Ben Hall

Birth : 1899-03-18, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Death : 1985-05-20

History

Benjamin Joseph Hall (March 18, 1899 – May 20, 1985) was an American actor who started performing as a boy and worked for three and a half decades, mainly in small parts. Born in Brooklyn, New York as the eldest child of American stevedore George E. Hall and his English wife Constance L. Fletcher, Ben Hall began making appearances in films when he was little more than ten years old. After a handful of movies, his family moved to Weehawken, New Jersey, and in 1918 Ben took work as a bank clerk in Manhattan. But by 1920, Ben and his mother had moved to Los Angeles (where they were joined later by his younger brother George Jr.). Hall worked as a property man for the studios for a time, but eventually began to get small roles and was eking out a living as an actor again by 1926. He became a minor but fairly frequently-used member of the John Ford Stock Company, and did eight films for John Ford between 1929 and 1946. Most memorable among these bit roles was probably that of the barber who slicks down and perfumes Wyatt Earp's hair in My Darling Clementine (1946). Hall left acting in 1949, though he lived for another 36 years. He died in North Hollywood, California in 1985. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Movies

Cover Up
Printer (Uncredited)
Insurance investigator Sam Donovan is looking into the apparent suicide of a man in a small Midwestern town. All clues leads him into suspecting murder. Unfortunately, no one wants to assist him with the case, including Sheriff Larry Best.
The Noose Hangs High
Messenger (uncredited)
Two window washers who are mistaken by Nick Craig, a bookie, as the messengers he sent for to pick up $50,000. Now the person he sent them to sent two of his men to get the money back but they found out about it. So they try to mail to Craig but a mix up has the money sent somewhere else and the woman who got it spent it. Now Craig needs the money to pay off one of his clients.
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
Luke (Police Stooge) (uncredited)
A gang of criminals, which includes a piano player and an imposing former convict known as 'Gruesome', has found out about a scientist's secret formula for a gas that temporarily paralyzes anyone who breathes it. When Gruesome accidentally inhales some of the gas and passes out, the police think he is dead and take him to the morgue, where he later revives and escapes. This puzzling incident attracts the interest of Dick Tracy, and when the criminals later use the gas to rob a bank, Tracy realizes that he must devote his entire attention to stopping them.
My Darling Clementine
Barber (uncredited)
Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.
Traffic with the Devil
Out-of-Gas Motorist (uncredited)
This "Theater of Life" series short looks at traffic problems in Los Angeles, California, as described and experienced by Sgt. Charles Reineke, a traffic enforcement officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Young Widow
Sailor in Hospital Waiting Room (Uncredited)
A young bride tries to rebuild her life after she learns her husband has been killed in the war.
The Diary of a Chambermaid
Townsman (Uncredited)
Celestine, the chamber-maid, has a new job in the country, at the Lanlaires. She has decided to use her beauty to seduce a wealthy man, but Mr. Lanlaire is not a right choice: the house is firmly controlled by Madame Lanlaire, helped by the strange valet Joseph. Then she tries the neighbour, former officer Mauger. This seems to work. But soon the son of the Lanlaires comes back. He is young, attractive and does not share his mother's antirepublican opinions. So Celestine's beauty attracts Captain Mauger, young Georges Lanlaire, and Joseph. Three men, from three different social classes, with three different conceptions of life. Will Celestine be able to convince Georges of her sincerity?
Movie Pests
Man Next to Peanut-Eating Pest (uncredited)
This Pete Smith Specialty short takes a humorous look at the inconsiderate pests whose annoying habits make enjoying a movie impossible.
Du Barry Was a Lady
Waiter
Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
The Hard Way
Ice Cream Parlor Counterman (Uncredited)
Helen Chernen pushes her younger sister Katherine into show business in order to escape their small town poverty.
The Incredible Stranger
Lou Coon (uncredited)
In December 1892, a silent mysterious and very private man, for whom a new house has just been built, arrives in the small town of Bridgewood to keep a promise.
The Affairs of Jimmy Valentine
Attendant
A New York radio personality travels to the small town of Fernville to oversee a contest to identify retired safecracker Jimmy Valentine, believed to be living there under an assumed name. The close-knit town of upstanding citizens is understandably upset by this venture, all the moreso when some of its citizens begin to be murdered. The radio personality and the local newspaper's young daughter collaborate on solving the murders while revealing Valentine, who has become one of the suspects.
Hellzapoppin'
Goofy Man in Betty's Way (uncredited)
Olsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring together a young couple in love, while breaking the fourth wall every step of the way.
Second Chorus
Western Union Boy (uncredited)
Danny O'Neill and Hank Taylor are rival trumpeters with the Perennials, a college band, and both men are still attending college by failing their exams seven years in a row. In the midst of a performance, Danny spies Ellen Miller who ends up being made band manager. Both men compete for her affections while trying to get the other one fired.
Pride and Prejudice
Poet
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs. Bennet is especially eager to find suitable husbands for them. When the rich single gentlemen Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy come to live nearby, the Bennets have high hopes. But pride, prejudice and misunderstandings all combine to complicate their relationships and to make happiness difficult.
One Million B.C.
Shell Person
One Million B.C. is a 1940 American fantasy film produced by Hal Roach Studios and released by United Artists. It is also known by the titles Cave Man, Man and His Mate, and Tumak. The film stars Victor Mature as protagonist Tumak, a young cave man who strives to unite the uncivilized Rock Tribe and the peaceful Shell Tribe, Carole Landis as Loana, daughter of the Shell Tribe chief and Tumak's love interest, and Lon Chaney, Jr. as Tumak's stern father and leader of the Rock Tribe.
The Grapes of Wrath
Gas Station Attendant in Bakersfield (uncredited)
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.
My Little Chickadee
Schoolboy (uncredited)
While on her way by stagecoach to visit relatives out west, Flower Belle Lee is held up by a masked bandit who also takes the coach's shipment of gold. When he abducts Flower Belle and they arrive in town, Flower Belle is suspected of being in collusion with the bandit.
Marie Antoinette
Young Man Fetching Priest (uncredited)
The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.
Held For Ransom
Hillbilly
A female detective investigates the kidnapping of a wealthy businessman.
Riders of the Black Hills
Reporter Ethelbert
Riders of the Black Hills is a 1938 American Western directed by George Sherman. The intrepid cowboys known as the Three Mesquiteers; Stony (Robert Livingston), Tucson (Ray Corrigan) and Lullaby (Max Terhune) are on the case when rancher Peg Garth's (Maude Eburne) prize racehorse is abducted by bookie Rod Stevens (Tom London) and a secret cohort to prevent it from winning an important race.
Music for Madame
Well-Wisher on Bus (Uncredited)
An Italian immigrant singer, Nino, hoping to succeed in Hollywood, falls in with a gang of crooks who use his talent to distract everyone at a party while they steal the jewels.
Smoke Tree Range
Pete
A cowboy aids an orphaned girl whose cattle are being rustled by an outlaw gang.
You Only Live Once
Messenger with Package (uncredited)
Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is framed for murder, Taylor is forced to flee with his wife Joan Graham and baby. While escaping prison after being sentenced to death, Taylor becomes a real murderer, condemning himself and Joan to a life of crime and death on the road.
A Million to One
Joe
The son of a disgraced Olympic decathlete prepares to become a star in his own right. His quest is complicated by a beautiful girl and a bitter rival.
Fury
Walter "Goofy" Gordon (uncredited)
Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.
The Voice of Bugle Ann
Gabe Armstrong (uncredited)
A Missouri farmer's (Lionel Barrymore) son (Eric Linden) loves the daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) of a neighbor who has killed the farmer's foxhound.
An All American Toothache
Dental Student (uncredited)
Thelma volunteers Patsy as a subject for her friend who is in dental school and needs somebody to practice on.
Strike Me Pink
Student kicked by Bully (uncredited)
Meek Eddie Pink becomes manager of an amusement park beset by mobsters.
Racing Luck
'Knapsack'
Racehorse-owner Dan Morgan is ruled off the track and out of racing when his horse is doped by a rival owner who knows that Dan's horse can win a high-stakes race. Trying to clear his name, Dan runs into many difficulties and incidents, including a blazing barn filled with valuable horses, before he is able to gather the needed evidence against the guilty man.
The Live Wire
Steve
A sailor (Richard Talmadge) journeys to a remote island in search of a rare urn. The film also stars Alberta Vaughn, Charles K. French and Martin Turner.
Steamboat Round the Bend
Fleety Belle's brother
A Louisiana con man enters his steamboat into a winner-take-all race with a rival while trying to find a witness to free his nephew, about to be hanged for murder.
Men Without Names
Mr. Youngblood (uncredited)
A G-man woos a newswoman and corners bank robbers with a hostage in a factory.
Naughty Marietta
Mama's Boy (uncredited)
A French princess flees an arranged marriage and sails for New Orleans, where she is rescued from pirates by a dashing mercenary.
Life Begins at Forty
Square Dance Participant
A small-town newspaper publisher finds himself in opposition to the local banker on the return to town of a lad jailed possibly wrongly for a theft from the bank.
Sequoia
Joe
A wilderness girl raises a deer and a mountain lion to be friends.
Hollywood Trouble
An oil-rich rube who aspires to stardom is bilked by a phony acting school.
The Stranger's Return
Farmhand
A divorcée leaves New York to visit her grandfather's farm and recover in the Midwest, where she unexpectedly falls in love with a married farmer.
Lilly Turner
Western Union Boy (uncredited)
One woman faces many trials on the road to romance after unwittingly marrying a bigamist, then a carnival's barker and then falling for a young engineer.
Strictly Personal
Holbrook (uncredited)
Soapy Gibson (Edward Ellis) and his wife Annie (Marjorie Rambeau) run a lonely hearts club in a small town. Even during the Depression years these were often "clip joints" - places where people with money but no mate got taken by someone offering the promise of companionship. However, Soapy and Annie are strictly on the level - and they have more than one reason to want to stay on the level. You see Soapy escaped from the law years ago, had some plastic surgery and changed his name, and has been living on the lam with his wife ever since.
Girl Missing
Service Station Attendant (Uncredited)
Kay and June, two showgirls, are hurt when they seek financial help from Daisy. On Daisy's wedding night when she is rendered missing, Kay and June decide to look for her to claim the reward.
Parole Girl
Apartment Telephone Operator
A woman convicted of fraud aims to take her revenge on the man who put her inside after being released on parole.
Blondie Johnson
Newsboy (uncredited)
A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.
Face in the Sky
Service Station Attendant (uncredited)
Joe and Lucky travel around New England painting barns in exchange for an advertisement on one side. The meet Madge, who is cruelly treated by a her father who plans to marry her off to someone she despises.
The Sport Parade
Newsboy (uncredited)
Two Dartmouth football players fall in love with the same girl following college graduation.
Vanity Street
Stage Door Johnnie in Bearskin Coat (uncredited)
A New York policeman helps a hungry and penniless young woman start life anew by arranging to get her a job in "The Follies".
Gorilla Ship
Benny - Cabin Boy
Philip Wells and his wife Helen argue a lot about the attention that Philip thinks Helen and his best friend, Dave Burton, are giving each other, but they all sail off together on Philips yacht, until "Gorilla"Larsen and his motley crew show up, scuttle the yacht, and marital-strife is no longer the issue of the day.
Alias Mary Smith
Jake
A young woman trying to obtain proof that a gangster committed a murder is befriended by a playboy who drinks just a bit too much.
Stranger in Town
XYZ Grocery Clerk
Crickle is a tenacious small-town grocer who stubbornly resists the efforts of a monopolistic chain-store firm to purchase his establishment. The chain manager retaliates by cutting off Crickles' supply of produce, whereupon his friends and neighbors save his business by supplying him with goods from their own farms.
After Tomorrow
Soad Jerk
In the Depression, Pete and Sidney are good kids, working hard, giving money to their parents, and engaged for three years while they save to get married. Each has a selfish mother: Sydney's is cold, Pete's is clingy. Sidney's mother is looking for her own happiness, no matter how much that search harms her daughter and long-suffering husband; and, the longer the engagement lingers, the more pressure Pete's mom puts on Sidney to break it off and set her son free. "After Tomorrow" is Pete and Sidney's favorite song, but with illness, poverty, and temptation: will that good day ever come?
Sin's Pay Day
Henchman Rusty (uncredited)
A woman married to a defense lawyer leaves him when he refuses to stop defending criminals she believes are guilty.
The Star Witness
Timekeeper at W.P. Randolph (uncredited)
A tough District Attorney goes after a murderous crime gang, only to find that his witnesses, an innocent family, have clammed up in fear of reprisals.
Newly Rich
Toby (uncredited)
Two small town widows bring their children to Hollywood, where their children become competing film stars. The girl is sweet, the boy is a killjoy sissy. For publicity, the rival families go to London to meet a middle European boy King. The three kids decide they need to escape their stifling lives and run away to the docks and join a gang.
Blood and Thunder
Mr. C. Mortimer Hickey (uncredited)
Mickey overhears the gang rehearsing a play and thinks it's real.
The Office Wife
Office Boy (uncredited)
Larry, a publisher, wants Kate to write a book about the 'Office Wife'. An executive stenographer's duties creates a relationship approaching that of his wife. Little does Larry know that sometimes literature mirrors life.
A Man from Wyoming
Orderly
A story about a man from Wyoming who enlists in the Army and is sent to the front during World War I. There he saves the life of an American society girl working in the Ambulance Corps. Afterwards at a rest camp, they meet again, fall in love, and are secretly married.
Radio Kisses
Marjorie Beebe give advice to the lovelorn service over the air, but she almost fails when she tries to get a man of her own.
Wall Street
Cliff
A very topical early talkie from low-budget company Columbia Pictures, Wall Street starred Ralph Ince, brother of producer Thomas H. Ince, as Roller McCray, a steelworker turned ruthless tycoon whose tough business methods leads a rival (Philip Strange) to commit suicide. The widow (Aileen Pringle), believing she can ruin Ince by using his own methods, conspires with her husband's former partner (Sam De Grasse), but a strong friendship between Ince and Pringle's young son (Freddie Burke Frederick) changes things dramatically. According to future Three Stooges director Edward Bernds, who worked as a sound mixer on Wall Street, Ince's reaction to his rival's suicidal jump from a window ledge was changed from a sneering "I didn't think he had the guts" to the more respectful "I didn't think he'd do it" due to derisive laughter from the film's crew.
The Girl from Woolworth's
Jerry Donelly (uncredited)
Daisy, a clerk at Woolworth's, loves to sing. She meets Bill, a guard on the subway, at a party and they're both attracted to each other, but each tells the other that they have a different job than they actually do. Bill later finds her handbag on the subway, returns it to her and invites her to dinner. They dine at the swanky Mayfield Club, where owner Lawrence Mayfield is also attracted to Daisy and offers her a job there as a singer. Bill is not happy, although Daisy is.
Salute
Midshipman Joel Farragut Gish (uncredited)
A comedy-romance about rival brothers attending a military academy.
Harold Teen
Goofy
Farmboy Harold moves to the city and there attends high school. Soon he is very popular, his spirited nature causing much excitement on the campus. He joins a fraternity, goes out for football, and directs his class theatrical effort. Instead of a school play, Harold suggests doing a western motion picture. Part of the plot requires them to blow up the dam that has cut off the water supply to Harold's homestead in the country. After the explosion Harold runs away because he is afraid of being arrested, but he returns just in time to win a football game for his team.
Baby Brother
Man with glasses
Joe Cobb is a wealthy child who longs for a baby brother. His nursemaid takes him to the other side where he meets some kids his age (the rest of Our Gang) where Joe offers three dollars for a baby. Farina finds a fellow African-American neighbor woman who lets him mind her infant which he then paints white and sells to Joe. The rest of the gang has set an assembly-line system that washes, dries, rocks, and feeds male and female babies.
Girls
Irving Wise
When the girls on campus learn that Tom Drake is so super-shy that he never kissed a girl, they begin betting which one will kiss him first. So the girls line up to try to get their lips on him. However, in this and subsequent scenes, crazy stuff keeps happening to prevent him from getting that kiss.
Casey at the Bat
Scorekeeper (uncredited)
Casey is a slovenly junk man in a turn of the twentieth century hick town who has a remarkable ability to play baseball. An unscrupulous New York scout signs him up, so Casey and his equally dishonest manager go to the big leagues. Eventually, the scout and manager conspire to get him drunk and bet against him for a crucial game with the pennant at stake.
Satan Town
Crippy Jack
"The Wickedest Place in the World - Tourists Welcome", so says the banner across main street. Bill Scott rides into the city looking for adventure. At the Palace Hotel, the wickedest place in Satan Town, Sue of the Salvation Army strives to reach one or two of the drunks, gamblers, and prostitutes that throng the saloon. Malamute, the bouncer at the bar, never shies from a fight, and what's more, he's never lost one. Sue, to her misfortune, has gotten on his nerves.
The Skyrocket
Peter Stanton
In the prologue Sharon Kimm and Mickey Reid are childhood friends in a tenement neighborhood but are separated when Sharon is placed in an orphanage. In the story we see Sharon as a young Hollywood star whose quick rise to fame leaves her self-centered, superficial, and a spendthrift. Ironically, the film that skyrocketed her to fame was written by Mickey. But her success is brief; and when it comes crashing to earth, Mickey is there to pick up the pieces.