
Alan Ladd
Actor · 1913 – 1964 · Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA
Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and producer known for his cool, understated screen presence and his defining roles in 1940s and 1950s film noir and Westerns. Standing 5 ft 6 in (168 cm), Ladd became famous for the contrast between his modest height and his commanding on‑screen persona, a combination studios often enhanced through camera techniques and staging. He was frequently paired with Veronica Lake, one of the few major actresses shorter than he was, and together they became one of Hollywood’s iconic noir duos. Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Ladd moved to North Hollywood as a child and worked various jobs before entering the film industry. After years of small roles — including an uncredited appearance in Citizen Kane — he achieved stardom with This Gun for Hire (1942). His quiet intensity and stoic charm resonated strongly with wartime audiences, making him one of the decade’s top box‑office draws. Ladd went on to star in a series of successful films, including The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946), Whispering Smith (1948), Shane (1953), and The Proud Rebel (1958). Though his popularity declined somewhat in the late 1950s, he continued to work steadily in both film and television and produced several of his later projects. Ladd died in 1964 at the age of 50 from cerebral edema caused by acute alcohol and barbiturate intoxication, which was ruled an accidental death. Despite his relatively short life, he remains a defining figure of classic Hollywood — a performer whose quiet strength, distinctive presence, and memorable roles continue to influence the Western and noir genres.
Movies23
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
Movie7.3DramaWesternA weary gunfighter attempts to settle down with a homestead family, but a smouldering settler and rancher conflict forces him to act.
Shane
1953 · 708 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 · 465 votes
Movie5.8AdventureRomancePhaedra is a poor sponge diver on the lovely Greek isle of Hydra. While diving, she discovers an ancient brass and gold statue of a boy riding a dolphin, which is said to have the magical power to grant wishes. Her shiftless boyfriend wants to sell it to an unscrupulous art collector, but Phaedra wants to give it to anthropologist Jim Calder, who would return it to the Greek government.
Boy on a Dolphin
1957 · 39 votes
Movie6.6AnimationFamilyHumorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.
The Reluctant Dragon
1941 · 170 votes
Movie7.0CrimeThrillerSadistic killer-for-hire Philip Raven becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, nightclub executive Gates, Raven sits beside Gates' lovely new employee, Ellen, on a train out of town. Although Ellen is engaged to marry the police lieutenant who's hunting down Raven, she decides to try and set the misguided hit man straight as he hides from the cops and plots his revenge.
This Gun for Hire
1942 · 197 votes
Movie6.0WesternDramaSearching for a doctor who can help him get his son to speak again--the boy hadn't uttered a word since he saw his mother die in the fire that burned down the family home--a Confederate veteran finds himself facing a 30-day jail sentence when he's unfairly accused of starting a brawl in a small town. A local woman pays his fine, providing that he works it off on her ranch. He soon finds himself involved in the woman's struggle to keep her ranch from a local landowner who wants it--and whose sons were responsible for the man being framed for the fight.
The Proud Rebel
1958 · 52 votes
Movie6.2WesternCrimeTwo men are released from the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma in 1898. One, The Dutchman, is out to get both gold and revenge from certain people in a small mining town who had him imprisoned unjustly. The other, McBain, is just trying to go straight, but that is easier said than done once The Dutchman involves him in his gold theft scheme. Based on the 1949 novel The Asphalt Jungle by W. R. Burnett, the story is given an 1898 setting. It is the second film adaptation of the novel following 1950's noir classic The Asphalt Jungle.
The Badlanders
1958 · 46 votes
Movie6.0WesternDramaStory of blood brothers whose bonds are tested when marauding Sioux Indians cross the border to enlist the peaceful Cree in a battle against the Great White Father.
Saskatchewan
1954 · 26 votes
Movie5.9DramaJonas Cord is a disagreeable young tycoon who's building planes, directing films, and catting around on the corporate make in 1930s Hollywood.
The Carpetbaggers
1964 · 41 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
Movie5.3CrimeThrillerA cop framed for a murder he did not commit hunts the San Francisco waterfront for the Mob racketeers who are responsible.
Hell on Frisco Bay
1955 · 19 votes
Movie6.7WesternSmith is an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).
Whispering Smith
1948 · 24 votes
Movie6.8ComedyDocumentaryClips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.
The Movie Orgy
1968 · 19 votes
Movie5.2DramaThrillerAn artist living in a quiet Connecticut town is the main suspect in the disappearance of his shrew wife. Things turn ugly when the townsfolk attempt to take the law into their own hands.
The Man in the Net
1959 · 20 votes
Movie6.7WesternTowards the end of the American Civil War, a rebel captain flees to Colorado to join a band of Southern mercenaries. He drags an innocent gold prospecting couple into trouble when the husband is accused of a murder he committed.
Red Mountain
1951 · 22 votes
Movie6.6ComedyMysteryRonnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
My Favorite Brunette
1947 · 63 votes
Movie5.3HistoryDramaIn this biopic, Jim Bowie goes to New Orleans, where he falls for Judalon and befriends her brother, Narcisse. Soon, Jim is forced to avenge Narcisse's murder, but Judalon takes up with another man. Jim eventually has another romantic interlude with Judalon and is forced to kill one of her suitors in self-defense. Jim leaves town, and falls for the daughter of a Texas politician, but his entanglement with Judalon continues to bedevil him.
The Iron Mistress
1952 · 13 votes
Movie6.2WesternLogger Jim Hadley and his lumberjack crew are looking for new forest to cut. They locate a prime prospect outside the town of Deep Wells. The residents of Deep Wells led by Laura Riley are opposed to the felling of the trees, believing that losing them would cause mudslides during the heavy rains. Conflict between the town's residents and the loggers is inevitable.
Guns of the Timberland
1960 · 14 votes
Movie6.7CrimeMysterySoon after a veteran returns from war, his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police in an attempt to find the real murderer.
The Blue Dahlia
1946 · 176 votes
Movie6.0ComedyLaurel and Hardy join the army. They are hardly soldiers, but they believe their employer, (Dick Nelson) will need them now he's drafted.
Great Guns
1941 · 43 votes
Movie6.5RomanceWesternBack home in Texas following the Civil War, former Confederate officer Chad Morgan (Alan Ladd) leads a cattle drive to Missouri, assuring fellow ranchers that their stock will bring $10 a head at auction. Instead, ruthless cattle baron Brog (Anthony Caruso) has scared off all competition and offers much less.
The Big Land
1957 · 19 votes
Movie5.4DramaMysteryNick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.
The Great Gatsby
1949 · 24 votes
Series2
TV6.3ComedyThe Bob Cummings Show is an American sitcom starring Robert "Bob" Cummings which was produced from January 2, 1955 to September 15, 1959. The Bob Cummings Show was the first series ever to debut as a midseason replacement. The program began with a half-season run on NBC, then ran for two full seasons on CBS, and returned to NBC for its final two seasons. The program was later rerun in the daytime hours on ABC and then syndicated under the title Love That Bob. A similar, but less successful, follow-up series, The New Bob Cummings Show, was broadcast on CBS during the 1961-62 television season.
The Bob Cummings Show
1955 · 8 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