I always look forward to the Times weekly take on new DVD's, so why not plug them too? Today, the spotlight is on legendary actor Tyrone Power (and that was his birth name, by the way. And, oh, what a name). My first exposure to Mr. Power came in the form of "Alexander's Ragtime Band," a fairly disposable but highly entertaining excuse of a film to showcase the talents of gifted composer Irving Berlin.* I remember being more impressed by Alice Faye, but never forgot that good looking, sweet guy with the effortless acting skills.
In any case, Fox is releasing the "Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection," which includes 10 of his most popular pictures:
With their slim premises, small casts and restricted settings, movies like “Love Is News,” “Café Metropole” and “Second Honeymoon” (all with Young, and all from 1937) are typical of the moderately budgeted star vehicles that kept theaters open between blockbusters. Power seems more at home in these modest endeavors than he does in prestige pictures like “The Rains Came” (1939), in which he plays an Indian doctor laboring among the starving masses of Ranchipur; gravity was not his strong suit. As one of Hollywood’s few leading men who actually seemed comfortable wearing an ascot, Power was most convincing when he was playing in the upper registers of superficiality. His specialty was the disinherited heir, the inattentive husband, the aristocratic wastrel who discovers commitment in the last reel. The emotion he projected most strongly, in his prewar films at least, was a boundless sense of self-enjoyment, of an impish, uncomplicated ability to have fun, a skill that served him well in the swashbucklers that remain his best-remembered movies, from “The Mark of Zorro” to “Prince of Foxes” (1949).
Read more here.
*Every time I hear the name Irving Berlin, I remember an episode of "Who's the Boss?" where Samantha, having had a song written for her by Chad McCann, lists all the other composer duos like Lennon and McCartney, Rodgers and Hammerstein, until her best, less knowing friend Bonnie offers "Irving and Berlin!" Yes, I'm old. And no, I did not google any of it. Oh, bonus: that particular episode features an appearance by Ray Charles.
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3 comments:
Yep, no doubt that this is a long-anticipated box set release from Warners, even if it doesn't admittedly contain his very best work, which as you noted yourself was THE MARK OF ZORRO and THE PRINCE OF FOXES as well as stuff like BRIGHAM YOUNG. Power was one of the Golden Age thesps, whose off screen relationships and persona always trumped his movies, and in this sense the box set is more a collection of his work than any kind of a celebration of great American cinema. Still, the transfers are great, and its essential for fans of teh actor.
It's strange - I'm a huge fan, and I've never considered The Prince of Foxes and especially not Brigham Young as particularly good films. His only reason for being in Brigham Young was to get people to see the film.
For me his best films were Nightmare Alley, Mark of Zorro, The Black Swan, Blood and Sand, This Above All, The Razor's Edge, Captain from Castile, and from his very early films Cafe Metropole, Love is News, Lloyds of London, Jesse James and In Old Chicago. For films right at the end of his life, Eddy Duchin, The Long Gray Line and Witness for the Prosecution were probably his best.
He was an amazing star, and I think the quoted article or another one mentions that in the 1950s, he was still a huge star and in box office beat out many of his contemporaries.
Mrs R:
Your film chronology there is valid and impressive, no question. But many feel his PRINCE OF FOXES turn ranks up there, as did Dave Kehr in his exemplary DVD review of the set in Tuesday's NEW YORK TIMES. As far as BRIGHAM YOUNG, let's just say that we'll agree to disagree. I will admit that his very best performances include some of the ones you mention: CAPTAIN FROM CASTILLE, NIGHTMARE ALLEY and THE BLACK SWAN.
You are obviously and laudibly a big TYRONE POWER fan, something I am not myself, even while recognizing his attributes.
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