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Porter Hall

Porter Hall

Highest Rated: 100% Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Lowest Rated: 67% The Great Moment (1944)

Birthday: Sep 19, 1888

Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Cincinnati native Porter Hall made a name for himself by almost exclusively portraying evil, low-life characters in the 1930s and 1940s. While he was a gentle-mannered, church-going man in real life, Hall did very well for himself with his bad-guy image, aided in no small part by his bug-eyes and cold exterior. He originally mastered his acting chops on the theater stage, but it wasn't long before Hall made his way to the bright lights of Hollywood, debuting on-screen with two uncredited 1931 roles in the George Abbott-directed dramas "Secrets of a Secretary" and "The Cheat." He eventually graduated to side roles in films like the 1936 Cecile B. DeMille western, "The Plainsman," but Hall truly broke out in the late '30s, particularly with a role as Senator Martin Monroe in the 1939 James Stewart-starring courtroom drama, "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Though Hall always found work playing side characters, never fully moving to leading man status, he became a reliable character presence throughout the 1940s and 1950s, popping up in many high-profile pictures, including the 1940 Howard Hawks screwball comedy, "His Girl Friday," the 1944 Billy Wilder film noir, "Double Indemnity," and George Seaton's 1947 Christmas feel-good film, "Miracle on 34th Street."

Highest rated movies

100% Sullivan's Travels
100% Dark Command
100% True Confession
100% Make Way for Tomorrow
100% The Plainsman
100% The Petrified Forest
99% His Girl Friday
98% The Thin Man

Photos

KISS AND TELL, Porter Hall, 1945 MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, Anthony Sydes, Thelma Ritter, Porter Hall, 1947, TM and copyright ©20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved PRISON FARM, Porter Hall, 1938 MURDER, HE SAYS, Peter Whitney, Jean Heather, Marjorie Main, Porter Hall, Mabel Paige, 1945 WOMAN OF THE TOWN, Henry Hull, Porter Hall, Claire Trevor, 1943 BLOOD ON THE SUN, Jack Sergel, Hugh Ho, Porter Hall, James Cagney, 1945 BULLDOG DRUMMOND ESCAPES, Ray Milland, Porter Hall, 1937 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, Joel McCrea, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall, 1941 BULLDOG DRUMMOND'S PERIL, Porter Hall, 1938 HIS GIRL FRIDAY, Ernest Truex, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Porter Hall, Roscoe Karns, 1940 MURDER, HE SAYS, Porter Hall, Fred MacMurray, Peter Whitney, Marjorie Main, 1945 WOMAN OF THE TOWN, Albert Dekker, Porter Hall, Claire Trevor, 1943 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, Joel McCrea, Robert Warwick, Porter Hall, 1941 ARIZONA, Porter Hall, Jean Arthur 1940 THE PETRIFIED FOREST, Humphrey Bogart, John Alexander, Charley Grapewin, (aka Charles Grapewin), Arthur Aylesworth, Porter Hall, George Guhl, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin, Leslie Howard, Paul Harvey, Slim Thompson, 1936 THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR, Paul Muni, Porter Hall, Josephine Hutchinson, 1935 HIS GIRL FRIDAY, from left: Porter Hall, Ernest Truex, Roscoe Karns (rear), Rosalind Russell, Regis Toomey (rear), Cliff Edwards, 1940 THE PETRIFIED FOREST, Humphrey Bogart, Joe Sawyer, Arthur Aylesworth, Porter Hall, George Guhl, 1936 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, Joel McCrea, Veronica Lake, Robert Warwick, William Demarest, Margaret Hayes, Porter Hall, Franklin Pangborn, Eric Blore, 1941 THE GENERAL DIED AT DAWN, Gary Cooper, Akim Tamiroff, Philip Ahn, Porter Hall, 1936
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Return to Treasure Island Maximillian "Maxie" Harris (Character) - 1954
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Girl in Room 17 Jack Hartrampf (Character) - 1953
No Score Yet 24% Pony Express Jim Bridger (Character) - 1953
No Score Yet 55% Carbine Williams Sam Markley (Character) - 1952
No Score Yet 20% The Half-Breed Kraemer (Character) - 1952
No Score Yet No Score Yet Holiday for Sinners Louie (Character) - 1952
90% 92% Ace in the Hole Jacob Q. Boot (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 50% Chicken Every Sunday Sam Howell (Character) - 1949
93% 83% Intruder in the Dust Nub Gowrie (Character) - 1949
No Score Yet 52% That Wonderful Urge Attorney Ketchell (Character) - 1949
No Score Yet 44% You Gotta Stay Happy Mr. Caslon (Character) - 1948
86% 67% Unconquered Leach (Character) - 1947
96% 87% Miracle on 34th Street Granville Sawyer (Character) - 1947
No Score Yet 14% Singapore Mr. Gerald Bellows (Character) - 1947
No Score Yet 58% Weekend at the Waldorf Stevens (Character) - 1945
80% 35% Blood on the Sun Arthur Bickett (Character) - 1945
No Score Yet No Score Yet Kiss and Tell Bill Franklin (Character) - 1945
87% 82% The Miracle of Morgan's Creek Justice of the Peace (Character) - 1944
67% 30% The Great Moment President Franklin Pierce (Character) - 1944
97% 95% Double Indemnity Mr. Jackson (Character) - 1944
83% 74% Going My Way Mr. Belknap (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet No Score Yet Standing Room Only Hugo Farenhall (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mark of the Whistler Joe Sorsby (Character) - 1944
80% 50% The Desperadoes Stanley Clanton (Character) - 1943
No Score Yet 70% A Stranger in Town Judge Austin Harkley (Character) - 1943
No Score Yet 0% The Woman of the Town Mayor Dog Killey (Character) - 1943
No Score Yet No Score Yet Butch Minds the Baby Brandy Smith (Character) - 1942
No Score Yet 33% Mr. and Mrs. North Asst. District Attorney George Heyler (Character) - 1942
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Remarkable Andrew Chief Clerk Art Slocumb (Character) - 1942
100% 89% Sullivan's Travels Mr. Hadrian (Character) - 1941
No Score Yet 56% Arizona Lazarus Ward (Character) - 1940
99% 90% His Girl Friday Murphy, reporter (Character) - 1940
100% 70% Dark Command Angus McCloud (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet No Score Yet Trail of the Vigilantes Sheriff Korley (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet 64% They Shall Have Music Mr. Flower (Character) - 1939
97% 94% Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Sen. Monroe (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tom Sawyer, Detective Uncle Silas (Character) - 1938
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wells Fargo James Oliver (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet 45% Souls at Sea Court Prosecutor (Character) - 1937
100% 46% True Confession Mr. Hartman (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet 8% Bulldog Drummond Escapes Merridew (Character) - 1937
100% 92% Make Way for Tomorrow Harvey Chase (Character) - 1937
90% 76% The Story of Louis Pasteur Dr. Rossignol (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet No Score Yet Snowed Under Arthur Layton (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet 22% Satan Met a Lady Milton Ames (Character) - 1936
86% 54% The General Died at Dawn Peter Perrie (Character) - 1936
100% 52% The Plainsman Jack McCall (Character) - 1936
100% 80% The Petrified Forest Jason Maple (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Case of the Lucky Legs Col. Bradbury (Character) - 1935
98% 94% The Thin Man MacCauley (Character) - 1934
No Score Yet 17% Murder in the Private Car Murray (Character) - 1934
No Score Yet 55% The Cheat Unknown (Character) - 1931