Jean Rogers
Actor · 1916 – 1991 · Belmont, Massachusetts, USA
Jean Rogers, born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren, was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for playing Dale Arden in the science fiction serials Flash Gordon and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars. She graduated from Belmont High School, and had hoped to study art, but in 1933, she won a beauty contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures that led to her career in Hollywood. Rogers starred in several serials for Universal between 1935 and 1938, including Ace Drummond and Flash Gordon. Rogers was one of seven women chosen out of 2,700 passengers on excursion boats and ferries who were interviewed for roles in Eight Girls in a Boat. The group began work in Hollywood on September 3, 1933. By 1937, Rogers was the only one of the seven featured as an actress. Rogers was assigned the role of Dale Arden in the first two Flash Gordon serials. Buster Crabbe and Rogers were cast as the hero and heroine in the first serial, Flash Gordon, and Rogers' beauty, long blonde hair, and revealing costumes endeared her to moviegoers. The evil ruler Ming the Merciless lusted after her, and Gordon was forced to rescue her from one situation after another. While filming the series in 1937, her costume caught fire and she suffered burns on her hands. Co-star Crabbe smothered the fire by wrapping a blanket on her. In the first serial, Arden competed with Princess Aura for Gordon's attention. Rogers' character was fragile, small-chested, diminutive, and totally dependent on Gordon for her survival; Lawson's Princess Aura was domineering, independent, voluptuous, conniving, sly, ambitious, and determined to make Gordon her own. The competition for Gordon's attention is one of the highlights of the film. In Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, the second serial, Rogers sported a totally different look. She had dark hair and wore the same modest costume in each episode. Rogers matured after the first serial, and no sexual overtones are seen in Trip to Mars. Rogers told writer Richard Lamparski that she was not eager to do the second serial and asked her studio to excuse her from the third. Despite starring in serial films, Rogers felt she was not going to improve her career unless she could participate in feature films. She discovered that it was more tedious working in feature films. She played John Wayne's leading lady in the 1936 full-length motion picture Conflict and co-starred with Boris Karloff in the horror film Night Key the following year. During the 1940s, Rogers appeared solely in feature films, including The Man Who Wouldn't Talk with Lloyd Nolan, Viva Cisco Kid with Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid, Design for Scandal with Rosalind Russell and Walter Pidgeon, Whistling in Brooklyn with Red Skelton, A Stranger in Town with Frank Morgan, Backlash, and Speed to Spare with Richard Arlen. Still, she was unhappy with the studios, possibly because she was relegated to B-movie productions on a lower salary. She decided to freelance with companies such as 20th Century Fox and MGM. Her last appearance was in a supporting role in the suspense film The Second Woman, made in 1950 by United Artists. She died in Sherman Oaks in 1991 at the age of 74 following surgery. She was later cremated and her ashes returned to her family.
Movies24
Movie7.6ComedyFifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock needs a "forgotten man" to win a scavenger hunt, and no one is more forgotten than Godfrey Park, who resides in a dump by the East River. Irene hires Godfrey as a servant for her riotously unhinged family, to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia, who tries her best to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the frivolous Bullocks a lesson or two.
My Man Godfrey
1936 · 406 votes
Movie9.0RomanceComedyNight club owner Dan Moore is trying to collect a debt owed to him by playboy Reggie Van Dorn, but Reggie is a playboy with no money but lots of social connections. In lieu of the cash, Dan gets Reggie to introduce him to the swells of high society. They go to the opera and, after hearing Yvonne Malloy sing, Dan falls in love with her. Reggie introduces them, but the introduction is to Yvonne's double and stand-in, Toots. This leads to many complications for all concerned.
Manhattan Moon
1935 · 1 votes
Movie4.6HistoryRomanceBased on the story of the famous Mormon leader, it follows Brigham Young and his challenge to transport his people across the Rocky mountains to settle in Salt Lake City. The plot focuses on two fictitious characters, Jonathan Kent and Zina Webb and the hardships they have to face along the way.
Brigham Young
1940 · 17 votes
Movie5.6DramaMysteryIn flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramodern clifftop house. Ellen is strongly attracted to Jeff, who's being plagued by unexplainable accidents, major and minor. Bad luck, persecution...or paranoia? Warned that Jeff could be dangerous, Ellen fears that he's in danger, as the menacing atmosphere darkens.
The Second Woman
1950 · 36 votes
Movie5.3ComedyMusicPresident Franklin Roosevelt appoints a theatrical producer as the new Secretary of Amusement in order to cheer up an American public still suffering through the Depression. The new secretary soon runs afoul of political lobbyists out to destroy his department.
Stand Up and Cheer!
1934 · 12 votes
Movie6.4Science FictionActionDisaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.
Flash Gordon
1936 · 48 votes
Movie8.0ComedyNew York hockey player Andy Buell is approached by Hollywood talent scout Nancy Davis to play the hunk lead in "The Behemoth" but he would prefer she quit her job and become his wife.
Gay Blades
1946 · 1 votes
Movie6.8CrimeThrillerCharlie impersonates an employee of the U.S. government to foil an espionage plot which would destroy part of the Panama Canal, trapping a Navy fleet on its way to the Pacific after maneuvers in the Atlantic.
Charlie Chan in Panama
1940 · 22 votes
Movie6.3CrimeRomanceIn the small town of Crownport local attorney Bill Adams is trying to break up the ring of corrupt town officials by running for mayor. The cards seemed stacked against him when he gets help from a visiting hunter who, unknown to Adams and the rest of the town, is actually vacationing supreme court justice John Josephus Grant.
A Stranger in Town
1943 · 16 votes
Movie7.0ActionAdventureThis 13 chapter serial is based on the comic strip character Ace Drummond created by Eddie Rickenbacker. Ace is a 'G-Man of the sky' working out of Washington D.C. He is sent to Mongolia to find out why a mysterious villain known only as 'The Dragon' is trying to prevent the newly formed International Airways from setting up an airport there. Ace meets Peggy Trainor (Jean Rogers) who is searching for her archaeologist father who has disappeared. Together they search for answers to the puzzles.
Ace Drummond
1936 · 3 votes
Movie5.3DramaWealthy American society matron, Stella Hadley refuses to sacrifice her material comforts to aid the war effort until she realizes that her selfishness is cheating the boys overseas who are fighting for her freedom.
The War Against Mrs. Hadley
1942 · 8 votes
Movie9.0MysteryComedyA good-hearted reporter attempts to find the loneliest woman in New York so he can give her an old-fashioned Christmas on a farm..
Inside Story
1939 · 1 votes
Movie6.6DramaNew York store clerk joins a hobo and an illegal immigrant heading for his newly bought land in Arizona.
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
1939 · 7 votes
Movie5.7AdventureA 12-episode serial in which scholastic sports star Frank Merriwell leaves school to search for his missing father. His adventures involve a mysterious inscription on a ring, buried treasure, kidnaping and Indian raids. He saves his father and returns to school just in time to win a decisive baseball game with his remarkable pitching and hitting.
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
1936 · 3 votes
Movie5.3CrimeDramaA man involved in a crime (Nolan) kills his key witness by mistake and resigns himself to death. He changes his name so as not to harm his family. The law is not content with his explanation, however.
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1940 · 3 votes
- Movie10.0Comedy
Two college students, Bob McDonald and Arthur Hale, find themselves expelled after they are unable to pay their tuition. Desperate for money, the pair heads to Central Park and decides to auction off their services to the highest bidder. A wealthy young woman named Sally van Ranseleer places the winning bid—her last five dollars—to hire them to drive her and her dilapidated car from New York to Ohio. During the journey, Bob and Sally begin to develop feelings for each other, though Bob remains stubborn and flustered, insisting he doesn't need a "liability" like her. After a fight, Sally leaves Bob and returns to her wealthy family to marry her "dullard" fiancé, Freddie Miller. To force Bob into admitting his feelings, Sally's father announces her immediate marriage to Freddie. Learning of the wedding while working as a telephone lineman, Bob rushes to the estate. In a climactic moment, he cuts the power wires to the lights during the ceremony and elopes with Sally.
Don’t Get Personal
1936 · 1 votes
Movie10.0MysteryWhile crossing on the train ferry to New Orleans, roving reporter Addison Francis Murphy borrows money from singing hillbilly "Carolina," then loses it all in a crap game. Outside on deck, Murphy sees two men shaking hands, and after he looks away, hears a splash of water and discovers both men have disappeared...
Mysterious Crossing
1936 · 1 votes
Movie6.2DramaCrimeDr. Gillespie supports Kildare's crusade against their hospital's deal with a rival hospital.
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942 · 9 votes
Movie7.0ComedyCrimeRadio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself.
Whistling in Brooklyn
1943 · 4 votes
Movie6.3Science FictionActionWhen a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
1938 · 17 votes
Movie7.3TV MovieScience FictionA heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to lead an investigative mission into outer space and onto the speedily approaching planet. There, he and his best girl, Dale, who is along for the ride, learn that Ming, the devious ruler of Mongo, has purposely put the planet on a collision course with Earth, and only Flash can stop him.
Spaceship to the Unknown
1966 · 3 votes
Movie6.7DramaStunt driver Cliff Jordan takes a job with his old pal Jerry McGee, branch manager of an express trucking firm. Jerry is married to Mary, Cliff's former girl friend. Also working for Jerry is Pete Simmons, son of the owner Al Simmons, and office secretary Jane Chandler, who is Pete's sweetheart. Before long, Cliff has made enemies of Pusher Wilks, a trucker whose run he takes over, and also Pete, whose girl he is trying to take over. Pusher sabotages Cliff's rig at every opportunity causing several near-fatal accidents.
Speed to Spare
1948 · 3 votes
Movie6.7DramaCrimeAn ex-convict, freed to fight in World War II, gets a factory job and is accused when a bracelet is missing.
Fighting Back
1948 · 3 votes
Movie6.5Science FictionFeature version of the 1938 film serial FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS. Flash Gordon fights Ming the Merciless once again to ensure the survival of the Earth.
Mars Attacks the World
1938 · 2 votes