Boom Town 1940 N/R, 116 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Jack Conway Cast: Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Frank Morgan, Chill Wills, Lionel Atwill, Minna Gombell, Sara Haden, Marion Martin
Love among the excitement of wildcatters and oil captures an earlier era in America. Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy play oilmen whose luck in the fields is as much of a roller coaster ride as their personal lives.
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Casanova Brown 1944 N/R, 93 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Sam Wood Cast: Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, Frank Morgan, Anita Louise, Mary Treen, Dorothy Tree, Halliwell Hobbes, Irving Bacon, Edmund Breon, Emory Parnell
Casanova (Gary Cooper) discovers the trials of fatherhood when he steals his newborn infant from the hospital and tries to raise the child alone.
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Courage of Lassie 1946 N/R, 92 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Fred M. Wilcox Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan, Tom Drake, Selena Royle, George Cleveland, Harry Davenport, Morris Ankrum, Arthur Walsh, Catherine McLeod, Minor Watson
Lassie returns as a veteran of World War II, and his 14-year-old mistress (Elizabeth Taylor) helps the collie adjust to life at home.
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The Crowd Roars 1938 N/R, 92 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Thorpe Cast: Robert Taylor, Edward Arnold, Frank Morgan, Maureen O'Sullivan, Lionel Stander, Jane Wyman, William Gargan, Nat Pendleton, Don "Red" Barry, Isabel Jewell
Robert Taylor stars as a choirboy who grows up to become a light-heavyweight contender and finds that he cannot escape the influence of the mob.
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Dimples 1936 N/R, 78 min. Genre: Musical
Director: William A. Seiter Cast: Shirley Temple, Frank Morgan, Stepin Fetchit, Helen Westley, Robert Kent, Delma Byron, Astrid Allwyn, John Carradine, Paul Stanton, Berton Churchill, Delma Byron, Julius Tannen, Billy McClain, Arthur Aylesworth, Jack Clifford
Sylvia "Dimples" Dolores Appleby (Shirley Temple) gathers the crowd with her dancing in the streets of nineteenth-century New York City while her grandfather Eustace Appleby (Frank Morgan) moves among her admirers picking their pockets. This is the story of Dimples' travels from the street to the stage.
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Enchanted April 1935 N/R, 66 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Harry Beaumont Cast: Ann Harding, Frank Morgan, Katharine Alexander, Reginald Owen, Jane Baxter, Ralph Forbes, Jessie Ralph, Charles Judels, Rafaela Ottiano, Ethel Griffies, May Beatty, Inez Palange, Gwendolyn Logan, Hector Samo
This is a good rendition of Elizabeth von Arnim's novel about two English women–Lottie Wilkins (Ann Harding) and Rose Arbuthnot (Katherine Alexander)–who have had enough of their husbands and take off for a vacation and a better life. They rent a castle overlooking the Mediterranean in San Salvatore, Italy. Joining them in Italy are Mrs. Fisher (Jessie Ralph) and Lady Caroline (Jane Baxter). Now, the four ladies spend their month together supposedly free from their husbands–but not without complications. Remade in 1992.
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The Good Fairy 1935 N/R, 98 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: William Wyler Cast: Margaret Sullavan, Herbert Marshall, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Beulah Bondi, Alan Hale, Eric Blore, Cesar Romero, Luis Alberni, June Clayworth
Usherette Luisa (Margaret Sullavan) is a young woman fresh out of an orphanage. When the rich Konrad (Frank Morgan) asks her out, she says that she is married, picking a name out of the phone book as the husband. The man, Max (Herbert Marshall), a struggling lawyer, is hired by Konrad in order to get Luisa. After the appropriate complications, Luisa and Max fall in love, and Konrad becomes their benefactor. Remade in 1947 as "I'll Be Yours").
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The Great Sinner 1949 N/R, 110 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Robert Siodmak Cast: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas, Walter Huston, Ethel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead, Ludwig Stossel, Ludwig Donath, Curt Bois
Based on Dostoyevsky's "The Gambler," this film is about gambling addictions. When Fedja (Gregory Peck) helps Pauline Ostrovsky (Ava Gardner) overcome her gambling problems, he becomes addicted himself.
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The Great Ziegfeld 1936 N/R, 180 min. Genre: Musical / Comedy / Romance
Director: Robert Z. Leonard Cast: William Powell, Luise Rainer, Myrna Loy, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Nat Pendleton, Virginia Bruce, Ernest Cossart, Robert Greig, Ray Bolger, Fanny Brice, Joseph Cawthorn, Herman Bing
This film won the Oscar for Best Picture. It is the story of Flo Ziegfeld's (William Powell) rise from carnival work to the top of the entertainment world. Luise Rainer won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Flo's wife, French singer Anna Held.
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Green Dolphin Street 1947 N/R, 140 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Victor Saville Cast: Lana Turner, Van Heflin, Donna Reed, Richard Hart, Frank Morgan, Edmund Gwenn, Dame May Whitty, Reginald Owen, Gladys Cooper, Linda Christian
Set in 19th-century New Zealand, this is a weak epic tale about two sisters who desire the same man. Nevertheless, the film did win the Academy Award for "Best Special Effects" along with three nominations.
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Hallelujah, I'm a Bum 1933 N/R, 83 min. Genre: Comedy aka: Happy Go Lucky The Heart of New York Lazy Bones
Director: Lewis Milestone Cast: Al Jolson, Madge Evans, Frank Morgan, Harry Langdon, Chester Conklin, Edgar Connor, Tyler Brooke, Tammany Young, Louise Carver, Dorothea Wolbert
Bumper (Al Jolson) is a happy-go-lucky tramp in NYC's Central Park. When he rescues June (Madge Evans) from a suicide attempt, he finds she has amnesia, and she falls in love with him. His life is changed for the better, but when June comes out of her amnesia and realizes she is the mistress of the mayor (Frank Morgan), she has second thoughts. The film highlights the life and times of people during the Depression and is unusual in that nearly all dialogue is written in rhyme. The music of Rodgers and Hart is excellent. Some versions are edited.
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Honky Tonk 1941 N/R, 104 min. Genre: Western
Director: Jack Conway Cast: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Frank Morgan, Claire Trevor, Marjorie Main, Albert Dekker, Chill Wills, Henry O'Neill, John Maxwell, Morgan Wallace
A wily gambler, Candy Johnson (Clark Gable), meets a lovely lady, Elizabeth (Lana Turner), on the train traveling to Nevada. Over the years, Candy becomes a corrupt politician, but he does marry the fair Elizabeth. Remade in 1974.
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The Human Comedy 1943 N/R, 118 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Clarence Brown Cast: Mickey Rooney, Frank Morgan, James Craig, Marsha Hunt, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, Van Johnson, Donna Reed, Dorothy Morris, Henry O'Neill
Based on William Saroyan's novel about small-town America during World War II, this film won an Academy Award for Best Story and was nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Actor.
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I Live My Life 1935 N/R, 92 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: W.S. Van Dyke Cast: Joan Crawford, Brian Aherne, Frank Morgan, Aline MacMahon, Eric Blore, Arthur Treacher, Hedda Hopper, Frank Conroy, Sterling Holloway, Lionel Stander
Poor archaeologist Terry (Brian Aherne) and society woman Kay (Joan Crawford) follow an uneasy path–all the way to the altar.
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Key to the City 1950 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: George Sidney Cast: Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Marilyn Maxwell, Frank Morgan, Raymond Burr, James Gleason, Lewis Stone, Raymond Walburn, Pamela Britton, Clinton Sundberg
Attending a mayors' conference in San Francisco, Steve Fisk (Clark Gable) and Clarissa Standish (Loretta Young) find there is more than business-as-usual when romance blossoms between the two.
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The Kiss Before the Mirror 1933 N/R, 67 min. Genre: Mystery
Director: James Whale Cast: Frank Morgan, Nancy Carroll, Gloria Stuart, Donald Cook, Paul Lukas, Jean Dixon, Walter Pidgeon, Charley Grapewin, Walter Brennan, Wallis Clark
This film, shot on available Frankenstein sets, is the story of a lawyer who begins to recognize that his family situation mirrors that of the client he is defending in a crime of passion.
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The Last of Mrs. Cheyney 1937 N/R, 98 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Richard Boleslawski Cast: Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery, Frank Morgan, Jessie Ralph, Nigel Bruce, Benita Hume, Melville Cooper, Ralph Forbes, Sara Haden
This remake of the 1929 film casts Joan Crawford in the title role of an American jewel thief who travels in upper-crust London society where her victims are easy prey. This film, too, was remade in 1951 as "The Law and the Lady."
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The Mortal Storm 1940 N/R, 100 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Frank Borzage Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack, William T. Orr, Maria Ouspenskaya, Bonita Granville, Irene Rich, Esther Dale
In this propaganda film about the tragedies endured by the Roth family, the father, a German professor (Frank Morgan), speaks out against the Nazis and ends up in a concentration camp where he is killed. His two sons (Robert Stack and William Orr) become Nazis as does his daughter's fiance (Robert Young). His daughter (Margaret Sullavan) eventually tries to cross the border into Austria with the man she loves (James Stewart), but she is killed trying to escape.
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Mother Carey's Chickens 1938 N/R, 82 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Rowland V. Lee Cast: Fay Bainter, Anne Shirley, Ruby Keeler, James Ellison, Walter Brennan, Frank Albertson, Virginia Weidler, Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton, Alma Kruger, Donnie Dunagan
The "chickens" in this story are a mother's (Fay Bainter) children (Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler); this mother sacrifices her all to protect her youngsters. Remade in 1963 as "Summer Magic."
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Naughty Marietta 1935 N/R, 106 min. Genre: Musical
Director: W.S. Van Dyke Cast: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Frank Morgan, Elsa Lanchester, Douglass Dumbrille, Joseph Cawthorn, Cecilia Parker, Walter Kingsford, Akim Tamiroff, Edward Brophy
Victor Herbert's 1910 operetta is brought to the screen and includes the first-time pairing of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. The plot involves a French princess escaping an arranged marriage and fleeing to New Orleans where she meets and falls in love with a dashing mercenary.
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Saratoga 1937 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Comedy
Director: Jack Conway Cast: Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Lionel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Walter Pidgeon, Una Merkel, Cliff Edwards, Hattie McDaniel, George Zucco, Jonathan Hale
The racetrack at Saratoga Springs, New York is the setting for this comedy about sly gambler Duke Bradley (Clark Gable) falling in love with the beautiful Carol Clayton (Jean Harlow) whose grandfather (Lionel Barrymore) is a horse breeder. Harlow died during filming at the age of 26.
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The Shop Around the Corner 1940 N/R, 97 min. Genre: Comedy / Drama / Romance
Director: Ernst Lubitsch Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, Inez Courtney, Charles Halton, Charles Smith, Sarah Edwards, Edwin Maxwell, William Edmunds, Grace Hale, Mary Carr
Kiara (Margaret Sullavan) and Alfred (James Stewart) are co-workers in a small, Budapest shop. Although they are antagonistic toward each other at work, they unwittingly become loving pen pals. Because they do not sign their real names, they do not realize that they are writing to each other. Will their antagonism stop when the truth comes out? The story was later remade as the musical film "In the Good Old Summertime" and as the Broadway play "She Loves Me."
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A Stranger in Town 1943 N/R, 67 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Roy Rowland Cast: Frank Morgan, Richard Carlson, Jean Rogers, Porter Hall, Robert Barrat, Donald MacBride, Walter Baldwin, Andrew Tombes, Olin Howland, Chill Wills, Irving Bacon, Eddie Dunn
It is election time in this small town, and honest mayoral candidate Bill Adams (Richard Carlson) is trailing his opponent, the incumbent Mayor James Connison (Robert Barrat) who runs a corrupt administration. When a hunter, John Josephus Grant (Frank Morgan), appears on the scene, he offers legal advice that helps Adams' campaign. How did Grant gain his legal knowledge? Why, he just happens to be a vacationing Supreme Court justice.
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The Stratton Story 1949 N/R, 106 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Sam Wood Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson, Frank Morgan, Agnes Moorehead, Bill Williams, Bruce Cowling, Cliff Clark, Kenneth Tobey, Robert Gist, Michael Ross
This film is based on the true story of Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton (James Stewart) who courageously returned to baseball after losing his leg in a hunting accident.
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Thousands Cheer 1943 N/R, 126 min. Genre: Musical
Director: George Sidney Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Gene Kelly, Mary Astor, John Boles, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Frank Morgan, Dick Simmons
This film, made to help the Allied war effort during World War II, is about a colonel's daughter (Kathryn Grayson) who puts together a show to entertain the troops. About all of the MGM stars (and bands) are out for this one.
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The Three Musketeers 1948 N/R, 128 min. Genre: Adventure / Action / Drama / Romance
Director: George Sidney Cast: Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, June Allyson, Van Heflin, Vincent Price, Gig Young, Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn, Reginald Owen, Frank Morgan, John Sutton, Robert Coote, Ian Keith, Patricia Medina, Richard Wyler
For the sheer fun of spotting many MGM stars, this is a good rendition of the Alexandre Dumas classic novel about D'Artagnan (Gene Kelly) and the musketeers'–Athos, Porthos, and Aramis (Van Heflin, Gig Young, and Robert Coote)–reaction to Louis XIII (Frank Morgan) and the calculating Cardinal Richelieu (Vincent Price).
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Tortilla Flat 1942 N/R, 105 min. Genre: Drama / Comedy / Romance
Director: Victor Fleming Cast: Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr, John Garfield, Frank Morgan, Akim Tamiroff, Sheldon Leonard, John Qualen, Donald Meek, Allen Jenkins, Connie Gilchrist, Henry O'Neill, Arthur Space, Mercedes Ruffino, Nina Campana, Betty Wells
This film adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel features Spencer Tracy in the role of Pilon the leader of a group of friends living in the poor, Mexican community bordering on the town of Monterey, California. Pilon plots to steal the money that "the Pirate" (Frank Morgan has saved, while another of the friends, Danny (John Garfield), woos Dolores "Sweets" Ramirez (Hedy Lamarr). When Danny inherits two small houses, and the friends move in, Pilon moves away from his plan to steal "the Pirate's" money, and his attention switches to Dolores who he plans to steal away from Danny. But, after Danny is injured in a fight, Pilon changes his tune and helps Danny and Dolores get together. Frank Morgan was nominated for an Oscar (Best Supporting Actor).
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Trouble for Two 1936 N/R, 75 min. Genre: Mystery aka: The Suicide Club
Director: J. Walter Ruben Cast: Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Louis Hayward, E.E. Clive, Walter Kingsford, Ivan F. Simpson, Robert Greig, Pedro de Cordoba
Taken from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Suicide Club" stories, this lighthearted mystery promises much, but falls short in the end. Prince Florizel (Robert Montgomery) is heir to the throne of Karovia. He joins a mysterious Suicide Club and must survive a series of lethal traps to gain the crown and regain his princess (Rosalind Russell).
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When Ladies Meet 1933 N/R, 85 min. Genre: Drama aka: Strange Skirts
Director: Harry Beaumont Cast: Ann Harding, Robert Montgomery, Myrna Loy, Alice Brady, Frank Morgan, Luis Alberni, Sterling Holloway, Martin Burton, David Newell, Charles Winninger
A publisher and authoress, along with their spouses, spend a weekend together, and the two women discuss one's novel, which parallels the other's adventures as a member of upper-class society. Remade in 1941.
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White Cargo 1942 N/R, 90 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Richard Thorpe Cast: Hedy Lamarr, Walter Pidgeon, Frank Morgan, Richard Carlson, Reginald Owen, Henry O'Neill, Bramwell Fletcher, Clyde Cook, Leigh Whipper, Richard Ainley
Seductive Tondelayo's (Hedy Lamarr) experiences at a British outpost in Africa are related in this dated story.
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The White Cliffs of Dover 1944 N/R, 126 min. Genre: Drama
Director: Clarence Brown Cast: Irene Dunne, Alan Marshal, Roddy McDowall, Frank Morgan, Van Johnson, C. Aubrey Smith, Dame May Whitty, Gladys Cooper, Peter Lawford, Elizabeth Taylor
Based on a poem by Alice Duer, this is a sentimental tale of Susan Dunn Ashwood's (Irene Dunne) personal losses–her husband was killed in World War I and, now, her son is lost during World War II.
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The Wizard of Oz 1939 N/R, 101 min. Genre: Family / Adventure / Musical / Fantasy
Director: Victor Fleming Cast: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin, Clara Blandick, Pat Walshe, Terry, Singer Midgets, Rolfe Sedan, Oliver Smith, Harry Wilson
This is the classic movie of Frank Baum's allegory about the plight of the farmers and the question of whether the U.S. should use the gold or silver standard. It is the story of the adventures of Dorothy (Judy Garland) and her dog, Toto, who are blown by a tornado from dry, dusty Kansas to the beautiful world of Oz with its yellow brick road (gold) and wise wizard (Federal Government). The fine music was rewarded by Oscars for "Over The Rainbow" as Best Song and for Best Musical Score. The film was nominated for Best Picture, and Judy Garland received an Honorary Award (Miniature Statuette) for Outstanding Juvenile Performance.
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Yolanda and the Thief 1945 N/R, 108 min. Genre: Musical
Director: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Fred Astaire, Lucille Bremer, Frank Morgan, Mildred Natwick, Leon Ames, Mary Nash, Ludwig Stossel, Francis Pierlot, Leon Belasco, Gigi Perreau
Con man Johnny Riggs (Fred Astaire) poses as an angel to get his hands on the susceptible Yolanda's (Lucille Bremer) inheritance.
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| 1. Baby Mine (1917)
2. Boom Town (1940)
3. Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940)
4. Casanova Brown (1944)
5. Courage of Lassie (1946)
6. The Crowd Roars (1938)
7. Dimples (1936)
8. Enchanted April (1935)
9. The Good Fairy (1935)
10. The Great Sinner (1949)
11. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
12. Green Dolphin Street (1947)
13. Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (1933) aka: Happy Go Lucky aka: The Heart of New York aka: Lazy Bones
14. Honky Tonk (1941)
15. The Human Comedy (1943)
16. I Live My Life (1935)
17. Key to the City (1950)
18. The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933)
19. The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
20. The Mortal Storm (1940)
21. Mother Carey's Chickens (1938)
22. Naughty Marietta (1935)
23. Saratoga (1937)
24. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)
25. A Stranger in Town (1943)
26. The Stratton Story (1949)
27. Thousands Cheer (1943)
28. The Three Musketeers (1948)
29. Tortilla Flat (1942)
30. Trouble for Two (1936) aka: The Suicide Club
31. When Ladies Meet (1933) aka: Strange Skirts
32. White Cargo (1942)
33. The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
34. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
35. Yolanda and the Thief (1945)
In The News
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