William Powell
Actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947).
After high school, he left home for New York and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at the age of 18. In 1912, Powell graduated from the AADA, and worked in some vaudeville and stock companies. After several successful experiences on the Broadway stage, he began his Hollywood career in 1922, playing a small role as an evil henchman of Professor Moriarty in a production of Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore. His most memorable role in silent movies was as a bitter film director opposite Emil Jannings' Academy Award-winning ... Show more...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947).
After high school, he left home for New York and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at the age of 18. In 1912, Powell graduated from the AADA, and worked in some vaudeville and stock companies. After several successful experiences on the Broadway stage, he began his Hollywood career in 1922, playing a small role as an evil henchman of Professor Moriarty in a production of Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore. His most memorable role in silent movies was as a bitter film director opposite Emil Jannings' Academy Award-winning performance as a fallen general in The Last Command (1928). This success, along with Powell's pleasant speaking voice, led to his first starring role as amateur detective Philo Vance in the "talkie" The Canary Murder Case (1929).
Powell's most famous role was that of Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, beginning with The Thin Man in 1934, based upon Dashiell Hammett's novel. The role provided a perfect opportunity for Powell, with his resonant speaking voice, to showcase his sophisticated charm and witty sense of humor, and he received his first Academy Award nomination for The Thin Man. Myrna Loy played his wife, Nora, in each of the Thin Man films. Their on-screen partnership, beginning alongside Clark Gable in 1934 with Manhattan Melodrama, was one of Hollywood's most prolific, and they appeared in 14 films together.
Loy and Powell starred in the Best Picture of 1936, The Great Ziegfeld, with Powell in the title role and Loy as Ziegfeld's wife Billie Burke. That same year, he also received his second Academy Award nomination, for the comedy My Man Godfrey.
In 1935, he starred with Jean Harlow in Reckless. A serious romance developed between them, and in 1936, they were reunited on screen and with Loy and Spencer Tracy in the screwball comedy Libeled Lady. However, Harlow surprisingly and quickly became ill, and died from uremia at the age of 26 in June 1937 before they could marry. His distress over her death, as well as a cancer diagnosis of his own, caused him to accept fewer acting roles. Powell's career slowed considerably in the 1940s, although he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1947 for his role as the cantankerous Clarence Day, Sr., in Life with Father. His last film was 1955's Mister Roberts.
Powell died in Palm Springs, California, on March 5, 1984, at the age of 91 from heart failure, nearly 30 years after his retirement. He is buried at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California, near his third wife Diana Lewis, and his only child, his son William David Powell. Show less...
Filmography - Acting
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Cinecittà Babylon (2017)
As: Himself - Actor (archive footage)
The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy.
Runtime: 74 min.
Directed by: Marco Spagnoli
Stars: Vinicio Marchioni | Martina Querini | Silvia Alù | Eliana De Marinis | Eleonora Mancini
William Powell: A True Gentleman (2005)
A short documentary about William Powell.
Runtime: 31 min.
Stars: Michael York | Myrna Loy | Leonard Maltin | Carole Lombard | Rudy Behlmer
Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993)
As: Himself
Actress Sharon Stone hosts this documentary about the life and career of 1930s sex symbol Jean Harlow. Included are clips from many of her films, photos and stories about her life before she became a movie star, and accounts of her troubled personal life, including a domineering mother, the failure of her three marriages and the suicide of her second husband.
Runtime: 47 min.
Directed by: Tom McQuade
Stars: Sharon Stone | Myrna Loy | Clark Gable | William Powell | Jean Harlow
Hollywood Remembers: Myrna Loy - So Nice to Come Home to (1991)
This tribute to Myrna Loy is organized chronologically with a few photographs, many film clips, a handful of personal appearances, and a detailed commentary delivered on camera by Kathleen Turner. Turner walks us through Loy's career as a dancer and an actress miscast as an exotic. She comes into her own as a grown-up women: shrewd, funny, decorous, and sexy - in "Manhattan Melodrama" and "The Thin Man." ...
Runtime: 46 min.
Directed by: Richard Schickel
Stars: Kathleen Turner | Melvyn Douglas | Warner Baxter | Dolores Costello | G. Larry Butler
James Stewart's Wonderful Life (1988)
As: (archive footage)
Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
Runtime: 87 min.
Stars: Clint Eastwood | James Stewart | Roger Vadim | Tab Hunter | Johnny Carson
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage (1983)
As: Himself (archive footage)
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, wardrobe tests, documentary material, and archival footage make up this star-studded voyeuristic look at the Golden age of Hollywood during the 30s, 40, and 50.
Runtime: 83 min.
Directed by: Ron Blackman | Bruce Goldstein | Stanley Sheff
Stars: Gig Young | Bud Abbott | Walter Abel | Katharine Alexander | Ray Anthony
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
Runtime: 133 min.
Directed by: Gene Kelly
Stars: Mickey Rooney | Fred Astaire | Gene Kelly | Bing Crosby | Judy Garland
It's Showtime (1976)
A collection of film clips profiling animal actors.
Runtime: 85 min.
Directed by: Fred Weintraub | Paul M. Heller | Alan Myerson
Stars: Daisy | Pal | Rin-Tin-Tin | Trigger | Skippy
Brother Can You Spare A Dime (1975)
As: Himself
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression.
Runtime: 103 min.
Directed by: Philippe Mora
Stars: James Cagney | Bing Crosby | Bill Elliott | Betty Compson | Alice Faye
The Big Parade of Comedy (1964)
As: Nick Charles (archive footage)
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Robert Youngson
Stars: Katharine Hepburn | Clark Gable | Spencer Tracy | Cary Grant | Jean Harlow
Mister Roberts (1955)
As: Lt. 'Doc'
A hilarious and heartfelt military comedy-drama co-directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, Mister Roberts stars Henry Fonda as an officer who's yearning for battle but is stuck in the backwaters of World War II on a noncommissioned Navy ship run by the bullying Capt. Morton (James Cagney). Jack Lemmon enjoys a star-making turn as the freewheeling Ensign Pulver, and William Powell stars as the ship's doctor ...
Runtime: 123 min.
Directed by: John Ford | Mervyn LeRoy | Joshua Logan
Stars: Jack Lemmon | Henry Fonda | James Cagney | William Powell | Betsy Palmer
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
As: J.D. Hanley
Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.
Runtime: 95 min.
Directed by: Jean Negulesco
Stars: Lauren Bacall | David Wayne | Betty Grable | Rory Calhoun | Marilyn Monroe
The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
As: Steve Latimer
Attorney's daughter falls for one of his gangster clients.
Runtime: 69 min.
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Stars: James Whitmore | Elizabeth Taylor | Gig Young | William Powell | Fernando Lamas
The Treasure of Lost Canyon (1952)
As: Homer 'Doc' Brown
Young David, orphaned en route to California, falls into the hands of medicine-show rascal Baltimore Dan. Years later, now a trained thief, he's adopted by eccentric 'Doc' Brown, retired miner and pharmacist. Doc and David become fast friends in their scenic outdoor rambles. But when they discover a hidden treasure, the idyllic interlude gives way to more troubles and a strange coincidence.
Runtime: 82 min.
Directed by: Ted Tetzlaff
Stars: Julie Adams | Charles Drake | Rosemary DeCamp | Henry Hull | William Powell
It's a Big Country (1951)
As: Professor
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements ...
Runtime: 89 min.
Directed by: Clarence Brown | Don Hartman | John Sturges | Richard Thorpe | Charles Vidor | Don Weis | William A. Wellman
Stars: Nancy Reagan | Van Johnson | Gary Cooper | Keefe Brasselle | Ethel Barrymore
Dancing in the Dark (1949)
As: Emery Slade
Conceited actor Emery Slade, on a mission to recruit a Broadway star for Fox, picks unknown Julie Clarke instead.
Runtime: 92 min.
Directed by: Irving Reis
Stars: Mark Stevens | Betsy Drake | Randy Stuart | Adolphe Menjou | William Powell
Take One False Step (1949)
As: Professor Andrew Gentling
Prof. Andrew Gentling, in Los Angeles to help found a new college, is inveigled by old flame Catherine Sykes into a midnight drive. Next day Catherine is missing, believed killed; friend Martha convinces Andrew that he's a prime suspect and should investigate before he's arrested. But this only puts Andrew in a more deadly kind of danger.
Runtime: 94 min.
Directed by: Chester Erskine
Stars: Shelley Winters | James Gleason | Dorothy Hart | Marsha Hunt | William Powell
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)
As: Mr. Peabody
As told to a psychiatrist: Mr. Peabody, middle-aged Bostonian on vacation with his wife in the Caribbean, hears mysterious, wordless singing on an uninhabited rock in the bay. Fishing in the vicinity, he catches...a mermaid. He takes her home and, though she has no spoken language, falls in love with her. Of course, his wife won't believe that thing in the bathtub is ...
Runtime: 89 min.
Directed by: Irving Pichel
Stars: Andrea King | Clinton Sundberg | Ann Blyth | Irene Hervey | William Powell
The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)
As: Senator Melvin G. Ashton
An absurd U.S. senator (William Powell) runs for president, armed with a press agent (Peter Lind Hayes) and a diary of back-room deals.
Runtime: 88 min.
Directed by: George S. Kaufman
Stars: Ray Collins | Ella Raines | William Powell | Arleen Whelan | Peter Lind Hayes
Life with Father (1947)
As: Clarence Day, Sr.
In late nineteenth century New York a Wall Street broker likes to think his house runs his way, but finds himself constantly bemused at how much of what happens is down to his wife. His children are also stretching their wings, discovering girls and making money out of patent medicine selling. When it comes to light he has never been baptized and everyone starts insisting he must do so, it all starts ...
Runtime: 118 min.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Elizabeth Taylor | Edmund Gwenn | Irene Dunne | William Powell | Zasu Pitts
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
As: Nick Charles
Society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles investigate a murder in a jazz club.
Runtime: 86 min.
Directed by: Edward Buzzell
Stars: Dean Stockwell | Keenan Wynn | Myrna Loy | Phillip Reed | William Powell
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
As: Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
A former reporter comes back home after serving in the army during World War I and finds that it's much more difficult to find work than he expected. Desperate, one day he crashes a wedding attended by many of the city's rich and powerful, meets a beautiful girl named Kay who turns out to be his ticket to meeting those rich and powerful people, and he soon manages to land a job on a newspaper. He ...
Runtime: 91 min.
Directed by: Norman Taurog
Stars: James Gleason | Lewis Stone | Esther Williams | William Powell | Angela Lansbury
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
As: Flo Ziegfeld
The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld looks down from heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style.
Runtime: 110 min.
Directed by: Vincente Minnelli | Lemuel Ayers | Roy Del Ruth | Robert Lewis | George Sidney | Merrill Pye | Charles Walters
Stars: Lucille Ball | Fred Astaire | Judy Garland | William Powell | Lucille Bremer
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
As: Nick Charles
On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
Runtime: 100 min.
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Stars: Myrna Loy | Lucile Watson | Gloria DeHaven | William Powell | Anne Revere
The Great Morgan (1945)
Frank Morgan is hired to put together a movie using odds and ends from the MGM vaults. He does so by splicing together a string of completely unrelated short subjects and musical numbers, interspersed with a repeated loop of a scene from some melodrama.
Runtime: 57 min.
Directed by: Nat Perrin
Stars: Leon Ames | Frank Morgan | Carlos Ramírez | Lucille Norman | Eleanor Powell
The Heavenly Body (1944)
As: William S. Whitley
The beautiful wife of a tweedy astronomer becomes convinced that her astrologer's prediction of a new dream man in her life will come true.
Runtime: 95 min.
Directed by: Alexander Hall
Stars: Henry O'Neill | William Powell | Hedy Lamarr | James Craig | Fay Bainter
The Youngest Profession (1943)
As: Himself - Guest Star
Joan Lyons and her friend Patricia Drew are autograph hounds spending most of their day bumping into, and having tea, with the likes of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Based on misinformation from a meddling old-maid governess, Miss Featherstone, Joan also devotes some time to working on the no-problem marriage of her parents to the extent of hiring Dr. Hercules, the strong man from a side show to pay ...
Runtime: 82 min.
Directed by: Edward Buzzell
Stars: John Carroll | Edward Arnold | Marta Linden | Virginia Weidler | Ann Ayars
Crossroads (1942)
As: David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
A French diplomat who's recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can't remember.
Runtime: 83 min.
Directed by: Jack Conway
Stars: Basil Rathbone | William Powell | Hedy Lamarr | Claire Trevor | Margaret Wycherly
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
As: Nick Charles
High society sleuths Nick and Nora Charles run into a variety of shady characters while investigating a race-track murder.
Runtime: 97 min.
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: Myrna Loy | Sam Levene | Donna Reed | William Powell | Barry Nelson
Love Crazy (1941)
As: Steve Ireland
Circumstance, an old flame and a mother-in-law drive a happily married couple to the verge of divorce and insanity.
Runtime: 99 min.
Directed by: Jack Conway
Stars: Myrna Loy | Jack Carson | Florence Bates | William Powell | Gail Patrick
I Love You Again (1940)
As: Larry Wilson aka George Carey
Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.
Runtime: 99 min.
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: Myrna Loy | Frank McHugh | William Powell | Edmund Lowe | Donald Douglas
Hollywood: Style Center of the World (1940)
As: Himself
This short promotes the premise that movies often create a demand for the fashions seen in them. It starts with a vignette in rural America. A mother and daughter go to town to buy a new dress. In the dress shop window is a designer dress worn by Joan Crawford in a recent movie. We then go to Hollywood and visit Adrian, MGM's chief of costume design, and see how multiple copies of a single clothing pattern ...
Runtime: 11 min.
Directed by: Oliver Garver
Stars: May McAvoy | George Lessey | Ann Morriss | Naomi Childers | Adrian
The Miracle of Sound (1940)
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound is a 1940 short documentary film, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer and narrated by Frank Whitbeck, which goes behind the scenes to look at how the sound portion of a talking picture is created. The film, which was produced as part of the studio's Romance of Celluloid series, is available as a bonus on the Warner DVD of The ...
Runtime: 11 min.
Directed by: Douglas Shearer
Stars: Clark Gable | Greer Garson | Spencer Tracy | Hedy Lamarr | Douglas Shearer
From the Ends of the Earth (1939)
An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Featuring footage from the MGM films being made at the time. Such as The Women, Thunder Afloat, Siren of the Tropics, Ninotchka, Northwest Passage, and At the Circus.
Runtime: 10 min.
Stars: Myrna Loy | Groucho Marx | Judy Garland | Joan Crawford | Greta Garbo
Another Thin Man (1939)
As: Nick Charles
Not even the joys of parenthood can stop married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles from investigating a murder on a Long Island estate.
Runtime: 103 min.
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: Myrna Loy | C. Aubrey Smith | William Powell | Virginia Grey | Otto Kruger
The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
As: Johann Porok
A Butler (Powell) gets elected to the Hungarian parliament where he opposes his master's government.
Runtime: 80 min.
Directed by: Walter Lang
Stars: Henry Stephenson | William Powell | Joseph Schildkraut | Annabella | Helen Westley
Double Wedding (1937)
As: Charles Lodge
A bohemian free spirit (William Powell) helps meek Waldo (John Beal) win back his fiancée (Florence Rice) and falls in love with her over-controlling sister (Myrna Loy) in the process.
Runtime: 87 min.
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Stars: Myrna Loy | John Beal | William Powell | Florence Rice | Jessie Ralph
The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)
As: Baron Stephan Wolensky
Spies on opposite sides fall in love in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Runtime: 89 min.
Directed by: George Fitzmaurice
Stars: Frank Morgan | Robert Young | Maureen O'Sullivan | William Powell | Luise Rainer
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)
As: Charles
A chic jewel thief in England falls in love with one of her marks.
Runtime: 98 min.
Directed by: Richard Boleslawski | Dorothy Arzner | George Fitzmaurice
Stars: Frank Morgan | Joan Crawford | Robert Montgomery | William Powell | Jessie Ralph
After the Thin Man (1936)
As: Nick Charles
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora's cousin of a murder charge.
Runtime: 112 min.
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: James Stewart | Myrna Loy | Joseph Calleia | William Powell | Elissa Landi
Libeled Lady (1936)
As: William "Bill" Stephens Chandler
When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and she files a multi-million-dollar libel lawsuit, the publication's frazzled head editor, Warren Haggerty, must find a way to turn the tables on her. Soon Haggerty's harried fiancée, Gladys Benton, and his dashing friend Bill Chandler are in on a scheme that aims to discredit Connie, with amusing and ...
Runtime: 98 min.
Directed by: Jack Conway
Stars: Myrna Loy | Spencer Tracy | William Powell | Walter Connolly | Jean Harlow
My Man Godfrey (1936)
As: Godfrey
Fifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock needs a "forgotten man" to win a scavenger hunt, and no one is more forgotten than Godfrey Park, who resides in a dump by the East River. Irene hires Godfrey as a servant for her riotously unhinged family, to the chagrin of her spoiled sister, Cornelia, who tries her best to get Godfrey fired. As Irene falls for her new butler, Godfrey turns the tables and teaches the ...
Runtime: 94 min.
Directed by: Gregory La Cava
Stars: William Powell | Gail Patrick | Alice Brady | Carole Lombard | Jean Dixon
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
As: Dr. Lawrence Bradford
Relations between Dr. 'Brad' Bradford and ex-wife Paula are surprisingly romantic. They divorced because Brad hated being dragged into murder mysteries, to which mystery writer Paula is addicted. But through horse trainer Mike North, Brad is embroiled in the case of a jockey who died of "heart failure" during a race. As they pursue clues, Paula pursues Brad for remarriage, and assorted hoods pursue the ...
Runtime: 82 min.
Directed by: Stephen Roberts
Stars: James Gleason | Eric Blore | Robert Armstrong | William Powell | Jean Arthur
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
As: Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Lavish biography of Flo Ziegfeld, the producer who became Broadway's biggest starmaker.
Runtime: 176 min.
Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard
Stars: Myrna Loy | Frank Morgan | William Powell | Fanny Brice | Luise Rainer
Rendezvous (1935)
As: Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
A decoding expert tangles with enemy spies.
Runtime: 94 min.
Directed by: William K. Howard | Sam Wood
Stars: Cesar Romero | Binnie Barnes | William Powell | Rosalind Russell | Lionel Atwill
Escapade (1935)
As: Fritz
A romantic comedy-drama-musical of mistaken identity, infidelity and farce, set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century.
Runtime: 92 min.
Directed by: Robert Z. Leonard
Stars: Reginald Owen | William Powell | Virginia Bruce | Mady Christians | Luise Rainer
Star of Midnight (1935)
As: Clay 'Dal' Dalzell
A dancer disappears from a theater and then William Powell and society beauty Ginger Rogers solve the murder.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Stephen Roberts
Stars: Ginger Rogers | Gene Lockhart | Paul Kelly | William Powell | Ralph Morgan
Reckless (1935)
As: Ned Riley
A theatrical star, born on the wrong side of the tracks, marries a drunken blue-blood millionaire.
Runtime: 97 min.
Directed by: Victor Fleming
Stars: Franchot Tone | William Powell | May Robson | Ted Healy | Jean Harlow
Evelyn Prentice (1934)
As: John Prentice
A criminal lawyer's wife faces blackmail when she has an affair.
Runtime: 79 min.
Directed by: William K. Howard
Stars: Myrna Loy | Una Merkel | William Powell | Rosalind Russell | Isabel Jewell
The Key (1934)
As: Capt. Bill Tennant
A British officer stationed in Ireland falls for the wife of an intelligence man.
Runtime: 71 min.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Hobart Cavanaugh | William Powell | Halliwell Hobbes | Edna Best | Colin Clive
The Thin Man (1934)
As: Nick Charles
A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
Runtime: 91 min.
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: Myrna Loy | Minna Gombell | Maureen O'Sullivan | William Powell | Nat Pendleton
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
As: Jim Wade
The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.
Runtime: 93 min.
Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke
Stars: Myrna Loy | Clark Gable | William Powell | Nat Pendleton | Leo Carrillo
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
As: Sherwood Nash
A con artist and his beautiful assistant take on the fashion world.
Runtime: 78 min.
Directed by: William Dieterle
Stars: Bette Davis | Frank McHugh | William Powell | Hugh Herbert | Verree Teasdale
The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
As: Philo Vance
Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.
Runtime: 73 min.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Mary Astor | William Powell | Ralph Morgan | Eugene Pallette | Robert McWade
Double Harness (1933)
As: John Fletcher
After tricking him into marriage, a woman tries to win the love of her philandering husband.
Runtime: 69 min.
Directed by: John Cromwell
Stars: Lucile Browne | Lilian Bond | Ann Harding | Henry Stephenson | William Powell
Private Detective 62 (1933)
As: Donald Free
A former government agent in France, who has failed at an assignment and been disavowed, is deported back to the USA, where he can only find work at a low-rent detective agency. He soon gets involved with a woman with ties to a crooked gambling club owner, who is a client of his agency.
Runtime: 66 min.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Ruth Donnelly | Arthur Hohl | William Powell | Margaret Lindsay | Gordon Westcott
Lawyer Man (1933)
As: Anton Adam
Idealistic attorney Anton Adam makes headlines when he successfully prosecutes a prominent New York racketeer named Gilmurry. Adam's sudden renown attracts the attention of high-profile legal eagle Granville Bentley, who asks Adam to become a partner in his law firm. But Adam's rising career takes a nosedive when he's framed by Gilmurry and a sexy actress in a trumped-up breach of promise suit. The ...
Runtime: 72 min.
Directed by: William Dieterle
Stars: William Powell | Joan Blondell | Helen Vinson | Claire Dodd | David Landau
One Way Passage (1932)
As: Dan Hardesty
A terminally ill woman and a debonair murderer facing execution meet and fall in love on a trans-Pacific crossing, each without knowing the other's secret.
Runtime: 67 min.
Directed by: Tay Garnett
Stars: Frank McHugh | Aline MacMahon | William Powell | Kay Francis | Warren Hymer
Jewel Robbery (1932)
As: The Robber
A gentleman thief charms a Viennese baron's wife and also conducts a daring daylight robbery of a jewellers.
Runtime: 68 min.
Directed by: William Dieterle
Stars: Alan Mowbray | William Powell | Hardie Albright | Kay Francis | Helen Vinson
High Pressure (1932)
As: Gar Evans
Gar Evans is a con artist, who pretends to be the owner of a "Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company", and he is looking for investors. Finding them is relatively easy, but it becomes difficult when those want to see the inventor of the synthetic rubber...
Runtime: 73 min.
Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy
Stars: William Powell | Guy Kibbee | Evelyn Brent | Evalyn Knapp | John Wray
The Road to Singapore (1931)
As: Hugh Dawltry
A woman's life falls to pieces when she's caught cheating on her husband.
Runtime: 69 min.
Directed by: Alfred E. Green
Stars: Louis Calhern | William Powell | Doris Kenyon | Marian Marsh | Alison Skipworth
Ladies' Man (1931)
As: Jamie Darricott
A society gigolo goes after a rich mother and her daughter, but tries to find true happiness with his girlfriend, who is neither rich nor in "society."
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Lothar Mendes
Stars: William Powell | Kay Francis | Gilbert Emery | Carole Lombard | Olive Tell
Man of the World (1931)
As: Michael Trevor
A young American girl visits Paris accompanied by her fiancee and her wealthy uncle. There she meets and is romanced by a worldly novelist; what she doesn't know is that he is a blackmailer who is using her to get to her uncle.
Runtime: 74 min.
Directed by: Richard Wallace | Edward Goodman
Stars: William Powell | Guy Kibbee | Wynne Gibson | Carole Lombard | Lawrence Gray
For the Defense (1930)
As: William Foster
William Foster, a slick attorney who stays within the law, but specializes in representing crooks and shady characters. He's adept at keeping them out of jail, winning acquittals, and having decisions reversed, thus springing criminals out of prison. He is romantically involved with dancer Irene Manners, who is two-timing him, although she wants to marry him. She kills a man driving while out ...
Runtime: 65 min.
Directed by: John Cromwell
Stars: John Elliott | William Powell | William B. Davidson | Kay Francis | Scott Kolk
Shadow of the Law (1930)
As: Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
John Nelson, a well-to-do businessman, is escorting a woman he knows as Ethel Barry to the door of her apartment suite when a man steps out of the shadows and angrily demands to know where she has been. The embarrassed Nelson excuses himself and goes to his rooms in the same hotel. The woman rushes into his apartment followed by the man who met her in the hall. The man threatens her with violence and ...
Runtime: 69 min.
Directed by: Louis J. Gasnier
Stars: Regis Toomey | William Powell | Paul Hurst | Natalie Moorhead | Marion Shilling
Paramount On Parade (1930)
As: Philo Vance
This 1930 film, a collection of songs and sketches showcasing Paramount Studios' contract stars, credits 11 directors (including Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Victor Schertzinger and Edmund Goulding). The cast features Clara Bow, Gary Cooper, Fredric March, Jean Arthur, William Powell, Maurice Chevalier, Kay Francis, Buddy Rogers, Jack Oakie, Stuart Erwin and Nancy Carroll.
Runtime: 102 min.
Directed by: Dorothy Arzner | Otto Brower | Edmund Goulding | Victor Heerman | Edwin H. Knopf | Rowland V. Lee | Ernst Lubitsch | Lothar Mendes | Victor Schertzinger | A. Edward Sutherland | Frank Tuttle
Stars: Jean Arthur | Evelyn Brent | Maurice Chevalier | George Bancroft | Clara Bow
The Benson Murder Case (1930)
As: Philo Vance
A ruthless, crooked stockbroker is murdered at his luxurious country estate, and detective Philo Vance just happens to be there; he decides to find out who killed him.
Runtime: 65 min.
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Stars: Paul Lukas | William Powell | Eugene Pallette | Natalie Moorhead | William 'Stage' Boyd
Street of Chance (1930)
As: John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
'Natural' Davis (William Powell) is a respected gambler who follows a ruthless code of honour with those who cheat against him. His wife Alma (Kay Francis) wants to divorce him because of his addiction and lifestyle but they agree on a reconciliation and 2nd honeymoon together and 'Natural' promises to give up gambling. However, his plans change when his brother 'Babe' (Regis Toomey) arrives in town.
Runtime: 75 min.
Directed by: John Cromwell
Stars: Regis Toomey | William Powell | Jean Arthur | Kay Francis | Stanley Fields
Behind the Make-Up (1930)
As: Gardoni
Gardoni, a down-on-his-luck vaudeville performer, is taken in by a fellow performer, a clown who has a bicycle riding act. Gardoni shows his appreciation by stealing the clown's act and his girlfriend, whom he marries.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Robert Milton
Stars: Fay Wray | William Powell | Kay Francis | E.H. Calvert | Hal Skelly
Pointed Heels (1929)
As: Robert Courtland
Fay Wray plays a beautiful showgirl who falls for a rich Park Avenue guy played by Phillips Holmes. William Powell is a producer in love with Miss Wray, but he won't use his influences to take any advantages.... as usual, he's a perfect gentleman. Pointed Heels was supposed to have been a vehicle for "boop-boop-a-doop" girl Helen Kane, but by the time the film was released, Kane's role was reduced to a ...
Runtime: 61 min.
Directed by: A. Edward Sutherland
Stars: Helen Kane | Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher | Fay Wray | William Powell | Phillips Holmes
Charming Sinners (1929)
As: Karl Kraley
Charming Sinners was a stilted adaptation of Somerset Maugham's play The Constant Wife. Robert Miles (Clive Brook) starts the ball rolling when he falls in love with Anne-Marie Whitley (Mary Nolan), the best friend of his own wife Kathryn (Ruth Chatterton). In retaliation, Kathryn begins a flirtation with her former boyfriend Karl Kraley (William Powell). After reels and reels of verbal fencing, the status ...
Runtime: 66 min.
Directed by: Robert Milton
Stars: William Powell | Clive Brook | Laura Hope Crews | Ruth Chatterton | Mary Nolan
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
As: Philo Vance
The Greene Murder Case was William Powell's second of four ventures in the role of society detective Philo Vance. In this film, he's called in as a whole family named Greene, rich society folks like Vance himself keeps getting knocked off one at a time. As Eugene Palette as Sergeant Heath says, they'd have to be crazy to keep committing the crimes while Vance and he are actually in the house investigating.
Runtime: 69 min.
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Stars: Florence Eldridge | William Powell | Jean Arthur | Eugene Pallette | E.H. Calvert
The Four Feathers (1929)
As: Capt. William Trench
An Englishman (Richard Arlen) fights in the Sudan after receiving white feathers of cowardice from his fiancee (Fay Wray) and friends.
Runtime: 81 min.
Directed by: Merian C. Cooper | Lothar Mendes | Ernest B. Schoedsack
Stars: Richard Arlen | Theodore von Eltz | Fay Wray | William Powell | Clive Brook
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
As: Philo Vance
A beautiful showgirl, name "the Canary" is a scheming nightclub singer. Blackmailing is her game and with that she ends up dead. But who killed "the Canary". All the suspects knew and were used by her and everyone had a motive to see her dead. The only witness to the crime has also been 'rubbed out'. Only one man, the keen, fascinating, debonair detective Philo Vance, would be able to figure out who is the ...
Runtime: 82 min.
Directed by: Malcolm St. Clair | Frank Tuttle
Stars: William Powell | Jean Arthur | Louise Brooks | James Hall | Charles Willis Lane
Interference (1928)
As: Philip Voaze
Paramount's first all-talking picture, Interference was dismally directed by Roy Pomeroy, whose lofty status as the studio's "technical wizard" did not necessarily qualify him to be a director. Evelyn Brent heads the cast as scheming Deborah Kane, who sets out to blackmail Faith Marley (Doris Kenyon), the above-reproach wife of Sir John Marlay.
Directed by: Lothar Mendes | Roy Pomeroy
Stars: William Powell | Evelyn Brent | Doris Kenyon | Clive Brook | Tom Ricketts
Forgotten Faces (1928)
As: Froggy
A petty thief (Clive Brook) just robs the very rich at speakeasies, and gets away with it because the rich don't want the bad publicity, finally is caught and sent to Sing Sing. After good behavior, he gets an emergency permission for a return home, so that he may save his daughter from the hands of her disreputable mother (Baclanova). However, he must first promise not to kill his wife while he is out ...
Runtime: 80 min.
Directed by: Victor Schertzinger
Stars: William Powell | Clive Brook | Mary Brian | Olga Baclanova
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
The Vanishing Pioneers is a 1928 silent western film directed by John Waters and starring Jack Holt. Holt's son, Tim makes his screen debut in this film The film is now lost. Parts of the film were shot in Zion National Park and Springdale, Utah.
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: John Waters
Stars: Jack Holt | William Powell | Fred Kohler | Guy Oliver | Sally Blane
The Dragnet (1928)
A 1928 silent film crime drama produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures, directed by Josef von Sternberg from an original screen story and starring George Bancroft and Evelyn Brent.
Runtime: 80 min.
Directed by: Josef von Sternberg
Stars: William Powell | George Bancroft
Partners in Crime (1928)
As: Smith
After being dismissed for imitating his boss's voice on radio, former Assistant District Attorney Richard Deming witnesses a store robbery and is taken captive by the criminals. Suspected of the crime, he is sought by the police, but his sweetheart, Marie, convinced of his innocence, enlists the help of two friends, a newspaper reporter and a half-witted detective. Hoping to win the girl's favor, the two ...
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Frank R. Strayer
Stars: Raymond Hatton | Wallace Beery | William Powell | Jack Luden | Mary Brian
Feel My Pulse (1928)
As: Her Nemesis
A rich but hypochondriac heiress inherits a sanitarium. What she doesn't know is that it is a front for bootleggers, and a hideout for criminals on the run from the law.
Runtime: 63 min.
Directed by: Gregory La Cava
Stars: Richard Arlen | William Powell | George Irving | Bebe Daniels | Melbourne MacDowell
The Last Command (1928)
As: Lev Andreyev
A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.
Runtime: 88 min.
Directed by: Josef von Sternberg
Stars: Nicholas Soussanin | William Powell | Evelyn Brent | Emil Jannings | Jack Raymond
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The film is about a desert-bound member of the French Foreign Legion who exposes a betrayer to the Legion and is then sent on a mission among the Arabs to conclude the signing of a crucial peace treaty.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: John Waters
Stars: Gary Cooper | William Powell | Roscoe Karns | Evelyn Brent | Noah Beery
She's a Sheik (1927)
As: Kada
The daughter of a desert chief kidnaps a member of the French Foreign Legion in the hopes of wooing him.
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: Clarence G. Badger
Stars: Richard Arlen | William Powell | Bebe Daniels | James Bradbury Jr. | Josephine Dunn
Nevada (1927)
As: Clan Dillon
Nevada is a 1927 movie based upon a Zane Grey novel and starring Gary Cooper, Thelma Todd, and William Powell. This lavish Western film was remade in 1944 as an early Robert Mitchum B-picture, the only time Cooper and Mitchum played the same role. This movie still survives in a complete copy, but the films appearance is not the best, do probably to poor preservation, it's possible to make out scenes, but ...
Directed by: John Waters
Stars: Gary Cooper | William Powell | Ernie Adams | Philip Strange | Thelma Todd
Paid to Love (1927)
As: Prince Eric
An American banker goes to a small Balkan country looking to invest his bank's money and shore up the country's weak economy in order to maximize the return on their investment. Towards that end he befriends the country's king and they come up with a scheme to get the Crown Prince married, a prospect not particularly appealing to the Crown Prince--until he sees the beautiful cabaret dancer the pair has ...
Runtime: 76 min.
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Stars: J. Farrell MacDonald | William Powell | George O'Brien | Thomas Jefferson | Virginia Valli
Time to Love (1927)
Film was released in 1927
Runtime: 50 min.
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Stars: William Powell | Josef Swickard | Oliver Eckhardt | Raymond Griffith | Vera Voronina
Special Delivery (1927)
As: Harold Jones
The second and last of Eddie Cantor's silent vehicles, Special Delivery casts the wide-eyed comedian as a hapless mailman. While going through his swiftly appointed rounds, Eddie stumbles upon a gang of crooks who are planning a large-scale confidence scam. He exposes the villains and wins the love of heroine Madge (Jobyna Ralston). Though Cantor was a fine physical comic, he didn't truly score ...
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle
Stars: William Powell | Eddie Cantor | Jobyna Ralston | Mabel Julienne Scott | Jack Dougherty
Senorita (1927)
As: Manuel Oliveros
Senorita (1927)
Directed by: Clarence G. Badger
Stars: William Powell | Josef Swickard | Bebe Daniels | James Hall
Love's Greatest Mistake (1927)
Love's Greatest Mistake is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Evelyn Brent. The film is now lost.
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: A. Edward Sutherland
Stars: Frank Morgan | William Powell | Evelyn Brent | Josephine Dunn | James Hall
New York (1927)
New York is a 1927 American drama silent film directed by Luther Reed and written by Barbara Chambers, Becky Gardiner and Forrest Halsey. The film stars Ricardo Cortez, Lois Wilson, Estelle Taylor, William Powell, Norman Trevor and Richard "Skeets" Gallagher. The film was released on January 30, 1927, by Paramount Pictures.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Luther Reed
Stars: William Powell | Lois Wilson | Ricardo Cortez | Estelle Taylor | Norman Trevor
The Great Gatsby (1926)
As: George Wilson
Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.
Runtime: 80 min.
Directed by: Herbert Brenon
Stars: William Powell | Warner Baxter | Lois Wilson | Neil Hamilton | Georgia Hale
Tin Gods (1926)
As: Tony Santelli
Tin Gods is a lost 1926 silent film drama produced by Famous Players-Lasky, released by Paramount Pictures, and based on the play Tin Gods by William Anthony McGuire. Allan Dwan directed and Thomas Meighan starred.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Allan Dwan
Stars: William Powell | Aileen Pringle | Thomas Meighan | Renée Adorée | John Harrington
Beau Geste (1926)
As: Boldini
Michael "Beau" Geste leaves England in disgrace and joins the infamous French Foreign Legion. He is reunited with his two brothers in North Africa, where they face greater danger from their own sadistic commander than from the rebellious Arabs.
Runtime: 101 min.
Directed by: Herbert Brenon
Stars: Ronald Colman | Neil Hamilton | Ralph Forbes | Mary Brian | Alice Joyce
Aloma of the South Seas (1926)
As: Van Templeton
A young South Seas native boy is sent to the U.S. for his education. He returns to his island after his father dies to try to stop a revolution.
Runtime: 90 min.
Directed by: Maurice Tourneur
Stars: William Powell | Warner Baxter | Percy Marmont | Gilda Gray | Julanne Johnston
The Runaway (1926)
As: Jack Harrison
A movie actress, mistakenly thinking she has killed a fellow actor, goes on the run and finds herself taken in by a Kentucky mountain family.
Runtime: 69 min.
Directed by: William C. de Mille
Stars: William Powell | Warner Baxter | Edythe Chapman | George Bancroft | Clara Bow
Desert Gold (1926)
Desert Gold is a 1926 silent American Western film directed by George B. Seitz. According to silentera.com the film survives while Arne Andersen Lost Film Files has it as a lost film. Portions of the film were shot near Palm Springs, California.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: George B. Seitz
Stars: William Powell | Robert Frazer | Neil Hamilton | Shirley Mason
Sea Horses (1926)
Sea Horses is a 1926 American drama silent film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Becky Gardiner, James Shelley Hamilton and Francis Brett Young. The film stars Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, William Powell, George Bancroft, Mack Swain, Frank Campeau and Allan Simpson. The film was released on February 22, 1926, by Paramount Pictures. It is considered a lost film.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Allan Dwan
Stars: Jack Holt | William Powell | Mack Swain | Florence Vidor | George Bancroft
White Mice (1926)
White Mice was the first leading role for William Powell
Directed by: Edward H. Griffith
Stars: Marie Burke | William Powell | Ernest Hilliard | Jacqueline Logan | Bigelow Cooper
The Beautiful City (1925)
As: Nick Di Silva
The Beautiful City is a 1925 American drama film starring Richard Barthelmess, Dorothy Gish and William Powell. For their mother's sake, a man takes the blame for a robbery committed by his brother and his brother's gangster boss.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Kenneth S. Webb
Stars: Frank Puglia | Florence Auer | William Powell | Dorothy Gish | Richard Barthelmess
My Lady's Lips (1925)
Perhaps best known as the dapper, urbane, martini-swilling leading man of the 1930s THIN MAN films, William Powell's first film role in Hollywood came by way of this fast-paced crime drama produced by B.P. Schulberg for his own independent production company. Powell, who welcomed the chance to play a sympathetic character after being typecast in villainous roles, plays star newspaper reporter Scott Seddon. ...
Runtime: 68 min.
Directed by: Roy William Neill
Stars: William Powell | John St. Polis | Ford Sterling | Clara Bow | Alyce Mills
Faint Perfume (1925)
After a stormy six year marriage, Barnaby Powers divorces his wife Richmiel. She returns home, taking their young son Oliver with her. Barnaby follows her, to ask for custody of the boy, but meets and falls in love with Richmiel's pretty and sensitive cousin Ledda. Complications ensue.
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: Louis J. Gasnier
Stars: Russell Simpson | William Powell | Mary Alden | Seena Owen | Alyce Mills
Too Many Kisses (1925)
As: Julio
"Too Many Kisses" stars Richard Dix as the playboy son of a New York industrialist. Dix's father (Frank Currier) wants Dix to get away from his many girlfriends and buckle down to work, so Currier sends Dix to an obscure village in Spain to find samples of a rare mineral. When Dix gets to Spain, he runs afoul of the local police chief, played by William Powell in an excellent performance. Powell is ...
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: Paul Sloane
Stars: Harpo Marx | William Powell | Richard Dix | Frank Currier | Frances Howard
Romola (1924)
As: Tito Melema
In Renaissance Florence, a Florentine trader meets a shipwrecked stranger, who introduces himself as Tito Melema, a young Italianate-Greek scholar. Tito becomes acquainted with several other Florentines, including Nello the barber and a young girl named Tessa. He is also introduced to a blind scholar named Bardo de' Bardi, and his daughter Romola. As Tito becomes settled in Florence, assisting Bardo with ...
Runtime: 106 min.
Directed by: Henry King
Stars: William Powell | Lillian Gish | Dorothy Gish | Ronald Colman | Charles Willis Lane
Dangerous Money (1924)
Dangerous Money is a lost 1924 silent film drama produced by Famous Players-Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Frank Tuttle and starred popular Bebe Daniels.
Runtime: 60 min.
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Stars: William Powell | Bebe Daniels | Mary Foy | Tom Moore | Dolores Cassinelli
Under the Red Robe (1923)
Under the Red Robe is a 1923 silent historical drama directed by Alan Crosland based upon the Stanley Weyman novel Under the Red Robe. The film marks the last motion picture appearance by stage actor Robert B. Mantell who plays Cardinal Richelieu and the only silent screen performance of opera singer John Charles Thomas.
Runtime: 100 min.
Directed by: Alan Crosland
Stars: William Powell | Otto Kruger | Alma Rubens | Robert B. Mantell | John Charles Thomas
The Bright Shawl (1923)
As: Gaspar De Vaca
Charles Abbott is implicated in the death of his friend Escobar, brother to the woman he loves.
Runtime: 80 min.
Directed by: John S. Robertson
Stars: Mary Astor | William Powell | Dorothy Gish | Richard Barthelmess | Jetta Goudal
Outcast (1922)
A down-on-her luck streetwalker is ultimately redeemed by the love of a decent man.
Runtime: 70 min.
Directed by: Chester Withey
Stars: Mary MacLaren | Charles Wellesley | Elsie Ferguson | David Powell | William David
When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922)
As: Francis I (as William H. Powell)
Mary Tudor falls in love with a new arrival to court, Charles Brandon. She convinces her brother King Henry VIII to make him his Captain of the Guard. Meanwhile, Henry is determined to marry her off to the aging King Louis XII of France as part of a peace agreement.
Runtime: 120 min.
Directed by: Robert G. Vignola
Stars: Pedro de Cordoba | Forrest Stanley | Lyn Harding | Marion Davies | Theresa Maxwell Conover
Sherlock Holmes (1922)
As: Forman Wells
Sherlock Holmes is a master at solving the most impenetrable mysteries, but he has his work cut out for him on his latest case. Prince Alexis is accused of a theft that he insists he didn't commit. The evidence is stacked against him, but Holmes' trusted friend, Dr. Watson, vouches for the prince. As the famed detective investigates, he's brought face to face with his most devious adversary yet ...
Runtime: 85 min.
Directed by: Albert Parker
Stars: Roland Young | Carol Dempster | Gustav von Seyffertitz | John Barrymore | Louis Wolheim