|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Dec 27, 2017 14:39:58 GMT
I'm quickly becoming a major fan of William Powell. He was the greatest thing about The Great Ziegfeld. And I spent all of Christmas Eve with him, watching all six of The Thin Man movies. I came to classic movies a little late, so making up for lost time, or trying to. I look forward to seeing him in other movies I have yet to see like Mister Roberts and Life With Father. He and Myrna Loy have so much on screen chemistry it's obvious to see how they've further influenced all the bickering witty-banter couples to follow. People loved them together so much they wound up in 14 movies together, and the general public was convinced they were a real life couple. Powell had a rather tragic personal life though. Three marriages, two divorces, his only son killed himself by stabbing himself in the shower! His second wife, Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash after their divorce, his longtime girlfriend, Jean Harlow, died suddenly and at such a young age. He also had a bout with cancer around this time. Powell took a long leave from making movies, but bounced back. He seemed a resilient man! He lived to be 91 with third wife, Diana Lewis, at his side. He had a great speaking voice, I think it must have only helped him become a star in talking motion pictures, after doing several silent movies. I feel like I discovered someone great that I hardly ever heard of before, diving into classic movies has been very rewarding in this way!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2017 14:50:23 GMT
A brilliant actor been one of my favorite actrs for years.
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Dec 27, 2017 17:44:08 GMT
One of those actors that I always enjoy seeing. With his wife Diane (Mousie). When he retired, he absolutly retired. One of the reasons I've read why he retired was that during the making of Mister Roberts 1955, he was beginning having trouble remembering lines, and delivering them with the same ease as he had done before.
|
|
|
Post by marshamae on Dec 27, 2017 18:37:56 GMT
Don’t miss his screwball comedies with Myrna Loy - Love Crazy, I Love You Again and Libeled Lady. Their first pairing, Manhattan Melodrama is a powerhouse film. Finally don’t miss My Man Godfrey , in which Powell stars with Lombard and a great supporting cast. Also the Last of Mrs Chesney. It’s a Raffles like story with Joan Crawford. He’s a perfect foil for her, maintaining his corner , not impressed by her posturing.
Although the 40’s was not great for Powell, I’d be willing to watch anything he’s in.
|
|
|
Post by BATouttaheck on Dec 27, 2017 18:44:03 GMT
"I'm quickly becoming a major fan of William Powell."
Welcome to the Club Lebowskidoo 🦞 "I came to classic movies a little late, so making up for lost time, or trying to."
Thanks for sharing your journey into the Wonderful World of Classic Movies. Trying and succeeding !
|
|
|
Post by mattgarth on Dec 27, 2017 18:44:37 GMT
And all of the six THIN MAN films will be showing (in order, of course) on New Year's Eve over on Turner Classic Movies.
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Dec 27, 2017 19:41:24 GMT
And all of the six THIN MAN films will be showing (in order, of course) on New Year's Eve over on Turner Classic Movies. That's where I recorded them from, New Year's Eve 2015 on TCM. Finally got around to them!
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Dec 27, 2017 21:08:10 GMT
I like William Powell too. I enjoy watching his comedies from the 1930s like 'Manhattan Melodrama' (1934), 'The Thin Man' (1934), 'Libeled Lady' (1936) and 'My Man Godfrey' (1936). He was often paired with Kay Francis, or Myrna Loy. Saw him this year in an interesting political comedy, George Kaufman's campaign picture 'The Senator Was Indiscreet' (1947). I'd recommend a political movie he made years before this with French actress Annabella, Walter Lang's unusual romantic drama 'The Baroness And The Butler' (1938). Fay Wray & William Powell
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Dec 27, 2017 22:13:23 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Nalkarj on Dec 28, 2017 14:34:37 GMT
Golly, at this point I don’t really know what to say except to reiterate what everyone else wrote… First of all, thanks for this post, Lebowskidoo 🦞. I’m another great Powell fan (one of my favorite actors of the ‘30s, and one of the most consistently good of any era)… To paraphrase spiderwort, it’s nearly impossible not to love the guy. (Perhaps too many negatives in that sentence… Hm…) Powell is also usually my go-to choice in critiquing the concept of acting range as a positive good; that is not to say that Powell did not have any range (to the contrary) but rather that, in many movies, he made the persona he created work consistently, again and again, and convincingly, and in many ways that is (IMO) an even more impressive accomplishment. The Thin Man is so good that any more commentary may be merely gilding the lily; I’m happy it was a key step on your “classic film journey,” Lebowskidoo! A few more Powell favorites, some that have been commented on and some not, but nonetheless… Another Thin Man
The Benson Murder Case
The Kennel Murder Case
Jewel Robbery
Manhattan Melodrama
Star of Midnight
Life with Father
The Senator Was Indiscreet
I’m finally getting to record One Way Passage, which pairs him again with Jewel Robbery co-star Kay Francis—it’s a movie I’ve long wanted to see, so I’m happy TCM is showing it soon.
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Dec 29, 2017 16:29:21 GMT
Can you look cooler than this?
|
|
|
Post by koskiewicz on Dec 30, 2017 17:53:04 GMT
...his delivery was impeccable...!!!
|
|
|
Post by wmcclain on Dec 30, 2017 18:03:05 GMT
|
|
|
Post by marshamae on Dec 30, 2017 19:09:48 GMT
I love the way he could go full out loony and still be so smooth and sophisticated. See love crazy for a brillant piece of cross dressing , playing his own mother in law.
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Apr 24, 2019 17:54:07 GMT
|
|