All Films

Gambling on the High Seas

1940 • 55 min • United States of America

A reporter enlists the help of a gangster's secretary to obtain evidence to bring her boss to justice.

Cantinflas boxeador

1940 • 16 min • Mexico

We see a young Mario Moreno making us laugh while he trying to fight against an opponent on a ring.

West of Pinto Basin

1940 • 60 min • United States of America

The Range Busters head for Pinto Basin where a series of stage robberies have occurred. To try and find the gang's boss, Crash sends out a empty money box. The plan backfires when the boss has the Range Busters identified as the robbers. Thinking it is now safe, the bank sends out a big money shipment. Needing to rob the stage, the boss gets the boys out of jail so they can be blamed. But this is just the chance they need to catch the robbers.

Favourite Characters

1940 • 9 min • Soviet Union

For the 20th anniversary of Soviet cinema, nationally beloved actors come together and characters from best Soviet films take part in the anniversary celebration.

Spots Before Your Eyes

1940 • 10 min • United States of America

After their mother remarries, two brothers cause chaos at their Aunt's home.

Porky's Baseball Broadcast

1940 • 7 min • United States of America

Porky Pig provides play-by-play radio-broadcast commentary during a World Series baseball game.

Time in the Sun

1940 • 55 min • United States of America

Second attempt to create a feature film out of the 200,000-plus feet of film which Soviet film-maker Sergei Eisenstein shot during 1931-32 in Mexico for American socialist author Upton Sinclair, his wife and a small company of investors. The projected film, to be called "Que Viva Mexico", was never completed due to exhaustion of funds and Stalin's demand that Eisenstein return to the USSR (he had been absent since 1929). The first attempt at editing the footage, in the USA, resulted in "Thunder Over Mexico", released in 1934. In 1940, Marie Seton, from the UK, acquired some of the footage from the Sinclairs in an attempt to make a better cutting according to Eisenstein's skeletal outline for the proposed film. This film has apparently been lost.

Ladies Must Live

1940 • 58 min • United States of America

A small town farmer, who happens to be very wealthy, meets and falls for an actress, but his friends warn him she's only interested in his money.

Calling on Colombia

1940 • 8 min

Documentary short film depicting the life, geography, and historical aspects of the nation of Colombia, focusing on life in Barranquilla. Marketplaces, fortifications, and shipping facilities are shown, and a brief précis of the derivation of the population is given. The defensive battlements of Cartagena are also described.

Suva: 'Pride of Fiji'

1940 • 9 min • United States of America

James A. FitzPatrick takes a tour of the Fiji Islands. The short depicts the different types of natives that inhabit the islands, and shows villages that have not been changed in architecture for centuries. There are ceremonial dances, and FitzPatrick politically-correctly describes the rule of the islands under the British government.

Bear Cub

1940 • 12 min • Soviet Union

A live bear cub from the forest enters the toy store. He is mistaken for a teddy bear. After a series of adventures, he manages to reach the forest with a bunch of balloons.

From Nurse to Worse

1940 • 17 min • United States of America

The stooge's friend Jerry convinces them to take out on insurance on Curly and then have him act insane to collect. Moe and Larry put Curly on a leash and take him to the insurance doctor and have him act like a dog. Unfortunately, the insurance doctor wants to perform a brain operation (Cerebrum decapitation). The boys try to escape by hiding in the dog catchers wagon, but are caught and taken to the hospital. They escape again, this time by rigging a sheet to a gurney and sailing down the street, where they run into Jerry and knock him into wet cement.

The Domineering Male

1940 • 10 min • United States of America

This Pete Smith Specialty short looks at the notion that a man chases a woman till he catches her. Who's really chasing whom?

Patient Porky

1940 • 6 min • United States of America

Porky checks into a hospital with a tummyache; he has the bad luck to encounter a patient posing a "Dr. Chilled-Air" who is a bit too eager to operate.

Pioneer Days

1940 • 54 min • United States of America

Jack Randall plays Dunham, a wandering cavalier who comes to the aid of frontier heiress Mary. The girl's legacy is half-ownership of a prosperous saloon, the other half controlled by hissable villain Slater. With the help of no less than two comic sidekicks, Dunham cuts the villain down to size.

The Temperamental Lion

1940 • 7 min • United States of America

A lion with a Bert Lahr voice can't stand being cooped up in a cage at the zoo, and escapes to confront the man who captured him in the first place, big game hunter, Major Doolittle.

The Timid Toreador

1940 • 6 min • United States of America

The bull makes short work of the matador, and then turns on Porky, a tamale vendor who wanders into the ring accidentally. But then he makes the mistake of actually eating most of Porky's extra hot tamales.

Mr. Smith Goes Ghost

1940 • 25 min • United States of America

Mr. Smith Goes Ghost

Lights Out in Europe

1940 • 40 min • United States of America

This pulse-pounding documentary from the leftist filmmaker Herbert Kline traces the rise of Hitler up to the very brink of WWII. The commentary, written by James Hilton and read by Fredric March, urges American viewers to abandon neutrality and enter a conflict about to explode.

Thundering Frontier

1940 • 57 min • United States of America

After a handful of non-formula westerns, Charles Starrett returned to the mixture as before in Thundering Frontier. Starrett plays Jim Fillmore, kind to old ladies, small animals and heroine Norma Belknap (Iris Meredith). In contrast, the villains are kind to no one, least of all struggling building contractor Square Deal Scottie (Alex Callam), whose projects are continually targeted for demolition and his payroll is forever being stolen at gunpoint. A good 25 percent of the film's running time is given over to Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers, whose C&W croonings are pleasant but a bit much. One of the film's few surprises is that Starrett's perennial screen sparring partner Dick Curtis isn't one of the bad guys.

Prehistoric Porky

1940 • 7 min • United States of America

Caveman Porky awakens and plays with his pet Rover, a massive dinosaur. After Rover's playfulness causes a disruption to the prehistoric peace and quiet, Porky's copy of "Expire" magazine arrives in the mail, filled with ads for fashionable new bearskins. Porky decides to go out and get himself a new suit, and sets off with his trusty club.

Blondes and Blunders

1940 • 19 min • United States of America

A beautiful blonde places a stolen diamond on an unsuspecting man. Later, she returns to retrieve it.

Wild Horse Range

1940 • 58 min • United States of America

Randall and his sidekick Manny (Frank Yaconelli) played horse traders battling a greedy and unscrupulous rival (Tom London). When some of his stock disappears, Jack follows the trail to a ranch belonging to Harriet Morgan (Marin Sais) and her young niece, Ann (Phyllis Ruth). A white stallion is accused of luring the Morgan mares astray but the horses are in reality being rustled by the ever-present London and his henchman (Charles King).

Glimpses of Mexico

1940 • 9 min

Another entry in MGM's TravelTalks series with James A. FitzPatrick. This time we visit Mexico, which was a popular destination for this series since it traveled there many times. We see the Bandero Monument which was built to highlight Mexico's flag. Also seen are Lake Chapala, Rio Grande art, music and romance. Also shown is "pole dancing" from native Indians.