The Admiral Was a Lady 1950  N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Albert S. Rogell
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Wanda Hendrix, Rudy Vallee, Johnny Sands, Steve Brodie, Richard Erdman, Hillary Brooke, Richard Lane, Garry Owen, Fred Essler, Lurene Tuttle, Warren Douglas
Problems of entering the stage of readjustment to civilian life for many World War II servicemen is evidenced in this story about unemployed ex-sailors who plan to evade work indefinitely and meet regularly at a social club. When a WAVE (Wanda Hendrix) enters the club looking for a lost boyfriend, she immediately catches the eye of Jimmy (Edmond O'Brien) but shuns him because of his deadbeat lifestyle. To win her love, Jimmy enters a boxing contest to win $100, and the chase begins.
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Africa Screams 1949  N/R, 79 min.
Genre: Comedy / Adventure
Director: Charles Harton
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Hillary Brooke, Max Baer, Buddy Baer, Shemp Howard, Clyde Beatty, Joe Besser, Frank Buck, Burt Wenland, Bill Walker, Martin Wilkins
While on an African safari, Buzz Johnson (Bud Abbott) and Stanley Livingston (Lou Costello) look in all the wrong places for a rumored diamond mine and encounter cannibals, a hungry lion, and other assorted challenges. This is one of their better films.
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Alimony 1949  N/R, 71 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Alfred Zeisler
Cast: Martha Vickers, John Beal, Hillary Brooke, Douglass Dumbrille, James Guilfoyle, Laurie Linde, Marie Blake, Leonid Kinskey, Ralph Graves, William Ruhl, Harry Lauter, Joseph Crehan
Kitty (Martha Vickers) has found a good money-making job: she talks wealthy men into leaving their wives and marrying her, then brings lawsuits against them (such as adultery), and wins nice alimony settlements. But, a good job is hard to keep.
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Big Town After Dark 1947  N/R, 69 min.
Genre: Mystery / Drama
aka: Underworld After Dark
Director: William C. Thomas
Cast: Philip Reed, Hillary Brooke, Richard Travis, Ann Gillis, Vince Barnett, Joe Sawyer, Robert Kent, Charles Arnt, Joseph Allen, William Haade, Arthur Space, Richard Keene
When Susan (Ann Gillis), the niece of a newspaper publisher (Richard Travis), gets in over her head gambling, her uncle is blackmailed by gambling racketeers. Crusading newspaper editor-in-chief Steve Wilson (Philip Reed) and police reporter Lorelei Kilbourne (Hillary Brooke) jump on the trail of the mobsters involved.
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Counter-Espionage 1942 N/R, 73 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Warren William, Eric Blore, Hillary Brooke, Thurston Hall, Fred Kelsey, Forrest Tucker, Kurt Katch, Matthew Boulton, Morton Lowry, Billy Bevan
The Lone Wolf is in London during the Nazi bombing blitz and becomes involved with Nazi spies. Blore continues to add a comedy touch in his role of our hero's butler.
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Crime Doctor's Courage 1945 N/R, 70 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: George Sherman
Cast: Warner Baxter, Hillary Brooke, Jerome Cowan, Lloyd Corrigan, Mark Roberts, Emory Parnell, Charles Arnt, Anthony Caruso, Lupita Tovar, Dennis Moore
A bride suspects her new husband is a killer and calls in the Crime Doctor. It turns out that the man's first two wives died under mysterious conditions and now he turns up dead.
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The Fuller Brush Man 1948 N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: S. Sylvan Simon
Cast: Red Skelton, Janet Blair, Don McGuire, Adele Jergens, Ross Ford, Hillary Brooke, Trudy Marshall, Nicholas Joy, Donald Curtis, Arthur Space
A novice door-to-door salesman (Red Skelton) gets involved in a murder plot while he earnestly tries to ply his trade.
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Invaders from Mars 1953  N/R, 81 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: William Cameron Menzies
Cast: Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke, Milburn Stone, Walter Sande, Max Wagner, John Eldredge
This is a good sci-fi flick, especially considering the age. The special effects are left to the end of the film, as a boy sees strange lights in the sky, followed by the townsfolk acting strangely. It was remade in 1986.
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Jane Eyre 1944  N/R, 96 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Robert Stevenson
Cast: Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O'Brien, Henry Daniell, John Sutton, Agnes Moorehead, Peggy Ann Garner, Sara Allgood, Aubrey Mather, Edith Barrett, Barbara Everest, Hillary Brooke, Mae Marsh, Eily Malyon
As a young girl, Jane (Peggy Ann Garner) is raised in a cruel orphanage, and when she grows up Jane (now played by Joan Fontaine) takes a job as governess for Adele (Margaret O'Brien) at the mansion of Edward Rochester (Orson Welles). Jane is attracted to Rochester, and, in time, he returns her attention. All goes well, until it is revealed that Rochester is married to an insane woman who he keeps locked in the attic. Jane leaves, but, when she learns that Rochester's wife has set fire to the mansion, she returns and finds that Rochester was blinded in the fire. Jane convinces Rochester that her reason for returning is love, not pity, and he returns her affections.
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The Lost Continent 1951 N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Sam Newfield
Cast: Cesar Romero, Hillary Brooke, Chick Chandler, John Hoyt, Acquanetta, Hugh Beaumont, Sid Melton, Whit Bissell, Murray Alper, William E. Green
After a rocket crashes on a Pacific island, Major Joe Nolan (Cesar Romero) heads a team to find it and recover classified information. They come upon prehistoric animals–yes, including dinosaurs. They also encounter a young native woman (Acquanetta) who proves to be of value. Dated and poor special effects, but the film may interest some on a cold winter's day.
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The Man Who Knew Too Much 1956 PG, 120 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda De Banzie, Bernard Miles, Ralph Truman, Daniel Gelin, Alan Mowbray, Hillary Brooke, Carolyn Jones, Richard Wattis, Christopher Olsen
A doctor (James Stewart) and his wife (Doris Day) are visiting Morocco with their young son (Christopher Olsen) when the doctor witnesses a murder and overhears an assassination plot. In order to keep the doctor quiet, the perpetrators kidnap his son. The suspense is vintage Hitchcock as the frightened parents go to any extreme to find their son. Doris Day sings "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be)," which won an Oscar. Previously made in 1934 by Hitchcock 1934.
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Ministry of Fear 1944 N/R, 84 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Ray Milland, Marjorie Reynolds, Carl Esmond, Dan Duryea, Hillary Brooke, Alan Napier, Percy Waram, Erskine Sanford, Thomas Louden, Rita Johnson
Set during World War II, this is the film adaptation of Graham Greene's powerful novel about espionage involving Stephen Neale's (Ray Milland) unraveling of a Nazi plot.
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Monsieur Beaucaire 1946 N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: George Marshall
Cast: Bob Hope, Joan Caulfield, Patric Knowles, Marjorie Reynolds, Cecil Kellaway, Joseph Schildkraut, Reginald Owen, Constance Collier, Hillary Brooke, Douglass Dumbrille
A barber (Bob Hope) impersonates Monsieur Beaucaire at the court of Louis XV in this entertaining farce involving royalty.
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Never Wave at a WAC 1952 N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Comedy
aka: The Private Wore Skirts
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Paul Douglas, Marie Wilson, William Ching, Arleen Whelan, Leif Erickson, Charles Dingle, Lurene Tuttle, Hillary Brooke, Regis Toomey, Frieda Inescort, Louise Beavers
Socialite Jo McBain (Rosalind Russell) joins the WACs and encounters more than a few problems dealing with life in the Army.
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 The Philadelphia Story 1940  N/R, 112 min.
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, John Howard, Ruth Hussey, Roland Young, John Halliday, Mary Nash, Virginia Weidler, Henry Daniell, Lionel Pape, Rex Evans, Hillary Brooke, Lee Phelps, Claude King
Philadelphia's elite citizens are the subject of this romantic comedy. Katharine Hepburn plays socialite Tracy Lord who is divorced from C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) and is about to marry stuffed-shirt George Kittredge (John Howard). James Stewart plays reporter Macaulay Connor who has arrived on the scene to cover the wedding, but he falls in love with the bride-to-be. Stewart carried away an Academy Award for Best Actor. An Academy Award was also given for Best Writing, and nominations were received for Best Picture, Actress (Hepburn), Supporting Actress (Ruth Hussey for her role as Macaulay's girlfriend), and Director.
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 Road to Utopia 1945 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Hal Walker
Cast: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Hillary Brooke, Douglass Dumbrille, Jack La Rue, Robert Benchley, Robert Barrat, Nestor Paiva, Will Wright
This is one of the best of seven "Road" films. Duke (Bing Crosby) and Chester (Bob Hope) head for the Klondike to find their fortunes in gold and are aided by Sal (Dorothy Lamour) in their pursuit of riches.
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 Sherlock Holmes Faces Death 1943 N/R, 68 min.
Genre: Mystery
Director: Roy William Neill
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Hillary Brooke, Dennis Hoey, Milburn Stone, Halliwell Hobbes, Mary Gordon, Gavin Muir, Gerald Hamer, Vernon Downing
Based on Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Musgrave Ritual," Basil Rathbone plays Sherlock Holmes who solves the mystery surrounding murders at the Musgrave estate. Look for young Peter Lawford in a bit part.
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Standing Room Only 1944 N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Sidney Lanfield
Cast: Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold, Hillary Brooke, Roland Young, Anne Revere, Clarence Kolb, Porter Hall, Isabel Randolph, Marie McDonald
When unable to find lodging because of the wartime housing shortage in Washington, D.C., a couple go to work as domestic servants in order to get a roof over their heads.
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Strange Impersonation 1946 N/R, 68 min.
Genre: Drama / Mystery
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: Brenda Marshall, William Gargan, Hillary Brooke, George Chandler, Ruth Ford, H.B. Warner, Lyle Talbot, Mary Treen, Cay Forrester, Dick Scott, Forrest Taylor
Nora (Brenda Marshall) has told her fiance Stephen (William Gargan) that she is too busy with her scientific research to take time for marriage. She is in the process of inventing a new anesthesia and asks for help from her assistant Arline (Hillary Brooke) to inject her with the new drug. The drug is given. Too late, she learns that Arline has used the drug test to her advantage. She over-mixed the drugs before injecting Nora. While Nora is sleeping, Stephen returns and then leaves again. An explosion disfigures her face, and while Nora is fixing her face, Arline runs off with Stephen. Now, Nora schemes to get Stephen back and exact revenge on Arline. Nora experiences quite an adventure in the process, but, by story's end, she awakens and realizes that the whole experience was only a nightmare brought on by the anesthesia.
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The Strange Woman 1946 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer
Cast: Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward, Gene Lockhart, Hillary Brooke, Rhys Williams, June Storey, Moroni Olsen, Alan Napier, Dennis Hoey
Bangor, Maine, was a bustling, brawling lumber town in the early 1800s when beautiful, young Jenny Hager (Hedy Lamarr) accepted a marriage proposal from wealthy businessman Isaiah Poster (Gene Lockhart), 20 years her senior. Shrewd for her age (due in part to having to deal with her drunken father for many years), she uses her new wealth to her advantage, including courting other men. Well acted and directed.
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The Woman in Green 1945 N/R, 66 min.
Genre: Mystery / Drama / Horror / Thriller
Director: Roy William Neill
Cast: Basil Rathbone, Hillary Brooke, Nigel Bruce, Henry Daniell, Mary Gordon, Paul Cavanagh, Matthew Boulton, Frederick Worlock, Olaf Hytten, Billy Bevan, Eve Amber, Coulter Irwin, Sally Shepherd, Colin Hunter, Leslie Denison
With severed fingers of women murder victims for clues, Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Doctor Watson (Nigel Bruce) investigate, and the trail leads to a mysterious hypnotist, Lydia (Hillary Brooke). They follow their logic and uncover blackmail and hypnosis that are part of a plot by Lydia and Holmes' nemesis, Moriarty (Henry Daniell).
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| 1. Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
2. The Admiral Was a Lady (1950)
3. Africa Screams (1949)
4. Alimony (1949)
5. Big Town After Dark (1947)
aka: Underworld After Dark
6. Counter-Espionage (1942)
7. Crime Doctor's Courage (1945)
8. The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
9. The Fuller Brush Man (1948)
10. Invaders from Mars (1953)
11. Jane Eyre (1944)
12. The Lost Continent (1951)
13. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
14. Ministry of Fear (1944)
15. Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)
16. Never Wave at a WAC (1952)
aka: The Private Wore Skirts
17. Paris Is Burning (1990)
18. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
19. Road to Utopia (1945)
20. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
21. Standing Room Only (1944)
22. Strange Impersonation (1946)
23. The Strange Woman (1946)
24. The Woman in Green (1945)
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