Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer,
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
,
producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
,
directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
and
studioA studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture,scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation, radio or television broadcasting or the...
boss.
Born in
Mountain ViewMountain View is the largest city in and the county seat of Stone County in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 2,998. The town's name comes from its location in a valley surrounded by the eastern Ozark...
, the seat of
Stone CountyStone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2000, the population was 11,499. The county seat is Mountain View. The county was formed on April 21, 1873 and named for the natural stone formations in the area...
in northern
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the...
, Powell attended the former
Little Rock CollegeThe University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States.Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year university under the name Little Rock...
in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis
OrchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, based in the midwest. He recorded a number of records with Davis, and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s.
Powell moved to
PittsburghPittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the second largest city in the state. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2006, it was estimated to have fallen to 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is...
, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater, and the Stanley Theater.
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Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer,
actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
,
producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
,
directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
and
studioA studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture,scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, cinematography, animation, radio or television broadcasting or the...
boss.
Biography
Born in
Mountain ViewMountain View is the largest city in and the county seat of Stone County in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 2,998. The town's name comes from its location in a valley surrounded by the eastern Ozark...
, the seat of
Stone CountyStone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of 2000, the population was 11,499. The county seat is Mountain View. The county was formed on April 21, 1873 and named for the natural stone formations in the area...
in northern
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the...
, Powell attended the former
Little Rock CollegeThe University of Arkansas at Little Rock is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States.Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year university under the name Little Rock...
in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis
OrchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, based in the midwest. He recorded a number of records with Davis, and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s.
Powell moved to
PittsburghPittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the second largest city in the state. Its population was 334,563 at the 2000 census; by 2006, it was estimated to have fallen to 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is...
, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater, and the Stanley Theater. In April 1930,
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
bought up Brunswick RecordsBrunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by Koch Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
, which at that time owned Vocalion. Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
was sufficiently impressed by Powell's singing and stage presence to offer him a film contract in 1932. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event. He went on to star as a boyish croonerCrooner is an epithet given to a male singer of a certain style of popular songs, dubbed pop standards. A crooner is a singer of popular ballads and thus a "balladeer". The singer is normally backed by a full orchestra or big band. Generally, crooners sang and popularized the songs from the Great...
in movie musicals such as 42nd Street42nd Street is a Warner Bros. musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon with choreography by Busby Berkeley. The songs were written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin , and the script was written by Rian James and James Seymour, with Whitney Bolton , from the novel by Bradford Ropes.The film is a lively...
, Footlight ParadeFootlight Parade is a Warner Bros. musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The movie was written by Manuel Seff and James Seymour from a story by Robert Lord and Peter Milne...
, Gold Diggers of 1933Gold Diggers of 1933 is a Warner Bros. musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin , staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley...
, DamesDames is a Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright with dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert...
, Flirtation WalkFlirtation Walk is a 1934 black and white American musical romance about a soldier who falls in love with the general's daughter , but her father ships her off before their relationship can blossom....
, and On the AvenueOn the Avenue is a 1937 musical film starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. All of the songs in this film were composed by Irving Berlin.-Plot:...
, often appearing opposite Ruby KeelerRuby Keeler, born Ethel Hilda Keeler, was an actress, singer, and dancer most famous for her on-screen coupling with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Brothers, particularly 42nd Street. From 1928 to 1940, she was married to legendary singer Al Jolson...
and Joan BlondellRose Joan Blondell was an American actress.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career. Establishing herself as a sexy wisecracking blonde, she was a pre-Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions...
.
Powell desperately wanted to expand his range but Warner Bros. wouldn't allow him to do so, although they did (mis)cast him in A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a film directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, produced by Henry Blanke and Hal Wallis, and adapted by Charles Kenyon and Mary C. McCall Jr...
(1935) as Lysander. This was to be Powell's only Shakespearean role, and one he did not want to play, feeling that he was completely wrong for the part. Finally, reaching his forties and knowing that his young romantic leading man days were behind him, he lobbied to play the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurrayFrederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a highly successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, starting in 1930 and extending into the 1970s.MacMurray is well known for his role in the 1944 film noir Double...
, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s resolve to pursue projects with greater range and in 1944, he was cast in the first of a series of films noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, as private detective Philip MarlowePhilip Marlowe is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler in a series of novels including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye. Marlowe first appeared, under that name, in The Big Sleep, published in 1939...
in Murder, My SweetMurder, My Sweet is a film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. The film was originally released in the United Kingdom under the title Farewell, My Lovely, which is the title of the Raymond Chandler novel it is based on, and also the film's...
, directed by Edward DmytrykEdward Dmytryk was an American film director who was amongst the Hollywood Ten, a group of blacklisted film industry professionals who served time in prison for being in contempt of Congress during the McCarthy-era 'red scare'.Although born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada, Dmytryk grew up...
. The film was a big hit, and Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
The following year, Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make CorneredCornered is a film noir starring Dick Powell and directed by Edward Dmytryk, produced by Adrian Scott. This is the second teaming of Powell and Dmytryk ....
, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noirFilm noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead, appearing in movies such as Johnny O'ClockJohnny O'Clock is a American crime film noir directed by Robert Rossen and written by Robert Rossen, based on a story written by Milton Holmes. The drama features Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, among others.-Plot:...
and Cry DangerCry Danger is a 1951 film noir thriller shot in 22 days in Los Angeles, including the Bunker Hill section of the city.-Plot:Dick Powell plays bookie Rocky Mulloy, who was sentenced to life in prison for a robbery and murder that he didn't commit. He's released five years later when a witness...
. But 1948 saw him step out of the brutish type when he starred in PitfallPitfall refers to a series of video games:* Pitfall!, the 1982 original* Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, a 1984 sequel* Super Pitfall, a 1987 sequel and a quasi-remake of Pitfall II* Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, a 1994 sequel...
, a film noir that sees a bored insurance company worker fall for an innocent but dangerous femme fataleA femme fatale is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetypal character of literature and art...
, played by Lizabeth ScottLizabeth Scott is an American actress who achieved much success within the film noir genre, as well as other mainstream films and music.- Early life :...
. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as The Reformer and the Redhead and Susan Slept HereSusan Slept Here is a romantic comedy film starring Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds. It was based on the play of the same name by Steve Fisher and Alex Gottlieb...
(1954), he never sang in his later roles. The latter, his final onscreen appearance in a feature film, did include a dance number with costar Debbie ReynoldsDebbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She is also a collector of movie memorabilia. Reynolds was also an MGM contract star.-Early life:...
.
From 1949-1953, Powell played the lead role in the National Broadcasting CompanyThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private DetectiveRichard Diamond, Private Detective is a detective drama which was on radio from 1949 to 1953 and on television from 1957 to 1960.-Radio:Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his...
. His character in the 30-minute weekly was a likeable private detective with a quick wit. When Richard Diamond came to television in 1957, the lead role was portrayed by David JanssenDavid Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive .- Early life :...
.
In the 1950s, Powell produced and directed several B-movieA B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture conceived neither as an arthouse film nor as pornography. In its original usage, during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double...
s and was one of the founders of Four Star TelevisionFour Star Television, also called Four Star Films, Four Star Productions, and Four Star International, was an American television production company which operated from 1952 to 1989. It was formed by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer...
, along with Charles BoyerCharles Boyer was a French actor, who had appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After having a dramatic education, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in European and Hollywood movies during the 1930s. Although moving to the U.S., he kept up the connection with...
, David NivenJames David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was an English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther.-Early life:David Niven was born in London, England...
, and Ida LupinoIda Lupino was an English-American film actress and director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers. In her forty-eight year career, she appeared in fifty-nine films, and directed nine others. She also appeared in episodic television fifty-eight times and directed fifty other episodes...
. He appeared in and supervised several shows for that company. Powell played the role of Willie Dante in Four Star PlayhouseFour Star Playhouse is a television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes...
in episodes entitled "Dante's Inferno" (1952), "The Squeeze" (1953), "The Hard Way" (1953), and "The House Always Wins" (1955). In 1961, Howard DuffHoward Green Duff was an American actor of film, television, stage, and radio.Duff was born in Charleston, Washington, now a part of Bremerton. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1932 where he began acting in school plays only after he was cut from the basketball team. His...
, husband of Ida Lupino, assumed the Dante role in a short-lived NBC adventureAn adventure is an activity that comprises risky, dangerous or uncertain experiences. The term is more popularly used in reference to physical activities that have some potential for danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing, and extreme sports...
series, DanteDante is a short-lived NBC adventure/drama television series starring Howard Duff as Willie Dante, a former gambler who operates Dante's Inferno, a San Francisco, California, nightclub. Alan Mowbray co-starred as Stewart Styles, the Maitre d'; Tom D'Andrea as Biff, Dante's "man Friday", and Mort...
, set at a San FranciscoSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
nightclubA nightclub is a drinking, dancing and entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. People who frequent nightclubs are known as clubbers...
called "Dante's Inferno".
Powell guest starred in numerous Four Star programs, including a 1958 appearance on the Duff-Lupino sitcom Mr. Adams and EveMr. Adams and Eve is a CBS sitcom starring Howard Duff and his then wife, Ida Lupino, as a fictitious acting couple, Howard and Eve Adams, residing in Beverly Hills, California. In the television series, Lupino is known professionally as Eve Drake. The program aired sixty-six episodes from January...
. He appeared in 1961 on James WhitmoreJames Whitmore was an American film actor.-Early life:Born as James Allen Whitmore, Jr. in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, and spent his senior year at the...
's legal dramaA legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
The Law and Mr. JonesThe Law and Mr. Jones is a 45-episode half-hour television crime drama starring James Whitmore. The series aired on ABC in two nonconsecutive seasons from October 7, 1960, to September 22, 1961, and again from April 19 to July 5, 1962...
on ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. It first broadcast on television in 1948...
. In the episode "Everybody Versus Timmy Drayton", Powell played a colonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
having problems with his son. He hosted and occasionally starred in his Dick Powell's Zane Grey TheaterDick Powell's Zane Grey Theater, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theater, is a Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956-1961.-Six spinoff series:...
on CBS from 1956-1961.
Powell's film The Enemy BelowThe Enemy Below is a 1957 war film which tells the story of the battle between the captain of an American destroyer escort and the commander of a German U-boat during World War II. It stars Robert Mitchum, Curt Jürgens, David Hedison and Theodore Bikel. The movie was directed and produced by Dick...
(1957The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
) based on the novel by Denys RaynerDenys Arthur Rayner DSC & Bar, VRD, RNVR fought throughout the second Battle of the Atlantic. After intensive war service at sea, Rayner became a writer, a farmer, and a successful designer and builder of small sailing craft - his first being the Westcoaster; his most successful being the glass...
won an Academy Award for special effects.
Powell also directed The ConquerorThe Conqueror is a 1956 CinemaScope epic film produced by Howard Hughes and starring John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. Other performers included Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and Pedro Armendáriz. The picture was directed by actor/director Dick Powell. The film was principally shot...
(1956), starring John WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , born Marion Robert Morrison, better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and has become an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height...
as Genghis KhanGenghis Khan , ; 1162–1227), born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history....
. The exterior scenes were filmed in St. George, UtahSt. George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Utah, and the county seat of Washington County, Utah. It is the principal city of and is included in the St. George, Utah Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is 119 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and 303 miles ...
, downwind of US above-ground atomic tests. The cast and crew totaled 220, and of that number, 91 had developed some form of cancer by 1981 and 46 had died of cancer by then, including Wayne. This cancer rate is about three times higher than one would expect in a group of this size and many have argued that radioactive fallout was the cause.
Powell himself died seven years after The Conqueror was made, on January 2, 1963 from lymphomaLymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymphocytes of the immune system and presents as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. They often originate like balls in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node...
at the age of fifty-eight. His body was crematedCremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....
, and his remains were interred in the Columbarium of Honor at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CaliforniaGlendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area...
.
Personal life
Dick Powell was married three times:
- Mildred Maund (1925-1927)
- actress Joan Blondell
Rose Joan Blondell was an American actress.After winning a beauty pageant, Blondell embarked upon a film career. Establishing herself as a sexy wisecracking blonde, she was a pre-Hays Code staple of Warner Brothers and appeared in more than 100 movies and television productions...
(married September 19, 1936, divorced 1944), with whom he had two children, Ellen and adopted son Norman
- actress/singer June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss...
(August 19, 1945, until his death), with whom he had two children, Pamela (adopted) and Richard Powell, Jr.
Powell's ranch-style house in Mandeville Canyon, Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, was used as the setting for the television show Hart to HartHart to Hart is an American television series starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. It ran from 1979 to 1984 on the ABC Television Network....
. Robert WagnerRobert John Wagner is an American film and television actor of stage and screen, who starred in movies, soap operas and television...
, the actor who portrayed Jonathan Hart in the series, was a close friend of Powell's. Dick Powell also was a major television player with his own production company, Four Star, owning several network shows.
Popular culture references
Frank TashlinFrank Tashlin was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director. He was 6'2" tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds....
's 1937 cartoonThe word cartoon has various meanings, based on several very different forms of visual art and illustration. The term has evolved over time....
The Woods are Full of Cuckoos features an avian caricature of Mr. Powell called "Dick Fowl".
Features
- Blessed Event
Blessed Event is a 1932 film starring Lee Tracy as a newspaper gossip columnist who becomes entangled with a gangster.-Cast:*Lee Tracy as Alvin Roberts*Mary Brian as Gladys Price*Allen Jenkins as Frankie Wells*Ruth Donnelly as Miss Stevens...
(1932-Events:*Katharine Hepburn's film career begins*Shirley Temple's film career begins*Disney released Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon in three-strip Technicolor film.*Santa, first sound film made in Mexico released.-Academy Awards:...
)
- Big City Blues
Big City Blues is a 1932 Warner Bros. drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy. The story is based on the play by Ward Morehouse and the film stars Joan Blondell.-Plot:...
(1932)
- Too Busy to Work (1932)
- The King's Vacation (1933
-Events:*British Film Institute founded.*March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey....
)
- 42nd Street
42nd Street is a Warner Bros. musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon with choreography by Busby Berkeley. The songs were written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin , and the script was written by Rian James and James Seymour, with Whitney Bolton , from the novel by Bradford Ropes.The film is a lively...
(1933)
- Gold Diggers of 1933
Gold Diggers of 1933 is a Warner Bros. musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren and Al Dubin , staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley...
(1933)
- Footlight Parade
Footlight Parade is a Warner Bros. musical film starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell and featuring Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert and Ruth Donnelly. The movie was written by Manuel Seff and James Seymour from a story by Robert Lord and Peter Milne...
(1933)
- College Coach
College Coach is a 1933 film starring Dick Powell and Ann Dvorak. This would be John Wayne's last bit-part role.-Cast:* Dick Powell - Philip 'Phil'/'Sarge' Sargeant* Ann Dvorak - Claire Gore...
(1933)
- Convention City
Convention City is a pre-Code film produced by First National and released by Warner Bros. It was later banned by the Hollywood Production Code. No copies of the film are known to exist, making it the last missing feature from First National or Warner Bros.The plot revolved around drunk and...
(1933)
- Wonder Bar
Wonder Bar is a 1934 movie adaptation of a Broadway musical of the same name directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created by Busby Berkeley...
(1934-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
)
- Twenty Million Sweethearts
Twenty Million Sweethearts is a 1934 American musical film comedy directed by Ray Enright. The film stars Pat O'Brien, Dick Powell and Ginger Rogers.The film was remade in 1949 starring Doris Day as My Dream Is Yours.-Plot:...
(1934)
- Dames
Dames is a Warner Bros. musical comedy film directed by Ray Enright with dance numbers created by Busby Berkeley. The film stars Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell, Joan Blondell, Guy Kibbee, ZaSu Pitts, and Hugh Herbert...
(1934)
- Happiness Ahead (1934)
- Flirtation Walk
Flirtation Walk is a 1934 black and white American musical romance about a soldier who falls in love with the general's daughter , but her father ships her off before their relationship can blossom....
(1934)
- Gold Diggers of 1935
Gold Diggers of 1935 is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed and choregraphed by Busby Berkeley and starring Dick Powell, Gloria Stuart, Adolphe Menjou, Winifred Shaw, Alice Brady, Hugh Herbert and Frank McHugh...
(1935-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .* Six year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty - MGM*Best Actor: Victor McLaglen - The Informer...
)
- Broadway Gondolier (1935)
- Page Miss Glory (1935)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a film directed by Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle, produced by Henry Blanke and Hal Wallis, and adapted by Charles Kenyon and Mary C. McCall Jr...
(1935)
- Shipmates Forever (1935)
- Thanks A Million
Thanks a Million is a 1935 20th Century Fox musical film. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Sound in 1935.-Cast:*Dick Powell as Eric Land*Ann Dvorak as Sally Mason*Fred Allen as Ned Allen*Patsy Kelly as Phoebe Mason...
(1935)
- Colleen
Colleen is a 1936 Warner Bros. musical film directed by Alfred E. Green. It stars Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Joan Blondell.-Plot:Colleen is the manager of a dress shop named "The Ames Company", owned by Donald Ames. They trie to keep Uncle Cedric away from working, because he'll ruin the...
(1936The year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*nov 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon*February 15 - first Republic serial, Darkest Africa, released*September 28 - The Marx Brothers' Harpo Marx marries actress Susan Fleming...
)
- Hearts Divided
Hearts Divided is a 1936 musical film about the real-life marriage between American Elizabeth 'Betsy' Patterson and Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon. It starred Marion Davies and Dick Powell as the couple...
(1936)
- Stage Struck (1936)
- Gold Diggers of 1937
Gold Diggers of 1937 is a Warner Bros. movie musical directed by Lloyd Bacon with musical numbers created and directed by Busby Berkeley, and starring Dick Powell and Joan Blondell, who were married at the time, and Victor Moore. The film features songs by the teams of Harold Arlen and E.Y...
(1936)
- On the Avenue
On the Avenue is a 1937 musical film starring Dick Powell, Madeleine Carroll, and Alice Faye. All of the songs in this film were composed by Irving Berlin.-Plot:...
(1937The year 1937 in film involved some significant events.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US.*May 7 - Shall We Dance premieres in the US.-Top grossing films:#Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs#Maytime#Saratoga...
)
- The Singing Marine (1937)
- Varsity Show
Varsity Show is a 1937 feature film from Warner Brothers about a group of students at "Winfield College" who butt heads with their faculty advisor while producing an annual stage show....
(1937)
- Hollywood Hotel
Hollywood Hotel is a 1937 American film, directed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Dick Powell, Rosemary Lane, Lola Lane, and Ted Healy. Ronald Reagan and Benny Goodman also appear.- Production :...
(1937)
- Cowboy from Brooklyn
Cowboy from Brooklyn is a 1938 American film.Ronald Reagan starred in the film.- Plot :Singer Elly Jordan, a Brooklyn man who is terrified of animals, ends up broke along with his two musical partners at Hardy's Dude Ranch in Two Bits, Wyoming. The Hardys, Ma and Pop, daughter Jane and son Jeff,...
(1938The year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
)
- Hard to Get (1938)
- Going Places
Going Places is the fifth album by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and, along with their prior album, Whipped Cream and Other Delights, is one of their most popular releases...
(1938)
- Naughty but Nice (1939
The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.- Events :Movie historians and film buffs often look back on 1939 as "the greatest year in film history"...
)
- I Want a Divorce
I Want a Divorce is a 1940 Paramount comedy film directed by Ralph Murphy. The story is written by Frank Butler and stars the married Joan Blondell and Dick Powell.-Plot:...
(1940The year 1940 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released.* February 20 - Tom and Jerry make their debut in the animated cartoon Puss Gets the Boot....
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- Christmas in July
Christmas in July is a screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges based on his 1931 play A Cup of Coffee. It was Sturges' second film as writer-director, after The Great McGinty, and stars Dick Powell and Ellen Drew.-Plot:...
(1940)
- Model Wife (1941
The year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
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- In the Navy
In The Navy is a 1941 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello.-Plot:Popular crooner Russ Raymond abandons his career at its peak and joins the Navy using an alias, Tommy Halstead...
(1941)
- Star Spangled Rhythm
Star Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the...
(1942The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, Casablanca..-Events:...
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- Happy Go Lucky (1943
The year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :-16th Academy Awards:*Background to Danger, by Raoul Walsh with Peter Lorre*Bataan*Bombardier, starring Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, and Anne Shirley...
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- Riding High (1943)
- True to Life
True To Life is a 1977 album by Ray Charles. The album contains several cover versions, most notably Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now", Joe Cocker's "The Jealous Kind", George and Ira Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On?", and The Beatles' "Let It Be".-Track listing:#"I Can See Clearly...
(1943)
- It Happened Tomorrow
It Happened Tomorrow is a fantasy film starring Dick Powell, Linda Darnell and Jack Oakie, and featuring Edgar Kennedy and Sig Ruman. It was directed by René Clair.-Plot:...
(1944The year 1944 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released.*September 6 - Double Indemnity is released.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:...
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- Meet the People
Meet the People was a 1944 MGM patriotic film made during World War II with Lucille Ball and Dick Powell about a woman who works at a factory.It features Vaughn Monroe and his orchestra, as well as Spike Jones and his City Slickers....
(1944)
- Murder, My Sweet
Murder, My Sweet is a film noir directed by Edward Dmytryk, and starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, and Anne Shirley. The film was originally released in the United Kingdom under the title Farewell, My Lovely, which is the title of the Raymond Chandler novel it is based on, and also the film's...
(1944)
- Cornered
Cornered is a film noir starring Dick Powell and directed by Edward Dmytryk, produced by Adrian Scott. This is the second teaming of Powell and Dmytryk ....
(1945The year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
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- Johnny O'Clock
Johnny O'Clock is a American crime film noir directed by Robert Rossen and written by Robert Rossen, based on a story written by Milton Holmes. The drama features Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, among others.-Plot:...
(1947The year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten."*November 25...
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- To the Ends of the Earth
To the Ends of the Earth is a American crime film noir directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Sidney Buchman and Jay Richard Kennedy...
(1948The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
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- Pitfall
Pitfall is a black-and-white 1948 film noir drama directed by André De Toth. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Jay Dratler, and was titled Tragedia a Santa Monica for its Italian release....
(1948)
- Station West
Station West is a black-and-white 1948 film based on a Western novel by Luke Short. The film, considered film noir as well as a Western, was directed by Sidney Lanfield, who was known for directing comedies such as The Lemon Drop Kid. Station Wests cinematographer was Harry J. Wild...
(1948)
- Rogues' Regiment (1948)
- The Carpa Follies (1949)
- Mrs. Mike
Mrs. Mike, the Story of Katherine Mary Flannigan is a novel by Benedict and Nancy Mars Freedman set in the Canadian wilderness in the early 1900s. Considered by some a young adult classic, Mrs. Mike has been published in several editions and is read worldwide...
(1949The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :source: http://www.boxofficereport.com/database/1949.shtml- Awards :Academy Awards:*Adam's Rib*The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr...
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- The Reformer and the Redhead (1950
The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 15 - Walt Disney Studios' animated film Cinderella debuts.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
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- Right Cross
Right Cross is a 1950 drama film directed by John Sturges, written by Armand Deutsch and starring June Allyson, Ricardo Montalban, Dick Powell, Lionel Barrymore, and Marilyn Monroe.-Cast:*June Allyson ... Pat O'Malley...
(1950)
- Cry Danger
Cry Danger is a 1951 film noir thriller shot in 22 days in Los Angeles, including the Bunker Hill section of the city.-Plot:Dick Powell plays bookie Rocky Mulloy, who was sentenced to life in prison for a robbery and murder that he didn't commit. He's released five years later when a witness...
(1951The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
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- The Tall Target (1951)
- You Never Can Tell (1951)
- Callaway Went Thataway
Callaway Went Thataway is a 1951 American comedy/satire film starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, and Howard Keel. It was written, directed, and produced by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...
(1951) (scenes deleted)
- The Bad and the Beautiful
The Bad and the Beautiful is a MGM melodramatic film which tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, and Gloria Grahame....
(1952The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
)
- Susan Slept Here
Susan Slept Here is a romantic comedy film starring Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds. It was based on the play of the same name by Steve Fisher and Alex Gottlieb...
(1954The year 1954 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 12 - The Marx Brothers' Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda. The two were married in 1927.* A reproduction of "America's First Movie Studio", Thomas Edison's Black Maria, is constructed...
)
Short subjects
- The Road Is Open Again (1933
-Events:*British Film Institute founded.*March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey....
)
- Just Around the Corner
Just Around the Corner is a 1938 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings. The screenplay by Ethel Hill, Darrell Ware, and J. P. McEvoy was based on the novel Lucky Penny by Paul Girard Smith. The film focuses on the tribulations of little Penny Hale and her architect father after he is...
(1933)
- Hollywood on Parade
Hollywood on Parade is a series of short subjects released by Criterion Pictures Corporation. One short is probably best known for being Curly Howard's first appearance on film, as cited by historians, most likely because it was mistaken for a 1932 short.-Cast:*Baby Peggy*Bonnie Bonnell*Brox...
No. A-9 (1933)
- And She Learned About Dames (1934
-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
)
- Hollywood Newsreel (1934)
- A Dream Comes True (1935
-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .* Six year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.-Academy Awards:*Best Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty - MGM*Best Actor: Victor McLaglen - The Informer...
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- Hollywood Hobbies (1939
The year 1939 in film involved some significant events.- Events :Movie historians and film buffs often look back on 1939 as "the greatest year in film history"...
)
As director
- Split Second
Split Second is a 1953 thriller film about escaped convicts and their hostages holed up in a ghost town, unaware of the terrible danger they are in. It starred Stephen McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, and Keith Andes.-Plot:...
(1953The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
)
- The Conqueror
The Conqueror is a 1956 CinemaScope epic film produced by Howard Hughes and starring John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. Other performers included Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and Pedro Armendáriz. The picture was directed by actor/director Dick Powell. The film was principally shot...
(1956The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* August 4 - The last film serial, Blazing the Overland Trail from Columbia Pictures, is released.* November 15 - Elvis Presley's first film, Love Me Tender, opens....
)
- You Can't Run Away from It
You Can't Run Away from It is a 1956 Technicolor musical comedy starring June Allyson and Jack Lemmon. Directed and produced by Dick Powell, the film is a remake of the 1934 Academy Award-winning film It Happened One Night.-Plot:...
(1956The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* August 4 - The last film serial, Blazing the Overland Trail from Columbia Pictures, is released.* November 15 - Elvis Presley's first film, Love Me Tender, opens....
)
- The Enemy Below
The Enemy Below is a 1957 war film which tells the story of the battle between the captain of an American destroyer escort and the commander of a German U-boat during World War II. It stars Robert Mitchum, Curt Jürgens, David Hedison and Theodore Bikel. The movie was directed and produced by Dick...
(1957The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue
...
)
- The Hunters
The Hunters is a 1958 feature film adapted from the novel The Hunters by James Salter. Produced by Dick Powell, it stars Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner as two very different United States Air Force fighter pilots in the midst of the Korean War...
(1958The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date...
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External links