Showing posts with label William Powell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William Powell. Show all posts

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Francis and Powell shine in 'Jewel Robbery'

Jewel Robbery (1932)
Starring: Kay Francis, William Powell, Helen Vinson, Spencer Charters, Lee Kohlmar, Clarence Wilson, Hardie Albright, Andre Luguet, and Alan Mowbray
Director: William Dieterle
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

A bored socialite in a loveless marriage (Francis) and a dapper jewel thief (Powell) fall in love with each other when he robs a store while she is shopping at it.
 
William Powell & Kay Francis in "Jewel Robbery"

"Jewel Robbery" is a fun, straight-forward romantic comedy. In fact, it's so straight-forward that I kept expecting this or that action on behalf of a character to be the prelude of something tragic or sinister... but, with one minor exception, it wasn't. Every character in this film is exactly who and what they appear to be, and the story follows a very simple A to B to C progression from beginning to end.

But that's okay, because Kay Francis and William Powell are so much fun to watch together that you're going to want things to be honest and up-front between them. In fact, I suspect that if I had been watching this movie in 1932, I probably would not have thought Powell's character was up to something other than a) securing his stolen loot, and b) following up on the pretty blatant signals he was getting Francis' character in the jewelry store. 

Of course, it also helps that Francis spends about half the movie in a dress that looks like it'll fall off her at any moment. (Even if she wasn't such a good actress, Francis is worth watching just for how great she looks in the outfits she wears in this movie. Or almost doesn't wear...)

Kay Francis in "Jewel Robbery"

Although this film is dominated by Francis & Powell--they are the stars, they have the most screen-time, and they're really the only characters we care about as the film unfolds--there is literally not a character that doesn't get to have at least one memorable moment in the film. Any performer who has a line either has a memorable, amusing line, or they get to have some other noteworthy moment; even the very minor character of the maid gets to mug at the camera in reaction to a massive bouquet of flowers  that mysteriously appear (as Powell's way of announcing himself to Francis). There is literally not a wasted moment in this picture, nor any element of it that doesn't work or that falls in the least bit flat, and everyone involved gets to shine. If you only watch one Pre-Code romantic comedy, you wouldn't regret making "Jewel Robbery" the one.

So, since I really have nothing negative to say about the picture, why is it only getting a Nine of Ten rating? Well, partly because I'm not sure if my feeling that the film is just a little too straight-forward really is an artifact of the 90 years that have passed since it's release or if this story DID need another complication or two. Also, I was enjoying the interplay between Francis & Powell's characters so much that I really wanted a bit more of a denouement than what we're provided with. Yes--I am aware that such niceties were not a well-established part of cinematic storytelling in the 1930s, but I wasn't really for this movie to end when it did. It's a good ending, but I wanted MORE!

"Jewel Thief" is one of four movies from the Pre-Code era that can be found in the DVD collection "Forbidden Hollywood Vol. 4". It's worth the price almost entirely by itself, so I recommend this set highly.

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Happy Birthdays!

William Powell and Thelma Todd, two of the favorites here at Shades of Gray, share the birthday of July 29. Powell was born on this day in 1892, and Todd in 1906.


Powell and Todd also shared the silver screen in the 1927 silent movie "Nevada". Click here to read my review of it, and to even watch the movie.


Saturday, March 16, 2019

One film, three rising stars shining brightly

Nevada (1927)
Starring: Gary Cooper, Thelma Todd, William Powell, Ernie Adams, Ivan Christy, and Philip Strange
Director: John Waters
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A gunslinger, Nevada (Cooper), and his sidekick, Cash (Adams), take jobs as ranch hands in an effort to settle down and live the quiet life. Instead,  Nevada becomes entangled in a romantic triangle between the lovely Heddie (Todd) and her fiance Clan (Powell), as well as the hunt for a gang of cattle rustlers who have an uncanny ability to stay a step of head of all efforts to stop them.


If you like classic westerns, I think you'll like "Nevada" even if you aren't prone to watching silent movies. It's got all the elements you expect to find--which isn't surprising since its script was based on a novel by Zane Grey--as well as a fast-moving and multi-layered plot with a climax that remains in question almost up to the point of conclusion. There was also a nice balance between drama and humor, and the major characters were all given enough depth for the viewer to care about the danger they're in as the story unfolds

There aren't many full-length silent movies that I find I have the patience for, but this was one of them. The rich story helped, but the quality of the acting was even more important. There is very little of the overacting and mugging for the camera that was so common in silent movies, and even present in talkies for a number of years after they appeared. The leads all get the characters' moods and attitudes across with just the right amount of projection, and there is a naturalism to the performances that seems rare in silent films. Another high point of the film were the intertitle cards. All of them were pithy, and several were downright hilarious. They show what a great loss to both journalism and screenwriting when Jack Conway, the writer of the cards, died at the early age of 40.

Another presence in this film by someone who died very young is Thelma Todd. "Nevada" was Todd's first starring role, and she seems to have been a natural. She is so good in this film it's like she walked straight from her life as a school teacher in the New England to being a fullblown movie star in Hollywood. Although future superstars Gary Cooper and William Powell were also at the beginning of their careers, both were still far more experienced than Todd, and she holds her presence on the screen as effectively as they do in their shared scenes. After watching "Nevada," more than ever, I think Todd's early death--when she was just 29 years old--robbed the world of what could have been one of history's great film stars.

Speaking of Cooper and Powell, they are also excellent in this film. Both play the sorts of characters they will play throughout their careers--although there are a couple twists and reversals in that usual type here. Cooper seems especially good when playing off Todd or Ernie Adams. Powell is, as always, a great deal of fun to watch... and his character all but steals the movie's third act.

One problem with the film is that some of the actors are so similar in appearance and costuming that they're difficult to tell apart. Specifically, I thought Philip Strange was William Powell (and/or visa-versa), so I was very confused when he suddenly went from Thelma Todd's brother and owner of the ranch to her would-be husband and owner of the neighboring ranch. Checking the credits list dispelled the confusion, but someone in the casting department made an especially bad choice with that one. (Usually, when I can't tell one actor from another in films this old it's because the image is too degraded. While the version of "Nevada" I watched wasn't the best quality, that wasn't the reason I couldn't tell Strange and Powell apart. They really do look like twins in the picture.)

According to IMDB, there are only two intact copies of "Nevada" known to still exist, and both are in poor shape. Fortunately, at least one of them has been digitized and is available for everyone to enjoy on YouTube. You can watch the movie right here, right now, if you have the time.


Monday, December 21, 2009

Powell's last outing as Philo Vance

The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Starring: William Powell, Eugene Pallette, Robert Barrat, Robert McWade, James Lee, Mary Astor, Frank Conroy, Ralph Morgan, Paul Cavanagh, Helen Vison and Jack La Rue
Director: Michael Curtiz
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

When Archer Coe (Barrat) is found dead in a room locked from the inside, the police assume he killed himself. Celebrated private detective Philo Vance (Powell) believes he was murdered and he proves his suspicions true in fairly short order, even figuring out the solution to the "locked room mystery." But when his prime suspect (Morgan) is also found murdered and everyone else who is even remotely connected to the case had very good reasons to want Coe dead, Vance may for the first time be faced with a mystery he is unable to solve.


"The Kennel Murder Case" is a tale of high society murder that features a mystery so tangled that is bound to keep you guessing up to the very point where Vance tricks the murderer into revealing himself. (In fact, the case is so complicated that if Vance hadn't found another angle of attack by sheer luck after the loss of his first suspect, it might have gone unsolved, or perhaps even more victims would have been claimed by the killer.) It's a film that anyone who enjoys classic mysteries will love very much.

Aside from being an excellent mystery film, it should be of interest to anyone who has enjoyed William Powell as Nick Charles in the Thin Man series. Powell shows that he is just as capable and engaging in the role of a more traditional "consulting detective", including to the point that he is part of the upper-crust society he rubs shoulders with (as opposed to Nick who married his way into it). Vance also solves his crimes sober, and it's interesting to watch Powell play a sober detective who gets by equally on his sharp wit, powers of observation and deduction, and a charming manner that makes him liked even by most criminal types.

"The Kennel Murder Case" is the only William Powell Philo Vance outing that is currently on the market in any format, a reflection of the changing tides of popular culture. In 1933, the Philo Vance character was perhaps more famous than even Sherlock Holmes, but 75 years later, he is all but totally forgotten.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

'My Man Godfrey' has social commentary relevant today

My Man Godfrey (1936)
Starring: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick, Mischa Auer, Jean Dixon, Eugene Pallette and Alan Mobray
Director: Gregory La Cava
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

When a down-and-out man with a secret past (Powell) is hired as the butler for the most dysfunctional family of New York City's wealthy elite, what starts as a cruel joke ultimately ends up transforming the lives of everyone involved.


"My Man Godfrey" is one of the great comedies of the 1930s. Its fast-paced script, hilarious gags, and the top-notch cast that performs them with impeccable comic timing, makes it a movie that should still entertain all but the most brain-damaged members of Generation XBox. If you've seen William Powell in the more famous "Thin Man" series and you liked him there, you definitely need to see this movie as he gives an even better performance as the mysterious Godfrey Smith--a man retrieved from the city dump by a pair of flighty and drunken socialites, yet who has more class, polish and social grace in his left hand than they have in their entire family.

Another reason to watch the film is that the social commentary within it remains as relevant today as it was in 1936. It's particularly worth watching if you're a filmmaker or writer who wants to create a "message movie", as this film shows how to do it the RIGHT way.

Michael Moore, David Zucker and any number of other modern filmmakers who think they have important messages worth listening to should be forced to watch and write a 5,000 essay on "My Man Godfrey" before they are let anywhere near a film production again.

(And on a different note, I am hereby offering a public admission of being wrong. I told a fellow film enthusiast that I didn't think it mattered if comedies were colorized--dramas were ruined by the colorization process because it leaches the blackness from the shadows and dampens the brightness of the lit areas--and he told me that I was mistaken. Naturally, I disagreed. But the version of "My Man Godfrey" that I saw had both the original and a very well done colorized version on the same disk. However, despite the fact that the colorization job was excellent, the end result was still one that was flat and visually uninteresting. So, I have to admit that colorization hurts any kind of film that was originally filmed in black-and-white.)


Monday, November 16, 2009

The Complete Thin Man Collection



Perhaps the greatest on-screen marriage of all times is that of Nick and Nora Charles, the sleuthing partiers-turned-parents that were originally created by legendary mystery writer Dashell Hammett. The films they appeared in have been collected in a DVD boxed set that is worthy of them.

Warner Bros. pulled out all the stops for "The Thin Man Collection", a seven DVD set that presents near-flawless transfers of the "Thin Man" comedies from the 1930s and 1940s and such a huge selection of extras that most other DVD sets you buy after this one will feel overpriced.

For around $40 (if you buy the set through Amazon.com), you get all six classic Thin Man comedies starring William Powell and Myrna Loy, excellent documentaries on Powell and Loy, and a wide selection of cartoons and short features. In fact, every disc in the set can be used to replicate an "old time night at the movies," with short films to watch before the feature presentation. Each every one of them is fascinating and great fun, with the "Tell-Tale Heart" adaptation included is particularly excellent.

If you haven't seen the Thin Man flms and have any appreciation for classic comedies or the detective films of the 1930s and 1940s, you absolutely must, at the very least, see "The Thin Man". If you need a gift for someone who loves classic movies, you can't go wrong if you get them "The Thin Man Collection". I guarentee they will love every minute of it.

As for the Thin Man movies themselves, read on for my take on each of them.

The Thin Man (1934)
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Edward Ellis, Mina Gombell and William Henry
Director: W.S. van Dyke

When the return to New York City of retired ace private detective Nick Charles (Powell) coincides with a former client (Ellis) disspearing while under a cloud of suspicion of murder, everyone from cops to crooks assumes he's on the case. Nick, however, wants nothing to do with crime-solving, preferring instead to celebrate the Christmas holiday with his loving wife Nora (Loy) in a drunken stupour. When bullets start flying in his direction, and a police detective (Pendleton) starts drawing conclusions that are obviously wrong to Nick, he takes up the case with his terrier Asta on a leash in one hand and a drink in the other.


"The Thin Man" is one of the best comedy/mysteries ever made. It's got a strong mystery driving the plot, it's got incredibly funny dialogue of the sort that very few writers are capable of creating today and even fewer actors are capable of delivering properly, and it features one of the funniest, warmest martital relationships to ever appear on film. I think this is also probably the only movie where the detective spends the entire story--which spans several weeks--drunk as a skunk!

Although it was filmed by the low-budget division of Warner Bros., "The Thin Man" was the most popular film of 1934 and it was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (for William Powell). It's easy to see why. Powell and Loy's onscreen chemistry and high-energy bantering gives the impression of a very believable couple who are deeply in love and equal partners in their relationship, even if she's from a background of wealth and he's come up from the street. They're equally witty, equally adventerous, and equally hard-drinking.

Another aspect of the film that is hilarous is the spoofing of detective fiction mainstays.

Like Sherlock Holmes, it seems that every other person in Nick Charles' circle of friends and acquaintances is a crook he sent to jail at one point--most of the guests at the Christmas party held by Nick and Nora are of the criminal class--and most of the people he has chance meetings with are of the same type. (Yet, Nick is so charming and likable that even criminals he sent up the river end up being his pals.)

Even funnier is the spoofing of the typical Agatha Christie climax where the detective gathers all the suspects together to reveal who the murderer is. Here, Nick and Nora throw a very expensive dinner party and Nick has his police detective friends bring the guests wether they want to come or not. Nick playing host while unspooling his theory of the crime at the same time leads to some very funny misunderstandings at the table.

With William Powell and Myrna Loy providing the film with a solid center of charm and wit, and a cast of excellent supporting actors including Maureen O'Sullivan and Nat Pendleton orbiting around them, "The Thin Man" is a comedy classic that is as fun and entertaining today as it was when it first premiered nearly 75 years ago. It's a movie that is well deserving of the label "classic."




After the Thin Man (1936)
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Elissa Landi, Joseph Calleia, Sam Levene, Polly Singleton, James Stewart and George Zucco
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) return to San Francisco hoping to spend a quiet New Year's Eve alone at home. But they arrive to find their house full of revelers who are there for a surprise party in their honor and Nick is quickly (and reluctantly) drawn into a scandal brewing around Nora's wealthy relatives: It starts with the gold-digging husband of her cousin (Landi) vanishing and gets worse when she becomes the prime suspect in his murder.


"After the Thin Man" is a fast-paced mystery movie that lovers of classic films will enjoy quite a bit. It delivers a solid story portrayed by a talented cast and filmed with a high degree of skill. It's good, but it's nothing rises to the dizzying heights of hilarity as "The Thin Man", nor is the back and forth of loving putdowns and snappy comebacks between Nick and Nora as free-flowing.

This is still a very well done comedy mystery that captures the feel of San Francisco's high society during the Roaring Twenties, and if it wasn't the follow-up to a masterpiece, I might have felt a little less dissapointed in it. The fact is, though, that it's not until the final ten minutes of running time that the movie fully exhibits the qualities that made "The Thin Man" such an amazing film.

William Powell and Myrna Loy are as charasmatic here as they were in the first movie, even if the script isn't quite as good. They aided by a great supporting cast of talented actors who present a gallery of quirky and suspicious characters, with a young James Stewart giving a particuarly good performance. In fact, James Stewart's performance is a key element of the ending being as effective as it is. (The very cute denoument will also leave you with a smile on your face and thinking about checking out the sequel, "Another Thin Man".)




Another Thin Man (1939)
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Otto Kruger, Nat Pendleton, C. Aubrey Smith, Virginia Grey and Tom Neal
Director: W. S. Van Dyke
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

One-time party-circuit mainstays and trouble-magnets Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy), now the proud parents of a baby boy, have resolved to put their wild lives of partying and crime-solving behind them. However, when the manager of Nora's investments (Smith) is murdered under mysterious circumstances, the pair are drawn into solving a mystery where the only apparent suspects either have air-tight alibis or end up dead themselves.


It is said the couples mature once they have a child and Nick and Nora seem to be holding true to that in their third cinematic adventure, "Another Thin Man". There's no partying--with the exception of just about everyone Nick ever "sent up the river" in New York bringing babies to the Charles' residence to help celebrate Nicky Jr.'s first birthday--very little boozing (even if Nick sneaks a drink every chance he gets) and while a visit to a night-time hotspot shows that Nora can still wrap any man around her finger, it ultimately serves to give another illustration of the deep affection that she and Nick have for one another and to underscore their newly discovered maturity.

Although the tone of "Another Thin Man" is a little different than the two previous movies, it's still very funny. The humor now revolves mostly around Nick and Nora's marriage (and Nick's rough-and-tumble past) and their relationship with one another remains as playful as ever even without the free-flowing booze. The mystery featured is also very fascinating although it gets a little too tangled for its own good and comes across as just a little too far fetched, something I suspect even the writers were aware of since they had a character comment that she feared the scheme was too involved.

The cast all do an excellent job, and I think letting Nick and Nora "grow up" was a wise decision, not just because they have a child now, but because it seems believable; William Powell and Myrna Loy were starting to show the fact they were well into their middle years, so it seems right that the most beloved characters they ever portrayed should age and mature as well. The only dissapointment I felt with this second sequel to "The Thin Man" was that the now-expected round-up of all the suspects and Nick ultimately fingering the murderer was not as funny as the one in the original film, nor as dramatic as the one in "Another Thin Man". (The twist revelation of the killer's identity is undermined in part by the performer in the role not having the talent of James Stewart--the shift in personality and demeanor simply isn't as convincing or shocking.)




Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Sam Levene, Lou Lubin, Barry Nelson, Donna Reed, Henry O'Neill, Stella Adler, Loring Smith and Joseph Anthony
Director: W.S. Van Dyke
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

When a friend is accused of murdering a shady journalist, Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) are drawn into an investigation of a large racketeering and gambling operation.


"Shadow of the Thin Man" is the fourth installment in the Thin Man series, and it is the weakest entry so far. Stars William Powell and Myrna Loy display the same on-screen chemistry they've shown since the series' beginning, and Nick and Nora's relationship is as fun and interesting to watch unfold as ever, but the script they are working with here is average fare for the comedy/mystery genre of the day. The only unusual touch is Nick and Nora's son, Nick Jr. It's rare to see a wise-cracking movie detective like Nick Charles wrapped around the finger of a four year-old kid.

Although light on plot and jokes, the film still features a fine cast, a brisk pace, and a nice mystery that unfolds mostly in the open so the attentive viewers can solve the crime along with Nick if they choose. The humor and the great chemistry and charm of William Powell and Myrna Low make this film as entertaining today as it was in 1941. The only reason I felt a little dissapointed in the film was because it follows such a trio of excellent films that it feels like it represents a severe drop-off in quality.




The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Harry Davenport, Lucile Watson, Gloria DeHaven, Edward Brophy, Lloyd Corrigan, Helen Vison and Leon Ames
Directors Richard Thorpe and Norman Taurog
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

While Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) are vacationing in the small town where Nick grew up, a man is assassinated, literally in the doorway of the home of Nick's parents. Nora thinks this is a perfect opportunithy for Nick to show his father he isn't the drunken lout he believes him to be, and she pushes Nick to investigate the crime.


"The Thin Man Goes Home" is a change of pace and scenery for the classic "Thin Man" series of comedy-mysteries. Instead of being set in the swanky rooms of the wealthiest in America's largest cities, it takes place among the rich and powerful citizens in a picturesque small American town... and they are revealed to be every bit as vicious and self-centered and potentially evil as their supposedly more urbane counterparts.

The mystery in this film is more multi-faceted and involved than the one Nick was confronted with in the installment of the series immediately prior to this one ("Shadow of the Thin Man", review here), making the film more interesting. The jokes and physical humor in this film are also funnier and more finely honed than they've been since the first movie in the series, making this the best sequel since "After the Thin Man", review here).

Another difference in the film is that Nick actually solves the multiple mysteries that are tangled together in this film stone cold sober! Nick doesn't touch a drop of alcohol for the entire movie, because he is trying to impress his father (and also because in 1944, liquor was being rationed due to the war effort).

What is the same, however, is the wonderful onscreen chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy, and the continued portrayal of the pefect married relationship shared by the Charleses. I really can't think of an on-screen married couple that are as fun as these two and the back-and-forth between these two characters are as important to these films as the mysteries. (Relationship highlights in this film include a fun exchange over Nora's failed attempt to set up a lawnchair; Nora buying a birthday present for Nick thinking it is tied to fond memories and later discovering that she didn't get the full story when it came to his childhood reminicing; and Nick stranding Nora at a charity dance with a jitterbugging sailor so he can go on an investigation. Actually, the scene at the charity dance is one of the highlights of the entire Thin Man series!)

It maybe nearly 65 years since "The Thin Man Goes Home" was made, but the humor is still fresh and story is as good, and even better, than the vast of majority of films that have been made since.



Song of the Thin Man (1947)
Starring: William Powell, Myrna Loy and Keenan Wynn
Dierctor: Edward Buzzell
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Socialites Nick and Nora Charles (Powell and Loy) find themselves fish-out-water as they navigate a different type of party scene--that of jazz clubs and beatniks--to clear a hood-gone-straight of a murder charge.


The second to last line that William Powell speaks as Nick Charles is, "I'm going to retire."

Almost every aspect of "Song of the Thin Man" seems to be geared toward underscoring the point that the Charles' are getting a bit long in the tooth and that it is, indeed, time to retire.

Their one-time freewheeling party life has become focused on charity dinners and similar events, Nick is no longer recognized and welcomed everywhere he goes by cops and robbers alike--they all seem to have already retired--and when they do venture into the roaring jazz scene of the late 1940s, they are confused and disconcerted by what they find. To top it off, a real threat is launched against young Nick, Jr. as the couple are off on their investigation.

More than in any other of the Thin Man films, we see Nick and Nora out of their element, and we see that they're uncomfortable. While this occured in earlier films, they usually charmed their way through any possible discomfort, but they can't quite pull that off here. They are well into middle age, and the world is starting to accelerate past them.

While Myrna Loy is as gorgeous as ever, despite clearly being about a decade-and-a-half older than when the first film was made, William Powell looks tired in this film and even older perhaps than his 58 years. He looks like someone who would be uncomfortable around weird jazz musicians, and it's a shame, because Nick Charles shouldn't be uncomfortable around anyone.

Despite the fact that Nick and Nora feel like they are past their prime, Myrna Loy and William Powell still show the tremendous on-screen chemistry that carried this series from the very beginning. In fact, because the characters seem older and calmer, the chemsistry between the actors comes through even stronger. The true love that Nick and Nora have for each other is obviously one that will last until death do them part.

Aside from being saturated with the feeling that Nick and Nora's day has come and gone, the script for "Song of the Thin Man" is one of the weaker ones in the series. It's better than the one for "Shadow of the Thin Man", but it's a long way from the one that launched the series or even the one that immediately preceeded it, "The Thin Man Goes Home". The "big reveal" is particularly weak, almost as if the writers didn't quite know how to handle the Agatha Christie-style "gathering of the suspects" climax that had become part-and-parcel with the series. I almost wish they'd broken with convention, because they do a very poor job of trying to work it in.

Despite the fact that I felt a slight melancholy while watching the film, because of the sense that these two beloved characters were over-the-hill, "Song of the Thin Man" is still a funny comedy mystery with a plot that you aren't likely to figure out all the components of until Nick forces the truth into the open in the film's last minute. It may not be as good as early entries in the series, but it's still a film that holds up extremely well and that is as enjoyable now as it was sixty years ago.