Jane Adams
Also Known As: Poni Adams
Biography: Betty Jane Bierce, better known by her stage name Jane "Poni" Adams was an American actress in radio, film, and television in the 1940s and 1950s. Adams was born in San Antonio, Texas, but her family moved to California when she was two. During her high school years, she studied violin and drama, and she was selected to be a concert mistress of the all-city high school orchestra of Los Angeles. She received a full scholarship to Juilliard, which she turned down to spend years studying at the Pasadena Playhouse. After the Playhouse, she got her start on Lux Radio Theatre, and then with the Harry Conover Modeling Agency, where she was given her nickname "Poni". This was supposedly due to her love of horses, but in reality it was to provide her with a more memorable stage name.(In the book Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s, Adams said: "I was given that name at the Harry Conover Modeling Agency. Why, I don't know!" She returned to using her real name in 1945. Military personnel played a role in her change of names from Poni Adams to Jane Adams. A photograph printed in newspapers in 1946 carried the caption: "GI JANE — Jane Adams — formerly Poni Adams — holds some of 32,851 letters her press agent said came from GIs after she appealed for aid in choosing a new name." Adams' first screen appearance was in So You Want to Give Up Smoking, a short film in 1942. She may be best known for her role as Nina in House of Dracula, but she also has the distinction of acting in early adaptations of both major DC Comics franchises: Batman, where she played Vicki Vale in the second Batman serial, Batman and Robin, and also a character in the first Superman television series. On May 21, 2014, Adams died in Bellingham, Washington, at the age of 95. She was buried (as Betty J. Turnage) beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Adult: No
Birthday: August 07, 1918
Age: 106 years old
Gender: Female
Deathday: May 21, 2014
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Known For:
House of Dracula
Overview: A scientist working on cures for rare afflictions, such as a bone softening agent made from molds to allow him to correct the spinal deformity of his nurse, finds the physical causes of lycanthropy in wolf-man Larry Talbot and of vampirism in Count Dracula, but himself becomes afflicted with homicidal madness while exchanging blood with Dracula.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-12-07
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He Walked by Night
Overview: Roy Martin aka Roy Morgan is a burglar and former war-time Radio & Electronics Engineer who listens in to radio police calls, allowing him to stay one step ahead of the cops.
Genres: Thriller Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-02-06
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The Brute Man
Overview: A facially disfigured and mentally unhinged man wreaks his revenge on those he blames for his condition.
Genres: Horror Thriller Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-10-01
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Batman and Robin
Overview: This 15-chapter serial pits Batman and Robin against The Wizard, who uses a device that allows him to control machinery to hold the city hostage.
Genres: Action Science Fiction Thriller Adventure Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-05-26
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Smooth as Silk
Overview: An attorney enraged over the prosecution of two innocent people goes on a killing spree.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-02-01
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Gun Law Justice
Overview: Jimmy Wakely befriends Hank Carrdigan, a former outlaw who has served his sentence and wants to go straight. Jimmy, after clearing Hank of a wrongful shooting charge, helps him get a job as an express messenger. Hank drives off some bandits in an attempted hold-up, but recognizes his son Tom as one of the bandits. A later robbery is blamed on Hank but Jimmy and his sidekick Cannonball Taylor bring in the real culprits and clear Hank's name.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-03-13
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Lost City of the Jungle
Overview: A movie serial in 13 chapters, and Lionel Atwill's final film: Following the end of WWII, war-monger Sir Eric Hazarias sets the wheel in motion for WWIII. His search for Meteorium 245, the only practical defence against the atomic bomb, leads him to mythical Pendrang. Obstructing his sinister plan to rule the world are Rod Stanton, United Peace Foundation investigator, Tal Shan , Pendrang native, and Marjorie Elmore, daughter of scientist Dr. Elmore, unwilling assistant to Sir Eric.
Genres: Action Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-04-23
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Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Overview: Join foremost experts discussing true Horror Classics - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Black Cat, Wolfman, King Kong, Bride of Frankenstein, and more. Grab the popcorn and take a deep breath as we conjure up the thrills, chills and magic of Monster Madness!
Genres: Documentary Horror
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-08-01
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Lawless Breed
Overview: Government agents Ted Everett and Tumbleweed are sent to Spearville, Texas, where the law agencies have failed to stop a series of bank robberies. Arriving incognito, they become involved with the gang, and end up being accused of murdering banker Bartlet Mellon. They escape a lynch mob and return with evidence that Mellon has faked his death, hoping to gain the insurance, and is also leading the gang under another name.
Genres: Mystery Western Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-08-16
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Outlaw Gold
Overview: Johnny Mack Brown dodges bullets while he tries to figure out who stole the Mexican gold and who killed the newspaper editor.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-11-26
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Rustler's Round-up
Overview: A cowboy sets out to break up a gang of rustlers.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-08-01
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Salome, Where She Danced
Overview: During the Austrian-Prussian war, Anna Marie is a dancer who is forced to flee her country after she is accused of being a spy. She ends up in a lawless western town in Arizona, where she uses her charms and dancing skills to transform herself into "Salome" during her dance routines.
Genres: Western War Drama Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-04-17
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Master Minds
Overview: When Sach eats too much sugar, he goes into a trance whereby he's able to predict the future. Slip tries to make some money off of Sach by using him as a fortune teller in a carnival, until a mad scientist kidnaps Sach to use him in an intelligence-switching experiment with a monster.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-11-27
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The Girl from San Lorenzo
Overview: Cisco and Pancho set out to clear their names in a series of stage robberies committed by two thugs who are impersonating them.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-02-24
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Law of the Panhandle
Overview: Johnny Mack Brown follows his tried-and-true western formula in Law of the Panhandle. This time, U.S. Marshal Brown backs up Sheriff Tom Stocker (Riley Hill) in an ongoing battle against a marauding outlaw gang. The thieves, led by snarling Henry Faulkner (Myron Healey), hope to scare all the local ranchers off the land that will soon be purchased by the railroad that's coming through the territory.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-09-17
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Secret of Outlaw Flats
Overview: Two episodes from the "Wild Bill Hickok" TV series edited together and released as a feature.
Genres: Western Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-11-15
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Code of the Lawless
Overview: In this western, the hero fights the bad guys by impersonating the son of a rancher. The outlaws have been making the good landowners pay fake taxes. Not only does the good guy succeed in catching the bad guys, he also catches himself the postmistress.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-07-01
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Trail to Vengeance
Overview: A cowboy investigating his brother's murder finds himself going up against a banker who holds the deed to the cowboy's family ranch.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-06-01
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Gunman's Code
Overview: Wells Fargo agents Jack Douglas (Kirby Grant) and Bosco O'Toole (Fuzzy Knight) are sent after a gang of stage robbers. Danny Burton (Bernard Thomas, brother of Laura Burton (Jane Adams, is implicated before Jack is able to prove that saloon owner Lee Fain (Danny Morton) is the man behind the outlaw gang.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-08-01
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Western Renegades
Overview: Brown's principal antagonist this time is the town boss, an outlaw who has killed the community's leading citizen. The dead man's grown children want to investigate the killing, but the outlaw puts a stop to this by hiring a dance-hall dame to pose as the kids' long-lost mother. Johnny isn't fooled by this subterfuge nor is his sidekick.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-10-08
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Lady on a Train
Overview: While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one too many mystery novels. She then enlists a popular mystery writer to help her solve the crime on her own, but her sleuthing attracts the attentions of suitors and killers.
Genres: Comedy Crime Mystery Romance Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-08-03
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Street Bandits
Overview: A lawyer (Robert Clarke) defends a slot-machine king, and his bride (Penny Edwards) and partner (Ross Ford) don't like it.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-11-09
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Batmania: From Comics to Screen
Overview: This is the fully documented story of Batman—his genesis, his development, and his overall entertainment career. Told with dramatic insight, this action-filled documentary will satisfy every fan who has ever delighted in Batmania.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1989-01-01
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Night in Paradise
Overview: Aesop of fable fame poses as an old man and woos away a princess who wants a king for his gold.
Genres: Comedy Drama Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-05-03
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