
Ronald Colman
Actor · 1891 – 1958 · Richmond, Surrey, England, UK
British leading man of primarily American films, one of the great stars of the Golden Age. Raised in Ealing, the son of a successful silk merchant, he attended boarding school in Sussex, where he first discovered amateur theatre. He intended to attend Cambridge and become an engineer, but his father's death cost him the financial support necessary. He joined the London Scottish Regionals and at the outbreak of World War I was sent to France. Seriously wounded at the battle of Messines--he was gassed--he was invalided out of service scarcely two months after shipping out for France. Upon his recovery he tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in a London play. He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre, and was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He made extra money appearing in a few minor films, and in 1920 set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. After two years of impoverishment he was cast in a Broadway hit, "La Tendresse". Director Henry King spotted him in the show and cast him as Lillian Gish's leading man in The White Sister (1923). His success in the film led to a contract with Samuel Goldwyn, and his career as a Hollywood leading man was underway. He became a vastly popular star of silent films, in romances as well as adventure films. The coming of sound made his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice even more important to the film industry. He played sophisticated, thoughtful characters of integrity with enormous aplomb, and swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). A decade later he received an Academy Award for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life (1947). Much of his later career was devoted to "The Halls of Ivy", a radio show that later was transferred to television "The Halls of Ivy" (1954). He continued to work until nearly the end of his life, which came in 1958 after a brief lung illness. He was survived by his second wife, actress Benita Hume, and their daughter Juliet Benita Colman.
Movies24
Movie6.7AdventureComedyBased on the famous book by Jules Verne the movie follows Phileas Fogg on his journey around the world. Which has to be completed within 80 days, a very short period for those days.
Around the World in 80 Days
1956 · 605 votes
Movie7.3ComedyDramaHilarity ensues when a falsely accused fugitive from justice hides at the house of his childhood friend, which she has recently rented to a high-principled law teacher.
The Talk of the Town
1942 · 133 votes
Movie7.5RomanceAdventureA kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.
The Prisoner of Zenda
1937 · 62 votes
Movie4.4DramaFantasyThe devil and the spirit of mankind argue as to whether or not humanity is ultimately good or evil.
The Story of Mankind
1957 · 28 votes
Movie6.9AdventureFantasyBritish diplomat Robert Conway and a small group of civilians crash-land in the Himalayas, where they are rescued by the inhabitants of the hidden, idyllic valley of Shangri-La. Protected by the mountains from the world outside, where the clouds of World War II are gathering, Shangri-La provides a seductive escape for the world-weary Conway.
Lost Horizon
1937 · 252 votes
Movie6.9HistoryDramaSet against the conditions leading up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, French doctor Alexandre Manette serves an 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, followed by his release to live in London with the daughter he has never met.
A Tale of Two Cities
1935 · 86 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryMusicGene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · 44 votes
Movie7.1AdventureHistoryKing Louis XI masquerades as a commoner in Paris, seeking out the treachery he is sure lurks in his kingdom. At a local tavern, he overhears the brash poet François Villon extolling why he would be a better king. Annoyed yet intrigued, the King bestows on Villon the title of Grand Constable. Soon Villon begins work and falls for a lovely lady-in-waiting, but then must flee execution when the King turns on him.
If I Were King
1938 · 14 votes
Movie6.9ComedyDramaA society woman believes her husband is having an affair, a misconception which may have dire personal consequences for all involved.
Lady Windermere's Fan
1925 · 48 votes
Movie7.3RomanceDramaWandered away from his asylum, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star but his amnesia makes it difficult to last.
Random Harvest
1942 · 118 votes
Movie6.4DramaThrillerA Shakespearian actor starring as Othello opposite his wife finds the character's jealous rage taking over his mind off-stage.
A Double Life
1947 · 83 votes
Movie8.2DocumentaryThis documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988 · 5 votes
Movie8.5DocumentaryThe life and work of Samuel Goldwyn, a Polish-born glove salesman who became one of Hollywood's greatest independent producers, is remembered in this classy documentary created for the PBS American Masters series. Based on A. Scott Berg's acclaimed biography, the film includes new interviews with Goldwyn's surviving family members as well as vintage interviews with such luminaries as Bette Davis, John Huston, Laurence Olivier and others.
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
2001 · 2 votes
Movie5.5AdventureFantasyHafiz, a rascally beggar on the periphery of the court of Baghdad, schemes to marry his daughter to royalty and to win the heart of the queen of the castle himself.
Kismet
1944 · 18 votes
Movie7.0ComedyBostonites George and Catherine Apley live a proper life in a social circle. However, their daughter Eleanor's love for Howard Boulton and their son John's union with Myrtle threatens their home.
The Late George Apley
1947 · 17 votes
Movie7.3ComedyWhen jobless genius Beauregard Bottomley interviews with Burnbridge Waters for a position at Waters' soap company, the owner rudely turns Bottomley down. As revenge, Bottomley enters a TV quiz show that Waters' company sponsors, with the goal of winning until he bankrupts the businessman. When Bottomley keeps acing the questions, becoming a media sensation, Waters desperately calls on vixen Flame O'Neal to uncover Bottomley's area of weakness.
Champagne for Caesar
1950 · 25 votes
Movie5.8ComedyRomanceSpendthrift Willie Hale again returns penniless to the family home in London. His father is none too pleased, but Willie smooth-talks him into letting him stay. At the same time he turns the charm on Dorothy Hope, whose father is big in linoleum and who, before Willie's arrival, was about to become engaged to a Russian aristocrat.
The Devil to Pay!
1930 · 23 votes
Movie6.8AdventureRomanceSergeant Victor comes to the French Foreign Legion after taking the blame for his brother's crime. Cigarette falls in love with him though Major Doyle is in love with her. Doyle sends Victor on dangerous assignments to be rid of him. He falls in love with Lady Venetia Cunningham, a visitor to the garrison
Under Two Flags
1936 · 4 votes
Movie6.6DramaA medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine.
Arrowsmith
1931 · 32 votes
- Movie8.0DramaRomance
British romantic drama film starring Ronald Colman as a young man who leaves behind his family and girl in a Cornish fishing village to seek his fortune in London. Two of five reels survive.
The Toilers
1919 · 2 votes
Movie6.7DramaHistoryIn Renaissance Florence, a Florentine trader meets a shipwrecked stranger, who introduces himself as Tito Melema, a young Italianate-Greek scholar. Tito becomes acquainted with several other Florentines, including Nello the barber and a young girl named Tessa. He is also introduced to a blind scholar named Bardo de' Bardi, and his daughter Romola. As Tito becomes settled in Florence, assisting Bardo with classical studies, he falls in love with Romola.
Romola
1924 · 6 votes
Movie5.8DramaA London artist struggles to complete one last painting before going blind.
The Light That Failed
1939 · 8 votes
Movie6.8ComedyRomanceA Russian prince goes to Monte Carlo just after World War I with money supplied to him by Parisian Russians. He wins but the casino operators want him to honor the tradition of returning to the tables.
The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo
1935 · 5 votes
Movie5.6ActionAdventureBulldog Drummond finds himself immersed in another adventure when he stumbles upon a corpse in the mysterious London mansion of Prince Achmed. Enlisting the help of his old friend Algy and the beautiful Lola, Drummond uncovers a scheme to ship illegal cargo into the country. He must rely on his cunning to survive when the prince offers a reward for his capture.
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934 · 12 votes
Series5
TV6.8DramaComedyFour Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.
Four Star Playhouse
1952 · 11 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
TV7.8ComedyLaugh along with funnyman Jack Benny as he brings his underplayed humor to TV along with regular performers from his radio show days.
The Jack Benny Program
1950 · 17 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
- TV7.0Comedy
The Halls of Ivy is an NBC radio sitcom that ran from 1950-1952. It was created by Fibber McGee & Molly co-creator/writer Don Quinn before being adapted into a CBS television comedy produced by ITC Entertainment and Television Programs of America. British husband-and-wife actors Ronald Colman and Benita Hume starred in both versions of the show. Quinn developed the show after he had decided to leave Fibber McGee & Molly in the hands of his protégé Phil Leslie. The Halls of Ivy's audition program featured radio veteran Gale Gordon and Edna Best in the roles that ultimately went to the Colmans, who demonstrated a flair for radio comedy during the late 1940s recurring roles on The Jack Benny Program.
The Halls of Ivy
1954 · 1 votes