Frances Dee

Acting

Frances Dee

Born 1909-11-26 · Los Angeles, California, USA

Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American screen and television actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical Playboy of Paris (1930). She starred in the film An American Tragedy (1931) in a role later recreated by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1951 re-titled remake A Place in the Sun. She also had a prominent role in the classic 1943 Val Lewton psychological horror film I Walked With a Zombie. Dee was the wife of Hollywood star Joel McCrea.

Acting credits

Of Human Bondage poster
6.5

A young man finds himself attracted to a cold and unfeeling waitress who may ultimately destroy them both.

Of Human Bondage

1934

I Walked with a Zombie poster
6.8

A nurse in the Caribbean turns to voodoo in hopes of curing her patient, a mindless woman whose husband she's fallen in love with.

I Walked with a Zombie

1943

Headline Shooter poster
6.3

A newsreel photographer neglects his love life to get the perfect shot.

Headline Shooter

1933

Wells Fargo poster
5.5

In the 1840s, Ramsey MacKay, the driver for the struggling Wells Fargo mail and freight company, will secure an important contract if he delivers fresh oysters to Buffalo from New York City. When he rescues Justine Pryor and her mother, who are stranded in a broken wagon on his route, he doesn't let them slow him down and gives the ladies an exhilirating ride into Buffalo. He arrives in time to obtain the contract and is then sent by company president Henry Wells to St. Louis to establish a branch office.

Wells Fargo

1937

Little Women poster
6.8

Four sisters come of age in America in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Little Women

1933

If I Had a Million poster
6.5

An elderly business tycoon, believed to be dying, decides to give a million dollars each to eight strangers chosen at random from the phone directory.

If I Had a Million

1932

Working Girls poster
7.1

Two sisters from Indiana, the wide-eyed and innocent Mae Thorpe, and her more streetwise sister June, move into the Rolf House for Homeless Girls in New York. With June's help, Mae obtains a job as a stenographer for the scientist Joseph von Schraeder, while June gets work as a telegraph operator at Western Union.

Working Girls

1931

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind poster
8.2

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

1988

Half Angel poster
7.5

Allison Long is acquitted on charges of poisoning her father but then her benefactor is poisoned. Reporter Duffy Giles has faith in her innocence.

Half Angel

1936

Night of 100 Stars poster
5.8

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers paid up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.

Night of 100 Stars

1982

Happy Land poster
7.1

An Iowa drugstore owner becomes embittered when his son is killed in World War II. The druggist believes that the boy's life was cut short before he had an opportunity to truly appreciate his existence.

Happy Land

1943

The Gay Deception poster
6.4

A wide-eyed working girl wins a $5,000 sweepstakes and plunges into the lush life of New York City, where she meets a bellboy who is more than he seems.

The Gay Deception

1935

The Night of June 13 poster
7.5

Elna Curry, once a concert pianist, develops an unfounded jealousy of neighbor, Trudie Morrow. Elna who suffers from neurasthenia, believes that Trudie is having an affair with her husband, John, and vows revenge on Trudie. John explains to Trudie Elna's condition and plan. Trudie, being good-hearted tells John that she'll move. One evening, John returns late from work to discover Elna dead. John burns Elna's suicide note to protect Trudie. This results in John being charged for murder and put on trial.

The Night of June 13

1932

The Private Affairs of Bel Ami poster
6.2

A self-serving journalist uses influential women in late-1800s Paris and denies the one who truly loves him.

The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

1947

Meet the Stewarts poster
5.5

A young, newlywed couple learns to make their marriage work—on a budget.

Meet the Stewarts

1942

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

The Crime of the Century poster
6.7

Driven to desperation by his young and extravagant wife, alienist Dr. Emil Brandt has arranged a perfect crime; now he begs the police to lock him up before he can commit it.

The Crime of the Century

1933

An American Tragedy poster
6.3

A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.

An American Tragedy

1931

Coast Guard poster
6.0

Steady, dependable Coast Guard Lieutenant Raymond "Ray" Dower and reckless aviator Thomas "Speed" Bradshaw are the closest of friends. Ray saves the life of Captain Tobias Bliss, tramp steamer skipper, in a daring rescue at sea. Speed flies the injured man back to the base hospital, where the two officers later visit him. There Ray meets Nancy Bliss, Bliss' grand-daughter, and falls in love with her. Speed meets her at a dance and urges Ray to propose before some other guy does. Ray is assigned to flood rescue duty, and Speed and Nancy start going out together and discover they are in love.

Coast Guard

1939

Becky Sharp poster
5.7

In early 19th century England, ambitious and ruthless orphan Rebecca Sharp advances from the position of governess to the heights of British society. The first feature length film to use three-strip Technicolor.

Becky Sharp

1935

If I Were King poster
7.1

King Louis XI masquerades as a commoner in Paris, seeking out the treachery he is sure lurks in his kingdom. At a local tavern, he overhears the brash poet François Villon extolling why he would be a better king. Annoyed yet intrigued, the King bestows on Villon the title of Grand Constable. Soon Villon begins work and falls for a lovely lady-in-waiting, but then must flee execution when the King turns on him.

If I Were King

1938

Four Faces West poster
5.8

Cowboy Ross McEwen arrives in town. He asks the banker for a loan of $2000. When the banker asks about securing a loan that large, McEwen shows him his six-gun collateral. The banker hands over the money in exchange for an I.O.U., signed "Jefferson Davis". McEwen rides out of town and catches a train, but not before being bitten by a rattler. On the train, a nurse, Miss Hollister, tends to his wound. A posse searches the train, but McEwen manages to escape notice. However a mysterious Mexican has taken note of the cowboy, and that loudmouthed brat is still nosing around. Who will be the first to claim the reward for the robber's capture?

Four Faces West

1948

Complicated Women poster
6.9

Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered film content. No longer portrayed as virgins or vamps, the liberated female of the pre-code films had dimensions. Good girls had lovers and babies and held down jobs, while the bad girls were cast in a sympathetic light. And they did it all without apology.

Complicated Women

2003

Payment on Demand poster
6.2

David gives his wife, Joyce, an unexpected—and unpleasant—surprise when he suddenly demands a divorce. When she then learns that David has taken up with a younger woman, Joyce decides to make the most of this separation by taking a solo trip to the Caribbean. However, just before diving into a vacation fling, she runs into Emily, an old chum whose own divorce has left her embittered. Joyce then debates giving married life one last chance.

Payment on Demand

1951