Howard Da Silva
Also Known As: Howard Silverblatt, Howard DaSilva, Howard DaSylva
Biography: Howard da Silva (born Howard Silverblatt, May 4, 1909 – February 16, 1986) was an American actor, director and musical performer on stage, film, television and radio. He was cast in dozens of productions on the New York stage, appeared in more than two dozen television programs, and acted in more than fifty feature films. Adept at both drama and musicals on the stage, he originated the role of Jud Fry in the original 1943 run of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!, and also portrayed the prosecuting attorney in the 1957 stage production of Compulsion. Da Silva was nominated for a 1960 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in Fiorello!, a musical about New York City mayor LaGuardia. In 1961, da Silva directed Purlie Victorious, by Ossie Davis.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Birthday: May 04, 1909
Deathday: February 16, 1986
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
Nevada Smith
Overview: Nevada Smith is the young son of an Indian mother and white father. When his father is killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to find them and kill them. The boy is taken in by a gun merchant. The gun merchant shows him how to shoot and to shoot on time and correct.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-06-10
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Keeper of the Flame
Overview: Famed reporter Stephen O'Malley travels to a small town to investigate the death of a national hero.
Genres: Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-04-01
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Border Incident
Overview: The story concerns two agents, one Mexican (PJF) and one American, who are tasked to stop the smuggling of Mexican migrant workers across the border to California. The two agents go undercover, one as a poor migrant.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-10-28
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Tonight We Raid Calais
Overview: A British commando is on a one-man raid to destroy a bomb factory in Nazi-occupied France. He must enlist the aid of French farmers to complete his mission.
Genres: War Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-04-30
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The Sea Wolf
Overview: Shipwrecked fugitives try to escape a brutal sea captain who's losing his mind.
Genres: Adventure Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-03-21
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The Lost Weekend
Overview: Don Birnam, a long-time alcoholic, has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last - one way or another.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-11-29
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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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M
Overview: Remake of the 1931 Fritz Lang original. In the city, someone is murdering children. The Police search is so intense, it is disturbing the 'normal' criminals, and the local hoods decide to help find the murderer as quickly as possible.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-03-01
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1776
Overview: Colonial representatives gather in Philadelphia with the aim of establishing a set of governmental rules for the burgeoning United States. Benjamin Franklin and John Adams charge Thomas Jefferson with the task of writing a statement announcing the new country's emancipation from British rule.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-11-09
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Abe Lincoln in Illinois
Overview: Abe Lincoln in Illinois is a 1940 biographical film which tells the story of the life of Abraham Lincoln from his departure from Kentucky until his election as President of the United States.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-02-22
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Mommie Dearest
Overview: Renowned film star Joan Crawford's abuse towards Christina, her adopted daughter, intensifies as her professional and romantic relationships turn sour.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1981-09-16
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The Blue Dahlia
Overview: Soon after a veteran returns from war, his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police in an attempt to find the real murderer.
Genres: Crime Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-04-16
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They Live by Night
Overview: An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
Genres: Crime Romance Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-11-01
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The Greatest Man in the World
Overview: This version of James Thurber's tale tells the story of a young amateur pilot who beats Charles Lindbergh's feat of nonstop flying around the world--with his own unique ways of conserving fuel and energy.
Genres: Comedy TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1981-06-09
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Sergeant York
Overview: Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.
Genres: War Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-09-27
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The Big Shot
Overview: Duke Berne, former big shot but now a three-time loser, fears returning to crime because a fourth conviction will mean a life sentence. Finally, haunted by his past and goaded by his cohorts, he joins in planning an armoured car robbery.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-06-13
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The Great Gatsby
Overview: Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifetyle of his landlord, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1949-07-13
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Unconquered
Overview: England, 1763. After being convicted of a crime, the young and beautiful Abigail Hale agrees, to escape the gallows, to serve fourteen years as a slave in the colony of Virginia, whose inhabitants begin to hear and fear the sinister song of the threatening drums of war that resound in the wild Ohio valley.
Genres: Drama Adventure History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-10-10
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Fourteen Hours
Overview: A young man, morally destroyed by his parents not loving him and by the fear of being not capable to make his girlfriend happy, rises on the ledge of a building with the intention of committing suicide. A policeman makes every effort to argue him out of it.
Genres: Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-04-01
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Smile Jenny, You're Dead
Overview: David Janssen (The Fugitive) portrays dogged detective Harry in the telefilm that was the second of two pilots preceding his memorable Harry O series. Among the highlights: young Jodie Foster as Liberty, the wise-beyond-her-years homeless waif Harry befriends.
Genres: Crime Drama TV Movie Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-02-03
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The Outrage
Overview: At a disused railway station, three men -- a con artist, a preacher, and a prospector -- discuss the recent trial and sentencing of the outlaw Juan Carrasco for the murder of a man and the rape of his wife. In their recounting, the three explore the conflicting testimonies of the parties involved in the crimes. Disconcerting new questions arise with each different version of the event.
Genres: Drama Crime Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-10-07
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The Missiles of October
Overview: Based in part on Robert F. Kennedy's book, "Thirteen Days," this film profiles the Kennedy Administration's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-12-18
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Nine Lives Are Not Enough
Overview: A reporter is constantly in trouble for jumping to conclusions.
Genres: Drama Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-09-20
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Wild Bill Hickok Rides
Overview: The Western hero takes on a ruthless land baron whose henchmen killed his best friend.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-01-31
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Juke Girl
Overview: During the depths of the Great Depression a hitch-hiker Steve Talbot and jukebox-joint hostess Lola Mears stumble into Cat-Tail Florida where farmers and pickers struggle under the buyer who rules by monopoly, dirty contracts and violence. Steve helps organize against the buyer, leading to further escalation ending in a lynch mob.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-05-30
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Wyoming Mail
Overview: In 1869, the United States begins a railroad mail service to the West Coast which proves highly tempting to train robbers, in particular an organized gang with one of the mail's supposed guardians in their pay. Prizefighter Steve Davis, a former army intelligence man, is hired to track down the gang and save the Territorial Mail Service. Steve goes undercover in territorial prison, leans Morse Code from a fellow prisoner, breaks jail, infiltrates the gang...and finds time to romance dance-hall singer Mary, who proves to have hidden depths...
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-10-18
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David and Lisa
Overview: Teenager David Clemens develops a hysterical fear that he will die if he comes into physical contact with another person. Perturbed, David's overbearing mother places him in a home for mentally disturbed young people, but David remains withdrawn from the other patients and his psychiatrist. Over time, however, David grows interested in 15-year-old Lisa, who suffers from multiple personalities – one who can only speak in rhyme, and the other, a mute.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-12-26
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Garbo Talks
Overview: When New York accountant Gilbert Rolfe finds out his mother has a brain tumor, he is devastated. His incorrigible mother, Estelle, has one last wish: to meet the great Greta Garbo. Gilbert, wanting to do this last thing for her, sets out on a wild goose chase through the streets of New York City to track down the iconic star, at the expense of his personal life and much to the chagrin of his wife, Lisa. Can he find Garbo before it's too late?
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-10-12
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Variety Girl
Overview: Dozens of star and character-actor cameos and a message about the Variety Club (a show-business charity) are woven into a framework about two hopeful young ladies who come to Hollywood, exchange identities, and cause comic confusion (with slapstick interludes) throughout the Paramount studio.
Genres: Music Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-08-29
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I'm a Stranger Here Myself
Overview: A portrait of legendary filmmaker Nicholas Ray while he is working as a film professor at a college in upstate New York.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-01-17
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Bullet Scars
Overview: Dr. Steven Bishop is taken to the hideout of Frank Dillon and his gang to treat the wounded Joe Madison. Joe's nurse sister Nora Madison is also taken. Dillon tells Bishop that if Joe dies, he will be killed, but Bishop knows he will be either way. Joe dies, but Nora and Steve conceal it from Dillon and send a plea for help in a prescription that Bishop writes in Latin.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-03-07
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Blaze of Noon
Overview: In this aerial melodrama, four brothers working as stunt pilots for a flying circus leave their jobs to become mail pilots. Because their job requires that they constantly travel, they are advised to not settle down with wives and kids. Still, one pilot falls in love and marries. Unfortunately, the woman dislikes his brothers and constantly worries that he will be killed during a flight. Her fears are not unfounded and much tragedy ensues as the story unfolds.
Genres: Drama Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1947-05-02
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Tripoli
Overview: In 1805, the United States battles the pirates of Tripoli as the Marines fight to raise the American flag.
Genres: Adventure Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-11-09
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Two Years Before the Mast
Overview: In 1834, Charles Stewart (Alan Ladd), the spoiled, dissolute son of a shipping magnate, is shanghaied aboard the Pilgrim, one of his father's own ships. He embarks upon a long, hellish sea voyage under the tyrannical rule of Captain Francis Thompson (Howard Da Silva), assisted by his first mate, Amazeen (William Bendix). One of his crewmates is Richard Henry Dana Jr. (Brian Donlevy).
Genres: Adventure Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1946-11-22
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Once in a Blue Moon
Overview: A group of Russian nobles fleeing the Bolshevik revolution meet up with a traveling circus. To escape their pursuers, they disguise themselves as members fo the circus troupe.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1935-05-10
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I'm Still Alive
Overview: Hollywood stuntman falls in love with a big name actress but still wants to pursue his risky career. The women gives him a choice-the stunts or her. He chooses the stunts and still manages to get her.
Genres: Action Adventure Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1940-09-20
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Strange Alibi
Overview: An undercover cop finds himself on the wrong side of the law when the mob discovers his true identity.
Genres: Crime Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-04-19
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The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover
Overview: The story of the late J. Edgar Hoover, who was head of the FBI from 1924-1972. The film follows Hoover from his racket-busting days through his reign under eight U.S. presidents.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-12-01
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The Great Gatsby
Overview: Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1974-03-27
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Steel Against the Sky
Overview: Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.
Genres: Action Adventure Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-12-13
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Power
Overview: Loosely based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa, this traces the rise of Tommy Vanda (Joe Don Baker) from a Chicago dock worker to an influential labor leader who, like Hoffa, finds himself behind bars in a federal prison, and not long after, taken for a ride by shady men never to be seen again.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-01-14
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The Omaha Trail
Overview: The coming of the railroad to the West triggers an Indian war.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-09-01
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Blues in the Night
Overview: A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.
Genres: Crime Drama Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-11-15
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Verna: USO Girl
Overview: An untalented singer-dancer, Verna Vane, fervently believes that a U.S.O. tour overseas will put her on the road to superstardom. Although she's more willing than able, her brave self-confidence wins the hearts of the beleaguered GI audiences. They embrace the dauntless Verna because she, like them, is risking her life for the sake of the American dream.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1978-01-25
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At the Stroke of Twelve
Overview: This entry in Warner's "Broadway Brevity" series of shorts is based on Damon Runyon's short story, "The Old Doll's House". Racketeer Lance McGowan, on the night he has decided to go straight, finds himself caught between the gunfire of two rival gangsters and, wounded by a bullet, he finds refuge in the home of a wealthy recluse. One of the gangsters is found riddled with bullets from the gun Lance dropped while making his escape, and he is arrested and tried for murder. The reclusive widow comes to the trail and testifies that Lance was her guest that night when the clock struck twelve, the time of the killing. Lance, while innocent, is also lucky, as the widow had her all her clocks set to always strike twelve, as the time her husband had died.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-11-15
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Bad Men of Missouri
Overview: The Younger brothers return to Missouri after the Civil War with intent to avenge the misdeeds of William Merrick, a crooked banker who has been buying up warrants on back-taxes and dispossessing the farmers.
Genres: Western
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-07-26
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Duffy's Tavern
Overview: The staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1945-09-28
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Three Husbands
Overview: When a recently deceased playboy gets to heaven and is granted one wish--granted to all newcomers--he requests that he be able to see the reactions of three husbands, with whom he regularly played poker, to a letter he left each of them claiming to have had an affair with each's wife.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-11-10
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Reunion in France
Overview: Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-12-25
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Marie Antoinette
Overview: The young Austrian princess Marie Antoinette is arranged to marry Louis XVI, future king of France, in a politically advantageous marriage for the rival countries. The opulent Marie indulges in various whims and flirtations. When Louis XV passes and Louis XVI ascends the French throne, his queen's extravagant lifestyle earns the hatred of the French people, who despise her Austrian heritage.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1938-08-26
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Native Land
Overview: By the start of World War II, Paul Robeson had given up his lucrative mainstream work to participate in more socially progressive film and stage productions. Robeson committed his support to Paul Strand and Leo Hurwitz’s political semidocumentary Native Land. With Robeson’s narration and songs, this beautifully shot and edited film exposes violations of Americans’ civil liberties and is a call to action for exploited workers around the country. Scarcely shown since its debut, Native Land represents Robeson’s shift from narrative cinema to the leftist documentaries that would define the final chapter of his controversial film career.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1942-05-11
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The New Deal for Artists
Overview: The Arts Project of the Work Projects Administration (1935-1942) was a USA government agency established to support writers, theater people, painters, sculptors, and photographers.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1981-07-06
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