Remembering Charles Lane and His 7 Decades of Obscurity
by Ed_Jones_XLIX2 | created - 26 Aug 2018 | updated - 29 Aug 2018 | PublicMean, miserly, and miserable-looking, Charles Lane made a career playing memorable characters. Many times, those characters had no names. He was just Clerk, or Passerby. From this list of TV shows, movies and the associated role profession, which do you think he is best remembered for? After voting, please discuss here.
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1. The Bride Walks Out (1936)
Approved | 75 min | Comedy, Romance
The ups and downs of newlyweds on a tight budget.
Director: Leigh Jason | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Gene Raymond, Robert Young, Ned Sparks
Votes: 701
(CPR) Charles' Profession Role: Judge
2. Three Men on a Horse (1936)
Approved | 86 min | Comedy, Romance
A meek salesman with an uncanny ability to pick horses is virtually kidnapped by a trio of gamblers.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Frank McHugh, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, Carol Hughes
Votes: 514
(CPR) Cleaner
3. Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937)
Passed | 81 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
A movie company is doing the Arabian Nights when a hobo enters their camp, falls asleep and dreams he's back in Baghdad as advisor to the Sultan. In a spoof of Rosevelt's New Deal, he ... See full summary »
Director: David Butler | Stars: Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, Roland Young, June Lang
Votes: 610
(CPR) Doctor
4. Blondie (1938)
Passed | 70 min | Comedy, Family
Dagwood loses his job on the eve of his and Blondie's fifth wedding anniversary.
Director: Frank R. Strayer | Stars: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Daisy
Votes: 873
(CPR) Furniture Salesman
5. Kentucky (1938)
Passed | 96 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
Romeo and Juliet story set amidst horse racing in Kentucky. The family feud of lovers Jack and Sally goes back to the Civil War and is kept alive by her Uncle Peter.
Director: David Butler | Stars: Loretta Young, Richard Greene, Walter Brennan, Douglass Dumbrille
Votes: 681
(CPR) Auctioneer
6. Second Fiddle (1939)
Passed | 85 min | Comedy, Music, Romance
A studio publicist discovers a Minnesota skating teacher and takes her to Hollywood. She goes back to Minnesota but he follows her.
Director: Sidney Lanfield | Stars: Sonja Henie, Tyrone Power, Rudy Vallee, Edna May Oliver
Votes: 543
(CPR) Studio Chief
7. Fifth Avenue Girl (1939)
Approved | 83 min | Comedy, Romance
Feeling unwanted by his wife and children, a wealthy industrialist hires an unemployed young woman to pose as his mistress.
Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: Ginger Rogers, Walter Connolly, Verree Teasdale, James Ellison
Votes: 1,795
(CPR) Union Representative
8. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Passed | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
A naive youth leader is appointed to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate. His idealistic plans promptly collide with corruption at home and subterfuge from his hero in Washington, but he tries to forge ahead despite attacks on his character.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Rains, Edward Arnold
Votes: 121,422 | Gross: $9.60M
(CPR) Nosey
9. The Cat and the Canary (1939)
Approved | 72 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
When an eccentric family meets in their uncle's remote, decaying mansion on the tenth anniversary of his death for the reading of his will, murder and madness follow.
Director: Elliott Nugent | Stars: Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, John Beal, Douglass Montgomery
Votes: 3,769
(CPR) Reporter
10. Johnny Apollo (1940)
Approved | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
The son of a jailed Wall Street broker turns to crime to pay for his father's release.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Tyrone Power, Dorothy Lamour, Edward Arnold, Lloyd Nolan
Votes: 1,501
(CPR) Assistant District Attorney
11. The Doctor Takes a Wife (1940)
Passed | 88 min | Comedy, Romance
A best-selling author of women's issues and a medical academic find it is to their mutual advantage to falsely claim that they are married.
Director: Alexander Hall | Stars: Loretta Young, Ray Milland, Reginald Gardiner, Gail Patrick
Votes: 1,044
(CPR) Reporter
12. You Can't Fool Your Wife (1940)
Approved | 68 min | Comedy, Romance
The marriage of college sweethearts Andrew and Clara is going stale after 5 years. Andrew is a hard worker at the firm, but it seems that all he does is work. When Mr. Battincourt from ... See full summary »
Director: Ray McCarey | Stars: Lucille Ball, James Ellison, Robert Coote, Virginia Vale
Votes: 417
Lucy would later have Charles guest star on every TV program that she was involved in. (CPR) Salesman
13. Rhythm on the River (1940)
92 min | Comedy, Musical
Popular songwriter Oliver Courtney has been getting by for years using one ghost writer for his music and another for his lyrics. When both writers meet at an inn, they fall in love and ... See full summary »
Director: Victor Schertzinger | Stars: Bing Crosby, Mary Martin, Basil Rathbone, Oscar Levant
Votes: 416
This one is listed not because of the character profession. Characters name was, Bernard Schwartz. 9 Years later in (1949) Bernard Schwartz, AKA Tony Curtis, would make his first movie!
14. Blondie Plays Cupid (1940)
Passed | 68 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
The Bumstead family is off to see relatives in the country when Blondie runs into Charlie and Millie, an eloping couple needing her help.
Director: Frank R. Strayer | Stars: Penny Singleton, Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, Daisy
Votes: 399
(CPR) Train Conductor
15. Texas Rangers Ride Again (1940)
Passed | 68 min | Drama, Western
With thousands of cattle being rustled from White Sage ranch the 1930's Texas Rangers are called in. They manage to get one of their agents into the gang by making them think he is the Pecos Kid on the lam.
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: Ellen Drew, John Howard, Akim Tamiroff, May Robson
Votes: 230
(CPR) Train Passenger
16. Barnacle Bill (1941)
Approved | 90 min | Drama, Comedy
A grumpy old fisherman tries to avoid marriage, contend with a daughter he never knew he had and scuttle the attempts of landlubbers who want to rob him of his seagoing livelihood, while the locals try to reform him.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Wallace Beery, Marjorie Main, Leo Carrillo, Virginia Weidler
Votes: 247
Wallace Beery (CPR) Auctioneer
17. The Big Store (1941)
Passed | 83 min | Comedy, Family, Musical
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
Director: Charles Reisner | Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Tony Martin
Votes: 5,467
(CPR) Finance Company Man
18. Three Girls About Town (1941)
Passed | 75 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
To save the reputation of the hotel where they are employed, sisters try to cover up a murder.
Director: Leigh Jason | Stars: Joan Blondell, John Howard, Binnie Barnes, Janet Blair
Votes: 354
(CPR) Mortician
19. A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942)
Passed | 67 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Two mysterious seamen come from Alan Rogers' past to blackmail him as he seeks to locate his missing daughters. Ellery Queen is called in by Stewart Cole, Rogers' secretary. Queen goes to ... See full summary »
Director: James P. Hogan | Stars: William Gargan, Margaret Lindsay, Charley Grapewin, Ralph Morgan
Votes: 144
(CPR) Coroner
20. Home in Wyomin' (1942)
Passed | 67 min | Western
Singing radio cowboy Gene helps out a former employer now in trouble with his failing rodeo.
Director: William Morgan | Stars: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Fay McKenzie, Olin Howland
Votes: 103
(CPR) Newspaper Editor
21. Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
A doomed female hitchhiker pulls Mike Hammer into a deadly whirlpool of intrigue, revolving around a mysterious "great whatsit".
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez
Votes: 22,093
(CPR) Doctor
22.
I Love Lucy (1951–1957)
Episode:
Lucy Tells the Truth
(1953)
TV-Y | 30 min | Comedy, Family
When Ricky and the Mertzes wager that Lucy can't go a full day without telling a lie, her husband and friends feel more than a bit stung by her unabashed honesty.
Director: William Asher | Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley
Votes: 412
(CPR) Casting Director
23.
I Love Lucy (1951–1957)
Episode:
Staten Island Ferry
(1956)
TV-Y | 30 min | Comedy, Family
The girls seek a cure for Fred's seasickness.
Director: James V. Kern | Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, William Frawley
Votes: 327
(CPR) Passport Office Clerk
24.
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957–1960)
Episode:
Lucy Goes to Mexico
(1958)
60 min | Comedy, Family
At San Diego, California, doing a USO show, Lucy and Mertz duo go to Mexico to shop. But return with an unexpected and surprise stowaway in the trunk which causes problems at the border. Celebrity, Maurice Chevalier.
Director: Jerry Thorpe | Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Maurice Chevalier, Vivian Vance
Votes: 150
(CPR) Customs Officer
25.
The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957–1960)
Episode:
Lucy Hunts Uranium
(1958)
60 min | Comedy, Family
Lucy, Ricky, Fred, Ethel and Fred MacMurray, are in a one-on-one race in a Las Vegas desert to go uranium hunting, but when they make a find all bets are off and it's a race to get back to the claims office, first.
Director: Jerry Thorpe | Stars: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Fred MacMurray, Vivian Vance
Votes: 205
(CPR) Claims Clerk
26. John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965)
96 min | Comedy
A former Notre Dame football star crash lands over a mythical Arabian country while on spy mission to the USSR. He is then forced by the football-obsessed king of that country to coach their football team .
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Shirley MacLaine, Peter Ustinov, Richard Crenna, Jim Backus
Votes: 760
(CPR) 'Strife' Magazine Editor
27. The Ugly Dachshund (1966)
Not Rated | 93 min | Comedy, Family
The Garrisons live with a Great Dane who thinks he's a dainty dachshund. His identity crisis results in an uproarious series of household crises that reduce the Garrisons' house to shambles.
Director: Norman Tokar | Stars: Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Charles Ruggles, Kelly Thordsen
Votes: 4,666 | Gross: $13.52M
(CPR) Judge
28. Eight on the Lam (1967)
Not Rated | 107 min | Comedy, Drama
A bank teller is suspected of embezzlement and goes on the run with his seven children.
Director: George Marshall | Stars: Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Shirley Eaton
Votes: 725
(CPR) Bank Examiner
29. Petticoat Junction (1963–1970)
TV-G | 30 min | Comedy
The misadventures of the family staff of The Shady Rest Hotel and their neighbors of Hooterville.
Stars: Edgar Buchanan, Linda Henning, Bea Benaderet, Frank Cady
Votes: 3,651
I'd have some "Splainin to do Lucy"! if I did not put this in Role: Homer Bedloe
30. The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971)
TV-G | 25 min | Comedy, Family
A nouveau-riche hillbilly family moves to Beverly Hills and shakes up the privileged society with their hayseed ways.
Stars: Buddy Ebsen, Donna Douglas, Irene Ryan, Max Baer Jr.
Votes: 11,033
Ditto this too!! Role: Foster Phinney
31. Soap (1977–1981)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The soap-operish antics of two families: the Campbells and the Tates.
Stars: Katherine Helmond, Rod Roddy, Richard Mulligan, Cathryn Damon
Votes: 8,286
Double Ditto!! Role: Judge Petrillo
32. Dark Shadows (1991)
TV-PG | 45 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Victoria Winters comes to Collinwood, an isolated mansion in Maine, to work as a governess, but soon finds herself drawn into a strange world of vampires, ghosts and curses.
Stars: Ben Cross, Barbara Blackburn, Jim Fyfe, Joanna Going
Votes: 2,139
(CPR) Episode #1.6 (1991) ... Antique Dealer
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