Maurice Costello
Actor · 1877 – 1950 · Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
From Wikipedia Maurice George Costello (February 22, 1877 – October 29, 1950) was an American prominent vaudeville actor of the late 1890s and early 1900s, who later played a principal role in early American films, as both a leading man, supporting player and a director. Costello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Irish immigrants Ellen and Thomas Costello. He appeared in his first motion picture in 1905, in which he had the honour of appearing in the first serious film to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes in the movie Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in which Costello played the title role. He continued to work for Vitagraph, being a member of the first motion picture stock company ever formed, playing opposite Florence Turner. Among some of his best known pictures are A Tale of Two Cities, The Man Who Couldn't Beat God and For the Honor of the Family. After an absence of some years he returned to the screen. He was married to actress Mae Costello (née Altschuk). His descendants include two daughters, actresses Dolores Costello and Helene Costello, a grandson John Drew Barrymore, and a great granddaughter Drew Barrymore. He was one of the world's first leading men in early American cinema, but like a lot of other silent screen stars, he found the transition to "talkies" extremely difficult, and his leading man status was over. However, Costello was a trouper, and continued to appear in movies, often in small roles and bit parts, right up until his death in 1950.
Movies24
Movie8.0MysteryDramaNewspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
Citizen Kane
1941 · 6.2K votes
Movie7.8ComedyDramaAfter 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.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
1939 · 1.2K votes
Movie7.2AdventureDashing pirate Geoffrey Thorpe plunders Spanish ships for Queen Elizabeth I and falls in love with Dona Maria, a beautiful Spanish royal he captures.
The Sea Hawk
1940 · 163 votes
Movie7.0ThrillerMysteryAmerican crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.
Foreign Correspondent
1940 · 465 votes
Movie7.5CrimeDramaAfter World War I, Armistice Lloyd Hart goes back to practice law, former saloon keeper George Hally turns to bootlegging, and out-of-work Eddie Bartlett becomes a cab driver. Eddie builds a fleet of cabs through delivery of bootleg liquor and hires Lloyd as his lawyer. George becomes Eddie's partner and the rackets flourish until love and rivalry interfere.
The Roaring Twenties
1939 · 276 votes
Movie7.2DramaRomanceWhen lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess as the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow.
All This, and Heaven Too
1940 · 62 votes
Movie7.0ComedyFantasyBoxer Joe Pendleton, flying to his next fight, crashes...because a Heavenly Messenger, new on the job, snatched Joe's spirit prematurely from his body. Before the matter can be rectified, Joe's body is cremated; so the celestial Mr. Jordan grants him the use of the body of wealthy Bruce Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife. Joe tries to remake Farnsworth's unworthy life in his own clean-cut image, but then falls in love; and what about that murderous wife?
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941 · 126 votes
Movie6.5ComedyRomanceDetective Guy Johnson's client, Willie Heywood, is framed for murder. While Guy hides him so he can catch the real killer, both of them are nabbed by the police, tried, convicted and sentenced to jail: Guy for a year with Willie to be executed. On the way to jail, Guy comes across a clue and escapes from the police.
It's a Wonderful World
1939 · 50 votes
Movie6.5ComedyFantasyHat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. Soon after, Louis has an accident and gets knocked on the head, where he dreams that he's King Louis XV pursuing the infamous Madame Du Barry.
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943 · 18 votes
Movie7.0ComedyMagazine editor Margot Merrick pretends to be married in order to avoid advances from male colleagues. Unfortunately, things don't go to plan when Jeff Thompson, a potential suitor, uncovers the deception and decides to show up at Margot's family home posing as her husband!
Third Finger, Left Hand
1940 · 13 votes
Movie6.7CrimeMysteryA crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.
The Glass Key
1942 · 135 votes
Movie6.8DramaCrimeWall Street broker Robert Cain, Sr., is jailed for embezzling. His college graduate son Bob then turns to crime to raise money for his father's release. As assistant to mobster Mickey Dwyer, then falls for Dwyer's girl Lucky. He winds up in the same prison as his father.
Johnny Apollo
1940 · 22 votes
Movie6.8HistoryDramaIn flashback, fifty years after inventing the light bulb, an 82-year-old Edison tells his story starting at age twenty-two with his arrival in New York. He's on his way with the invention of an early form of the stock market ticker.
Edison, the Man
1940 · 27 votes
Movie6.7DramaRomanceOn the day of his funeral, a dedicated smalltown doctor is remembered by his neighbors and patients.
A Man to Remember
1938 · 7 votes
Movie6.0ComedyWesternTwo peanut vendors at a rodeo show get in trouble with their boss and hide out on a railroad train heading west. They get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch, despite the fact that neither of them knows anything about cowboys, horses, or anything else.
Ride 'Em Cowboy
1941 · 29 votes
Movie5.7RomanceComedyComic mayhem results when a small town pet store owner, mistakenly believed killed during a sea voyage, turns up very much alive.
The Ghost Comes Home
1940 · 3 votes
- Movie4.7DramaHistory
Biographical drama, adaptation of Shakespeare's play.
Julius Caesar, an Historical Tragedy
1908 · 6 votes
Movie5.5MusicHorrorDr. Hohner, theatre physician at the Vienna Royal Theatre, murders his mistress, the star soprano when his jealousy drives him to the point of mad obsession. Ten years later, another young singer reminds Hohner of the late diva and his old mania kicks in. Hohner wants to prevent her from singing for anyone but him, even if it means silencing her forever.
The Climax
1944 · 38 votes
Movie5.7ComedyRomanceYoung Andy develops a crush on his drama teacher. When his play is chosen as the school's annual production, Andy seizes the opportunity to spend as much time as possible with his pretty teacher. Meanwhile, Judge Hardy has his own problems when he gets conned into forming a phony aluminum corporation.
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever
1939 · 15 votes
- Movie10.0Drama
Mrs. Grant, a widow, has one son, Donald. He is not really a bad fellow, but is full of devilment and always getting himself into mischief. One day, he visits the village inn and follows this up by pinning a caricature of Elder McWirther on that gentleman's gate. It is decided by the deacons to expel him from the church.
Her Grandchild
1912 · 1 votes
Movie4.5DramaWith a full Hollywood background and settings but more an expose of scandal-and-gossip magazines of the era, has-been actor John Blakeford agrees to write his memoirs for magazine-publisher Jordan Winston. When Blakeford's daughter, Patricia, ask him to desist for the sake of his ex-wife, Carlotta Blakeford, he attempts to break his contract with Winston.
Hollywood Boulevard
1936 · 4 votes
Movie7.0FamilyComedyThe first of four films in the "Five Little Peppers" series, based on Margaret Sinclair's popular book, about a widowed mother and her five children. In this one the family inherits co-ownership in a copper mine.
Five Little Peppers And How They Grew
1939 · 5 votes
Movie4.8DramaRomanceA nightclub dancer, raised in an orphanage, learns she might be the long-lost heiress to a hair tonic fortune.
A Fig Leaf for Eve
1944 · 10 votes
Movie5.5DramaCrimeA bucolic lawyer takes on big-city corruption, setting out to prove that an above-suspicion politician is actually a crook - all while falling in love with the politician's daughter.
A Man Betrayed
1941 · 14 votes