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TCM Schedule for Thursday, December 6, 2018 -- What's On Tonight: Star of the Month Dick Powell
During most of the daylight hours, TCM is celebrating one of the great cinema duos -- Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Then in prime time, TCM is showing the films of Dick Powell, every Thursday night this month. Tell us more, Roger!No other actor had a career so neatly divided into three chapters like Dick Powell, the TCM Star of the Month for December. Powell first gained fame as the cherub-faced crooner in Warner Bros. musicals of the 1930s. During the following decade he completely reversed his image to become a hard-boiled private eye in film-noir crime capers. In later years, he became a successful producer and director of movies and television shows while maintaining his visibility as an actor, appearing as a wry and weathered leading man.
Through the various phases of his career, Powell maintained an underlying affability and easygoing charm that endeared him to audiences. Throughout December he is celebrated not only as Star of the Month but as the winner of our third annual TCM Backlot Member Vote, beating out veteran actor Melvyn Douglas to stand alongside previous years' winners: Lana Turner and Myrna Loy.
Richard Ewing Powell was born in Mountain View, Arkansas, on November 14, 1904. He was the middle brother of three. When he was 10 years old, the family moved to Little Rock, where Powell attended Little Rock College and sang with local orchestras. He toured the Midwest with the Royal Peacock Band and in 1927 joined the Charlie Davis Orchestra, which was based in Indianapolis. Powell later moved to Pittsburgh and found success as a singing master of ceremonies at various theaters. Within this time, he had married and divorced his first wife, model Mildred Maund.
Powell recorded vocals with the record label Vocalion, which was owned by Brunswick Records, a label bought by Warner Bros. in 1930. The studio was impressed by Powell's talents and offered him a movie contract in 1932. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event (1932).
Movie audiences quickly warmed to Powell's vigorous tenor voice and snappy acting style. Warner Bros. liked to keep their contract players busy, and by the end of the decade Powell made more than 30 features (some of them on loan-out to other studios). TCM is showing no less than 26 of this collection!
42nd Street (1933), a mega-hit musical with musical numbers staged by Busby Berkeley, cast Powell as Ruby Keeler's love interest in a cast that also included Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent and Ginger Rogers.
Now elevated to stardom, Powell also had huge successes in the Warner musicals Footlight Parade (1933), again playing opposite Keeler with James Cagney and Joan Blondell also starring; and Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), costarring with Keeler, Blondell, Rogers and William Warren. Powell would also appear in Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) and Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936).
Altogether, Powell and Blondell made 10 movies together at Warner Bros., including Dames (1934), Broadway Gondolier (1935), Colleen (1936) and Stage Struck (1936). The couple clicked offscreen as well and were married in 1936. (They would divorce in 1944.) Among Powell's other musicals with his alternate performing partner, Ruby Keeler, were Flirtation Walk (1934) and Shipmates Forever (1935).
Powell enjoyed a change of pace playing Lysander in the Warner Bros.' Oscar-nominated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). But he tired of the repetitious nature of such musical vehicles as The Singing Marine (1937), Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) and Naughty But Nice (1939). He complained that, "I'm not a kid anymore, but I'm still playing Boy Scouts."
At the end of the 1930s, he left Warner Bros. to work at Paramount. His best opportunity there was a non-singing role in Christmas in July (1940), a sparkling screwball comedy directed by a master of the form, Preston Sturges. For MGM, Powell starred opposite Lucille Ball in the musical comedy Meet the People (1944), which also featured the future Mrs. Powell, his third wife, June Allyson.
Then came the movie that would mark a permanent end to Powell's onscreen image as a clean-cut crooner: the RKO film noir Murder, My Sweet (1944), in which he was unexpectedly and successfully cast as rough-edged private eye Philip Marlowe under the direction of Edward Dmytryk.
Powell's other vehicles in the tough-guy tradition included Cornered (1945), another film noir for RKO directed by Dmytryk; Pitfall (1948), directed by Andre de Toth and released through United Artists; and RKO's Station West (1948), a Western in which Powell's hard-bitten, undercover Army agent was similar to his noir heroes.
In 1950, Powell acted opposite wife June Allyson in two films at her home studio, MGM, where she was now a major star. The Reformer and the Redhead is a comedy about a zookeeper's daughter who falls for a crusading attorney, and Right Cross is a drama set in the world of boxing.
Powell's other performances of the period included those in MGM's historical drama The Tall Target (1951) and Universal Pictures' whimsical comedy You Never Can Tell (1951, TCM premiere), in which Powell plays a reincarnated German shepherd!
Powell had one of his best roles as a cynical screenwriter in MGM's film-industry drama The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). His final theatrical feature was RKO's Susan Slept Here (1954), a romantic farce in which Powell is again a Hollywood screenwriter and Debbie Reynolds is a delinquent teenager put under his charge.
By then, Powell had begun directing features beginning with Split Second (1953) and continuing with The Conqueror (1956), You Can't Run Away from It (1956), The Enemy Below (1957) and The Hunters (1958). He famously remarked that he preferred directing to acting because "you don't have to shave or hold your stomach in."
Powell, who had also been active in radio, moved into television at a fortuitous time, when programming was shifting from live productions to filmed shows. He became president of the Four Star Television production company, which created a string of successful crime, Western and adventure series through the early 1960s. He appeared as guest star in some of the productions and hosted the anthology series The Dick Powell Show.
Powell had a daughter, Ellen, with Blondell and adopted her son, Norman Powell. He had two more children with Allyson: Pamela (adopted) and Richard Jr.
Powell died of cancer in 1963. It has been theorized that he contracted the disease during the filming of The Conqueror in St. George, Utah, a location that was downwind of atomic tests conducted by the U.S. government. Of the 220 people in the cast and crew, 91 reportedly developed some form of cancer including Powell and stars John Wayne and Susan Hayward.
by Roger Fristoe
Through the various phases of his career, Powell maintained an underlying affability and easygoing charm that endeared him to audiences. Throughout December he is celebrated not only as Star of the Month but as the winner of our third annual TCM Backlot Member Vote, beating out veteran actor Melvyn Douglas to stand alongside previous years' winners: Lana Turner and Myrna Loy.
Richard Ewing Powell was born in Mountain View, Arkansas, on November 14, 1904. He was the middle brother of three. When he was 10 years old, the family moved to Little Rock, where Powell attended Little Rock College and sang with local orchestras. He toured the Midwest with the Royal Peacock Band and in 1927 joined the Charlie Davis Orchestra, which was based in Indianapolis. Powell later moved to Pittsburgh and found success as a singing master of ceremonies at various theaters. Within this time, he had married and divorced his first wife, model Mildred Maund.
Powell recorded vocals with the record label Vocalion, which was owned by Brunswick Records, a label bought by Warner Bros. in 1930. The studio was impressed by Powell's talents and offered him a movie contract in 1932. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event (1932).
Movie audiences quickly warmed to Powell's vigorous tenor voice and snappy acting style. Warner Bros. liked to keep their contract players busy, and by the end of the decade Powell made more than 30 features (some of them on loan-out to other studios). TCM is showing no less than 26 of this collection!
42nd Street (1933), a mega-hit musical with musical numbers staged by Busby Berkeley, cast Powell as Ruby Keeler's love interest in a cast that also included Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent and Ginger Rogers.
Now elevated to stardom, Powell also had huge successes in the Warner musicals Footlight Parade (1933), again playing opposite Keeler with James Cagney and Joan Blondell also starring; and Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), costarring with Keeler, Blondell, Rogers and William Warren. Powell would also appear in Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935) and Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936).
Altogether, Powell and Blondell made 10 movies together at Warner Bros., including Dames (1934), Broadway Gondolier (1935), Colleen (1936) and Stage Struck (1936). The couple clicked offscreen as well and were married in 1936. (They would divorce in 1944.) Among Powell's other musicals with his alternate performing partner, Ruby Keeler, were Flirtation Walk (1934) and Shipmates Forever (1935).
Powell enjoyed a change of pace playing Lysander in the Warner Bros.' Oscar-nominated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). But he tired of the repetitious nature of such musical vehicles as The Singing Marine (1937), Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) and Naughty But Nice (1939). He complained that, "I'm not a kid anymore, but I'm still playing Boy Scouts."
At the end of the 1930s, he left Warner Bros. to work at Paramount. His best opportunity there was a non-singing role in Christmas in July (1940), a sparkling screwball comedy directed by a master of the form, Preston Sturges. For MGM, Powell starred opposite Lucille Ball in the musical comedy Meet the People (1944), which also featured the future Mrs. Powell, his third wife, June Allyson.
Then came the movie that would mark a permanent end to Powell's onscreen image as a clean-cut crooner: the RKO film noir Murder, My Sweet (1944), in which he was unexpectedly and successfully cast as rough-edged private eye Philip Marlowe under the direction of Edward Dmytryk.
Powell's other vehicles in the tough-guy tradition included Cornered (1945), another film noir for RKO directed by Dmytryk; Pitfall (1948), directed by Andre de Toth and released through United Artists; and RKO's Station West (1948), a Western in which Powell's hard-bitten, undercover Army agent was similar to his noir heroes.
In 1950, Powell acted opposite wife June Allyson in two films at her home studio, MGM, where she was now a major star. The Reformer and the Redhead is a comedy about a zookeeper's daughter who falls for a crusading attorney, and Right Cross is a drama set in the world of boxing.
Powell's other performances of the period included those in MGM's historical drama The Tall Target (1951) and Universal Pictures' whimsical comedy You Never Can Tell (1951, TCM premiere), in which Powell plays a reincarnated German shepherd!
Powell had one of his best roles as a cynical screenwriter in MGM's film-industry drama The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). His final theatrical feature was RKO's Susan Slept Here (1954), a romantic farce in which Powell is again a Hollywood screenwriter and Debbie Reynolds is a delinquent teenager put under his charge.
By then, Powell had begun directing features beginning with Split Second (1953) and continuing with The Conqueror (1956), You Can't Run Away from It (1956), The Enemy Below (1957) and The Hunters (1958). He famously remarked that he preferred directing to acting because "you don't have to shave or hold your stomach in."
Powell, who had also been active in radio, moved into television at a fortuitous time, when programming was shifting from live productions to filmed shows. He became president of the Four Star Television production company, which created a string of successful crime, Western and adventure series through the early 1960s. He appeared as guest star in some of the productions and hosted the anthology series The Dick Powell Show.
Powell had a daughter, Ellen, with Blondell and adopted her son, Norman Powell. He had two more children with Allyson: Pamela (adopted) and Richard Jr.
Powell died of cancer in 1963. It has been theorized that he contracted the disease during the filming of The Conqueror in St. George, Utah, a location that was downwind of atomic tests conducted by the U.S. government. Of the 220 people in the cast and crew, 91 reportedly developed some form of cancer including Powell and stars John Wayne and Susan Hayward.
by Roger Fristoe
Enjoy!
6:00 AM -- BONNIE SCOTLAND (1935)
Two Americans in search of a Scottish inheritance wind up serving with the British in India.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, June Lang
BW-80 mins, CC,
Barry Norton was the original juvenile lead, but according to William Janney, who replaced him, Norton's professionalism was his undoing. He knew his lines and cues perfectly, but when Laurel & Hardy began ad-libbing, Norton fell apart and couldn't keep up. Janney was brought in, and most of the scenes were re-written to keep Janney from falling into the same trap as Norton. Janney and "the boys" ultimately shared very few scenes.
7:30 AM -- THE FLYING DEUCES (1939)
Two bumblers join the Foreign Legion to forget a beautiful woman.
Dir: A. Edward Sutherland
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker
BW-69 mins,
On the set of this film, Oliver Hardy met his future wife, script supervisor Virginia Lucille Jones.
8:45 AM -- PARDON US (1931)
Selling homemade beer lands a two friends in prison together.
Dir: James Parrott
Cast: Boris Karloff, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel
BW-70 mins,
Four foreign language versions were also shot: Sous les verrous (1931) (French), Hinter Schloss und Riegel (1931) (German), Pardon Us (1931) (Italian) and Los presidiarios (1931) or "De Bote en Bote" (Spanish) . Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy spoke their lines phonetically, and many supporting roles were recast, including Boris Karloff playing "The Tiger" in the French version (played by Walter Long in the English language version).
9:45 AM -- NOTHING BUT TROUBLE (1944)
A pair of dimwits get jobs as servants to a boy king whose life is in danger.
Dir: Sam Taylor
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Mary Boland
BW-69 mins, CC,
The penultimate Laurel and Hardy film, followed by The Bullfighters (1945).
11:00 AM -- OUR RELATIONS (1936)
Two sailors get caught in a mountain of mix-ups when they meet their long-lost twins.
Dir: Harry Lachman
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Alan Hale
BW-73 mins, CC,
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy had previously played their own sons in Brats (1930) and each others' wives in Twice Two (1933) before playing their own twins in this film.
12:30 PM -- WAY OUT WEST (1937)
A pair of tenderfeet try to get the deed to a gold mine to its rightful owner.
Dir: James W. Horne
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Sharon Lynne
BW-65 mins, CC,
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Music, Score -- Marvin Hatley
Stan Laurel's laughter was infectious; you can see Sharon Lynn (Lola) laughing unscripted as she tickles Stan during the hotel scene.
1:45 PM -- SAPS AT SEA (1940)
Two factory workers accidentally set sail with an escaped killer.
Dir: Gordon Douglas
Cast: Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, James Finlayson
BW-57 mins, CC,
Fans regard this as the last true Laurel and Hardy film. It was their last film done for Hal Roach. It would also be the last film in which they would have significant input.
2:45 PM -- A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (1935)
Shakespeare's classic about two pairs of lovers and an amateur actor who get mixed up with fairies.
Dir: Max Reinhardt
Cast: Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Hobart Cavanaugh
BW-143 mins, CC,
Winner of Oscars for Best Cinematography -- Hal Mohr (First and only write-in nominee to actually win.), and Best Film Editing -- Ralph Dawson
Nominee for Oscars for Best Assistant Director -- Sherry Shourds, and Best Picture
Producer Reinhardt originally wanted Charles Laughton, Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Laurence Olivier but Warners forced him to use James Cagney, Dick Powell, Anita Louise, and Ian Hunter in the leads. It's not entirely clear why Davis, a Warner contractee, wasn't used.
5:15 PM -- THE KING'S VACATION (1933)
Monarch thinks he can find a simpler life with his former wife.
Dir: John G. Adolfi
Cast: Mr. George Arliss, Marjorie Gateson, Dudley Digges
BW-61 mins,
Based on a story by Ernest Pascal.
6:30 PM -- COLLEGE COACH (1933)
A timid chemistry major becomes a college football star.
Dir: William A. Wellman
Cast: Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, Pat O'Brien
BW-76 mins,
John Wayne has a 5 second appearance as a fellow student welcoming Dick Powell's character back to school in the beginning of the film.
TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: DICK POWELL
8:00 PM -- BLESSED EVENT (1932)
An unscrupulous gossip columnist lands himself in hot water.
Dir: Roy Del Ruth
Cast: Lee Tracy, Mary Brian, Allen Jenkins
BW-80 mins, CC,
Film debut of Dick Powell and Isabel Jewell (best remembered as the white trash neighbor of the O'Hara's, Emmy Slattery, in Gone With The Wind (1939)).
9:30 PM -- 42ND STREET (1933)
The definitive backstage musical, complete with the dazzling newcomer who goes on for the injured star.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Warner Baxter, Bebe Daniels, George Brent
BW-89 mins, CC,
Nominee for Oscars for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director), and Best Picture
After the "42nd Street" number was completed, Busby Berkeley was promoted from weekly contract status and was given a term contract by the studio.
11:15 PM -- FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933)
A producer fights labor problems, financiers and his greedy ex-wife to put on a show.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler
BW-103 mins, CC,
When Cynthia barges into Chester's office announcing she's his wife, Nan replies "And I'm Lydia Pinkham". Audiences at the time would have known she was referring to Lydia Estes Pinkham (1819-1883), the developer and marketer of a herbal alcoholic "women's tonic" that was still popular - in part, no doubt, because it was nearly 40 proof. As of 2018, "modern" formulations are still being sold.
1:15 AM -- GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933 (1933)
Three chorus girls fight to keep their show going and find rich husbands.
Dir: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon
BW-98 mins, CC,
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Sound, Recording -- Nathan Levinson (sound director)
At 5:55 PM PST on March 10, 1933, the Long Beach earthquake hit southern California, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale. When the earthquake hit, Busby Berkeley was filming the "Shadow Waltz" dance sequence on a sound stage on the Warner Brothers lot in Burbank. The earthquake caused a blackout on the sound stage and short-circuited some of the neon-tubed violins. Berkeley was almost thrown from a camera boom, and dangled by one hand until he could pull himself back up. Since many of the chorus girls in the dance number were on a 30-foot-high scaffold, Berkeley yelled for them to sit down and wait until the stage hands and technicians could open the sound stage doors and let in some light.
3:15 AM -- GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935 (1935)
A socialite is bamboozled into producing a stage show in her home.
Dir: Busby Berkeley
Cast: Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Stuart
BW-95 mins, CC,
Winner of an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song -- Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) for the song "Lullaby of Broadway"
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Busby Berkeley for "Lullaby of Broadway" and "The Words Are in My Heart"
About half way through the production piece "The Words Are in My Heart," one can see men's legs underneath the pianos, explaining how the pianos are moving.
5:00 AM -- GOLD DIGGERS OF 1937 (1936)
A group of insurance salesmen try to get into show business.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon
Cast: Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell
BW-101 mins, CC,
Nominee for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Busby Berkeley for "Love and War"
Multiple references to 'carloadings' being up, meaning an increase in the total amount of goods shipped by railroad. Back before stores ond other businesses reported total monthly sales, carloadings was the best available measure of consumer spending.