Classic Movies of Legendary Couple, William Powell and Myrna Loy

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of William Powell! As half of our legendary couple, William Powell had more than 50 films to his credit before he made The Thin Man in 1934. Throughout the 20s and early 30s, Powell made a name for himself as a debonair “heavy”, usually playing con-men, villains, detectives, or seducers. His first small part came in the silent classic Sherlock Holmes (1922), with John Barrymore as the legendary detective. Other silent film classics in which he appeared include Beau Geste (1926), with Ronald Colman in the title role (Powell played the character Boldini) and The Great Gatsby (also 1926), with Warner Baxter as Jay Gatsby. Powell played the role of George Wilson, the distraught husband who shot Gatsby. Unfortunately, no copies of this film survive. Shortly after, William Powell was cast as Detective Philo Vance in a series of movies based on the stories by S. S. Van Dine. The series began with The Canary Murder Case (1927) and ended with The Kennel Murder Case (1933) progressing from silent to talkie during its run.

During his long and distinguished career, William Powell portrayed many memorable characters in many memorable classics. He was a three-time Academy Award nominee for his roles in The Thin Man (1934), featured in our previous post; My Man Godfrey (1936), a fabulous screwball comedy co-starring Carole Lombard (Powell’s ex-wife and friend) as a scatter-brained socialite who hires “assumed” derelict, Godfrey (Powell), as her butler during the Depression, unaware of his prominent social standing in another city; and Life With Father (1947), based on the life of 1880’s New York stock broker, Clarence Day, as told amusingly by Clarence Day, Jr. in his recollections of life in his “perfectionist” father’s household. Lovely Irene Dunne and young Elizabeth Taylor also star in this charming period piece. All three films are fun to watch and wonderfully entertaining. Unfortunately, Powell never won the coveted “Oscar” statuette for any of his performances.

Also worth mentioning: William Powell starred with Jean Harlow in Reckless (1935) and Libeled Lady (1936). They were engaged, but never married. When Harlow died suddenly in 1936, Powell was devastated. That loss coupled with his own battle with colon cancer, caused him to accept very few roles during that difficult period from 1936-1939.

Later in his career, William Powell made several enjoyable change-of-pace films that include the delightful musical comedy Dancing In the Dark (1949) in which he plays Emery Slade, a once major film star trying to get back on top by talking the studio chief (Adolph Menjou) into starring him in a film version of a Broadway musical; How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), a very amusing comedy with Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, and Marilyn Monroe as husband-hunters of rich men only (Powell is the “older” wealthy man that Lauren Bacall has in her sights); and last, but certainly not least, one of our favorite films with William Powell and our classic in the spotlight today, Mr. Roberts (1955). This wonderful comedy, based on the Broadway smash-hit, also stars Henry Fonda, James Cagney, and Jack Lemmon in his Oscar-winning performance as Ensign Pulver. The film tells the tale of an American Naval cargo ship during the waning days of World War II. Cargo Chief, Lt. Doug Roberts (expertly played by Henry Fonda who created the role on Broadway), is bored with his duties and longs to get into combat action in the South Pacific before the war ends. He must continually butt heads with Captain Morton (played to the hilt by James Cagney) over his treatment of the crew, often resorting to driving the Captain “up the wall” with various stunts, usually cooked up with the assistance of Ensign Pulver (Lemmon) and “Doc” (Powell). This film is hilariously funny, but there are some sobering moments. Under the legendary direction of John Ford, all performances are first rate, making Mr. Roberts the perfect “swan song” for William Powell. He retired after the film and though he was often entreated to return to the screen, he was happy in his retirement and felt that 35 years of acting was long enough. William Powell died in 1984 of cardiac arrest at the age of 91.

**Trivia Question for Today: Which of the William Powell’s films has the distinction of being shown on the first installment of NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies in 1961? The answer will appear on our next post.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Manhattan Melodrama is “infamously” known as the film showing at the Biograph Theater in Chicago when federal agents gunned down gangster, John Dillinger, as he left the theater on July 22, 1934. It was the last film Dillinger ever saw.