
Florence Bates
Actor · 1888 – 1954 · San Antonio, Texas, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Florence Bates (born Florence Rabe, April 15, 1888 – January 31, 1954) was an American film and stage character actress who often played grande dame characters in supporting roles. Her path to becoming an actress had many turns. She had a degree in Mathematics, taught school until married, then became the first Texas female lawyer. Then she became a bilingual radio commentator. After her husband lost her fortune, she and her husband opened a bakery in Los Angeles. In the mid-1930s, Bates auditioned for and won the role of Miss Bates in a Pasadena Playhouse adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. When she decided to continue working with the theatre group, she changed her professional name to that of the first character she played on stage. In 1939, she was introduced to Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her in her first major screen role, the vain dowager Mrs. Van Hopper, in Rebecca (1940). Bates appeared in more than sixty films over the course of the next thirteen years. Among her cinema credits are Kitty Foyle, Love Crazy, The Moon and Sixpence, Mr. Lucky, Heaven Can Wait, Lullaby of Broadway, Mister Big, Since You Went Away, Kismet, Saratoga Trunk, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Winter Meeting, I Remember Mama, Portrait of Jennie, A Letter to Three Wives, On the Town, and Les Misérables. In television, Bates had a regular role on The Hank McCune Show and made guest appearances on I Love Lucy, My Little Margie, I Married Joan and Our Miss Brooks.
Movies24
Movie7.9MysteryRomanceStory of a young woman who marries a fascinating widower only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously several years earlier. The young wife must come to grips with the terrible secret of her handsome, cold husband, Max De Winter. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers, the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house.
Rebecca
1940 · 2K votes
Movie6.8ComedyFantasyWalter Mitty, a daydreaming writer with an overprotective mother, likes to imagine that he is a hero who experiences fantastic adventures. His dream becomes reality when he accidentally meets a mysterious woman who hands him a little black book. According to her, it contains the locations of the Dutch crown jewels hidden since World War II. Soon, Mitty finds himself in the middle of a confusing conspiracy, where he has difficulty differentiating between fact and fiction.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947 · 142 votes
Movie6.9ComedyRomanceSpoiled playboy Henry van Cleve dies and arrives at the entrance to Hell, a final destination he is sure he deserves after living a life of profligacy. The devil, however, isn't so sure Henry meets Hell's standards. Convinced he is where he belongs, Henry recounts his life's deeds, both good and bad, including an act of indiscretion during his 25-year marriage to his wife, Martha, with the hope that "His Excellency" will arrive at the proper judgment.
Heaven Can Wait
1943 · 252 votes
Movie7.0ComedyRomanceThree sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New York City.
On the Town
1949 · 301 votes
Movie7.2DramaRomanceA mysterious girl inspires a struggling artist.
Portrait of Jennie
1948 · 125 votes
Movie7.2RomanceDramaA letter is addressed to three wives from their 'best friend', announcing that she's running away with one of their husbands – but she doesn't specify which one.
A Letter to Three Wives
1949 · 178 votes
Movie7.2ComedyRomanceA conman poses as a war relief fundraiser, but when he falls for a charity worker, his conscience begins to trouble him.
Mr. Lucky
1943 · 49 votes
Movie6.6DramaRomanceA hard-working, white-collar girl falls in love with a young socialite, but meets with his family's disapproval.
Kitty Foyle
1940 · 56 votes
Movie3.6ComedyDramaA new dress plays a key role in the lives of four women who are not acquainted with each other.
Paris Model
1953 · 5 votes
Movie7.2FamilyDramaNorwegian immigrant Marta Hanson keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly-educated lodger who reads great literature to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humor, traits she passes on to her aspiring-author daughter, Katrin.
I Remember Mama
1948 · 66 votes
Movie7.1CrimeDramaA mystery writer is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose dead body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, in order to learn more about the man. Along the way he is joined by the mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.
The Mask of Dimitrios
1944 · 57 votes
Movie6.2DramaRomanceCelestine, the chamber-maid, has a new job in the country, at the Lanlaires. She has decided to use her beauty to seduce a wealthy man, but Mr. Lanlaire is not a right choice: the house is firmly controlled by Madame Lanlaire, helped by the strange valet Joseph. Then she tries the neighbour, former officer Mauger. This seems to work. But soon the son of the Lanlaires comes back. He is young, attractive and does not share his mother's antirepublican opinions. So Celestine's beauty attracts Captain Mauger, young Georges Lanlaire, and Joseph. Three men, from three different social classes, with three different conceptions of life. Will Celestine be able to convince Georges of her sincerity?
The Diary of a Chambermaid
1946 · 39 votes
Movie7.6ComedyRomanceThe wealthiest man in the world, John P. Merrick, is a private person who likes to stay anonymous. One of his many assets is Neeley's Department Store. There is labor unrest at the store, and the employees' anger is directed at him, who they hang in effigy outside the store despite not knowing what he looks like. Merrick, not happy at what he sees going on, decides to mete out the rabble-rousers. So he goes undercover as a sales clerk in the shoe department.
The Devil and Miss Jones
1941 · 66 votes
Movie6.9ThrillerHistoryA detective tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a train ride headed for Washington in 1861.
The Tall Target
1951 · 47 votes
Movie5.5MusicRomanceAn American girl falls for an RAF pilot while performing at a British music hall.
Tonight and Every Night
1945 · 21 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
Movie4.4CrimeDramaWhen beautiful Mary returns to her "whistle stop" hometown, long-standing feelings of animosity between two of her old boyfriends leads to robbery and murder.
Whistle Stop
1946 · 28 votes
Movie6.2ActionAdventureRightful owner of the kingdom, the Duchess of Zona, is engaged in a power struggle with the evil General Gurko. Edmond, the son of Monte Cristo, dons many disguises to come to the aid of the Duchess.
The Son of Monte Cristo
1940 · 13 votes
Movie6.0ComedyMusicPretty Melinda Howard has been abroad singing with a musical troupe. She decides to return home to surprise her mother whom she thinks is a successful Broadway star with a mansion in Manhattan. She doesn't know that her mother is actually a burnt-out cabaret singer with a love for whiskey. When she arrives at the mansion, she is taken in by the two servants who are friends of her mother's. The house actually belongs to Adolph Hubbell, a kind-hearted Broadway producer who also gets drawn into the charade. Hubbell takes a shine to Melinda and agrees to star her in his next show. Melinda also finds romance with a handsome hoofer who's also in the show. All is going well for Melinda except that she wants to see her mother who keeps putting off their reunion.
Lullaby of Broadway
1951 · 18 votes
Movie6.1DramaMusicTough torch singer Petey Brown, visiting her family, finds a nest of troubles: her sister, brother, and the neighbor's wife are involved in various ways with shady nightclub owner Nicky Toresca. Petey has what it takes to handle Nicky, but then she meets San Thomas, a formerly great jazz pianist now on the skids, and falls hard for him.
The Man I Love
1946 · 29 votes
Movie7.2RomanceComedyAmateur plumber Cluny Brown gets sent off by her uncle to work as a servant at an English country estate.
Cluny Brown
1946 · 106 votes
Movie6.0ComedyRomanceSmall-town soda-jerk Peggy Evans quits her dead-end job and moves to New York where she invents a new identity.
Slightly Dangerous
1943 · 8 votes
Movie6.1DramaRomanceA budding young writer thinks it's her lucky day when she is chosen to be the new secretary for Owen Waterbury, famous novelist. She is soon disppointed, however, when he turns out to be an erratic, immature playboy. Opposites attract, of course, but not without sub-plots that touch on competitiveness within marriage and responsibility.
My Dear Secretary
1948 · 26 votes
Movie5.5DramaHistoryIn 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Les Miserables
1952 · 18 votes
Series3
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
TV7.9ComedyFamilyCuban Bandleader Ricky Ricardo would be happy if his wife Lucy would just be a housewife. Instead she tries constantly to perform at the Tropicana where he works, and make life comically frantic in the apartment building they share with landlords Fred and Ethel Mertz, who also happen to be their best friends.
I Love Lucy
1951 · 264 votes
TV8.0CrimeDick Tracy is an American TV series based on the detective comic strip Dick Tracy. The show aired on ABC from September 11, 1950 to April 7, 1951.
Dick Tracy
1950 · 2 votes