Doro Merande
Biography: Plain, angular Doro Merande was one of those delightful character actresses you couldn't take your eyes off of, no matter how minuscule the part. She excelled at playing older than she was -- doting aunts, inveterate gossips, curt secretaries and small-minded townspeople -- all topped with an amusing warble in her voice and bristly eccentric edge. Too bad then that she wasn't used more in films, but she preferred live theater and based herself for the most part on the East Coast. She was born Dora Matthews in Kansas in 1892 and orphaned as a child. Growing up in boarding schools, she headed to New York and pursued an acting career immediately after finishing her education. She appeared long and hard on the stock stage before making it on Broadway at age 43. She settled there sparking over 25 Broadway plays in her lifetime, including a scene-stealing turn in the classic Thorton Wilder play "Our Town" which brought her to Hollywood to preserve the role on film. On and off she remained a delightful film and TV cameo player with roles in The Gazebo (1959), The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), and The Front Page (1974). She and star Enid Markey (Jane of the "Tarzan" film silents) starred together as pampering aunts in the sitcom Bringing Up Buddy (1960), but, despite promising ratings, the two veteran actresses did not get along and the series folded after only a season. Ms. Merande was also a recurring presence for Jackie Gleason on his variety show. She died, in fact, of a stroke while there in Miami to film an episode. Date of Birth 31 March 1892, Columbia, Kansas Date of Death 1 November 1975, New York City, New York (stroke)
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: March 29, 1892
Deathday: November 01, 1975
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Known For
The Gazebo
1960-01-15
The Gazebo
Overview: TV writer Elliott Nash buries a blackmailer under the new gazebo in his suburban backyard. But the nervous man can't let the body rest there.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-01-15
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Our Town
1940-05-24
Our Town
Overview: Change comes slowly to a small New Hampshire town in the early 20th century. We see birth, life and death in this small community.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-05-24
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Skidoo
1968-12-19
Skidoo
Overview: Ex-gangster Tony Banks is called out of retirement by mob kingpin God to carry out a hit on fellow mobster "Blue Chips" Packard. When Banks demurs, God kidnaps his daughter Darlene on his luxury yacht.
Genres: Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1968-12-19
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Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
1951-08-01
Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell
Overview: Posing as a man over 70, a lecturer (Clifton Webb) enters an old-folks home to prove age is a state of mind.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-08-01
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Bondage
1933-04-22
Bondage
Overview: Judy Peters is about to be sentenced after she has pled guilty to her third offense of prostitution, when Dr. Nelson interrupts and tells her story to the court. (Mubi.)
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-04-22
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Hurry Sundown
1967-02-09
Hurry Sundown
Overview: Post-WWII, a corporation seeks Georgia farmland, but two owners—a white veteran and a black man—refuse to sell, forming an alliance against the greedy husband of the majority landowner.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-02-09
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Kiss Me, Stupid
1964-12-22
Kiss Me, Stupid
Overview: While traveling home from Vegas, an amorous lounge singer named Dino gets conned by a local mechanic/songwriter into staying in town for the night. The mechanic's songwriting partner, Orville, offers Dino his home for overnight lodging and enlists a local waitress/call girl to pose as his wife in order to placate Dino's urges.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-12-22
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State Fair
1933-02-10
State Fair
Overview: The children of Iowa farmers find love, with mixed results, at the state fair.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-02-10
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The Cardinal
1963-12-12
The Cardinal
Overview: A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-12-12
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Cover Up
1949-02-25
Cover Up
Overview: Insurance investigator Sam Donovan is looking into the apparent suicide of a man in a small Midwestern town. All clues leads him into suspecting murder. Unfortunately, no one wants to assist him with the case, including Sheriff Larry Best.
Genres: Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-02-25
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Moonlight and Pretzels
1933-08-01
Moonlight and Pretzels
Overview: A song plugger is stranded in a small town. There he meets a girl who later helps him to put on a show on Broadway.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-08-01
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Strictly Personal
1933-03-17
Strictly Personal
Overview: Soapy Gibson (Edward Ellis) and his wife Annie (Marjorie Rambeau) run a lonely hearts club in a small town. Even during the Depression years these were often "clip joints" - places where people with money but no mate got taken by someone offering the promise of companionship. However, Soapy and Annie are strictly on the level - and they have more than one reason to want to stay on the level. You see Soapy escaped from the law years ago, had some plastic surgery and changed his name, and has been living on the lam with his wife ever since.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-03-17
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The Snake Pit
1948-11-04
The Snake Pit
Overview: Virginia Cunningham is confused upon finding herself in a mental hospital, with no memory of her arrival at the institution. Tormented by delusions and unable to even recognize her husband, Robert, she is treated by Dr. Mark Kik, who is determined to get to the root of her mental illness. As her treatment progresses, flashbacks depict events in Virginia's life that may have contributed to her instability.
Genres: Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-11-04
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The Seven Year Itch
1955-06-03
The Seven Year Itch
Overview: With his family away for their annual summer holiday, a publishing executive decides to live a bachelor's life. The beautiful but ditzy blonde from the apartment above catches his eye and they soon start spending time together—maybe a little too much time!
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-06-03
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Wayward
1932-02-19
Wayward
Overview: Story of a mother's antagonism to her son's wife. Based on the novel "Wild Beauty" by Mateel Howe Farnham.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-02-19
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The Front Page
1974-11-01
The Front Page
Overview: A journalist suffering from burn-out wants to finally say goodbye to his office – but his boss doesn’t like the idea one bit.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-11-01
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Bad Boy
1935-10-25
Bad Boy
Overview: An unemployed loafer who spends his time playing pool decides he's ready to look for a job so he can secure his girlfriend's parents' approval for their marriage.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-10-25
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Making It
1971-03-21
Making It
Overview: In this coming of age comedy, a cocky high school student thinks nothing of using the people around him to satisfy his self-centered needs, until someone in his life gets pregnant.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1971-03-21
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Navy Wife
1935-09-17
Navy Wife
Overview: A Hawaiian naval nurse weds a widowed officer partly because he has a crippled daughter.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-09-17
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The Whistle at Eaton Falls
1951-08-02
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
Overview: A newly promoted plant supervisor finds himself in the position of having to announce a layoff of his fellow workers.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-08-02
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The Man with the Golden Arm
1955-12-26
The Man with the Golden Arm
Overview: When illegal card dealer and recovering heroin addict Frankie Machine gets out of prison, he decides to straighten up. Armed with nothing but an old drum set, Frankie tries to get honest work as a drummer. But when his former employer and his old drug dealer re-enter his life, Frankie finds it hard to stay clean and eventually finds himself succumbing to his old habits.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1955-12-26
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The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
1966-05-25
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
Overview: When a Soviet submarine gets stuck on a sandbar off the coast of a New England island, its commander orders his second-in-command, Lieutenant Rozanov, to get them moving again before there is an international incident. Rozanov seeks assistance from the island locals, including the police chief and a vacationing television writer, while trying to allay their fears of a Communist invasion by claiming he and his crew are Norwegian sailors.
Genres: Comedy War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-05-25
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Personal Maid
1931-09-12
Personal Maid
Overview: Nora Ryan, a poor Irish girl, living in New York decides to change her life by working as a personal maid for the wealthy, Gary family.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-09-12
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Change of Habit
1969-11-10
Change of Habit
Overview: Dr. John Carpenter takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who — unbeknownst to him — are actually nuns in street clothes. The church wants to improve the neighborhood but fears that nuns in full habit would not be well received. Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle, serenading her with his guitar — which, luckily for him, effectively wears away at her religious resolve.
Genres: Crime Drama Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-11-10
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The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
1959-02-20
The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker
Overview: In early 1900s' Pennsylvania, Mr. Pennypacker has two company offices and two families with a combined total of 17 children. With an office in Harrisburg and an office in Philadelphia, he has successfully kept two separate homes. However, when an emergency requires his oldest son to find him, Mr. Pennypacker's dual life is revealed.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-02-20
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