Frances Gifford

Frances Gifford

Frances Gifford had a somewhat unorthodox introduction to the movie business. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, she had no ambition to be an actress, and in fact had applied to UCLA when, at age 16, she and a friend got to visit the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, where they watched a movie being shot. A studio exec saw her and asked if she would take a screen test. She did, the studio was impressed with the result and put her under contract. Nothing much came of it, however, other than bit parts, and she moved to RKO. Nothing much happened there, either. She had married actor James Dunn and decided to retire, which she did, in 1938. Off the screen for almost two years, she got a small part in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and her career began to revive. She was signed by Paramount, which soon loaned her to Republic, where she made the film she is probably most remembered for: the serial Jungle Girl (1941), based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs story. Unfortunately, her career never really took off, and she bounced around among several studios. In 1948 she was involved in an auto accident in which she received severe head injuries. Although she seemed to recover physically, her career took a nosedive, and she made her last film in 1953. In 1958 newspaper stories reported that as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident, she was admitted to a California state mental hospital. Nothing further was heard from her or about her until 1983, when a writer for a film magazine found her in Pasadena. She had apparently fully overcome her physical and mental problems and was working for the city library. She died of emphysema in Pasadena in 1994.

  • Title: Frances Gifford
  • Popularity: 1.47
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1919-12-07
  • Place of Birth: Long Beach, California, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Mary Frances Gifford, Mary Gifford
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Frances Gifford Movies

  • 1939
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    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

    7.875 1939 HD

    After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. Soon, the naive and earnest new...

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  • 1942
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    American Empire

    American Empire

    3.8 1942 HD

    Richard Dix as Dan Taylor and Preston S. Foster as Paxton Bryce are two longtime friends seeking their fortune in Texas after the war. The two men...

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  • 1941
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    The Reluctant Dragon

    The Reluctant Dragon

    6.63 1941 HD

    Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be...

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  • 1947
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    The Arnelo Affair

    The Arnelo Affair

    5.3 1947 HD

    A neglected wife gets mixed up with an hypnotic charmer and murder.

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  • 1938
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    Having Wonderful Time

    Having Wonderful Time

    4.9 1938 HD

    Teddy Shaw, a bored New York office girl, goes to a camp in the Catskill Mountains for rest and finds Chick Kirkland.

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  • 1942
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    The Glass Key

    The Glass Key

    6.59 1942 HD

    A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

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  • 1941
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    Border Vigilantes

    Border Vigilantes

    6 1941 HD

    A town bedeviled with outlaws sends for Hoppy, Lucky and California after their own vigilante committee fails to solve the towns problems. Hoppy...

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  • 1943
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    Cry 'Havoc'

    Cry 'Havoc'

    6.3 1943 HD

    The Army nurses on Bataan need help badly, but when it arrives, it sure isn't what they expected. A motley crew, including a Southern belle, a...

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  • 1943
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    Tarzan Triumphs

    Tarzan Triumphs

    6.1 1943 HD

    Zandra, white princess of a lost civilization, comes to Tarzan for help when Nazis invade the jungle with plans to conquer her people and take their...

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  • 1953
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    Sky Commando

    Sky Commando

    5.5 1953 HD

    Colonel Ed Wyatt is regarded by pilots under his command as being a ruthless disciplinarian. His co-pilot, Lt. Hobson Lee, and Jo McWethy, a war...

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  • 1942
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    Star Spangled Rhythm

    Star Spangled Rhythm

    5.9 1942 HD

    Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his...

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  • 1938
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    Maid's Night Out

    Maid's Night Out

    6.2 1938 HD

    A millionaire's son works as a milkman for a month to win a bet with his father. While delivering milk he falls in love with a young debutante whom...

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  • 1937
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    Stage Door

    Stage Door

    6.941 1937 HD

    The ups and downs in the lives and careers of a group of ambitious young actresses and show girls from disparate backgrounds brought together in a...

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  • 1945
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    Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

    Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

    6.9 1945 HD

    Welcome to Fuller Junction, Wisconsin, a friendly small town settled by Norwegian farmers. Here we see the exploits of two young cousins, Selma and...

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  • 1950
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    Riding High

    Riding High

    5.8 1950 HD

    A horse trainer who has fallen on hard times looks to his horse, Broadway Bill, to finally win the big race.

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  • 1947
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    Little Mister Jim

    Little Mister Jim

    4 1947 HD

    After his mother's death, a young boy tries to help his father stop drinking.

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  • 1940
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    Hold That Woman!

    Hold That Woman!

    5 1940 HD

    A skip tracer--someone who collects late payments from people who've purchased appliances, etc., or takes them back them when they don't...

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  • 1941
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    Jungle Girl

    Jungle Girl

    6.2 1941 HD

    Dr. John Meredith has been driven from civilization by the criminal activities of his twin brother Bradley Meredith. With his infant daughter, he...

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  • 1945
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    Thrill of a Romance

    Thrill of a Romance

    6.2 1945 HD

    A soldier falls in love with a newly-married woman after her husband abandons her for a business meeting on their honeymoon.

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  • 1945
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    She Went to the Races

    She Went to the Races

    5.5 1945 HD

    A group of scientists develop a system to pick winners at the racetrack. Comedy.

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  • 1938
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    Night Spot

    Night Spot

    4.7 1938 HD

    A young singer, Marge Dexter, becomes involved in trouble when she works in a nightclub in which two of the band-members are in reality...

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  • 1937
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    Living on Love

    Living on Love

    5.8 1937 HD

    A man and woman, who've never met, are forced by circumstances to share the same apartment. A remake of the 1933 film "Rafter Romance".

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  • 1937
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    New Faces of 1937

    New Faces of 1937

    4 1937 HD

    A crooked producer makes money from Broadway flops by selling more than 100% interest to multiple parties. He only fails if it makes a profit.

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  • 1943
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    Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

    Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

    6 1943 HD

    Teenager Henry Aldrich becomes a hometown celebrity when he wins a date with a sexy movie star. The sixth entry in the "Henry Aldrich" series of...

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  • 1942
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    Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

    Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

    5.4 1942 HD

    Uneven version of Wyatt Earp vs. the Clanton Gang with a little romance thrown in haphazardly.

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  • 1942
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    Beyond the Blue Horizon

    Beyond the Blue Horizon

    1 1942 HD

    A young girl's parents are killed on a tropical island, and the girl is raised and protected by the jungle animals. When she is found, as a grown...

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  • 1941
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    West Point Widow

    West Point Widow

    6 1941 HD

    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...

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  • 1942
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    My Heart Belongs to Daddy

    My Heart Belongs to Daddy

    5.8 1942 HD

    A distinguished professor finds his well-ordered life tospy-turvy after he is forced to take in a pregnant widow.

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  • 1939
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    Mercy Plane

    Mercy Plane

    1 1939 HD

    Air-race champions "Speed" Leslie and Branda Fowler combine to open a very profitable airplane service that flies patients to other cities for...

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  • 1948
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    Luxury Liner

    Luxury Liner

    5.2 1948 HD

    Capt. Jeremy Bradford has a particularly exciting luxury liner cruise in store when he's charged with transporting a troupe of opera singers to Rio...

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  • 1940
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    Forty Little Mothers

    Forty Little Mothers

    6.2 1940 HD

    An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an...

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  • 1937
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    There Goes the Groom

    There Goes the Groom

    5.3 1937 HD

    After striking it rich in Alaskan gold, a young man returns to marry his fiancé only to be snubbed. Her sister, however, is worth considering,...

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  • 1942
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    The Remarkable Andrew

    The Remarkable Andrew

    8.2 1942 HD

    When Andrew Long, hyper-efficient small town accountant, finds a $1240 discrepancy in the city budget, his superiors try to explain it away. When he...

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  • 1944
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    Twenty Years After

    Twenty Years After

    6 1944 HD

    This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

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  • 1944
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    Marriage Is a Private Affair

    Marriage Is a Private Affair

    5.2 1944 HD

    Theo has had many boyfriends who wanted to marry her. Since her mother, Mrs. Selworth, has been married many times, Theo is unsure of commitment....

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  • 2004
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    Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

    Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

    8.8 2004 HD

    Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young boy and a famous dragon fighter team up to teach a...

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  • 1953
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    General Electric Theater

    General Electric Theater

    6 1953 HD

    General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was...

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