Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains. Ryan was born in Chicago, Illinois, the first child of Timothy Ryan and his wife Mabel Bushnell Ryan. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1932, having held the school's heavyweight boxing title all four years of his attendance. After graduation, the 6'4" Ryan found employment as a stoker on a ship, a WPA worker, and a ranch hand in Montana. Ryan attempted to make a career in show business as a playwright, but had to turn to acting to support himself. He studied acting in Hollywood and appeared on stage and in small film parts during the early 1940s. In January 1944, after securing a contract guarantee from RKO Radio Pictures, Ryan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served as a drill instructor at Camp Pendleton, in San Diego, California. At Camp Pendleton, he befriended writer and future director Richard Brooks, whose novel, The Brick Foxhole, he greatly admired. He also took up painting. Ryan's breakthrough film role was as an anti-Semitic killer in Crossfire (1947), a film noir based on Brooks's novel. The role won Ryan his sole career Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actor. From then on, Ryan's specialty was tough/tender roles, finding particular expression in the films of directors such as Nicholas Ray, Robert Wise and Sam Fuller. In Ray's On Dangerous Ground (1951) he portrayed a burnt-out city cop finding ...
The Ghost Breakers
(1940)
After intrepid working girl Mary Carter becomes the new owner of a reputedly haunted mansion located on Black Island near the Cuban coast, a stranger phones warning her to stay away from the castle. Undaunted, Mary sets sail for Cuba with a stowaway in her ... (more)
After intrepid working girl Mary Carter becomes the new owner of a reputedly haunted mansion located on Black Island near the Cuban coast, a stranger phones warning her to stay away from the castle. Undaunted, Mary sets sail for Cuba with a stowaway in her ... (more)
Act of Violence
(1949)
A former prisoner of war, Frank Enley is hailed as a hero in his California town. However, Frank has a shameful secret that comes back to haunt him when fellow survivor Joe Parkson emerges, intent on making Frank pay for his past deeds. (more)
A former prisoner of war, Frank Enley is hailed as a hero in his California town. However, Frank has a shameful secret that comes back to haunt him when fellow survivor Joe Parkson emerges, intent on making Frank pay for his past deeds. (more)
Bad Day at Black Rock
(1955)
Thought provokingBrainyInspiringClever
One-armed war veteran John J. Macreedy steps off a train at the sleepy little town of Black Rock. Once there, he begins to unravel a web of lies, secrecy, and murder. (more)
One-armed war veteran John J. Macreedy steps off a train at the sleepy little town of Black Rock. Once there, he begins to unravel a web of lies, secrecy, and murder. (more)
Battle of the Bulge (1965)
In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent it, Hitler orders an all-out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp. (more)
In the winter of 1944, the Allied Armies stand ready to invade Germany at the coming of a New Year. To prevent it, Hitler orders an all-out offensive to re-take French territory and capture the major port city of Antwerp. (more)
Berlin Express (1948)
Robert Ryan leads a group of Allied agents fighting an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe. (more)
Robert Ryan leads a group of Allied agents fighting an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe. (more)
Beware, My Lovely (1952)
A psychopath on the run takes a job as a handyman at the house of a lonely widow. (more)
A psychopath on the run takes a job as a handyman at the house of a lonely widow. (more)
Clash by Night
(1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend. (more)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend. (more)
Crossfire (1947)
A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of soldiers just out of the army. But which one? And why? (more)
A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of soldiers just out of the army. But which one? And why? (more)
Flying Leathernecks
(1951)
Major Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go into combat. While the men are well meaning, he finds them undisciplined and prone to always finding excuses to do what is easy rather than what is necessary. The root ... (more)
Major Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go into combat. While the men are well meaning, he finds them undisciplined and prone to always finding excuses to do what is easy rather than what is necessary. The root ... (more)
House of Bamboo
(1955)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals. (more)
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals. (more)
The Woman on Pier 13
(1950)
Communists blackmail a shipping executive into spying for them. (more)
Communists blackmail a shipping executive into spying for them. (more)
King of Kings (1961)
Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story. (more)
Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story. (more)
Odds Against Tomorrow
(1959)
An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare. (more)
An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare. (more)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
A big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him too angry to be an effective policeman. While on his temporary assignment he assists in a manhunt of a suspected murderer. (more)
A big-city cop is reassigned to the country after his superiors find him too angry to be an effective policeman. While on his temporary assignment he assists in a manhunt of a suspected murderer. (more)
The Busy Body (1967)
Sid Caesar is a bumbling gopher to a mob boss who must recover a fortune in cash stowed in the suit of a corpse. (more)
Sid Caesar is a bumbling gopher to a mob boss who must recover a fortune in cash stowed in the suit of a corpse. (more)
The Dirty Dozen
(1967)
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the ... (more)
12 American military prisoners in World War II are ordered to infiltrate a well-guarded enemy château and kill the Nazi officers vacationing there. The soldiers, most of whom are facing death sentences for a variety of violent crimes, agree to the mission and the ... (more)
The Longest Day (1962)
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion ... (more)
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion ... (more)
The Naked Spur (1953)
A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers. (more)
A bounty hunter trying to bring a murderer to justice is forced to accept the help of two less-than-trustworthy strangers. (more)
The Professionals (1966)
An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit. (more)
An arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit. (more)
The Set-Up (1949)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter. (more)
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter. (more)