
Betty Furness
Actor · 1916 – 1994 · New York City, New York, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Elizabeth Mary Furness (January 3, 1916 – April 2, 1994) was an American actress, consumer advocate, and current affairs commentator. She began her professional career as a model before being noticed by a talent scout and being signed to a film contract in 1932 by RKO Studios. Her first film role was as the "Thirteenth Woman" in the film Thirteen Women (1932) but her scenes were deleted before the film's release. Over the next few years, she appeared in several RKO films, and became a popular actress. Among her film successes were Magnificent Obsession (1935) and the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film Swing Time (1936). By the end of the decade, she had appeared in over forty films, but during the 1940s, she found it difficult to secure acting roles. In 1948, Furness was performing in the television series Studio One, which was broadcast live. She filled in for an actor to promote Westinghouse products during the advertisement break, and impressed the company with her easy and professional manner. They offered her a contract to promote their products and she thus became closely associated with them.
Movies24
Movie6.8RomanceComedyLucky is tricked into missing his own wedding to Margaret and has to make $25,000 so her father will allow him to marry her. He and business partner Pop go to New York where they run into dancing instructor Penny. She and Lucky form a successful dance partnership, but romance is blighted by his old attachment to Margaret and hers for Ricky.
Swing Time
1936 · 256 votes
Movie6.3ComedyRomanceAn American bandleader woos a Brazilian beauty who is already engaged to his employer. His friends try to help him, while learning the local dance, The Carioca. The first pairing of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, and their only pre-Code film.
Flying Down to Rio
1933 · 75 votes
Movie8.0ThrillerMysteryJeff and his family just moved into a small, rural community. When two sinister locals tamper with Jeff's water pump, a fight breaks out among the three. Jeff is seen as a fugitive in the eyes of this bloodthirsty community...and there seems to be no way to stop them. Studio One, Season 5, Episode 1.
The Kill
1952 · 2 votes
Movie6.1DramaTV MovieThe pilot for the television series, "The Defenders." The story of Walter and Kenneth Pearson, a father-and-son legal team. Broadcast as two segments of "Studio One," the story relates how the Pearsons defend a young man accused of killing a woman during a robbery attempt.
The Defender (Studio One)
1957 · 4 votes
Movie4.7MusicComedyWinners of the Lucky Stars National Dance Contest - one woman from each state of the United States - are welcomed to Palm Springs. Palm Springs being the desert playground for the movie stars, the women are introduced to the cavalcade of stars vacationing in Palm Springs at the time.
Sunkist Stars at Palm Springs
1936 · 3 votes
Movie6.5ComedyCrimeRuss Matthews, a theatrical agent who is not above pulling off a hoax or two or more to further the career of his clients (and himself), and a newspaper gossip-columnist, Carol Wilson, get involved with gangsters when one of Larry's radio-program future-predicting cons gets out of hand.
It Can't Last Forever
1937 · 4 votes
Movie8.0RomanceMusicA carnival girl pretends to be Swedish in order to win a movie role.
Let's Fall in Love
1933 · 3 votes
Movie4.0DramaTV MovieThe birth of Jesus and the serene Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem.
The Play of the Nativity of the Child Jesus
1952 · 1 votes
Movie5.7DramaA small town politician, kept from marrying the love of his life, eventually marries another woman and his career ascends, but he secretly continues the relationship with his true love.
The Life of Vergie Winters
1934 · 9 votes
Movie7.4DramaRomanceA playboy tries to redeem himself after his careless behavior causes a great man's death.
Magnificent Obsession
1935 · 21 votes
Movie9.0DramaA small town drunk beats a teetotal banker guilty of a shady transaction.
The Good Old Soak
1937 · 1 votes
Movie8.3DramaA judge hands four wayward boys to a college football coach who turns them into backfield stars.
The Band Plays On
1934 · 3 votes
Movie6.4ActionDramaTwo Hollywood stuntmen compete for the same pretty extra.
Lucky Devils
1933 · 5 votes
Movie5.0DramaRomanceA woman and her children escape severe poverty and abuse. She successfully betters her family's condition while living with the secret that she killed her abusive husband in order to protect her children from him.
A Wicked Woman
1934 · 5 votes
Movie5.8DramaMysteryThe screenplay for this mystery is based upon a story suggested to Liberty Magazine by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is the tale of a prominent lawyer who shocks his snooty friends, family and colleagues by abruptly abandoning his successful practice and his wife to find true happiness. He soon falls in love with another woman and continues to keep a low profile until he learns that his first wife stands accused of murdering him
The President's Mystery
1936 · 8 votes
Movie7.0DramaThe story of James Otis who was a part of the American revolution. He contested in court the right of the British to search colonists' homes.
A Bolt of Lightning
1951 · 1 votes
Movie5.8ComedyRomanceNewspaper photographer Jim Tyler sneaks into a society girl's wedding, and the bride's sister decides she prefers him to her upper-crust suitors. She even likes his pigeon, who travels everywhere with him.
They Wanted to Marry
1937 · 4 votes
Movie5.9DramaWarA sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the fight. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change.
Ace of Aces
1933 · 9 votes
Movie6.7MysteryComedyWhen a Hollywood producer is murdered, the most likely suspect is a man who is smitten with the victim's fiancee.
Shadow of Doubt
1935 · 6 votes
Movie7.0ComedyBoston blueblood Aloysius Merriweather loves to play jokes on people and he's come up with a joy-buzzer of a doozy. He'll send barber Joe Jenkins in his place to a dinner party aimed at squeezing a few Merriweather millions. That Cinderella plan soon turns into a pumpkin coach with the wheels fallen off. Circumstances will force shave-and-a-haircut Joe to masquerade as Merriweather for much longer.The comedy comes fast and frantic in Mister Cinderella, from Hal Roach Studios.
Mister Cinderella
1936 · 3 votes
Movie7.2ComedyA scatterbrained heiress opens her home to a succession of unemployed actors and vaudeville performers, then decides to produce her own show, much to the consternation of her father, her sister and her sister's boyfriend, who is actually after the young girl's money.
Here Comes Cookie
1935 · 9 votes
Movie7.8ComedyRomanceTough Aggie gives a street guy polish and a rich kid gumption.
Aggie Appleby, Maker of Men
1933 · 5 votes
Movie4.8ComedyDramaA college football team recruits a tough convict.
Gridiron Flash
1934 · 4 votes
Movie5.6ComedyRomanceUnable to find open range near Hollywood, western actor Tom Baxter and his troop head to Judy Blake's ranch to shoot their film.
Scarlet River
1933 · 5 votes
Series7
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
TV5.4DramaAn American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC. Studio One, presented by Westinghouse, was one of the first of the anthology TV programs. The episodes were often abridged remakes of movies from years gone by and many future well-known television and movie actors appeared in the productions.
Studio One
1948 · 13 votes
TV3.8DramaMysteryClimax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
Climax!
1954 · 12 votes
TV6.6DramaThe Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948 · 8 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
TV7.3ComedyYour Show of Shows was a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC, from February 25, 1950, until June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, Bill Hayes, Judy Johnson, The Hamilton Trio and the soprano Marguerite Piazza. José Ferrer made several guest appearances on the series. The series was telecast from the now-demolished International Theatre at 5 Columbus Circle and the Century Theater, now demolished, in New York. During 2002, Your Show of Shows was ranked #30 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Your Show of Shows
1950 · 4 votes
TV6.3DramaWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 · 6 votes