Known for Acting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. Beavers appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows from the 1920s until 1960, most often cast in the role of a maid, servant, or slave. She was a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, and a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority, one of the four African-American sororities. Beavers was a breakthrough actress for black women and became known as a symbol of a "mammy" on the screen. A mammy archetype "is the portrayal within a narrative framework or other imagery of a black domestic servant, generally good-natured, often overweight, and loud". Louise Beavers started her career in the 1920s. At the time, black people in films were limited to acting in only very few roles, usually as slaves or domestic help. She played the "mammy" in many of the movies she acted in. She started to gain more attention in the acting world after she played the role of Julia in Coquette, which starred Mary Pickford. In this film she played the black maid and mother figure to a young white woman. She once received a review which stated: "Personally, Miss Beavers is just splendid, just as fine as she appears on screen, but she also has a charm all her own, which needs no screen role for recognition. She has a very pleasing personality, one that draws people to her instantly and makes them feel that they are meeting a friend instead of a Hollywood Star." Beavers had an attractive personality, and often played roles in which she helps a white protagonist mature in the course of the movie. In 1934, Beavers played Delilah in Imitation of Life in a dramatic role. Her character again plays a black maid, but instead of the usual stereotypical comedic or purely functional role, Delilah's story line is a secondary parallel plot. The public reacted positively to Beavers' performance. It was not only a breakthrough for Beavers, but was also "the first time in American cinema history that a black woman's problems were given major emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture". Some in the media recognized the unfairness of Hollywood's double standard regarding race. For example, California Graphic Magazine wrote, "the Academy could not recognize Miss Beavers. She is black!" As Beavers' career grew, some criticized her for the roles she accepted, alleging that such roles institutionalized the view that blacks were subservient to whites. Beavers dismissed the criticism. She acknowledged the limited opportunities available, but said: "I am only playing the parts. I don't live them." As she became more famous, Beavers began to speak against Hollywood's portrayal and treatment of black Americans, both during production and after promoting the films. Beavers became active in public life, seeking to help support African Americans. In later life, Beavers was plagued by health issues, including diabetes. She died on October 26, 1962, at the age of 60, following a heart attack. Beavers was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1976.
Born
March 8, 1902
Died
October 26, 1962 (age 60)
Birthplace
Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Filmography
148 films, 5 shows


The Facts of Life
1960 · 1h 43m · US
Middle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages. Although each always found the other's manner grating, they fall in love when thrown together--without their spouses--on vacation. On returning home they try to break things off, only to grow closer. A holiday together will finally settle whether they should end their marriages.


All the Fine Young Cannibals
1960 · 1h 52m · US
An ambitious farm girl rushes into marriage with a rich man, almost destroying four lives in the process.


The Goddess
1958 · 1h 44m · US
A woman adored by the people around her ultimately struggles to be happy with herself.


Tammy and the Bachelor
1957 · 1h 29m · US
An unsophisticated young woman from the Mississippi swamps falls in love with an unconventional southern gentleman.


The Hostess with the Mostes'
1957 · 1h 30m · US
The story of Perle Mesta, who became, first, a renowned society hostess, and then an ambassadress.


Teenage Rebel
1956 · 1h 34m · US
Nancy Fallon gets her teenage daughter back from her ex-husband when she remarries and must win her love.


You Can't Run Away from It
1956 · 1h 35m · US
A reporter stumbles on a runaway heiress whose story could salvage his career.


Good-bye, My Lady
1956 · 1h 34m · US
An old man and a young boy who live in the southeastern Mississippi swamps are brought together by the love of a dog.


Never Wave at a WAC
1953 · 1h 27m · US
A divorced socialite decides to join the Army in an effort to see more of her colonel boyfriend. She soon encounters many difficulties with the lifestyle. Moreover, her ex-husband is working as a consultant, and he uses his position to disrupt her romantic plans by making her join a group of WACs testing new equipment.


I Dream of Jeanie
1952 · 1h 29m · US
The life and career of famed American composer Stephen Foster.


Colorado Sundown
1952 · 1h 7m · US
The Hurley's own a lumber mill and want to harvest all the timber in the valley. They kill the Forester and substitute their brother Dusty in his place. Dusty then says all the trees are infected and must be cut down. But Rex Allen is suspicious and writes to the Forestry Department and gets involved with the murders.


My Blue Heaven
1950 · 1h 35m · US
Radio star Kitty Moran, long married to partner Jack, finds she's pregnant, but miscarries. For a change, the couple turn their act into a series on early TV and try to adopt a baby. Finally they acquiring a girl in a somewhat back alley manner.


The Jackie Robinson Story
1950 · 1h 17m · US
Biography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century. Traces his career in the negro leagues and the major leagues.


Tell It to the Judge
1949 · 1h 27m · US
Marsha Meredith, an attorney-at-law, is nominated for a federal judgeship, but her nomination is opposed by a 'Good-Government' group that thinks her divorce makes her unfit for the job. This evolves into situations, happening in Florida, New England, Washington D.C., and the Adirondacks, such as the misunderstood husband trying to win back his wife, and the misunderstood wife trying to make her husband jealous, and one case of mistaken identity after another, after another.


Good Sam
1948 · 1h 54m · US
Sam Clayton has a good heart and likes to help out people in need. In fact, he likes to help them out so much that he often finds himself broke and unable to help his own family buy the things they need--like a house.


For the Love of Mary
1948 · 1h 30m · US
Young girl gets a job at the White House as a switchboard operator and gets mixed up in politics.


A Southern Yankee
1948 · 1h 30m · US
Red Skelton plays Aubrey Filmore, a feather-brained but lovable bellboy who dreams of becoming an agent for the Union's secret service during the Civil War.


Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
1948 · 1h 34m · US
An advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the country, only to find the transition fraught with problems.


Banjo
1947 · 1h 8m · US
Family drama about a young farm girl, suddenly orphaned, who must give up her beloved dog when she's sent to live with her aunt in Boston.


Lover Come Back
1946 · 1h 30m · US
A wife decides to take revenge when she learns her husband has been unfaithful.


Young Widow
1946 · 1h 40m · US
A young bride tries to rebuild her life after she learns her husband has been killed in the war.


Delightfully Dangerous
1945 · 1h 32m · US
Young Sherry Williams dreams of having a singing career, and she idolizes her older sister Josephine, who has gone to New York to perform on the stage. When Sherry is distraught just before performing at her school, a visiting Broadway producer encourages her by telling her positive things about her sister. Soon afterwards, Sherry decides to make a surprise trip to New York to visit Josephine - but what she finds there is not at all what she expected


Barbary Coast Gent
1944 · 1h 27m · US
Honest Plush Brannon is a con-man thrown out of the Barbary Coast in San Francisco in the 1880s and headed for the gold rush region of Nevada. He discovers a real mine which lead to several complications.


Dixie Jamboree
1944 · 1h 12m · US
A medicine man on the last show boat on the Mississippi is mistaken by two gangsters as a bootleger, and has to envade them.


South of Dixie
1944 · 1h 1m · US
To save their music publishing firm from bankruptcy, Bill "Brains' Watson creates a colorful life-story about his partner, Danny Lee, representing him as a descendant of Louisiana's famous Josh Lee family and rightful poet laureate of Dixieland.


Follow the Boys
1944 · 2h 2m · US
During World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every star on the lot--often playing themselves--in musical numbers and comedy skits, and were meant as morale-boosters to both the troops overseas and the civilians at home. This was Universal Pictures' effort. It features everyone from Donald O'Connor to the Andrews Sisters to Orson Welles to W.C. Fields to George Raft to Marlene Dietrich, and dozens of other Universal players.


There's Something About a Soldier
1943 · 1h 21m · US
Five officer candidates fight to prove their mettle during training.


Top Man
1943 · 1h 14m · US
In this WW II musical, a young man suddenly finds himself in charge of his family when his father is called to war. To help the flagging spirits of local factory workers, the plucky lad, his siblings and his schoolmates put on a lively little show. With a little work, he even convinces Count Basie to come with his band.


Du Barry Was a Lady
1943 · 1h 41m · US
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.


All by Myself
1943 · 1h 8m · US
Career woman Jean. almost a partner in Mark's advertising firm, has been falling in love with Mark, who of course is unaware of it. But unknown to Jean, Mark has become engaged to singer Val. When Jean finds out she tries to save face by saying that she is also engaged, and then uses a little social blackmail to get psychiatrist Bill Perry to pretend to be her fiancé for an evening out with Mark and Val.


Good Morning, Judge
1943 · 1h 7m · US
A songwriter is sued for libel, and when he gets to court he discovers that his girlfriend is the plaintiff's attorney.


Seven Sweethearts
1942 · 1h 38m · US
Little Delft, Michigan follows the customs of old-world Holland and is known for its Tulip Festival. The owner of the hotel insists that his seven daughters marry in order, from eldest to youngest.


The Big Street
1942 · 1h 28m · US
After her abusive gangster boyfriend pushes her down a flight of stairs, self-absorbed nightclub torch singer Gloria Lyons becomes paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Despite her bitter treatment of him, busboy Little Pinks selflessly takes her in and cares for her as she alienates others.


Holiday Inn
1942 · 1h 41m · US
Lovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants her for his new dance partner after fickle Lila Dixon gives him the brush. Jim's supper club, Holiday Inn, is the setting for the chase by Hanover and his manager.


Reap the Wild Wind
1942 · 1h 59m · US
The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.


Young America
1942 · 1h 13m · US
Young America is a 1942 American drama film directed by Louis King and written by Samuel G. Engel. The film stars Jane Withers, Jane Darwell, Lynne Roberts, Robert Cornell, William Tracy and Roman Bohnen. The film was released on February 6, 1942, by 20th Century Fox.


The Vanishing Virginian
1942 · 1h 37m · US
The perineal District Attorney and conservative southern patriarch cherishes the old ways and does his best to adjust to change.


Shadow of the Thin Man
1941 · 1h 37m · US
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of corruption, blackmail, gambling scandals, and criminal intrigue. As Nick investigates, he encounters suspicious bookmakers, dishonest officials, rival gangsters, and a mysterious killer determined to stay ahead of the law. Nora, as always, is never far from the action, bringing her quick wit and fearless curiosity to the case.


Belle Starr
1941 · 1h 23m · US
After her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain Sam Starr Belle Shirley vows to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his small guerrilla group for a series of raids on banks and railroads, carpetbaggers and enemy troops. Belle's bravado during the attacks earns her a reputation among the locals as well as the love of Starr himself. The pair get married, but their relationship starts to break down when Sam Starr lets a couple of psychotic rebels into the gang, leaving Belle to wonder if he really cares about the Southern cause.


Kisses for Breakfast
1941 · 1h 22m · US
A newlywed develops amnesia and can't remember his wife.


Sign of the Wolf
1941 · 1h 9m · US
Two German shepherds and their mistress crash-land in Canada by a fox breeder's farm.


Virginia
1941 · 1h 50m · US
Post-Civil War romantic drama about defeated Southerners, starring Madeleine Carroll and Fred MacMurray.


I Want a Divorce
1940 · 1h 15m · US
Comedy about newlyweds wondering if their marriage was a mistake.


No Time for Comedy
1940 · 1h 38m · US
An aspiring playwright finds himself an overnight Broadway success.


Primrose Path
1940 · 1h 33m · US
Ellie Mae lives on Primrose Hill with her good-hearted and fancy free mother, her drunken father, her younger sister and a mean-spirited grandmother. The Hill is not a good part of town, however. When she meets and falls for a hard-working man, they marry and she hides her past from him. When he discovers the truth it jeopardizes their marriage.


Women Without Names
1940 · 1h 2m · US
Joyce and Fred MacNeil's honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused of murder. Railroaded into prison through the efforts of politically ambitious assistant DA Marlin, Fred awaits his doom on Death Row, while Joyce works overtime on the outside to clear her husband's name


Parole Fixer
1940 · 1h 8m · US
This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, takes dead aim on lawyers who manipulate the justice system in order to get undeserving convicts parole from prisons. The point is made when FBI agents are assigned to track down "Big Boy" Bradmore, who after getting an undeserved parole, via the efforts of a shyster lawyer, promptly murders an FBI agent.


The Lady's from Kentucky
1939 · 1h 7m · US
Good-natured gambler Marty Black falls into ownership of a booking joint but soon falls on hard times. His one out is a marker for half-ownership in a young thoroughbred, which he quickly calls in. He discovers the other owner to be a young woman from an old horse racing family who wants to protect her colt almost as much as Marty wants to rush him into big races for a fast buck. While they clash, Marty soon comes to understand the human bond with the horses and what it means to be a thoroughbred.


Reform School
1939 · 1h 22m · US
A female warden takes over at a state reform school and attempts to bring about needed changes. Restored in 2020 by the Academy Film Archive with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts from a 16mm print donated by Giancarlo Esposito and Laurence Fishburne.


Made for Each Other
1939 · 1h 32m · US
A couple struggle to find happiness after a whirlwind courtship.


Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
1938 · 1h 18m · US
Trouble-prone Billy Peck and his gang descend on a traveling circus that has just hit town, and before long their antics are causing the circus owner all kinds of problems.


The Headleys at Home
1938 · 1h 9m · US
In this domestic comedy, a social climbing wife inadvertently creates trouble when she insists that her husband invite a renowned financier, who is new in town, to their house for dinner. Her husband doesn't know the man, and is too intimidated to ask him; instead, he hires an actor to play him.


Brother Rat
1938 · 1h 27m · US
Story of three buddies at the Virginia Military Institute. Cadet Bing Edwards is secretly married and soon to be a father.


Life Goes On
1938 · 1h 10m · US
The husband of Sally Weston dies, and she decides to move to New York City where she feels her two young sons, Bob and Henry, can get a better education. Bob grows up to be a brilliant lawyer, while Henry decides that a life of crime is the best path to easy riches. Gangster "Bull" Connors frames Henry, now known as Monte, on a murder charge, and it is up to Bob to clear his brother.


Scandal Street
1938 · 1h 2m · US
Joe McKnight temporarily leaves his fiancée, Nora Langdon, for an expedition in a South American jungle. Nora gets a position as librarian in the small town of Midberg, where she boards with the Smith family. Nora is befriended by her next-door neighbor Austin Brown, who, unknown to his wife, is engaged in a moneymaking scheme with James Wilson.


The Last Gangster
1937 · 1h 21m · US
A crime boss goes searching for his ex-wife and son after a ten-year prison stint. His old gang has other plans though, and use the child to try and make him disclose the location of the loot he hid before going to the slammer.


Love in a Bungalow
1937 · 1h 7m
A radio contest brings together a woman renting a bungalow, and her squatter. Version of Hi, Beautiful! (1944), both from the story "Be It Ever So Humble," by Eleanore Griffin and William Rankin.


Wings Over Honolulu
1937 · 1h 18m · US
A Navy pilot gets involved in a romantic triangle while stationed in Hawaii.


Make Way for Tomorrow
1937 · 1h 32m · US
An elderly couple are forced to separate themselves from each other after their children refuse to take both into one house.


Rainbow on the River
1936 · 1h 27m · US
A young boy is forced to leave his family in the South and move in with relatives he doesn't know in New York.


General Spanky
1936 · 1h 11m · US
Orphaned shoeshine boy Spanky is working on a Mississippi riverboat during the Civil War. There he befriends young runaway slave Buckwheat. After wronging a vicious gambler, Spanky and Buckwheat are forced to jump ship. Finding solace at a nearby house, the two are picked by Marshall Valiant for an important mission. This inspires Spanky to organize the local kids to form a small army of their own.


Wives Never Know
1936 · 1h 15m · US
The blissful marriage of Homer and Marcia Bigelow is disrupted when Marcia hosts a party for one J. Hugh Ramsay, author of the bestselling book, "Marriage—The Living Death".


Bullets or Ballots
1936 · 1h 22m · US
After Police Captain Dan McLaren becomes police commissioner, former detective Johnny Blake publicly punches him, convincing rackets boss Al Kruger that Blake is sincere in his effort to join the mob. "Bugs" Fenner, meanwhile, is certain that Blake is a police agent.


Annapolis Farewell
1935 · 1h 15m · US
Commodore Fitzhugh, an old retired naval officer, lives at the Annapolis Naval Academy and, unhappy with the "modern" navy, likes to talk about his days in the "old" navy, especially about his part in the Battle of Manila Bay under Adm. Dewey during the Spanish-American War, when he commanded the USS Congress. That ship, now decommissioned and docked in Annapolis harbor, is--unknown to Fitzhugh--about to be towed out to sea to be used for target practice. When Fitzhugh finds this out, he sets out to either save his beloved vessel or "go down with his ship".


West of the Pecos
1934 · 1h 8m · US
Richard Dix stars as Pecos Smith, a strong, silent Westerner suspected of cattle rustling.


Imitation of Life
1934 · 1h 51m · US
A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.


Beggar's Holiday
1934 · 1h · US
A young woman falls in love with the man of her dreams, not knowing that he's an embezzler who's about to flee the country.


I Give My Love
1934 · 1h 10m
After accidentally killing her no-good husband, Judy makes her true love promise not to tell her small son about his imprisoned mother. She is released ten years later...


Dr. Monica
1934 · 53m · US
A prominent New York doctor, unable to have a child, discovers her philandering husband has impregnated her best friend.


The Merry Frinks
1934 · 1h 8m · US
An heiress abandons an out-of-work husband, two sons and a lovesick daughter.


Cheaters
1934 · 1h 5m · US
A criminal gang is after a rich man's money. A female member of the gang gets the bright idea of getting him to marry her, then getting a healthy settlement after a quick divorce.


A Modern Hero
1934 · 1h 11m · US
A 1920s circus performer uses every means at his disposal to achieve fame and fortune at the expense of others.


Merry Wives of Reno
1934 · 1h 4m · US
Three couples raise a ruckus when they travel to Nevada for quickie divorces.


Glamour
1934 · 1h 14m · US
An ambitious chorus girl finds fame, marriage, and motherhood with a talented composer, only to leave him for a handsome singer.


I Believed in You
1934 · 1h 9m · US
An aspiring writer and her boyfriend, a professional agitator head off to the Big Apple in search of good fortune. Unfortunately, the agitator soon finds himself in trouble with the cops. Meanwhile the writer attempts to become a Greenwich Village Bohemian type. She and her new friends are all starving for their art until a kindly gent offers them financial assistant. They refuse on principle. Tragedy pays a call when the writer learns that her boyfriend has been untrue.


Registered Nurse
1934 · 1h 3m · US
In this sudsy hospital melodrama, a married nurse finds herself falling in love with one of two surgeons when her husband goes mad and needs an operation. One of the surgeon's regards his pursuit a lark, while the other harbors genuine affections for the nurse.
Strictly Fresh Yeggs
Strictly Fresh Yeggs
1934 · 22m · US
After spending the night out drinking, a man tries to find his way home, but can't quite get there.


The Woman Condemned
1934 · 1h 6m · US
When a radio star is found murdered in her home, everyone assumes that the mysterious young woman discovered with her is the culprit — everyone, that is, but newspaper reporter Jerry Beall, who sets out to prove her innocence.


Gambling Lady
1934 · 1h 6m · US
A businesslike syndicate runs all the gambling joints in town; least profitable is honest Mike Lee's. Under pressure to allow cheating, Mike "walks out," leaving tough-minded daughter Lady Lee to earn a living the only way she knows. She soon becomes a success gambling among the rich, but, falling out with the syndicate, she considers the marriage proposal of blueblood Garry Madison. Can such a match work despite snobbery and old associations?


I've Got Your Number
1934 · 1h 9m · US
Two telephone repairmen have many adventures and romance a pair of blondes.


Bedside
1934 · 1h 6m · US
Bob Brown uses his bedside manner to charm his patients while his partner makes the actual diagnoses.


Palooka
1934 · 1h 26m · US
Joe Palooka is a naive young man whose father Pete was a champion boxer, but his lifestyle caused Joe's mother Mayme to leave him and to take young Joe to the country to raise him.


In the Money
1933 · 1h 6m · US
When the chemical company owned by eccentric Professor Higginbottom files for bankruptcy, the formerly-affluent family loses its income. Levelheaded oldest daughter Lambie struggles to make ends meet but has trouble persuading her carefree, profligate siblings to cut down on their spending. Youngest brother Dick enters a motorcycle race to win $500, but crashes his bike on the speedway and is paralyzed. Shocked into reality by the tragedy, Lambie's younger sister Babs persuades ex-prizefighter Gunboat Bimms to enter the ring one last time in hopes of winning a purse that will pay for Dick's surgery.


Only Yesterday
1933 · 1h 45m · US
On the back of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, a young businessman is about to commit suicide. With a note to his wife scribbled down and a gun in his hand, he notices an envelope addressed to him on his desk. As he begins to read, we're taken back to World War One and his meeting with a young woman named Mary Lane.


Bombshell
1933 · 1h 36m · US
A glamorous film star rebels against the studio, her pushy press agent and a family of hangers-on.


Her Splendid Folly
1933 · 1h · US
Solomon Ginsberg is the President of International Pictures Corporation and hires Joan McAllister, an unemployed stenographer, to double for his star, Laura Girard. While on a location trip, Laura is killed in an automobile accident, and in order to save the money already invested in the film Ginsberg, aided by the film's leading-man, Wallace Morely, with whom Joan is more than a little infatuated, persuades Joan to assume the identity of the dead actress, whose death is being concealed.


Notorious But Nice
1933 · 1h 5m · US
A lover selflessly steps aside to let her guy go so he can hook up with a rich dame. Sadly, the goodie good girl ends up marrying some scum bag gambler. When the scum bag is shot and killed, the little goodie good is the prime suspect. Can her old beau come to the rescue and save her from the death penalty? Hell, its the least he can do, or is he a scum bag too!


The Midnight Patrol
1933 · 20m · US
Novice policemen Stan and Ollie bungle a burglary investigation.


A Shriek in the Night
1933 · 1h 6m · US
Rival newspaper reporters Pat Morgan and Ted Rand find themselves unraveling the mystery behind the death of a millionaire philanthropist who fell from his penthouse balcony. When it is discovered that the plunge was not an accident, the building's residents come under suspicion. Soon, the body count begins to mount as three more murders occur by strangulation.


Her Bodyguard
1933 · 1h 11m · US
The "sugar daddy" of a Broadway star hires a bodyguard to protect her from thieves out to steal the jewels he's given her and also from the attentions of other men, most notably the producer of the show in which she's starring. However, soon the bodyguard and the star begin to become attracted to each other.


Midnight Mary
1933 · 1h 14m · US
While on trial for her life, a young woman recalls her tough upbringing and her involvement with the men who brought her to this current state of affairs.


Hold Your Man
1933 · 1h 27m · US
Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidentally kills the man they were setting up. Eddie takes off and Ruby is sent to a reformatory for two years.


What Price Innocence?
1933 · 1h 4m · US
A young woman has to pay the price for fooling around with men.


The Story of Temple Drake
1933 · 1h 11m · US
The coquettish granddaughter of a respected small-town judge is stranded at a bootleggers’ hide-out, subjected to an act of nightmarish sexual violence, and plunged into a criminal underworld that threatens to swallow her up completely.


The Big Cage
1933 · 1h 22m · US
A circus on the verge of bankruptcy decides to save itself by staging a animal act with lions and tigers for the first time.


Central Airport
1933 · 1h 12m · US
Aviator Jim Blaine and his brother Neil are rivals not only as daredevil flyers, but also for the love of parachutist Jill Collins.


Pick-up
1933 · 1h 16m · US
The scheme of a pair of married con artists goes awry when their victim dies, and they are both caught and imprisoned. When she gets out of prison, she tries to put her life back together.


The Phantom Broadcast
1933 · 1h 12m · US
A handsome radio singer has it all--fame, money, adoring fans--but what no one knows is that his accompanist, a hunchbacked piano player, is actually the voice behind the arrogant, abusive "singer"'s fame. The two men fall for the same girl, and when the singer turns up dead, suspicion falls upon his assistant and the girl.


42nd Street
1933 · 1h 29m · US
Broadway director Julian Marsh needs just one more hit show so he can retire and recover his health. It looks like he just may pull it off until temperamental star Dorthy Brock breaks her ankle on the eve of the show's premiere and has to be replaced by her understudy Peggy.


Girl Missing
1933 · 1h 9m · US
Showgirls Kay and June are stranded on Palm Beach when they become involved in the case of a fellow chorine who has gone missing on her wedding night.


She Done Him Wrong
1933 · 1h 5m · US
New York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more male friends than can be imagined. One is a vicious escaped criminal on the way to see 'his' girl, unaware she hasn't exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader.
Hunting Trouble
Hunting Trouble
1933 · 20m · US
A wife tries to hide a surprise birthday present from her husband but the butler causes trouble.


Too Busy to Work
1932 · 1h 16m · US
A hobo searches the countryside for the daughter he lost when his wife left him...


Wild Girl
1932 · 1h 18m · US
Salomy Jane, a California mountain girl, is sought after by a number of men in the nearby small town of Redwood City. She is affected when two criminals are pursued by authorities: one for killing a hypocritical mayoral candidate, the other for robbing the stagecoach.


Hell's Highway
1932 · 1h 2m · US
A prison-camp convict learns that his younger brother will soon be joining him behind bars.


Divorce In The Family
1932 · 1h 18m · US
A child struggles to come to terms with his parents' divorce. Director Charles Reisner's 1932 drama stars Jackie Cooper, Lewis Stone, Conrad Nagel, Lois Wilson, Jean Parker and Louise Beavers.


Doctor X
1932 · 1h 16m · US
A wisecracking reporter investigates the cannibalistic 'Moon Killer' murders tied to a medical academy, culminating in a chilling reenactment experiment.


Unashamed
1932 · 1h 17m · US
A debutante's (Helen Twelvetrees) brother (Robert Young) stands trial for killing her no-good lover.


What Price Hollywood?
1932 · 1h 28m · US
Sassy and ambitious waitress Mary Evans amuses and befriends amiable seldom-sober Hollywood film director Max Carey when he stumbles into her restaurant. Max invites Mary to his film premiere and, after a night of drinking and carousing, Mary is granted a screen test. A studio contract follows. Just as Mary finds her dreams coming true, Carey’s life and career begins its descent.


The Dark Horse
1932 · 1h 15m · US
The Progressive Party convention is deadlocked for governor, so both sides nominate the dark horse Zachary Hicks. Kay Russell suggests they hire Hal Blake as campaign manager; but first they have to get him out of jail for not paying alimony. Blake organizes the office and coaches Hicks to answer every question by pausing and then saying, "Well yes, but then again no." Blake will sell Hicks as dumb but honest. Russell refuses to marry Blake, while Joe keeps people away from Blake's office. Blake teaches Hicks a speech by Lincoln. At the debate when the conservative candidate Underwood recites the same speech, Blake exposes him as a plagiarist. Hicks is presented for photo opportunities and gives his yes-and-no answer to any question, including whether he expects to win.


Street of Women
1932 · 59m · US
An architect has an affair with a woman who inspires him. Her brother is in love with the architect's daughter. The complicated entanglement leads to misunderstanding and dissolution, but ultimately love.


The Strange Love of Molly Louvain
1932 · 1h 13m · US
A fast-talking reporter befriends a young woman and her male companion who are wanted for a policeman's shooting.


Night World
1932 · 58m · US
"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 star dancer falls in love with a young socialite who drinks to forget a personal tragedy, among other incidents.


Young America
1932 · 1h 10m · US
Mrs. Doray sits with a Juvenile Court Judge to learn more about problem children and what to do about them. One of the cases involves 13 year old Arthur, "the worst kid in town", who moves cars away from fiire-plugs without the knowledge of the owners. The judge gives Arthur and friend Nutty another chance. However they run into further trouble when they break into Mr. Doray's drugstore to get medicine for Nutty's grandmother. Mr. Doray is not sympathetic and completely against his wife's plan to become Arthur's guardian. More incidents occur with Mr. Doray quick to judge prior to getting all of the facts. Mrs. Doray must choose between her marriage and Arthur.
You're Telling Me
You're Telling Me
1932 · 19m · US
In this The Boy Friends series short, college students Mickey and Alabam stay at a city friend's place for what they tell him will be one night - though it stretches into several months.


It's Tough to Be Famous
1932 · 1h 19m · US
Scotty, an unwilling Navy war hero is cast into the limelight. He wants to get married and be an engineer, but is forced to fulfil the expectations of the public, his employer and his PR agent, which he hates. Although he and his long time girlfriend Janet love each other, they are pressured to marry before they are ready. The strain takes its toll on both of them.


The Expert
1932 · 1h 8m · US
An elderly gentleman arrives for an extended stay with his grown son in Chicago.


The Greeks Had a Word for Them
1932 · 1h 19m · US
A trio of money-hungry women rent a luxurious penthouse, spending their dough on drink and debonair clothing, backbiting and catfighting as they steal each other's boyfriends.


Ladies of the Big House
1931 · 1h 17m · US
A woman tries to save her husband from the electric chair after both are sent to prison for a murder they didn't commit.


Good Sport
1931 · 1h 7m · US
Marilyn Parker decides not to accompany her husband Rex on his business trip to Europe when she receives a surprise visit from her mother.


Girls About Town
1931 · 1h 20m · US
A dynamic duo in silk and ermine entertain hick businessmen looking for a good time while in Manhattan.
Reckless Living
Reckless Living
1931 · 1h 5m
In order to be able to buy a gas station, a young couple run a speakeasy. Complications arise when the husband loses their money to bookies.


Sundown Trail
1931 · 56m · US
Dorothy, and her big city lawyer boyfriend, return to the Lazy 'B' ranch to read her late father's will. For Dorothy to inherit everything, she must stay on the ranch for 5 years. If she does not, everything goes to Buck, who is the manager. She does not like Buck, so she makes a deal with the wrong people for cattle and then the outlaws go to the ranch to get the $10,000 from her. But Buck is on the job.


Party Husband
1931 · 1h 13m · US
Party Husband finds ex-Ziegfield Girl Dorothy playing the better half of a thoroughly “modern marriage” whose openness threatens to bring about its premature end. Fellow Ziegfield alum Mary Doran plays the coquette whose intended conquest of the free-thinking hubby (James Rennie) starts to throw the couple’s “understanding” awry.


Six Cylinder Love
1931 · 1h 19m · US
Troubles begin for the Sterlings when they buy an expensive car and friends start pressing them for rides.


Don't Bet on Women
1931 · 1h 10m · US
At a big party, Roger Fallon, now a woman-hater, right to the core - this all due to a failed marriage and disastrous love affairs - talks to Herbert Drake. Herbert who is happily married, bets Fallon that the next woman who walks into the room, whoever she is, won't let Fallon kiss her for 48 hours. Fallon takes the bet. Suddenly, a very beautiful and sexy woman walks in. It's Herbert's wife, Jeanne Drake...


Millie
1931 · 1h 25m · US
After a tumultuous first marriage, Millie Blake learns to love her newfound independence and drags her feet on the possibility of remarriage. The years pass, and now Millie's daughter garners the attentions of men - men who once devoted their time to her mother.


Paid
1930 · 1h 26m · US
Mary Turner gets a three year prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she plots to get back at the man responsible for her conviction.
Knights Before Christmas
Knights Before Christmas
1930 · 18m · US
Karl Dane and his pal come home for a disastrous Christmas.


Bright Lights
1930 · 1h 9m · US
A successful Broadway star ready to retire from her wild career announces her engagement. But her tumultuous past isn't done with her yet.


Outside the Law
1930 · 1h 19m · US
Fingers O'Dell is planning a half-million bank robbery in gang boss Cobra Collins' territory. Fingers' moll Connie tries to bluff Cobra into thinking the hit won't be for another week when the call comes through saying it's now.


Manslaughter
1930 · 1h 25m · US
A spoiled young rich girl is sent to prison for accidentally running down a pedestrian. There she learns about a life and people she had never even imagined existed before.


Our Blushing Brides
1930 · 1h 39m · US
Gerry, Connie, and Franky are small-town girls seeking wealthy husbands in New York City. But, while Connie and Franky are reckless with their affections — one bedding a married man and the other marrying a scoundrel — Gerry is determined to remain practical. As she mothers her wounded, heartbroken friends, she stalwartly but foolishly resists the advances of the good-hearted and affluent Tony Jardine.


Recaptured Love
1930 · 1h 5m · US
In this drama, a 50-year-old married man (played by John Halliday) goes with his wife (Belle Bennett) and son (Junior Durkin) to a nightclub in a fancy hotel in Detroit. He meets a gold-digger (Dorothy Burgess) there, singing the theme song of the picture, and eventually ends up going out with her on a subsequent occasion and falls in love with her. His wife finally finds out and this leads to her leaving him and getting a divorce in Paris. He is married to the gold-digger but finds life with her and her "jazz friends" to be too much for him. He begins to long for his old wife when he finds her in a nightclub with another man and becomes jealous.


Back Pay
1930 · 56m · US
Bored with small town life, a woman leaves for the big city and winds up becoming the mistress of a ruthless businessman.


Safety in Numbers
1930 · 1h 20m · US
Before handing over a large inheritance, a guardian hires three chorus girls to educate his charge about the "underside" of big-city life.


True to the Navy
1930 · 1h 11m · US
Ruby is a counter girl at the San Diego Soda Shop with a habit of being a girlfriend to Sailors stopping by. Things get a little zany when she sets her eyes on Bull's Eye McCoy a gunner who refuses to settle down.


Honey
1930 · 1h 15m · US
A once-wealthy sister and brother rent out their Southern mansion and stay on as cook and butler.


She Couldn't Say No
1930 · 1h 10m · US
A night club singer falls for a gangster.


Wide Open
1930 · 1h 9m · US
An eccentric, fluttery bachelor is dismayed to discover an undressed woman in his apartment.


Second Choice
1930 · 1h 7m · US
Vallery Grove is in love with Don Warren but her mother opposes the match because he is poor and has no social standing. Don decides to terminate his engagement to Vallery after attending a party where he meets a spoiled rich girl who is interested in him.


Wall Street
1929 · 1h 8m · US
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.


Nix on Dames
1929 · 1h 7m · US


Barnum Was Right
1929 · 42m · US
Freddie owns a failing old hotel. To attract new business he spreads the rumor that there's pirate treasure hidden somewhere in the building.


Thunderbolt
1929 · 1h 31m · US
A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.


Glad Rag Doll
1929 · 1h 10m · US
She sought to conquer...but found Cupid her master! This is one of many lost films of the 1920s, no prints or Vitaphone discs survive, but the song with the same title and the trailer survives.


Coquette
1929 · 1h 16m · US
A Southern belle's flirtation with a working man leads to tragedy.


Election Day
1929 · 20m · US
This film revolves around Election Day, a day on which Jay R. and Joe are fighting to get votes. They warn the kids that they'll be socked in the jaw if they don't vote for them, but the kids are just trying to go about their business, namely Farina. His mother wants him to deliver laundry to her clients, but he can't go anywhere without being harassed by the gang. To escape them, he dons several costumes including that as an older woman, a dancer, and a scarecrow.