Joan Crawford
Birthday: 1906-03-23
Place of Birth: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Biography: Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 1906 – May 10, 1977) was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison". After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors but was forcibly retired in 1973. She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s, when her performances became fewer; after the release of the horror film Trog in 1970, Crawford retired from the screen. Following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life. She became more and more reclusive until her death in 1977.
Movies
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood ...
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Mildred Pierce
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful re...
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Daisy Kenyon
Daisy Kenyon is a Manhattan commercial artist having an affair with an arrogant and overbearing but ...
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Possessed
After being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor th...
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The Women
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays....
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The Karate Killers
International spies Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin travel around the globe in an effort to track d...
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Mannequin
Jessie, a young working class woman, seeks to improve her life by marrying her boyfriend, only to fi...
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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no acc...
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It's a Great Feeling
A waitress at the Warner Brothers commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big b...
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Above Suspicion
Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe....
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Johnny Guitar
On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the ...
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Grand Hotel
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache....
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The Unknown
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder – a performer who uses his fee...
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Flamingo Road
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town societ...
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Humoresque
A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neuro...
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A Woman's Face
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possi...
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Reunion in France
Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed ...
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I Saw What You Did
Teenage friends Kit and Libby make prank phone calls for fun but then find themselves involved in a ...
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Queen Bee
A devilish Southern woman, married to a man who despises her, manages to manipulate those around her...
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Strait-Jacket
After a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughte...
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The Damned Don't Cry
Fed up with her small-town marriage, a woman goes after the big time and gets mixed up with the mob....
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Our Dancing Daughters
A flapper who's secretly a good girl and a gold-digging floozy masquerading as an ingénue both vie f...
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Rain
Due to a possible cholera epidemic onboard, passengers on a ship are forced to disembark at Pago Pag...
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They All Kissed the Bride
Margaret Drew runs her trucking company single-mindedly, if not ruthlessly. The only thorn in her si...
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Susan and God
A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group....
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Dancing Lady
Janie lives to dance and will dance anywhere, even stripping in a burlesque house. Tod Newton, the r...
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Love on the Run
A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry ...
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The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Joan Crawford goes grocery shopping, in this short film for Pepsi-Cola....
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Sadie McKee
A maid has romances with a two-timer, a boozing millionaire and the master of the house....
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Trog
Anthropologist Dr. Brockton unearths a primitive troglodyte -- an Ice Age "missing link": half-cavem...
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Hollywood Canteen
Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at a club offering free of charge food, dancing, and entert...
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Female on the Beach
Lynn Markham moves into her late husband's beach house the morning after former tenant Eloise Cranda...
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Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and ...
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West Point
Arrogant and wise-cracking Brice Wayne enrolls at the United States Military Academy at West Point a...
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Chained
Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to div...
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Sudden Fear
Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him becau...
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Strange Cargo
Convicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure....
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Possessed
Marion is a factory worker who hopes to trade the assembly line for a beautiful penthouse apartment....
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The Stolen Jools
Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to ra...
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The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
A chic American jewel thief falls in love with one of her marks, an English lord....
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When Ladies Meet
Mary, a writer working on a novel about a love triangle, is attracted to her publisher. Her suitor J...
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The Best of Everything
An exposé of the lives and loves of Madison Avenue working girls and their higher-ups....
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Bette and Joan
Sylvia Syms looks through the BBC archives to tell the story of one of Hollywood's greatest ever feu...
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The Caretakers
This movie chronicles the trials of the mentally ill and their care-givers in an over-crowded ward o...
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Harriet Craig
A perfectionist woman's devotion to her home drives away friends and family....
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This Woman Is Dangerous
A crime gang leader is losing her sight, so while her lover goes into hiding, she checks in to the h...
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Joan Crawford's Home Movies
The private Joan Crawford fought as hard to create a normal family life as she did to establish her ...
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Laughing Sinners
Ivy Stevens is a cafe entertainer in love with a shifty salesman who deserts her. In attempting to c...
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Today We Live
Two lovers are living together and are not married; they had made a promise as children to get marri...
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Hollywood: The Dream Factory
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to t...
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Montana Moon
A wild-partying flapper marries a cowboy and tries to adjust to life on a western ranch....
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Our Modern Maidens
Young, vivacious Billie uses her charms on influential businessman Glenn Abbott in hopes of getting ...
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Across to Singapore
While Joel and his older ship's captain brother Mark are at sea, the latter is abandoned in Singapor...
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Forsaking All Others
A socialite only realises that her friend is in love with her when she falls for the wrong man....
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The Gorgeous Hussy
It's the early nineteenth century Washington. Young adult Margaret O'Neal, Peggy to most that know h...
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The Shining Hour
A nightclub dancer shakes the foundations of a wealthy farming family after she marries into it....
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Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
A poor cobbler's son enters a $25,000 cross-country hiking contest sponsored by the footwear company...
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Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the ...
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The Bride Wore Red
A poor singer in a bar masquerades as a rich society woman thanks to a rich benefactor....
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No More Ladies
A society girl tries to reform her playboy husband by making him jealous....
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Goodbye, My Fancy
Agatha has fond memories of her romance with college president Dr. James Merrill, when she was a stu...
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Dance, Fools, Dance
When misfortune hits hard on the Jordan family of Chicago's upper class, Bonnie Jordan, a dazzling a...
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Our Blushing Brides
Jerry, Connie, and Franky are small-town girls seeking wealthy husbands in New York City. But, while...
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Torch Song
Jenny Stewart is a tough Broadway musical star who doesn't take criticism from anyone. Yet there is ...
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Journey to the Unknown
TV Movie consisting of two episodes of the UK TV series "Journey to the Unknown" (1968): 'Matakitas ...
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Letty Lynton
Socialite Letty Lynton is returning to New York, abandoning one-time lover Emile Renaul in South Ame...
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The Story of Esther Costello
Eighteen-year-old Esther has been deaf and blind since the accident that killed her mother. Wealthy ...
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Pretty Ladies
Maggie, a headlining comedienne with the Follies, takes a fall off the stage into the orchestra pit ...
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The Shirley Eder Tapes
These tapes consist on two interviews and three phone conversations (recorded without the knowledge ...
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Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
A collection of bloopers and outtakes from an enormous selection of Hollywood classic productions sp...
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Untamed
In her first Talkie, Joan Crawford plays Bingo, a jungle-raised oil heiress, who turns Manhattan ups...
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The Boob
To impress the girl he loves, a naive country boy tries to capture a group of local bootleggers....
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Spring Fever
Kelly's employer, Waters, is such a keen golfer that he asks Kelly to help him improve his game at a...
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Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, war...
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This Modern Age
A Harvard football star disobeys his upper class parents and runs off with his true love....
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The Ice Follies of 1939
Mary and Larry are are a modestly successful skating team. Shortly after their marriage, Mary gets a...
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Paid
Mary Turner gets a three year prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she plot...
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Della
Della Chappell is a very wealthy and incredibly reclusive woman. When a big company wants to develop...
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Possessed
I had a strong, slightly illicit, urge to commandeer the original train sequence from the 1931 film ...
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Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Until 1932's Grand Hotel, never had there existed an all-star ensemble cast on film. Conceived by MG...
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42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Making-of documentary about the 1933 musical, 42nd Street....
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Going Hollywood: The '30s
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were...
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Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
An overview of the iconic actresses' legendary careers, as well as the rivalry that colored "What Ev...
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Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
Critics Kent Jones, B. Ruby Rich, Joe McElhaney and Miriam Bale take a closer look at the feminist o...
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Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
Larry Ceplair, co-author of The Inquisition in Hollywood, and blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernst...
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Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
Critics Kent Jones, B. Ruby Rich, Joe McElhaney and Miriam Bale discuss the unique qualities of "Joh...
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Dream of Love
A duke has deposed Prince Mauritz's father, so Mauritz spends his time in affairs with a countess, t...
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Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
A study of the Group Theatre, a company that changed the face of American drama. The Group was found...
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The Law of the Range
Jim Lockhart is out to capture the robbing and murdering "Solitaire Kid"....
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Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
Joan Crawford plays a widow named Joan Fairchild who stumbles upon a group of ESP enthusiasts that d...
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The Circle
Elizabeth Cheney has a wealthy husband, social prominence and everything she could want in life . . ...
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The Duke Steps Out
Millionaire's son Duke wants to be a champion boxer but takes time out to enroll in college when he ...
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The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
The Joan Crawford crime thriller, The Damned Don't Cry (1950), is the topic of discussion for variou...
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At Home with Joan Crawford
Actress Joan Crawford appears in this public service announcement asking the theatre audience to giv...
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That's Entertainment!
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year hi...
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Winners Of The Wilderness
During the French and Indian War the Indians under Pontiac kidnap Rene. Colonel O'Hara hopes to resc...
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Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Glamorous and hugely popular Joan Crawford raised herself from brutal poverty to Academy Award-winni...
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Twelve Miles Out
Jerry always wins in his rivalry with Red over women, gunrunning, and diamond smuggling. While runni...
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Fast Workers
Gunner and Bucker are friends who work as riveters. Whenever Bucker gets the urge to marry, which is...
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Journey to Murder
Television movie that consists of two episodes from the UK TV series Journey to the Unknown (1968): ...
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We're switching to Hollywood
A German reporter visits Hollywood and is escorted through the MGM Studio by a German nobleman, who ...
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1925 Studio Tour
A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and giv...
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Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Share the magical memories - and see clips from her Oscar winning performances - in this profile of ...
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That's Entertainment! III
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929...
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Through Many Windows
Joan Crawford appears in and narrates a Red Feather Community Chest charity appeal for movie-goers. ...
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Rose-Marie
Sergeant Malone of the Mounties and effeminate Etienne Doray are both in love with Rose-Marie, but s...
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From the Ends of the Earth
An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Fe...
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Lady of the Night
The story of two baby girls, born near in proximity but worlds apart in society: Molly Helmer, the d...
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Proud Flesh
The snooty Fernanda decides to leave Spain to visit her uncle in San Francisco in order to escape th...
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The Merry Widow
When Prince Danilo falls in love with American dancer Sally O'Hara, his uncle, King Nikita I of Mont...
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Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman of...
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The Only Thing
Thyra arrives in Chekia to wed its old and ugly king. The Duke falls in love with her. A revolution ...
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The Oscar
An amoral lowlife accidentally stumbles into an acting career that sets him on a trajectory to Holly...
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A Star Is Born World Premiere
Live television broadcast of the world premiere. Described by various participants as the biggest wo...
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A Slave of Fashion
Katherine Emerson, an Iowa girl hungry for the good things in life, leaves her small hometown and se...
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Old Clothes
Timothy and Max are partners in the junk business. They take poor young Mary in as a boarder. Mary g...
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Sally, Irene and Mary
Sally, Irene and Mary are chorus girls who each have a different approach to life and love. The thre...
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Blow-Ups of 1946
Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1946....
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American ent...
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Hollywood: Style Center of the World
This short promotes the premise that movies often create a demand for the fashions seen in them. It ...
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Night Gallery
This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemete...
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Complicated Women
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, u...
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That's Entertainment, Part II
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time includi...
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The Romance of Celluloid
Several behind the scenes aspects of the movie-making business, which results in the enjoyment the m...
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A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind th...
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How to Plan a Movie Murder
The writer, director and star of the 1964 horror film Strait-Jacket in a humorous featurette in whic...
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Garbo, by Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford narrates this documentary about the career of Greta Garbo....
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Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well...
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The Big Parade of Comedy
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history....
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1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and in...
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Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
One of America's best loved comedians, Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show, Mchale's Navy) is feature...
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Paris
The power of love in the violent underground world of the Apaches in Paris in the early 20th century...
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The Understanding Heart
Two men in love with the same girl are trapped with her in a forest fire....
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Four Walls
After completing his prison sentence for killing a rival gang leader in self-defence, Benny Horowitz...
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Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
A tour of Hollywood, featuring such star frequented spots as the Vendome, the Lakeside Golf Club, th...
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Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Ice skating is the theme; at the Tropical Ice Garden, in Westwood Hills, are seen a flock of skating...
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The Midshipman
Produced under the supervision of the U.S. Navy. James Randall, an upperclassman at the Naval Academ...
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Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
In this documentary on the life of Joan Crawford, we learn why she should be remembered as the great...
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Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
A look back at the classic 1964 film of horror and suspense starring Joan Crawford as an axe-murdere...
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This was the MARY
Short 18 minute film about QM and her last Transatlantic voyage from New York to Southampton. Joan C...
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Strange Witness
Ruth and her lover David are caught having an affair by her husband John. When John refuses to give ...
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Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
Fernand Gravey and Danielle Darrieux arrive in Hollywood; the Ritz Brothers achieve immortality, lea...
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One Must Die
John Baylor is summoned to the home of a friend of his fathers. The man is dying and wishes to leave...
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The Road to Edinburgh
Feisty reporter Joan insists on driving to her next assignment in Edinburgh solo. Along the way she ...
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Because I Love Him
A successful career woman sacrifices her own future to devote herself to her husband who only has on...
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And One Was Loyal
Joan now a prominent artist meets the man who rescued her from a brutal and traumatized existence wi...
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Rebel Range
A Union law allows homes vacated by confederates to be sold at auction. A woman comes back to claim ...
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Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
Explores the culture and characters of the Jazz Age through the decade's heroine, the flapper....
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Showbiz Ballyhoo
Rare footage reveals how stars were created and motion pictures sold, and how the the advent of soun...
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Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe is one of the most famous and adored icons of the 20th century. Like no other Hollywo...
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