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Manka Bros. Film Library
The World's Largest Film Library
1910s
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2024 Film Slate
1940 - 1949
L. Frank Baum's The Enchanted Island Of Yew (1940)
L. Frank Baum's The Enchanted Island Of Yew (1940)
- Because of MGM’s incredible success with ‘The Wizard Of Oz,’ Manka Bros. quickly produced and released a film based on another L. Frank Baum property ‘The Enchanted Island Of Yew.’ The film was… not a success.
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The Czar's Daughter (1940)
The Czar's Daughter (1940)
- Sweeping epic about Anastasia and her struggle for survival after the killing of her family.
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Vern & Tish (1941)
Vern & Tish (1941)
- In the first successful pairing of New England siren Betty Hayson with revered stage actor Spaulding Mawkish, a crotchety radio newsman has met his match when he finds out his new field reporter is... his wife! Say good-bye to fresh baked pies...
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Hawaiian Lei-dy (1942)
Hawaiian Lei-dy (1942)
- A glorious travelscape movie musical where a U.S. soldier station in Hawaii falls in love with a local girl whose parents forbid their love. [The film set, which was mostly shot in and around Pearl Harbor, was bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. Several actors and crew were killed and the film sets were damaged beyond repair. The movie did not resume filming and a badly pieced together version was released to terrible reviews. Though most critics and audiences agreed that the surprise ending where all the characters were suddenly killed by a bomb was spectacular.]
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Gangsters On Parade (1942)
Gangsters On Parade (1942)
- What would a gang of murdering rogues do for an orphanage on the verge of bankruptcy? Why, put on a show, of course!
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Voodoo Dolls (1942)
Voodoo Dolls (1942)
- Musical drama about three Haitian sisters seek fame on Broadway.
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Gold Diggers Of Saskatoon (1943)
Gold Diggers Of Saskatoon (1943)
- True story and a group of hobos from Saskatchewan who go to the Yukon in search of gold long after the gold rush is over and all the gold is gone.
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Incredulous (1943)
Incredulous (1943)
- British suspense master Arnold Sedgley's acclaimed potboiler involves a British Parliament Lord and his wheelchair-bound Lady wife who, despite repeated warnings, cannot possibly fathom that their Indian manservant is plotting to kill them.
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JAPACHE (1943)
JAPACHE (1943)
- Controversial U.S. propaganda film produced by Manka Bros. warning of Japan's plan to destabilize America from within through the creation of a master race of Apaches.
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Love Amongst The Fjords (1944)
Love Amongst The Fjords (1944)
- Two Norwegian members of an underground resistance unit face the horrors of war and the glories of love in this World War II thriller and romance.
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Nazis Stole Our Dog (1944)
Nazis Stole Our Dog (1944)
- Star dog Rusty Ranger plays a faithful German Shepherd mine sniffer in World War II who is captured and brainwashed by the Germans to attack his old pals! Also starring Dick Donahue.
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The Terrific Mr. Fowler (1944)
The Terrific Mr. Fowler (1944)
- After forty years of teaching multiplication tables to fourth graders, lonely lifelong bachelor Mr. Fowler plans to retire. Will anyone remember him?
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I'm On Your Left (1946)
I'm On Your Left (1946)
- Film produced to showcase Manka Bros.' new revolutionary ''Mankaphonic Stereo Movie Sound System' which changed the movie industry and the moviegoing experience forever.
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Jappendectomy (1946)
Jappendectomy (1946)
- Tense, real-time story (shot as though it was live - very few cuts) of the two hour meeting that decided the final precision bombing campaign against Japan in World War II.
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The Gun-Maker And The Debutante (1946)
The Gun-Maker And The Debutante (1946)
- True story of John T. Thompson - inventor of the Thompson sub-machine gun - and his relationship with a pacifist debutante from Georgia.
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Kola On Ice (1946)
Kola On Ice (1946)
- Lavish screen version of the hit Broadway musical Moe Feinshriberger and Sammy Lee set in the U. S.-occupied Kola Peninsula during the waning days of World War II. As the U.S.S. Shreveport the frozen Barents Sea, good natured American G.I.s melt the hearts of the stoic Murmansk people.
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The Way To Yucatan (1947)
The Way To Yucatan (1947)
- Fourth in a series of 'Way' pictures. On this outing, Skip and Benny are Spanish conquistadors bringing 'civilization' to the locals. After Benny is mistaken for the Rain God Chac, the town is left in ruins. The boy'll leave you in stitches. Features the songs 'Young, Mayan, And Ours' and 'Down Uaxactu Way.'
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Frankula vs. Drakenstein (1947)
Frankula vs. Drakenstein (1947)
- After a mix-up at competing monster creating laboratories, Dracula and Frankenstein are developed as half of each. Once the competitive monsters get word of the other, it's a battle to the end!
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Ships Are Fleeting (1947)
Ships Are Fleeting (1947)
- With shore leave over in two hours, sailors must sing and dance their way back to the U.S.S. Indianapolis before the ship leaves on a certain secret war ending mission (a hint: 'Fat Man and Little Boy').
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The Ballad Of Clem Fortune (1948)
The Ballad Of Clem Fortune (1948)
- Dustbowl-era story of the drifter who brought rain to the parched fields of the Texas panhandle. [Written by John Steinbeck. Supposedly, studio chief Harry Manka hated his first draft so much that he stood outside Steinbeck's office on the studio lot and hit golf balls at his window.]
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The Ballad Of Clem Fortune (1948)
The Ballad Of Clem Fortune (1948)
- Dustbowl-era story of the drifter who brought rain to the parched fields of the Texas panhandle. [Written by John Steinbeck. Studio chief Harry Manka hated his first draft so much that he stood outside Steinbeck's office on the studio lot and hit golf balls at his window.]
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The Asp Of Luxor (1948)
The Asp Of Luxor (1948)
- Loosely based on Shakespeare’s 'Antony and Cleopatra' about a hard drinking detective from L.A. hired to solve the 'Riddle of the Sphinx.' [This was the first film using the ‘MANKOLOR'™ film coloring process, which changed the industry forever.]
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Polly Want A Murder? (1948)
Polly Want A Murder? (1948)
- Classic film noir tale of a bird that knows too much.
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Damn The Torpedoes! (1948)
Damn The Torpedoes! (1948)
- World War 2 goofball comedy in which a clumsy pacifist (Joey Levitch) is accidentally put in charge of a Navy sub.
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Cup Of Josephine (1949)
Cup Of Josephine (1949)
- Greer Stanford stars as a strong-willed widow and mother who'll be damned if a man's gonna tell her she can't plant coffee beans.
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Requiem For A Wrestler (1949)
Requiem For A Wrestler (1949)
- G. Gordon Castle's award-winning film about a drunken, cross-dressing, homophobic wrestler.
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The Marshall Plan (1949)
The Marshall Plan (1949)
- A 12-hour dramatic interpretation of the document that laid out the European Recovery Program after World War II.
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Frankula's Not Dead! (1949)
Frankula's Not Dead! (1949)
- Sequel to 1947's 'Frankula vs. Drakenstein.' At the end of the first film, it appeared that Frankula was destroyed into tiny pieces - but as it turns out - Frankula's Not Dead!
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Two-Legged Race (1949)
Two-Legged Race (1949)
- True story of two amputee American G.I.s who joined together to win the 100 meters at the 1948 Olympics. [After the film failed to get any Oscar nominations, studio head Harry Manka started his own awards show The Khans (named for his older brother who died in 1937). ‘Two-Legged Race’ won Best Picture.]
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