J. Farrell MacDonald

Acting

J. Farrell MacDonald

Born — Died

1875-06-05 — 1952-08-02

Place of birth

Waterbury, Connecticut, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

68 titles

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a 41-year career from 1911 to 1951, and directed forty-four silent films from 1912 to 1917. MacDonald was the principal director of L. Frank Baum's Oz Film Manufacturing Company, and he can frequently be seen in the films of Frank Capra, Preston Sturges and, especially, John Ford. Early in his career, MacDonald was a singer in minstrel shows, and he toured the United States extensively for two years with stage productions. He made his first silent film in 1911, a dramat…

Known for

It's a Wonderful Life poster
8.3

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

It's a Wonderful Life

1946

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans poster
7.8

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

1927

Fallen Angel poster
6.6

An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman named June Mills. Since Stella isn't interested in Eric unless he has money, the lovelorn guy comes up with a scheme to win her over, and it involves June. Before long, murder works its way into this passionate love triangle.

Fallen Angel

1945

My Darling Clementine poster
7.5

Three brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find one of their brothers dead and their cattle stolen. They decide to take revenge on the culprits.

My Darling Clementine

1946

Topper poster
6.7

Madcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.

Topper

1937

Meet John Doe poster
7.3

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

Meet John Doe

1941

Film credits

1950s · 4 titles

1940s · 23 titles

It's a Wonderful Life poster
8.3

George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.

It's a Wonderful Life

1946

Fallen Angel poster
6.6

An unemployed drifter, Eric Stanton wanders into a small California town and begins hanging around the local diner. While Eric falls for the lovely waitress Stella, he also begins romancing a quiet and well-to-do woman named June Mills. Since Stella isn't interested in Eric unless he has money, the lovelorn guy comes up with a scheme to win her over, and it involves June. Before long, murder works its way into this passionate love triangle.

Fallen Angel

1945

My Darling Clementine poster
7.5

Three brothers stop off for a night in the town of Tombstone. The next morning they find one of their brothers dead and their cattle stolen. They decide to take revenge on the culprits.

My Darling Clementine

1946

Meet John Doe poster
7.3

As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement.

Meet John Doe

1941

The Palm Beach Story poster
7.0

A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.

The Palm Beach Story

1942

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer poster
6.9

Teenager Susan Turner, with a severe crush on playboy artist Richard Nugent, sneaks into his apartment to model for him and is found there by her sister Judge Margaret Turner. Threatened with jail, Nugent agrees to date Susan until the crush abates.

The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

1947

Dark Command poster
6.4

When transplanted Texan Bob Seton arrives in Lawrence, Kansas he finds much to like about the place, especially Mary McCloud, daughter of the local banker. Politics is in the air however. It's just prior to the civil war and there is already a sharp division in the Territory as to whether it will remain slave-free. When he gets the opportunity to run for marshal, Seton finds himself running against the respected local schoolteacher, William Cantrell. Not is what it seems however. While acting as the upstanding citizen in public, Cantrell is dangerously ambitious and is prepared to do anything to make his mark, and his fortune, on the Territory. When he loses the race for marshal, he forms a group of raiders who run guns into the territory and rob and terrorize settlers throughout the territory. Eventually donning Confederate uniforms, it is left to Seton and the good citizens of Lawrence to face Cantrell and his raiders in one final clash.

Dark Command

1940

Sitting Pretty poster
7.1

Tacey and Harry King are a suburban couple with three sons and a serious need of a babysitter. Tacey puts an ad in the paper for a live-in babysitter, and the ad is answered by Lynn Belvedere. But when she arrives, she turns out to be a man. And not just any man, but a most eccentric, outrageously forthright genius with seemingly a million careers and experiences behind him.

Sitting Pretty

1948

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock poster
6.4

Twenty-three years after scoring the winning touchdown for his college football team mild-mannered Harold Diddlebock, who has been stuck in a dull, dead-end book-keeping job for years, is let go by his pompous boss, advertising tycoon J.E. Wagglebury, with nothing but a tiny pension. Harold, who never touches the stuff, takes a stiff drink with his new pal... and another, and another. What happened Wednesday?

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

1947

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn poster
7.5

In Brooklyn circa 1900, the Nolans manage to enjoy life on pennies despite great poverty and Papa's alcoholism. We come to know these people well through big and little troubles: Aunt Sissy's scandalous succession of "husbands"; the removal of the one tree visible from their tenement; and young Francie's desire to transfer to a better school...if irresponsible Papa can get his act together.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

1945

Reap the Wild Wind poster
6.3

The Florida Keys in 1840, where the implacable hurricanes of the Caribbean scream, where the salvagers of Key West, like the intrepid and beautiful Loxi Claiborne and her crew, reap, aboard frail schooners, the harvest of the wild wind, facing the shark teeth of the reefs to rescue the sailors and the cargo from the shipwrecks caused by the scavengers of the sea.

Reap the Wild Wind

1942

Greenwich Village poster
6.7

In 1922, a would-be classical composer gets involved with people putting on a musical revue.

Greenwich Village

1944

Whispering Smith poster
6.7

Smith is an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).

Whispering Smith

1948

Bowery at Midnight poster
5.0

A seemingly charitable soup kitchen operator (who moonlights as a criminology professor) uses his Bowery mission as a front for his criminal gang. Police attempt to close in on the gang as they commit a series of robberies, murders and bizarre experiments on corpses.

Bowery at Midnight

1942

Belle Starr's Daughter poster
5.1

The daughter of famous outlaw Belle Starr arrives at the town where her mother was murdered to find her killer.

Belle Starr's Daughter

1948

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek poster
6.8

A small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers wakes up the morning after a wild farewell party for the troops to find that she married someone she can't remember.

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

1944

Panhandle poster
5.8

An ex-gunfighter woos two women while avenging his brother, victim of a crooked gambler.

Panhandle

1948

The Great Lie poster
7.0

After a newlywed's husband apparently dies in a plane crash, she discovers that her rival for his affections is pregnant with his child.

The Great Lie

1941

True to Life poster
8.0

A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins to secretly write about their true life antics. The show becomes a big hit, but he begins to feel guilty about his charade when he falls in love with the family's pretty older daughter.

True to Life

1943

The McGuerins from Brooklyn poster
6.7

Tim McGuerin and Eddie Corbett operates a big taxi-fleet company together and because of a misunderstanding Tim's wife Sadie thinks he is having an affair with his secretary, Ms. Lucy Gibbs. To annoy Tim, Sadie starts taking classes with a fitness instructor, Samson, and later going with him to his out-of-town health club. To sort out all the misunderstandings both Tim and Eddie go to the health club as well.

The McGuerins from Brooklyn

1942

Captains of the Clouds poster
6.4

Inspired by Churchill's Dunkirk speech, brash, undisciplined Canadian bush pilot Brian MacLean and three friends enlist in the RCAF.

Captains of the Clouds

1942

The Light of Western Stars poster
5.0

Easterner Madeline Hammond buys a ranch not knowing Hayworth is using it to smuggle ammunition across the border. When trouble starts, she brings back Gene Stewart ex-foreman who left the country after fighting with the Sheriff.

The Light of Western Stars

1940

Fury at Furnace Creek poster
6.3

The Arizona wilderness, 1880. Gen. Fletcher Blackwell sends a message telling Capt. Walsh, who is escorting a wagon-train through Apache territory, heading for the fort at Furnace Creek, that he should cancel the escort and rush to another town. Apache leader "Little Dog" is leading the attack on the wagon-train and massacring everyone at the poorly manned fort. As a result the treaty is broken with the Indians and the white settlers take over the territory with the help of the cavalry, as the Apaches are wiped out and only "Little Dog" remains at large. Gen. Fletcher Blackwell is court-martial-led for treason.

Fury at Furnace Creek

1948

1930s · 24 titles

Topper poster
6.7

Madcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.

Topper

1937

The Whole Town's Talking poster
6.9

Ordinary 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

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain poster
6.1

A fast-talking reporter befriends a young woman and her male companion who are wanted for a policeman's shooting.

The Strange Love of Molly Louvain

1932

Our Little Girl poster
5.3

Don Middleton is so caught up with his work he neglects his wife Elsa. Lonely Elsa begins to spend more time with Don's best friend and they become attracted to one another. Don and Elsa decide to get a divorce, unaware of the effect their problems are having on their daughter Molly. When Elsa announces plans to remarry, Molly runs away from home.

Our Little Girl

1935

No Man of Her Own poster
6.5

An on-the-lam New York card shark marries a small-town librarian who thinks he's a businessman.

No Man of Her Own

1932

Susannah of the Mounties poster
6.5

This classic family drama stars Shirley Temple as young orphan Susannah Sheldon, the sole survivor of a brutal Indian attack who's befriended by Canadian Mountie Angus Montague (Randolph Scott) and his girlfriend, Vicky (Margaret Lockwood). The couple takes Susannah under their wing and soon learn that having a precocious child around can come in handy; when the Indians return, the girl uses her charm to broker peace.Shirley is the orphaned survivor of an Indian attack in the Canadian West. A Mountie and his girlfriend take her in...

Susannah of the Mounties

1939

The Truth About Youth poster
6.2

A young man falls into the clutches of a nightclub singer who corrupts him.

The Truth About Youth

1930

The Irish in Us poster
7.5

A boxer and his policeman brother feud over a police captain's daughter.

The Irish in Us

1935

The Housekeeper's Daughter poster
4.6

A mobster's moll leads a newsman, cub reporter and photographer to a scoop.

The Housekeeper's Daughter

1939

Zenobia poster
5.0

A modest country doctor in the antebellum South has to contend with his daughter's upcoming marriage and an affectionate medicine show elephant.

Zenobia

1939

Week-End Marriage poster
5.5

In this comedy, a hard-working husband loses his job and his wife becomes the bread winner.

Week-End Marriage

1932

Riffraff poster
5.4

Fisherman Dutch marries cannery worker Hattie. After he is kicked out of his union and fired from his job he leaves Hattie who steals money for him and goes to jail. He gets a new job, foils a plot to dynamite the ship, and promises to wait for Hattie.

Riffraff

1936

Men Without Women poster
6.3

Made during the early days of sound cinema, this tense submarine adventure is an intriguing example of a hybrid silent-talkie. A disgraced English sub commander changes his name to Burke and joins the American Navy. When the U.S. submarine on which he is serving as a torpedo launcher begins to sink, Burke must make the ultimate sacrifice to save as many crew men as possible..

Men Without Women

1930

Slim poster
6.5

Expert lineman Red takes Farm-boy Slim under his wing and teaches him the dangerous, migratory trade of putting up transmission lines. They both love their work, and the same girl, who hates their dangerous profession.

Slim

1937

Heritage of the Desert poster
5.7

A young man must defend his land from claim jumpers in this adaptation of the popular Zane Grey novel.

Heritage of the Desert

1932

East Side of Heaven poster
7.4

A man finds himself the father, by proxy, of a ten-month-old baby and becomes involved in the turbulent lives of the child's family.

East Side of Heaven

1939

The Crowd Roars poster
7.0

A young boxer gets caught between a no-good father and a crime boss when he starts dating the boss's daughter, although she doesn't know what daddy does for a living.

The Crowd Roars

1938

The Best Man Wins poster
6.6

A diver saves his best friend's life but loses his own arm in doing so. Later, unable to find work because of his missing arm, he is forced to go to work for a criminal searching for lost treasures. Meanwhile his friend, who has since become a policeman, finds himself assigned to break up the crook's operation and bring in his gang--including the man who saved his life.

The Best Man Wins

1935

The Racing Strain poster
10.0

A race-car driver whose career is on the skids because of his drinking falls for a rich society girl. That motivates him to clean up his act and resume his career, but it may be too late for that.

The Racing Strain

1932

There Goes My Heart poster
7.3

An heiress takes a job as a department store clerk.

There Goes My Heart

1938

Parnell poster
4.6

Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell struggles to free his country from English rule, but his relationship with married Katie O'Shea threatens to ruin all his dreams of freedom.

Parnell

1937

Parnell poster
4.6

Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell struggles to free his country from English rule, but his relationship with married Katie O'Shea threatens to ruin all his dreams of freedom.

Parnell

1937

The Maltese Falcon poster
6.4

A lovely dame with dangerous lies employs the services of a private detective, who is quickly caught up in the mystery and intrigue of a statuette known as the Maltese Falcon.

The Maltese Falcon

1931

Once to Every Woman poster
6.1

An able nurse clashes with a new doctor at her hospital.

Once to Every Woman

1934

1920s · 8 titles

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans poster
7.8

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

1927

3 Bad Men poster
6.9

Three outlaws come to the aid of a young girl after her father is killed.

3 Bad Men

1926

The Iron Horse poster
6.8

Brandon, a surveyor, dreams of building a railway to the west. He sets off with his son, Davy, to survey a route. They discover a new pass which will shave 200 miles off the expected distance, but they are set upon by a party of Cheyenne. One of them, a white renegade with only two fingers on his right hand, kills Brandon and scalps him. Davy is all alone now.

The Iron Horse

1925

Happy Days poster
6.3

In Fox's contribution to the all-star revue cycle of early talkies, showboat singer Margie, hearing that the show is in arrears, goes to New York to gather all of the former stars to stage a minstrel show as a benefit.

Happy Days

1929

Drifting poster
7.0

An American girl who helps operate a Shanghai opium ring meets an American agent disguised as a mining engineer. The two fall in love, and she has to determine where her loyalties lie.

Drifting

1923

East Side, West Side poster
7.2

Director Allan Dwan’s excellent use of New York locations enlivens a rags-to-riches tale that fully exploits star George O’Brien’s championship boxing prowess.

East Side, West Side

1927

The Fighting Heart poster
6.0

This film is the story of a small-town boy and girl. The hero, Denny Bolton, thrashes the town bully only to meet him later in the boxing ring in New York City. Ambition has swept him to Broadway, but the search for love brings him back to the Main Street of his home town.

The Fighting Heart

1925

The Ghost Breaker poster
10.0

A young man and his manservant, escaping from a backwoods family feud, are persuaded by a beautiful young heiress to help her rid her newly-gained Spanish castle of ghosts.

The Ghost Breaker

1922

Behind the camera

Samson poster
10.0

Samson, an Israelite whose enormous strength is legendary, falls in love with Zorah, a Philistine, and marries her, overcoming his father Manoah's objections.

Samson

1914

The Magic Cloak of Oz poster
4.4

The fairies of Oz gather in the forest of Burzee one evening and weave a magic cloak that gives the wearer one wish, so long as it has not been stolen.

The Magic Cloak of Oz

1914

Lonesome Luke, Social Gangster poster
NR

Luke, a street tramp, is taken to a dance contest by a pretty millionairess, but when he is ejected, he returns with a gun and wreaks havoc.

Lonesome Luke, Social Gangster

1915

The Patchwork Girl of Oz poster
5.1

Ojo and Unc Nunkie are out of food, so they decide to journey to the Emerald City where they will never starve. Along the way, they meet Mewel, a waif and stray (mule) who leads them to Dr. Pipt, who has been stirring the powder of life for nine years. Ojo adds plenty of brains to Margolotte's Patchwork servant before she is brought to life with the powder. When Scraps does come to life, she accidentally knocks the liquid of petrifaction upon Unc Nunkie, Margolotte, and Danx (daughter Jesseva's boyfriend). So all go on separate journeys to find the ingredients to the antidote.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

1914

Rory o' the Bogs poster
7.0

At the death of Burke, the bulk of his fortune goes to his only son, Rory, a baby in arms. The child is in the keeping of his uncle. Sir Everett, who had a son of Rory's age. That his own son might inherit the fortune Everett causes Rory to be kidnapped.

Rory o' the Bogs

1913

His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz poster
5.6

A wicked king has taken over the Emerald City, and wants his daughter, Princess Gloria to marry the horrid courtier Googly-Goo, though she loves Pon, the Gardener's Boy. The camera follows two farmers placing a Scarecrow upon a pole in a cornfield. Pon rescues a Kansas girl named Dorothy from the evil witch Mombi, whom Princess Gloria has been taken to by King Krewl to freeze her heart so she will no longer love Pon. An Indian princess has a ceremony to bring the Scarecrow to life. Pon rescues the cold-hearted princess and they flee for help, discovering the Scarecrow, who promptly falls in love with the princess, and Button-Bright, a lost boy from America. They come to the castle of the Tin Emperor, Nick Chopper, and after oiling him, he falls in love with Gloria. After a bit of a chase aided by the Sawhorse and the Wizard, Mombi turns Pon into a Kangaroo, and a slough of Fred Woodward's animals battle it out.

His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz

1914

Over the Fence poster
5.9

Snitch steals Ginger's (stolen) baseball tickets and takes Ginger's girl to the game. Finding himself without tickets, Ginger dresses as a baseball player and wins the game. A possible debut of the "Glasses" or "Boy" character.

Over the Fence

1917

No artwork available
8.0

A young widow and her baby find refuge with a miserly backslider after being evicted. While the miser is away, criminals invade, mistreating the mother. The miser returns, pleading for their safety, and upon their rescue, his adoption of the baby reveals his true Christian nature, despite his church absence.

The Backslider

1914