Screenplay: Houston Branch

Top movies, series, and documentaries with a screenplay by Houston Branch. Explore the titles that showcase an exceptional writing.


Tiger Shark

1932 · Movie · 77 min. · United States

Direction Howard Hawks

Cast Edward G. Robinson · Richard Arlen · Zita Johann · Leila Bennett

Plot After surviving a shipwreck, San Diego tuna fisherman Mike Mascarenhas, an immigrant from Portugal, loses a hand to a shark. The following season, one of his crew, Manuel Silva, falls...

6.7

262 votes

6.7

262 votes

Safe in Hell

1931 · Movie · 73 min. · United States

Direction William A. Wellman

Cast Dorothy Mackaill · Donald Cook · Ralf Harolde · John Wray

Plot After killing an ex-boyfriend in New Orleans, a prostitute flees to a Caribbean island. There the vicious local police chief sets his sights on her, unaware that she is a...

6.6

128 votes

6.6

128 votes

Hard to Handle

1933 · Movie · 78 min. · United States

Direction Mervyn LeRoy

Cast James Cagney · Mary Brian · Allen Jenkins · Ruth Donnelly

Plot Small time con artist Lefty Merrill has co-organized a crooked dance marathon and set-up his girlfriend to win the prize money. When his partner disappears with money before the contest...

6.4

42 votes

6.4

42 votes

Mr. Wong, Detective

1938 · Movie · 69 min. · United States

Direction William Nigh

Cast Boris Karloff · Grant Withers · Maxine Jennings · Evelyn Brent

Plot When a chemical manufacturer is killed after asking detective James Wong to help him, Wong investigates this and two subsequent murders. He uncovers a international spy ring hoping to steal...

5.8

35 votes

5.8

35 votes

Untamed Frontier

1952 · Movie · 78 min. · United States

Direction Hugo Fregonese

Cast Joseph Cotten · Shelley Winters · Scott Brady · Suzan Ball

Plot The Denbow family hope to freeze out homesteaders by denying access across their land; but to evade a murder charge, Glenn Denbow marries the only witness, Jane, who's conveniently in...

5.7

98 votes

5.7

98 votes

River Lady

1948 · Movie · 78 min. · United States

Direction George Sherman

Cast Yvonne De Carlo · Dan Duryea · Rod Cameron · Helena Carter

Plot In spring 18__, the loggers arrive at a mill town on the upper Mississippi drainage; the gambling riverboat is there to meet them, with river queen Sequin who loves logger...

5.4

100 votes

5.4

100 votes

Belle of the Yukon

1944 · Movie · 83 min. · United States

Direction William A. Seiter

Cast Randolph Scott · Gypsy Rose Lee · Dinah Shore · Bob Burns

Plot Set in the days of the great Canadian Gold Rush, this rousing musical stars Randolph Scott as a "reformed" con artist-turned-dance hall owner whose girlfriend, singer Gypsy Rose Lee, tries...

4.9

24 votes

4.9

24 votes

Sierra Baron

1958 · Movie · 80 min. · United States

4.9

33 votes

4.9

33 votes

Congo Crossing

1956 · Movie · 85 min. · United States

Direction Joseph Pevney

Cast Virginia Mayo · Peter Lorre · George Nader · Michael Pate

Plot Congotanga, West Africa, has no extradition laws; the government is controlled by foreign gangsters, headed by Carl Rittner. The latest plane from Europe carries lovely Louise Whitman, fleeing a French...

4.8

62 votes

4.8

62 votes

Shanghai Lady

1929 · Movie · 66 min. · United States

Direction John S. Robertson

Cast Mary Nolan · Lydia Yeamans Titus · James Murray · Wheeler Oakman

Plot Having spent several wasted months in a Shanghai opium dem, former prostitute Cassie Cook yearns to start her life afresh. Likewise, ex-convict Badlands McKinney also wants to clean up his...

Not rated

Not rated

City of Shadows

1955 · Movie · 70 min. · United States

Direction William Witney

Cast Victor McLaglen · John Baer · Kathleen Crowley · Anthony Caruso

Plot Dan Mason, a twelve-year-old newsboy, is an expert at figuring all the angles; so, when Kink, veteran bartender at Billy's Steak House, catches him winning a big jackpot in the...

Not rated

Not rated

Sweethearts on Parade

1953 · Movie · 90 min. · United States

Direction Allan Dwan

Cast Ray Middleton · Lucille Norman · Eileen Christy · Bill Shirley

Plot Cam Ellerby (Ray Middleton) brings his traveling medicine show to town and it spells glamor and excitement to young Sylvia Townsend (Eileen Christy). Her mother, Kathleen (Lucille Norman), recalls the...

Not rated

Not rated

Women in Bondage

1943 · Movie · 72 min. · United States

Direction Steve Sekely

Cast Gail Patrick · Nancy Kelly · William Henry · Tala Birell

Plot Margot Bracken returns home to Germany after several years of absence, and is horrified at the degraded status which has been forced on the women of her homeland. Toni Hall...

Not rated

Not rated

Captain of the Guard

1930 · Movie · 83 min. · United States

Direction John S. Robertson

Cast Laura La Plante · John Boles · Sam De Grasse · James A. Marcus

Plot A captain of the king's guards secretly works for the rebels.

Not rated

Not rated

Mystery Ship

1941 · Movie · 65 min. · United States

Direction Lew Landers

Cast Paul Kelly · Lola Lane · Larry Parks · Trevor Bardette

Plot FBI agents Allan Harper and Tommy Baker are in charge of a group of subversives, spies and saboteurs that the US government is deporting to foreign countries aboard a ship....

Not rated

Not rated

The Wayward Girl

1957 · Movie · 71 min. · United States

Direction Lesley Selander

Cast Marcia Henderson · Peter Walker · Katherine Barrett · Whit Bissell

Plot Framed by her stepmother (Katharine Barrett) for manslaughter, a convict (Marcia Henderson) turns to a parole racket.

Not rated

Not rated

Wallaby Jim of the Islands

1937 · Movie · 61 min. · United States

Not rated

Not rated

Klondike Kate

1943 · Movie · 64 min. · United States

Direction William Castle

Cast Ann Savage · Tom Neal · Glenda Farrell · Constance Worth

Plot Molly and her troupe of dancing girls and "entertainers", sent for by saloon owner "Sometime" Smith, arrive in a Klondike mining town by train. Smith is out of town and...

Not rated

Not rated

The Silk Express

1933 · Movie · 61 min. · United States

Direction Ray Enright

Cast Neil Hamilton · Sheila Terry · Arthur Byron · Guy Kibbee

Plot One can count on one hand, nay, one finger, the number of Hollywood movies that deal with the importation of silk from Asia. This may be the only one and...

Not rated

Not rated

Girls of the Big House

1945 · Movie · 68 min. · United States

Direction George Archainbaud

Cast Lynne Roberts · Virginia Christine · Marion Martin · Adele Mara

Plot An attorney tries to prove the innocence of a woman whose trip to the big city resulted in her being arrested.

Not rated

Not rated