William Janney

Acting

William Janney

Born — Died

1908-02-15 — 1992-12-22

Place of birth

New York City, New York, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

35 titles

Known for

The Dawn Patrol poster
6.6

World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but he soon is promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.

The Dawn Patrol

1930

Two Seconds poster
6.3

A condemned murderer, in the process of being executed, relives the events that led to his being sentenced to die in the electric chair. Told in flashback, we witness a sleazy dancehall girl dupe a high rise riveter into marriage so she can live off of him. But when he loses his job and his marbles, she ends up supporting him with money from her side man--and misses no opportunity to rub it in his face that she's now supporting him in his emasculated state. As the animosity grows and things get more and more unbearable, he is eventually driven to desperate measures.

Two Seconds

1932

Cimarron poster
5.5

When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.

Cimarron

1931

Salute poster
5.8

A comedy-romance about rival brothers attending a military academy.

Salute

1929

Bonnie Scotland poster
6.6

Stan and Ollie stow away to Scotland expecting to inherit the MacLaurel estate. When things don't quite turn out that way, they unwittingly enlist in the Scottish army and are posted to India.

Bonnie Scotland

1935

The Girl Said No poster
5.8

A comedy romance in which breezy Haines, as a young lady killer, tries to capture the heart of Hyams who has turned him down for Bushman. Haines plots dozens of extreme measures to win her over, and finally goes so far as to drag her from the altar, bound and gagged.

The Girl Said No

1930

Film credits

1930s · 32 titles

The Dawn Patrol poster
6.6

World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but he soon is promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.

The Dawn Patrol

1930

Two Seconds poster
6.3

A condemned murderer, in the process of being executed, relives the events that led to his being sentenced to die in the electric chair. Told in flashback, we witness a sleazy dancehall girl dupe a high rise riveter into marriage so she can live off of him. But when he loses his job and his marbles, she ends up supporting him with money from her side man--and misses no opportunity to rub it in his face that she's now supporting him in his emasculated state. As the animosity grows and things get more and more unbearable, he is eventually driven to desperate measures.

Two Seconds

1932

Cimarron poster
5.5

When the government opens up the Oklahoma territory for settlement, restless Yancey Cravat claims a plot of the free land for himself and moves his family there from Wichita. A newspaperman, lawyer, and just about everything else, Cravat soon becomes a leading citizen of the boom town of Osage. Once the town is established, however, he begins to feel confined once again, and heads for the Cherokee Strip, leaving his family behind. During this and other absences, his wife Sabra must learn to take care of herself and soon becomes prominent in her own right.

Cimarron

1931

Bonnie Scotland poster
6.6

Stan and Ollie stow away to Scotland expecting to inherit the MacLaurel estate. When things don't quite turn out that way, they unwittingly enlist in the Scottish army and are posted to India.

Bonnie Scotland

1935

The Girl Said No poster
5.8

A comedy romance in which breezy Haines, as a young lady killer, tries to capture the heart of Hyams who has turned him down for Bushman. Haines plots dozens of extreme measures to win her over, and finally goes so far as to drag her from the altar, bound and gagged.

The Girl Said No

1930

The Right of Way poster
5.2

Snobbish attorney Charles 'Beauty' Steele loses his wife due to his drinking and his airs at the same time that his brother-in-law absconds with funds belonging to one of Steele's clients. In search of the thief, Steele is attacked and left for dead. He is rescued by a kindly couple, but suffers from amnesia. He starts life afresh and is happy, until the return of his memory sends him back to resolve his old involvements.

The Right of Way

1930

The World Changes poster
4.8

Generational saga tracing the events in the lives of the midwest pioneering Nordholm family, as seen through the eyes of businessman Orin Nordholm Jr., who ages from a youth to an elderly grandfather.

The World Changes

1933

The Great Hotel Murder poster
6.0

Crime novelist Roger Blackwood competes with hotel house detective Andy McCabe in solving a murder by poisoning at a medical convention.

The Great Hotel Murder

1935

Secret of the Blue Room poster
5.6

According to a legend, the mansion's "blue room" is cursed -- everyone who has ever spent the night in that room has met with an untimely end. The three suitors of the heroine wager that each can survive a night in the forbidding blue room.

Secret of the Blue Room

1933

Hopalong Cassidy Returns poster
6.8

A crusading newspaper editor recruits his old friend Hoppy to take the job of Marshall in a town rife with vice and murder directed at helpless miners.

Hopalong Cassidy Returns

1936

A Successful Calamity poster
5.6

Henry Wilton is an elderly millionaire saddled with his selfish young second wife Emmy 'Sweetie' Wilton and a pair of spoiled grown children, Peggy and Eddie. To test his family's mettle, Henry pretends to have gone broke. Just as he suspected they would, his children rally to their father's side and change their ways: Peggy forsakes the fortune hunter George Struthers for the nice young man she's really in love with, the polo coach Larry Rivers, while Eddie applies for a demanding job and performs admirably. Only Sweetie seems to desert Henry.

A Successful Calamity

1932

Crooner poster
6.5

Fame goes to a priggish singer's head and almost costs him his girlfriend.

Crooner

1932

A Modern Hero poster
7.0

A 1920s circus performer uses every means at his disposal to achieve fame and fortune at the expense of others.

A Modern Hero

1934

No artwork available
4.8

A young woman who works in the movie business buys a sweepstakes ticket that turns out to be a winner. Her stroke of luck changes her life around--and not necessarily for the better.

Sweepstake Annie

1935

As the Earth Turns poster
5.6

Love happens between the son of Polish immigrants settled in Maine and the daughter of a neighboring farm family.

As the Earth Turns

1934

Sutter's Gold poster
7.0

Story of the gold strike on an immigrant's property that started the 1849 California Gold Rush.

Sutter's Gold

1936

The Crime of the Century poster
6.5

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

Those Who Dance poster
6.2

A policeman doubles as a gunman to get in with the mob.

Those Who Dance

1930

The Mouthpiece poster
6.2

A prosecutor quits his job and becomes a defense attorney when he finds out that a man he got convicted and executed was actually innocent.

The Mouthpiece

1932

Young Desire poster
7.0

A carnival sideshow dancer falls in love with a handsome young man.

Young Desire

1930

Clipped Wings poster
5.3

Mickey Lofton, young half-brother of famed war-aviator Jerry, fails in his attempt to enter the Canadian Air Corps, because of his fear of thunderstorms developed by an incident in his boyhood days. Jerry, now a Captain in the U.S. Department of Justice, is given an assignment to capture some border oil smugglers. Through his friendship with Raoul McGuire, one of the suspects, Jerry is accepted as a member of the gang. Mickey is in love with Raoul's sister, Molly. Gang leader Moran shoots and wounds Raoul, and is himself shot down by Jerry. Mickey flies Molly and her wounded brother to a hospital. Jerry takes off in another plane to guard Mickey's craft from a pursuing airplane, and crashes his plane into the gangster's plane but parachutes to safety.

Clipped Wings

1937

A Successful Failure poster
4.2

Ellery Cushing is full of catchy sayings and old-fashioned wisdom. But all that his family cares about is how much money he makes, and all that his boss at the newspaper sees is that Cushing is getting too old to keep up with his work. So his loyal co-worker Phil decides to see what he can do to help everyone see what his friend has to offer.

A Successful Failure

1934

Under-Cover Man poster
6.2

When his father is murdered, erstwhile conman Nick Darrow asks the cops if he can go undercover to find the killers, and maybe even stop a crime ring that has been plaguing the police. The sister of another innocent victim joins him as they infiltrate the syndicate. Any wrong move could lead to instant death.

Under-Cover Man

1932

Terror Aboard poster
6.7

An ocean liner is found at sea with everyone on board dead. An investigation is begun to find out what happened.

Terror Aboard

1933

King of the Wild Horses poster
8.0

Columbia's King of the Wild Horses is a remake of the silent Hal Roach western feature of the same name -- and with the same "star," Rex the Wonder Horse, in the lead. Most of the story involves the romantic triangle between rogue stallion Rex, the gorgeous mare Lady, and villainous black steed Marquis.

King of the Wild Horses

1933

Shooting Straight poster
6.2

A gambler wanted for murder hides under the guise of a clergyman.

Shooting Straight

1930

Without Children poster
NR

Struggling architect David Cole is encouraged by his boss, Phil Graham, to fraternize with high society as a means of drumming up business. This inadvertently leads to him having an affair with a rich older woman. When his wife Sue discovers the infidelity, she divorces him and takes away their two children. It turns out this was Phil's intent all along - so he could marry Sue. With David now living in Europe, the two children grow up spoiled and self-centered under Phil and Sue's neglectful care. When one of them is shot while roughhousing, David realizes he must own up to his responsibilities as a father...but it may be too late to make a difference in his children's lives...

Without Children

1935

Girls Demand Excitement poster
10.0

Peter Brooks is a hard-working, hard-up college student whose dislike of women attending college weakens under the amorous advances of spoiled socialite coed Joan Madison.

Girls Demand Excitement

1931

The Pay-Off poster
5.4

A thug robs a young engaged couple of their last few dollars. When the thug's gang boss hears of the robbery, he gives them back their money and takes them under his wing. The thug, resentful of the couple, plans to organize a mutiny against the gang's boss, but when he is killed in a botched robbery, the police focus their attention on the young couple.

The Pay-Off

1930

Should Ladies Behave poster
4.8

A middle-aged houseguest causes romantic turmoil when he falls in love with his host's teenage daughter.

Should Ladies Behave

1933

The Iron Master poster
7.0

The wealthy owner of an iron foundry dies, and his greedy heirs are outraged when they find out that he left his entire estate not to them but to the foreman of his foundry.

The Iron Master

1933

Born to Gamble poster
5.2

A wealthy man relates how gambling had tragic consequences for his family.

Born to Gamble

1935