Frances GiffordFilmography

Born:: December 7, 1920 in Long Beach, CA
Occupation:: Actor
Birth name:: Mary Frances Gifford
Biography:: Fresh out of high school, statuesque brunette actress Frances Gifford played bits and extra roles until landing the lead in the low-budget Mercy Plane (1939), in which she was cast opposite her first husband James Dunn. Two years later she was seen as Robert Benchley's guide through the Disney...Read More

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Sky Commando

Actors: Dan Duryea, Frances Gifford, Michael Fox, William R. Klein

Synopsis: Dan Duryea essays a rare sympathetic role in the Columbia programmer Sky Commandos. At first glance, however, Duryea seems to be the villain. Cast as a martinet air force officer, he drives his men mercilessly, earning the enmity of practically everyone under his command. But through a series of Read More

1953
Riding High

Actors: Bing Crosby, Coleen Gray, Charles Bickford, Frances Gifford, Raymond Walburn

Synopsis: Anxious to remain active in the 1950s, director Frank Capra wanted to prove to Paramount Pictures that he could deliver an "A" picture on a modest budget. To that end, Capra bought the rights of his 1934 film Broadway Bill from Columbia, and remade it under the title Riding High. He then hired Read More

1950
Luxury Liner

Actors: George Brent, Jane Powell, Lauritz Melchior, Frances Gifford, Marina Koshetz

Synopsis: MGM whipped up another musical salad with Luxury Liner, featuring a glittering lineup of contractees including Jane Powell, Lauritz Melchior and Xavier Cugat. George Brent plays the skipper of a "love boat"-type cruise ship, while Ms. Powell plays his daughter. She entertains the passengers at Read More

1948
Little Mister Jim

Actors: Butch Jenkins, James Craig, Frances Gifford, Luana Patten, Spring Byington

Synopsis: MGM's newest child star Jackie "Butch" Jenkins--lisp and all--is the title character in this overlong family drama. The setting is a postwar army camp, where returning GIs live in Quonsets with their families. Jenkins' mother dies, whereupon his soldier dad becomes an alcoholic. Both father and Read More

1947
The Arnelo Affair

Actors: John Hodiak, George Murphy, Frances Gifford, Dean Stockwell, Eve Arden

Synopsis: On the whole, the films of producer-writer-director Arch Oboler seldom came up to the lofty standards of his radio work, but each of his movie projects had a few meritorious moments. One of the better Oboler film efforts was The Arnelo Affair, produced by MGM in 1946. Frances Gifford delivers what Read More

1947
She Went to the Races

Actors: James Craig, Frances Gifford, Ava Gardner, Edmund Gwenn, Sig Rumann

Synopsis: MGM's newest romantic team of James Craig and Frances Gifford head the cast of the glossy "B"-picture She Went to the Races. Gifford plays beautiful professor Ann Wotters, who develops a scientific method of picking winners at the race track. Craig portrays horsetrainer Steve Confield, who thinks Read More

1945
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

Actors: Edward G. Robinson, James Craig, Frances Gifford, Agnes Moorehead, Morris Carnovsky

Synopsis: An earnest rural melodrama set among Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes is a slightly updated version of George Victor Martin's 1940 novel. Edward G. Robinson stars as Martinius Jacobson, a farmer devoted to his wife Bruna (Agnes Moorehead) and precocious Read More

1945
Thrill of a Romance

Actors: Van Johnson, Esther Williams, Frances Gifford, Henry Travers, Spring Byington

Synopsis: This aquatic musical is set at a mountain resort in the beautiful Sierra Nevadas where a heroic Army Air Corpsman has come for a vacation. There he falls in love with the lovely swimming instructor, who is unfortunately newly married to a rather stodgy businessman. The mayhem begins when her new Read More

1945
Marriage Is a Private Affair

Actors: Lana Turner, James Craig, John Hodiak, Frances Gifford, Hugh Marlowe

Synopsis: Robert Z. Leonard, who must have taken room and board at MGM, was the directorial hand behind this slight domestic drama. Lana Turner is the bride, John Hodiak the groom. James Craig is the odd man out, who pursues Turner when Hodiak is off fighting the war. Bored by domesticity, Turner welcomes Read More

1944
Cry Havoc

Actors: Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, Joan Blondell, Fay Bainter, Marsha Hunt

Synopsis: Allen R. Kerward's flagwaving stage play Proof thro' the Night was vastly improved in its screen adaptation, which was retitled Cry Havoc. Margaret Sullavan (making her first screen appearance in two years), Joan Blondell and Ann Southern are among the appropriately deglamorized actresses playing Read More

1943
Tarzan Triumphs

Actors: Johnny Weissmuller, Johnny Sheffield, Frances Gifford, Stanley Ridges, Sig Rumann

Synopsis: World War II rears its ugly head in this patriotic (if somewhat nonsensical) Tarzan picture. When a Nazi pilot (Rex Williams) crash lands in the jungle, he is nursed back to health by Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield). The isolationist ape man is vaguely aware that the Nazi is Read More

1943
Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

Actors: Jimmy Lydon, Charles Smith, John Litel, Olive Blakeney, Diana Lynn

Synopsis: Adenoidal teenager Henry Aldrich (James Lydon) "gets glamour" when he wins first prize in a movie-magazine contest. Before he quite knows what's happening, Henry is whisked to Hollywood for a date with glamorous "sarong girl" Hilary Dane (Frances Gifford). All of this coincides with a local Read More

1942
My Heart Belongs to Daddy

Actors: Richard Carlson, Martha O'Driscoll, Cecil Kellaway, Frances Gifford, Florence Bates

Synopsis: A most uncharacteristic assignment for director Robert Siodmak, My Heart Belongs to Daddy was scripted by F. Hugh Herbert, of The Moon is Blue fame (or notoriety). Martha O'Driscoll stars as a widowed, pregnant exotic dancer, forced by circumstance to stopover at the household of widowed scientist Read More

1942
The Glass Key

Actors: Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd, Bonita Granville, William Bendix, Richard Denning

Synopsis: Dashiel Hammett's The Glass Key, a tale of big-city political corruption, was first filmed in 1935, with Edward Arnold as a duplicitous political boss and George Raft as his loyal lieutenant. This 1942 remake improves on the original, especially in replacing the stolid Raft with the charismatic Alan Ladd Read More

1942
The Remarkable Andrew

Actors: William Holden, Ellen Drew, Brian Donlevy, Rod Cameron, Richard Webb

Synopsis: Andrew Jackson is very happy to serve as the secretary of the society that honors his presidential namesake until he is arrested for embezzling from the town coffers. With no one to speak on his behalf, poor innocent Jackson is tossed into jail. There he finds himself haunted by several ghosts Read More

1942
Star Spangled Rhythm

Actors: Victor Moore, Betty Hutton, Eddie Bracken, Anne Revere, Walter Abel

Synopsis: Star-Spangled Rhythm is a typical wartime all-star musical-comedy melange, this time from Paramount Pictures. The slender plot involves the efforts by humble studio doorman Pop Webster (Victor Moore) to pass himself off as a big-shot Paramount executive for the benefit of his sailor son Jimmy (Eddie Bracken Read More

1942
Beyond the Blue Horizon

Actors: Dorothy Lamour, Richard Denning, Jack Haley, Walter Abel, Helen Gilbert

Synopsis: It's Dorothy Lamour again, sarong and all, in the South Seas wish-dream Beyond the Blue Horizon. Lamour plays Tama, a daughter of the jungle who heads to the US to claim an inheritance. For publicity purposes, press agent Squidge (Jack Haley) tries to team Tama with his client, circus lion tamer Read More

1942
American Empire

Actors: Leo Carrillo, Preston S. Foster, Frances Gifford, Robert H. Barrat

Synopsis: Originally slated for release through Paramount Pictures but ultimately distributed by United Artists, American Empire is a western "special" from Hopalong Cassidy producer Harry "Pop" Sherman. Set during the Reconstruction period, the film stars Richard Dix and Preston S. Foster as Dan Taylor and Read More

1942
West Point Widow

Actors: Anne Shirley, Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Frances Gifford, Maude Eburne

Synopsis: 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. Though she keeps it a secret, her plan is to marry him again after he graduates from the Read More

1941
Jungle Girl [Serial]

Actors: Frances Gifford, Tom Neal, Trevor Bardette, Gerald Mohr, Eddie Acuff

Synopsis: Unavailable for decades, this 15-chapter serial from Republic Pictures was finally re-released on video tape in the late 1990s. Based on a story by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jungle Girl featured former Paramount starlet Frances Gifford as Nyoka, a white girl raised by her father, Dr. Read More

1941
The Reluctant Dragon

Actors: Robert Benchley, Frances Gifford, Buddy Pepper, Nana Bryant, Claud Allister, Barnett Parker

Synopsis: The very first Disney feature to include live-action footage, this behind-the-scenes documentary about the studio's animation process includes the cartoon short of the title, which in later years was often exhibited separately from this film. Robert Benchley stars as himself, a visitor to the Read More

1941
Border Vigilantes

Actors: Wally Wales, William "Hopalong" Boyd, Andy Clyde, Russell Hayden, Frances Gifford, Victor Jory

Synopsis: Border Vigilantes was the 34th entry in the "Hopalong Cassidy" western series, with 32 more still on the way. William Boyd stars once more as black-clad champion of justice Hopalong Cassidy, while Andy Clyde and Russell Hayden tag along as California Carson and Lucky Jenkins. This time our heroes Read More

1941
Louisiana Purchase

Actors: Bob Hope, Vera Zorina, Victor Moore, Irene Bordoni, Dona Drake

Synopsis: The Irving Berlin-Morrie Ryskind Broadway musical hit Louisiana Purchase came to the screen with surprisingly few emendations in 1941. Bob Hope replaces Broadway's William Gaxton in the role of innocent political flunkey Jim Taylor, set up to take the fall for wholesale graft by a group of corrupt Read More

1941
Hold That Woman

Actors: James Dunn, Frances Gifford, George Douglas, Martin Spellman, Rita La Roy

Synopsis: James Dunn and Frances Gifford were husband and wife when they costarred in PRC's Hold That Woman. Dunn plays Jimmy Parker, ace operative for Skip Tracers Ltd., a process-serving firm. Repossessing a radio from a recalcitrant debtor, Jimmy finds a fortune in stolen jewels hidden inside the box. Read More

1940
A Fugitive from Justice

Actors: Roger Pryor, Lucille Fairbanks, Eddie Foy, Jr., Sheila Bromley, Morgan Conway

Synopsis: The 1940 Warner Bros. quickie A Fugitive From Justice is based on Leonard Neubauer's short story "Million Dollar Fugitive." Roger Pryor plays insurance investigator Don Miller, who endeavors to hide Lee Leslie (Donald Douglas), holder of a million-dollar policy, from both the police and the Read More

1940
Mercy Plane

Actors: James Dunn, Frances Gifford, Matty Fain, William Pawley

Synopsis: In this drama, a test pilot plies his trade on a prototype medical plane. Unfortunately, when the craft is stolen, he becomes the prime suspect and is grounded. Fortunately, a female flying ace convinces her brother to employ him. Later it is revealed that the brother leads a gang of plane Read More

1940
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Actors: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold, Thomas Mitchell, Guy Kibbee, Eugene Pallette, Beulah Bondi, Harry Carey

Synopsis: Frank Capra's classic comedy-drama established James Stewart as a lead actor in one of his finest (and most archetypal) roles. The film opens as a succession of reporters shout into telephones announcing the death of Senator Samuel Foley. Senator Joseph Paine (Claude Rains), the state's senior Read More

1939
Sky Giant

Actors: Richard Dix, Chester Morris, Joan Fontaine, Harry Carey, Paul Guilfoyle

Synopsis: Handsome aerial footage highlights this rousing RKO adventure tale that combines a frozen-North survival drama with a romantic-triangle love story. Hard-bitten Col. Stockton (Harry Carey) trains young pilots for cargo flights, and forces W.R. "Stag" Cahill (Richard Dix) back into service to assist Read More

1938
Having Wonderful Time

Actors: Ginger Rogers, Peggy Conklin, Lucille Ball, Lee Bowman

Synopsis: Based upon Arthur Kober’s play (which was subsequently musicalized onstage as Wish You Were Here, Having Wonderful Time stars Ginger Rogers as Teddy Shaw, a typist who goes to a summer camp for a little rest and relaxation. She’s also getting away from Emil (Jack Carson), whose interest in Teddy Read More

1938
Stage Door

Actors: Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier

Synopsis: Adapted from the Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman play, Stage Door is a comedic portrait of the theatrical community in New York. Katharine Hepburn stars as Terry Randall a young woman who comes from a wealthy, socially connected family. Aspiring for a career on the stage, Terry opts to see if Read More

1937
New Faces of 1937

Actors: Joe Penner, Milton Berle, Parkyakarkus [Harry Einstein], Harriet Hilliard

Synopsis: New Faces of 1937 was supposed to be the vanguard of a series of annual musical comedies -- RKO Radio's latest attempt to revive its long-dormant "Radio City Revels" concept. The plot is based on an old show-business legend, later immortalized in Mel Brooks' The Producers: Crooked Broadway Read More

1937