Blackmail | |
---|---|
Directed by | H. C. Potter |
Written by | Endre Bohem Dorothy Yost |
Screenplay by | David Hertz William Ludwig |
Produced by | John W. Considine Jr. |
Starring | Edward G. Robinson Ruth Hussey Gene Lockhart |
Cinematography | Clyde De Vinna |
Edited by | Howard O'Neill |
Music by | David Snell Edward Ward |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 81 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Blackmail is a 1939 American crime drama film directed by H. C. Potter and starring Edward G. Robinson, Ruth Hussey and Gene Lockhart. [1]
John Ingram is a highly successful oil-field firefighter and a family man. It is a contented life, he has even bought his own oil well in hope of striking it rich. His greatest fears are realized, however, when a man, William Ramey, from his secret past sees Ingram in a newsreel and shows up looking for a job.
Ramey attempts to blackmail Ingram, who had run from a chain gang years ago, and began a new life under an assumed name. After a shady deal is made, Ingram is tricked and Ramey turns him into authorities, who return him to a chain gang. Ramey subsequently becomes a very rich man.
When Ingram finds out about the success of the man who betrayed him, he plans a daring escape in an attempt to return home and get revenge.
Ramey has successfully run Ingram's business in his absence;but only because no emergencies have arisen that would require Ingram's special knowledge.
As fate would have it, the escaped Ingram arrives at the plant just as a major oil fire breaks out.
Overpowering Ramey, Ingram slowly drags him towards the heart of the blaze; hinting that unless Ramey makes a full confession; he will do nothing to save them.
A frightened Ramey agrees. Ingram douses the oil fire, and is eventually restored to his former position of respectability.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang is a 1932 American pre-Code crime-drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring Paul Muni as a wrongfully convicted man on a chain gang who escapes to Chicago. It was released on November 10, 1932. The film received positive reviews and three Academy Award nominations.
Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a 1940 biographical historical drama film that depicts the life of Abraham Lincoln from his departure from Kentucky until his election as President of the United States. In the UK, the film is known by the alternate title Spirit of the People. The film was adapted by Grover Jones and Robert E. Sherwood from Sherwood's 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. It was directed by John Cromwell.
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films during a 50-year career and is best remembered for his tough-guy roles as gangsters in such films as Little Caesar and Key Largo. During his career, Robinson received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in House of Strangers.
Edwin Eugene Lockhart was a Canadian-American character actor, playwright, singer and lyricist. He became an American citizen in 1939.
Kathleen Lockhart was a prolific English-American actress during the early-mid 20th century.
Smart Money is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film produced and distributed by Warner Bros., directed by Alfred E. Green, and starring Edward G. Robinson and James Cagney. It is the only occasion Robinson and Cagney appeared in a film together, despite being the two leading actors, mainly portraying gangsters, at Warner Bros. studios throughout the 1930s. Smart Money was shot after Robinson's signature film Little Caesar had been released and during the filming of Cagney's breakthrough masterpiece The Public Enemy, which is how Cagney came to play a supporting role.
The Comancheros is a 1961 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on a 1952 novel of the same name by Paul Wellman, and starring John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. The supporting cast includes Ina Balin, Lee Marvin, Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, Jack Elam, Patrick Wayne, and Edgar Buchanan. Also featured are Western-film veterans Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, and Harry Carey, Jr. in uncredited supporting roles.
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Brother Orchid is a 1940 American crime/comedy film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sothern and Humphrey Bogart, with featured performances by Donald Crisp, Ralph Bellamy and Allen Jenkins. The screenplay was written by Earl Baldwin, with uncredited contributions from Jerry Wald and Richard Macauley, based on a story by Richard Connell originally published in Collier's Magazine on May 21, 1938. Prior to the creation of the movie version of Connell's story, a stage adaptation was written by playwright/novelist Leo Brady. The script was originally produced at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
Tennessee Johnson is a 1942 American film about Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by William Dieterle and written by Milton Gunzburg, Alvin Meyers, John Balderston, and Wells Root.
Daredevil Jack is a 1920 American silent 15-chapter action film serial directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey and featuring Lon Chaney as a villain. The chapters were shown weekly between February and May 1920. The serial's working titles were Daredevil Durant or Dead or Alive. An incomplete copy of the film is housed in the UCLA Film and Television Archive.
A Dispatch from Reuters is a 1940 biographical film about Paul Reuter, the man who built the famous news service that bears his name.
John Wray was an American character actor of stage and screen.
The King's Thief is a 1955 swashbuckling CinemaScope adventure film directed by Robert Z. Leonard, who replaced Hugo Fregonese during filming. Released on August 5, 1955, the film takes place in London at the time of Charles II and stars Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven, George Sanders and Roger Moore.
Edward Montague Hussey Cooper was an Australian born actor, later active in Britain and the United States. Known by his professional name of Edward Ashley, Cooper performed in 60 films for Metro Goldwyn Mayer including Pride and Prejudice (1940) where he played George Wickham.
Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.
Five and Ten is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by an uncredited Robert Z. Leonard and starring Marion Davies, Leslie Howard and Irene Rich. Davies plays as an heiress and Howard the man she loves, though he marries someone else. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst's Cosmopolitan Productions in partnership with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is based on the 1929 Fannie Hurst novel of the same name.
Everett G. Brown was an American actor.
I, Jane Doe is a 1948 American drama war film directed by John H. Auer and written by Lawrence Kimble and Decla Dunning. The film stars Ruth Hussey, John Carroll, Vera Ralston, Gene Lockhart, John Howard and Benay Venuta.
The Lady Wants Mink is a 1953 American comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and written by Dane Lussier and Richard Alan Simmons. The film stars Dennis O'Keefe, Ruth Hussey, Eve Arden, William Demarest, Gene Lockhart and Hope Emerson. The film was released on March 30, 1953, by Republic Pictures.