Classic Movies - Legendary Couple: William Powell and Myrna Loy (Myrna)

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Myrna Loy! As the other half of our legendary couple, Myrna Loy was a film veteran of more than 50 movies by the time she made The Thin Man (1934) with William Powell. Beginning her film career in the silent 1920s, Loy usually played Oriental vamps and half-breed sirens bent on luring men to their destruction. Several of her early silent films are What Price Beauty? (1925), her first small role; Pretty Ladies (1925), with Joan Crawford; and Bitter Apples (1927), her first starring role. In the early 1930s, she often switched to glamour girls, models, and the smart and decorative “best friend” of the leading lady, but it was back to the oriental "bad girl" makeup for The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), with Boris Karloff in the title role.

After signing with MGM, she was finally assigned two heftier projects with The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) and The Thin Man (1934), in which Myrna Loy found her comedic niche. She was perfectly delightful in comic roles and audiences loved her wit, charm, and warmth as Nora in “The Thin Man” series and in similar pictures. By 1936, Loy was voted “queen of the movies” and Gable was “king”. Although she never won an Oscar for a particular performance, Myrna Loy did receive an Honorary Academy Award in 1991. She received it via television camera and simply said, “You’ve made me very happy. Thank you very much”.

Several of our favorite Myrna Loy pictures (minus William Powell) include The Rains Came (1939) an exciting “disaster” film complete with earthquake, breaking dam, flood, falling temple, and handsome Tyrone Power; The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), a delightful comedy with Cary Grant and Shirley Temple; Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), another fine comedy with Cary Grant; John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony (1949), with Robert Mitchum; Cheaper By The Dozen (1950), with Clifton Webb; and its sequel, Belles On Their Toes (1952), with Jeanne Crain. The last two films follow the real-life adventures of the large Gilbreth family in the 1920’s. Clifton Webb is wonderful as the strict “efficiency expert” father while Myrna Loy is the perfect calm and caring mother of twelve children. When father (Webb) dies at the end of the first film, mother (Loy) must learn to carry on alone in her husband’s work and as the head of the family in the sequel. Both are fine family films full of warmth and humor.

The Myrna Loy picture in the spotlight today, however, is the Academy Award winning picture of 1946, William Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives, with Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell. Fredric March won the Best Actor Oscar for this film while physically challenged non-actor, Harold Russell, won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and an Honorary Oscar for his performance as Homer Parrish, a sailor who comes back from World War II without his hands, having had them burned off when his ship was destroyed. The film follows the lives of three returning servicemen. Al (March), Fred (Andrews), and Homer (Russell) must all readjust to civilian life, learn to fit back into their old lives, and accept the new challenges that face them in a very changed America after the war. Myrna Loy, as Al’s wife, Millie, is remarkably convincing as a woman who must also adjust to having her husband back after years of separation. The poignant scene between Homer and his girlfriend, Wilma (Cathy O’Donnell), as he demonstrates his nightly ritual of removing his prosthetic metal hands, is extremely moving and eye-opening. The Best Years of Our Lives is one of the best dramas ever made and is certainly one worth watching again and again.

Myrna Loy made films off and on through the 1950s, but roles became fewer and fewer. We’ve always enjoyed her performance in Midnight Lace (1960), with Doris Day, but it would be 1969 before she made her next film, April Fools. Her last film was Sidney Lumet’s Just Tell Me What You Want (1980) and her last TV movie was Summer Solstice in 1981. Myrna Loy died in surgery in New York City in 1993 at the age of 88. She was a lovely actress and a true legend of the silver screen.

**Trivia Question for Today: Though she never actually won an Oscar, for what film(s) was Myrna Loy nominated for an Academy Award winning performance?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: The William Powell film that has the distinction of being the first installment on NBC’s Saturday Night at the Movies in 1961 is How to Marry a Millionaire (1953). It was the first Cinemascope and Technicolor film to ever be televised.

Classic Movies - Legendary Couple: William Powell and Myrna Loy (William)

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.

Classic Movies - Legendary Couple: William Powell and Myrna Loy

Our month of “Screen Couples” continues this week with another legendary duo of the silver screen. We will first share the couple’s films together on today’s post, the male actor’s “solo” performances on Wednesday, and the female actor’s “solo” performances on Friday. Today, let’s talk Legendary Classic Movie Couple, William Powell and Myrna Loy!

This terrific twosome appeared in fourteen films together, a list of which will be shown at the end of this post. Of all their classic films, they are best known and loved as the married sleuthing couple, Nick and Nora Charles of “The Thin Man” series of movies. It is that series that is in the spotlight today. Tribute to the "Thin Man" movies. As the ultra-sophisticated, martini-drinking, murder-solving couple, Powell and Loy appeared in six “Thin Man” pictures beginning in 1934 with The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. The “thin man” of the title actually referred to the murder victim, but because of Powell’s slender build, audiences thought the title referred to him and from then on, it did. In the first film, Nick, a former detective, is called upon to solve a murder. At the urging of his new bride, Nora (a wealthy socialite who is rather bored by a life of glamour and endless cocktail parties), he takes the case. As is usual in these films, the murder is solved when Nick gathers all of his suspects in one place (this time at a dinner party) and eliminates each suspect, one by one, until he exposes the killer. Along the way to solving the murder, you can expect lots of witty repartee between Nick and Nora, more than a few martinis sipped, a parade of exquisitely chic costumes, a diverse cast of characters, and assorted tricks from the cleverest of little dogs, Asta, who often digs up a clue or two to help his owners unravel the mystery.

The other five “Thin Man” movies are: After the Thin Man (1936), often considered better than the original and co-stars young James Stewart; Another Thin Man (1939) which came three years later after William Powell had been seriously ill; Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), perhaps a little weaker in plot than the others, but still fun to watch; The Thin Man Goes Home (1944), a particular favorite of ours because of the hilarious dance floor sequence with Nora doing the Jitterbug as Nick watches in amazement; and Song of the Thin Man (1947), the final film of the series. Powell and Loy were getting older, so it was probably time to pull the plug on “The Thin Man”, but it had been a good run while it lasted.

As promised above, here is a list of all fourteen films in which William Powell and Myrna Loy appeared together: Manhattan Melodrama (1934); The Thin Man (1934); Evelyn Prentice (1934); The Great Ziegfeld (1936); Libeled Lady (1936); After the Thin Man (1936); Double Wedding (1937); Another Thin Man (1939); I Love You Again (1940); Love Crazy (1941); Shadow of the Thin Man (1941); The Thin Man Goes Home (1944); Song of the Thin Man (1947; and The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947) in which Myrna Loy only appears briefly in an unaccredited cameo role.

We must also make mention of the fact that The Great Ziegfeld won the Best Picture Oscar of 1936. If you’ve ever seen it, you understand why. We couldn’t believe the fantastic sets MGM built for that movie. They were enormous and surely couldn’t have fit on a real Broadway stage. After all that trouble, we fail to understand why it wasn’t filmed in color. It would have been even more magnificent, but perhaps a little too expensive. Powell (as legendary showman Florenz Ziegfeld) and Loy (as his second wife, Billie Burke) were wonderful in that film and a fabulous team in all their movie appearances together, but they were each pretty great in films without the other. Check out our next post for the Classic Movies of William Powell.

**Trivia Question for Today: Manhattan Melodrama, with Powell and Loy, also starred Clark Gable, but do you know what “infamous” occurrence that picture will always be associated with? The answer will appear in our next post. Read “Let’s Talk Classic Movies” every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Bobs Watson is the amazing child actor who was dragged by runaway horses in Dodge City, with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. It always seemed to us that Bobs was able to “cry at the drop of a hat”. He demonstrated that ability in other film favorites such as In Old Chicago, Boys Town, and On Borrowed Time.

Classic Movies - Legendary Couples: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Legendary Couple-Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland! We previously talked about their performances apart, but today’s post is all about their wonderful movies together. Whether in swashbuckler, Western, or modern setting, Flynn and de Havilland are indeed one of the best-loved of all screen couples and their films are always enjoyable entertainment. The eight screen classics this dynamic duo made together, usually under the capable direction of Michael Curtiz, are as follows:

Captain Blood (1935) was their first romantic pairing. It is a fabulous sea-faring swashbuckler that includes an exciting seaside swordfight between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone (not the last time these two amazing swordsmen would meet on film). Flynn and de Havilland are youthfully enchanting and their on-screen chemistry is clearly apparent throughout the movie.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), loosely based upon the classic poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, depicts the disastrous British Cavalry charge against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War in 1854. Errol Flynn and Patric Knowles portray soldier brothers in love with the same girl (de Havilland) in this story that culminates with the infamous cavalry charge also known as “the magnificent blunder”. Don’t expect historical accuracy in this film, but do expect rousing adventure, romance, and a surprising outcome for our dynamic duo.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) is our favorite of all the Flynn-de Havilland pairings and is the classic in the spotlight today. With a supporting cast that includes the considerable talents of Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale, Patric Knowles, Eugene Pallette, Una O’Connor, and Ian Hunter, this tale of Robin Hood and the “merry men” of Sherwood Forest is, in our opinion, the most enjoyable of all “Robin Hood” films to date. There is just something about the brilliance of Technicolor, the magnificent musical score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and the presence of dashing Errol Flynn as Robin Hood and beautiful Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian that cannot be recaptured by today’s versions. Robin’s exchanges with Little John (Hale), Friar Tuck (Pallette), and Prince John (Rains) are amusing, often sarcastic, and great fun to watch. The archery competition is exciting and the climactic swordfight between Robin and Sir Guy (Rathbone), as they descend a spiraling stairway, is spectacular. Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland absolutely light up the screen as their characters fall in love, despite a somewhat dubious beginning. We adore The Adventures of Robin Hood and recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys action-packed drama mixed with romance and humor.

Four’s A Crowd (1938), co-starring Rosalind Russell and Patric Knowles, is a screwball romantic-comedy that we have never had the pleasure of seeing, but we do hope to remedy that soon. After watching several clips of this film, we think it looks very entertaining and a delightful change-of-pace for Flynn and de Havilland. We intend to check on the availability of this film with Blockbuster (see our banner ad for classic movie rentals or purchases).

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) stars Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth, Errol Flynn as the Earl of Essex, and Olivia de Havilland as Lady Penelope Gray. This opulent costume drama is beautifully filmed in Technicolor and tells the tale of the middle-aged Queen and her love for the younger, dashing and very ambitious Essex. Lady Penelope Gray is also in love with Essex, but his heart belongs to Elizabeth. The story’s plot is one of complicated intrigue that results in heartbreaking decision-making by Queen Elizabeth who must put her love of country before her love for Essex. The talented supporting cast includes Vincent Price, Alan Hale, Donald Crisp, Judith Anderson, and young Nanette Fabray.

Dodge City (1939) pairs Flynn and de Havilland in a Western for the first time. Alan Hale and Guinn “Big Boy” Williams are Flynn’s humorous sidekicks in this film that has hero, Wade Hatton (Flynn), cleaning up the “wild and woolly” town of Dodge City, Kansas. As he attempts to make the town a decent place for women and children, Hatton also attempts to win the affection of Abbie Irving (de Havilland), with whom he got off to a very rocky start. With a cast of excellent supporting actors including Ann Sheridan, Bruce Cabot, Frank McHugh, Victor Jory, Henry Travers, and Henry O’Neill, Dodge City is classic Western adventure Flynn and de Havilland style!

Santa Fe Trail (1940) is another Western outing for Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. In this film, Flynn portrays “Jeb” Stuart while Ronald Reagan portrays George Custer, seven years before the Civil War begins and directly after their graduation from West Point. Along with several classmates, Stuart and Custer are sent out to the U.S. Cavalry’s “suicide station” in Ft. Leavenworth where they hope to free “bloody Kansas” from the abolitionist raids led by John Brown (Raymond Massey is sensational as the fanatical anti-slavery leader). The chase for Brown begins in Kansas, but eventually moves east to Harper’s Ferry, Maryland for the final showdown. Along the way, Flynn’s “Jeb Stuart” not only falls in love with de Havilland’s “Kit Halliday”, but is joined by Alan Hale and Guinn “Big Boy” Williams as humorous “wanna be” soldiers. Although much of the story is historically inaccurate, it is still wonderfully entertaining and rather thought-provoking, especially where John Brown’s motives and beliefs are concerned.

They Died With Their Boots On (1941), is the last of the Flynn and de Havilland pairings and was one of the top grossing pictures of 1941, despite its many historical inaccuracies. The film follows the life of George Armstrong Custer (Flynn) from West Point cadet, to Civil War general, to leader of the famous 7th Cavalry, to his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn. They Died With Their Boots On also shows the private life of General Custer and his abiding love for Elizabeth “Libby” Bacon Custer (de Havilland) until his battlefield death in 1876. The outstanding supporting cast includes veteran character actor Gene Lockhart, the very versatile Arthur Kennedy, and a young Anthony Quinn as Crazy Horse. As always, the chemistry between Flynn and de Havilland is in full force, making this movie another enduring classic by one of our favorite on-screen couples.

There is a ninth film in which both Flynn and de Havilland appear, but it is one of those studio extravaganzas that put all the major stars at Warner Brothers together for cameos or musical numbers. This was done to promote morale during World War II. The picture’s title is Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) and although both Flynn and de Havilland are in it, they are appearing as “themselves” and not in the same scenes. We have never had the privilege of viewing this picture, but have enjoyed several films of this type in the past.

Trivia Question for Today: Can you name the amazing child actor in Dodge City who gets dragged by runaway horses while trying to help Abbie (de Havilland)? Check our next post for the answer. Don’t forget to read Let’s Talk Classic Movies every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Olivia de Havilland’s younger sister is actress, Joan Fontaine, who won a best actress Oscar for Hitchcock’s Suspicion in 1941. (Fontaine has the distinction of being the only actor, male or female, who ever won an Oscar for a Hitchcock film.) Although both sisters are still living, they have sadly been estranged for many years.

Classic Movies - Legendary Couples: Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Olivia)

Today, let’s talk Classic Movies of Olivia de Havilland! This two-time Academy Award-winning actress is always fabulous in whatever she appears in. Her films with Errol Flynn are a pleasure to watch and will be shared with you in our next post, but today we are focusing on her screen performances without Mr. Flynn. Beginning with her first appearance in Alibi Ike (1935), with funny man, Joe E. Brown, Olivia de Havilland has remained an audience favorite throughout her highly successful career and is one of the few surviving actors of Hollywood’s Golden Age of the 1930’s. Her most distinctive career accomplishment, however, came in the 1940’s when she brought a lawsuit against Warner Brothers Studios, for whom she had worked for many years. Fighting for more “actor-control” over role choices, Olivia de Havilland scored a major victory for herself and all screen actors when she won the lawsuit. Until that time, actors were at the mercy of the studio system and if they refused to play certain roles, they were often suspended for extended periods of time. That “suspension period” then had to be made up as part of their contract fulfillment. “The de Havilland decision” brought an end to the cattle-like treatment of actors by their studios.

Olivia de Havilland’s classic motion pictures are so many that we will list only a few on this post. That list includes wonderful films such as Anthony Adverse (1936), with Fredric March; It’s Love I’m After (1937), with Bette Davis and Leslie Howard; Gone with the Wind (1939), with Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, and Leslie Howard (de Havilland was perfectly cast as Melanie Hamilton); The Strawberry Blonde (1940), a delightful comedy with James Cagney; The Male Animal (1942), with Henry Fonda (another fine comedy); The Dark Mirror (1946), in which she plays dual roles as twins; The Snake Pit (1948), which takes a harrowing look at mental illness and earned her an Oscar nomination; The Heiress (1949), with Montgomery Clift (the second of her Oscar-winning performances); My Cousin Rachel (1952), with Richard Burton; and Not as a Stranger (1954), with Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra. Several later films include the classic thriller, Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), with Bette Davis; the controversial Lady in a Cage (1964), introducing James Caan; and the exciting Airport ’77 (1977), with Jack Lemmon. All of the above are films we have seen and enjoyed through the years.

The Olivia de Havilland classic we are spotlighting today is the poignantly romantic drama, To Each His Own (1946), with John Lund in his screen debut. This was the film for which Olivia de Havilland won her first Academy Award for best actress and it was definitely well-deserved. As both the young and middle-aged “Jody Norris”, Miss de Havilland shines in a role that has her age approximately 25 years during the course of the film. The story is one of bittersweet remembrance as matronly Miss Norris recalls, in flashback, her youthful, ill-fated romance with a World War I airplane pilot (Lund). That romance resulted in an illegitimate son that was given up for adoption. Only 16 hours of work a day, building a cosmetic empire, would fill the years of loneliness and regret for Miss Norris. Finally, during World War II, the chance comes for her to meet her grown son (also a pilot played by John Lund) and to do “something” for him at last.

The entire film is deeply moving and Olivia de Havilland is completely believable and wonderful as Miss Jody Norris. We warmly recommend To Each His Own to anyone who loves fine adult drama. It is one of Olivia de Havilland’s greatest performances. Read "Let's Talk Classic Movies" every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for more movie presentations and trivia.

**Trivia Question for Today: Who is Olivia de Havilland’s Oscar-winning sister?

Trivia Answer for Previous Post: Errol Flynn convincingly portrays self-destructive screen legend and his good friend, John Barrymore, in Too Much, Too Soon, the biopic of Barrymore’s self-destructive daughter, Diana (played by Dorothy Malone).