Frances Gifford

Acting

Frances Gifford

Born — Died

1920-12-07 — 1994-01-15

Place of birth

Long Beach, California, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

37 titles

Frances Gifford had a somewhat unorthodox introduction to the movie business. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, she had no ambition to be an actress, and in fact had applied to UCLA when, at age 16, she and a friend got to visit the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, where they watched a movie being shot. A studio exec saw her and asked if she would take a screen test. She did, the studio was impressed with the result and put her under contract. Nothing much came of it, however, other than bit parts, and she moved to RKO. Nothing much happened there, either. She had married actor James Dunn and decided to retire, which she did, in 1938. Off the screen for almost two years, she got a sm…

Known for

The Reluctant Dragon poster
6.6

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

The Reluctant Dragon

1941

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington poster
7.8

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1939

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6 poster
8.8

Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young boy and a famous dragon fighter team up to teach a docile dragon the art of being a force to be reckoned with. In 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' (1947), Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck confront the fearsome Willie the Giant to try to retrieve the magical singing harp to Happy Valley.

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

2004

The Glass Key poster
6.7

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

The Glass Key

1942

General Electric Theater poster
6.8

General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.

General Electric Theater

1953

Stage Door poster
7.2

A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.

Stage Door

1937

Film credits

1940s · 24 titles

The Reluctant Dragon poster
6.6

Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

The Reluctant Dragon

1941

The Glass Key poster
6.7

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

The Glass Key

1942

Tarzan Triumphs poster
6.2

Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the jungle with plans to conquer her people and take their wealth. Tarzan, the isolationist, becomes involved after the Nazis shoot at him and capture Boy: "Now Tarzan make war!"

Tarzan Triumphs

1943

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die poster
6.1

Uneven version of Wyatt Earp vs. the Clanton Gang with a little romance thrown in haphazardly.

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

1942

Star Spangled Rhythm poster
6.2

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.

Star Spangled Rhythm

1942

Marriage Is a Private Affair poster
7.1

Theo has had many boyfriends who wanted to marry her. Since her mother, Mrs. Selworth, has been married many times, Theo is unsure of commitment. Without much thought, she finally accepts the proposal of Air Corps Lieutenant Tom West. After the honeymoon, Tom's father dies and Tom goes into the defense industry. When Theo has a baby, she hates the idea of being matronly and wants to be the old party girl. The problem is that her husband is working constantly. She looks to her friends, who are having their own problems, and to her old flame Captain Lancing. To decide on what she wants to do with her baby and her life, Theo must grow up.

Marriage Is a Private Affair

1944

American Empire poster
5.0

Richard Dix as Dan Taylor and Preston S. Foster as Paxton Bryce are two longtime friends seeking their fortune in Texas after the war. The two men decide, not without problems, to establish a cattle empire. Paxton becoming too ambitious, distances himself from Dan and Abby, Paxton's wife. It will only be after a personal tragedy that he will come back to his senses.

American Empire

1942

Thrill of a Romance poster
6.6

A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

Thrill of a Romance

1945

The Remarkable Andrew poster
7.4

When Andrew Long, hyper-efficient small town accountant, finds a $1240 discrepancy in the city budget, his superiors try to explain it away. When he insists on pursuing the matter, he's in danger of being blamed himself. In his trouble, the spirit of Andrew Jackson, whom he idolizes, visits him, and in turn, summons much high-powered talent from American history...which only Andrew can see.

The Remarkable Andrew

1942

Twenty Years After poster
8.0

This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

Twenty Years After

1944

Hold That Woman! poster
7.0

A skip tracer--someone who collects late payments from people who've purchased appliances, etc., or takes them back them when they don't pay--repossesses a small radio from a deadbeat who's skipped payments. What he doesn't know is that a gang that has stolen diamonds from a Hollywood movie star has stashed them inside the radio, and they start hunting for him.

Hold That Woman!

1940

Luxury Liner poster
5.8

Capt. Jeremy Bradford has a particularly exciting luxury liner cruise in store when he's charged with transporting a troupe of opera singers to Rio de Janeiro. Anxious to become a singer herself, Bradford's young daughter, Polly, decides to skip out on school and sneak onto the ship before it departs. Angry that his daughter disobeyed him, Bradford puts her to work on the ship for punishment, but Polly has her own ideas about how to spend the trip.

Luxury Liner

1948

Cry 'Havoc' poster
6.5

The Army nurses on Bataan need help badly, but when it arrives, it sure isn't what they expected. A motley crew, including a Southern belle, a waitress, and a stripper, show up. Many conflicts arise among these women who are thrown together in what is a desperate and ultimately hopeless situation.

Cry 'Havoc'

1943

Beyond the Blue Horizon poster
6.0

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.

Beyond the Blue Horizon

1942

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour poster
7.0

Teenager Henry Aldrich becomes a hometown celebrity when he wins a date with a sexy movie star. The sixth entry in the "Henry Aldrich" series of eleven films.

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

1943

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes poster
7.1

Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and Arnold, who learn about their world and experience the ups and downs of life as the season pass.

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

1945

The Arnelo Affair poster
5.2

A neglected wife gets mixed up with an hypnotic charmer and murder.

The Arnelo Affair

1947

She Went to the Races poster
6.0

A group of scientists develop a system to pick winners at the racetrack. Comedy.

She Went to the Races

1945

Jungle Girl poster
6.8

Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he settles in the African jungle, where his ability to cure the native ills has resulted in his virtual control of the Masamba tribes, who possess vast diamond mines coveted by a gang of crooks.

Jungle Girl

1941

Forty Little Mothers poster
6.5

An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.

Forty Little Mothers

1940

My Heart Belongs to Daddy poster
5.0

A distinguished professor finds his well-ordered life tospy-turvy after he is forced to take in a pregnant widow.

My Heart Belongs to Daddy

1942

Border Vigilantes poster
6.3

A town bedeviled with outlaws sends for Hoppy, Lucky and California after their own vigilante committee fails to solve the towns problems. Hoppy discovers that the bad guys are led by the town boss, and so are the vigilantes.

Border Vigilantes

1941

West Point Widow poster
7.0

In this romance, a hospital nurse marries a West Point football hero. She soon gets pregnant, but this doesn't stop her from annulling the marriage so as not to interfere with her husband's military career.

West Point Widow

1941

Little Mister Jim poster
5.5

After his mother's death, a young boy tries to help his father stop drinking.

Little Mister Jim

1947

1930s · 9 titles

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington poster
7.8

After the death of a United States Senator, the idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. The naive and earnest new senator soon finds himself battling political corruption.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

1939

Stage Door poster
7.2

A spirited heiress wishing to break into theatre on her own merit arrives at a boardinghouse where aspiring young actresses and showgirls are brought together through their cynicism and disappointments.

Stage Door

1937

Maid's Night Out poster
5.9

A millionaire's son works as a milkman for a month to win a bet with his father. While delivering milk he falls in love with a young debutante whom he mistakes for a maid.

Maid's Night Out

1938

There Goes the Groom poster
6.2

After striking it rich in Alaskan gold, a young man returns to marry his fiancé only to be snubbed. Her sister, however, is worth considering, until he learns about her gold-digging family.

There Goes the Groom

1937

Night Spot poster
4.6

A young singer, Marge Dexter, becomes involved in trouble when she works in a nightclub in which two of the band-members are in reality undercover-police officers who believe that the club is the headquarters of a dangerous gang of crooks.

Night Spot

1938

Having Wonderful Time poster
5.0

Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.

Having Wonderful Time

1938

No artwork available
10.0

Air-race champions "Speed" Leslie and Branda Fowler combine to open a very profitable airplane service that flies patients to other cities for special treatment. Gangsters soon move in and offer to take over, without an invitation.

Mercy Plane

1939

New Faces of 1937 poster
5.3

A crooked producer makes money from Broadway flops by selling more than 100% interest to multiple parties. He only fails if it makes a profit.

New Faces of 1937

1937

Living on Love poster
6.1

A man and a woman, who have never met, are forced by pecuniary circumstances to share the same basement apartment in shifts.

Living on Love

1937

Series credits