
Charles Laughton
Actor · 1899 – 1962 · Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was an English-American stage and film actor, director, producer and screenwriter. Laughton was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. He played a wide range of classical and modern parts, making an impact in Shakespeare at the Old Vic. His film career took him to Broadway and then Hollywood, but he also collaborated with Alexander Korda on notable British films of the era, including The Private Life of Henry VIII, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the title character. He portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings. Among Laughton's biggest film hits were The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Mutiny on the Bounty, Ruggles of Red Gap, Jamaica Inn, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Big Clock. In his later career, he took up stage directing, notably in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, and George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell, in which he also starred. He directed one film, the thriller The Night of the Hunter. Daniel Day-Lewis cited Laughton as one of his inspirations, saying: "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor, he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."
Movies24
Movie7.5HistoryDramaThe rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. After weeks of being trained to kill for the arena, Spartacus turns on his owners and leads the other slaves in rebellion. As the rebels move from town to town, their numbers swell as escaped slaves join their ranks. Under the leadership of Spartacus, they make their way to southern Italy, where they will cross the sea and return to their homes.
Spartacus
1960 · 2.5K votes
Movie8.2DramaMysteryAn ailing barrister is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending a man being tried for the murder of a socialite.
Witness for the Prosecution
1957 · 1.8K votes
Movie7.3DramaRomanceParis, France, 1482. Frollo, Chief Justice of benevolent King Louis XI, gets infatuated by the beauty of Esmeralda, a young Romani girl. The hunchback Quasimodo, Frollo's protege and bell-ringer of Notre Dame, lives in peace among the bells in the heights of the immense cathedral until he is involved by the twisted magistrate in his malicious plans to free himself from Esmeralda's alleged spell, which he believes to be the devil's work.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1939 · 227 votes
Movie7.4AdventureDramaFletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent on revenge.
Mutiny on the Bounty
1935 · 407 votes
Movie7.2DramaProposed by the President of the United States to fill the post of Secretary of State, Robert Leffingwell appears before a Senate committee, chaired by the idealistic Senator Brig Anderson, which must decide whether he is the right person for the job.
Advise & Consent
1962 · 127 votes
Movie6.6ComedyMysteryJuliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon. He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are 'The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta'.
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982 · 464 votes
Movie6.2DramaMysteryIn London, barrister Anthony Keane takes the case of Maddalena Paradine, a beautiful woman accused of poisoning her blind husband. Though happily married, Keane becomes infatuated with his enigmatic client and convinced of her innocence. His obsession clouds his judgment as he builds a defense implicating her servant, André Latour—an act that leads to devastating consequences both in court and at home.
The Paradine Case
1947 · 271 votes
Movie6.9Science FictionHorrorAn obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.
Island of Lost Souls
1932 · 274 votes
Movie6.9ComedyDramaFive O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".
O. Henry's Full House
1952 · 48 votes
Movie7.3CrimeThrillerGeorge Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor, has to postpone a vacation with his wife - again - when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence that he is the killer.
The Big Clock
1948 · 189 votes
Movie6.7DramaHorrorIn a remote region of Wales, five travelers beset by a relentless storm find shelter in an old mansion.
The Old Dark House
1932 · 310 votes
Movie6.1CrimeAdventureIn early 19th-century Cornwall, young Mary Yellan travels to live with her aunt and uncle at the remote Jamaica Inn, where she discovers the inn is a front for a violent gang of wreckers who lure ships to their doom along the coast. As she becomes entangled in their crimes, Mary must fight to survive and uncover the truth behind the terror that haunts the moors.
Jamaica Inn
1939 · 257 votes
Movie6.4DramaHistoryA Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.
The Sign of the Cross
1932 · 53 votes
Movie6.0DramaRomanceIn the winter of 1938, Paris is crowded with refugees from the Nazis, who live in the black shadows of night, trying to evade deportation. One such is Dr. Ravic, who practices medicine illegally and stalks his old Nazi enemy Haake with murder in mind. One rainy night, Ravic meets Joan Madou, a kept woman cast adrift by her lover's sudden death. Against Ravic's better judgment, they become involved in a doomed affair.
Arch of Triumph
1948 · 40 votes
Movie6.3ActionAdventureCutthroat pirate William Kidd captures Admiral Blayne's treasure ship and hides the bounty in a cave. Three years later, Kidd, posing as a respectable merchant captain, offers his services to the King of England. Seeking a social position, Kidd also negotiates for Blayne's title and lands, provided he can prove Blayne was associated with piracy. Launched upon his royal mission, Kidd is unaware that Blayne's son Adam is among the crew, determined to clear his father's name.
Captain Kidd
1945 · 38 votes
Movie7.1DramaWarSomewhere in Europe, in a city occupied by the Nazis, a gentle school teacher finds himself torn between collaboration and resistance, cowardice and courage.
This Land Is Mine
1943 · 72 votes
Movie8.0DocumentaryThis documentary, hosted by actor Burgess Meredith, explores the life and career of movie director Otto Preminger, whose body of work includes such memorable films as Anatomy of a Murder, Exodus, Laura, Forever Amber, Advise and Consent, In Harm's Way, The Moon Is Blue, The Man with the Golden Arm, and many other movies made from the '30s through the '70s. Interviews with actors Frank Sinatra, Vincent Price, James Stewart, Michael Caine, and others who worked with the flamboyant and sometimes control-obsessed director add information and insight to the story.
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · 7 votes
Movie5.8DramaRomanceIn the reign of emperor Tiberius, Gallilean prophet John the Baptist preaches against King Herod and Queen Herodias. The latter wants John dead, but Herod fears to harm him due to a prophecy. Enter beautiful Princess Salome, Herod's long-absent stepdaughter. Herodias sees the king's dawning lust for Salome as her means of bending the king to her will. But Salome and her lover Claudius are (contrary to Scripture) nearing conversion to the new religion. And the famous climactic dance turns out to have unexpected implications...
Salome
1953 · 50 votes
Movie7.4ComedyDramaA widower refuses to let his three daughters marry in order to avoid paying settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
Hobson's Choice
1954 · 171 votes
Movie6.4HistoryDramaRenowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With Anne Boleyn, his second betrothed, executed on charges of treason, Henry weds maid Jane Seymour, but that wedded bliss also ends in tragedy. Not one to be single for long, the tyrannical king chooses German-born Anne of Cleves, but their union lasts only months before an annulment is granted, and so Henry's reign of spousal terror continues.
The Private Life of Henry VIII
1933 · 98 votes
Movie5.7ComedyMusicOliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him?
On Our Merry Way
1948 · 18 votes
Movie5.1DramaNaval commander Charles Sturm has made life miserable for his wife Diana due to his insane jealousy over every man she speaks to. His obsessive behavior soon drives her to the arms of a handsome lieutenant. When Charles learns of their affair, he plots revenge.
Devil and the Deep
1932 · 16 votes
Movie6.5DramaComedyAn elderly business tycoon, believed to be dying, decides to give a million dollars each to eight strangers chosen at random from the phone directory.
If I Had a Million
1932 · 51 votes
Movie6.0ComedyAdventureTwo hapless waiters in a tavern on the Spanish Main play cupid between aristocratic Lady Jane and tavern co-worker Bruce Martindale, but the two bumpkins mix-up a love letter with Captain Kidd's treasure map of Skull Island, leading to them being kidnapped and taken off to the notorious pirate's island.
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd
1952 · 32 votes
Series11
TV7.0FamilyComedyFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while blindfolded, their identity - by asking only "yes" or "no" questions.
What's My Line?
1950 · 29 votes
TV6.8ComedyTalk ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the CBS Sunday Night Movie, which ran only one season and was eventually replaced by other shows. In 2002, The Ed Sullivan Show was ranked #15 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · 23 votes
TV6.2ComedyThe Steve Allen Show
1956 · 6 votes
TV6.9ComedyThe Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 · 13 votes
TV6.4RealityThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet", which continued to be used in Chevrolet advertising for several more years after the cancellation of the show.
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · 5 votes
TV6.8ComedyDramaStartime, an anthology of drama, comedy and variety, was one of the first American television shows broadcast in color.
Startime
1959 · 4 votes
TV7.5The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.
MGM Parade
1955 · 2 votes
- TV7.8Comedy
The George Gobel Show is an American television series hosted George Gobel that aired on NBC from 1954 to 1960.
The George Gobel Show
1954 · 4 votes
- TV10.0Comedy
The Jimmy Durante Show is a 51-episode half-hour comedy/variety television program presented live on NBC from October 2, 1954 to June 23, 1956.
The Jimmy Durante Show
1954 · 1 votes
- TV6.0
The Lux Show
1957 · 1 votes
TV6.8ComedyDramaGeneral 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.
General Electric Theater
1953 · 6 votes