Walter Abel

Grace Quigley is nearing the end of her life, living alone in her New York apartment. On the day she's being evicted, she witnesses a murder being committed by a top hit-man, Seymour Flint. She proposes to blackmail him into killing her, however, she has one or two friends she wants him to get rid of first.

Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.

A man investigates the grisly crimes that occurred in a former insane asylum, unsettling the locals who all seem to have something to hide.

At his court-martial, an American Army officer renounces his country. For his punishment he is ordered to spend the rest of his life on a ship that sails all over the world, but he will never be allowed to set foot on his country's soil, nor come within sight of it, nor be allowed to know anything about the country.

Developed from Anne Grant's book, Our North American Foremothers, this film recreates historical moments and women who fought for equality and freedom over the span of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell emerges outside to find out a man he did not know either jumped or was pushed out a window to his death — and that he can't remember the past two years of his life. Enlisting the help of a rookie private eye and a reluctant old flame, Stillwell uncovers the mystery detail by unexpected detail.

Master thief Mario Forni and bordello owner Madame Rinaldi use confusion over a miracle to loot a local statue's legendary treasure.

An alien is dispatched from a faraway galaxy to take over the Earth by "duplicating" humans and creating a race of zombies.

One of the first American film introductions to Israel, this vitally interesting country - both objective and thought-provoking. Philip Stapp's animation carries us back 3000 years into Biblical times. Modern photography takes us into Israel, facing its new challenges, through 1964, as seen through the daily lives of several Israeli families.

A scout leading a wagon train through hostile Indian country gets involved with a Sioux chief's daughter.

In 1859, idealist John Wickliff Shawnessey, a resident of Raintree County, Indiana, is distracted from his high school sweetheart Nell Gaither by Susanna Drake, a rich New Orleans girl. This love triangle is further complicated by the American Civil War, and dark family history.

A US intelligence officer, stationed in Germany, is caught in a political dilemma when the Russians kidnap a young Army private, the son of prominent American businessman. In exchange for the soldier's return, the Russians attempt to barter a trade for an elderly German couple who they want for treason.

A C-47 transport plane, named the Corsair, makes a forced landing in the frozen wastelands of Labrador, and the plane's pilot, Captain Dooley, must keep his men alive in deadly conditions while awaiting rescue.

Film biography of opera star Grace Moore, released in 1953.

A teenager pines for (and sings about) his dream girl.

Twelve Angry Men is a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose for the Studio One anthology television series. Initially staged as a CBS live production on 20 September 1954, the drama was later rewritten for the stage in 1955 under the same title and again for a feature film, 12 Angry Men (1957). The episode garnered three Emmy Awards for writer Rose, director Franklin Schaffner and Robert Cummings as Best Actor.

A law student working on a class project discovers a real-life crime.

A wealthy mill owner finances the education of a clever, but poor, young man.

Lovely Linda Mason has crooner Jim Hardy head over heels, but suave stepper Ted Hanover wants her for his new dance partner after fickle Lila Dixon gives him the brush. Jim's supper club, Holiday Inn, is the setting for the chase by Hanover and his manager.

A beautiful but vain woman who rejects the love of her older husband must face the loss of her youth and beauty.

Circa 1861, Angelina, ruling countess of an Italian principality, is at a loss when invaded by a Hungarian army. Her lookalike ancestress Francesca, who saved a similar situation 300 years before, comes to life from a portrait to help her descendant. Complicating factor: the newlywed countess feels strangely drawn to the handsome invader...

In late 1941, with no hope of relief or re-supply, a small band of United States Marines tries to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base.

Judy O'Brien is an aspiring ballerina in a dance troupe. Also in the company is Bubbles, a brash mantrap who leaves the struggling troupe for a career in burlesque. When the company disbands, Bubbles gives Judy a thankless job as her stooge. The two eventually clash when both fall for the same man.

Bob Sharkey, an instructor of would-be spies for the Allied Office of Strategic Services, becomes suspicious of one of the latest batch of students, Bill O'Connell, who is too good at espionage. His boss, Charles Gibson confirms that O'Connell is really a top German agent, but tells Sharkey to pass him, as they intend to feed the mole false information about the impending D-Day invasion.

Shy milkman Burleigh Sullivan accidentally knocks out drunken Speed McFarlane, a champion boxer who was flirting with Burleigh's sister. The newspapers get hold of the story and photographers even catch Burleigh knock out Speed again. Speed's crooked manager decides to turn Burleigh into a fighter. Burleigh doesn't realize that all of his opponents have been asked to take a dive. Thinking he really is a great fighter, Burleigh develops a swelled head which puts a crimp in his relationship with pretty nightclub singer Polly Pringle. He may finally get his comeuppance when he challenges Speed for the title.

Romanian-French gigolo Georges Iscovescu wishes to enter the USA. Stopped in Mexico by the quota system, he decides to marry an American, then desert her and join his old partner Anita, who's done likewise. But after sweeping teacher Emmy Brown off her feet, he finds her so sweet that love and jealousy endanger his plans.

During the start of the Pacific campaign in World War II, Lieutenant Janet Davidson is the head of a group of U.S. military nurses who are trapped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Davidson tries to keep up the spirits of her staff, which includes Lieutenants Joan O'Doul and Olivia D'Arcy. They all seek to maintain a sense of normal life, including dating, while under constant danger as they tend to wounded soldiers.

Dozens of star and character-actor cameos and a message about the Variety Club (a show-business charity) are woven into a framework about two hopeful young ladies who come to Hollywood, exchange identities, and cause comic confusion (with slapstick interludes) throughout the Paramount studio.

Millionaire sportsman Hiram Brighton hires gumshoe Michael Shayne to keep his spoiled daughter Phyllis away from racetrack betting windows and roulette wheels. After Phyllis slips away and continues her compulsive gambling, Shayne fakes the murder of her gambler boyfriend, who is also romancing the daughter of casino owner Benny Gordon, in order to frighten her. When the tout really ends up murdered, Shayne and Phyllis' Aunt Olivia, an avid reader of murder mysteries, both try to find the identity of the killer.

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

Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.

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.

Tom Smith, an American pilot, is shot down and captured by the Japanese. While imprisoned and awaiting execution, he recalls his life at home in the USA.

Susan is about to be married, but the wedding may get called off after her fiancé summons three former beaus. Each reveals a different portrait of Susan: one describes her as a naive country girl who reluctantly becomes an actress, another paints a picture of a gay party girl and and the third describes a serious intellectual.

The Hitler Gang adopts the style of a gangster film as it charts Adolf Hitler’s rise from small-time politico to dictator of Germany.

A young girl's parents are killed on a tropical island, and the girl is raised and protected by the jungle animals. When she is found, as a grown woman, she is taken back to the United States to claim her inheritance. There are several people, with vested interests, who stand to gain something if she is shown not to be the missing heir.

A Broadway producer's Girl Friday must make sure that her recent marriage is kept secret. If it gets out, she will lose her job. Unfortunately, her new hubby is tired of hiding the truth and creates all kinds of problems when he decides to spill the beans.

A European immigrant becomes a master of industry but almost loses his family.

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.

Sent by the U.S. government as a participant in the Marshall Plan with a specific mission to assist the French in re-gearing their animation studios, Stapp discovered a Europe much-decimated by war, but in further danger of annihilation by nuclear weapons. Returning to the U.S., he produced this alarming-yet-hopeful film, replete with its lonely, Tanguy-inspired landscapes peopled with static figures casting long shadows across charcoal-colored plains. While taking the risk of leaning a bit toward didacticism, Stapp managed to urgently convey the thought that world destruction was not necessarily inevitable, provided that people embrace, rather than reject their cultural and racial differences. ‘Picture’ is a unique document resulting from the sometimes dreamy, sometimes nightmarish vision of the artist in a war-torn land, with the spectre of death hovering ever-so-slightly ahead.

The staff of a record factory drown their sorrows at Duffy's Tavern, while the company owner faces threats of bankruptcy.

When a much-despised matriarch is murdered, or apparently murdered, all of her relatives and "friends" fall under suspicion. Sheriff Gregory is the official investigator, but most of the clue gathering is done by amateur sleuths Kirk Pierce and Sally Ambler.

Film adaptation of the Broadway hit, about the comic mayhem that erupts in a small town when a 15-year old high-schooler (Shirley Temple) is wrongly suspected of being pregnant.

A young woman spends much of her time fantasizing about what might be, but a realistic admirer tries to convince her to live the life she has.

Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.

Civilized wife doesn't protest when husband runs off with uncivilized professional golfer pretending to be civilized.

Snooty heiress decides to track down her dead sister's kids, who are living a Bohemian life with their uncle in Greenwich Village. Once she finds them, she discovers that the Bohemian life is fun and free of the constraints her country-club life places on her. But she decides to take the uncle to court anyway to free him from the kids so he can paint.

A trucker with a pregnant wife fights a New York mobster's protection racket.

When Mr. X wakes up in the city park with amnesia, bloody and apparently connected to a murder of a well-known producer, fast talking Marie Smith takes pity on him. They solve the case and discover his identity.

A carousel barker falls in love with a young woman. Both are fired from their jobs, and when the young woman becomes pregnant, the carousel barker tries to help pull off a robbery, which goes wrong. Because of the robbery, he dies, and after spending time in hell, is sent back to earth for one day to try to make amends. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

A respected citizen with secret ties to the local mob is faced with revealing his criminal connections to save two innocent people from execution

Mason is a former race-horse owner who gave up everything and started to drink after the death of one of his jockeys. One day he meets Goldie who has run away from home, hoping to find a job around horses; his biggest hobby. When he finds out the real identity of Mason, Goldie takes care of him. The two find an occasion to buy a horse for only two dollars, and start entering competitions. Goldie is an instant celebrity, but his mom reads the newspapers and tracks him down. Mason is very surprised to see her, his ex-wife, and even more astonished to hear that Goldie is his own son. However, Goldie must go back to school and so they decide to keep the secret. Since Goldie does not want to leave Mason behind, he goes to the bookies and fixes the next race, hoping to disappoint Goldie by asking him to lose on purpose.

Kenneth discovers that his son by his first wife is ill in a remote Swiss village, and is forced to leave Wife Number Two alone during childbirth.

On Christmas Eve in the Spanish quarter of L.A. police try to arrest a couple running a shady floor show. Hiding in a church, the young woman finds an abandoned baby and uses it as cover to escape capture.

In 17th century France, young d'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead befriends three legendary musketeers — Athos, Porthos, and Aramis — and together, they become embroiled in the political intrigue surrounding King Louis XIII and his adversaries, particularly the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

A brilliant young surgeon takes the blame for a colleague when a botched surgery causes a patient's death and buries himself at a wilderness research facility.

Reporter Nicholas Ranson is jubilant when, on 17 Dec 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright take their first airplane flight. Back home in Underwood, Maryland, however, his uncle Hiram F. Jenkins, owner and editor of the local newspaper, refuses to print the story. Nicholas quits and continues to work on his own airplane, with the devoted help of his little daughter Peggy. Peggy is actually the first in her family to fly when her friends, Patrick Falconer and Scott Barnes, induce her to get inside a large kite they have made, and run with it in a field until she is airborne. The kite is caught in a tree, however, and Peggy gets a black eye. Later, Nicholas dies when his experimental airplane crashes, leaving his wife and children alone. By Peggy's adulthood, planes are capable of flying at an altitude of 11,000 feet, and speeds of nearly 100 m.p.h. Peggy continues her father's obsession with flight by helping Scott and Pat to build a plane.

Lady lawyer Portia Merryman defends woebegone Elizabeth Manners, who is on trial for shooting her lover Earle Condon. Ironically, Portia herself had once had a relationship with Earle Condon, but Earle's father, powerful publisher John Condon, forced them apart. She has a pretty good idea of what is going on in Elizabeth's head, since she herself was on the verge of killing Earle Condon when his father ruthlessly took custody of her illegitimate son. As Portia toils and strains to free her client, she carries on a romance with Dan Foster -- the attorney for the prosecution. LA Law and The Practice have nothing on this one!

Late one night, secretary Paula Young (Ann Harding) leaves the office of her boss, Stanley Whittaker (Douglas Dumbrille, locking the door and taking the stairs to avoid being seen by the elevator operator (Frank Jenks). The next morning, the cleaning lady finds Whittaker's dead body, an apparent suicide. Police Lieutenant Poole (Moroni Olsen) finds a letter signed by Whittaker in which the deceased states he embezzled $75,000. Soon, however, he suspects otherwise and, after investigating, arrests widower James "Jim" Trent (Walter Abel), the vice president of Whittaker.

A Belgian countess escapes to America to avoid a loveless marriage and finds romance and adventure in a mountain village in Tennessee.