William Haines

Acting

William Haines

Born 1900-01-02 · Staunton, Virginia, USA

William Haines (born Charles William Haines; January 2, 1900 - December 26, 1973) was a star American comedy actor of the late Silent and early "talkie" eras.

Acting credits

Sally, Irene and Mary poster
5.7

Sally, Irene and Mary are chorus girls who each have a different approach to life and love. The three women face temptation, betrayal and tragedy while performing together in a Broadway show.

Sally, Irene and Mary

1925

Tell It to the Marines poster
6.5

U.S. Marine Sergeant O'Hara has his hands full training raw recruits, one of whom, 'Skeets' Burns, is a particular thorn in his side. If Burns's lackadaisical approach to the military were not bad enough, he also makes advances on nurse Nora Dale, whom Sergeant O'Hara secretly loves. Nora is oblivious to O'Hara's feelings and is attracted to the handsome 'Skeet.' But an indiscretion turns her against him, and it takes an expedition to China and a battle with a warlord's bandit brigade to sort things out among the nurse and her two Marines.

Tell It to the Marines

1926

Show People poster
7.1

Hollywood hopeful Peggy Pepper arrives at a major studio, from Georgia, to become a great dramatic star. Things don't go entirely according to plan.

Show People

1928

So This Is Marriage? poster
7.0

After five years of marriage, Beth and Peter Marsh's life together is a series of rows and reconciliations. Beth is frivolous and extravagant; Peter is domineering and ambitious and has difficulty paying the bills. Daniel Rankin, who lives in the same apartment building, becomes attracted to Beth and arranges with the Marsh chauffeur to have her car break down, allowing him to offer assistance and gracefully introduce himself; Rankin later invites her to a dance. Resenting Rankin's attentions to his wife, Peter forbids her to go. However, Beth accompanies Rankin to spite her husband, and Rankin proposes that she divorce Peter and become his wife. A lost film.

So This Is Marriage?

1924

Little Annie Rooney poster
7.1

A feisty little girl, the daughter of a beat cop, faces the challenges of growing up in a tough city neighborhood.

Little Annie Rooney

1925

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

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 poster
5.7

An all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.

The Hollywood Revue of 1929

1929

Memory Lane poster
8.0

Mary is marrying Jimmie, from whom she has kept a secret; Mary remains in love with another man. Problems ensue, jeopardizing the tranquility of their relationship.

Memory Lane

1926

Free and Easy poster
6.1

Gopher City Kansas hosts a beauty contest. The winner, Elvira Plunkett, and her mother go to Hollywood. The Chamber of Commerce also provides Elvira with an agent, Gopher City's own Elmer J. Butz. Elmer likes Elvira and the shy Elvira likes him, but Mrs. Plunkett, a formidable woman, has little use for hapless Elmer. On the train west, they meet movie star Larry Mitchell, who takes a shine to Elvira and helps her meet MGM directors once they get to Tinsel Town. Elmer, meanwhile, wants to help Elvira with her career and he also wants to be her man. Movie stardom does come to the Gopher City entourage, but to whom is a surprise. And who will win the lovely Elvira's hand?

Free and Easy

1930

The Stolen Jools poster
5.6

Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to raise funds for the National Variety Artists Tuberculosis Sanatorium.)

The Stolen Jools

1931

The Big Parade of Comedy poster
7.2

Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.

The Big Parade of Comedy

1964

The Denial poster
8.0

When Dorothy wants to marry Bob (Robert Agnew), her mother, Mildred, forbids the match. Dorothy angrily asserts that Mildred might reconsider if her own mother had forbid her marriage. The rest of the film is a flashback, as Mildred recalls her own youth, when her dictatorial mother did forbid her to marry Lyman. Lyman enlisted with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders to fight in the Spanish-American War, but was killed in battle.

The Denial

1925

Slide, Kelly, Slide poster
8.0

A minor league pitcher lets pride get the better of him after he joins the New York Yankees.

Slide, Kelly, Slide

1927

Souls for Sale poster
6.3

A young woman hits Hollywood, determined to become a star.

Souls for Sale

1923

Speedway poster
6.1

Bill Whipple is a happy-go-lucky mechanic for MacDonald who thinks that he is the worlds greatest driver and lover. Mac has treated Bill like a son since he took him in. One day at the track, Bill sees Pat Bannon, and tries his best to impress her, but to no avail. On his way to catch a flight, he tricks Pat into taking him to the airport and she gets even by taking him up in a plane. He hates to fly, but will not show her that he is afraid and when the plane breaks up, he is a hero for rescuing her. This gets him publicity and Renny offers him his car to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Bill breaks with Mac to drive the car and puts it on the pole for the race. Then Renny double crosses Bill and plans to drive the car himself since Bill has tuned it so well.

Speedway

1929

A Slave of Fashion poster
6.0

Katherine Emerson, an Iowa girl hungry for the good things in life, leaves her small hometown and sets out for New York. En route, she is involved in a train wreck in which another woman is killed. Katherine finds the woman's purse and, among its contents, discovers an invitation for the woman to spend 6 months in an unoccupied luxury apartment in Manhattan. Katherine seizes this opportunity and sets up housekeeping in the elegant suite, living well and dressing in the newest fashions.

A Slave of Fashion

1925

The Midnight Express poster
4.7

Wastrel son of a railroad magnate, Jack's father becomes frustrated with his son's wild ways. To prove himself, Jack goes to work in the railroad yard as a laborer. An escaped convict, Silent Bill Brachley, steals Jack's car, and the chase leads to a meeting between Jack, the engineer of the Midnight Express, and the engineer's pretty daughter, Mary. As he is led back to jail, Brachley swears revenge.

The Midnight Express

1924

A Man's Man poster
8.0

An aspiring actress goes to Hollywood to make movies and marries a soda jerk.

A Man's Man

1929

1925 Studio Tour poster
6.3

A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and gives viewers a glimpse at how movies are made.

1925 Studio Tour

1925

Just a Gigolo poster
5.3

A playboy pretends to be a paid escort in order to court--and test the moral character of--a young British socialite. Comedy.

Just a Gigolo

1931

Circe the Enchantress poster
7.2

Mae Murray as a Jazz Age baby who treats men like swine until she falls for the upright doctor living next door.

Circe the Enchantress

1924

Fighting the Flames poster
NR

Horatio Manly Jr. (William Haines), the only son of Judge Horatio Manly (David Torrence), is disowned by his father for obstructing firemen during a hotel fire. He later redeems himself by rescuing a young woman, Alice Doran (Dorothy Devore) and a street urchin, Mickey (Frankie Darro) from a burning building...and capturing Mickey's wicked father Big Jim (Sheldon Lewis), an escaped convict.

Fighting the Flames

1925

The Gaiety Girl poster
9.0

Forced to abandon his ancestral castle, William Tudor accompanies his granddaughter Irene to London, while millionaire John Kershaw buys the castle for his son, "Kit." Irene joins the Gaiety Theatre company, hoping that her lover, Owen, who has gone to Africa, will return and purchase the castle from the Kershaws.

The Gaiety Girl

1924

True As Steel poster
9.0

Successful middle-aged manufacturer Frank Parry takes a business trip to New York, where he becomes infatuated with Eva Boutelle, manager of the Swansea Cotton Mills. For a time, their affair develops, but Eva remains true to her husband ...

True As Steel

1924