Madame Sul-Te-Wan
Also Known As: Nellie Wan, Nellie Crawford, Madame Sultewan, Madame Wan, Sul-Te-Wan
Biography: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Madame Sul-Te-Wan (born Nellie Crawford; March 7, 1873 – February 1, 1959) was the first African-American actress to sign a film contract and be a featured performer. She was an American stage, film and television actress for over 50 years. The daughter of former slaves, she began her career in entertainment touring the East Coast with various theatrical companies and moved to California to become a member of the fledgling film community. She became known as a character actress, appeared in high-profile films such as The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916), and easily navigated the transition to the sound films. In 1986, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Birthday: March 07, 1873
Deathday: February 01, 1959
Adult: No
Gender: Female
Popularity:
Known For:
The Narrow Street
Overview: Simon Haldane works in the office of the Faulkner Iron Works, but he has been raised by his two maiden aunts in an extremely sheltered manner and is basically afraid of everyone and everything. One morning he finds a strange girl shivering in his bedroom, and although he's terrified of her, he manages to call a doctor for her. This starts a rumor that Simon is married. Complications ensue.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-01-04
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Black Moon
Overview: A woman returning to her island birthplace finds herself drawn to a voodoo cult.
Genres: Horror Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-06-15
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Who's Your Father?
Overview: This comedy starts with the rescue by a cowboy's dog of a baby that is floating down a gorge toward a cataract in a tiny crib. The cowboy takes the foundling to his cabin. Then the cowboy finds himself not only beset with the troubles of feeding an infant, but also is the object of a spinster who, by claiming the baby, hopes to compromise the cowboy
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-06-30
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The Pagan Lady
Overview: Dot starts out as a bartender in Havana when in walks Dingo Mike (Charles Bickford) and orders up a drink that sounds like something you'd consume on a dare. He drinks the concoction down in one swallow and also manages to outsmart Dot's boss and his rum-running hooligans. You see, Dingo is a bootlegger himself. He literally sweeps the lady off her feet and they set up housekeeping in a tropical hotel full of colorful characters, some of whom are in the bootlegging business too.
Genres: Adventure Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-09-07
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Tarzan of the Apes
Overview: A female ape takes to mothering the orphaned boy (Tarzan) and raises him over the course of many years until a rescue mission is finally launched and the search party combs the jungle for the long-time missing Lord Greystoke. But then, one of the search members, Jane Porter, gets separated from the group and comes face to face with fearsome wild animals. Tarzan saves her from harm just in the knick of time and love begins to blossom.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-01-27
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In Old Chicago
Overview: The O'Leary brothers -- honest Jack and roguish Dion -- become powerful figures, and eventually rivals, in Chicago on the eve of its Great Fire.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-04-15
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Uncle Tom's Cabin
Overview: In 1856, slave Eliza plans to marry George with the consent of the Shelbys, her masters, but George's owner prevents the wedding. A few years later, Eliza flees with her son, Harry, after learning the Shelbys plan to hand them over to a crooked creditor to prevent foreclosure. George also escapes and goes on the run while Eliza and Harry are captured and brought back home. Mother and son are separated as George tries to find them both.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1927-11-04
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Manslaughter
Overview: Society-girl thrillseeker Lydia's fun comes to an end when she accidentally causes the death of motorcycle policeman.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-09-24
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The Thoroughbred
Overview: Unemployed jockey Tod Taylor gets a huge break when he is hired by Matt Riley. Within weeks, Taylor is riding Riley's horses to a string of victories. Success and the limelight go right to the jockey's head. Big-time gambler Tom Drake hires a blonde sexpot to seduce Tod and introduce him to the roulette wheel. Showing off, he starts playing for stakes way over his head. With Drake holding a huge note that Tod can't possibly pay off, he delivers an ultimatum — lose the big race tomorrow or a police detective will be waiting at the finish line to arrest him for passing bad checks.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-08-09
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The Affairs of Annabel
Overview: Wonder Pictures has been striking out at the box office lately, causing the seedy PR man to involve main star Annabel in ever outrageous stunts for publicity.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-09-09
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Tell No Tales
Overview: A newspaper editor turns a kidnapping into the banner headlines and exclusive story that could save his publication.
Genres: Crime Mystery Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-06-12
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Heaven on Earth
Overview: A young boy finds out that the man he thought was his father actually killed his real father, then adopted him.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1931-11-27
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Tarzan and the Trappers
Overview: Tarzan goes up against a baddie by the name of Schroeder, who is trapping animals and selling them illegally to zoos. A twist is thrown into the plot when Schroeder's brother, with the help of money-hungry trader Lapin, hunts a different kind of quarry, human game. Now Tarzan must not only fight to save the animals of the jungle, but he must also save himself. Three episodes of a failed TV series edited for theater release.
Genres: Action Adventure TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-01-01
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Revenge of the Zombies
Overview: When Dr. Von Altermann's wife Lila dies mysteriously at his spooky mansion her relations suspect murder. They also suspect the doctor is turning her into a zombie, to join the army of living dead he hopes to devote to the Nazi cause. However, Lila, though dead, has developed a will of her own.
Genres: Horror Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-09-17
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Kentucky
Overview: Young lovers Jack and Sally are from families that compete to send horses to the 1938 Kentucky Derby, but during the Civil War, her family sided with the South while his sided with the North--and her Uncle Peter will have nothing to do with Jack's family.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-12-30
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Thunderbolt
Overview: A criminal known as Thunderbolt is imprisoned and facing execution. Into the next cell is placed Bob Moran, an innocent man who has been framed and who is in love with Thunderbolt's girl, without knowing of their relationship. Thunderbolt hopes to stave off the execution long enough to kill young Moran for romancing his girl.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-06-20
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Maid of Salem
Overview: When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachusetts. After a meddling girl arouses their suspicions, the town's elders accuse Barbara of being a witch. She is tried, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to death. As the townspeople prepare to burn Barbara at the stake, Roger tries desperately to save the woman he loves.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-02-12
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Sarah and Son
Overview: A ne'er-do-well husband, after years of abusing his wife, disappears with their son, and winds up selling him to a wealthy family. Years later, the wife, now a world-famous opera singer, finally has enough time and money to begin a search for him.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-03-14
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Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite
Overview: Torchy Blane and Steve McBride try to nab a gangster by tracking his moll.
Genres: Action Crime Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1939-08-12
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College
Overview: A bookish college student dismissive of athletics is compelled to try out sports to win the affection of the girl he loves.
Genres: Drama Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1927-09-10
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Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages
Overview: The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-09-04
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Old Wives for New
Overview: Charles Murdock neglects his fat and lazy wife for another woman; When his other love interest becomes involved in a murder, he leaves for Paris.
Genres: Drama Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1918-05-18
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Love Thy Neighbor
Overview: Capitalizing on the famous radio 'feud' between comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen. The two stars play versions of themselves, constantly at each other's throats due to real and imagined slights.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-12-27
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Safari
Overview: Millionaire Baron de Courland and his fiancée Linda Stewart employ Jim Logan as a guide for their hunting trip in the jungle. Linda finds unplanned adventure in her sudden love for Jim, ultimately forsaking her future with the Baron for the joys of true love.
Genres: Adventure Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-06-14
Popularity:
Maryland
Overview: A woman tormented by the hunting death of her husband forbids her son to have anything to do with horses. But when he falls for the daughter of his father's trainer, he defies his mother by entering the Maryland Hunt.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-07-19
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Thank Your Lucky Stars
Overview: An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-09-25
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San Francisco
Overview: A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days before the great earthquake and subsequent fires in 1906.
Genres: Drama Romance Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1936-06-26
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Island in the Sky
Overview: A secretary (Gloria Stuart) solves a murder for her boyfriend (Michael Whalen) in the district attorney's office.
Genres: Mystery Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-04-01
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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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Jungle Mystery
Overview: In Africa, two hunters meet a girl and her father who are searching for her lost brother. Their search is complicated by rival hunters who are after ivory and by a tribe of hostile natives.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-09-12
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A Modern Hero
Overview: A 1920s circus performer uses every means at his disposal to achieve fame and fortune at the expense of others.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-04-21
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Operator 13
Overview: American Civil War, 1862. After the disaster of the Second Battle of Bull Run, Major Allen, chief of the Secret Service of the Union, asks actress Gail Loveless to become one of his operators and infiltrate enemy territory.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-06-08
Popularity:
King Kong
Overview: Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world.
Genres: Adventure Fantasy Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-03-15
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Ladies They Talk About
Overview: A moll, imprisoned after participating in a bank robbery, helps with a breakout plot.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-02-04
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The Cause of It All
Overview: Dr. Spencer's wife becomes intensely jealous when she finds, in her husband's coat, a note signed "Mary," which asks him to visit the writer at the Hotel Mum. The woman carries her tale of woe to Attorney Thomas, a family friend. In his effort to make light of the matter, Thomas soothingly places his arm about Mrs. Spencer's shoulder. Dr. Spencer's office is directly across the court. Glancing out of the window, the doctor sees his wife apparently being embraced by Thomas. The attorney consents to accompany Mrs. Spencer to the Mum and meet "Mary." The doctor trails the two. As luck would have it, Mrs. Thomas passes the Mum just as her husband and Mrs. Spencer enter. The doctor and Mrs. Thomas meet and make their way after their other halves, bent on vengeance bent.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-01-29
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The Children Pay
Overview: What will become of the Children in a home divided....
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-11-26
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Stage Struck
Overview: A 1917 film directed by Edward Morrissey.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1917-02-25
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Why Change Your Wife?
Overview: Robert and Beth Bordon are married but share little. He runs into Sally at a cabaret and the Gordons are soon divorced. Just as he gets bored with Sally's superficiality, Beth strives to improve her looks. The original couple falls in love again at a summer resort.
Genres: Comedy Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1920-05-21
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The Carnation Kid
Overview: It's a case of mistaken identity in this comedy that centers around a country bumpkin mistaken for a Chicago hitman.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1929-03-02
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Queen Kelly
Overview: A prince betrothed to a mad queen falls in love with an orphan girl from a convent.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-10-18
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The Golden Bed
Overview: Femme fatale Flora marries a titled European to save the family planation. Her husband and a rival fall to their deaths in a glacier. Next Flora weds her sister Margaret's love Admah. She bleeds him dry, until he goes to prison.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1925-01-25
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His Musical Sneeze
Overview: A young man goes into the woods to hunt rabbits, and winds up getting mixed up with a dog, a lion and a beautiful woman.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1919-02-22
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Squirrel Food
Overview: A fortuneteller informs Monte that he will marry the first girl he meets. After several false starts, he meets what he is sure is "the" girl. She takes him to jail, hits him with a book, and affects her brother's escape, leaving Monte inside. He finally gets out, a chase occurs and he swears off girls forever, only to be snared again.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date:
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The Story of Seabiscuit
Overview: Horse trainer Shawn O'Hara and his lovely niece, Margaret, come to America to escape the memory of an accident involving Margaret's brother, Danny. Working with thoroughbreds in Kentucky, Shawn takes a liking to a yearling named Seabiscuit, and fights to convince the horse's owner that the tiny horse with big knees will become a top-notch racehorse. Meanwhile, Margaret begins a tentative relationship with jockey Ted Knowles, but is haunted by her brother's death in a steeplechase spill. Written by Ray Hamel
Genres: Drama Family Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-11-12
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Mighty Joe Young
Overview: A young woman, Jill Young, grew up on her father's ranch in Africa, raising a large gorilla named Joe from an infant. Years later, she brings him to Hollywood to become a star.
Genres: Adventure Fantasy Drama Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-07-27
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The Toy Wife
Overview: A Southern belle finds herself torn between two suitors.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-06-10
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The Buccaneer
Overview: During the War of 1812 against Britain: General Andrew Jackson has only 1,200 men left to defend New Orleans when he learns that a British fleet will arrive with 60 ships and 16,000 men to take the city. In this situation an island near the city becomes strategically important to both parties, but it's inhabited by the last big buccaneer: Jean Lafitte. Although Lafitte never attacks American ships, the governor hates him for selling merchandise without taxes - and is loved by the citizens for the same reason. When the big fight gets nearer, Lafitte is drawn between the fronts. His heart belongs to America, but his people urge him to join the party that's more likely to win.
Genres: Adventure Drama War History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-12-11
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Band of Angels
Overview: Living in Kentucky prior to the Civil War, Amantha Starr is a privileged young woman. Her widowed father, a wealthy plantation owner, dotes on her and sends her to the best schools. When he dies suddenly Amantha's world is turned upside down. She learns that her father had been living on borrowed money and that her mother was actually a slave and her father's mistress.
Genres: Romance Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-08-03
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Mokey
Overview: A newlywed tries to deal with her troubled stepchild.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-04-01
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Something of Value
Overview: As Kenya's Mau Mau uprising tears the country apart, former childhood friends Kimani (Sidney Poitier), a native, and Peter (Rock Hudson), a British colonist, find themselves on opposite sides of the struggle in this provocative drama. Though each is devoted to his cause, both wish for a more moderate path -- but their hopes for a peaceful resolution are thwarted by rage, colonial arrogance and escalating violence on both sides.
Genres: Drama War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-05-08
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Carmen Jones
Overview: At a parachute factory during WWII, vixen Carmen Jones seduces an engaged soldier to avoid imprisonment.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1954-10-28
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Sullivan's Travels
Overview: Successful movie director John L. Sullivan, convinced he won't be able to film his ambitious masterpiece until he has suffered, dons a hobo disguise and sets off on a journey, aiming to "know trouble" first-hand. When all he finds is a train ride back to Hollywood and a beautiful blonde companion, he redoubles his efforts, managing to land himself in more trouble than he bargained for when he loses his memory and ends up a prisoner on a chain gang.
Genres: Comedy Romance Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-11-30
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King of the Zombies
Overview: During World War II, a small plane somewhere over the Caribbean runs low on fuel and is blown off course by a storm. Guided by a faint radio signal, they crash-land on an island. The passenger, his manservant and the pilot take refuge in a mansion owned by a doctor. The quick-witted yet easily-frightened manservant soon becomes convinced the mansion is haunted by zombies and ghosts.
Genres: Horror Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-05-14
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The Birth of a Nation
Overview: Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1915-02-08
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Hoodoo Ann
Overview: A teenage orphan (who believes herself to be "hoodooed") is taken in by a childless couple and quickly falls for the boy next door; Her luck seems to have changed. But the idyll is broken up after a trip to the movies-- It seems the 'hoodoo' has returned after she tries to replicate what she'd seen on the screen.
Genres: Romance Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1916-03-26
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The Lightning Rider
Overview: A bandit known as The Black Mask is terrorizing the countryside around the California border town of Caliboro. When word spreads that the Mask's gang is going to hit town, the town priest turns over the church's money to the local sheriff for safekeeping.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1924-05-18
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Imitation of Life
Overview: A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter. The two women start a successful business but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-11-23
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The Show
Overview: A harried propman backstage at a theater must put up with malfunctioning wind machines, roosters that spit nitroglycerine, and a gang planning to rob the theater's payroll.
Genres: Comedy Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1922-03-19
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