Just Around the Corner

In case you have yet to see it, here is a rare short film with Dick Powell and Bette Davis promoting General Electric products in the home. It is called Just Around the Corner.

Directed by Dick Powell

Turner Classic Movies is paying tribute to Dick Powell as a director today!
The Hunters 8PM
The Enemy Below 10PM
Split Second 11:45PM
You Can't Run Away From It 1:30AM
Here is the article:

"A romantic singing lead in a number of musicals throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Dick Powell traded in his tenor voice and good guy image to take on a more hard-boiled persona following a career-transforming performance as Phillip Marlowe in the classic film noir "Murder, My Sweet" (1944). Prior to that film, Powell was a bankable star in several big screen extravaganzas like "Footlight Parade" (1933), "42nd Street" (1933) and "Dames (1934). Having worked many times with famed choreographer-director Busby Berkeley, the actor cemented his place as a go-to leading man in lighthearted musical comedies, along the way forming notable onscreen pairings with Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell, the latter of whom he married in 1936. Despite his success in films like "Happiness Ahead" (1934), "Broadway Gondolier" (1935) and "Hollywood Hotel" (1937), Powell craved the opportunity to branch out into other roles. Preston Sturges gave him the lead in the Capra-esque screwball comedy "Christmas in July" (1940), but the actor remained unsatisfied. After unsuccessfully lobbying for the lead in "Double Indemnity" (1944), he landed the Marlowe role in "Murder, My Sweet" and propelled his career in an entirely new direction with bleak noirs like "Cornered" (1945), "Johnny O'Clock" (1947), "Pitfall" (1948) and "Cry Danger" (1951). Powell turned to directing in the mid-1950s, but found greater success as the president of Four Star Television. Though his life ended prematurely, Powell radically transformed his career through a combination of talent and sheer will.

"Born on Nov. 14, 1904 in Mountain View, AK, Powell attended Little Rock College before starting his entertainment career as a singer for the Charlie Davis Orchestra, with whom he recorded a number of hit records during the 1920s on the Vocalion label. After moving to Pittsburgh, PA, he found success working as the MC at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater, which lead to Warner Bros. noticing his talent for song and dance, and offering him a contract in 1932. Powell made his feature debut as a bandleader in the Roy Del Ruth showbiz comedy "Blessed Event" (1932) and was a radio announcer in the crime drama "Big City Blues" (1932), featuring a pre-fame Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role. He soon graduated to more prominent parts, playing the protégé of a wealthy woman (Ruth Donnelly) in the classic musical "Footlight Parade" (1933), starring James Cagney, and was top billed alongside Bebe Daniels and Ginger Rogers in the Busby Berkeley-choreographed extravaganza "42nd Street" (1933). By the time he starred in "Dames" (1934), Powell had formed a popular onscreen pairing with dancer Ruby Keeler, but was already desperately yearning to branch out beyond musicals.

"Powell shouldered on with more musicals like Mervyn LeRoy's "Happiness Ahead" (1934), "Flirtation Walk" (1934) and "Shipmates Forever" (1935), both with Keeler, and "Broadway Gondolier" (1935), which co-starred Joan Blondell, whom he married in 1936 and had two children. He finally received his wish to branch out when he was horribly miscast as Lysander in the adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935), the one and only Shakespeare outing of his career. Powell returned to musicals with "Gold Diggers of 1935" (1935), "Stage Struck" (1936), "Hearts Divided" (1936) where he played the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte (Claude Rains), and "Gold Diggers of 1937" (1937). Following "On the Avenue" (1937) and "The Singing Marine" (1937), Powell was a saxophonist in a jazz band who wins a talent contest in Busby Berkeley's lighthearted "Hollywood Hotel" (1937), which was notable for the iconic number "Hooray for Hollywood." He went on to star in the titular role of "The Cowboy from Brooklyn" (1938), before playing a store clerk who poses as a race jockey in "Going Places" (1938). After stagnating a bit with "Hard to Get" (1938) and "Naughty But Nice" (1939), Powell moved on to straight comedies with the charming Preston Sturges effort, "Christmas in July" (1940), where he played a head-in-the-clouds office clerk duped into believing he has won a slogan contest.

"Powell once again attempted to break the mold with a second-billed role in the Abbott and Costello comedy "In the Navy" (1941), before returning to musicals with "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) and the Western-themed "Riding High" (1943). Having lobbied hard to play the lead in "Double Indemnity" (1944) - a role he lost to Fred MacMurray - he forever changed his career after playing hard-boiled detective Phillip Marlowe in Edward Dmytryk's classic film noir "Murder, My Sweet" (1944). Powell's performance as the sharp-tongued private eye transformed his image, erasing his wholesome persona in favor of a tougher, grittier one. With his voice a bit rougher and his callow juvenile charm intriguingly hardened, Powell more than reinvented himself in such bleak noirs as Dmytryk's "Cornered" (1945), "Johnny O'Clock" (1947) and "Pitfall" (1948), co-starring noir queen Lizabeth Scott. By this time, Powell had divorced Joan Blondell in 1945 and married "American's Sweetheart" June Allyson later that year. Meanwhile, he continued along his new career trajectory with leading roles in the adventure drama "Mrs. Mike" (1949), the romantic comedy "The Reformer and the Redhead" (1950) which co-starred Allyson, and the boxing drama "Right Cross" (1950), co-starring Ricardo Montalban.

"Powell returned to the gritty world of noir with "Cry Danger" (1951), a classic crime thriller where he played a recent parolee released from prison after a robbery conviction who uses his newfound freedom to bring justice to the real guilty party. From there, he starred as a 19th century detective who tries to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on a train in Anthony Mann's "The Tall Target" (1951), and followed up with a leading role in the comedy "You Never Can Tell" (1951). Also at the time, Powell turned to radio as the star of "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (NBC/ABC/CBS, 1949-1953), a light-hearted detective drama where he displayed a quick wit and sang to his girlfriend at the end of every episode. Meanwhile, after a supporting role in "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952) and starring in the romantic comedy "Susan Slept Here" (1954), Powell turned to directing and producing several largely unexceptional B-films, though his best was also his first, the taut crime thriller "Split Second" (1953).

"After helming the misguided Ghengis Khan biopic "The Conqueror" (1956), "The Enemy Below" (1957) and "The Hunters" (1958), he made a successful venture into television, becoming a notable executive with his own production company, Four Star Television. The company produced shows like "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (CBS/NBC, 1957-1960) starring David Janssen as the hard-boiled Diamond, minus the singing; "The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor" (ABC/NBC, 1959-1962); "The Westerner" (NBC, 1960) with Brian Keith; "Wanted: Dead or Alive" (CBS, 1958-1961) starring Steve McQueen as bounty hunter Josh Randall; and "The Dick Powell Show" (NBC, 1961-63), an anthology series that featured a number of prominent guest hosts like Gregory Peck, John Wayne, Jackie Cooper, Robert Mitchum, Rock Hudson and David Niven. The series also launched the careers of several notable actors and directors, including Aaron Spelling, William Friedkin, Blake Edwards and Robert Vaughn. But on Jan. 2, 1963, just one day after his final appearance on his anthology series, Powell died from stomach cancer at 58 years old. His illness was widely considered to be the result of exposure to atomic test radiation in Utah, where he had filmed "The Conqueror" seven year prior. Along with many members of that cast - Susan Hayward, John Wayne, Agnes Moorhead, even Hayward's young twins sons who visited their mother on the set - all contracted severe cases of cancer and often premature death, leading to an investigation by the families into how much the government knew about the safety of filming in that area of the desert. Ultimately Four Star was taken over by David Charnay and was successful in syndication, but went through several owners until its catalogue was absorbed by News Corp."

By Shawn Dwyer

Today is Dick Powell's birthday, and in honor of that, TCM is showcasing him again! Their focus seems to be on the films that aren't shown as often.

6:00 am The King's Vacation (1933)

7:15 am Twenty Million Sweethearts (1933)

8:45 am Shipmates Forever (1935)

10:45 am Broadway Gondolier (1935)

12:30 pm Stage Struck (1936)

2:15 pm Hearts Divided (1936)

3:45 pm Right Cross (1950)

5:30 pm Susan Slept Here (1954)

Today is Dick Powell Day on Turner Classic movies as part of their Summer Under the Stars series. Finally, our man gets his own day!

http://summer.tcm.com/#/day-25/

6:00 A.M. Colleen (1936)

7:45 A.M. Naughty But Nice (1939)

9:30 A.M. Station West (1948)

11:15 A.M. Flirtation Walk (1934)

1:00 P.M. 42nd Street (1933)

2:45 P.M. Hard to Get (1938)

4:15 P.M. The Pitfall (1948)

6:00 P.M. The Singing Marine (1937)

8:00 P.M. Christmas in July (1940)

9:15 P.M. Murder, My Sweet (1944)

11:00 P.M. Dames (1934)

12:45 A.M. The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

3:00 A.M. The Tall Target (1951)

4:30 A.M. Going Places (1938)

Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater

I've just discovered that Shout! Factory and Timeless Media will be releasing the second season of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater in September.

This season features many famous actors including Claudette Colbert, Hedy Lamarr, Walter Brennan, Tommy Sands, Anne Bancroft, Lew Ayres, Howard Keel, Jane Greer, Johnny Crawford, Joseph Cotton, Barbara Stanwyck, Dan Duryea, Lloyd Bridges, Barry Sullivan, June Lockhart, and Cesar Romero.

Here is the link on Amazon where you can pre-order the set for $26.91. Remember that when you pre-order something, you are telling the manufacturers that there is interest in titles like this. There were five seasons of this show and the only way seasons three through five will be released is if the people releasing them feel they can make a profit. Show your support and pre-order.

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention

When I first began attending Cinevent in 2007, I was very much a loner. I was so focused on all of the movies and memorabilia that were available that I had no time to try to meet people too. It was very much an experience in isolation, which was how I experienced classic films at home too. This was a hobby that was truly my own.

As time has gone on, I've become more and more social. It would only make sense that my experiences at conventions would become more social as well. Because of the people I have met at Cinevent, I have attended not one, not two, not three, but four conventions this year.

The latest was the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention, which is run by my friend Martin Grams. For years I have heard good things about it, but felt the distance from my house was too prohibitive. Luckily, I have great friends, like Rodney Bowcock who offered to drive me there.

The great thing about MANC, which is different from most movie-related shows, is that there are celebrities there. Unlike many autograph shows, the celebrities are there to chat as well as sign autographs, and they each give short formal talks about their careers which end with audience questions.

I was most excited to see Margaret O'Brien, one of the most talented child stars of the golden age of Hollywood whose experience with MGM landed her in some really great films with some wonderful co-stars. How many children can claim they grew up "playing" with people like Charles Laughton, Elizabeth Taylor, June Allyson, and Judy Garland? And how many people can claim they turned down an autograph from Lawrence Olivier? Margaret was kind but not overly welcoming to her fans who came in a variety of shapes and sizes asking her to sign various items ranging from the 8 x 10 glossies she brought with her (the two from Meet Me in St. Louis were her favorites) to original posters from her films to antique Margaret O'Brien dolls.

My friend Matthew Walls wanted to meet "the catwoman," Julie Newmar and I tagged along with him in line. (By this time I had purchased a 1950s Little Rascals poster from another friend and was finished buying things so I didn't get an autograph.) Newmar was in a wheelchair but stood to pose for pictures with fans when asked. She had a variety of photo choices to sign including cheesecake poses, stills of her as Catwoman, and a photo from Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. In spite of being frail, she was exceedingly elegant with a dancer's poise and very chic clothes that fit her well. When I commented on her outfit, she smiled and pointed out that each piece was at least a decade old.

Late Friday afternoon, my friend Richard Finegan told me that in Johnny Crawford's talk, he mentioned knowing Dick Powell. Rich encouraged me to go talk to him to see if I could use any of the information he had for my book. He also told me that Crawford had expressed an enthusiasm for early jazz, and that in his talk he asked the audience if they knew of Annette Hanshaw. Only Richard raised his hand. Saturday morning I made my way downstairs to the celebrities and stood in a long-ish line (The great thing about MANC is that the lines are usually less than 5 people deep so you don't feel rushed.). I got to Crawford and chose a picture of him as a kid from The Rifleman and told him I was a Dick Powell fan, and that I heard he knew him. He grinned and said that he had, that he was a nice,

friendly guy and that he came around all the sets a lot and said hello to everyone. He said that he had invited him to his vacation home at Newport Beach a few times. I asked if Johnny had been friends with Dick's kids, and he said yes but that they were no longer in touch. In my nervousness, I forgot to ask for a picture with him, so I stood in line again, a shorter one this time, to get my picture. Then I mentioned knowing of Annette Hanshaw, and he seemed very excited and shocked. He recommended a film which uses Annette's music as the soundtrack called Sita Sings the Blues, which I have on reserve from the library now, and after posing for my picture he kissed me on the forehead. I stumbled away blushing and grinning like an idiot.

The big highlights of the show, besides meeting the celebrities, was spending time with friends I only see at these events. Old movie worship is rare, so when those of us stricken with the bug find each other, we bond quickly and form lasting friendships. I had a blast hanging out at the Radio Once More table with people like Neal Ellis, Ken Stockinger, Rodney, my roomie Kathy Meola, etc. talking about nonsense. And the best thing is that I feel like I really belong.

When I came home, I discovered that there had been a comic book convention in town and several people I know got to meet members of The Walking Dead cast, a show I watch faithfully, but meeting icons of Hollywood cannot compare to the temporary excitement of meeting modern celebrities who rarely have staying power. How many people can say they met Margaret O'Brien?

The Cincinnati Radio Convention was a lot of fun, and it inspired me to book a room to go to the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention too. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I am currently reading Debbie Reynolds' new book Unsinkable. When I was in the early stages of my research about Dick Powell, I borrowed Debbie's first book from the library, hoping to find information about Susan Slept Here. I was disappointed, and wrote her a letter asking for anecdotes and impressions of Dick. She never responded, but she did address the film in her new book. What she says is amusing and gives me something to add to the book.

"Dick Powell and I became friends while making the film. At the time he was married to June Allyson, another MGM star. I hadn't yet met her. Before marrying Dick, June had dated many men, including John F. Kennedy, who happened to be the brother-in-law of Peter Lawford, June's co-star in Good News.

"While we were filming, Dick invited me to their ranch in Mandeville Canyon, just outside Los Angeles. Dick was a very good businessman who owned a production company with David Niven in addition to his other enterprises. Dick loved that ranch; they even had cattle. During my visit, Dick went out with the horses while June took me on a tour of the house. As we climbed up to the second floor, she stopped by a window in the hallway and instructed me to look at the view--hundreds of acres of beautiful land, a breathtaking vista. When I turned back to her, June had taken about four roses out of a bud vase and was drinking the contents of the vase before replacing the flowers. Apparently, the clear liquid was vodka. She had it stashed all over the house, in various containers.

"June went to great lengths to hide her drinking, which was strange to me, as Dick was also a big drinker. Every afternoon at five-thirty, no matter what scene we were filming, a tray with two large glasses of milk would appear on the set. Dick and the director, Frank Tashlin, would enjoy their milk, which was half whiskey."