Murray Kinnell

Acting

Murray Kinnell

Born — Died

1889-07-24 — 1954-08-11

Place of birth

Sydenham, London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

61 titles

Murray Kinnell (24 July 1889 – 11 August 1954) was a British-born American actor, recognized for playing smooth, gentlemanly, although rather shady characters. He began acting on the English stage in 1907, toured in the United States from 1912 through 1914, then returned to England where he served in the British Army during World War I. After the war, he emigrated to the US. He appeared in 71 films between the pre-code era of 1930 and 1937. He later served the Screen Actors Guild in several positions for 16 years. [biography (excerpted) from Wikipedia]

Known for

Film credits

1930s · 60 titles

The Public Enemy poster
7.3

Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.

The Public Enemy

1931

Freaks poster
7.8

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Freaks

1932

Captain Blood poster
7.3

Dr. Peter Blood, unjustly convicted of treason and exiled from England, becomes a notorious pirate.

Captain Blood

1935

Grand Hotel poster
7.0

Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.

Grand Hotel

1932

Charlie Chan in London poster
6.9

Charlie Chan is sought out by Pamela Gray, a desperate young socialite whose brother Paul awaits execution for the murder of a weapons inventor. Pamela is convinced of his innocence.

Charlie Chan in London

1934

Mad Love poster
7.0

An insane surgeon's obsession with an actress leads him to replace her wounded pianist husband's hands with those of a knife-throwing murderer.

Mad Love

1935

Think Fast, Mr. Moto poster
6.2

When his import/export business infiltrated by international diamond smugglers, Mr. Moto must follow a trail of clues littered with beautiful women, glittering gems and deadly assassins. Making his way from the mysterious streets of San Francisco's Chinatown to the dark and dangerous alleys of Shanghai, Mr. Moto will stop at nothing to bring the culprits to justice...even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice!

Think Fast, Mr. Moto

1937

Captains Courageous poster
7.4

Harvey, the arrogant and spoiled son of an indulgent absentee-father, falls overboard from a transatlantic steamship and is rescued by a fishing vessel on the Grand Banks. Harvey fails to persuade them to take him ashore, nor convince the crew of his wealth. The captain offers him a low-paid job, until they return to port, as part of the crew that turns him into a mature, considerate young man.

Captains Courageous

1937

The Prince and the Pauper poster
6.8

Two boys – the prince Edward and the pauper Tom – are born on the same day. Years later, when young teenage Tom sneaks into the palace garden, he meets the prince. They change clothes with one another before the guards discover them and throw out the prince thinking he's the urchin. No one believes them when they try to tell the truth about which is which. Soon after, the old king dies and the prince will inherit the throne.

The Prince and the Pauper

1937

Hat, Coat and Glove poster
7.0

A prominent New York attorney defends his estranged wife's lover, who's been charged with the murder of a model in Greenwich Village.

Hat, Coat and Glove

1934

The Purchase Price poster
6.5

Nightclub singer Joan Gordon runs away from her gangster boyfriend to become a mail-order bride to a struggling North Dakota farmer. Their relationship has a rocky start, but just as Joan realizes she's developing feelings for her husband, her old boyfriend arrives to win her back.

The Purchase Price

1932

The Last Days of Pompeii poster
5.8

In this action-filled spectacle set in ancient Pompeii, a blacksmith becomes a Roman gladiator, though his rise to wealth and power is jeopardized by his son's Christianity and the eruption of Vesuvius.

The Last Days of Pompeii

1935

The Secret Six poster
5.6

Bootlegger/cafe owner, Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Scorpio to join his gang, masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Newton. Scorpio eventually takes over Frank's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy, and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of six masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair.

The Secret Six

1931

One Rainy Afternoon poster
5.0

Suave French actor Philippe Martin provokes a scandal when, in a darkened theater, he mistakes young Monique for his mistress, Yvonne, and tries to kiss her. Charged with assault, the quick-thinking Philippe claims it's French tradition to do as he did, and is let go. To his surprise, Philippe learns that Monique has paid his fine. As the tabloids exploit the situation, Monique dates Philippe, until a photo appears of him kissing Yvonne.

One Rainy Afternoon

1936

The House of Rothschild poster
6.2

The story of the rise of the Rothschild financial empire founded by Mayer Rothschild and continued by his five sons. From humble beginnings the business grows and helps to finance the war against Napoleon, but it's not always easy, especially because of the prejudices against Jews.

The House of Rothschild

1934

Charlie Chan in Paris poster
6.6

Charlie's visit to Paris, ostensibly a vacation, is really a mission to investigate a bond-forgery racket. But his agent, apache dancer Nardi is killed before she can tell him much. The case, complicated by a false murder accusation for banker's daughter Yvette, climaxes with a strange journey through the Paris sewers.

Charlie Chan in Paris

1935

Lloyd's of London poster
7.3

Norfolk, England, 1770. The nephew of an innkeeper and the son of a reverend maintain a very close friendship until, after living a great adventure, they must separate their paths. The former will head his footsteps to London and bound his destiny to Lloyd's, a thriving insurance company; the latter will eventually become one of the greatest heroes in the history of the British Empire.

Lloyd's of London

1936

Rendezvous poster
4.9

A decoding expert tangles with enemy spies.

Rendezvous

1935

Honor of the Family poster
7.0

Intrigue and greed come between an immoral woman and the man who loves her. This film is believed lost.

Honor of the Family

1931

Secrets of the French Police poster
6.6

When a flower girl is kidnapped by a deranged White Russian, to impersonate the missing Princess Anastasia Romanoff while under his hypnotic spell, the French police attempt to solve the case with forensic method and the aide of a gentleman thief.

Secrets of the French Police

1932

Charlie Chan's Courage poster
8.7

Charlie is hired to deliver a pearl necklace to a millionaire at his ranch. When murder intervenes he disguises himself as a Chinese servant and begins sleuthing.

Charlie Chan's Courage

1934

From Headquarters poster
6.1

A wealthy Broadway playboy is found dead, and it comes to light that he was a vicious blackmailer. It's up to police lieutenant Jim Stevens to pick the murderer out of several likely candidates. Meanwhile, Stevens embarks on a torrid affair with Lou Ann Winton, who may or may not be involved.

From Headquarters

1933

Cardinal Richelieu poster
7.3

The cunning Cardinal Richelieu must save King Louis XIII from treachery within his inner circle.

Cardinal Richelieu

1935

Kind Lady poster
6.8

Mary, a woman with good intentions, takes pity on Henry, an artist with no home. What begins as a simple offer to come inside from the cold for tea gradually turns into more. Before the unsuspecting woman knows it, Henry, his family, and his friends con their way into her home. Eventually, Mary creates a ruse to rid herself of the parasites, but they have a different plan.

Kind Lady

1935

Ann Vickers poster
5.8

After a love affair ending in an abortion, a young prison reformer submerges herself in her work. She then falls for a controversial and married judge and scandal looms again.

Ann Vickers

1933

I Loved a Woman poster
4.8

The son of a ruthless meatpacking king goes through a number of changes in ideals and motivations as he reluctantly inherits the mantle and falls in love.

I Loved a Woman

1933

Parnell poster
4.6

Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell struggles to free his country from English rule, but his relationship with married Katie O'Shea threatens to ruin all his dreams of freedom.

Parnell

1937

Affairs of a Gentleman poster
4.0

When a novelist is murdered, suspicion falls on all the women he had affairs with--and then wrote about in his books.

Affairs of a Gentleman

1934

Anne of Green Gables poster
5.6

Anne Shirley, an orphan, is fostered by farmer Matthew Cuthbert and his sister Marilla, who were expecting a boy to be sent them to help with their farm work. They accept Anne, who quickly endears herself to them and to the local villagers.

Anne of Green Gables

1934

Make Way for a Lady poster
5.5

An imaginative teenager decides to play matchmaker for her widowed father. Director David Burton's 1936 comedy stars Herbert Marshall, Anne Shirley, Gertrude Michael, Margot Grahame, Clara Blandick, Frank Coghlan Jr., Willie Best and Maxine Jennings.

Make Way for a Lady

1936

The Expert poster
7.2

An elderly gentleman arrives for an extended stay with his grown son in Chicago.

The Expert

1932

The Menace poster
5.6

A man framed for murder escapes from prison in order to prove his innocence.

The Menace

1932

The Black Camel poster
6.1

Movie star Shelah Fane is seeing wealthy Alan Jaynes while filming in Honolulu, Hawaii, but won't marry him without consulting famed psychic Tarneverro first. Enter inspector Charlie Chan of the Honolulu Police, investigating the unsolved murder, three years earlier, of a Hollywood actor.

The Black Camel

1931

The Three Musketeers poster
6.9

In 17th century France, young d'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead befriends three legendary musketeers — Athos, Porthos, and Aramis — and together, they become embroiled in the political intrigue surrounding King Louis XIII and his adversaries, particularly the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

The Three Musketeers

1935

The Silver Streak poster
6.9

A high-speed train becomes the star of the film as it rushes from Chicago to Hoover Dam to transport an iron lung to a needy patient.

The Silver Streak

1934

Four Days Wonder poster
9.0

Jeanne Dante stars as precocious 13-year-old Judy Widdell, a devoted fan of dime-novel detective stories. When a real murder occurs in the vicinity, Judy insists upon playing sleuth, dragging teenaged astronomer Tom Fenton into her Sherlock shenanigans.

Four Days Wonder

1936

Outcast poster
8.0

A physician in a small town suddenly finds himself the object of vilification and persecution when one of his patients commits suicide.

Outcast

1937

The Soldier and the Lady poster
7.3

In the face of rebellion in Russia, Czar Alexander II sends soldier Michael Strogoff 2,000 miles away, with a critical message for Grand Duke Vladimir. On the train journey, Michael befriends a traveler and comes into contact with a mysterious spy, who both unexpectedly aid him in his quest. Once behind enemy lines, Michael is near his hometown and his mother, whom he must avoid in order to fulfill his mission.

The Soldier and the Lady

1937

Today We Live poster
6.3

Two lovers are living together and are not married; they had made a promise as children to get married when they grew up, but they "didn't wait."

Today We Live

1933

A Successful Calamity poster
5.6

Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children, Peggy and Eddie. To test his family's mettle, Henry pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father's side and change their ways: Peggy forsakes the fortune hunter George Struthers for the nice young man she's really in love with, the polo coach Larry Rivers, while Eddie applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Sweetie seems to desert Henry.

A Successful Calamity

1932

Are You Listening? poster
5.6

WBLA is on the air, presenting the live music, the sudsy dramas and the sell-sell-sell of commercial interludes that keep consumers buying and sponsors smiling. But one sponsor, a producer of plumbing supplies, isn’t happy. So WBLA scriptwriter Bill Grimes is bounced from his job, setting in motion this movie’s turn from comedic to darkly tragic. William Haines, two years removed from being Tinseltown’s top male star, plays Grimes in a melodrama noted for its glimpses of live radio production and for a Depression-era ethos that includes peroxide cuties eager to land a job, a sugar daddy or both.

Are You Listening?

1932

Zoo in Budapest poster
4.8

Zani is an unusual young man who has spent his entire life in a zoo in Budapest. His only true friends are the zoo's animals. When Zani meets Eve, a young orphan girl, they fall in love. To be together Eve must somehow escape from her strict orphan school. When she does she and Zani must hide overnight in the zoo - where everyone is looking to find them.

Zoo in Budapest

1933

The Great Impersonation poster
7.5

The second of the three film versions of the E. Phillips Oppenheim espionage thriller set largely in an old dark house where a tremulous wife wonders if her husband is really his double, a dastardly German spy.

The Great Impersonation

1935

Damaged Lives poster
4.7

An extramarital affair leads to a young couple contracting venereal disease.

Damaged Lives

1933

I Am Suzanne! poster
6.6

A dancer falls in love with a puppeteer, much to the consternation of her manipulative manager. The puppeteer himself seems more interested in his puppets than in romance with her. Can she find true love?

I Am Suzanne!

1933

Such Women Are Dangerous poster
7.0

An aspiring young writer becomes infatuated with a successful romance novelist, who realizes his life as a philandering Lothario is suddenly threatened.

Such Women Are Dangerous

1934

The Princess and the Plumber poster
10.0

A derogated prince hopes to restore his wealth and power by marrying off his daughter to royalty. Unfortunately, she has fallen in love with a young man who has been hired to fix the plumbing in their run-down castle.

The Princess and the Plumber

1930

The Match King poster
6.7

Unscrupulous Chicago janitor Paul Kroll uses deceit to fund a return trip to his homeland of Sweden. There, via ongoing continuing deceit and manipulation, he gradually attains a monopoly on the matchstick market in several countries and becomes an influential international figure. Based on the true story of Ivar Kreuger.

The Match King

1932

No artwork available
4.3

In order to be able to buy a gas station, a young couple run a speakeasy. Complications arise when the husband loses their money to bookies.

Reckless Living

1931

The Avenger poster
8.0

A disgraced former District Attorney plots his revenge on the members of a criminal gang who had him framed and sent to prison.

The Avenger

1933

Under Eighteen poster
6.3

Working girl Margie Evans has decided there are two kinds of opportunities for a slum kid during the Depression: Those you make and those you take. Determined to help her family out of its financial bind, she is ready to do both after she shows up at the penthouse pool bash of a wealthy playboy.

Under Eighteen

1932

Murder in Trinidad poster
NR

Author/explorer John W. Vandercook conceived the character of Bertram Lynch as an investigator for the League of Nations. He is Trinidad's Port o' Spain trying to track down the leader of a gang of diamond smugglers. A trail, littered with murders, leads him to a crocodile-infested swamp.

Murder in Trinidad

1934

The Mouthpiece poster
6.2

A prosecutor quits his job and becomes a defense attorney when he finds out that a man he got convicted and executed was actually innocent.

The Mouthpiece

1932

The Witness Chair poster
6.6

Late one night, secretary Paula Young (Ann Harding) leaves the office of her boss, Stanley Whittaker (Douglas Dumbrille, locking the door and taking the stairs to avoid being seen by the elevator operator (Frank Jenks). The next morning, the cleaning lady finds Whittaker's dead body, an apparent suicide. Police Lieutenant Poole (Moroni Olsen) finds a letter signed by Whittaker in which the deceased states he embezzled $75,000. Soon, however, he suspects otherwise and, after investigating, arrests widower James "Jim" Trent (Walter Abel), the vice president of Whittaker.

The Witness Chair

1936

The Solitaire Man poster
7.0

An almost-retired jewel thief plans to marry Helen, his partner in crime. Their plans are shattered when Bascom, a gang member, arrives with a stolen necklace, putting their whole gang at risk.

The Solitaire Man

1933

The Big Game poster
6.6

A quarterback stands against gangsters out to control the college sports scene.

The Big Game

1936

Voltaire poster
6.2

Writer and philosopher Voltaire, loyal to his king, Louis XV of France, nonetheless writes scathingly of the king's disdain for the rights and needs of his people. Louis admires Voltaire, but is increasingly influenced against him by his minister, the Count de Sarnac.

Voltaire

1933

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

Fighting Youth poster
7.7

A radical campus group persuades student Carol Arlington to lead a protest of a college's football team. She manages to recruit Larry Davis, even though he is a star player for State's team.

Fighting Youth

1935

Old English poster
6.3

An old man unethically provides an income for his two grandchildren.

Old English

1930

Series credits