joining the secretive Black Legion, which intimidates foreigners through violence.
The Blonde Bomber
Johnnie
The Palooka gang is out of money again, and Knobby and Johnny try to raise some quick cash by selling phony watches. Their first sale is their last, when a burly customer realizes he's been had. Next stop, Joe, Knobby and Punchy load up at a local diner, and Knobby has a scheme to skip out on the bill. Of course, the diner owner turns out to be their watch customer, and the boys make a hasty exit with the manager's waitress girlfriend in tow. Knobby books Palooka into a local vaudeville house to put on some exhibition bouts. Of course, their friend from the diner is in the audience, with a bag of rotten tomatoes, and he's more than willing to come on stage when Knobby asks for a volunteer to box with Joe.
Sheik to Sheik
Johnnie
A radio salesman gets knocked out by a golf ball and dreams he's in the desert where he sells radios to sheiks.
The Choke's on You
Johnny
Joe Palooka and Strangler Chokeovitch have set up training camps on adjacent beachfront sites. When Joe knocks out the Strangler after a misunderstanding, Chokeovitch's manager challenges the champ to a professional wrestling bout, with the winner taking all the gate receipts.
Punch and Beauty
Johnny
Before the big fight, Joe and his opponent come to blows at their hotel. Palooka knocks him out and the fight has to be postponed.
The Good Old Plumbertime
Absorbing Junior
Johnnie
Johnny's freeloading brother Henry will go to any length to bet on a tip at Belmont, including stealing from Junior's piggy bank. When Johnny's mother-in-law tells them to take Junior to the dentist to have a tooth pulled, and gives them $2 for the doctor, the game is afoot. The money goes to Henry's bookie, and the boys decide to pull Junior's tooth themselves... by tying a string onto the back bumper of a car. But a pet parrot spills the beans, and mother-in-law goes chasing after them with fire in her eye, and a fireplace poker under her coat.
Calling All Tars
Johnnie
This early comedy short has Bob Hope and John Berkes putting on sailor uniforms to find dates, getting mistaken for real sailors and being dragged back to a Navy ship by the shore patrol. Though not much plot, the short does give each star a chance to shine doing comedy bits both together and separately.
For the Love of Pete
Pete
Boxer Joe Palooka steps into the ring after a friend's dog gets kicked.
While the Cat's Away
Johnnie
Henry and Johnnie need to clean the apartment before the wives get home.
Double Exposure
Photographer's Assistant
An aspiring photographer and his bumbling assistant go to great lengths to take a picture of a beautiful actress whose wealthy husband does not want her photographed.