
Jane Adams
Actor · 1918 – 2014 · San Antonio, Texas, USA
Betty Jane Bierce, better known by her stage name Jane "Poni" Adams was an American actress in radio, film, and television in the 1940s and 1950s. Adams was born in San Antonio, Texas, but her family moved to California when she was two. During her high school years, she studied violin and drama, and she was selected to be a concert mistress of the all-city high school orchestra of Los Angeles. She received a full scholarship to Juilliard, which she turned down to spend years studying at the Pasadena Playhouse. After the Playhouse, she got her start on Lux Radio Theatre, and then with the Harry Conover Modeling Agency, where she was given her nickname "Poni". This was supposedly due to her love of horses, but in reality it was to provide her with a more memorable stage name.(In the book Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s, Adams said: "I was given that name at the Harry Conover Modeling Agency. Why, I don't know!" She returned to using her real name in 1945. Military personnel played a role in her change of names from Poni Adams to Jane Adams. A photograph printed in newspapers in 1946 carried the caption: "GI JANE — Jane Adams — formerly Poni Adams — holds some of 32,851 letters her press agent said came from GIs after she appealed for aid in choosing a new name." Adams' first screen appearance was in So You Want to Give Up Smoking, a short film in 1942. She may be best known for her role as Nina in House of Dracula, but she also has the distinction of acting in early adaptations of both major DC Comics franchises: Batman, where she played Vicki Vale in the second Batman serial, Batman and Robin, and also a character in the first Superman television series. On May 21, 2014, Adams died in Bellingham, Washington, at the age of 95. She was buried (as Betty J. Turnage) beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.
Movies24
Movie6.7ThrillerCrimeRoy Martin aka Roy Morgan is a burglar and former war-time Radio & Electronics Engineer who listens in to radio police calls, allowing him to stay one step ahead of the cops.
He Walked by Night
1949 · 109 votes
Movie5.5HorrorScience FictionA scientist working on cures for rare afflictions, such as a bone softening agent made from molds to allow him to correct the spinal deformity of his nurse, finds the physical causes of lycanthropy in wolf-man Larry Talbot and of vampirism in Count Dracula, but himself becomes afflicted with homicidal madness while exchanging blood with Dracula.
House of Dracula
1945 · 152 votes
Movie6.6ComedyCrimeWhile watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.
Lady on a Train
1945 · 54 votes
Movie4.1WesternWarDuring the Austrian-Prussian war, Anna Marie is a dancer who is forced to flee her country after she is accused of being a spy. She ends up in a lawless western town in Arizona, where she uses her charms and dancing skills to transform herself into "Salome" during her dance routines.
Salome, Where She Danced
1945 · 7 votes
Movie7.5DocumentaryHorrorJoin foremost experts discussing true Horror Classics - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Black Cat, Wolfman, King Kong, Bride of Frankenstein, and more. Grab the popcorn and take a deep breath as we conjure up the thrills, chills and magic of Monster Madness!
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
2014 · 4 votes
Movie5.7ActionScience FictionThis 15-chapter serial pits Batman and Robin against The Wizard, who uses a device that allows him to control machinery to hold the city hostage.
Batman and Robin
1949 · 46 votes
Movie6.5ActionAdventureA movie serial in 13 chapters, and Lionel Atwill's final film: Following the end of WWII, war-monger Sir Eric Hazarias sets the wheel in motion for WWIII. His search for Meteorium 245, the only practical defence against the atomic bomb, leads him to mythical Pendrang. Obstructing his sinister plan to rule the world are Rod Stanton, United Peace Foundation investigator, Tal Shan , Pendrang native, and Marjorie Elmore, daughter of scientist Dr. Elmore, unwilling assistant to Sir Eric.
Lost City of the Jungle
1946 · 5 votes
Movie7.0WesternA cowboy sets out to break up a gang of rustlers.
Rustler's Round-up
1946 · 1 votes
Movie7.8DocumentaryThis is the fully documented story of Batman—his genesis, his development, and his overall entertainment career. Told with dramatic insight, this action-filled documentary will satisfy every fan who has ever delighted in Batmania.
Batmania: From Comics to Screen
1989 · 5 votes
Movie7.0WesternCrimeTwo episodes from the "Wild Bill Hickok" TV series edited together and released as a feature.
Secret of Outlaw Flats
1953 · 1 votes
Movie8.0WesternCisco and Pancho set out to clear their names in a series of stage robberies committed by two thugs who are impersonating them.
The Girl from San Lorenzo
1950 · 1 votes
- MovieDocumentary
Documentary on the brief acting career of Rondo Hatton in Universal's horror movies.
Movie6.5ComedyDramaAesop of fable fame poses as an old man and woos away a princess who wants a king for his gold.
Night in Paradise
1946 · 2 votes
Movie9.0WesternIn this western, the hero fights the bad guys by impersonating the son of a rancher. The outlaws have been making the good landowners pay fake taxes. Not only does the good guy succeed in catching the bad guys, he also catches himself the postmistress.
Code of the Lawless
1945 · 1 votes
Movie5.0CrimeDramaAn attorney enraged over the prosecution of two innocent people goes on a killing spree.
Smooth as Silk
1946 · 14 votes
MovieWesternJohnny Mack Brown follows his tried-and-true western formula in Law of the Panhandle. This time, U.S. Marshal Brown backs up Sheriff Tom Stocker (Riley Hill) in an ongoing battle against a marauding outlaw gang. The thieves, led by snarling Henry Faulkner (Myron Healey), hope to scare all the local ranchers off the land that will soon be purchased by the railroad that's coming through the territory.
Law of the Panhandle
1950 · 1 votes
Movie6.4ComedyHorrorWhen Sach eats too much sugar, he goes into a trance whereby he's able to predict the future. Slip tries to make some money off of Sach by using him as a fortune teller in a carnival, until a mad scientist kidnaps Sach to use him in an intelligence-switching experiment with a monster.
Master Minds
1949 · 7 votes
Movie4.6HorrorThrillerA facially disfigured and mentally unhinged man wreaks his revenge on those he blames for his condition.
The Brute Man
1946 · 33 votes
Movie9.0MysteryWesternGovernment agents Ted Everett and Tumbleweed are sent to Spearville, Texas, where the law agencies have failed to stop a series of bank robberies. Arriving incognito, they become involved with the gang, and end up being accused of murdering banker Bartlet Mellon. They escape a lynch mob and return with evidence that Mellon has faked his death, hoping to gain the insurance, and is also leading the gang under another name.
Lawless Breed
1946 · 1 votes
Movie10.0CrimeDramaA lawyer defends a slot-machine king, and his bride and partner don't like it.
Street Bandits
1951 · 1 votes
Movie10.0WesternJimmy Wakely befriends Hank Carrdigan, a former outlaw who has served his sentence and wants to go straight. Jimmy, after clearing Hank of a wrongful shooting charge, helps him get a job as an express messenger. Hank drives off some bandits in an attempted hold-up, but recognizes his son Tom as one of the bandits. A later robbery is blamed on Hank but Jimmy and his sidekick Cannonball Taylor bring in the real culprits and clear Hank's name.
Gun Law Justice
1949 · 1 votes
Movie6.5WesternBrown's principal antagonist this time is the town boss, an outlaw who has killed the community's leading citizen. The dead man's grown children want to investigate the killing, but the outlaw puts a stop to this by hiring a dance-hall dame to pose as the kids' long-lost mother. Johnny isn't fooled by this subterfuge nor is his sidekick.
Western Renegades
1949 · 2 votes
Movie10.0WesternJohnny Mack Brown dodges bullets while he tries to figure out who stole the Mexican gold and who killed the newspaper editor.
Outlaw Gold
1950 · 1 votes
Movie10.0WesternA pair of Wells Fargo agents becomes involved in the hunt for a gang of stagecoach robbers.
Gunman's Code
1946 · 1 votes
Series2
TV6.6Action & AdventureSci-Fi & FantasyIt's a bird! It's a plane! It's a syndicated TV adaptation of the beloved DC Comics superhero! You know the drill: When he isn't fighting for truth, justice and the American way, the man in tights dons a suit and glasses for his secret identity as Daily Planet newspaper reporter Clark Kent, who works alongside friends Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen for gruff boss Perry White.
Adventures of Superman
1952 · 64 votes
TV6.2WesternThe Cisco Kid is a half-hour American Western television series starring Duncan Renaldo in the title role, The Cisco Kid, and Leo Carrillo as the jovial sidekick, Pancho. Cisco and Pancho were technically desperados, wanted for unspecified crimes, but instead viewed by the poor as Robin Hood figures who assisted the downtrodden when law enforcement officers proved corrupt or unwilling to help. It was also the first television series to be filmed in color, although few viewers saw it in color until the 1960s.
The Cisco Kid
1950 · 11 votes