Charles D. Brown

Acting

Charles D. Brown

Born — Died

1887-06-30 — 1948-11-25

Place of birth

Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

Charles D. Brown was an American stage and screen actor. His Broadway career spanned the years 1911 through 1937, while his film career, that included more than 100 movies, stretched from 1921 to his death in 1948. Brown additionally, in 1914, wrote and directed one short film, The Bank Burglar's Fate.

Known for

The Grapes of Wrath poster
7.8

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

The Grapes of Wrath

1940

Notorious poster
7.7

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.

Notorious

1946

The Big Sleep poster
7.6

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Big Sleep

1946

The Killers poster
7.4

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

The Killers

1946

Johnny Apollo poster
6.8

Wall Street broker Robert Cain, Sr., is jailed for embezzling. His college graduate son Bob then turns to crime to raise money for his father's release. As assistant to mobster Mickey Dwyer, then falls for Dwyer's girl Lucky. He winds up in the same prison as his father.

Johnny Apollo

1940

Tomorrow Is Forever poster
6.4

In 1918, Elizabeth MacDonald learns that her husband, John Andrew, has been killed in the war. Elizabeth bears John's son and eventually marries her kindly boss. Unknown to her, John has survived but is horribly disfigured and remains in Europe. Years later, on the eve of World War II, Elizabeth refuses to agree to her son's request to enlist and is stunned when an eerily familiar stranger named Kessler arrives from abroad and becomes involved.

Tomorrow Is Forever

1946

Film credits

1940s · 44 titles

The Grapes of Wrath poster
7.8

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

The Grapes of Wrath

1940

Notorious poster
7.7

In order to help bring Nazis to justice, U.S. government agent T.R. Devlin recruits Alicia Huberman, the American daughter of a convicted German war criminal, as a spy. As they begin to fall for one another, Alicia is instructed to win the affections of Alexander Sebastian, a Nazi hiding out in Brazil. When Sebastian becomes serious about his relationship with Alicia, the stakes get higher, and Devlin must watch her slip further undercover.

Notorious

1946

The Big Sleep poster
7.6

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy General Sternwood regarding a matter involving his youngest daughter Carmen. Before the complex case is over, Marlowe sees murder, blackmail, deception, and what might be love.

The Big Sleep

1946

The Killers poster
7.4

Two hit men walk into a diner asking for a man called "the Swede". When the killers find the Swede, he's expecting them and doesn't put up a fight. Since the Swede had a life insurance policy, an investigator, on a hunch, decides to look into the murder. As the Swede's past is laid bare, it comes to light that he was in love with a beautiful woman who may have lured him into pulling off a bank robbery overseen by another man.

The Killers

1946

Johnny Apollo poster
6.8

Wall Street broker Robert Cain, Sr., is jailed for embezzling. His college graduate son Bob then turns to crime to raise money for his father's release. As assistant to mobster Mickey Dwyer, then falls for Dwyer's girl Lucky. He winds up in the same prison as his father.

Johnny Apollo

1940

Tomorrow Is Forever poster
6.4

In 1918, Elizabeth MacDonald learns that her husband, John Andrew, has been killed in the war. Elizabeth bears John's son and eventually marries her kindly boss. Unknown to her, John has survived but is horribly disfigured and remains in Europe. Years later, on the eve of World War II, Elizabeth refuses to agree to her son's request to enlist and is stunned when an eerily familiar stranger named Kessler arrives from abroad and becomes involved.

Tomorrow Is Forever

1946

Santa Fe Trail poster
5.8

As a penalty for fighting fellow classmates days before graduating from West Point, J.E.B. Stuart, George Armstrong Custer and four friends are assigned to the 2nd Cavalry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth. While there they aid in the capture and execution of the abolitionist, John Brown following the Battle of Harper's Ferry.

Santa Fe Trail

1940

I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes poster
5.6

An innocent dancer is accused of murder after his shoe prints are found at the scene, but his wife follows the trail of clues to find the real perpetrator.

I Wouldn't Be in Your Shoes

1948

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers poster
7.1

Three childhood friends, Martha, Walter and Sam, share a terrible secret. Over time, the ambitious Martha and the pusillanimous Walter have married. She is a cold businesswoman; he is the district attorney: a perfect combination to dominate the corrupt city of Iverstown at will. But the unexpected return of Sam, after years of absence, deeply disturbs the life of the odd couple.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

1946

International Lady poster
6.6

Tim Hanley, an American agent, posing as a lawyer with the United States Embassy in London, and Reggie Oliver, a Scotland Yard detective, posing as a music critic are both keeping their eye on Carla Nillson, a famous singer, whom they suspect of espionage. They all meet in London, then in Lisbon, and eventually in New York City, where Carla sings on the radio.

International Lady

1941

I Walk Alone poster
6.6

Bootleggers on the lam Frankie and Noll split up to evade capture by the police. Frankie is caught and jailed, but Noll manages to escape and open a posh New York City nightclub. 14 years later, Frankie is released from the clink and visits Noll with the intention of collecting his half of the nightclub's profits. But Noll, who has no intention of being so equitable, uses his ex-girlfriend Kay to divert Frankie from his intended goal.

I Walk Alone

1947

The Senator Was Indiscreet poster
6.2

A bumbling, long-winded and crooked Southern senator, considered by some as a dark horse for the Presidency, panics his party when his tell-all diary is stolen.

The Senator Was Indiscreet

1947

Undercover Maisie poster
8.0

Maisie Revere, a showgirl stranded in Los Angeles, decides to join the local police department on the persuasion of Lieutenant Paul Scott who wants to use her as an undercover agent to expose a conman.

Undercover Maisie

1947

Boom Town poster
7.0

Two buddies who rise from fly-by-night wildcatters to oil tycoons over a twenty year period both love the same woman. McMasters and Sand come to oil towns to get rich. Betsy comes West intending to marry Sand but marries McMasters instead. Getting rich and losing it all teaches McMasters and Sand the value of personal ties.

Boom Town

1940

Tall, Dark and Handsome poster
6.1

Robin Hoodish gangster in 1929 Chicago is an object of affection, kind to New York hood and bad to a bad crook.

Tall, Dark and Handsome

1941

Fingers at the Window poster
5.7

In Chicago, an unemployed actor aims to solve the mystery concerning a string of ax murders, apparently committed by a lunatic.

Fingers at the Window

1942

Destroyer poster
6.8

Flagwaving story of a new American destroyer, the JOHN PAUL JONES, from the day her keel is laid, to what was very nearly her last voyage. Among the crew, is Steve Boleslavski, a shipyard welder that helped build her, who reenlists, with his old rank of Chief bosuns mate. After failing her sea trials, she is assigned to the mail run, until caught up in a disparate battle with a Japanese sub. After getting torpedoed, and on the verge of sinking, the Captain, and crew hatch a plan to try and save the ship, and destroy the sub.

Destroyer

1943

On Our Merry Way poster
5.7

Oliver Pease gets a dose of courage from his wife Martha and tricks the editor of the paper (where he writes lost pet notices) into assigning him the day's roving question. Martha suggests, "Has a little child ever changed your life?" Oliver gets answers from two slow-talking musicians, an actress whose roles usually feature a sarong, and an itinerant cardsharp. In each case the "little child" is hardly innocent: in the first, a local auto mechanic's "baby" turns out to be fully developed as a woman and a musician; in the second, a spoiled child star learns kindness; in the third, the family of a lost brat doesn't want him returned. And Oliver, what becomes of him?

On Our Merry Way

1948

Brother Orchid poster
6.6

When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.

Brother Orchid

1940

He Married His Wife poster
5.6

Race horse owner pays so much attention to business he winds up divorced from his wife. His alimony payments are so steep he plots with his lawyer to get her married off.

He Married His Wife

1940

The Fighting Seabees poster
6.2

Construction workers in World War II in the Pacific are needed to build military sites, but the work is dangerous and they doubt the ability of the Navy to protect them. After a series of attacks by the Japanese, something new is tried, Construction Battalions (CBs=Seabees). The new CBs have to both build and be ready to fight.

The Fighting Seabees

1944

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

Follow the Boys poster
5.7

During World War II, all the studios put out "all-star" vehicles which featured virtually every star on the lot--often playing themselves--in musical numbers and comedy skits, and were meant as morale-boosters to both the troops overseas and the civilians at home. This was Universal Pictures' effort. It features everyone from Donald O'Connor to the Andrews Sisters to Orson Welles to W.C. Fields to George Raft to Marlene Dietrich, and dozens of other Universal players.

Follow the Boys

1944

The Last Crooked Mile poster
5.5

A mystery grows after a bank robbery car leads investigators to a carnival sideshow.

The Last Crooked Mile

1946

Roxie Hart poster
7.0

A café in Chicago, 1942. On a rainy night, veteran reporter Homer Howard tells an increasing audience the story of Roxie Hart and the crime she was judged for in 1927.

Roxie Hart

1942

I Take This Woman poster
5.8

On return from Europe Dr. Decker foils glamour girl Georgi from jumping overboard. At Decker's suggestion to keep busy, she assists at his clinic in the slums.

I Take This Woman

1940

Sing Your Way Home poster
5.6

A war journalist escorts a spirited teen band back to NYC post-WWII, turning the journey into a musical comedy filled with memorable performances.

Sing Your Way Home

1945

The Man Who Dared poster
3.8

A crusading reporter plans his own arrest and conviction for first degree murder, trying to show that the death sentence should be outlawed when based on circumstantial evidence alone, but his plan goes awry.

The Man Who Dared

1946

Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman poster
6.3

A nightclub singer uses alcohol in excess to sooth her painful life.

Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman

1947

Buyer Beware poster
6.5

This entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series deals with shady companies selling fake merchandise.

Buyer Beware

1940

Up in Arms poster
5.8

Hypochondriac Danny Weems gets drafted and accidentally smuggles his girlfriend aboard his Pacific-bound troopship.

Up in Arms

1944

Follow Me Quietly poster
6.3

When it rains in the city, a serial killer known as "The Judge" looks for his next strangling victim. For months, the madman has been stalking at night, leaving behind clues, but police efforts have been fruitless. Constructing a life-size dummy of the murderer, police Lt. Harry Grant is growing obsessed with capturing him, and always following Grant is the relentless reporter Ann Gorman looking to break the story, but the hunt continues.

Follow Me Quietly

1949

Let's Live Again poster
5.5

The brother of a nuclear scientist dies but is reincarnated as a dog so he can return to Earth to protect his brother.

Let's Live Again

1948

Bombardier poster
5.7

A documentary/drama about the training of bombardiers during WWII. Major Chick Davis proves to the U.S. Army the superiority of high altitude precision bombing, and establishes a school for bombardiers. Training is followed in semi-documentary style, with personal dramas in subplots. The climax is a spectacular sequence.

Bombardier

1943

Railroaded! poster
6.7

A beautician and her crooked boyfriend attempt to rob the bookie operation located in the back room, but when the plan goes wrong, they frame an innocent man.

Railroaded!

1947

Maisie Was a Lady poster
7.0

Showgirl Maisie Ravier finds herself once again out of work. She meets a wealthy playboy who hires her to be his family's new maid. Maisie soon finds herself trying to mend the family's many problems.

Maisie Was a Lady

1941

The Hoodlum Saint poster
5.5

A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected. Desperate, one day he crashes a wedding attended by many of the city's rich and powerful, meets a beautiful girl named Kay who turns out to be his ticket to meeting those rich and powerful people, and he soon manages to land a job on a newspaper. He gets caught up in the "make money at all costs" game but receives a rude awakening when the stock market crashes in 1929.

The Hoodlum Saint

1946

Right to the Heart poster
7.0

John T. Bromley III is a young man from high society who is physically humiliated by a prizefighter before his socialite sweetheart, Jenny Killian. He goes to a training camp to redeem his self-respect and ensure his success in a return engagement with the fighter.

Right to the Heart

1942

Sailor's Lady poster
6.5

Sailor is going to marry his girlfriend when he returns, but she becomes foster mother to baby whose parents are accidentally killed. The baby is accidentally left on board a visiting battleship.

Sailor's Lady

1940

In Fast Company poster
6.8

The Bowery Boys come to the rescue when a corrupt taxi company puts the squeeze on several independent drivers.

In Fast Company

1946

Having Wonderful Crime poster
6.5

Newlyweds drag their lawyer friend to a mountain resort on a search for a missing magician.

Having Wonderful Crime

1945

Glamour Boy poster
6.5

Former child star Jackie Cooper headlines this sentimental behind-the-scenes comedy drama. He plays an ex-child star who now jerks sodas for a living in Hollywood. He gets back into the movie business when he overhears a conversation between producers discussing their newest prodigy. Cooper butts in and suggests the producers remake Skippy (a real-life 1931 film that made young Cooper a star). The bigwigs like the idea and then hire Cooper to become the boy's acting coach. Once back on the backlot, Cooper finds both trouble and romance while helping the young boy adjust to life as a movie star.

Glamour Boy

1941

Secret Command poster
6.6

Sam Gallagher returns home to Los Angeles as an undercover spy for the Navy, getting a job at the shipyards where his brother, Jeff, is a foreman. Jeff still resents Sam for abandoning the family years ago and fears he may steal away Lea Damaron, his current girlfriend -- who is Sam's old flame. While Sam tries to sniff out Nazi saboteurs in the plant, he grows closer to Jill McGann, the agent tasked with pretending to be his wife.

Secret Command

1944

Forgotten Girls poster
5.6

A disillusioned factory worker is charged with the attempted murder of her mother's lover.

Forgotten Girls

1940

1930s · 16 titles

Babes in Arms poster
6.4

Mickey Moran, son of two vaudeville veterans, decides to put up his own vaudeville show with his girlfriend Patsy Barton. But child actress Rosalie wants to make a comeback and replace Patsy both professionally and as Mickey's girl.

Babes in Arms

1939

Thoroughbreds Don't Cry poster
5.9

Cricket West is a hopeful actress with a plan and a pair of vocal chords that bring down the house. Along with her eccentric aunt, she plays host to the local jockeys, whose leader is the cocky but highly skilled Timmie Donovan. A young English gentleman comes to town convincing Donovan to ride his horse in a high stakes race.

Thoroughbreds Don't Cry

1937

Mr. Moto in Danger Island poster
6.7

In Puerto Rico to investigate a glut of contraband diamonds that are flooding the world's jewel market, Mr. Moto and his sidekick, a wrestler, find themselves involved in murders by thrown daggers, the frame-up of an overstressed Army colonel, and a pirate gang led by an unknown boss who has inside knowledge of the ensuing investigation.

Mr. Moto in Danger Island

1939

Algiers poster
6.4

Pepe Le Moko is a notorious thief, who escaped from France. Since his escape, Moko has become a resident and leader of the immense Casbah of Algiers. French officials arrive insisting on Pepe's capture are met with unfazed local detectives, led by Inspector Slimane, who are biding their time. Meanwhile, Pepe meets the beautiful Gaby, which arouses the jealousy of Ines.

Algiers

1938

Gold Diggers of 1937 poster
6.1

The partners of stage-producer J. J. Hobart gamble away the money for his new show. They enlist a gold-digging chorus girl to help get it back by conning an insurance company. But they don’t count on the persistence of insurance man Rosmer Peck and his secretary Norma Perry.

Gold Diggers of 1937

1936

Tell No Tales poster
5.4

A newspaper editor turns a kidnapping into the banner headlines and exclusive story that could save his publication.

Tell No Tales

1939

The Ice Follies of 1939 poster
5.6

Mary and Larry are are a modestly successful skating team. Shortly after their marriage, Mary gets a picture contract, while Larry is sitting at home, out of work.

The Ice Follies of 1939

1939

Mr. Moto's Gamble poster
6.4

Celebrated as supersleuth, Mr. Moto comes out fighting when a brutal boxing match turns into cold-blooded murder! Assisted by detective-in-training Lee Chan, Moto sets out to track down the killer based on a single ominous clue: a poisoned boxing glove! But when Moto's hunch points to a corrupt gambling syndicate, he's forced to wager his very life to unmask the culprit—or go down for the count...permanently!

Mr. Moto's Gamble

1938

The Crowd Roars poster
7.0

A young boxer gets caught between a no-good father and a crime boss when he starts dating the boss's daughter, although she doesn't know what daddy does for a living.

The Crowd Roars

1938

Charlie Chan in Reno poster
6.5

Mary Whitman has gone to Reno to obtain a divorce. While there she is arrested on suspicion of murdering a fellow guest at her hotel (which specializes in divorcers). There are many others at the hotel who wanted the victim out of the way. Charlie comes from his home in Honolulu to solve the murder.

Charlie Chan in Reno

1939

Smashing the Money Ring poster
5.8

T-Man Brass Bancroft goes undercover in a prison which has a secret counterfeit operation set up in the print shop.

Smashing the Money Ring

1939

The Duke of West Point poster
5.0

A cocky new West Point cadet from Cambridge is given the cold shoulder by his classmates because of his rule-breaking antics.

The Duke of West Point

1938

Exposed poster
6.7

A magazine reporter exposes a crooked District Attorney, resulting in his trial. Complications ensue, however, when the man is acquitted.

Exposed

1938

The Secret Call poster
7.7

The Secret Call is adapted from The Woman, a play by William C. DeMille (brother of Cecil B.) Peggy Shannon plays Wanda Kelly, the daughter of a disgraced politician. Reduced to working as a switchboard operator, Wanda is privy to the many secrets and indiscretions of the clients of a big-city hotel. She also finds romance in the form of handsome Tom Blake (Richard Arlen). The huge cast of characters comes in handy for the film's multitude of subplots, none of which ever get their wires crossed. Peggy Shannon acquits herself nicely in her first major role, but by the end of the decade her career was in decline.

The Secret Call

1931

The Road to Reno poster
4.0

Jackie is the perpetually adolescent mother of two grown children - daughter Lee and son Jeff - who are in their early 20's. In spite of the fact that fourth husband Robert is a good provider, good step-dad, and all-around good sport about Jackie's rather wild ways, Jackie is intent on divorcing him although she seems to bear the man no resentment. It just seems that her only reason is that it's time for a change, much like an impulse to buy a new hat. Both children are upset about her decision since they have great affection for Robert. However, daughter Lee has just arrived home from school and decides to accompany her mother to Reno to look after her. On the train west, Lee meets a young mining engineer, Tom, who is headed to a job interview in California. The two hit it off and a romance buds.

The Road to Reno

1931

The Shopworn Angel poster
6.8

During WWI Bill Pettigrew, a naive young Texan soldier is sent to New York for basic training. He meets worldly wise actress Daisy Heath when her car nearly runs him over.

The Shopworn Angel

1938