Edward Ellis

Acting

Edward Ellis

Born 1870-11-11 · Coldwater, Michigan, USA

Character actor in films, often portraying strident types, he is best remembered cast as "The Thin Man" (actually, "Wynant") of the hit 1934 MGM film. He Ellis was active on Broadway as an actor, producer and playwright from 1905-32 (see "Other Works"). He died in Beverly Hills, CA at age 81 in 1952.

Acting credits

Winterset poster
6.0

A man is determined to find the real culprit behind the crime for which his father was wrongly executed.

Winterset

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. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke and adapted from Dashiell Hammett’s novel, The Thin Man combines witty dialogue, sophisticated comedy, romance, and classic mystery. William Powell and Myrna Loy are perfectly matched as Nick and Nora Charles, whose playful banter and effortless chemistry made them one of Hollywood’s most beloved screen couples. This stylish 1934 mystery remains a landmark of classic American cinema.

The Thin Man

1934

Hi, Nellie! poster
6.7

Managing 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

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang poster
7.8

A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

1932

The 9th Guest poster
6.0

Eight people are invited by an unsigned telegram to a penthouse apartment, where they find themselves locked in and greeted by their unknown host's voice via the radio, who explains that before the night is over each one will be die unless they manage to outwit the ninth guest, Death.

The 9th Guest

1934

Fury poster
7.5

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.

Fury

1936

Transient Lady poster
6.3

A senator's brother turns up murdered, and the senator tries to pin the blame on a man he knows is innocent.

Transient Lady

1935

Steel Against the Sky poster
5.4

Steel-worker brothers compete for the same woman.

Steel Against the Sky

1941

The Texas Rangers poster
6.6

Two down-on-their-luck former outlaws volunteer to be Texas Rangers and find themselves assigned to bring in an old friend, now a notorious outlaw.

The Texas Rangers

1936

Little Miss Broadway poster
6.5

An orphan is provisionally adopted by the manager of a hotel populated by show business people. The hotel's owner doesn't like the entertainers and wants the girl returned to the orphanage.

Little Miss Broadway

1938

A Man Betrayed poster
5.5

A bucolic lawyer takes on big-city corruption, setting out to prove that an above-suspicion politician is actually a crook - all while falling in love with the politician's daughter.

A Man Betrayed

1941

Village Tale poster
7.3

The insidious typical talk of a small town makes a young man and the married woman he is in love very unhappy.

Village Tale

1935

The Omaha Trail poster
7.0

The coming of the railroad to the West triggers an Indian war.

The Omaha Trail

1942

Let Them Live poster
8.0

A young man goes up against a crooked town boss.

Let Them Live

1937

Strictly Personal poster
7.5

Soapy Gibson (Edward Ellis) and his wife Annie (Marjorie Rambeau) run a lonely hearts club in a small town. Even during the Depression years these were often "clip joints" - places where people with money but no mate got taken by someone offering the promise of companionship. However, Soapy and Annie are strictly on the level - and they have more than one reason to want to stay on the level. You see Soapy escaped from the law years ago, had some plastic surgery and changed his name, and has been living on the lam with his wife ever since.

Strictly Personal

1933

After Tonight poster
6.6

When war is declared in 1914, glamorous Russian Carla Vanirska manages to get to Vienna from Luxembourg, with the help of Captain Rudolph Ritter of the Austrian army. Meanwhile, Ritter is assigned to detect the identity of a spy.

After Tonight

1933

The Lady Consents poster
6.4

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

The Lady Consents

1936

Maid of Salem poster
6.2

When a young woman named Barbara Clarke has an affair with adventurer Roger Coverman, it causes a scandal in the Puritanical town of Salem, Massachusetts. After a meddling girl arouses their suspicions, the town's elders accuse Barbara of being a witch. She is tried, convicted of sorcery and sentenced to death. As the townspeople prepare to burn Barbara at the stake, Roger tries desperately to save the woman he loves.

Maid of Salem

1937

A Man to Remember poster
6.7

On the day of his funeral, a dedicated smalltown doctor is remembered by his neighbors and patients.

A Man to Remember

1938

The President Vanishes poster
6.0

The President Vanishes, released in the United Kingdom as Strange Conspiracy, is a 1934 American political drama film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Walter Wanger. Starring Edward Arnold and Arthur Byron, the film is an adaptation of Rex Stout's political novel of the same name.

The President Vanishes

1934

Out Yonder poster
6.8

Flotsam (Thomas) is the daughter and helper of crusty old lighthouse keeper Joe Clark (Edward Ellis, in fine form). The reason why Clark lives 'out yonder' is because he's a fugitive from justice: years ago, he killed a man under complicated circumstances. Clark's official assistant is Amos Bart, but Flotsam does much of the work of maintaining the lighthouse.

Out Yonder

1919

Main Street Lawyer poster
5.0

A prosecutor's career and his adopted daughter's happiness hang in the balance when he is blackmailed by a gangster.

Main Street Lawyer

1939

Girl Missing poster
5.2

Showgirls Kay and June are stranded on Palm Beach when they become involved in the case of a fellow chorine who has gone missing on her wedding night.

Girl Missing

1933

The Last Gentleman poster
5.0

In New England circa 1933, a niece is reported missing and presumed dead and Cabot Barr (George Arliss) summons his relatives to the family estate for a memorial service. Once there, Barr taunts each one, claiming their only interest in him is his money, and sends them away when the report about the niece proves to be false. Only niece Marjorie, who has ridiculed one of his pet eccentricities, seems to be the object of any sentimental affection.

The Last Gentleman

1934