Walter Connolly
Biography: The name may have been forgotten, especially today (seven decades later), but the portly, apoplectic, exasperated figure on the 1930s screen wasn't. While his film career, save a couple of silents, lasted a paltry seven years (1932-1939), character actor Walter Connolly certainly ran the distance. While some film historians complain that a number of his performances were annoying or overbaked, he was for the most part applauded for his zesty contributions to a number of comedy classics. Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (1933), Broadway Bill (1934) and It Happened One Night (1934), not to mention the Carole Lombard/Fredric March screwball farce Nothing Sacred (1937) as news reporter March's hot-headed editor boss are sure-fire examples. The Cincinnati, Ohio native was born on April 8, 1887 and schooled there. The son of the head of the Western Union relay office, he attended St. Xavier College and the University of Dublin in Ireland before making his New York debut in 1910 in an outdoor presentation of "As You Like It". For the next year or so he was a member of E.H. Sothern's touring company and played supporting roles in a number of Shakespearean shows on the road. After a few silent pictures left him unimpressed with film-making, he turned to the Broadway stage in the 1920s and scored quite well. Somewhat short and tubby, it was not difficult for the jowly, mustachioed actor to seize laughs and he found his share in such outings as "The Talking Parrot" (1923), "Applesauce" (1925), "The Springboard" (1927), "The Happy Husband" (1928), "Stepping Out" (1929), "Your Uncle Dudley" (1930), "Anatol" (1931), "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1931), "The Good Fairy" (1932) and "The Late Christopher Bean" (1932). With his talents as a stage farceur firmly established, it was time to make a second attempt at a film career and Hollywood (specifically, Columbia) wisely opened their doors to him. Interestingly, his debut in a full-length talking picture came at age 45 in the form of a drama, Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932), where he was third-billed as a rather benign senator. For the next seven years Connolly, often playing older than he really was, could be found everywhere giving good fluster to the greatest and glossiest of stars -- Janet Gaynor, Carole Lombard, Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Paul Muni, Spencer Tracy, and Ginger Rogers, among hordes of others. His hobbies were collecting old books and theatre programmes. Connolly was married to actress Nedda Harrigan from 1923 to his death. They had one daughter, Ann (1924–2006). Connolly suffered a fatal stroke on May 28, 1940, and was buried in New St. Joseph Cemetery in Cincinnati.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: April 08, 1887
Deathday: May 28, 1940
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Known For
It Happened One Night
1934-02-22
It Happened One Night
Overview: A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-02-22
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Twentieth Century
1934-05-11
Twentieth Century
Overview: A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-05-11
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Libeled Lady
1936-10-09
Libeled Lady
Overview: When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and unexpected results.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-10-09
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Too Hot to Handle
1938-09-16
Too Hot to Handle
Overview: While in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter, meets pilot Alma Harding. She does not trust him, but he manages to hire her as his assistant. During an adventurous expedition through the jungles of South America, her opinion of him begins to change.
Genres: Comedy Adventure Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-09-16
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The Bitter Tea of General Yen
1932-12-25
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
Overview: An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-12-25
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Man Against Woman
1932-11-15
Man Against Woman
Overview: Johnny McCloud, a tough police inspector given more to fisticuffs than investigating has the hots for torch-singer Lola Parker, but Miss Parker is much taken with a good-looking crook named George Perry. This does not bother McCloud, as he not only gets his man behind bars but takes the man's woman also.
Genres: Crime Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-11-15
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The Good Earth
1937-06-02
The Good Earth
Overview: China, during the rule of the Qing Dynasty. The arranged marriage between Wang Lung, a humble farmer, and O-Lan, a domestic slave, will endure the many hardships of life over the years; but the temptations of a fragile prosperity will endanger their love and the survival of their entire family.
Genres: Drama History Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-06-02
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Lady for a Day
1933-09-13
Lady for a Day
Overview: Never-wed, poor, rough around the edges Apple Annie has always written to her daughter, Louise, in Spain that she is married and a member of New York's high society. Upon receiving unexpected word from Louise (who hasn't seen Annie since infancy) that she is en route to America with her new fiancé and his father, a count, so the three of them can meet her, Annie panics, despairing that her beloved daughter will be destroyed by the deception.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-09-13
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Nothing Sacred
1937-11-25
Nothing Sacred
Overview: When a small-town girl is incorrectly diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an unknowing newspaper columnist turns her into a national heroine.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-11-25
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Fifth Avenue Girl
1939-09-22
Fifth Avenue Girl
Overview: A wealthy man hires a poor girl to play his mistress in order to get more attention from his neglectful family.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-09-22
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Four's a Crowd
1938-08-04
Four's a Crowd
Overview: A public relations man falls for his most difficult client's granddaughter.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-08-04
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Lady by Choice
1934-10-15
Lady by Choice
Overview: To improve her image, a fan dancer "adopts" an old woman to be her mother.
Genres: Romance Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-10-15
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939-02-10
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Overview: Huckleberry Finn, a rambunctious boy adventurer chafing under the bonds of civilization, escapes his humdrum world and his selfish, plotting father by sailing a raft down the Mississippi River.
Genres: Adventure Drama Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-02-10
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Broadway Bill
1934-11-30
Broadway Bill
Overview: Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-11-30
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Nancy Steele Is Missing!
1937-03-12
Nancy Steele Is Missing!
Overview: After being in jail for seventeen years a crook is met by the girl he kidnapped as a baby. She now thinks he's her father. When he returns her to her real father there's a job and a reward, but an old prisonmate gets in the way.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-03-12
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First Lady
1937-12-04
First Lady
Overview: A politician's wife plots for her husband to become the next U.S. President.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-12-04
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Good Girls Go to Paris
1939-06-20
Good Girls Go to Paris
Overview: Jenny Swanson, a waitress on a college campus, is dying to visit Paris. Thanks to English professor Ronald Brooke, she manages to make her dream come true. Besides seeing the sights in the French capital she makes friends with a wealthy family there, the Brands.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-06-20
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The Music Goes 'Round
1936-02-27
The Music Goes 'Round
Overview: Harry Wallace (Harry Richman) is the star of a musical comedy who, while on a leave of absence from Broadway, encounters a troupe of untalented showboat players and takes them to New York City. Without letting them in on the joke, he then features them in a new revue, hoping that unintentionally-funny act will bring the house down.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-02-27
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Coast Guard
1939-08-04
Coast Guard
Overview: Steady, dependable Coast Guard Lieutenant Raymond "Ray" Dower and reckless aviator Thomas "Speed" Bradshaw are the closest of friends. Ray saves the life of Captain Tobias Bliss, tramp steamer skipper, in a daring rescue at sea. Speed flies the injured man back to the base hospital, where the two officers later visit him. There Ray meets Nancy Bliss, Bliss' grand-daughter, and falls in love with her. Speed meets her at a dance and urges Ray to propose before some other guy does. Ray is assigned to flood rescue duty, and Speed and Nancy start going out together and discover they are in love.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-08-04
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Start Cheering
1938-03-03
Start Cheering
Overview: After retiring from movies to get an education, a man discovers his ex-staff is trying to have him expelled.
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-03-03
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The League of Frightened Men
1937-05-25
The League of Frightened Men
Overview: Nero Wolfe agrees to investigate a series of murders that seem to be tied in with a past Harvard hazing prank that went awry.
Genres: Mystery Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-05-25
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Those High Grey Walls
1939-09-21
Those High Grey Walls
Overview: Dr. MacAuley, a kindly, beloved country doctor, is sent to Fillmore Prison. His crime was for removing a bullet from a young man who was escaping from the police.
Genres: Action Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-09-21
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The King Steps Out
1936-05-27
The King Steps Out
Overview: Princess is destined to marry the Emperor, until her sister steps in.
Genres: Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-05-27
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No More Orchids
1932-11-25
No More Orchids
Overview: Despite loving another man, a young woman is talked into marrying a wealthy and boorish prince in order to help her financially-strapped father.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-11-25
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Paddy the Next Best Thing
1933-09-01
Paddy the Next Best Thing
Overview: In Ireland, Major Adair’s older daughter Eileen is about to marry Lawrence Blake for his money in order to pay off her father’s debts, even though she really loves Jack Breen.
Genres: Romance Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-09-01
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The Girl Downstairs
1938-12-23
The Girl Downstairs
Overview: A wealthy playboy surreptitiously romances a scullery maid to gain access to her mistress with whom he is in love, but doesn't count on the maid falling in love with him.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-12-23
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The Great Victor Herbert
1939-12-29
The Great Victor Herbert
Overview: In his last film assignment, portly Walter Connolly fills the title role (in more ways than one) in The Great Victor Herbert. Very little of Herbert's life story is incorporated in the screenplay (a closing title actually apologizes for the film's paucity of cold hard facts); instead, the writers allow the famed composer's works to speak for themselves. In the tradition of one of his own operettas, Herbert spends most of his time patching up the shaky marriage between tenor John Ramsey (Allan Jones) and Louise Hall (Mary Martin). Many of Herbert's most famous compositions are well in evidence, including "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life", "March of the Toys" and "Kiss Me Again", the latter performed con brio by teenaged coloratura Susanna Foster. Evidently, the producers were able to secure the film rights for the Herbert songs, but not for the stage productions in which they appeared, which may explain such bizarre interpolations as having a song from Naughty Marietta.
Genres: Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-12-29
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Let's Get Married
1937-04-14
Let's Get Married
Overview: Let's Get Married is a 1937 American comedy film starring Ida Lupino, who plays the daughter of a political consultant, Joe Quinn. From Wikipedia
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-04-14
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Father Brown, Detective
1934-12-14
Father Brown, Detective
Overview: After notorious jewel thief Flambeau meets Evelyn Fischer during a raid on a casino, he falls deeply in love with her. Later Flambeau sends notes to both Leopold Fischer, who unknown to him is Evelyn's uncle, and Father Brown, in which he vows he will steal from them the ten diamonds that comprise the "Flying Star." Flambeau intends to give these diamonds to Evelyn. Father Brown, whose gold cross contains some of the Flying Star diamonds, is determined to meet Flambeau before he is arrested, to reform and redeem his soul.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-12-14
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She Couldn't Take It
1935-10-08
She Couldn't Take It
Overview: The wealthy Van Dyke family are constantly in the media for outrageous behavior, much to the frustration of the patriarch, Dan Van Dyke. His self-centered wife has a fondness for foreign imports, including "pet projects" like dancers and such and his spoiled children Tony and Carol have constant run-ins with the law. When Dan himself ends up in the clink for five years for tax evasion, he becomes bunk-mates with ex-bootlegger Joe "Spots" Ricardi. Ricardi lectures him on being such a push-over for an out-of-control family, so a dying Dan makes Ricardi his estate trustee once he is released from prison. Ricardi is then thrust into high society and must do everything he once nagged Dan to do.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-10-08
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So Red the Rose
1935-12-20
So Red the Rose
Overview: During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-12-20
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East of Fifth Avenue
1933-11-28
East of Fifth Avenue
Overview: A kindly, elderly couple who run a New York City boarding house form the steady center around which the lives and loves of their various residents unfold. Borrowed money, a lovelorn chorus girl, and a tragic misunderstanding set in motion the chain of events in East of Fifth Avenue’s tender pageant of life.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-11-28
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Washington Merry-Go-Round
1932-10-15
Washington Merry-Go-Round
Overview: Button Gwinett Brown is a freshman congressman on a mission to rid Washington of corruption. He quickly runs afoul of the powerful Senator Norton...
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-10-15
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Whom the Gods Destroy
1934-07-12
Whom the Gods Destroy
Overview: Broadway's most successful producer, John Forrester, is deeply in love with his wife Margaret and dreams of the future when his son Jack will step into his shoes. He sails to England to produce a show but the ship strikes a derelict wreckage and is sinking rapidly. In the ensuing wild panic, Forrester saves many lives, until finally, panic stricken by sudden fear, he dons a woman's clothes and is among the rescued. On the coast of Newfouldland, the villagers, not aware of his true identity, curse him but he is befriended by Alec who helps him conceal his identity. With a planned story of his survival, he returns to New York but cannot face his family or friends after he sees the plaque to his heroism on his New York theatre. Deciding to remain thought of as dead, he becomes a derelict himself, surviving on odd jobs as he watches from afar his now-grown son begin his career as a producer.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-07-12
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Bridal Suite
1939-05-26
Bridal Suite
Overview: A carefree playboy with an aversion to marriage falls for a lass he meets in the French Alps.
Genres: Romance Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-05-26
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The Captain Hates the Sea
1934-11-02
The Captain Hates the Sea
Overview: Alcoholic newspaperman Steve Bramley boards the San Capador for a restful cruise, hoping to quit drinking and begin writing a book. Also on board are Steve's friend Schulte, a private detective hoping to nab criminal Danny Checkett with a fortune in stolen bonds. Steve begins drinking, all the while observing the various stories of other passengers on board, several of whom turn out not to be who they seem to be.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-11-02
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Man's Castle
1933-11-20
Man's Castle
Overview: Bill takes Trina into his depression camp cabin. Later, just as he finds showgirl LaRue who will support him, Trina becomes pregnant.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-11-20
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Servants' Entrance
1934-09-25
Servants' Entrance
Overview: Heiress Hedda Nillson certain that her family is about to lose all its money, takes a job as a maid. After the usual trials and tribulations, Hedda falls in love with humble chauffeur Eric Landstrom.
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-09-25
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One Way Ticket
1935-11-25
One Way Ticket
Overview: A convict marries the warder's daughter after his escape and she eventually persuades him to finish his sentence.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-11-25
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Master of Men
1933-11-28
Master of Men
Overview: One of ten films that Fay Wray made in 1993 (including King Kong), Master of Men casts her as Kay Walling, a woman who is being ignored by her husband, Buck (played by Jack Holt). Buck owns a prosperous steel mill and they make a very good living, but he is ambitious and wants more. To this end, he is devoting considerable amounts of time to expanding his finances -- and doing quite well. Not satisfied with his success, he journeys to New York, where his wrangling further increases his bank account. Unfortunately, his stock with his wife is dropping steadily. Jealous and unhappy, she fights back by giving one of Buck's business rivals details about what he is up to.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-11-28
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Once to Every Woman
1934-03-24
Once to Every Woman
Overview: An able nurse clashes with a new doctor at her hospital.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-03-24
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Eight Girls in a Boat
1934-01-05
Eight Girls in a Boat
Overview: In an exclusive Swiss school for young girls, Christa Storm discovers she is going to have a baby, and keeps the secret from everyone but her lover, David Perrin, a young medical student. Having been in the private school most of her life, she can't confide in her father whom she hardly knows and, while he wishes to but can't afford to marry her, David can't get the approval of his father.a
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-01-05
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White Lies
1935-12-27
White Lies
Overview: A powerful publisher John Mitchell whose pursuit of sensational headlines at the expense of all else takes a personal toll when his daughter Joan is implicated in a murder.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-12-27
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Breakdowns of 1938
1938-12-31
Breakdowns of 1938
Overview: Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1938.
Genres: Documentary Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-12-31
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Hollywood on Parade No. B-1
1934-03-02
Hollywood on Parade No. B-1
Overview: Short film in which Frankie Darro as a Telegram delivery boy visits various Hollywood locations to make deliveries. He visits the Los Angeles Pier and a Gala Hollywood Premiere.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-03-02
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Soak the Rich
1936-01-17
Soak the Rich
Overview: Tycoon Humphrey Craig is fearful that a "soak the rich" bill will pass in the United States Senate.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-01-17
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Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
1975-04-19
Black Shadows on a Silver Screen
Overview: Ossie Davis narrates a history of "race films," films made before 1950 which catered to a primarily black audience.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-04-19
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Penitentiary
1938-02-05
Penitentiary
Overview: The story of a D.A. who becomes a prison warden and winds up overseeing the sentence of a man he prosecuted.
Genres: Action Crime Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-02-05
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