Robert Florey was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor.
George Raft was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is remembered for his gangster roles in Quick Millions (1931) with Spencer Tracy, Scarface (1932) with Paul Muni, Each Dawn I Die (1939) with James Cagney, Invisible Stripes (1939) with Humphrey Bogart, Billy Wilder's comedy Some Like It Hot (1959) with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon, and as a dancer in Bolero (1934) with Carole Lombard and a truck driver in They Drive by Night (1940) with Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino and Bogart.
Akim Mikhailovich Tamiroff was an Armenian-American actor of film, stage, and television. One of the premier character actors of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tamiroff appeared in at least 80 motion pictures in a career spanning 37 years, developing a prolific career despite his thick accent.
The Black Sleep is a 1956 American independent horror film directed by Reginald LeBorg, and written by John C. Higgins from a story by Gerald Drayson Adams. It stars Basil Rathbone, Lon Chaney Jr., John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, and Akim Tamiroff. Tor Johnson appears in a supporting role. The film was produced by Aubrey Schenck and Howard W. Koch, as part of a four-picture finance-for-distribution arrangement with United Artists.
Moon over Parador is a 1988 American romantic comedy film, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Raul Julia and Sônia Braga. It is a remake of the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud, based on the unpublished short story entitled "Caviar for His Excellency" by Charles G. Booth.
Mary Boland was an American stage and film actress.
Charles Gordon Booth was a British-born writer who settled in America and wrote several classic Hollywood stories, including The General Died at Dawn (1936) and Sundown (1941). He won an Academy Award for Best Story for The House on 92nd Street in 1945, a thinly disguised version of the FBI "Duquesne Spy Ring saga", which led to the largest espionage conviction in the history of the United States. He also penned the short story "Caviar for His Excellency" which was the basis for the play "The Magnificent Fraud" and was the basis for Paul Mazursky's 1988 film Moon Over Parador.
The House Across the Bay is a 1940 film directed by Archie Mayo, starring George Raft and Joan Bennett, produced by Walter Wanger, written by Myles Connolly and Kathryn Scola, and released by United Artists. The supporting cast features Lloyd Nolan, Walter Pidgeon and Gladys George.
Spawn of the North is a 1938 American adventure film about rival fishermen in Alaska starring George Raft and featuring Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff and John Barrymore. The picture was directed by Henry Hathaway and was an unofficial follow up to Souls at Sea, also featuring Raft and directed by Hathaway. Spawn Of The North is a reworking of The Virginian, transferred to Alaska and with emphasis shifted to the Steve character.
Dangerous to Know is a 1938 American crime film and starring Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff and Gail Patrick. The movie was directed by Robert Florey. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film a "second-rate melodrama, hardly worthy of the talents of its generally capable cast."
Me and the Colonel is a 1958 American comedy film based on the play Jacobowsky und der Oberst by Franz Werfel. It was directed by Peter Glenville and stars Danny Kaye, Curd Jürgens and Nicole Maurey.
Black Magic is a 1949 film adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's novel Joseph Balsamo. It was directed by Gregory Ratoff. Set in the 18th century, the film stars Orson Welles in the lead role as Joseph Balsamo, a hypnotist, magician, and charlatan who also goes by the alias of Count Cagliostro, and Nancy Guild as Lorenza/Marie Antoinette. Akim Tamiroff has a featured role as Gitano. The film received mixed reviews.
St. Louis Blues is a 1939 American musical film directed by Raoul Walsh and set on a Mississippi River showboat. Though the song "St. Louis Blues" is performed, the film's plot is not based on the song. Artists appearing in the film include jazz singer Maxine Sullivan and composer/singer/actor Hoagy Carmichael. The film stars Dorothy Lamour, Lloyd Nolan, Tito Guízar, Jerome Cowan and Mary Parker.
New York Town is a 1941 American romantic comedy film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Fred MacMurray, Mary Martin, Akim Tamiroff, and Robert Preston. The film was written by Lewis Meltzer and an uncredited Preston Sturges based on a story by Jo Swerling.
Outpost in Morocco is a 1949 action adventure film directed by Robert Florey, starring George Raft and Marie Windsor. Paul Gerard, a Moroccan Spahi officer and his French Foreign Legion garrison, holds off attacks from the native tribes of the Emir of Bel-Rashad, the father of Cara, the woman he loves. As a rarity amongst American films of the Foreign Legion genre, the Legion cooperated with the producers. A second unit led by Robert Rossen filmed scenes in Morocco. Some of the large-scale action scenes of the film were reused in Fort Algiers and Legion of the Doomed.
King of Gamblers is a 1937 American low-budget gangster film directed by Robert Florey. Akim Tamiroff takes an unusual featured role as a slot-machine racketeer whose bombing of an uncooperative barber shop leads to a murder charge.
Untamed is a 1940 American Technicolor adventure film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Ray Milland, Patricia Morison and Akim Tamiroff. It is based on the 1926 Sinclair Lewis novel Mantrap.
King of Chinatown is a 1939 American crime film directed by Nick Grinde and written by Lillie Hayward and Irving Reis. The film stars Anna May Wong, Akim Tamiroff, J. Carrol Naish, Sidney Toler, Philip Ahn, Anthony Quinn and Bernadene Hayes. The film was released on March 17, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
The Way of All Flesh is a 1940 American drama film directed by Louis King and written by Lenore J. Coffee. The film stars Akim Tamiroff, Gladys George, William "Bill" Henry, Muriel Angelus, Berton Churchill and Roger Imhof. It was released on July 5, 1940 by Paramount Pictures.
Ride a Crooked Mile is a 1938 American Western film directed by Alfred E. Green and written by Jack Moffitt and Ferdinand Reyher. The film stars Akim Tamiroff, Leif Erickson, Frances Farmer, Lynne Overman, John Miljan and J. M. Kerrigan. The film was released on December 9, 1938, by Paramount Pictures.
