Vera Ralston
Actor · 1920 – 2003 · Prague, Tchécoslovaquie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vera Ralston (born Věra Helena Hrubá) was a Czech figure skater and actress. She later became a naturalized American citizen. She worked as an actress during the 1940s and 1950s. As a figure skater, she represented Czechoslovakia in competition under her birth name Věra Hrubá. She competed at the 1936 European Figure Skating Championships and placed 15th. Later that season, she competed at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where she placed 17th. During the games, she personally met and insulted Adolf Hitler. Hitler asked her if she would like to "skate for the swastika." As she later boasted, "I looked him right in the eye, and said that I'd rather skate on the swastika. The Führer was furious." Hrubá competed at the 1937 European Figure Skating Championships and placed 7th. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a naturalized citizen in 1946. She moved to Hollywood with her mother and signed a contract in 1943 with Republic Pictures. During her career she was known as Vera Hrubá Ralston and later Vera Ralston. She normally played an immigrant girl, because of her limited English skills. Among the 26 films Ralston starred in were: Storm Over Lisbon; Dakota; I, Jane Doe; The Fighting Kentuckian; A Perilous Journey; and Fair Wind to Java. She retired from films in 1958. In 1952, Ralston married Republic studio head Herbert Yates. Yates was nearly 40 years her senior, and had left his wife and children to be with Ralston. Yates used his position to obtain roles for Ralston, and at one point was sued by studio shareholders for using company assets to promote his wife. Yates died in 1966, leaving his $8 million estate to Ralston. She suffered a nervous breakdown shortly thereafter, remarried, and lived quietly in southern California. She died on February 9, 2003, in Santa Barbara, California, after a long battle with cancer. For her work in films, Ralston has a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. A registered Republican, she supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election. Description above from the Wikipedia article Vera Ralston, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movies24
Movie6.0WesternRomanceJohn Breen (John Wayne), a Kentucky militiaman falls in love with French exile Fleurette De Marchand (Vera Ralston). He discovers a plot to steal the land that Fleurette's exiles plan to settle on and aims to foil it.
The Fighting Kentuckian
1949 · 68 votes
Movie5.2WesternIn 1871, professional gambler John Devlin elopes with Sandra "Sandy" Poli, daughter of Marko Poli, an immigrant who has risen to railroad tycoon. Sandy, knowing that the railroad is to be extended into Dakota, plans to use their $20,000 nest egg to buy land options to sell to the railroad at a profit. On the stage trip to Ft. Abercrombie, their fellow passengers are Jim Bender and Bigtree Collins, who practically own the town of Fargo and Devlin is aware that they are prepared to protect the little empire... trying to drive out the farmers by burning their property, destroying their wheat, and blaming the devastation on the Indians. Continuing their journey north on the river aboard the "River Bird', Sandy and John meet Captain Bounce, an irascible old seafarer. Two of Bendender's henchmen, Slagin and Carp, board the boat and relieve John of his $20,000 at gunpoint. Captain Bounce, chasing the robber's dinghy..
Dakota
1945 · 38 votes
Movie5.9CrimeAn innocent nightclub singer becomes mixed up in illegal drug dealings shortly after witnessing her husband's death and the murder of a couple of narcotics agents.
The Man Who Died Twice
1958 · 16 votes
Movie5.6ActionAdventureThe Dutch East Indies, at the end of the nineteenth century. An adventurous captain of an American merchant vessel is looking for a sunken Dutch vessel containing 10,000 precious diamonds. Unfortunately, he's not the only one and then there's also that volcano on the nearby island of Krakatau, waiting to explode in its historical, disastrous eruption...
Fair Wind to Java
1953 · 10 votes
Movie7.0WarDramaWendell Corey and Forrest Tucker star as a pair of World War II Army Air Corps officers. In between their battles over the affections of a beautiful nurse, Corey and Tucker prepare to fly a bombing mission in the South Pacific. Before boarding their B29 Superfortress, Tucker appears to be chickening out, but he's steadfastly at his cockpit post at takeoff time.
The Wild Blue Yonder
1951 · 2 votes
Movie5.8DramaCrimeGeorge McAllister, the black sheep of a wealthy family who has squandered his share of the family inheritance, lives in constant jealousy, hatred and resentment of his half-brother Barry, who has been supporting him. George gets his girlfriend, Carlotta Duval, a job as Barry's nurse, with the idea being to marry him, kill him, and inherit his money—and marrying George.
The Flame
1947 · 12 votes
Movie6.0WesternVera Ralston plays Joan Milna, who shares several thousand acres of valuable Montana timberland with her stepfather (John Alderson). Coveting Joan's property, lumber baron Eric Warren (Ray Collins) sends out his foreman Boyd Caldwell (Rod Cameron) to persuade her to sell. Instead, Caldwell falls in love with the girl, vowing to protect her trees from the eco-unfriendly Warren. Republic's wide-screen Naturama process is shown to good advantage throughout Spoilers of the Forest.
Spoilers of the Forest
1957 · 2 votes
Movie7.0CrimeDramaA drunken driver, his wife and a hitchhiker equals murder.
The Notorious Mr. Monks
1958 · 1 votes
Movie6.0Science FictionHorrorA millionaire's brain is preserved after his death by a scientist and his two assistants, only to create a telepathic monster.
The Lady and the Monster
1944 · 22 votes
Movie5.3CrimeMusicAn orchestra leader turns sleuth to clear his ice-skating girlfriend for murder.
Murder in the Music Hall
1946 · 5 votes
Movie6.5CrimeIt's a deadly play for power when a Mafia chieftain's top gun goes straight and threatens to testify against the big boss and his cruel, nationwide network of crime. The picture, which was shot in a semi-documentary style, was inspired by the Kefauver investigations of 1950-51.
Hoodlum Empire
1952 · 13 votes
Movie5.7WesternA stagecoach is attacked by a group of outlaws who make off with a pile of money. Unfortunately for Mexican Juan, the sheriff believes he's one of the criminals and has him locked up. But the beautiful Cheel thinks Juan is innocent, and offers to help him escape. Overhearing their plan, the real mastermind behind the heist forces Juan to act as the runner for the money.
Gunfire at Indian Gap
1957 · 3 votes
Movie4.8ActionThrillerA police detective finds himself entangled in the web of the underworld when he falls in love with a nightclub singer accused of murdering a crooked lawyer.
Accused of Murder
1956 · 15 votes
Movie6.4CrimeWhile stationed in France during World War II, an American fighter pilot marries a French girl but leaves her behind when he returns to the U.S. The French woman follows him to America only to discover he’s already married to a successful lawyer.
I, Jane Doe
1948 · 8 votes
Movie5.1AdventureRomanceAn expedition exploring the Amazon jungle comes across a jungle goddess who lives among the animals and fears none of them--and apparently has found the secret of eternal youth.
Angel on the Amazon
1948 · 7 votes
Movie5.3WesternUpon her release from prison for a murder she didn't commit, a woman finds that her younger sister has been placed in an orphanage. Determined to do whatever it takes to get her out, she eventually becomes the proprietor of a notorious gambling establishment.
Belle Le Grand
1951 · 3 votes
Movie5.9ComedyMusicBob Clemens is a cameraman for newsreels. Assigned to shoot the Swiss ice skater Karen Vadja, he arrives too late, so decides to film a woman skating on a different New York rink and pass her off as Karen. The scheme backfires when promoter Larry Herman takes a look at Bob's film and decides to make the skater a star. Unfortunately, it's actually amateur (and illegal immigrant) Marie Bergin in the newsreel footage, not the great figure skater from Switzerland. Chaos ensues as Bob tries to straighten everybody out.
Ice-Capades
1941 · 7 votes
Movie5.2WesternA wild-west trader and his New York wife head out for the California by wagon train. The trader is killed enroute, and his wife finds herself with child. She continues on hoping to find a man and a home.
Jubilee Trail
1954 · 9 votes
Movie4.5RomanceAdventureA ship of women embarks on a voyage to California. Director R. G. Springsteen's 1953 adventure drama stars Vera Ralston, David Brian, Virginia Grey, Charles Winninger, Veda Ann Borg and Hope Emerson.
A Perilous Journey
1953 · 6 votes
Movie5.4MysteryThrillerA nightclub star helps trap an enemy agent on the trail of an American newsman.
Storm Over Lisbon
1944 · 7 votes
Movie6.0WesternFilm about the early days of the Pony Express and the crooked businessman who opposed it.
The Plainsman and the Lady
1946 · 2 votes
Movie6.4WesternSmall ranchers battle against a land baron trying to take their spreads.
Wyoming
1947 · 5 votes
Movie4.2MusicActionA young man seeks his father's killers among lumberjacks, and discovers that they are actually timber barons who also seek to control lumber mills. Based on the novel of the same name.
Timberjack
1955 · 6 votes
Movie4.8WesternDramaViolet Barton, a femme-fatale goal-setter, fascinates men and readily returns their affection to obtain the wealth she desires, even to the point of bigamy. She has an affair with gambler Gregg Delaney but marries his best friend, Johnny Hale, when she discovers Hale is the richest man in Texas. This loses her the respect of her sister, Janet, who loves Hale, and Delaney, who loves Violet. Meanwhile, town sheriff Bill Howard is working hard to get Delaney to confess to a murder.
Surrender
1950 · 6 votes