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Sheldon Leonard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and writer. Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle class Jewish parents Anna Levit and Frank Bershad. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1929.
As an actor, Leonard specialized in playing supporting characters, especially gangsters or "heavies", in films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946; as bartender Nick), To Have and Have Not (1944), Guys and Dolls (1955), and Open Secret (1948). His trademark was his especially thick New York accent, usually delivered from the side of his mouth. In Decoy (1946), Leonard uses his "heavy" persona to create the hard-boiled police detective Joe Portugal.
On radio from 1945 to 1955, Leonard played an eccentric racetrack tout on The Jack Benny Program and later in the TV series of the same name. His role was to salute Benny out of the blue in railroad stations, on street corners, or in department stores ("Hey Bud. C'mere a minute."), ask Benny what he was about to do, and then proceed to try to argue him out of his course of action by resorting to inane and irrelevant racing logic. As "The Tout," he never gave out information on horse racing, unless Jack demanded it. One excuse the tout gave was, "Who knows about horses?"
Leonard was part of the cast of voice actors on the Damon Runyon Theatre radio show (1948-1949). He was part of the ensemble cast of the Martin and Lewis radio show. He also appeared frequently on The Adventures of the Saint, often playing gangsters and heavies, but also sometimes in more positive roles. Leonard was also a regular on the radio comedy series The Adventures of Maisie in the 1940s. During the 1950s, Leonard provided the voice of lazy fat cat Dodsworth in two Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoons directed by Robert McKimson. In the adventure movie The Iroquois Trail (1950), Leonard played against type in the significant role of Chief Ogane, a Native American warrior, who pursues and fights the frontiersman Nat "Hawkeye" Cutler (George Montgomery) in a climactic duel to the death with knives.
Later in the 1950s and 1960s, he established a reputation as a producer of successful television series, including The Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room For Daddy) (1953–64), The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (1964–69), The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–66), and I Spy (1965–68). He also directed several TV series episodes, including four of the first eight episodes of the TV series Lassie (Season 1, 1954). Leonard also provided the voice of Linus the Lionhearted in a series of Post Crispy Critters cereal TV commercials in 1963-64, which led to a Linus cartoon series that aired on Saturday (and later, Sunday) mornings on CBS (1964–66) and ABC (1967–69). He also was briefly the star of his own television show Big Eddie (1975), where he played the owner of a large sports arena. The show lasted for only ten episodes.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 2.611 |
Birthday | 1907-02-22 |
Place of Birth | Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA |
Also Known As | S.L. Bershad, S. L. Bershad, Sheldon Leonard Bershad, |
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1961
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Pocketful of Miracles
7.3/171
A New York gangster and his girlfriend attempt to turn street beggar Apple Annie into a society lady when the peddler learns her daughter is marrying...
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Pocketful of Miracles
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1946
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It's a Wonderful Life
8.3/4433
A holiday favourite for generations... George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinfli...
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It's a Wonderful Life
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1946
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Decoy
5.9/31
A fatally shot female gangleader recounts her sordid life of crime to a police officer just before she dies.
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Decoy
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1955
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Guys and Dolls
6.589/230
Gambler Nathan Detroit has few options for the location of his big craps game. Needing $1,000 to pay a garage owner to host the game, Nathan bets Sky...
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Guys and Dolls
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1945
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Zombies on Broadway
5.1/25
Two bumbling press agents must search for a zombie to fulfill a commitment to their ex-gangster boss's new nightclub or face the consequences.
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Zombies on Broadway
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1949
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Take One False Step
5.5/16
Catherine Sykes disappears after a midnight drive with Professor Andrew Gentling . When she's presumed murdered, his friend Martha convinces him that...
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Take One False Step
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1949
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My Dream Is Yours
6.5/21
Conceited singer Garry Mitchell refuses to renew his radio contract, so agent Doug Blake decides to find a new personality to replace him. In New York...
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My Dream Is Yours
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1945
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To Have and Have Not
7.5/522
A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.
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To Have and Have Not

1978
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The Brink's Job
6/63
In 1950, a group of unlikely criminal masterminds commits the robbery of the century. Led by Tony Pino, a petty thief fresh out of prison, and Joe McG...
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The Brink's Job
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1947
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The Gangster
4.8/14
Based on the novel Low Company. One of the most peculiar film noirs of the 1940s stars Barry Sullivan as a small-time hood who suffers a mental breakd...
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The Gangster
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1951
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man
6.4/102
As novice detectives, Bud and Lou come face to face with the Invisible Man.
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Invisible Man
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1943
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Hit the Ice
5.9/24
After Flash Fulton and Weejie McCoy take pictures of a bank robbery, they're lured to the mountain resort hideout of the robbers, where they meet an o...
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Hit the Ice
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1945
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Crime, Inc.
4.2/4
A crime reporter writes book to expose names and methods of the criminal leaders. He is held on a charge after refusing to explain how he got his info...
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Crime, Inc.
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1939
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Another Thin Man
7.142/123
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
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Another Thin Man
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1942
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Street of Chance
5.3/18
In this Cornell Woolrich thriller, a man's memory is recovered after being injured by falling construction material. Discovering a year-long lapse, he...
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Street of Chance
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1947
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Violence
5.2/16
Magazine writer Ann Mason infiltrates the United Defenders, a public service organization which is actually a front for racketeers. But a case of amne...
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Violence
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1947
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Sinbad the Sailor
5.9/40
Daredevil sailor Sinbad embarks on a voyage across the Seven Seas to find the lost riches of Alexander the Great. His first stop is the port of Basra,...
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Sinbad the Sailor
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1944
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The Falcon in Hollywood
6/12
Suave amateur detective Tom Lawrence--aka Michael Arlen's literary hero The Falcon--arrives in Hollywood for some rest and relaxation, only to find hi...
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The Falcon in Hollywood
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1941
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Week-End in Havana
6.6/9
A ship company employee, Jay Williams, is sent to Florida where one of the company cruise ships is stuck on a reef off of the coast. He obtains waiver...
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Week-End in Havana

1946
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Her Kind of Man
5.8/6
A singer can't choose between a charismatic gangster and an honest newspaperman.
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Her Kind of Man

1941
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Rise and Shine
6/2
The college president, the head cheerleader and a gambling gangster try to keep a flunking football star in the game
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Rise and Shine

1948
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Open Secret
6.5/6
A couple discovers that their friend has gone missing. Their investigation leads them to believe that anti-semites are behind the disappearance.
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Open Secret

1946
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The Last Crooked Mile
4.7/9
A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.
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The Last Crooked Mile
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1948
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Jinx Money
4.7/3
A man wins $50,000 in a card game with gamblers, but is soon found dead and the money missing. Slip and Sach find the money near where the body was di...
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Jinx Money
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1941
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Tall, Dark and Handsome
5.4/6
Robin Hoodish gangster in 1929 Chicago is an object of affection, kind to New York hood and bad to a bad crook.
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Tall, Dark and Handsome
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1952
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Stop, You're Killing Me
5/1
With the end of Prohibition a former bootlegger and his wife attempt to go straight. Remake of the 1938 film "A Slight Case of Murder".
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Stop, You're Killing Me
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1942
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Tortilla Flat
5.4/23
Danny, a poor northern Californian Mexican-American, inherits two houses from his grandfather and is quickly taken advantage of by his vagabond friend...
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Tortilla Flat

1942
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Born to Sing
5/4
A group of children put on a show in order to prove that a down and out musician was the real composer of a Broadway show's songs.
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Born to Sing
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1946
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Bowery Bombshell
6/2
Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall), Bobby (Bobby Jordan), Whitey (William Benedict) and Chuck (David Gorcey) unsuccessfully try to sell a dilapidate...
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Bowery Bombshell
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1952
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Sock a Doodle Do
6.3/6
A prize-fighting banty rooster, so slap-happy that he goes into a punching spree whenever he hears a bell, falls out of a truck and onto the farm wher...
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Sock a Doodle Do
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2011
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Sheldon Leonard's Wonderful Life
10/1
A loving tribute to a forgotten pioneer of the golden age of television. Starting out as a Runyonesque character actor, Sheldon Leonard went on to pro...
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Sheldon Leonard's Wonderful Life
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1934
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The Gem of the Ocean
0/0
In this musical short, the leading lady is a French woman who finds mystery and romance on a luxury liner. There is much music with a chorus of beauti...
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The Gem of the Ocean
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1943
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Passport to Suez
5.7/6
The Lone Wolf goes undercover in Egypt to foil a Nazi plot to bomb and disable the Suez canal, which is vital to England's war effort.
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Passport to Suez

1946
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Rainbow Over Texas
4/1
Roy visits his home town while on a personal appearance tour. While there he enters a pony express race. To keep him from winning, bad guys try to sab...
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Rainbow Over Texas
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1952
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Young Man with Ideas
4.7/8
A Montana lawyer gets distracted after moving to California with his wife and children.
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Young Man with Ideas

1952
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Kiddin' the Kitten
6.2/12
A lazy and fat cat, named Dodsworth, is ordered by his mistress to catch mice that have invaded her home and are terrorizing her. Dodsworth doesn't wa...
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Kiddin' the Kitten

1952
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Breakdown
6/1
A boxer (William Bishop) jailed for murder proves his girlfriend's (Ann Richards) wealthy father and a ward boss framed him.
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Breakdown

1942
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Lucky Jordan
6/3
Lucky Jordan is a gangster living in New York City and when he's drafted into the army, he tries to escape duty by using an old con woman named Annie...
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Lucky Jordan

1945
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Frontier Gal
4.4/5
Johnny Hart (Rod Cameron) is on the run from the law after killing one of the men who shot his partner. He passes through a town and stops at a saloon...
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Frontier Gal

1953

A Peck o' Trouble
5.6/12
Lazy Dodsworth the Cat wants to catch a woodpecker for his breakfast. The woodpecker has built its home inside the upper trunk of a very tall tree, an...
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A Peck o' Trouble

1943

Taxi, Mister
4.25/4
The owner (William Bendix) of a cab company tries to foil a racketeer.
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Taxi, Mister

1953

The Diamond Queen
0/0
A French jeweler travels to India in search of a fabulous diamond.
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The Diamond Queen

1951
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Behave Yourself!
6.1/15
A young man takes in a dog that turns out to be wanted by mobsters.
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Behave Yourself!

1945
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Why Girls Leave Home
5/5
In this crime drama, a young woman leaves her unhappy life at home to become a sophisticated night club singer. Her first job is nearly fatal when she...
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Why Girls Leave Home

1952

Here Come the Nelsons
6/1
The homespun Nelson family must deal with various comical situations, including an encounter with gangsters.
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Here Come the Nelsons

1946
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Somewhere in the Night
6.7/69
George Taylor returns from WWII with amnesia. Back home in Los Angeles, he tries to track down his old identity, stumbling into a 3-year old murder ca...
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Somewhere in the Night

1944
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Trocadero
5.4/5
A newspaper columnist and host of his own national network radio program, interviewing more film personalities on his show than any other commentator,...
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Trocadero

1941
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Married Bachelor
5.8/3
A man's marriage suffers when he pretends to be a bachelor while promoting "his" best-selling book about married life (actually written by an eccentri...
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Married Bachelor

1978
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Top Secret
0/0
A hip American agent and his foxy associate try to recover a hundred pounds of stolen plutonium in Italy before it can be used by terrorists.
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Top Secret

1944

Gambler's Choice
6/3
The professional gambler Ross Hadley is the owner of a posh gaming establishment in the heart of New York...
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Gambler's Choice

1945

Radio Stars on Parade
0/0
A Hollywood talent agency tries to avoid finacial ruin by getting its best clients on the air.
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Radio Stars on Parade

1948

If You Knew Susie
7.5/2
In the small town of Brookford, everybody can trace their ancestors back to the Revolutionary War, except Sam and Susie Parker. One day, however, they...
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If You Knew Susie

1934

My Mummy's Arms
0/0
Two Americans attempt to make time with the daughter of the British financier of an archaeological expedition to Egypt.
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My Mummy's Arms

1944

Timber Queen
5.7/3
Russ Evans, A WWII veteran army pilot, decides to check up on the widow of an old war buddy of his, Elaine Graham. The logging company she inherited i...
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Timber Queen

1949

Daughter of the Jungle
4.3/3
An airplane carrying a pair of police officers escorting gangsters to prison crash-lands in the African jungle. They are rescued from an attack by sav...
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Daughter of the Jungle

1948
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Alias a Gentleman
6.5/4
Aging ex-con tries to stop his daughter from getting involved with shady characters.
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Alias a Gentleman

1953
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Money from Home
5.8/28
Herman owes a lot of gambling debts. To pay them off, he promises the mob he'll fix a horse, so that it does not run. He intends to trick his animal-l...
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Money from Home

1978
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The Islander
0/0
A retired mainland lawyer buys a small Honolulu hotel and finds himself in a murderous situation involving a runaway grand jury witness, a ruthless mo...
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The Islander

1941
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Private Nurse
0/0
In this brief B programmer, a nurse is hired to care for a widower's daughter who is unaware that her father is a gangster and that her mother is actu...
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Private Nurse

1943
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City Without Men
5/2
A young woman's husband has been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. In order to be near him to try to help him get his sentence overturned, she...
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City Without Men

1950

The Iroquois Trail
5.8/4
An American scout and his Indian friend help the English troops against the French during the French and Indian War.
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The Iroquois Trail

1935

Ouanga
5/3
In Haiti, a black female plantation owner enacts a voodoo curse, and revives zombies for revenge on a white male neighbor, who has chosen a white woma...
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Ouanga

1944

Uncertain Glory
6.6/21
In occupied France, a convicted thief and murderer escapes the guillotine when a bombing raid strikes the prison, but is quickly re-captured by the in...
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Uncertain Glory

1948

Madonna of the Desert
6/1
A jeweled Madonna, property of rancher Joe Salinas, attracts two crooks to his ranch, Monica Dell, a smooth operator, and ruthless Nick Julian. Joe be...
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Madonna of the Desert

1943

Klondike Kate
5.7/3
A young man in Alaska finds himself accused of murder, and must fight to clear his name.
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Klondike Kate

1942

Pierre of the Plains
4.2/4
A French-Canadian trapper's adventures jeopardize his romance with an innkeeper.
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Pierre of the Plains

1941
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Buy Me That Town
6/2
A gangster and his mob buy a small-town in this warm comedy. They, tired of trying to make it as big city hoods, buy the town to use as a hideout. The...
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Buy Me That Town


It's Always Sunday
0/0
A pair of drifters try to hit up a minister as a soft touch for a handout, but they inadvertently end up learning a valuable lesson about trust.
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It's Always Sunday

2020

The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter
0/0
Thirty years of film clips, interviews, outtakes, stills and more pay tribute to the lives and work of the comedy legends known as the Bowery Boys.
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The Bowery Boys: Legends of Laughter

1951
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Come Fill the Cup
7/5
Alcoholic newspaperman Lew Marsh hits bottom, loses his job and is rehabilitated by Charley Dolan. After six years on the wagon he gets his job back a...
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Come Fill the Cup

1943

Harvest Melody
4/1
Farmer Tommy and his girl Jane come in from the country for a night at the Hollywood Trocadero. There, they meet Chuck, Hollywood's Number One press a...
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Harvest Melody

1945
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Captain Kidd
6/28
Cutthroat pirate William Kidd captures Admiral Blayne's treasure ship and hides the bounty in a cave. Three years later, Kidd, posing as a respectable...
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Captain Kidd

1992
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Color Adjustment
6.9/10
From Amos 'n' Andy to Nat King Cole, from Roots to The Cosby Show, black people have played many roles on primetime television. Brilliantly weaving cl...
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Color Adjustment

1945

River Gang
0/0
An orphan girl lives with apparently kind uncle who turns out to be a murderer.
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River Gang

1948

Joe Palooka in Winner Take All
6/1
Joe is scheduled for the big fight as usual. This one has more fight sequences than plot.
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Joe Palooka in Winner Take All

1988

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
6/1
Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
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James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

1946

The Gentleman Misbehaves
0/0
After his first attempt to obtain cash fails, a Broadway producer turns to a gambler to raise money for his show.
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The Gentleman Misbehaves

1990

The Making of 'It's a Wonderful Life'
6/2
Tom Bosley hosts a documentary the looks into the story behind how one of cinema's greatest films It's A Wonderful Life was made.
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The Making of 'It's a Wonderful Life'

1947

The Fabulous Joe
5.8/4
Milo Terkel's life is never the same after he is willed a dog named Joe. Milo buys his wife a diamond necklace for their anniversary, but when he retu...
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The Fabulous Joe

1948
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Shep Comes Home
6/1
Little Larry Havens, whose father died in WWII, runs away from home to keep from being separated from "Shep," his father's dog. In Arizona, he is befr...
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