February Star of the Month - William Powell

[Daveismyhero]

Hello all,

William Powell is our Star of the Month for February!

Disclaimer: I discovered the joy that is My Man Godfrey (1936) late last year, and I passed the blu-ray to my mother, who absolutely loved the film, and enjoyed William Powell in particular. So I am looking for recommendations outside of the films I mention below. Bonus points if you can stay on topic.

I was first introduced to William Powell through the Thin Man series and his connection to Myrna Loy and cocktails. I have enjoyed all the above ever since. He was great as the doc in Mister Roberts (1955), which was his last credited role on IMDB. I loved it when they were mixing up their booze concoction. HA!

I Love You Again and How to Marry a Millionaire have been on my DVR for far too long, so my goal is to watch them this month.

I think one of the reasons I like Powell is that he was a very smooth talker, but didn't seem too Hollywood, if that makes sense.

Have any favorite Powell pics, anecdotes or quotes? Please share your thoughts below. As always, thank you in advance for participating!

Dave

[Dave Pitts]

Well before I saw any Powell features, as a kid, I would see his face in my movie books (Blum's Silent and Talkies albums, largely.) And, while I understood from the stills that he was some kind of romantic star, I couldn't get past his ungainly features. The face was angular, the nose very sharp, and somehow his eyes made me think of the way my eyes would smart from swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool. (In fact, he was cast as slimy villains quite often in the silents.) Once I began to see the big Powell pictures (Godfrey, the Thin Man, Life with Father), all that was history. He had style in the old school sense, which is almost nonexistent in today's movies. Powell glides through his pictures -- the man had elegance, and it magically cancels out the fact that he's not handsome in any conventional sense, and certainly not in the Ty Power/Robert Taylor sense. I also like the quiet way he has with dialogue -- sometimes in the 'big reveal', when there's some key revelation, you expect his voice to go up, and instead he undersells the line, which works perfectly.

[Roseha]

I haven't seen Powell too much in his silent roles yet but it seems that as with his co-star Myrna Loy he had a voice and vocal delivery that helped to move him into comedy in the sound era. I have to admit that while he may not be "handsome" I find him very, well, attractive. And yes, he had an amazing way with the big moment.

Just recently I twice watched him in The Kennel Murder Case, which TCM showed and which is also on Amazon Prime. It's an early talkie, pre "Thin Man", but it has its charms, and there's even a terrier belonging to Philo Vance (though a Scottie, so not played by "Asta"). I won't give away whodunit of course, but I still have a question after seeing this film multiple times - does anyone know who killed Sir Thomas' dog? Am I correct that it was never explained?

[maliejandra]

Another one I call overrated.

Not a bad actor but I don't have a strong emotional connection with him. He is in lots of great movies though with awesome casts, both silent and sound, and you won't go wrong randomly selecting something from his filmography.

[drednm]

One of the greats! Powell was 30 when he made his film debut in 1922.

I have no memory of him in the awful Sherlock Holmes (1922) but he is certainly memorable menacing Marion Davies in When Knighthood Was in Flower, even using secret passageways to do so.

[Jim Roots]

You haven't seen comedy until you've seen Powell in a Prince Valiant wig in any of the many historical silents he made. It is hysterical -- his face was so totally not made to be framed in such a silly haircut. That's when it strikes you how modern his physical appearance was.

Jim

[silentfilm]

He's a weakling soldier in the silent Beau Geste (1926). He's a revolutionary leader with a heart in The Last Command (1928).


He's a prince in the lost Time to Love (1927), with Raymond Griffith.


Frank McHugh, Myrna Loy and William Powell in I Love You Again (1940).


With Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey (1936).


William Powell and Irene Dunne in Life With Father (1947).

[s.w.a.c.]

He was great right up to the end, I love his role as Doc in Mister Roberts, the only time he worked with John Ford (and not for long, given the stories of Ford being forced off the picture).

And one of my favourite musicians, guitarist Leo Kottke, has an instrumental titled William Powell, which is graceful with some sharp comic turns.

[Daveismyhero]

Thanks so much for the replies so far, folks! And the great pics, too, of course!

I am about half-way through I Love You Again and I'll have to fire up Amazon Prime to watch The Kennel Murder Case.

I can see him being a slimy villain in the silents, so I'll have to track a couple of those down as well. I didn't realize he was in When Knighthood Was in Flower, so I'll add that to my list as well.

Powell as Prince Valiant sounds...interesting?

[drednm]

Powell makes a surprise entrance in When Knighthood Was in Flower

[Brooksie]

You haven't seen comedy until you've seen Powell in a Prince Valiant wig in any of the many historical silents he made. It is hysterical -- his face was so totally not made to be framed in such a silly haircut. That's when it strikes you how modern his physical appearance was.

Jim

For those who disbelieve, head over to this thread and see for yourself. One of filmdom's worst hairdos, for sure.

Setting aside his acting, one of the things that intrigues me about Powell is that he battled prostate cancer at the height of his career. This was an era where cancer was spoken of in hushed tones, much less a cancer of that variety. He remained largely out of the spotlight for some time, and yet he beat the cancer - I'm not sure how survivable it was in the mid 1930s, but I'll bet its treatment was both less effective and more unpleasant than it is today - and revived his career. No small feat.

[s.w.a.c.]

Setting aside his acting, one of the things that intrigues me about Powell is that he battled prostate cancer at the height of his career. This was an era where cancer was spoken of in hushed tones, much less a cancer of that variety. He remained largely out of the spotlight for some time, and yet he beat the cancer - I'm not sure how survivable it was in the mid 1930s, but I'll bet its treatment was both less effective and more unpleasant than it is today - and revived his career. No small feat.

Plus the same year that he was diagnosed with cancer, his beloved Jean Harlow died, it's amazing he was able to summon up the fortitude to keep going.

I keep forgetting that he lived into the 1980s, for some reason I always thought he died not long after filming his final role in Mister Roberts in 1955 (there are stories of him being ill on the set), but he was able to keep going nearly 30 years more with a third marriage that lasted from 1940 until his death in 1984. I hope he had a happy retirement.

[R Michael Pyle]

I keep forgetting that he lived into the 1980s, for some reason I always thought he died not long after filming his final role in Mister Roberts in 1955...

Interesting you should make this remark. I remember when he died (1984) his obituary mentioned that he had actually said most people thought he'd already died long ago, but, no, he was happy in retirement! He lived to 91, and he'd married tiny (5'1") Diana Lewis, whom he affectionately nicknamed "Mousie", and they remained married for 44 years.

Powell is one of my wife's and my favorite actors. We've been watching films of his this week just co-incidentally to his being Star of the Month. We've watched "Road to Singapore", "High Pressure", "Private Detective 62", and "The Key", all of which are in an anthology put out a few years ago by the Warner Archive Collection.

It's very interesting to me that three of my very favorite actors were not only tennis buddies in the early 1930's, and good players from all accounts, but were inseparable friends, besides. They were known around Hollywood in those days as "The Three Musketeers": William Powell, Richard Barthelmess, and Ronald Colman.

[buskeat]

William Powell is the best. I've been doing loads of research on him and his silent movies for the past year and I was lucky enough to see THE BRIGHT SHAWL (1923), Mr. Powell's fourth picture, and it's kind of amazing how he steals the movie from Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish, Edward G. Robinson and Mary Astor.

Playing an evil Spaniard on the island of Cuba in the mid-19th century, Powell is way cooler than everybody else, a wonderfully charismatic villain, and plays him with some dignity as well. The most shocking part of the film is the end, when in the final duel between Powell and Barthelmess, Powell humiliates the exhausted Barthelmess in a one-sided swordfight and sends him off to the U.S.

The bad guy won! And I was completely fine with it. Totally understand his typecasting during his silent film years.

[Jim Roots]

I think "cool" is exactly the word for him, and that's not taking away from his obvious personal warmth. In fact, you could say he made warmth cool in the best senses*.

* "Cool" = (1) unflappable (2) hip.

Jim