City Lights is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire.
The year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney films Pinocchio and Fantasia.
Wardell Edwin Bond was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 200 films and starred in the NBC television series Wagon Train from 1957 to 1960. Among his best-remembered roles are Bert the cop in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Captain Clayton in John Ford's The Searchers (1956).
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.
Mary Brian was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films.
Virginia Cherrill was an American actress best known for her role as the blind flower girl in Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931).
Adele Mara was an American actress, singer, and dancer, who appeared in films during the 1940s and 1950s and on television in the 1950s and 1960s.
Marguerite Churchill was an American stage and film actress whose career lasted 30 years, from 1922 to 1952. She was John Wayne's first leading lady, in The Big Trail (1930).
Julie Bishop, previously known as Jacqueline Wells, was an American film and television actress. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1957.
Born Reckless is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by John Ford and staged by Andrew Bennison from a screenplay written by Dudley Nichols based on the novel Louis Beretti. The film starred Edmund Lowe, Catherine Dale Owen and Marguerite Churchill.
God's Gift to Women is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic musical comedy film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Frank Fay, Laura LaPlante, and Joan Blondell. The film, based on the play The Devil Was Sick by Jane Hinton, was originally completed as a musical film; however, because of audience dislike for musicals at that time, all the songs were cut in American prints. The full film was released intact in other countries, where there was no such decline in popularity.
Idol of the Crowds is a 1937 American sports drama film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring John Wayne as an ice hockey player. It was one of a series of non-Westerns Wayne made for Universal. The film was originally called Hell on Ice but the Hays Office requested this be changed.
Iris Meredith was a B-movie actress of the 1930s and 1940s film era. She starred mostly in heroine roles, in westerns.
The Brat is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film directed by John Ford, starring Sally O'Neil, and featuring Virginia Cherrill. The film is based on the 1917 play by Maude Fulton. A previous silent film had been made in 1919 with Alla Nazimova. This 1931 screen version has been updated to then contemporary standards i.e. clothing, speech, topics in the news.
The Great Man Votes is a 1939 American drama film starring John Barrymore as a widowed professor turned drunkard who has the deciding vote in an election for mayor. It was based on the short story of the same name by Gordon Malherbe Hillman published in the November 1933 issue of American Magazine. The plot of the 2008 movie Swing Vote has been compared to The Great Man Votes.
Troubled Waters is a 1936 British mystery film directed by Albert Parker and starring James Mason, Virginia Cherrill, Alastair Sim, Raymond Lovell and Sam Wilkinson. It was made at Wembley Studios as a quota quickie by the British subsidiary of Fox Film.
Harlan Thompson was an American theatre director, screenwriter, lyricist, film director, and film and television producer. He wrote the Broadway hit Little Jessie James (1923–24), and several other Broadway musicals. He moved to Hollywood, where he was in turn a writer, director and producer.
Brother Rat and a Baby is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and written by John Cherry Monks, Jr. and Fred F. Finklehoffe. It is the sequel to the 1938 film Brother Rat. The film stars Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris, Jane Bryan in her final role, Eddie Albert, Jane Wyman, and Ronald Reagan. The film was released by Warner Bros. on January 13, 1940.
Riders of the Purple Sage is a 1931 American pre-Code Western film based upon the 1912 novel by Zane Grey, directed by Hamilton MacFadden, photographed by George Schneiderman, and starring George O'Brien and Marguerite Churchill. The picture was released by the Fox Film Corporation with a running time of 58 minutes and remains the third of five screen versions. It was the first sound version. The movie was followed later the same year by a similar adaptation of the novel's sequel, The Rainbow Trail, also starring O'Brien.
What Price Crime or What Price Crime? is a 1935 American crime film directed by Albert Herman and starring Charles Starrett, Noel Madison and Virginia Cherrill.
