
Acting
James Donlan
Born — Died
1888-07-23 — 1938-06-07
Place of birth
San Francisco, California, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
60 titles
James Donlan was an American stage and screen actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1929 and 1939.
Known for
6.2A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
1936
6.4Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
1932
6.9Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He's never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to him. One day everything changes: he oversleeps and is fired as an example, he's then mistaken for evil criminal killer Mannion and is arrested. The resemblance is so striking that the police give him a special pass to avoid a similar mistake. The real Mannion sees the opportunity to steal the pass and move around freely and chaos results.
The Whole Town's Talking
1935
6.4Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.
Thirteen Women
1932
10.0The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.
The Daring Young Man
1935
6.5A wax sculptor opens a new museum years after he is severely injured during a fire that destroyed his original collection. The disappearance of both people and corpses coincides with this grand reopening and leads a reporter to start investigating.
Mystery of the Wax Museum
1933
Film credits
1930s · 57 titles
6.2A doctor is driven into an investigation of sinister goings-on at a horse race track by his mystery writer ex-wife.
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
1936
6.4Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
20,000 Years in Sing Sing
1932
6.9Ordinary man-in-the-street Arthur Ferguson Jones leads a very straightforward life. He's never late for work and nothing interesting ever happens to him. One day everything changes: he oversleeps and is fired as an example, he's then mistaken for evil criminal killer Mannion and is arrested. The resemblance is so striking that the police give him a special pass to avoid a similar mistake. The real Mannion sees the opportunity to steal the pass and move around freely and chaos results.
The Whole Town's Talking
1935
6.4Thirteen women who were schoolmates ask a swami to cast their horoscopes. The news they receive is not good for any of them.
Thirteen Women
1932
10.0The Daring Young Man is hotshot-reporter Don McLane, played by James Dunn. Always on the prowl for a good story, McLane is persistently outscooped by his rival, sob sister Martha Allen (Mae Clarke). After several reels of double-crossing one another, hero and heroine give in to the inevitable and fall in love. But as Martha waits at the altar in her wedding gown, McLane is off on another crusade, this time getting himself arrested to expose corruption within the prison system.
The Daring Young Man
1935
6.5A wax sculptor opens a new museum years after he is severely injured during a fire that destroyed his original collection. The disappearance of both people and corpses coincides with this grand reopening and leads a reporter to start investigating.
Mystery of the Wax Museum
1933
6.4Mickey 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
6.4Hildy Johnson is an investigative reporter looking for a bigger paycheck. When an accused murderer escapes from custody, Hildy sees an opportunity for the story of a lifetime. But when he finds the criminal, he learns that the man may not be guilty. With the help of his editor, Hildy attempts to hide the convict, uncover the conspiracy and write the scoop of his career.
The Front Page
1931
7.1Members of a teenage gang are sent to the State Reformatory, presided over by the callous Thompson. Soon Patsy Gargan, a former gangster appointed Deputy Commissioner, arrives and takes over the administration to run the place on radical principles. Thompson needs a quick way to discredit him.
The Mayor of Hell
1933
7.1Independent Gilda is resigned fo a life of married tedium when Tom and George, having gotten past their jealousy, come to America and whisk Gilda away to live an exciting polyamorous life in Paris.
Design for Living
1933
6.3A silent Western star has trouble adjusting to the coming of sound.
It Happened in Hollywood
1937
6.7Managing Editor Brad Bradshaw refuses to run a story linking the disappearance of Frank Canfield with embezzlement of the bank. He considers Frank a straight shooter and he goes easy on the story. Every other paper goes with the story that Frank took the money and Brad is demoted, by the publisher, to the Heartthrob column - writing advice to the lovelorn. After feeling sorry for himself for two months, he takes the column seriously and makes it the talk of the town. But Brad still wants his old job back so he will have to find Canfield and the missing money.
Hi, Nellie!
1934
6.3Willie, as an assistant window-dresser, is the lowest man on the totem pole at a department store. To add insult-to-injury Willie is also the store's designated 'Fired Man."; when a disgruntled customer demands that somebody-must-be-fired, Willie is summoned and summarily fired, only to be rehired when the now-satisfied customer has departed. Willie inadvertently adopts a four-year-old orphan at a cost of ten-dollars a week, and things go from bad to worse since Willie doesn't make ten-dollars a week. But, with the help of Mary, a beautiful young nurse, Willie manages to turn some corners and improve his lot in life, albeit with some skids along the way.
Night Work
1930
5.1A two-bit gambler somehow claws his way to the top. His love for riches is only matched by his love for his wife, but he is sometimes confused by which he loves most.
Now I'll Tell
1934
5.9New York schoolmarm Hildegarde Withers assists a detective when a body of unscrupulous stockbroker Gerald Parker suddenly appears in the penguin tank at the aquarium.
The Penguin Pool Murder
1932
5.2When a movie actor is shot and killed during production, the true feelings about the actor begin to surface. As the studio heads worry about negative publicity, one of the writers tags along as the killing is investigated and clues begin to surface.
The Death Kiss
1932
6.3An Italian immigrant singer, Nino, hoping to succeed in Hollywood, falls in with a gang of crooks who use his talent to distract everyone at a party while they steal the jewels.
Music for Madame
1937
6.4A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.
Back Street
1932
6.2An alcoholic lawyer who successfully defended a notorious gambler on a murder charge objects when his free-spirited daughter becomes romantically involved with him.
A Free Soul
1931
6.5A successful shoe manufacturer named John Reeves goes on vacation and meets the grown children of his recently deceased and much-respected competitor; they're on the verge of losing the family legacy through their careless behavior. Reeves takes it upon himself to save his rival's company by teaching the heirs a lesson in business.
The Working Man
1933
4.8The 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
6.3Johnny Quinlan is so desperate for a job that he takes a gig as a "bag man" for the mob. Meanwhile, his beleaguered wife has to deal with her bizarre, unemployed, wise-cracking brother and various neighbors while keeping house in their Brooklyn tenement.
The Fall Guy
1930
6.3Naive Ezekial Cobb, brought up by his missionary father in China returns to America to seek a wife. Corrupt politicians enlist him to run for mayor as a dummy candidate with no chance of winning. Their plan backfires as he wins and embarks upon a reform crusade.
The Cat's-Paw
1934
6.1Nightclub entertainer Ruby Carter moves from St. Louis to New Orleans to escape Tiger Kid. At Ace Lamont's club, she gains fame but faces drama with Ace's ex Molly. A jewel theft and fixed fight lead to confrontations.
Belle of the Nineties
1934
4.0Expatriates and foreign correspondents mix in a Paris bistro...
Paris Interlude
1934
5.4When the body of Violet Feverel is discovered on the Central Park bridle path, Inspector Oscar Piper presumes her death was accidental, until his friend, amateur detective Hildegarde Withers, locates Violet’s horse and discovers it is streaked with blood.
Murder on a Bridle Path
1936
10.0A small-town newspaper publisher finds himself in opposition to the local banker on the return to town of a lad jailed possibly wrongly for a theft from the bank.
Life Begins at Forty
1935
6.6Searching for headlines at any cost, an unscrupulous newspaper owner forces his editor to print a serial based on a past murder, tormenting a woman involved.
Five Star Final
1931
6.0After giving the District Attorney another stinging defeat, Perry plans to take a vacation in China. That is, he was, until Rhoda, his old flame, meets him at a restaurant. It seems that her husband Moxley, who had been allegedly dead for four years, is alive and demanding money as she has married into wealth. The case escalates when the police find the body of Moxley and charge her with the murder.
The Case of the Curious Bride
1935
6.5A woman's former association with a gangster threatens to destroy her marriage to an upstanding young man.
The Good Bad Girl
1931
7.0In this musical, a songwriter goes to court to claim the rights to his song that was stolen by an unscrupulous music publisher. He brings his girlfriend with him. Also going to court are the Jubilee singers, hillbillies, and some cowboys and Indians who demonstrate that the composer wrote his song by rearranging four folk tunes. He wins his song back and $50,000 in damages. Songs include: "Heading Home," "Roll Along Prairie Moon," "Tender Is the Night," "You're My Thrill," "I'm Bound for Heaven," and "The Army Band."
Here Comes the Band
1935
5.4A horse with great potential is reluctantly sold by the breeder and by chance passes through multiple hands who do not treat him well.
Sporting Blood
1931
7.2A reporter and his newspaper's attorney try to gather evidence that will put a notorious gangster behind bars.
Exclusive Story
1936
4.7A barber turns down a promising business venture in order to take his sick son to a drier climate out west.
The Sins of the Children
1930
6.1Head railroad man Dan is as ugly as he is honorable. When he spots a drifter who'd hopped a freight held up by a landslide, Dan offers the man a job; then he finds the man was a railroader, too, and takes him under his wing. Engaged to Mary, Dan doesn't notice the growing attraction between his protégé and his intended but focuses instead on running the railroad.
Danger Lights
1931
5.7When Prohibition ends, a barber tries to get in the liquor business only to come up against mobsters.
What! No Beer?
1933
7.3President McKinley asks Lt. Richard L. Perry to go underground to identify some obviously very well briefed Mid-Western bank robbers based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
This Is My Affair
1937
5.7Fate brings a job at Boulder Dam and romance with a saloon singer into the life of a young man on the run.
Boulder Dam
1936
6.5A reporter gets the best story of her life when she goes under cover to take down the head of a crime syndicate.
The Final Edition
1932
6.3A priceless Cellini silver cup is stolen from a local museum with both Hildegarde and Oscar on the case.
The Plot Thickens
1936
6.4When misfortune hits hard on the Jordan family of Chicago's upper class, Bonnie Jordan, a dazzling and witty girl, finds a job as an aspiring reporter; however, her naive younger brother Rodney takes a twisted path and gets involved with the wrong people.
Dance, Fools, Dance
1931
5.2Two members of a crew of "sandhogs", men who work on an underwater tunnel project, battle each other over the same woman and a rival team of sandhogs to see who will finish their half of the tunnel first, with the winning team getting more money and guaranteed future work.
Under Pressure
1935
6.0Fast-talker extraordinaire Tracy gives one of his quintessential wiseguy performances as a conniving ambulance chaser who falls in love with Evans, unaware she's a special investigator for a streetcar company he's repeatedly victimized.
The Nuisance
1933
5.6A college professor and the school's star football player are both rivals for the same beautiful coed.
College Humor
1933
5.2Western pardners Jeff and Cash find a baby boy in an otherwise deserted emigrants' camp, and clash over which is to be "father." They are still bitterly feuding years later when they own adjacent ranches. Bill, the foundling whom Cash has raised to young manhood, wants to end the feud and extends an olive branch toward Jeff, who now has a lovely daughter. But during a mining venture, the bitterness escalates. Is Bill to be set against his own adoptive father?
The Painted Desert
1931
5.7Having raised four children alone, widow Mary Williams still manages to love her eldest son, vicious and sadistic Danny Williams, who has led a life of crime and now returns to inflict his insane behavior on the family household.
Mothers Cry
1930
5.5A group of air mail pilots risk their lives to deliver important mail through bad weather conditions.
Air Mail
1932
7.0Tony, the son of Italian immigrants, works in a smoky steel mill in Gary, Indiana. He wins a company scholarship which will enable him to attend Yale college. Over the four years of his college career he learns about football, love, and class prejudice.
Huddle
1932
6.7In this engaging adaptation of James Gould Cozzen's novel The Last Adam, film icon Will Rogers portrays Dr. George Bull, a compassionate, highly regarded small-town physician who often prescribes a healthy dose of common sense! But when Bull begins dating a widow (Vera Allen), the local gossips misconstrue the story. To make matters worse, Bull's plainspoken manner earns him an enemy in the wealthy owner of a nearby construction camp. But once it's learned that the camp has caused illness by polluting the local water supply, the good doctor steps in to try to restore the town's health - and his reputation!
Doctor Bull
1933
6.6Dr. Socrates gives up his brilliant surgical career at a prominent hospital following the death of his betrothed under his knife. He is now a struggling doctor in a small town that has a gangster's hideout.
Dr. Socrates
1935
6.5A cop, who plays by his own rules, brings down a notorious gangster.
We're Only Human
1935
6.1A toothpaste magnate's mischievous daughter, tired of her father's traditional ways of conducting business, joins forces with her father's rival and a crazy inventor. Together they create "Cocktail Toothpaste". The new concoction tastes like whiskey in the morning, a martini at suppertime, and champagne at night.
Traveling Saleslady
1935
7.0An amateur handicapper must help his future son-in-law recoup the money he lost while playing the ponies.
Hot Tip
1935
6.0Well respected local good guy, "Feet" Samuels finds himself heavily in debt due to an uncharacteristic gambling binge. Feet decides the only way to settle the bill is by selling his body to an ambitious doctor who agrees to allow him one last month to live life to the fullest, then kill himself.
A Very Honorable Guy
1934
8.0A 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
6.0A gambler falls for a fake countess.
Men of Chance
1931
4.2Mexican-bandit Montero and his deaf-mute sidekick Coloso are being pursued through the sand-dunes of southern Arizona by lawman Bob-Cat Manners and his posse. Montero has intentions of robbing the bank owned by skinflint Lucius Perkins, but is sidetracked by the attractions of singing-teacher Helen Wardell. He learns that Perkins has marital designs on Helen and holds the mortgage on her ranch. But Helen is in love with Bill Howard. Perkins offers Montero money to kill his rival.
Beau Bandit
1930
1920s · 3 titles
5.4The murders start with the body of Robin. He is found with a arrow through the heart, but Vance deduces that the body was placed and not found where he was killed. The note found dealing with the murder was part of a nursery rhyme and signed by 'Bishop'. The only witness may have been Mrs. Drukker and Adolph, but they are not talking. As the murders progress, each one is accompanied by a nursery rhyme. It is up to Philo Vance to unravel the clues and unmask the identity of the murderer 'Bishop'.
The Bishop Murder Case
1929
5.4Early MGM talkie about a retired businessman, his headstrong daughter, and the comical complications that result when she marries in haste.
Wise Girls
1929
4.5A reporter's marriage is jeopardized by his drinking and he finds himself accused of a murder he didn't commit.
Big News
1929
