Lew Ayres
Lew Ayres was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and raised in San Diego, California. A college dropout, he was found by a talent scout in the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles and entered Hollywood as a bit player. He was leading man to Greta Garbo in The Kiss (1929), but it was the role of Paul Baumer in All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) that was his big break. He was profoundly affected by the anti-war message of that film, and when, in 1942, the popular star of Young Dr. Kildare (1938) and subsequent Dr. Kildare films was drafted, he was a conscientious objector. America was outraged, and theaters vowed never to show his films again, but quietly he achieved the Medical Corps status he had requested, serving as a medic under fire in the South Pacific and as a chaplain's aid in New Guinea and the Phillipines. His return to film after the war was undistinguished until Johnny Belinda (1948) - his role as the sympathetic physician treating the deaf-mute Jane Wyman won him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor. Subsequent movie roles were scarce; an opportunity to play Dr. Kildare in television was aborted when the network refused to honor his request for no cigarette sponsorship. He continued to act, but in the 1970s put his long experience into a project to bring to the west the philosophy of the East - the resulting film, Altars of the World (1976), while not a box-office success, won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Award. Lew Ayres died in Los Angeles, California on December 30, 1996, just two days after his 88th birthday.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 2.1236 |
| Birthday | 1908-12-28 |
| Place of Birth | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
| Also Known As | Lewis Frederick Ayre III, |
1930
All Quiet on the Western Front
7.746/905
When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is dest...
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All Quiet on the Western Front
1977
End of the World
3.828/29
After witnessing a man's death in a bizarre accident, Father Pergado goes on a spiritual retreat, where he encounters his alien double bent on world c...
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End of the World
1973
Battle for the Planet of the Apes
5.69/1023
The fifth and final episode in the Planet of the Apes series. After the collapse of human civilization, a community of intelligent apes led by Caesar...
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Battle for the Planet of the Apes
1981
Of Mice and Men
7.1/7
George and Lenny travel through the Depression-era west working at odd jobs, hoping to make enough money to buy their own farm. George must always wat...
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Of Mice and Men
1978
Damien - Omen II
6.422/794
Since the sudden and suspicious deaths of his parents, young Damien has been in the charge of his wealthy aunt and uncle and enrolled in a military sc...
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Damien - Omen II
1978
Suddenly, Love
9/2
Young lovers — she's a child of the ghetto, determined to escape her alcoholic, bickering parents; he's a socially prominent attorney with a long-stan...
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Suddenly, Love
1929
The Kiss
6.313/24
An unhappily married woman is caught up in scandal and murder when her affection toward a young man is misinterpreted.
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The Kiss
1936
Shakedown
0/0
A struggling young engineer, Bob Sanderson, refuses to marry the very-rich Edith Stuart until he can support her on his own earnings. He goes to work...
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Shakedown
1930
The Doorway to Hell
6.3/23
A vicious crime lord decides that he has had enough and much to the shock of his colleagues decides to give the business to his second in command and...
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The Doorway to Hell
1953
Donovan's Brain
6.115/39
A scientist takes the brain of dead man and revives it via electrodes as it lays suspended in a tank of liquid. Soon, the brain grows to possess enorm...
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Donovan's Brain
1948
Johnny Belinda
6.818/74
A small-town doctor helps a deaf-mute farm girl learn to communicate.
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Johnny Belinda
1950
The Capture
6.056/18
A badly injured fugitive explains to a priest how he came to be in his present predicament.
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The Capture
1946
The Dark Mirror
6.958/120
A sister and her disturbed twin are implicated in a murder and a police detective must figure out which one's the killer.
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The Dark Mirror
1974
The Questor Tapes
5.7/20
Project Questor is brainchild of the genius Dr. Vaslovik: he developed plans to build an android super-human. Although he's disappeared and half of hi...
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The Questor Tapes
1938
Holiday
7.294/282
Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams — Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionair...
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Holiday
1942
Fingers at the Window
5.5/15
In Chicago, an unemployed actor aims to solve the mystery concerning a string of ax murders, apparently committed by a lunatic.
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Fingers at the Window
1962
Advise & Consent
7.129/116
Proposed by the President of the United States to fill the post of Secretary of State, Robert Leffingwell appears before a Senate committee, chaired b...
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Advise & Consent
1953
No Escape
4.5/12
When the available evidence in a murder case points to a young woman as the main suspect, her boyfriend, a police detective, arranges for a struggling...
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No Escape
1932
Okay, America!
5.3/3
A gossip columnist's rise to fame. Based closely on the real life of Walter Winchell.
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Okay, America!
1933
State Fair
6.18/25
The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.
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State Fair
1941
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
6.6/8
A variety of predicaments arise to distract Dr. Kildare from his wedding to Nurse Mary Lamont.
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Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1947
The Unfaithful
5.833/21
Christine Hunter kills an intruder and tells her husband and lawyer that it was an act of self-defense. It's later revealed that he was actually her l...
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The Unfaithful
1940
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
6.8/7
A young doctor gives up big-city success to help his father set up a small-town clinic.
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Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
6/5
Jimmy Kildare's impending nuptials are jeopardized by a diagnosis of possible epilepsy in his fiancee's brother.
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Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1971
Earth II
5.036/14
In the near future, a space station dubbed Earth II is built for the purpose of scientific research and world peace. However, that peace is shattered...
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Earth II
1938
Young Dr. Kildare
6.5/8
A medical school graduate takes an internship at a big city hospital, only to be subjected to a rigorous (and sometimes embarrassing) testing of his k...
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Young Dr. Kildare
1941
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
6.8/5
An ice skater sues Kildare (Lew Ayres) for malpractice after his roadside first aid leaves her paralyzed.
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The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1939
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
5.6/13
Intern Kildare heals a millionaire's daughter and tricks Dr. Gillespie into taking a vacation.
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The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1940
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
4.6/14
Kildare tries brain surgery, advised by Dr. Gillespie, and faces a rival for nurse Lamont.
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Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1939
Calling Dr. Kildare
6.1/8
Following an argument with his young protege, the curmudgeonly Dr. Gillespie dumps Jimmy Kildare in a street clinic, hoping to teach him a lesson. Wh...
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Calling Dr. Kildare
1942
Dr. Kildare's Victory
5.8/8
Dr. Gillespie supports Kildare's crusade against their hospital's deal with a rival hospital.
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Dr. Kildare's Victory
1941
Maisie Was a Lady
6.8/4
Showgirl Maisie Ravier finds herself once again out of work. She meets a wealthy playboy who hires her to be his family's new maid. Maisie soon finds...
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Maisie Was a Lady
1939
Broadway Serenade
6.2/4
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...
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Broadway Serenade
1951
New Mexico
3.1/7
Captain Hunt of the cavalry is trying to promote good relations with the Indian chief Acoma. But Hunt's superiors in the military insist on pursuing p...
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New Mexico
1930
East Is West
4/2
Ming Toy is on the auction block in China. She is saved by Billy and taken to San Francisco by Lo Sang Kee. To save her from deportation she is sold t...
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East Is West
1940
The Golden Fleecing
5.3/6
A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.
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The Golden Fleecing
1938
King of the Newsboys
4/3
A poor young man's girlfriend leaves him for a gangster, who has the money and power she wants and the young man doesn't have. Determined to show her...
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King of the Newsboys
1937
The Crime Nobody Saw
4.3/3
Three playwrights develop a plot around a drunk who gets killed in their apartment.
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The Crime Nobody Saw
1932
The Impatient Maiden
10/1
A maid's dream comes true but are not quite what she expected.
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The Impatient Maiden
1933
Don't Bet on Love
0/0
A plumber wins big at the racetrack but then his luck runs out and almost ruins his business. His manicurist girlfriend stands by him and helps him re...
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Don't Bet on Love
1931
Iron Man
5.4/18
Prizefighter Mason loses his opening fight so wife Rose leaves him for Hollywood. Without her around Mason trains and starts winning. Rose comes back...
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Iron Man
1936
Murder with Pictures
5.1/7
Suspected crime boss Nate Girard beats a murder rap, and newspaper photog Kent Murdock is on the story. Girard and lawyer Redfield throw a party for t...
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Murder with Pictures
1936
Panic on the Air
5.3/3
A sports announcer and a friend investigate after a pitcher misses a series. When they discover that gangsters are trying to find a hidden fortune, th...
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Panic on the Air
1939
The Ice Follies of 1939
5.6/10
Mary and Larry are are a modestly successful skating team. Shortly after their marriage, Mary gets a picture contract, while Larry is sitting at home,...
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The Ice Follies of 1939
1939
These Glamour Girls
5.5/10
A drunken college student invites a dance hostess to the big college dance and then forgets he asked her. When she shows up at school, he tries to get...
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These Glamour Girls
1935
Spring Tonic
5.3/3
Betty Ingals walks out on her fiancé in search of adventure. She gets more than she bargained for when she stumbles upon a gang of bootleggers.
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Spring Tonic
1972
The Man
6.3/3
When the President and Speaker of the House are killed in a building collapse, and the Vice-President declines the office due to age and ill-health, S...
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The Man
1938
Rich Man, Poor Girl
5.9/8
A millionaire courts a working-class woman.
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Rich Man, Poor Girl
1939
Remember?
5.8/5
Sky and Linda meet on vacation and become engaged. When Sky introduces Linda to his best friend, Jeff, Linda and Jeff fall in love and marry. But Jeff...
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Remember?
1937
The Last Train from Madrid
4.3/10
The story of seven people: their lives and love affairs in Madrid during the Civil War.
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The Last Train from Madrid
1938
Spring Madness
3.9/5
Harvard senior Sam Thatcher and his best friend and roommate, known as "The Lippencott", plan to go to Russia after graduation, a decision Sam has kep...
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Spring Madness
1930
Common Clay
0/0
Young Ellen Neal gets work as a servant with the wealthy Fullerton family. She falls in love with the Fullerton's handsome young son. But he leaves he...
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Common Clay
1984
Don Camillo
5.581/86
A priest helps the small town he's stationed in to resolve conflicts by working together.
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Don Camillo
2004
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
7/2
Until 1932's Grand Hotel, never had there existed an all-star ensemble cast on film. Conceived by MGM's production genius Irving Thalberg, the film bo...
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Checking Out: Grand Hotel
1933
My Weakness
0/0
A wealthy young man bets his uncle that he can transform a clumsy cleaning lady into a glamorous fashion plate, then marry her off to his bachelor cou...
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My Weakness
1931
Up for Murder
3.5/4
Young reporter accidentially kills his newspaper's editor in a fight over the publisher's mistress, who is also the paper's society editor.
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Up for Murder
1932
Night World
6.667/15
"Happy" MacDonald and his unfaithful wife own a Prohibition era night club. On this eventful night, he is threatened by bootleggers, and the club's st...
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Night World
1978
Battlestar Galactica
6.879/203
A compilation of Battlestar Galactica episodes 1 and 5, with alternate footage. After the destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Mankind, the last majo...
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Battlestar Galactica
1974
Heatwave!
5.9/8
A devastating heatwave hits the Los Angeles area and a young expecting couple try to evade it by escaping to a mountain resort town.
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Heatwave!
1934
Cross Country Cruise
6/2
A young woman is involved with a married man, although she does not know that he is married. He kills his jealous wife and implicates her in the murde...
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Cross Country Cruise
1969
Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
0/0
The pilot film for the long-run series introduced the kindly small-town general practitioner who, following a mild coronary, grudgingly brings in an i...
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Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Matter of Humanities
1929
Big News
4.2/8
A reporter's marriage is jeopardized by his drinking and he finds himself accused of a murder he didn't commit.
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Big News
1980
Reunion
0/0
A married man, returning to his small town for a high school reunion, finds himself torn between his long-ago high school girlfriend and her 17-year-o...
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Reunion
1929
The Sophomore
4.5/2
Joe Collins arrives at Hanford College to begin his second year with $200 to pay his tuition, is enticed into a craps game, and loses all in this nost...
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The Sophomore
1973
The Stranger
3.6/16
An astronaut enters a vortex and crash-lands on a parallel planet where he's not welcome.
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The Stranger
1934
She Learned About Sailors
2.5/2
Shanghai nightclub singer Jean falls in love to a sailor, but after his ship left Shanghai, he is of the opinion that he cannot support her in the Sta...
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She Learned About Sailors
1964
The Carpetbaggers
5.8/37
Jonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.
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The Carpetbaggers
1931
Heaven on Earth
3/2
A young boy finds out that the man he thought was his father actually killed his real father, then adopted him.
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Heaven on Earth
1984
Bruised Celluloid
0/0
The 1930 Hollywood-produced anti-war film "Nothing New in the West" is one of the great works in film history. But like hardly any other cinema classi...
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Bruised Celluloid
1972
She Waits
5.7/7
When a newlywed woman is taken to her husband's hometown to meet his mother, she is possessed by the vengeful spirit of his previous wife.
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She Waits
1934
Servants' Entrance
0/0
Heiress Hedda Nillson certain that her family is about to lose all its money, takes a job as a maid. After the usual trials and tribulations, Hedda fa...
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Servants' Entrance
1986
Under Siege
7.5/2
Terrorists launch an attack against the USA. Their first strike is by a suicide squad that detonates a truckload of explosives at an army base in Wash...
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Under Siege
1994
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
6.833/12
In their very last adventure, Jonathan and Jennifer Hart travel to The Big Apple, where a play she wrote in college is being produced on Broadway. But...
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Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart
1989
Cast the First Stone
0/0
After Diane Martin is raped by a hitchhiker and becomes pregnant, she must face the pious faculty at the school where she teaches who condemn her "loo...
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Cast the First Stone
1936
The Leathernecks Have Landed
5/1
Dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Marines after starting a barroom brawl that gets his leatherneck buddy "Tubby" Waters killed, hothead "Woody" Da...
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The Leathernecks Have Landed
1937
Hold 'Em Navy
3/2
Two football players fight over the same girl.
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Hold 'Em Navy
1947
The Way of Peace
5.5/4
Punctuated with stories from the Bible, the film’s purpose was to reinforce Christian values in the atomic age by condemning the consequences of human...
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The Way of Peace
1976
Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
0/0
The story of Francis Gary Powers, a U-2 pilot for the CIA who was shot down in his spy plane over Russia, captured and imprisoned.
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Francis Gary Powers: The True Story of the U-2 Spy Incident
1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
6.7/6
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a tal...
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A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1931
The Spirit of Notre Dame
6.3/3
Story of two friends who play football, one of whom is a self-centered quarterback who thinks he's the only man on the team.
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The Spirit of Notre Dame
1935
The Lottery Lover
3/2
A crew of young military-school cadets are enjoying their first weekend in Paris. Frank Harrington, a girl-shy cadet, wins the lottery which "They" ha...
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The Lottery Lover
1934
Let’s Be Ritzy
0/0
Complications ensue when a young married couple pretend to be something they're not.
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Let’s Be Ritzy
1935
Silk Hat Kid
6/1
Eddie Howard, a fast-thinking, two-fisted bodyguard, is hired by nightclub-owner Tim Martin to protect him from chiseling gangsters operating an extor...
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Silk Hat Kid
1972
The Biscuit Eater
6.2/17
Nothing warms the heart like the story of a boy and his dog. Lonnie (Johnny Whitaker) and Text (George Spell) are two friends determined, against all...
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The Biscuit Eater
1978
The Story of Noah
2/1
A man of God follows his faith to populate a new world in 'The Story of Noah', a powerful story of devotion, courage and triumph.
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The Story of Noah
1936
Lady Be Careful
4/3
Previously filmed in 1930 as True to the Navy, Kenyon Nicholson's old stage farce Sailor Beware returned to the screen in 1936 as Lady Be Careful. The...
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Lady Be Careful
1946
Blow-Ups of 1946
6/1
Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1946.
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Blow-Ups of 1946
1932
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
0/0
The Cohens and the Kellys invade a Hollywood studio after Kitty becomes the darling of the studio.
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The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
1940
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
5.5/2
This short promotes the premise that movies often create a demand for the fashions seen in them. It starts with a vignette in rural America. A mother...
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Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1976
That's Entertainment, Part II
6.91/39
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical num...
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That's Entertainment, Part II
1939
From the Ends of the Earth
0/0
An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Featuring footage from the MGM films being made at t...
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From the Ends of the Earth
1938
Scandal Street
0/0
Joe McKnight temporarily leaves his fiancée, Nora Langdon, for an expedition in a South American jungle. Nora gets a position as librarian in the smal...
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Scandal Street
1991
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
7.7/6
This documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie director Otto Preminger, whose body of work includes such me...
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Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1979
Letters from Frank
0/0
When aging newspaper Editor Frank Miller is fired after decades of service and replaced by a computer, he cannot take this fate quietly. Frank becomes...
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Letters from Frank
1968
Cocoon
8/1
In this pilot film to the "Hawaii Five-0" television series, special law officer Steve McGarrett tracks down Red Chinese operatives and their spy ring...
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Cocoon
1931
Many a Slip
0/0
Comedy centering on the question of whether a man's wife is or isn't pregnant.
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Many a Slip
1956
One Against Many
0/0
A scientist is faced with a difficult decision. A man devoted to saving lives, he may be forced to kill in order to prevent a statewide livestock epid...
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One Against Many
1956
The Family Nobody Wanted
0/0
A true story, it follows a pastor and his wife through forties beginning with one biological child, Donny. But the upheaval of the war years results i...
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