Rafaela Ottiano
Actor · 1888 – 1942 · Venice, Italy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rafaela Ottiano (4 March 1888 – 18 August 1942) was an Italian-born American stage and film actress. Born in Venice, Italy, she emigrated with her parents to the United States, and was processed at Ellis Island, in 1910. Ottiano established herself as a stage actress in Europe before arriving in Hollywood in 1924 and appearing in American motion pictures. Ottiano's first film was in the John L. McCutcheon-directed drama The Law and the Lady (1924) opposite actors Len Leo, Alice Lake, and Tyrone Power, Sr. Ottiano was part of the original 1928 Broadway cast of the Mae West hit play Diamond Lil and reprised her role as Rita when the play was made into a film as She Done Him Wrong (1933), directed by Lowell Sherman. Throughout the 1930s, Rafaela Ottiano would often specialize in roles as sinister, maleveolent, or spiteful women, such as her role in the Tod Browning-directed horror film The Devil-Doll (1936), opposite Lionel Barrymore and Maureen O'Sullivan. Other notable film roles for Ottiano include Lena in As You Desire Me (1932) with Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Erich von Stroheim, Owen Moore, and Hedda Hopper; Mrs. Higgins in the Shirley Temple musical-comedy Curly Top (1935); as a matron in the crime-drama Riffraff (1936), starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy; and as Suzette, Greta Garbo's devoted maid, in the Edmund Goulding-directed drama Grand Hotel (1932). When Grand Hotel was turned into a Broadway Musical in 1989, her character was renamed Rafaela Ottiano in honor of the actress. Ottiano's last film was the musical comedy I Married an Angel (1942), starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. During her career in film, she appeared in approximately 45 motion pictures, opposite such actors as Barbara Stanwyck, Conrad Nagel, Peter Lorre, Zasu Pitts, and Katharine Hepburn. Ottiano lived in the Times Square area during the Prohibition Era and never married. She died in 1942 in East Boston, Massachusetts of intestinal cancer at the age of 54. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rafaela Ottiano, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies24
Movie7.0DramaRomanceGuests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.
Grand Hotel
1932 · 365 votes
Movie6.6DramaHistoryThe young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.
Marie Antoinette
1938 · 37 votes
Movie6.6DramaWarThe crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World War II. Adapted from four Eugene O'Neill one-act plays.
The Long Voyage Home
1940 · 105 votes
Movie5.9ComedyCrimeNew York singer and nightclub owner Lady Lou has more male friends than can be imagined. One is a vicious escaped criminal on the way to see 'his' girl, unaware she hasn't exactly been faithful in his absence. Help is at hand in the form of young Captain Cummings, a local temperance league leader.
She Done Him Wrong
1933 · 137 votes
Movie6.8RomanceDramaAn aging former opera singer looks back on long life, specially on her relationships with her vocal teacher and a music student.
Maytime
1937 · 13 votes
Movie6.5ComedyFantasyTopper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Gail Richards, accidentally murdered while vacationing at the home of her wealthy friend, Ann Carrington, the intended victim. With Topper's help, Gail sets out to find her killer with the expected zany results.
Topper Returns
1941 · 61 votes
Movie6.1ComedyDramaAfter saving a tramp from suicide, a millionaire takes his clothing and disappears. Word is out that he will give a million dollars to anyone who is kind to a tramp.
I'll Give a Million
1938 · 7 votes
Movie6.4DramaBar entertainer Zara is a discontented alcoholic who is pursued by many men but lives with novelist Carl Salter. One day, Tony shows up on Salter's estate claiming that Zara is actually Maria, the wife of his close friend Bruno, claiming that her memory was destroyed during World War I. Zara doesn't remember but leaves with Tony to Salter's dismay. Bruno, now an officer in the Italian Army, tries to coax Maria's memory back on his large estate. No one is really sure if Zara is Maria, and when Salter shows up with a mental case from Trieste that he claims is the real Maria, everyone on Bruno's estate is desperately searching for the truth.
As You Desire Me
1932 · 14 votes
Movie6.8HorrorScience FictionRespected Parisian banker Paul Lavond is framed for robbery and murder by crooked associates and sent to prison. Years later, he escapes with a friend, a scientist who was working on a method to reduce humans to a height of mere inches (all for the good of humanity, of course). Lavond, however, is consumed with hatred for those who betrayed him, and takes the scientist's methods back to Paris to exact painful revenge.
The Devil-Doll
1936 · 125 votes
Movie5.7DramaHistoryBased on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by his heartless nobleman father, Don Luis, Anthony is later mentored by his kind grandfather, John Bonnyfeather, and falls for the beautiful Angela Giuseppe. When circumstances separate Anthony and Angela and he embarks on a long journey, he must find his way back to her, no matter what the cost.
Anthony Adverse
1936 · 37 votes
Movie6.5FamilyMusicWealthy Edward Morgan becomes charmed with a curly-haired orphan and her pretty older sister Mary and arranges to adopt both under the alias of "Mr. Jones". As he spends more time with them, he soon finds himself falling in love with Mary.
Curly Top
1935 · 46 votes
Movie6.5CrimeDramaA cop, who plays by his own rules, brings down a notorious gangster.
We're Only Human
1935 · 4 votes
Movie6.4DramaRomanceA Parisian sewer worker longs for a rise in status and a beautiful wife. He rescues a girl from the police, lives with her in a barren flat on the seventh floor, and then marches away to war.
Seventh Heaven
1937 · 18 votes
Movie5.9DramaA good nurse ruins her career by covering up for her sister's careless mistake.
Vigil in the Night
1940 · 12 votes
Movie8.0AdventureAuthor writes about his experiences sailing at sea, struggles to get his work published.
The Adventures of Martin Eden
1942 · 2 votes
Movie6.9MusicComedyNikki Martin, a beautiful French opera star, stows away on an ocean liner in hopes of escaping her jealous fiancee. Once aboard, she joins an American swing band and falls in love with its leader, who, after hearing her sing, eventually comes to reciprocate her feelings.
That Girl from Paris
1936 · 7 votes
Movie6.3RomanceComedyAlison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engineer.
Female
1933 · 32 votes
Movie6.2MysteryCrimeNero Wolfe agrees to investigate a series of murders that seem to be tied in with a past Harvard hazing prank that went awry.
The League of Frightened Men
1937 · 5 votes
Movie4.9ComedyDramaMrs. Lotty Wilkins is an unhappily wife whom's life husband and romance have departed. In order to possibly salvage some of the missing elements in her life she rents an old Italian mansion and sharing it with three women. Here the four women plan to spend the month of April away from the cares of home, husbands and the everyday monotony.
Enchanted April
1935 · 6 votes
Movie7.0DramaJudy Peters is about to be sentenced after she has pled guilty to her third offense of prostitution, when Dr. Nelson interrupts and tells her story to the court. (Mubi.)
Bondage
1933 · 1 votes
Movie4.5MusicA child from the New York tenements sings on a radio quiz show and is eventually hired to a big-bucks contract, which allows her and her family to move into a posh apartment, with all the usual problems that accompany sudden wealth.
A Little Bit of Heaven
1940 · 2 votes
Movie6.4MysteryComedyA temperamental film star's vacation turns deadly when he uncovers a murder.
Mad Holiday
1936 · 7 votes
Movie5.5ComedyMysteryAfter a night of wild partying at a friend's house, a couple wake up to discover the party's host has been murdered in his bed.
Remember Last Night?
1935 · 7 votes
Movie5.4CrimeDramaFisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired from his job he leaves Hattie who steals money for him and goes to jail. He gets a new job, foils a plot to dynamite the ship, and promises to wait for Hattie.
Riffraff
1936 · 18 votes