Dick Powell
Acting
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss. Born in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas, Powell attended the former Little Rock College in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis Orchestra, 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 Pittsburgh, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater. In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought up Brunswick Records which at that time owned Vocalion. Warner Bros. 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 crooner in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Flirtation Walk, and On the Avenue, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell. 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 Dream (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 MacMurray, 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 noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was a big hit and Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor. The following year Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make Cornered, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noir style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead appearing in movies such as Johnny O'Clock and Cry Danger. But 1948 saw him step out of the brutish type when he starred in Pitfall, a film noir that sees a bored insurance company worker fall for an innocent but dangerous femme fatale, played by Lizabeth Scott. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as The Reformer and the Redhead and Susan Slept Here (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 Reynolds. From 1949-1953, Powell played the lead role in the National Broadcasting Company radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30-minute weekly was a likable private detective with a quick wit. When Richard Diamond came to television in 1957, the lead role was portrayed by David Janssen.
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
Self (archive footage)
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
Self (archive footage)
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self (archive footage)
Television: The First Fifty Years
Self (archive footage)
That's Dancing!
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Ricochet
Self - Host
Who Killed Julie Greer?
Host / Inspector Amos Burke
One Must Die
The All-Star Christmas Show
Self
Susan Slept Here
Mark Christopher
The Bad and the Beautiful
James Lee Bartlow
You Never Can Tell
Rex Shepherd
The Tall Target
John Kennedy
Cry Danger
Rocky Mulloy
Right Cross
Rick Garvey
The Reformer and the Redhead
Andrew Hale
Mrs. Mike
Sgt. Mike Flannigan
Rogues' Regiment
Whit Corbett
Station West
Lt. John Martin Haven
Pitfall
John Forbes
To the Ends of the Earth
Commissioner Michael Barrows
Blow-Ups of 1947
Self
Johnny O'Clock
Johnny O'Clock
Cornered
Laurence Gerard
Murder, My Sweet
Philip Marlowe
Meet the People
William 'Swanee' Swanson
It Happened Tomorrow
Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
True to Life
Link Ferris
Riding High
Steve Baird
Three Cheers for the Girls
Singer (archive footage) (uncredited)
Happy Go Lucky
Pete Hamilton
Star Spangled Rhythm
Dick Powell
In the Navy
Thomas Halstead
Model Wife
Frederick "Fred" Chambers
Christmas in July
Jimmy McDonald
I Want a Divorce
Alan MacNally
Naughty But Nice
Professor Donald Hardwick
Hollywood Hobbies
Self (uncredited)
Breakdowns of 1938
Elly Jordan (archive footage) (uncredited)
Going Places
Peter Mason
Hard to Get
Bill Davis
Cowboy from Brooklyn
Elly Jordan
Hollywood Hotel
Ronnie Bowers
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Varsity Show
Charles 'Chuck' Daly
The Singing Marine
Bob Brent
On the Avenue
Gary Blake
Gold Diggers of 1937
Rosmer Peck
Stage Struck
George Randall
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Self
Hearts Divided
Jerome Bonaparte
Colleen
Donald Ames
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 3, Normie"
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 5"
One And One Is One
Himself
A Dream Comes True
Himself (uncredited)
Things You Never See on the Screen
Self
Thanks a Million
Eric Land
Shipmates Forever
Richard 'Dick' Melville III
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Lysander
Page Miss Glory
Bingo Nelson
Broadway Gondolier
Richard 'Dick' Purcell, aka Ricardo Purcelli
Gold Diggers of 1935
Dick Curtis
Flirtation Walk
Dick "Canary" Dorcy
Happiness Ahead
Bob Lane
Dames
Jimmy Higgens
Studio Highlights
Self (archive footage)
Twenty Million Sweethearts
Buddy Clayton
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Self
Wonder Bar
Tommy
And She Learned About Dames
Himself
Hollywood Newsreel
Himself
Convention City
Jerry Ford
College Coach
Phil "Sarge" Sargeant
Footlight Parade
Scotty Blair
Gold Diggers of 1933
Brad
42nd Street
Billy Lawler
The King's Vacation
John Kent
The Road Is Open Again
The Songwriter
Just Around the Corner
Jerry
Too Busy to Work
Dan Hardy
Big City Blues
Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Blessed Event
Bunny Harmon