Acting
Claire McDowell
Born October 31, 1877 · New York City, New York, USA
Died October 23, 1966 · aged 88
Claire McDowell (2 November 1877 – 23 October 1966) was an American actress. She appeared in 360 films between 1908 and 1945. Still somewhat of a youthful beauty when she started in early silent films, McDowell appeared in numerous films, eventually graduating to playing character and mother types. She can be seen to good advantage in Douglas Fairbanks's 1920 The Mark of Zorro. McDowell appeared …
Known For
It Happened One Night · 1934It Happened One Night
★ 7.81934
MovieComedyRomance
A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President · 1939Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
★ 5.01939
MovieComedy
Joe and Ethel Turp are up in arms when their faithful old mailman is fired. Unable to get satisfaction on a municipal level, Joe and Ethel plead their mailman's case to the President himself.
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ · 1925Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
★ 7.31925
MovieAdventureDrama
Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman officer Messala as conqueror and Judah as a wealthy, though conquered, Israelite. A slip of a brick during a Roman parade causes Judah to be sent off as a galley slave, his property confiscated and his mother and sister imprisoned. Years later, as a result of his determination to stay alive and his willingness to aid his Roman master, Judah returns to his homeland an exalted and wealthy Roman athlete. Unable to find his mother and sister, and believing them dead, he can think of nothing else than revenge against Messala.
Keeper of the Flame · 1943Keeper of the Flame
★ 6.61943
MovieDramaMystery
Famed reporter Stephen O'Malley travels to a small town to investigate the death of a national hero.
Hangmen Also Die! · 1943Hangmen Also Die!
★ 6.91943
MovieDramaThriller
During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, surgeon Dr. Franticek Svoboda, a Czech patriot, assassinates the brutal "Hangman of Europe", Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich, and is wounded in the process. In his attempt to escape, he is helped by history professor Stephen Novotny and his daughter Mascha.
The Mark of Zorro · 1920The Mark of Zorro
★ 7.21920
MovieWesternAdventure
Don Diego Vega pretends to be an indolent fop as a cover for his true identity, the masked avenger Zorro. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Boys Town · 1938Boys Town
★ 6.81938
MovieDrama
Devout but iron-willed Father Flanagan leads a community called Boys Town, a different sort of juvenile detention facility where, instead of being treated as underage criminals, the boys are shepherded into making themselves better people. But hard-nosed petty thief and pool shark Whitey Marsh, the impulsive and violent younger brother of an imprisoned murderer, might be too much for the good father's tough-love system.
Dollar Down · 1925Dollar Down
★ 7.01925
MovieDrama
Just before he propelled the crime melodrama to new, macabre heights in The Unholy Three, Browning directed this partially lost morality tale pertaining to a different kind of horror: that of a middle-class family living beyond their means and falling prey to moneylenders. Produced by and starring Ruth Roland for FBO Studios, a small operation that later became RKO Pictures, Dollar Down follows Roland as the spendthrift daughter of a manufacturing firm’s general manager (Henry Walthall), who pawns a ring purchased on credit to throw an extravagant party and sends the family’s livelihood into a tailspin. Because its last reel completely disintegrated before it could be copied, the film remains an ultra-rare curio that nonetheless captures an important chapter in Browning’s career before his successful string of films made for MGM.
Filmography
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It Happened One Night · 1934It Happened One Night
★ 7.81934
MovieComedyRomance
A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.
Mother on Bus (uncredited)
Imitation of Life · 1934Imitation of Life
★ 7.01934
MovieDramaRomance
A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
Teacher Outside Classroom (uncredited)









