Fred Malatesta

Acting

Fred Malatesta

Born — Died

1889-04-17 — 1952-04-08

Place of birth

Naples, Italy

Known for

Acting

Credits

60 titles

Fred Malatesta (April 18, 1889 – April 8, 1952) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1915 and 1941. He was born in Naples, Italy, and died in Burbank, California.

Known for

Modern Times poster
8.3

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Modern Times

1936

The Thin Man poster
7.5

Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.

The Thin Man

1934

The Mark of Zorro poster
7.2

Returning from Spain, the son of a California nobleman comes home to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On one hand, he plays the useless fop, while on the other, he is the masked avenger Zorro.

The Mark of Zorro

1940

Dodsworth poster
7.1

A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.

Dodsworth

1936

Juarez poster
6.5

The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juárez and democracy.

Juarez

1939

Blood and Sand poster
6.5

Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.

Blood and Sand

1941

Film credits

1940s · 7 titles

The Mark of Zorro poster
7.2

Returning from Spain, the son of a California nobleman comes home to find his native land under a villainous dictatorship. On one hand, he plays the useless fop, while on the other, he is the masked avenger Zorro.

The Mark of Zorro

1940

Blood and Sand poster
6.5

Bullfighter Juan Gallardo falls for socialite Dona Sol, turning from the faithful Carmen who nevertheless stands by her man as he continues to face real danger in the bullring.

Blood and Sand

1941

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

Arise, My Love poster
6.5

A dashing pilot and a vivacious reporter have romantic and dramatic adventures in Europe as World War II begins.

Arise, My Love

1940

Road to Singapore poster
6.4

Two playboys try to forget previous romances in Singapore – until they meet a beautiful dancer.

Road to Singapore

1940

Down Argentine Way poster
6.4

The story—in which an American heiress on holiday in South America falls in love with an Argentine horse breeder against the wishes of their families—takes a backseat to the spectacular location shooting and parade of extravagant musical numbers, which include the larger-than-life Carmen Miranda singing the hit “South American Way” and a showstopping dance routine by the always amazing Nicholas Brothers.

Down Argentine Way

1940

Rangers of Fortune poster
6.5

An US Army misfit and his pals roam the west in search of adventure. Arriving in a small town, they befriend the elderly newspaper editor and his young granddaughter. The trio learn that the community is under the thumb of a covetous land baron, who's endeavoring to push out ranch owners and take over the territory.

Rangers of Fortune

1940

1930s · 26 titles

Modern Times poster
8.3

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Modern Times

1936

The Thin Man poster
7.5

Former detective Nick Charles has retired from police work, preferring a life of cocktails, parties, and relaxation with his wealthy wife, Nora. Their holiday is interrupted when the daughter of Nick’s former client asks for help finding her missing father, eccentric inventor Clyde Wynant. When Wynant’s body is discovered, Nick is drawn back into the investigation, with Nora eagerly joining him. As the couple questions Wynant’s family, friends, and business associates, a tangled web of greed, deception, and murder begins to unravel.

The Thin Man

1934

Dodsworth poster
7.1

A retired auto manufacturer and his wife take a long-planned European vacation only to find that they want very different things from life.

Dodsworth

1936

Juarez poster
6.5

The newly-named emperor Maximilian and his wife Carlota arrive in Mexico to face popular sentiment favoring Benito Juárez and democracy.

Juarez

1939

Possessed poster
6.9

Marion is a factory worker who hopes to trade the assembly line for a beautiful penthouse apartment. Mark Whitney, a wealthy and influential lawyer, can make her dreams come true, but, there is only one problem; he will give her everything except a marriage proposal. Will this affair ever lead to marriage?

Possessed

1931

Trouble in Paradise poster
7.4

Thief Gaston Monescu and pickpocket Lily are partners in crime and love. Working for perfume company executive Mariette Colet, the two crooks decide to combine their criminal talents to rob their employer. Under the alias of Monsieur Laval, Gaston uses his position as Mariette's personal secretary to become closer to her. However, he takes things too far when he actually falls in love with Mariette, and has to choose between her and Lily.

Trouble in Paradise

1932

The Gay Bride poster
6.0

Mary wants to marry a gangster because that is where the money is. Unfortunately, the life expectancy and finances of a gangster are unstable.

The Gay Bride

1934

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

Espionage poster
7.0

Two reporters pose as man and wife in order to get the goods on a munitions supplier and the rumours of war in Europe.

Espionage

1937

The Bride Wore Red poster
6.7

A poor singer in a bar masquerades as a rich society woman thanks to a rich benefactor.

The Bride Wore Red

1937

The Crusades poster
6.4

King Richard the Lionhearted launches a crusade to preserve Christianity in Jerusalem.

The Crusades

1935

Love Affair poster
7.0

A French playboy and an American former nightclub singer fall in love aboard a ship. They arrange to reunite six months later, if neither has changed their mind.

Love Affair

1939

What's Your Racket poster
8.0

Mae Cosgrove, a nightclub hostess, carries out a robbery on the safe of a gangster's palatial home.

What's Your Racket

1934

Beg, Borrow or Steal poster
6.0

We find con-man Ingraham Steward living by his wits by steering wealthy Paris visitors to sellers of fake paintings and other assorted dodges. He and his wife, Agatha, have been separated for 15 years, but he promises to give their daughter, Joyce, a lavish wedding at his "château" in France. The fact that he doesn't have a château in France is just a minor trifle. He induces the caretaker, Bill Cherau, of a large country estate to allow it to be used for the wedding. The wedding party arrives and Bill falls madly in love with Joyce and she with him, but a gal has gotta do what a gal has gotta do, and her intended marriage to stuffed-shirt Horace Miller stays on the books. But Steward has a change of heart and he tells one and all that he and his friends, Von Gersdorff, Lefevre, Iznamof, Clifton Summitt and Sasch, are all frauds and crooks. Horace and his family stalk out, which is just fine with Joyce as her true love, the caretaker, is waiting on the grounds.

Beg, Borrow or Steal

1937

The Girl in 419 poster
4.2

A hospital surgeon (James Dunn) protects a mystery woman (Gloria Stuart) who knows too much about a card-game murder.

The Girl in 419

1933

Bridal Suite poster
5.4

A carefree playboy with an aversion to marriage falls for a lass he meets in the French Alps.

Bridal Suite

1939

Suez poster
5.5

Ferdinand de Lesseps, disappointed in love, is sent as a junior diplomat to the Isthmus of Suez, and realizes it's just the place for a canal.

Suez

1938

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

Port of Seven Seas poster
10.0

In the French port of Marseille, Madelon is in love with young sailor Marius. Discovering that she's pregnant after Marius sets out to sea for several years, she marries another man to prevent the child being born out of wedlock.

Port of Seven Seas

1938

Blackwell's Island poster
5.5

A reporter gets himself sent to prison to expose a mobster.

Blackwell's Island

1939

Student Tour poster
6.7

A philosophy professor accompanies his school's rowing team on a worldwide tour.

Student Tour

1934

The Black Doll poster
6.4

Nicholas Rood, dishonest mine owner, finds a Black Doll on his desk and knows that vengeance is about to overtake him for murdering his former partner. He is knifed as he talks to his daughter Marian. She summons her fiancé Nick Halstead, a private detective. He finds that six people had a motive for the murder; Rood's sister Mrs. Laura Leland; her son Rex; Rood's associates Mallison and Walling; Esteban, a servant and Dr. Giddings. Sheriff Renick and his deputy Red get the clues all mixed up, but Nick finally narrows the search down to one suspect...

The Black Doll

1938

Submarine Patrol poster
6.7

A naval officer is demoted for negligence and put in command of a run-down submarine chaser with a motley crew.

Submarine Patrol

1938

International Settlement poster
6.0

In Shanghai amidst Sino-Japanese warfare an adventurer (Sanders) collecting money from gun suppliers falls in loves with a French singer (Del Rio).

International Settlement

1938

The Man from Yesterday poster
5.2

A woman whose husband never came home from World War I finds herself in love with her doctor. She travels with him to Switzerland, and as they check into the hotel there, she is astounded to see her supposedly dead husband.

The Man from Yesterday

1932

Get That Girl poster
6.3

A young girl, who is about to receive a large inheritance, is abducted to an isolated sanitarium where a crazed doctor is performing strange experiments.

Get That Girl

1932

1920s · 23 titles

Forbidden Paradise poster
5.6

Alexei, a young officer, saves the Czarina of a small European kingdom from revolutionary conspirators and is rewarded with her love. Infatuated, he deserts his sweetheart, Anna, the Czarina's lady-in-waiting, only to discover that his Queen is far from true to him. Desperate, he joins the revolutionists and plots against her. The Czarina pleads that she loves only him, and he swears no harm will befall her. Meantime the chancellor nips the revolution in the bud, and the Czarina orders Alexei's arrest. But she causes herself such unhappiness in doing so that she releases him from prison, relinquishes him to Anna, and seeks solace in a new affair with the French Ambassador

Forbidden Paradise

1924

The Lullaby poster
9.0

Tony is sentenced to be hanged for the murder of his friend, Pietro, whom he found seducing his bride, Felipa, and she is sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment as an accessory. Born in prison, her child is taken from her at the age of three and is adopted by the judge, now governor, who sentenced the parents.

The Lullaby

1924

The Sins of Rosanne poster
7.0

Roseanne (Ethel Clayton) has grown up near some diamond mines in South Africa. As a child, she became ill and a Malay nurse, Rachel Bangat (Fontaine La Rue) promised to cure her. That she did, but she also worked some voodoo on the child, who, as a grown up now displays a powerful desire for diamonds and the ability to throw evil curses on those who displease her.

The Sins of Rosanne

1920

Kiki poster
7.8

Kiki, a poor young woman who sells newspapers on the street corners of Paris, is able to land a job singing and dancing at a nearby theater. While she is there, she invites herself into the life of the revue's manager, with whom she has fallen in love.

Kiki

1926

Don Key (Son of Burro) poster
8.0

The head of a big movie studio is pulling his hair out because the company is bankrupt unless they can find a writer for a smash comedy. An aspiring writer is awaiting outside the office and the producer agrees to see him. He listens while the writer tells his story and acts the numerous parts. The story is rotten, but the producer lets him escape while vowing vengeance on any other author who would read his story aloud.

Don Key (Son of Burro)

1926

The Girl Who Came Back poster
10.0

Country girl Sheila goes to work in a city department store. After a quick courtship she marries Ray Underhill, unaware that he is a car thief.

The Girl Who Came Back

1923

Eve's Love Letters poster
6.6

Agnes Ayres was apparently a star of feature film who is top billed in this one-off Hal Roach short. She does well as the woman at the centre of the story, but it's pretty plain that it's actually the comic mind and performing talents of Stan Laurel, who plays her butler, that make this two-reel short shine.

Eve's Love Letters

1927

The Best of Luck poster
7.0

Leslie MacLeod (Kathryn Adams) comes to England from the U.S. so that she can settle financial affairs with Lord Glenayr (Jack Holt), whom she has never met. She encounters Duke Lanzana (Fred Malatesta), who sees her as a way to pay off his mounting debts. He captures her and then heads to a nearby cape to steal a buried treasure that actually should belong to the MacLeods.

The Best of Luck

1920

The Woman He Loved poster
9.0

Russian Jews Nathan & Esther Levinsky, along with son, David, escape to the U.S. Nathan’s life as a peddler is hard, and Esther leaves him for Max Levy allowing David to be adopted by the wealthy Danvers family. In time Nathan prospers on a small California ranch, which abuts the larger ranch of the bigoted John Comstock. When Comstock’s daughter Helen, falls in love with the Danvers' adopted son, Jimmy, who Nathan secretly recognizes as David. Fire destroys his farm and Nathan goes to San Francisco to begin again with the contrite Esther. Jimmy follows after learning the truth to search for Nathan with Helen and Comstock in pursuit. Nathan saves Helen from the lecherous Max Levy and Comstock gives his blessing to Helen and Jimmy’s marriage.

The Woman He Loved

1922

Bardelys the Magnificent poster
7.4

Rafael Sabatini's story of the swashbuckling era and of Bardeleys, the handsome courtier who could win any woman he set his mind to...and was not above boasting about it to all who would listen.

Bardelys the Magnificent

1926

Refuge poster
9.0

Hoping to gain favor with the people of Moravia and destroy evidence of the rightful prince's claim to the throne, Prince Ferdinand makes plans to marry Countess Nadia. She thwarts Ferdinand's efforts, running off with Gustav Kenski, only to marry Gene, a soldier who she meets on the road. Ferdinand has her found and abducted, but Gene rescues her, and it is revealed that he is the rightful prince of Moravia.

Refuge

1923

The Mask poster
7.0

The Mask 1921 film

The Mask

1921

No artwork available
8.0

Upon discovering that his sister has been driven to suicide by the betrayal of Enrico Colonna, young mountaineer Dabney Morgan swears to avenge her death.

The Valley of Tomorrow

1920

Big Happiness poster
8.0

John living a Bohemian life in Paris when his twin brother James, a British financier, appears and implores John to assume his identity so that he can secretly cross the Atlantic for a business deal. John consents and soon discovers that James is a cruel, unethical man who has forced his wife June into their marriage. John attempts to rectify the situation, and June falls in love with him.

Big Happiness

1920

White Shoulders poster
7.0

Mrs. Pitman seeks a wealthy husband for her daughter, Virginia. The first prospect, Colonel Singleton, insults Virginia and is shot by her brother. They move, assume another name, and find a new suitor, Clayborne Gordon, who changes his mind when he learns of Virginia's past. She then tells her story to poor racing-driver Cole Hawkins, whom actually she loves. He not only accepts her but reveals himself to be one of the wealthiest men in the area.

White Shoulders

1922

Long Fliv the King poster
6.3

This offbeat comedy from future Hollywood screwball director McCarey is about a princess who must find a husband in 24 hours or forfeit her throne. She quickly marries a condemned man--but the man is pardoned.

Long Fliv the King

1926

The Night Hawk poster
8.0

Our Western star begins this actioner rather improbably, as a New York City gangster. But soon enough he heads for the more comfortable expanse of the open spaces.

The Night Hawk

1924

The Reckless Age poster
5.7

Lord Harrowby takes out an $100,000 insurance policy to be paid if his wedding to Cecilia Meyrick is cancelled. The insurance company sends Dick Minot to make sure the wedding takes place, but he falls in love with the bride.

The Reckless Age

1924

Without Mercy poster
10.0

In this silent melodrama Sir Melmoth Craven is running against John Orme for a seat in Parliament. Orme is an honest man, but Craven is on the shady side. For campaign money, he borrows money from an equally shady establishment called Gordon, Ltd. Orme's sweetheart, Margaret Garth, becomes infatuated with Craven, much to the dismay of her mother, Enid.

Without Mercy

1925

Risky Business poster
10.0

Society matron Mrs. Fanshaw Renwick entertains lavishly at her posh home. Living with her are her two daughters, Phillipa, a madcap eighteen-year-old, and her married sister Errica who is having an affair with Ralli, a designing South American. When Captain Chantry arrives with an impressive letter of introduction, Mrs. Renwick welcomes him while Phillipa falls in love with him. On the night of the masquerade party, Phillipa induces Chantry to take her to the party in disguise, because her mother will not permit her to attend. The captain, in reality a jewel thief, readily complies, believing it will provide him with the perfect opportunity to steal Mrs. Renwick's famous pearls.

Risky Business

1920

Little Lord Fauntleroy poster
7.0

An American boy turns out to be the long-lost heir of a British fortune. He is sent to live with the cold and unsentimental lord who oversees the trust.

Little Lord Fauntleroy

1921

The Challenge of the Law poster
9.0

A Canadian Mountie pursues an outlaw across the border into the America...

The Challenge of the Law

1920

Madame Mystery poster
6.5

A female secret agent has gotten ahold of a new type of explosive gas. She has to avoid the efforts of two men who are trying to steal it. They succeed in doing so, but the gas turns out to be not quite what they expected.

Madame Mystery

1926

1910s · 4 titles

The Demon poster
NR

Jim Lassells travels to Africa to obtain proof that his cousin Harold Brooks is dead as rumored, and learns that an Algerian sultan killed the rich American. Since it is assumed that Brooks was childless, Jim inherits his cousin's fortune. At a slave market he buys a young girl named Perdita and sends her to a convent in Corsica to be educated. Years later, Jim meets Perdita again while traveling through Corsica with the impecunious Duchess of Westgate and her daughter, Lady Lilah Grey. When the party stops at an inn, Jim discovers that Perdita is not only a Persian princess, but also the long-lost daughter of Brooks, and therefore the rightful heir to Brooks' fortune.

The Demon

1918

Sherlock Holmes poster
6.3

When a couple of scammers hold young Alice Faulkner against her will to discover the whereabouts of letters whose dissemination could cause a scandal affecting the royal family, Sherlock Holmes decides to take over the case. (Considered lost, a copy was found in 2014, in the vaults of the Cinémathèque Française.)

Sherlock Holmes

1916

The Legion of Death poster
NR

Princess Marya and her brother, the Grand Duke Paul of Russia, are studying in the U.S. when word reaches them that Rasputin is to be killed. Paul is seized by Russian secret service men, but through Marya's appeal to Captain Rodney Willard, he is released. In Russia, Marya participates actively in the Revolution, while Willard, with whom she has fallen in love, joins the Allied Commission. Deeply troubled by the influence of German agents in Russia, Marya organizes the Legion of Death, a fighting unit of peasant women, and leads them into battle against the Germans. The legion suffers defeat and Marya is captured, but in the end, she wins her freedom.

The Legion of Death

1918

The Terror of the Range poster
10.0

1919 Western serial.

The Terror of the Range

1919