Harry Semels

Acting

Harry Semels

Born — Died

1887-11-20 — 1946-03-02

Place of birth

New York City, New York, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Harry Semels (November 20, 1887 – March 2, 1946) was an American film actor. He appeared in over 315 film between 1917 and 1946. Semels appeared in his first film in 1917. He began to achieve fame after arriving at Columbia Pictures, appearing in several Three Stooges shorts including Disorder in the Court, Wee Wee Monsieur and Three Little Sew and Sews. He also appeared in feature films like Road to Morocco, The Princess and the Pirate and The Kid from Brooklyn. A versatile character actor, Semels often appeared as villains, waiters, soldiers, lawyers, et al.

Known for

Film credits

1940s · 24 titles

The Great Dictator poster
8.3

Dictator Adenoid Hynkel tries to expand his empire while a poor Jewish barber tries to avoid persecution from Hynkel's regime.

The Great Dictator

1940

Foreign Correspondent poster
7.0

American crime reporter John Jones is reassigned to Europe as a foreign correspondent to cover the imminent war. When he walks into the middle of an assassination and stumbles on a spy ring, he seeks help from a beautiful politician’s daughter and an urbane English journalist to uncover the truth.

Foreign Correspondent

1940

Woman of the Year poster
7.0

Rival reporters Sam Craig and Tess Harding fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.

Woman of the Year

1942

They Drive by Night poster
6.9

Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.

They Drive by Night

1940

Seven Sinners poster
6.0

Banished from various U.S. protectorates in the Pacific, a saloon entertainer uses her femme-fatale charms to woo politicians, navy personnel, gangsters, riff-raff, judges and a ship's doctor in order to achieve her aims.

Seven Sinners

1940

The Diary of a Chambermaid poster
6.2

Celestine, the chamber-maid, has a new job in the country, at the Lanlaires. She has decided to use her beauty to seduce a wealthy man, but Mr. Lanlaire is not a right choice: the house is firmly controlled by Madame Lanlaire, helped by the strange valet Joseph. Then she tries the neighbour, former officer Mauger. This seems to work. But soon the son of the Lanlaires comes back. He is young, attractive and does not share his mother's antirepublican opinions. So Celestine's beauty attracts Captain Mauger, young Georges Lanlaire, and Joseph. Three men, from three different social classes, with three different conceptions of life. Will Celestine be able to convince Georges of her sincerity?

The Diary of a Chambermaid

1946

Moontide poster
6.4

After a drunken night out, a longshoreman thinks he may have killed a man.

Moontide

1942

A Thousand and One Nights poster
6.1

On the run after being found sweet-talking the Sultan's daughter, Aladdin comes upon a lamp which, when rubbed, summons up Babs the genie. He uses it to return as a visiting prince asking for the princess's hand. Unfortunately for him, the sultan's wicked twin brother has secretly usurped the throne, someone else is after the lamp for his own ends, and Babs has taken a shine to Aladdin herself and is bent on wrecking his endeavours.

A Thousand and One Nights

1945

Road to Morocco poster
6.9

Two carefree castaways on a desert shore find an Arabian Nights city, where they compete for the luscious Princess Shalmar.

Road to Morocco

1942

Badman's Territory poster
6.3

After some gun play with a posse, the James Gang head for Quinto in a section of land which is not a part of America. Anyone there is beyond the law so the town is populated with outlaws. Next to arrive is Sheriff Rowley, following his brother whom the Gang have brought in injured. Rowley has no authority and gets on well enough with the James boys but is soon involved in other local goings-on, including a move to vote for annexation with Oklahoma which would allow the law well and truly in.

Badman's Territory

1946

Strange Cargo poster
7.0

Convicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure.

Strange Cargo

1940

North West Mounted Police poster
6.4

Texas Ranger Dusty Rivers ("Isn't that a contradiction in terms?", another character asks him) travels to Canada in the 1880s in search of Jacques Corbeau, who is wanted for murder. He wanders into the midst of the Riel Rebellion, in which Métis (people of French and Native heritage) and Natives want a separate nation. Dusty falls for nurse April Logan, who is also loved by Mountie Jim Brett. April's brother is involved with Courbeau's daughter Louvette, which leads to trouble during the battles between the rebels and the Mounties. Through it all Dusty is determined to bring Corbeau back to Texas (and April, too, if he can manage it.)

North West Mounted Police

1940

Passage to Marseille poster
6.7

A freedom-loving French journalist sacrifices his happiness and security to battle Nazi tyranny.

Passage to Marseille

1944

The Conspirators poster
6.3

A guerilla leader falls in love with a mysterious woman in World War II Lisbon.

The Conspirators

1944

Reunion in France poster
6.5

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.

Reunion in France

1942

A Lady Takes a Chance poster
5.9

A city girl on a bus tour of the West encounters a handsome rodeo cowboy who helps her forget her city suitors.

A Lady Takes a Chance

1943

And One Was Beautiful poster
6.7

A teenager falls hard for an irresponsible playboy.

And One Was Beautiful

1940

The Harvey Girls poster
6.6

On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.

The Harvey Girls

1946

Make Your Own Bed poster
6.0

Walter and Vivian live in the country and have a difficult time keeping servants. Walter then hires a private detective who has been fired for arresting the District Attorney. They only way that Walter can get Jerry to work for him is to tell Jerry that his life is in danger; the neighbor is trying to take his wife; and that Nazi spies are everywhere. Jerry needs a cook for his 'cover' so he gets his fiancée Susan to work with him. To keep Jerry working, Walter sends the threatening letters to himself and hires actors to play the spies but when a real group of spies disguised as a troupe of radio actors appears on the scene, events quickly spiral out of control.

Make Your Own Bed

1944

New Moon poster
6.9

A revolutionary leader romances a French aristocrat in Louisiana.

New Moon

1940

Little Nellie Kelly poster
6.8

Nellie Kelly, the daughter of Irish immigrants, patches up differences between her father and maternal grandfather while rising to the top on Broadway.

Little Nellie Kelly

1940

The Chance of a Lifetime poster
6.7

A mad scramble for stolen loot ensues after Boston Blackie has prisoners released for work in a wartime defence plant.

The Chance of a Lifetime

1943

Wild Bill Hickok Rides poster
5.5

The Western hero takes on a ruthless land baron whose henchmen killed his best friend.

Wild Bill Hickok Rides

1942

Can't Help Singing poster
6.0

With the California Gold Rush beginning, Senator Frost's singing daughter Caroline loves a young army officer; the Senator can't stand him, and has him sent to California. Headstrong Caroline follows him by train, riverboat, and covered wagon, gaining companions en route: a vagrant Russian prince and gambler Johnny Lawlor, who just might take her mind off the army.

Can't Help Singing

1944

1930s · 32 titles

It Happened One Night poster
7.8

A runaway heiress makes a deal with the rogue reporter trailing her but the mismatched pair end up stuck with each other when their bus leaves them behind.

It Happened One Night

1934

Baby Face poster
7.3

A young woman uses her body and her sexuality to help her climb the social ladder, but soon begins to wonder if her new status will ever bring her happiness.

Baby Face

1933

Hell's Angels poster
6.6

As the Great War breaks out in Europe, English brothers Roy and Monte enlist in the Royal Flying Corps to fight for king and country, while their Oxford College friend Karl is ordered back to Germany. As a love triangle develops involving Monte, Roy, and Roy's girlfriend, Helen, the brothers' disparate personalities, and Monte's cowardice in the face of war soon threaten to compromise a top-secret bombing mission over German territory.

Hell's Angels

1930

Ninotchka poster
7.5

A stern Russian woman sent to Paris on official business finds herself attracted to a man who represents everything she is supposed to detest.

Ninotchka

1939

Marie Antoinette poster
6.6

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.

Marie Antoinette

1938

You Can't Take It with You poster
7.5

Alice, the only relatively normal member of the eccentric Sycamore family, falls in love with Tony Kirby, but his wealthy banker father and snobbish mother strongly disapprove of the match. When the Kirbys are invited to dinner to become better acquainted with their future in-laws, things don't turn out the way Alice had hoped.

You Can't Take It with You

1938

Anthony Adverse poster
5.7

Based on the novel by Hervey Allen, this expansive drama follows the many adventures of the eponymous hero, Anthony Adverse. Abandoned at a convent by his heartless nobleman father, Don Luis, Anthony is later mentored by his kind grandfather, John Bonnyfeather, and falls for the beautiful Angela Giuseppe. When circumstances separate Anthony and Angela and he embarks on a long journey, he must find his way back to her, no matter what the cost.

Anthony Adverse

1936

Twentieth Century poster
6.8

A temperamental Broadway producer trains an untutored actress, but when she becomes a star, she proves a match for him.

Twentieth Century

1934

Broadway Bill poster
6.0

Tycoon J.L. Higgins controls his whole family, but one of his sons-in-law, Dan Brooks, and his daughter Alice are fed up with that. Brooks quits his job as manager of J.L.'s paper box factory and devotes his life to his racing horse Broadway Bill, but his bankroll is thin and the luck is against him. He is arrested because of $150 he owes somebody for horse food, but suddenly a planned fraud by somebody else seems to offer him a chance...

Broadway Bill

1934

Kid Galahad poster
7.1

Fight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.

Kid Galahad

1937

Safe in Hell poster
6.7

To avoid the rigors of the law, Gilda flees New Orleans and hides on a Caribbean island where the worst criminals can ask for asylum. Besieged by the scum of the earth, Gilda will soon find out that she has found refuge in hell.

Safe in Hell

1931

Hold Your Man poster
6.3

Ruby falls in love with small-time con man Eddie. During a botched blackmail scheme, Eddie accidentally kills the man they were setting up. Eddie takes off and Ruby is sent to a reformatory for two years.

Hold Your Man

1933

American Madness poster
6.9

Socially-conscious banker Thomas Dickson faces a crisis when his protégé is wrongly accused of robbing the bank, gossip of the robbery starts a bank run, and evidence suggests Dickson's wife had an affair... all in the same day.

American Madness

1932

The Amazing Mr. Williams poster
6.0

Kenny Williams, a lieutenant on the homicide squad, is engaged to Maxine Carroll, the Mayor's secretary. Or isn't he rather married with his job? For each time he has a date with his longtime fiancée, he is prevented from keeping it by his devotion to duty. Maxine, in desperation, decides to take action and bring Kenny to the altar. Who will win, Maxine's curves or the glorious fight against crime?

The Amazing Mr. Williams

1939

Midnight poster
7.4

An unemployed American showgirl poses as Hungarian royalty to infiltrate Parisian high society.

Midnight

1939

I Live My Life poster
6.6

A society girl tries to make a go of her marriage to an archaeologist.

I Live My Life

1935

Les Misérables poster
7.1

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Les Misérables

1935

Hot Water poster
6.5

The Jones family is in an uproar when Dad's campaign for mayor appears sabotaged by an anonymous newspaper article.

Hot Water

1937

Star Reporter poster
3.9

An idealistic young newspaper reporter crusades against organized crime.

Star Reporter

1939

Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President poster
5.0

Joe and Ethel Turp are up in arms when their faithful old mailman is fired. Unable to get satisfaction on a municipal level, Joe and Ethel plead their mailman's case to the President himself.

Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President

1939

Dishonored poster
7.0

The Austrian Secret Service sends its most seductive agent to spy on the Russians.

Dishonored

1931

A Slight Case of Murder poster
6.4

Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with foreclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.

A Slight Case of Murder

1938

Mills of the Gods poster
8.0

Fay Wray plays Jean Hastings, the wealthy and spoiled scion of a factory-owning family led by her irrepressible grandmother. Sparks fly when Jean meets Jim Devlin, the labor leader who’s spearheading a tense worker’s strike against the factory. After circumstances force Jean and Jim to spend a night together in his cabin, she begins questioning her family’s ruthless tactics. This hard-to-see Columbia film by British director Roy William Neill not only features Wray as a brunette but also includes an explosive depiction of labor strife. (Block Cinema)

Mills of the Gods

1934

Three Little Sew and Sews poster
7.0

The stooges are sailors working in a ships' tailor shop. When they can't get passes to go ashore, they steal officers uniforms and go to a party with Curly passing himself off as Admiral Taylor and Moe and Larry as his aides. Two spies, one of them a beautiful woman, trick the stooges into stealing a new submarine. The boys turn the table on the spies and capture them. When the real Admiral shows up, Curly's reenacts the capture and accidentally detonates a bomb, blowing them all to kingdom come.

Three Little Sew and Sews

1939

Bombay Mail poster
7.5

In India, a police inspector investigates a murder that took place on a train between Calcutta and Bombay.

Bombay Mail

1934

Our Daily Bread poster
6.7

John and Mary Sims are city-dwellers hit hard by the financial fist of The Depression. Driven by bravery (and sheer desperation) they flee to the country and, with the help of other workers, set up a farming community - a socialist mini-society. The newborn community suffers many hardships - drought, vicious raccoons and the long arm of the law - but ultimately pull together to reach a bread-based Utopia.

Our Daily Bread

1934

I'll Give a Million poster
6.1

After saving a tramp from suicide, a millionaire takes his clothing and disappears. Word is out that he will give a million dollars to anyone who is kind to a tramp.

I'll Give a Million

1938

Wells Fargo poster
5.5

In the 1840s, Ramsey MacKay, the driver for the struggling Wells Fargo mail and freight company, will secure an important contract if he delivers fresh oysters to Buffalo from New York City. When he rescues Justine Pryor and her mother, who are stranded in a broken wagon on his route, he doesn't let them slow him down and gives the ladies an exhilirating ride into Buffalo. He arrives in time to obtain the contract and is then sent by company president Henry Wells to St. Louis to establish a branch office.

Wells Fargo

1937

This Is the Night poster
5.4

When Stephen, the husband of Gerald’s mistress, Claire, discovers a pair of tickets for their planned trip to Venice, Gerald must invent a wife to cover their tracks. He is then forced to hire a woman to play “his wife” when Stephen insists he and Claire accompany them to Venice.

This Is the Night

1932

King of the Turf poster
7.0

Mason is a former race-horse owner who gave up everything and started to drink after the death of one of his jockeys. One day he meets Goldie who has run away from home, hoping to find a job around horses; his biggest hobby. When he finds out the real identity of Mason, Goldie takes care of him. The two find an occasion to buy a horse for only two dollars, and start entering competitions. Goldie is an instant celebrity, but his mom reads the newspapers and tracks him down. Mason is very surprised to see her, his ex-wife, and even more astonished to hear that Goldie is his own son. However, Goldie must go back to school and so they decide to keep the secret. Since Goldie does not want to leave Mason behind, he goes to the bookies and fixes the next race, hoping to disappoint Goldie by asking him to lose on purpose.

King of the Turf

1939

The Wedding Night poster
5.9

While working on a novel in his country home in Connecticut, married writer Tony Barrett develops romantic feelings for Manya Novak, the daughter of a neighboring farmer. Manya is unhappily engaged to Frederik Sobieski. After a snowstorm, Tony and Manya get trapped together in his house overnight. The next day, Manya's father insists that her wedding to Frederik take place in spite of Manya's misgivings. Drunkenness and jealousy result in tragedy at the wedding reception that night.

The Wedding Night

1935

The Lion and the Lamb poster
7.0

Directed by George B. Seitz. With Walter Byron, Carmel Myers, Raymond Hatton, Montagu Love.

The Lion and the Lamb

1931