Leon Belasco

Leon Belasco

Birth : 1902-10-11, Odessa, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire [now Ukraine]

Death : 1988-06-01

History

Leon Belasco (born Leonid Simeonovich Berladsky; 11 October 1902 - 1 June 1988) was a Russian-American musician and actor.

Profile

Leon Belasco

Movies

The Art of Love
Prince
Struggling artist fakes his own death so his works will increase in value.
Can-Can
Arturo
Parisian nightclub owner Simone Pistache is known for her performances of the can-can, which attracts the ire of the self-righteous Judge Philipe Forrestier. He hatches a plot to photograph her in the act but ends up falling for her — much to the chagrin of her boyfriend, lawyer François Durnais.
Jalopy
Bosgood Elrod
Those wacky Bowery Boys invent a superfast fuel, which will help them win an auto race (isn't this cheating?). However, the fuel is stolen by the bad guys just before the big race...
The Fabulous Senorita
Señor Gonzales
A Cuban businessman's (Nestor Paiva) daughter (Estelita) elopes with a professor (Robert Clarke) instead of marrying a banker's son.
Cuban Fireball
Hunyabi
Cuban Fireball is a vehicle for the combustible talents of Estelita Rodriguez, here cast as "herself." The plot finds Estelita arriving in Los Angeles to claim a multimillion-dollar inheritance. To fend off fortune hunters, she disguises herself as a meek little old lady.
Bomba and the Hidden City
Raschid
A photographer and his guide meet a corrupt Emir with a dirty secret. Only jungle-dwelling Bomba knows the truth.
Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion
Hassam--Auctioneer
Jonesy and Lou are in Algeria looking for a wrestler they are promoting. Sergeant Axmann tricks them into joining the Foreign Legion, after which they discover Axmann's collaboration with the nasty Sheik Hamud El Khalid. Bits include Lou's mirage sightings, one a New York newsboy ("they gave me a bad corner").
The Flame and the Arrow
Arturo of Milan / Players' Impressario / Court Announcer (uncredited)
Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors.
Love That Brute
François Ducray aka Frenchy
The story of a crude gangster hopelessly falling for a sweet young city government employee.
Bagdad
Beggar
An Arab sheik's daughter (Maureen O'Hara) avenges his death, blamed on Hassan (Paul Christian) and his Black Riders.
Everybody Does It
Hugo
Leonard Borland loves his monied wife, but with his wrecking business looking shaky he treasures her all the more. So when she decides to try again to become an opera singer he indulges her. While organising a concert for her he meets glamorous Cecil Carver. She in turn discovers Leonard has a splendid voice, and encourages him to use it for reasons very much her own.
Love Happy
Mr. Lyons
The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.
Every Girl Should Be Married
Violinist
Anabel Sims is determined to find the perfect husband. She thinks she's found her man in Madison Brown, a handsome pediatrician. She then prepares an elaborate scheme to trap him into marriage
For the Love of Mary
Igor
Young girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.
I, Jane Doe
Duroc
While stationed in France during World War II, an American fighter pilot marries a French girl but leaves her behind when he returns to the U.S. The French woman follows him to America only to discover he’s already married to a successful lawyer.
Three Daring Daughters
Ship Bandleader (uncredited)
Three young girls try to help their divorced mother find the right husband.
It Happened on Fifth Avenue
Musician (uncredited)
A New Yorker hobo moves into a mansion and along the way he gathers friends to live in the house with him. Before he knows it, he is living with the actual home owners.
Philo Vance Returns
Alexis Karnoff
Playboy Larry Blendon introduces his grandmother Stella Blendon to his fiancée, radio singer Virginia Berneaux. Despite Larry's record of broken romances and divorces, Virginia decides she will marry him. Virginia is slain that night and Blandon telephones his friend, Philo Vance, to help find the killer.
Little Iodine
Simkins
Little Iodine does her best to break up the marriage of her parents, ruin a romance and cost her father his job.
Suspense
Pierre Yasha
The proprietor of an ice-skating revue promotes a peanut-vendor at the show to a management position based on suggestions he made to improve the act of the show's star, who also happens to be the owner's wife. However, he soon begins to notice that his new manager is paying more attention to his wife than he believes is appropriate...
Swing Parade of 1946
Pete
A struggling young singer falls for a nightclub owner whose father, a millionaire, is trying to shut it down.
Yolanda and the Thief
Taxi Driver
Johnny Riggs, a con man on the lam, finds himself in a Latin-American country named Patria. There, he overhears a convent-bred rich girl praying to her guardian angel for help in managing her tangled business affairs. Riggs decides to materialize as the girl's "angel", gains her unquestioning confidence, and helps himself to the deluded girl's millions. Just as he and his partner are about to flee Patria with their booty, Riggs realizes he has fallen in love with the girl and returns the money, together with a note that is part confession and part love letter. But the larcenous duo's escape from Patria turns out to be more difficult than they could ever have imagined.
Easy to Look At
Phillipe
In this musical, a talented aspiring costume designer leaves her small town to seek her fortune in the Big Apple. The girl, who is also a singer, soon begins establishing herself in the fashion industry, but when a rival accuses her of stealing a pattern, her career is nearly destroyed. Fortunately, a handsome, romantic hero is around to help her clear her name. Songs include: "Come Along My Heart", "That does It", "Swing Low Sweet Lariat" and "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?".
Hollywood and Vine
Cedric Borris
A young girl arrives in Hollywood determined to become a star in the movies but finds that attaining stardom is a lot more difficult than she counted on. However, she does become a star of sorts — as the owner of a dog who DOES become a movie star.
Earl Carroll Vanities
Baron Dashek
Broadway producer Earl Carroll was a Ziegfeld-like entrepreneur who staged lavish revues featuring attractive young ladies. Carroll's annual "Vanities" provided story material for three Hollywood films: Murder at the Vanities (34), A Night at Earl Carroll's (40) and Earl Carroll Vanities (45). This last film was produced by Republic Pictures, a bread-and-butter studio specializing in Westerns and serials; Republic had made musicals before, but few of them were expensive enough to allow for lavish production numbers. Earl Carroll Vanities is likewise rather threadbare, though some of the individual musical highlights aren't bad. The plot, such as it is, concerns financially strapped nightclub owner Eve Arden, who finagles Earl Carroll into staging one of his revues at her club.
Storm Over Lisbon
Fado Singer
A nightclub star helps trap an enemy agent on the trail of an American newsman.
The Gang's All Here
Waiter (uncredited)
A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
Casablanca
Dealer at Rick's (uncredited)
In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.
That Other Woman
Hotel Waiter
A secretary by the name of Emily Borden comes up with a convoluted plan to get her boss to marry her which backfires after some bad advice.
Road to Morocco
Yusef (uncredited)
Two carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.
Henry Aldrich, Editor
Leon Brink
Appointed editor of his high school newspaper, hapless Henry becomes intrigued by a series of mysterious fires. A mild, timid little fellow named Nero Smith shows up to tip off Henry as to the time and place of the next conflagration. Henry prints the story-and is immediately accused of being the firebug himself!
Night in New Orleans
Waiter in Tavern (Uncredited)
A policeman's family helps to exonerate him of murder charges in the death of a man he had under interrogation.
Kid Glove Killer
Chris Spyro - Cook (uncredited)
Van Heflin stars as the head of a city crime lab who tries to solve the murder of the town mayor by scientifically analyzing evidence.
The Night Before the Divorce
Leo
Marital comedy with a dash of murder.
Roxie Hart
The Ritz Waiter (uncredited)
A café in Chicago, 1942. On a rainy night, veteran reporter Homer Howard tells an increasing audience the story of Roxie Hart and the crime she was judged for in 1927.
Over My Dead Body
Pierre
Berle plays a mystery writer who forever writes himself into corners and is never able to finish a story. While visiting his wife (Mary Beth Hughes) at the office where she works, Berle overhears several men discussing the suicide of a coworker. Struck with a brilliant notion, Berle decides to confess to the murder of the dead man, certain that he'll be able to wriggle out of the situation and thereby have plenty of material for a story.
Design for Scandal
Alexander Raoul
A newsman (Walter Pidgeon) falls in love on Cape Cod with the judge (Rosalind Russell) his angry boss (Edward Arnold) expects him to discredit.
The Night of January 16th
Flight Steward
Accused of killing her employer, financier Bjorn Faulkner, Kit is championed by wisecracking sailor-on-leave Steve Van Ruyle, who has a vested interest in the outcome of the trial.
Niagara Falls
Head Waiter
The nosy antics of a honeymooner puts an unwed couple in the same room.
Nothing But the Truth
Dr. Zarak
Gwen Saunders teams up with her uncle's employee, Steve Bennett, in an attempt to double her $10,000 investment in the family firm. If she can reach the $20,000 mark, her uncle T.T. Ralston will match the figure. Steve bets that if he can spend an entire day without telling a lie, Ralston and his business partners must double Gwen's money. Bennett then earns the enmity of everyone involved in his attempt to win the bet.
Hold Back the Dawn
Mr. Spitzer (uncredited)
Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert her and join his old partner Anita, who's done likewise. But after sweeping teacher Emmy Brown off her feet, he finds her so sweet that love and jealousy endanger his plans.
They Dare Not Love
Pierre
An Austrian prince flees his homeland when the Nazis take over and settles in London. He meets a beautiful Austrian émigré who makes him realize his mistake in leaving. He makes a deal with the Nazis to return in exchange for some Austrian prisoners, but discovers that the Nazis are not to be trusted.
I'll Wait for You
Mr. Lapagos, the Tailor
A gangster hides out on a farm and falls for the farmer's daughter.
Abdul the Bulbul Ameer
Various (voice)
The familiar song is adapted into a cartoon short. Abdul The Bulbul-Ameer, a rotund Arab, gets into a brawl with Ivan Skavinski Scavar, a preening Russian Cossack, over an offense to Abdul's pride. Groucho Marx and a newsreel crew provide running commentary as the pair pummel each other and the surrounding square.
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Alfredo Herrera
Robin Hoodish gangster in 1929 Chicago is an object of affection, kind to New York hood and bad to a bad crook.
Where Did You Get That Girl?
Hayden
In this musical comedy, a motley band of musicians have only their extreme poverty in common. They end up writing a hit and getting a recording contract. The trouble is, the composer's works are never played without another band member doctoring them up to make them swingier. Fortunately, the composer isn't too averse to the changes as he has just won the heart of the beauty who sings his revamped songs. Songs include: "Where Did You Get That Girl?" (Harry Puck, Bert Kalmar, sung by Helen Parrish), "Sergeant Swing," "Rug-Cuttin' Romeo" (Milton Rosen, Everett Carter).
Comrade X
Comrade Baronoff
An American reporter smuggling news out of Soviet Moscow is blackmailed into helping a beautiful Communist leave the country.
Spring Parade
Violinist Orchestra Leader
In this light and lovely romantic musical, a Hungarian woman attends a Viennese fair and buys a card from a gypsy fortune teller. It says that she will meet someone important and is destined for a happy marriage. Afterward she gets a job as a baker's assistant. She then meets a handsome army drummer who secretly dreams of becoming a famous composer and conductor. Unfortunately the military forbids the young corporal to create his own music. But then Ilonka secretly sends one of the drummer's waltzes to the Austrian Emperor with his weekly order of pastries. Her act paves the way toward the tuneful and joyous fulfillment of the gypsy's prediction.
The Mummy's Hand
Ali
A couple of young, out-of-work archaeologists in Egypt discover evidence of the burial place of the ancient Egyptian princess Ananka. After receiving funding from an eccentric magician and his beautiful daughter, they set out into the desert only to be terrorized by a sinister high priest and the living mummy Kharis who are the guardians of Ananka’s tomb.
The Lady in Question
Barber (uncredited)
When a jury member takes in the defendant he couldn't convict, she has a bad influence on his son.
Lucky Partners
Nick #1
Two strangers split a sweepstake prize to go on a fake honeymoon with predictable results.
My Favorite Wife
Waiter - Pacific Club Poolside (uncredited)
Seven years after a shipwreck in which she was presumed dead, Ellen Arden arrives home to find that her husband Nick has just remarried. The overjoyed Nick struggles to break the news to his new bride. But he gets a shock when he hears the whole story: Ellen spent those seven years alone on a desert island with another man.
It's a Date
Captain of Waiters (uncredited)
An aspiring actress is offered the lead in a major new play, but discovers that her mother, a more seasoned performer, expects the same part. The situation is further complicated when they both become involved with the same man.
I Take This Woman
Pancho (uncredited)
On return from Europe Dr. Decker foils glamour girl Georgi from jumping overboard. At Decker's suggestion to keep busy, she assists at his clinic in the slums.
Legion of Lost Flyers
'Frenchy' Rogian
A group of pilots, because of unsavory or unearned reputations, establish an outpost squadron of their own, led by "Loop" Gillian, running charter-flights and hauling supplies in the frozen wastelands of Alaska. The operation does not go without misadventures, foul-ups, and a bit of treachery tossed in.
On Your Toes
Mishka - Slave in Ballet
A Russian dance company agrees to stage the new ballet written by a vaudeville hoofer.
Lady of the Tropics
Assistant to Manager
Playboy Bill Carey woos a half-caste beauty in French Indochina, but her second-class legal status makes a formidable barrier.
Man About Town
Arab Petitioner in Show (uncredited)
Producer Bob Temple, who's brought an American show to London, loves his star Diana, but she won't take him seriously as a lover. To show her, he picks up stranger Lady Arlington, whose financier husband neglects her. On a weekend at the Arlington country house, Bob is used by both Lady A. and her friend to make their husbands jealous; this works all too well, and Bob is in danger from both husbands.
Good Girls Go to Paris
Nightclub Violinist (uncredited)
Jenny Swanson, a waitress on a college campus, is dying to visit Paris. Thanks to English professor Ronald Brooke, she manages to make her dream come true. Besides seeing the sights in the French capital she makes friends with a wealthy family there, the Brands.
The Flying Irishman
Russian Commentator
This is the story of the historic 1938 flight of Douglas 'Wrong Way' Corrigan. Mr. Corrigan starred in this film, which chronicled his infamous flight. On July 17, 1938, Mr. Corrigan loaded 320 gallons of gasoline (40 hours worth) into the tiny, single engine plane. While expressing his intent to fly west to Long Beach, CA, Mr. Corrigan flew out of Floyd Bennett Field heading east over the Atlantic. Instrumentation in the plane included two compasses (both malfunctioned) and a turn-and-bank indicator. The cabin door was held shut with baling wire. Nearly 29 hours later, he landed in Baldonnel near Dublin. He forever claimed to be surprised at arriving in Ireland rather than California. He returned to the US as a hero, with a ticker tape parade in New York and received numerous medals and awards.
Broadway Serenade
'Squeaker'
A married singer, pianist/composer team are struggling to hit it big in New York. Finally, they audition before a Broadway producer, but the producer only wants the singer, leaving the husband without a job and feeling a failure.
Beauty for the Asking
Beauty Shop Owner (uncredited)
Denny breaks up with his fiancée Jean to marries wealthy Flora. When Jean is fired from her job she decides to market the face cream she invented. After sending it to twelve rich woman, only Flora decides to invest in the business. As Denny has no job, the girls give him an office at the factory. The business takes off, but Jean finds that she is still in love with Denny and Denny seems to forget he is married to Flora.
Fisherman's Wharf
Luigi
Carlo Roma and his foster-son, Toma, and their friend Beppo, are living a happy fisherman's life in San Francisco until Carlo's widowed sister-in-law, Stella, shows up with her brat-son, Rudolph, and takes over. Poor Toma gets his feelings hurt and the idea he "isn't wanted" and runs away
Topper Takes a Trip
Bellboy
Mrs Topper's friend Mrs Parkhurst has convinced Mrs topper, to file for a divorce from Cosmo, due to the strange circumstances of his trip with ghost Marion Kirby. Marion comes back from heaven's door to help Cosmo again, this time only with dog Mr. Atlas. Due to a strange behavior of Cosmo, the judge refuses to divorce them, so Mrs Parkhurst takes Mrs Topper on a trip to France, where she tries to arrange the final reasons for the divorce, with help of a gold-digging French baron, Marion takes Cosmo to the same hotel, to bring them back together and to get her own final ticket to heaven, but the whole thing turns out to be not too easy.
The Saint in New York
Driver (Uncredited)
A crime spree in New York forces the police commissioner to turn to Englishman Simon Templar, who fights lawlessness and corruption through unorthodox methods. Templar sets his sights on individual crimes bosses, and after bringing down two vicious leaders through disguise and deception, discovers that there is a mastermind behind all the city's crime.
Woman of the Year
Dimitri Subakov
The story of the tumultuous marriage of a gruff sportswriter and a sophisticated international reporter who work together on the same newspaper.