Maurice Black

Acting

Maurice Black

Born — Died

1891-01-13 — 1938-01-18

Place of birth

Queens, New York, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

Maurice Black (January 14, 1891 – January 18, 1938) was an American character actor known for his portrayal of mobsters. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1928 to 1938, when he died of pneumonia, four days after his 47th birthday. He was married to Edythe Raynore. Description above from the Wikipedia article Maurice Black, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Bride of Frankenstein poster
7.5

After recovering from injuries sustained in the mob attack upon himself and his creation, Dr. Henry Frankenstein falls under control of his former mentor, Dr. Pretorius, who insists the now-chastened doctor resume his experiments in creating new life. Meanwhile, the Monster remains on the run from those who wish to destroy him.

Bride of Frankenstein

1935

Little Caesar poster
6.9

A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?

Little Caesar

1931

Scarface poster
7.4

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Scarface

1932

Flying Down to Rio poster
6.3

An American bandleader woos a Brazilian beauty who is already engaged to his employer. His friends try to help him, while learning the local dance, The Carioca. The first pairing of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, and their only pre-Code film.

Flying Down to Rio

1933

The Daring Young Man poster
10.0

The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.

The Daring Young Man

1935

The Front Page poster
6.4

Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.

The Front Page

1931

Film credits

1930s · 55 titles

Bride of Frankenstein poster
7.5

After recovering from injuries sustained in the mob attack upon himself and his creation, Dr. Henry Frankenstein falls under control of his former mentor, Dr. Pretorius, who insists the now-chastened doctor resume his experiments in creating new life. Meanwhile, the Monster remains on the run from those who wish to destroy him.

Bride of Frankenstein

1935

Little Caesar poster
6.9

A small-time hood shoots his way to the top, but how long can he stay there?

Little Caesar

1931

Scarface poster
7.4

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Scarface

1932

Flying Down to Rio poster
6.3

An American bandleader woos a Brazilian beauty who is already engaged to his employer. His friends try to help him, while learning the local dance, The Carioca. The first pairing of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers, and their only pre-Code film.

Flying Down to Rio

1933

The Daring Young Man poster
10.0

The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.

The Daring Young Man

1935

The Front Page poster
6.4

Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.

The Front Page

1931

Picture Snatcher poster
6.9

An ex-con uses his street smarts to become a successful photojournalist.

Picture Snatcher

1933

Abraham Lincoln poster
5.5

An episodic dramatization of the 18th President of the United States' life, including his early years, affair with Ann Rutledge, courtship of Mary Todd, debates with Stephen A. Douglas, the election of 1860, his presidency during the Civil War, and finally his assassination at Ford's Theater in 1865.

Abraham Lincoln

1930

Bonnie Scotland poster
6.6

Stan and Ollie stow away to Scotland expecting to inherit the MacLaurel estate. When things don't quite turn out that way, they unwittingly enlist in the Scottish army and are posted to India.

Bonnie Scotland

1935

A Shriek in the Night poster
5.2

Rival newspaper reporters Pat Morgan and Ted Rand find themselves unraveling the mystery behind the death of a millionaire philanthropist who fell from his penthouse balcony. When it is discovered that the plunge was not an accident, the building's residents come under suspicion. Soon, the body count begins to mount as three more murders occur by strangulation.

A Shriek in the Night

1933

Smart Money poster
6.9

Two brothers' trip to the big city to do a little gambling results in a fateful turn of events.

Smart Money

1931

Half a Sinner poster
8.0

A con man poses as a hillbilly preacher.

Half a Sinner

1934

Friends of Mr. Sweeney poster
6.8

Asaph (Charles Ruggles) is a meek, mild-mannered homebody who occasionally shows some backbone to his prudish, overbearing boss, only to be beaten down again. With the encouragement of his secretary Beulah (Ann Dvorak), his old college team-mate Wynn (Eugene Pallette) and some liquor, Asaph regains some of his wild-man soul. Watch out world!

Friends of Mr. Sweeney

1934

Blondie Johnson poster
5.9

A Depression-downtrodden waif uses her brains instead of her body to rise from tyro con artist to crime boss.

Blondie Johnson

1933

Night Flight poster
5.6

Story of South American mail pilots, and the dangers they face flying at night.

Night Flight

1933

Elmer, the Great poster
5.1

Baseball star Elmer Kane leaves the little town of Gentryville, Indiana, to join the Chicago Cubs, where his naivete and arrogance soon put his relationship and career into jeopardy.

Elmer, the Great

1933

The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble poster
10.0

Kelly's daughter falls for a revenue agent, and his divorced wife is after alimony.

The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble

1933

Show Girl in Hollywood poster
5.8

Broadway actress leaves New York to become a star in Hollywood, and succeeds despite sleazy directors and her own ego.

Show Girl in Hollywood

1930

Exclusive Story poster
7.2

A reporter and his newspaper's attorney try to gather evidence that will put a notorious gangster behind bars.

Exclusive Story

1936

Numbered Men poster
5.1

Civilian Mary Dane and falsely imprisoned Bud Leonard love each other. Lou Rinaldo, who framed Bud to get Mary, and escape-minded King Callahan want to keep him in stir, but convict Bertie and the others, even including the Warden, set events in motion to prove that love and justice will prevail. NB: Prisoner numbers given in lieu of character names in many cast lists for this film do not match the numbers shown on the characters' uniforms, when these can be seen at all, and are not used in dialogue at all.

Numbered Men

1930

Let's Do Things poster
8.0

Zasu & Thelma go out with two idiots to a nightclub.

Let's Do Things

1931

I Cover the Waterfront poster
5.1

An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.

I Cover the Waterfront

1933

Tiger Shark poster
6.4

A Portuguese tuna fisherman catches his bride with his first mate.

Tiger Shark

1932

Renegades poster
5.0

Four one-for-all and all-for-one privates in the French Foreign Legion are all in jail for disorderly conduct, but they break out and rejoin their regiment and fight off a band of marauding Arabs, and are soon in Casablanca getting decorated by the French Minister of War. Deucalion spots Eleanor, a spy who had done him dirt and after tangling with the local gendarmes, they take her and head back for Morocco where they are charged with desertion, and have to go out and defeat some more marauding natives, and dodge the machine-gun fire directed at them by the highly-displeased Eleanor, and one thing just follows another.

Renegades

1930

No artwork available
7.3

Stout Hearts and Willing Hands is a 1931 short comedy film directed by Bryan Foy. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1932 for Best Short Subject (Comedy), but was disqualified.

Stout Hearts and Willing Hands

1931

The Game That Kills poster
6.2

Ferguson is a rough-and-tumble hockey player who discovers that his chosen profession is nothing more than a racket, a plaything for game-fixing racketeers. When his brother is killed in a highly suspicious accident, Ferguson and team trainer Holland join forces to bring the killers to justice.

The Game That Kills

1937

Stars Over Broadway poster
5.6

An aggressive agent turns a hotel porter into an overnight sensation.

Stars Over Broadway

1935

Silly Billies poster
8.5

The boys are a dentist and his assistant traveling to the Old West to open a new practice. Once in town, they buy a business--only to wake up the next day and see that the entire population of this bustling town had left for the California gold fields early that morning! Then, they discover an evil plot to sell out these settlers to some hostile Indians, so they spring to the rescue.

Silly Billies

1936

The Keyhole poster
5.0

A private eye specializing in divorce cases falls for the woman he's been hired to frame.

The Keyhole

1933

Sixteen Fathoms Deep poster
4.0

A sponge diver hopes to make enough money to buy his own boat and marry his girlfriend. A rival diver, however, has other plans for him.

Sixteen Fathoms Deep

1934

Dancers in the Dark poster
5.7

A bandleader tries to romance a dancer by sending her boyfriend, a musician, out of town. However, things get complicated when he finds out that a gangster has designs on her too.

Dancers in the Dark

1932

Lonely Wives poster
5.3

A highly respectable lawyer becomes a sexual animal after working hours; His live-in mother-in-law tries to keep him in line. When an actor-impersonator comes to see him, the two switch lives.

Lonely Wives

1931

Walking Down Broadway poster
6.8

Five closely knit showgirls sign a pact to reunite one year after the closing of their Broadway production, but the lives of all five take many different turns, often for the worse.

Walking Down Broadway

1938

No artwork available
NR

After the success of "Little Caesar," "Public Enemy" and "Scarface," here is the inevitable parody, in which Liddle Sizzer engages in a vicious Chicago gang war. He's aided by his innocent twin brother, Julius, a greenhorn from the Old Country. Both are played by Benny Rubin.

Julius Sizzer

1931

The Sea God poster
5.5

The Sea God is an early sound melodrama about two men vying for Fay Wray and wealth in the South Pacific.

The Sea God

1930

The Firefly poster
6.5

Nina Maria Azara is the beautiful and alluring singing spy for Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. Her mission is to seduce French officers, in order for them to reveal Napoleon's intentions toward Spain. She is sent to Bayonne, France to gather military secrets. Prior to this, she meets Don Diego while performing at a club. Unknown to her, Don Diego is actually Captain Andre, who is sent to Spain to spy on her. While in France, Nina discovers Diego's true identity, only after she has fallen in love with him. Nina Maria outwits her potential captors, returns to Spain and goes into hiding. Napoleon's troops invade Spain, resulting in Nina's capture. In a strange twist of fate, Nina and Captain Andre are reunited, but the 2 nations are now at war...

The Firefly

1937

Wake Up and Dream poster
5.3

The story of a small-time vaudeville trio and their rise to the big time.

Wake Up and Dream

1934

The Canary Comes Across poster
5.2

A prisoner with a good singing voice escapes, only to grow jealous when an opera singer who looks like him is delivered back to the prison and receives attention, especially from Ann, the warden's daughter who leads the prison glee club.

The Canary Comes Across

1938

Street of Chance poster
6.8

'Natural' Davis (William Powell) is a respected gambler who follows a ruthless code of honor with those who cheat against him. His wife, Alma (Kay Francis), wants to divorce him because of his addiction and lifestyle, but they agree on a reconciliation and second honeymoon together and 'Natural' promises to give up gambling. However, his plans change when his brother, 'Babe' (Regis Toomey), arrives in town looking to score big, and 'Natural' has to devise a plan quickly to put him off gambling forever.

Street of Chance

1930

The King Murder poster
4.9

A beautiful blonde makes a career out of seducing and then blackmailing wealthy married men. She is found murdered after demanding a $5000 payoff from her latest victim, and the detective investigating the case finds out that she was involved in a lot more than just blackmail.

The King Murder

1932

The Face on the Barroom Floor poster
5.0

Bill Bronson is a likable young bank clerk, whose congenital thirst for liquor is kept under control until he joins his wife Mary at getting blotto at a company party. From there it is a downward spiral.

The Face on the Barroom Floor

1932

While Paris Sleeps poster
6.7

To save his daughter Manon from falling into the hands of a vicious gang of pimps, convict Jacques Costard escapes from jail. Jacques' problems are twofold: he must keep Manon from being abducted into a life of prostitution, and he must also hide his true identity from the girl, who has been raised to believe that Jacques died a hero in WWI.

While Paris Sleeps

1932

Framed poster
5.3

Rose Manning swears revenge for the unjust slaying of her father by Inspector McArthur. Five years later, as a nightclub hostess, she is sought by Chuck Gaines, secretly a bootlegger, but she centers her attentions on young Jimmy Carter, who, she learns, is the son of McArthur.

Framed

1930

The Runaway Bride poster
6.2

Mary Gray elopes to Atlantic City, NJ, but begins having second thoughts about the marriage. Then she becomes inexplicably locked in her hotel room, and a series of cops, robbers and kidnappers passes through. Desperate, Mary trusts the shifty chambermaid Clara who whisks her away to the mansion of wealthy George Blaine. There, Mary must pretend to be a lowly cook, but that seems better than sticking with the guy she was engaged to.

The Runaway Bride

1930

Murder on the Campus poster
5.5

A popular young student finds herself accused of a series of murders that have occurred on the college campus. Her boyfriend, a reporter for the local newspaper, knows she didn't do it, and and sets out to prove her innocence and catch the real killer.

Murder on the Campus

1933

Stowaway poster
6.5

On her first night as a dockside dancer, Mary Foster loses her job when she tries to fend of the advances of first mate Groder. On the street and being pursued by a Policeman who thinks she is a prostitute, Mary seeks shelter on an old freighter. She is soon discovered by second mate Tommy and they quickly fall in love, but with first mate Groder lurking around will their lives work out in the end?

Stowaway

1932

Down to Their Last Yacht poster
6.5

Left only with their yacht after going broke in the Great Depression, a high-society family sets sail for the South Seas. Screwball comedy, with songs.

Down to Their Last Yacht

1934

Women Go on Forever poster
10.0

In a New York boarding house, owner Daisy Bowman becomes romantically involved with new tenant Jake while among the other residents taxi driver Eddie, fiancé of Betty, is framed for murder by a gangster and imprisoned without telling Betty. The faithless Jake makes a play for Betty, causing him to quarrel with Daisy. Attempting to strangle her he is shot dead by Betty’s blind son. One of Jake’s cohorts, Pete, tries to take advantage of a drunk Betty but when Daisy tries to intervene, he threatens to tell the police who really killed Jake. Meanwhile, Eddie has been released from jail, he returns to find a drunken Betty with Pete and misunderstands. Jake's brother arrives looking for vengeance and believing Eddie murdered Jake, but Daisy tells him it was Pete. In the ensuing shoot out both are killed, and Daisy helps Eddie and Betty reunite.

Women Go on Forever

1931

Adventure's End poster
5.5

Pacific pearl diver Duke Slade escapes angry natives by joining a whaler whose dying captain persuades him to marry his daughter who is already being wooed by the first mate.

Adventure's End

1937

Brothers poster
9.0

Bob Naughton and Eddie Connolly are identical-twin brothers that were separated in infancy. Bob is raised by a rich lawyer, has all the advantages, but is a drunk with no moral character. Eddie is a pianist in a speak-easy but a man of high character. Bob commits a murder and Eddie is blamed and faces life in prison.

Brothers

1930

West of the Pecos poster
7.0

Richard Dix stars as Pecos Smith, a strong, silent Westerner suspected of cattle rustling.

West of the Pecos

1934

Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles poster
1.0

When the fiendish Sinclair Sable arranges the kidnapping of the beautiful Benecia Beamish, only the members of the Beer and Bicycle Club can save her.

Stolen by Gypsies or Beer and Bicycles

1933

Playing Around poster
5.0

New York girl has a dull boyfriend and seems destined for a dull marriage when she meets a rich playboy who has money to burn and places to go.

Playing Around

1930

Ship of Wanted Men poster
3.8

A shipful of fugitives from justice pulls up on a Pacific Island where there are no extradition laws. The island is a magnet for the scum of the earth, as well as a few honest guys who were framed. Into this den of iniquity swims socialite Dorothy Sebastian, who jumped off a yacht after apparently murdering her lecherous host. To remain on the Island, Sebastian is told that she must pay $5,000 to head honcho Fred Kohler -- and if she hasn't got the money, it is implied, there are other methods of collection.

Ship of Wanted Men

1933

Twin Husbands poster
4.7

The wife of a businessman and his secretary attempt to trick her husband's double into impersonating him so they can get their hands on what remains of his wealth.

Twin Husbands

1933

1920s · 5 titles

The Carnation Kid poster
10.0

It's a case of mistaken identity in this comedy that centers around a country bumpkin mistaken for a Chicago hitman.

The Carnation Kid

1929

Captain Swagger poster
7.0

Hugh Drummond goes broke living too high and turns to crime in order to pay his bills.

Captain Swagger

1928

Show Folks poster
7.0

Eddie Kehoe is a young vaudeville hoofer who thinks his inability to hit the big time is the fault of stage managers, agents, musicians...everybody but himself. Eddie likes to tell others how good he is, but seldom shows them. Kitty Mayo, an old-time burlesque queen, who is with the McNary Vaudeville Company, advises Eddie to get himself a partner, as his solo abilities can only be stretched so far. He decides to follow her advice and, while in a theatrical supply shop, he sees Rita Carey rehearsing her dancing act that includes a trained duck. Eddie tells Rita he is a good friend of McNary's, and, with him as her partner, her future in show business will be secured. She agrees to join him and Eddie promptly names the act "Eddie Kehoe and Partner". Despite his conceit, Rita likes Eddie, as do others in the troupe, including Cleo a little gold-digger.

Show Folks

1928

Square Shoulders poster
8.0

Tad's dream is to attend a military academy so he can grow up to be a great soldier and a war hero, like his father. What he doesn't know is that his father, Slag, is actually a thief and a derelict. Slag robs a factory in order to get the money to send Tad to military school, then gets a job at the academy's horse stables to be close to his son, who doesn't know he's alive.

Square Shoulders

1929

Dark Streets poster
7.5

Pat and Danny McGlone are identical twin brothers, rivals and competitors in everything they do, and Pat grows up and becomes a policeman while Danny turns to a life of crime. They now find themselves on the opposite sides of the law, and both are in love with a pretty Irish girl from their neighborhood, Kate Dean. Before long one has to prove that blood is thicker than water.

Dark Streets

1929