Roland Winters
Biography: Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz) was an American actor who played many character parts in films and television but today is best remembered for portraying Charlie Chan in six films in the late 1940s. Monogram Pictures eventually selected Winters to replace Sidney Toler in the Charlie Chan film series. Winters was 44 when he made the first of his six Chan films, The Chinese Ring in 1947 and ending with Charlie Chan and the Sky Dragon (also known as Sky Dragon) in 1949. His other Chan films were "Docks of New Orleans", "Shanghai Chest", "The Golden Eye" and "The Feathered Serpent". He also had character roles in three other feature films while he worked on the Chan series. Yunte Huang, in Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History, noted differences in the actors' appearances, especially that Winters' "tall nose simply could not be made to look Chinese." Huang also cited the actor's age, writing, "at the age of forty-four, he also looked too young to resemble a seasoned Chinese sage." In contrast to Huang, Ken Hanke wrote in his book, Charlie Chan at the Movies: History, Filmography, and Criticism, "Roland Winters has never received his due ... Winters brought with him a badly needed breath of fresh air to the series." He cited "the richness of the approach and the verve with which the series was being tackled" during the Winters era." Similarly, Howard M. Berlin, in his book, Charlie Chan's Words of Wisdom, commented that "Winters brought a much needed breath of fresh air to the flagging film series with his self-mocking, semi-satirical interpretation of Charlie, which is very close to the Charlie Chan in Biggers' novels." After the series finished, Winters continued to work in film and television until 1982. He was in the movies So Big and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, played Elvis' father in Blue Hawaii and a judge in the Elvis film Follow That Dream. He made appearances as the boss on the early TV series Meet Millie as the boss and the courtroom drama Perry Mason. In one episode of the Bewitched TV series, he played the normally unseen McMann of McMann and Tate. He also portrayed Mr. Gimbel in Miracle on 34th Street in 1973.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: November 22, 1904
Deathday: October 22, 1989
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Known For
Cry of the City
1948-09-29
Cry of the City
Overview: Petty crook and cop-killer Martin Rome, in bad shape from wounds in the hospital prison ward, still refuses to help slimy lawyer Niles clear his client by confessing to another crime. Police Lt. Candella must check Niles' allegation; a friend of the Rome family, he walks a tightrope between sentiment and cynicism. When Martin fears Candella will implicate his girlfriend Teena, he'll do anything to protect her. How many others will he drag down to disaster with him?
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-09-29
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Bigger Than Life
1956-11-20
Bigger Than Life
Overview: A friendly, successful suburban teacher and father grows dangerously addicted to cortisone, resulting in his transformation into a household despot.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-11-20
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The Underworld Story
1950-07-26
The Underworld Story
Overview: A blacklisted reporter brings his shady ways to a small-town newspaper after being fired from a big city daily.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-07-26
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Convicted
1950-08-01
Convicted
Overview: A prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-08-01
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Between Midnight and Dawn
1950-10-01
Between Midnight and Dawn
Overview: Rocky and Dan, war buddies, are prowl car cops on night duty. Dan is a cynic who views all lawbreakers as scum; Rocky feels more lenient. Both are attracted to the radio voice of communicator Kate Mallory; but in person, Kate proves reluctant to get involved with men who just might stop a bullet. By lucky chance, Rocky and Dan cause big trouble for murderous racketeer Ritchie Garris; but when he swears vengeance, Kate's fears may prove justified.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-10-01
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Malaya
1949-12-27
Malaya
Overview: After living abroad for several years, journalist John Royer returns to the United States just after the U.S. enters World War II. His boast that he could easily smuggle rubber, a key wartime natural resource, out of Malaya has him tasked with doing just that. He manages to get someone from his past, Carnaghan, sprung from Alactraz and together they head off to South East Asia posing as Irishmen. Once there, Carnaghan lines up some of his old cronies and with Royer and a few plantation owners plans to smuggle the rubber out from under the Japanese army's watchful eye.
Genres: Adventure Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-12-27
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Blue Hawaii
1961-11-22
Blue Hawaii
Overview: Chad Gates has just been discharged from the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surf-board, his beach buddies and his girlfriend.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-11-22
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A Dangerous Profession
1949-12-10
A Dangerous Profession
Overview: A cop-turned-bail bondsman gets involved in a murder investigation.
Genres: Crime Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-12-10
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Docks of New Orleans
1948-03-21
Docks of New Orleans
Overview: Detective Charlie Chan springs into action when top officials of a New Orleans chemical company begin dropping like flies.
Genres: Thriller Comedy Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-03-21
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So Big
1953-10-31
So Big
Overview: A girl of wealth comes to a Dutch community outside Chicago as a schoolteacher, and while there falls in love with a poor but big-hearted farmer.
Genres: Drama Romance Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-10-31
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The West Point Story
1950-11-25
The West Point Story
Overview: A Broadway director helps the West Point cadets put on a show, aided by two lovely ladies and assorted complications.
Genres: Music Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-11-25
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The Chinese Ring
1947-12-06
The Chinese Ring
Overview: Soon after a Chinese princess comes to the US to buy planes for her people, she is murdered by a poison dart fired by an air rifle.
Genres: Thriller Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-12-06
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Jet Pilot
1957-10-11
Jet Pilot
Overview: John Wayne stars as U.S. Air Force aviator Jim Shannon, who's tasked with escorting a Soviet pilot (Janet Leigh) claiming -- at the height of the Cold War -- that she wants to defect. After falling in love with and wedding the fetching flyer, Shannon learns from his superiors that she's a spy on a mission to extract military secrets. To save his new wife from prison and deportation, Shannon devises a risky plan in this 1957 drama.
Genres: Action Adventure Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-10-11
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Sky Dragon
1949-04-27
Sky Dragon
Overview: All the passengers on an airplane headed for San Francisco are drugged, and when they wake up, it is discovered that a quarter-million dollars is missing. Charlie Chan--and, of course, his #1 son--must discover the identity of the person who doped the passengers and stole the money.
Genres: Adventure Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-04-27
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The Feathered Serpent
1948-12-19
The Feathered Serpent
Overview: In order to learn the location of a fabled Aztec treasure, a professor kidnaps his colleague, the only man able to read the ancient Aztec script that is supposed to reveal the location of the treasure. Charlie Chan and his #1 and #2 sons journey to the jungles of Mexico to find the victim and bring the kidnapper and his gang to justice.
Genres: Comedy Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-12-19
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The Shanghai Chest
1948-07-11
The Shanghai Chest
Overview: Charlie attempts to solve a triple murder in which a dead man's finger prints show up at all three murder sites, and all three victims were connected with the conviction and execution of an evidently innocent man.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-07-11
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The Golden Eye
1948-08-29
The Golden Eye
Overview: A gold mine in Arizona, that was formerly losing a lot of money, suddenly turns into a veritable money-making machine. However, the owner, instead of being happy about his now profitable business, insists to Charlie that something is fishy and that someone is out to murder him. Charlie and his "crew" travel to the mine, pretending to be tourists staying at a nearby dude ranch so as not to arouse suspicion, and discover that the owner may well be right--it looks like the mine is being used as a cover for criminal activities, and that someone is indeed out to murder him.
Genres: Crime Mystery Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-08-29
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Killer Shark
1950-03-19
Killer Shark
Overview: A college student takes a break and goes out to sea with his father, the captain of a shark-hunting boat. When his inexperience results in an accident in which his father and a crewman are badly injured, he tries to make up for it by rounding up another crew and going back out on the hunt. However, things don't turn out quite the way he planned.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-03-19
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You Can't Go Home Again
1979-04-25
You Can't Go Home Again
Overview: An adaptation of Thomas Wolfe's literary classic, telling of the struggles of a young writer determined to be a success in New York's literary world of the 1920s, his married lover, and the brilliant editor who sees him as a blossoming genius. The story parallels the life of Wolfe himself and his affair with stage designer Aline Bernstein.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-04-25
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Top Secret Affair
1957-01-30
Top Secret Affair
Overview: A publisher uses her magazine and charm to derail a general on the Washington fast track.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-01-30
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She's Working Her Way Through College
1952-07-09
She's Working Her Way Through College
Overview: Shapely burlesque dancer Hot Garters Gertie aka Angela Gardner meets her future drama professor. Her new landlady proves to be the professor's wife. Angela helps breath life into the annual school stage show...but someone has discovered her secret past.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-07-09
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To Please a Lady
1950-10-13
To Please a Lady
Overview: Mike Brannon is a former war hero turned midget car racer. His ruthless racing tactics have made him successful but the fans consider him a villain and boo him mercilessly. Independent, beautiful reporter Regina Forbes tries to interview him but is put off by his gruff chauvinism, and when Brannon's daredevil tactics cause the death of a fellow driver, he finds himself a pariah in the sport thanks to her articles. When she finds him earning money as a barnstorming daredevil driver hoping for a comeback, they begin to become mutually attracted.
Genres: Action Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-10-13
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The Return of October
1948-10-26
The Return of October
Overview: A wholesome girl believes her new racehorse, October, is the reincarnation of her favorite uncle, Willie.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-10-26
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Once More, My Darling
1949-09-10
Once More, My Darling
Overview: An actor is recalled to active duty with the Army's C.I.D. to find the thief who stole historical jewels in occupied Germany and the trail leads to the boyfriend of a young debutante from Bel Air.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-09-10
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Raton Pass
1951-04-07
Raton Pass
Overview: Raton Pass is a curious western based on the rules of Community Property. Dennis Morgan and Patricia Neal portray a recently married husband and wife, each of whom owns half of a huge cattle ranch. Neal is a tad more ambitious than her husband, and with the help of a little legal chicanery she tries to obtain Morgan's half of the spread. He balks, so she hires a few gunslingers to press the issue. In a 1951 western, the greedy party usually came to a sorry end; Raton Pass adheres strictly to tradition.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-04-07
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Never Steal Anything Small
1959-02-11
Never Steal Anything Small
Overview: Director Charles Lederer's 1959 musical stars James Cagney as an unscrupulous longshoreman who'll resort to every dirty trick in the book to win his union's presidency.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-02-11
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Tuna Clipper
1949-04-11
Tuna Clipper
Overview: Hoping to become a lawyer, Alec (Roddy McDowall) becomes a tuna fisherman in order to pay a debt. This turn of events puts Alec on the outs with his taciturn family. Eventually, the lad proves himself on all fronts, and is welcomed back into the family fold.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-04-11
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Follow the Sun
1951-05-22
Follow the Sun
Overview: A biographical film of Ben Hogan, from his start as a golf caddy to being considered one of golf's greatest players.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-05-22
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Everything's Ducky
1961-12-20
Everything's Ducky
Overview: Everything's Ducky is a 1961 film directed by Don Taylor and starring Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, and Jackie Cooper. Two sailors sneak a talking duck aboard their ship. Complications ensue. The duck waddles all over the ship until he escapes.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-12-20
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A String of Beads
1961-02-07
A String of Beads
Overview: An ordinary girl's life is radically changed by the mistaken receipt of a $60,000 strand of pearls.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-02-07
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Miracle on 34th Street
1973-12-14
Miracle on 34th Street
Overview: A department store Santa tries to convince a little girl who doesn't believe in Santa Claus that he is Santa Claus, and winds up going on trial to prove who he is.
Genres: Drama Family Fantasy TV Movie Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-12-14
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Inside Straight
1951-03-01
Inside Straight
Overview: A tycoon rises to the top in 19th-century San Francisco through greed and corruption.
Genres: Drama Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-03-01
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Kidnapped
1948-11-28
Kidnapped
Overview: In Scotland in 1752, seventeen-year-old David Balfour is cheated out of his birthright by his evil uncle Ebenezer.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-11-28
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Guilty of Treason
1950-02-20
Guilty of Treason
Overview: The story of Cardinal Josef Mindzhenty, a Roman Catholic cardinal from Hungary who spoke out against both the Nazi occupation of his country during World War II and the Communist regime that replaced it after the war.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-02-20
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Loving
1970-03-04
Loving
Overview: Brooks Wilson is in crisis. He is torn between his wife Selma and two daughters and his mistress Grace, and also between his career as a successful illustrator and his feeling that he might still produce something worthwhile.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-03-04
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Cash McCall
1960-01-20
Cash McCall
Overview: Wealthy hotshot Cash McCall makes his money by purchasing unsuccessful businesses, whipping them into shape and then selling them for a huge profit. When Cash comes across Austen Plastics, a small manufacturing corporation on its last legs, he realizes it might be a gamble to buy the company. But when Cash finds out that the company's owner is the father of his old flame, Lory, he buys the business just to get a second chance at romance.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-01-20
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Citizen Kane
1941-04-17
Citizen Kane
Overview: Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
Genres: Mystery Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-04-17
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Sierra Passage
1950-12-31
Sierra Passage
Overview: When young Johnny York witnesses the murder of his father, he joins a travelling variety troupe and trains up as a sharpshooter so he might one day get his revenge.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-12-31
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The Computer Comes to Marketing
1960-01-01
The Computer Comes to Marketing
Overview: Five executives at a company argue about whether they should buy a computer and what it would do for their company.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-01-01
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Captain Carey, U.S.A.
1950-02-21
Captain Carey, U.S.A.
Overview: Near the end of World War II, a secret American raid on an enemy transportation hub goes very wrong when a turncoat warns the enemy. Led by Capt. Webster Carey, the mission causes the deaths of many bystanders -- among them, Carey believes, his Italian girlfriend, Giulia de Graffi. Back home, Carey stumbles across evidence that might uncover the identity of the informant. But, when he returns to Italy to get even, Carey is stunned by what he finds.
Genres: Mystery Thriller War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-02-21
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Follow That Dream
1962-04-11
Follow That Dream
Overview: When the Kwimper family car runs out of fuel on a new Florida highway and an officious state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop Kwimper digs in his heels and decides to do a little homesteading. He and his son Toby and their 'adopted' children—Holly, Ariadne, and the twins—start their own little community along a strip of the roadside.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-04-11
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949-05-26
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
Overview: Lost Caverns Hotel bellhop Freddie Phillips is suspected of murder. Swami Talpur tries to hypnotize Freddie into confessing, but Freddie is too stupid for the plot to work. Inspector Wellman uses Freddie to get the killer (and it isn't the Swami).
Genres: Comedy Horror Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-05-26
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Big Deal in Laredo
1962-10-07
Big Deal in Laredo
Overview: A timid man with money problems gets into a big card game with some high-rollers.
Genres: Comedy Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-10-07
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The Iceman Cometh
1960-11-14
The Iceman Cometh
Overview: Theodore Hickman, a hardware salesman, makes by-yearly visits to Harry Hope's 1910-era waterfront bar for his periodical drinking binges. But on this visit he has decided to try to save the bar's patrons from their "lying pipe dreams."
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-11-14
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Doc
1969-07-28
Doc
Overview: An aging doctor in a small town decides to pack up his little black bag, but when a young doctor assumes his practice, the older practitioner can't resist butting in with comic results.
Genres: Comedy TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-07-28
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