Acting

Frances Gifford

Born December 7, 1920 · Long Beach, California, USA

Died January 15, 1994 · aged 73

Frances Gifford had a somewhat unorthodox introduction to the movie business. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, she had no ambition to be an actress, and in fact had applied to UCLA when, at age 16, she and a friend got to visit the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, where they watched a movie being shot. A studio exec saw her and asked if she would take a screen test. She did, the studio was i…

Known For

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington · 1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

MovieComedyDrama

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

The Reluctant Dragon

The Reluctant Dragon · 1941

The Reluctant Dragon

MovieAnimationFamily

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

Star Spangled Rhythm

Star Spangled Rhythm · 1942

Star Spangled Rhythm

MovieComedyMusic

Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.

The Glass Key

The Glass Key · 1942

MovieCrimeMystery

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Stage Door

Stage Door · 1937

MovieComedyDrama

A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.

Thrill of a Romance

Thrill of a Romance · 1945

Thrill of a Romance

MovieComedyMusic

A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

Cry 'Havoc'

Cry 'Havoc' · 1943

The Army nurses on Bataan need help badly, but when it arrives, it sure isn't what they expected. A motley crew, including a Southern belle, a waitress, and a stripper, show up. Many conflicts arise among these women who are thrown together in what is a desperate and ultimately hopeless situation.

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die · 1942

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

Uneven version of Wyatt Earp vs. the Clanton Gang with a little romance thrown in haphazardly.

Filmography

Sort

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington · 1939

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

MovieComedyDrama

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

Hopper Girl (uncredited)

The Reluctant Dragon

The Reluctant Dragon · 1941

The Reluctant Dragon

MovieAnimationFamily

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

Doris

Star Spangled Rhythm

Star Spangled Rhythm · 1942

Star Spangled Rhythm

MovieComedyMusic

Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.

Frances Gifford (uncredited)

The Glass Key

The Glass Key · 1942

MovieCrimeMystery

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Nurse

Stage Door

Stage Door · 1937

MovieComedyDrama

A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.

Mary McGuire (uncredited)

Thrill of a Romance

Thrill of a Romance · 1945

Thrill of a Romance

MovieComedyMusic

A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

Maude Bancroft

Cry 'Havoc'

Cry 'Havoc' · 1943

The Army nurses on Bataan need help badly, but when it arrives, it sure isn't what they expected. A motley crew, including a Southern belle, a waitress, and a stripper, show up. Many conflicts arise among these women who are thrown together in what is a desperate and ultimately hopeless situation.

Helen

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die · 1942

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

Uneven version of Wyatt Earp vs. the Clanton Gang with a little romance thrown in haphazardly.

Ruth Grant

Twenty Years After

Twenty Years After · 1944

Twenty Years After

MovieDocumentary

This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

(archive footage)

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6 · 2004

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

MovieAnimationFamily

Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young boy and a famous dragon fighter team up to teach a docile dragon the art of being a force to be reckoned with. In 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' (1947), Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck confront the fearsome Willie the Giant to try to retrieve the magical singing harp to Happy Valley.

Doris (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)

Tarzan Triumphs

Tarzan Triumphs · 1943

Tarzan Triumphs

MovieActionAdventure

Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the jungle with plans to conquer her people and take their wealth. Tarzan, the isolationist, becomes involved after the Nazis shoot at him and capture Boy: "Now Tarzan make war!"

Zandra

Riding High

Riding High · 1950

A horse trainer who has fallen on hard times looks to his horse, Broadway Bill, to finally win the big race.

Margaret Higgins

The Arnelo Affair

The Arnelo Affair · 1947

The Arnelo Affair

MovieCrimeDrama

A neglected wife gets mixed up with an hypnotic charmer and murder.

Anne Parkson

Maid's Night Out

Maid's Night Out · 1938

Maid's Night Out

A millionaire's son works as a milkman for a month to win a bet with his father. While delivering milk he falls in love with a young debutante whom he mistakes for a maid.

Ticket Seller - Octopus Concession (uncredited)

The Remarkable Andrew

The Remarkable Andrew · 1942

The Remarkable Andrew

MovieFantasyComedy

When Andrew Long, hyper-efficient small town accountant, finds a $1240 discrepancy in the city budget, his superiors try to explain it away. When he insists on pursuing the matter, he's in danger of being blamed himself. In his trouble, the spirit of Andrew Jackson, whom he idolizes, visits him, and in turn, summons much high-powered talent from American history...which only Andrew can see.

Miss Halsey

Jungle Girl

Jungle Girl · 1941

Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he settles in the African jungle, where his ability to cure the native ills has resulted in his virtual control of the Masamba tribes, who possess vast diamond mines coveted by a gang of crooks.

Nyoka Meredith

Luxury Liner

Luxury Liner · 1948

MovieComedyRomance

Capt. Jeremy Bradford has a particularly exciting luxury liner cruise in store when he's charged with transporting a troupe of opera singers to Rio de Janeiro. Anxious to become a singer herself, Bradford's young daughter, Polly, decides to skip out on school and sneak onto the ship before it departs. Angry that his daughter disobeyed him, Bradford puts her to work on the ship for punishment, but Polly has her own ideas about how to spend the trip.

Laura Dene

West Point Widow

West Point Widow · 1941

West Point Widow

In this romance, a hospital nurse marries a West Point football hero. She soon gets pregnant, but this doesn't stop her from annulling the marriage so as not to interfere with her husband's military career.

Daphne

Little Mister Jim

Little Mister Jim · 1947

Little Mister Jim

After his mother's death, a young boy tries to help his father stop drinking.

Jean Tukker

Living on Love

Living on Love · 1937

MovieComedyRomance

A man and a woman, who have never met, are forced by pecuniary circumstances to share the same basement apartment in shifts.

Bus Passenger (uncredited)

American Empire

American Empire · 1942

American Empire

Richard Dix as Dan Taylor and Preston S. Foster as Paxton Bryce are two longtime friends seeking their fortune in Texas after the war. The two men decide, not without problems, to establish a cattle empire. Paxton becoming too ambitious, distances himself from Dan and Abby, Paxton's wife. It will only be after a personal tragedy that he will come back to his senses.

Abigail 'Abby' Taylor, Dan's Sister

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour · 1943

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

Teenager Henry Aldrich becomes a hometown celebrity when he wins a date with a sexy movie star. The sixth entry in the "Henry Aldrich" series of eleven films.

Hilary Dane

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes · 1945

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

MovieDramaFamily

Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.

Viola Johnson

Forty Little Mothers

Forty Little Mothers · 1940

Forty Little Mothers

An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.

Granville Girl

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater · 1953

General Electric Theater

SeriesComedyDrama

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.

Evelyn Crewes