Richard Arlen

Acting

Richard Arlen

Born 1899-08-30 · Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore) was an American film and television actor. He served as a pilot in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps during World War I. After the war, he went to the oilfields of Texas and Oklahoma and found work as a tool boy. He was thereafter a messenger and sporting editor of a newspaper before going to Los Angeles to act in films, but no producer wanted him. He was a delivery boy for a film laboratory when the motorcycle which he was riding landed him a broken leg outside the Paramount Pictures lot. A sympathetic film director gave him his start as an extra. He appeared at first in silent films before making the transition to talkies. His first important film role was in Vengeance of the Deep. He took time out from his Hollywood career to teach as a United States Army Air Forces flight instructor in World War II. Arlen is best known for his role as a pilot in the Academy Award-winning Wings with Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Gary Cooper, El Brendel, and his second wife, Jobyna Ralston, whom he married in 1927. He was among the more famous residents of the celebrity enclave, Toluca Lake, California. He married New York socialite, Margaret Kinsella, in 1946. In 1939, Universal teamed him with Andy Devine for a series of 14 B-pictures, mostly action-comedies with heavy reliance on stock footage from larger-scale films. They are informally known as the "Aces of Action" series, which is how the stars were billed in the trailers. When Arlen left the studio in 1941, the series continued with Devine teamed with a variety of other actors. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Arlen was active in television, having guest starred in several anthology series, including Playhouse 90, The Loretta Young Show, The 20th Century Fox Hour, and in three episodes of the series about clergymen, Crossroads. In 1960, Arlen was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a motion pictures star at 6755 Hollywood Boulevard for his contributions to the film industry. In 1968, he appeared on Petticoat Junction playing himself. The episode was called "Wings" and it was in direct reference to the 1927 silent movie Wings. Arlen appeared in westerns, such as Lawman, Branded, Bat Masterson, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Wagon Train, and Yancy Derringer, and in such drama/adventure programs as Ripcord, Whirlybirds, Perry Mason, The New Breed, Coronado 9, and Michael Shayne.

Acting credits

Warlock poster
6.8

A band of murderous cowboys has imposed a reign of terror on the town of Warlock. With the sheriff humiliatingly run out of town, the residents hire the services of Clay Blaisedell as de facto town marshal. He arrives along with his friend, Tom Morgan, and sets about restoring law and order on his own terms whilst also overseeing the establishment of a gambling house and saloon.

Warlock

1959

Island of Lost Souls poster
6.9

An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations.

Island of Lost Souls

1932

Wings poster
7.2

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.

Wings

1927

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood poster
4.4

A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.

Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood

1976

The Best Man poster
7.3

The other party is in disarray. Five men vie for the party nomination for president. No one has a majority as the first ballot closes and the front-runners begin to decide how badly they want the job.

The Best Man

1964

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.1

In Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters.

Alice in Wonderland

1933

College Humor poster
5.6

A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.

College Humor

1933

No artwork available
NR

Two autograph hounds attend an air show at Santa Anita racetrack.

Soaring Stars

1942

The Mountain poster
6.9

Selfish Chris Teller pressures his older brother, a retired climber, to accompany him on a treacherous Alpine climb to loot the bodies of plane crash victims.

The Mountain

1956

No artwork available
7.0

This short documentary narrated by sportscaster Ted Husing explores the free-time activities of some of Hollywood's most popular celebrities. Big names such as Boris Karloff, Buster Crabbe, and Clark Gable make appearances, enjoying games of golf, field hockey, swimming, and many other fun hobbies.

Hollywood Hobbies

1935

The Bounty Killer poster
6.0

Willie Duggans, a tenderfoot from the east, arrives in the wild west and soon experiences its violence. Willie discovers the easy money in bounty killing and must choose between that violent lifestyle and the love of a beautiful saloon singer.

The Bounty Killer

1965

Wayward poster
6.3

Story of a mother's antagonism to her son's wife. Based on the novel "Wild Beauty" by Mateel Howe Farnham.

Wayward

1932

Beggars of Life poster
7.1

After killing her treacherous step-father, a girl tries to escape the country with a young vagabond. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police, and reach Canada.

Beggars of Life

1928

The All-American poster
6.5

The story of the rise and fall of an All-American football player.

The All-American

1932

Kansas Raiders poster
6.0

Outraged by Redleg atrocities, the James and Younger Brothers along with Kit Dalton join Quantrill's Raiders and find themselves participating in even worse war crimes.

Kansas Raiders

1950

Young Fury poster
5.6

A group of young thugs rides into the town of Dawson and take it over. When the cowardly sheriff is unable to restore control, the parents of the leader must take action. The leader's father is an infamous ex-gunfighter, and he straps his guns on one more time.

Young Fury

1964

Tropic Fury poster
5.5

An investigator checks into the rumors of harsh working conditions on an Amazon rubber plantation.

Tropic Fury

1939

Paramount on Parade poster
5.9

This 1930 film, a collection of songs and sketches showcasing Paramount Studios' contract stars, credits 11 directors

Paramount on Parade

1930

Grand Canyon poster
10.0

A film company is shooting a western on location when the star breaks his leg. A local mule herder, who had never acted before, is "shanghaied" into taking over the role. Complications ensue.

Grand Canyon

1949

The Horror Show poster
3.4

A history of horror movies.

The Horror Show

1979

Rolled Stockings poster
8.0

Though billed second, the stunningly beautiful Louise Brooks is the focal point of the campus comedy Rolled Stockings. It's the old one about two collegiate brothers, Jim and Ralph Treadway (James Hall, Richard Arlen), in love with the same girl, Carol Fleming (Brooks).

Rolled Stockings

1927

Hollywood poster
9.0

Angela comes to Hollywood with only two things: Her dream to become a movie star, and Grandpa. She leaves an Aunt, a brother, Grandma, and her longtime boyfriend back in Centerville. Despite seeing major movie stars around every corner, and knocking on every casting office door in town, at the end of her first day she is still unemployed. To her horror, when she arrives back at their hotel, she finds that Grandpa has been cast in a movie by William DeMille and quickly becomes a star during the ensuing weeks. Her family, worried that Angela and Grandpa are getting into trouble, come to Hollywood to drag them back home. In short order Aunt, Grandma, brother, boyfriend and even the parrot become superstars, but Angela is still unemployed...

Hollywood

1923

Law of the Lawless poster
6.5

A former gunfighter, now a circuit court judge, faces his father's killer in a small post-Civil War Kansas town.

Law of the Lawless

1964

Town Tamer poster
6.8

A gunfighter is hired to clean up a wild frontier town, but there are forces afoot who want to keep the town as wide-open as it is. Lyle Bettger, Bruce Cabot and Richard Jaeckel co-star as the lawless bad guys in this Western based on a novel by Frank Gruber.

Town Tamer

1965