Rita Johnson
Biography: Rita Ann Johnson (August 13, 1913 – October 31, 1965) was an American actress. Early in her career, Johnson was busy in radio. Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) and a doomed wife in the RKO film noir They Won't Believe Me (1947). In an incident that was never fully explained, Johnson suffered a head trauma on September 6, 1948 that required brain surgery. Unsubstantiated rumors promulgated by gossip columnists such as Walter Winchell suggested she might have been abused by a boyfriend, but the only explanation she offered was that a large, industrial-grade hair dryer at her apartment had fallen on her. She was in a coma for two weeks and it was reported it took her a year to recover. Her left side was paralyzed temporarily and for a while she couldn't walk. The injury put a virtual halt to her film career. Her screen time in movies after that was limited due to her reduced mobility and powers of concentration. Johnson suffered from alcoholism from the time of her injuries until her death of a brain hemorrhage at age 52. From Wikipedia.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: August 13, 1913
Deathday: October 31, 1965
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Known For
Man-Proof
1938-01-07
Man-Proof
Overview: A newspaper illustrator tries to remain best friends with the man she secretly loves, even though he recently married another woman.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-01-07
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The Naughty Nineties
1945-06-20
The Naughty Nineties
Overview: In the gay '90s, cardsharps take over a Mississippi riverboat from a kindly captain. Their first act is to change the showboat into a floating gambling house. A ham actor and his bumbling sidekick try to devise a way to help the captain regain ownership of the vessel.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-06-20
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They Won't Believe Me
1947-07-16
They Won't Believe Me
Overview: On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-07-16
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Within the Law
1939-03-17
Within the Law
Overview: A wrongly convicted woman studies law and seeks her revenge.
Genres: Crime Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-03-17
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Edison, the Man
1940-05-10
Edison, the Man
Overview: In flashback, fifty years after inventing the light bulb, an 82-year-old Edison tells his story starting at age twenty-two with his arrival in New York. He's on his way with the invention of an early form of the stock market ticker.
Genres: History Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-05-10
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Honolulu
1939-02-03
Honolulu
Overview: Wanting a break from his overzealous fans, a famous movie star hires a Hawaiian plantation owner to switch places with him for a few weeks.
Genres: Comedy Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-02-03
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Here Comes Mr. Jordan
1941-08-07
Here Comes Mr. Jordan
Overview: Boxer Joe Pendleton, flying to his next fight, crashes...because a Heavenly Messenger, new on the job, snatched Joe's spirit prematurely from his body. Before the matter can be rectified, Joe's body is cremated; so the celestial Mr. Jordan grants him the use of the body of wealthy Bruce Farnsworth, who's just been murdered by his wife. Joe tries to remake Farnsworth's unworthy life in his own clean-cut image, but then falls in love; and what about that murderous wife?
Genres: Comedy Fantasy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-08-07
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Nick Carter, Master Detective
1939-12-13
Nick Carter, Master Detective
Overview: Detective Nick Carter is brought in to foil spies at the Radex Airplane Factory, where a new fighter plane is under manufacture.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-12-13
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The Major and the Minor
1942-09-16
The Major and the Minor
Overview: Returning to her hometown from New York, Susan Applegate learns that she hasn't enough for the train fare and disguises herself as a twelve-year-old to travel for half the price. She hides from the conductors in the compartment of Major Philip Kirby, a military school instructor, who takes the "child" under his wing.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-09-16
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My Friend Flicka
1943-05-26
My Friend Flicka
Overview: Ken McLaughlin is a precocious 10-year-old who lives with his family on a remote Wyoming ranch. When Ken returns home from school with failing grades, his father, Rob, blames the boy's lack of personal responsibility. At the suggestion of his wife, Nell, Rob allows Ken to choose a single colt from the herd to raise as his own. Much to his father's dismay, Ken chooses a fiery mustang filly -- but the two soon become fast friends.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama Family Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-05-26
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The Big Clock
1948-03-18
The Big Clock
Overview: Stroud, a crime magazine's crusading editor has to post-pone a vacation with his wife, again, when a glamorous blonde is murdered and he is assigned by his publishing boss Janoth to find the killer. As the investigation proceeds to its conclusion, Stroud must try to disrupt his ordinarily brilliant investigative team as they increasingly build evidence (albeit wrong) that he is the killer.
Genres: Crime Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-03-18
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Congo Maisie
1940-01-19
Congo Maisie
Overview: Maisie gets lost in a jungle in Africa and the jungle of romance. The African jungle has snakes, crocodiles and witch doctors. The romantic jungle has a dedicated doctor with an un-dedicated wife and an embittered doctor who is dedicated to no one.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-01-19
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All Mine to Give
1957-11-13
All Mine to Give
Overview: This is a story based on fact that follows a husband and wife who emigrate from Scotland to Wisconsin in the 1850s. They work very hard and become welcome citizens of their new town, Eureka. They have six children. They prosper in the husband's boat-building business. But when their eldest is 12, tragedy strikes the family, and the 12-year-old is burdened with a terrible task which he handles as well as any adult could.
Genres: Drama Romance Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-11-13
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Susan Slept Here
1954-07-28
Susan Slept Here
Overview: On Christmas Eve, suffering from a case of writer's block, screenwriter Mark Christopher and his gofer Virgil get an unexpected visit from Sergeant Maizel. Knowing Christopher is working on a juvenile delinquent script, the sergeant brings by delinquent Susan thinking she will inspire Christopher while providing a place for her to spend the holidays outside of juvenile hall.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-07-28
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Thunderhead: Son of Flicka
1945-03-15
Thunderhead: Son of Flicka
Overview: A young boy tries to train Thunderhead, a beautiful white colt and the son of his beloved Flicka, to be a champion race horse.
Genres: Drama Family Western Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-03-15
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Sleep, My Love
1948-02-18
Sleep, My Love
Overview: A woman wakes up in the middle of the night on board a train, but she can't remember how she got there. Danger and suspense ensue.
Genres: Thriller Mystery Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-02-18
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Family Honeymoon
1948-12-06
Family Honeymoon
Overview: Grant Jordan, bachelor botany professor, marries Katie, a widow with three kids, despite the machinations of Grant's former girlfriend Minna. But on the wedding day, Aunt Jo, who was to babysit, breaks a leg; so the kids come along on the honeymoon.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-12-06
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Forty Little Mothers
1940-04-26
Forty Little Mothers
Overview: An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-04-26
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The Second Face
1950-12-01
The Second Face
Overview: A homely girl is seriously injured in a car crash. When she eventually wakes up in the hospital, she's astounded to see that plastic surgery has transformed her into a world-class beauty. When she finds out that a mysterious "benefactor" has paid for her surgery, she sets out to find out who he is and why he did it.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-12-01
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Broadway Serenade
1939-04-07
Broadway Serenade
Overview: A married singer, pianist/composer team are struggling to hit it big in New York. Finally, they audition before a Broadway producer, but the producer only wants the singer, leaving the husband without a job and feeling a failure.
Genres: Romance Drama Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-04-07
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The Golden Fleecing
1940-08-16
The Golden Fleecing
Overview: A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.
Genres: Crime Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-08-16
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My Dear Miss Aldrich
1937-09-17
My Dear Miss Aldrich
Overview: A young woman inherits a newspaper whose editor refuses to hire lady reporters.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-09-17
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The Affairs of Susan
1945-07-08
The Affairs of Susan
Overview: Susan is about to be married, but the wedding may get called off after her fiancé summons three former beaus. Each reveals a different portrait of Susan: one describes her as a naive country girl who reluctantly becomes an actress, another paints a picture of a gay party girl and and the third describes a serious intellectual.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-07-08
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Stronger Than Desire
1939-06-30
Stronger Than Desire
Overview: An attorney handling a murder case in unaware his own wife played a crucial role in the killing.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-06-30
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Smashing the Rackets
1938-08-08
Smashing the Rackets
Overview: Jim 'Socker' Conway, former boxer and FBI hero, is maneuvered for political reasons into a do-nothing job in the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, he meets wild debutante Letty Lane, girlfriend of mob mouthpiece Steve Lawrence; and Letty's much nicer sister Susan. Now the slot machine gang brutally beats Jim's friends Franz and Otto. And Jim finds a way to use his nominal position to go into the racket- busting business. But his success puts Letty in deadly peril...
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-08-08
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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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Pardon My Past
1945-12-24
Pardon My Past
Overview: Eddie York (MacMurray) is mistaken for playboy Francis Pemberton and gets into trouble.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-12-24
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Rich Man, Poor Girl
1938-08-12
Rich Man, Poor Girl
Overview: A millionaire courts a working-class woman.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-08-12
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They All Come Out
1939-08-04
They All Come Out
Overview: A down on his luck young man stumbles into a gang of robbers who all get landed in prison. Will he be reformed, or is he ensnared into a life of crime?
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-08-04
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London by Night
1937-07-30
London by Night
Overview: A newspaperman, his canine companion, and an adventurous socialite investigate an umbrella-wielding murderer who is terrorizing a London neighborhood.
Genres: Romance Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-07-30
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An Innocent Affair
1948-10-15
An Innocent Affair
Overview: Vincent Doane is in the precarious position of trying to close an advertising account with his rich ex-fiancée. Unfortunately she is more interested in him than in business. Vincent's wife Paula gets suspicious and finally decides to do some flirting of her own to make him jealous. Unknown to her, she chooses cigarette tychoon Claude Kimball. In fact, Kimball hits it off well with both of the Doanes. The question is whether or not their marriage can survive all the shenanigans.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1948-10-15
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Appointment for Love
1941-10-31
Appointment for Love
Overview: Charming Andre Cassil woos physician Jane Alexander and the two impulsively get married. The honeymoon ends very quickly when Jane voices her progressive views on marriage which include the two having separate apartments. Andre then tries to make his wife jealous in order to lure her into his bedroom.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-10-31
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Letter of Introduction
1938-08-05
Letter of Introduction
Overview: An aging actor, trying to make a comeback on Broadway, is surprised when his estranged daughter shows up. It seems that she is an actress and is also trying to make it on Broadway. He tries to re-establish his relationship with her while also trying to hide the fact that she is his daughter from the press.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-08-05
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6,000 Enemies
1939-06-09
6,000 Enemies
Overview: A tough prosecutor who has sent dozens of criminals to prison finds himself framed on a bribery charge and winds up in prison himself.
Genres: Romance Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-06-09
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Emergency Hospital
1956-11-02
Emergency Hospital
Overview: About the lives and loves of the staff of an emergency hospital as reflected in a single frenetic night of business-as-usual.
Genres: Action Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-11-02
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The Perfect Marriage
1947-01-24
The Perfect Marriage
Overview: A couple celebrate their tenth anniversary by quarreling their way to divorce court.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-01-24
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The Art Director
1949-11-12
The Art Director
Overview: A film's art director is in charge of the set, from conception to construction to furnishing. This short film walks the viewer through art directors' responsibilities and the demands on their talents. They read a script carefully and design a set to capture the time and place, the social strata, and the mood. They must be scholars of the history of architecture, furnishings, and fashion. They choose the colors on a set in anticipation of the lighting and the mood. Their work also sets styles, from Art Deco in the 20's to 30s modernism. Then it's on to the next project. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-11-12
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Michigan Kid
1947-08-11
Michigan Kid
Overview: A former U.S. marshal rescues an instant heiress from an outlaw's gang.
Genres: Action Romance Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-08-11
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