Day 20 already! I’ll be honest, I am a little bit terrified of how quickly the time goes, but at least I have William Powell to make me a little bit happier today. I missed him, I feel like I have not seen any movies of his in ages.
The Last Command (1928), dir. Josef von Sternberg
The Last Command is a classic, but this, I feel, most people do not really associate with Powell and see it as a totally Emil Jannings picture. This is fair, as he not only is on the screen most of the time, but also won an Oscar (first ever!). But William Powell does not get lost in the crowd somewhere, he is right there and I think he is fantastic. His energy and charisma we know from his talkies is already here. I have not really see him in other silents (other than the rather bad Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore a few days ago, I guess), but now I wish I did.
One Way Passage (1932), dir. Tay Garnett
I noticed that Kay Francis pops up a lot this summer (Under the Stars). This is another one of her films and a pretty nice one, with a compelling story, so good for her.
The Baroness and the Butler (1938), dir. Walter Lang
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), dir. Irving Pichel
Absolutely not. I do not need to watch William Powell in an incredibly creepy relationship with a Born Sexy Yesterday mermaid.
The Girl Who Had Everything (1953), dir. Richard Thorpe
William Powell as Elizabeth Taylor’s father in this very modest (and boring), I would say, B-drama. It really is so weird that Taylor was still doing such nothing movies after A Place in the Sun.
A mixed bag today – but at least I have The Last Command.
Swingin' at the Seance 