Robert Donat
Actor · 1905 – 1958 · Withington, Manchester, England, UK
Robert Donat (born Friedrich Robert Donat) was a star English film and stage actor. He is best remembered for his roles in The 39 Steps (1935) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), the latter which earned him a Best Actor Academy Award.
Movies24
Movie7.3MysteryThrillerRichard Hanney has a rude awakening when a glamorous female spy falls into his bed - with a knife in her back. Having a bit of trouble explaining it all to Scotland Yard, he heads for the hills of Scotland to try to clear his name by locating the spy ring known as The 39 Steps.
The 39 Steps
1935 · 1.1K votes
Movie7.4DramaRomanceThroughout the late 19th-century and early 20th-century, Mr Arthur Chipping rises from a shy, nervous teacher to the beloved, revered headmaster of Brookfield School, with his life and career shaped by his love for his wife and his unwavering dedication to his students.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
1939 · 142 votes
Movie6.8WarDramaAll her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was where she belonged. Unqualified to be sent as a missionary, Gladys works as a domestic to earn to send herself to a poor, remote village. There, she eventually lives a full and happy life: running the inn, acting as 'foot inspector', advising the local Mandarin, and even winning the heart of mixed-race Captain Lin Nan. Gladys discovers her real destiny when the country is invaded by Japan and the Chinese children need her to save their lives.
The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
1958 · 87 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
Movie6.4HistoryDramaRenowned for his excess, King Henry VIII goes through a series of wives during his rule. With Anne Boleyn, his second betrothed, executed on charges of treason, Henry weds maid Jane Seymour, but that wedded bliss also ends in tragedy. Not one to be single for long, the tyrannical king chooses German-born Anne of Cleves, but their union lasts only months before an annulment is granted, and so Henry's reign of spousal terror continues.
The Private Life of Henry VIII
1933 · 98 votes
Movie6.8DramaAdventureYoung sailor Edmond Dantès is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes, finds treasure, and reinvents himself as the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.
The Count of Monte Cristo
1934 · 64 votes
Movie6.8DocumentaryThis short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a talking picture is created.
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940 · 8 votes
Movie7.2DocumentaryHistoryA documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to the sale of its back lot and props. By extension this provides a general history of Hollywood's Golden Age and the legendary studio system.
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972 · 4 votes
Movie6.3DocumentaryThis 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeches for films released in 1939 with recipients and presenters including Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Hattie McDaniel and more, with host Bob Hope.
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
1940 · 3 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryComedyOut-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983 · 3 votes
Movie6.5DramaNow old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once young and handsome William Green. He changed his name to include his first wife's for the photographic portrait work he excelled at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.
The Magic Box
1952 · 25 votes
Movie7.5DocumentaryTV MovieThis documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and insight into what made the year so special.
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009 · 12 votes
Movie8.0DocumentaryThis short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.
Twenty Years After
1944 · 2 votes
Movie6.4DramaRomanceYoung, idealistic, newly qualified Scottish doctor Andrew Manson arrives in Wales and takes his first job in a mining town, and begins to wonder at the persistent cough many of the miners have. When his attempts to prove its cause are thwarted, he moves to London. His new practice does poorly, but when a friend shows him how to make a lucrative practice from rich hypochondriacs, it will take a great shock to show him what the truth of being a doctor really is.
The Citadel
1938 · 35 votes
Movie6.2DramaHistoryIn 1783 England, King George III appoints William Pitt only 24 years old, as PM. When members of Parliament refuse to take Pitt seriously, he calls for a general election and wins. Pitt works to reform England, focusing on rebuilding the navy while across the sea in France, Napoleon Bonaparte begins his conquest of Europe.
The Young Mr. Pitt
1942 · 9 votes
Movie6.7RomanceComedyPeggy Martin, daughter of a wealthy American businessman, persuades her father to buy a haunted Scottish castle from Donald Glourie. As the castle is dismantled and transported to Florida, its ghost tags along. Donald and Peggy fall in love, but the restless apparition proves to unwelcome, and they must find a way to appease the kilt-wearing spirit.
The Ghost Goes West
1935 · 39 votes
Movie7.2DramaHistoryIn 19th-century Ireland, when poverty-stricken tenants dispossessed by greedy landowner Captain Charles Boycott band together to assert their rights, patriotic farmer Hugh Davin leads the rebels. Choosing nonviolent resistance, the villagers ostracise their nemesis, who squanders his fortune to repair his ruined reputation and wagers what's left on a horse race.
Captain Boycott
1947 · 10 votes
Movie6.6DramaRomanceAfter World War II service changes them, a married couple dread their postwar reunion.
Perfect Strangers
1945 · 27 votes
Movie7.0DramaIn pre-WWI England, a youngster is expelled from a naval academy over a petty theft, but his parents raise a political furor by demanding a trial.
The Winslow Boy
1948 · 29 votes
Movie6.5DocumentaryOverview of director King Vidor's filmography.
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
1973 · 2 votes
Movie6.2RomanceWarBritish Captain Terence Stevenson accepts an assignment even more dangerous than his everyday job of defusing undetonated bombs. Fluent in Romanian and German and having studied chemical engineering, he's parachuted into Romania to assume the identity of Captain Jan Tartu, a member of the fascist Iron Guard. Tartu makes his way to Czechoslovakia to steal the formula of a new Nazi poison gas and sabotage the factory of its manufacturing.
The Adventures of Tartu
1943 · 18 votes
Movie7.0ComedyA sergeant returns from war to his contemptible fiancée, intending to reconcile with her against all odds. But he falls in love with a charming new lodger instead.
The Cure for Love
1949 · 3 votes
Movie5.9HistoryDramaIn the last days of Czarist Russia, Russian-speaking Briton A.J. Fothergill is enlisted by his government to go undercover as Bolshevik radical Peter Ouranoff in an attempt to gain access to the revolutionaries' inner circle. Tasked with accompanying lovely aristocrat Alexandra Vladinoff from Moscow to Petrograd to be tried for crimes against the proletariat, Peter attempts to spirit her out of the war-torn country.
Knight Without Armour
1937 · 19 votes
Movie4.9ComedyA formerly wealthy man and his daughter try to regain wealth by selling a scheme to some investors, when they come upon a huge amount of unclaimed cash that a young electrician has in his toolbox.
Cash
1933 · 8 votes