Tyrone Power Movies
The son and grandson of actors, Tyrone Power made his stage debut at age seven, appearing with his father in a stage production at San Gabriel Mission. After turning professional, Power supported himself between engagements working as a theater usher and other such odd jobs. Though in films as a bit actor since 1932, Power was not regarded as having star potential until appearing in Katherine Cornell's theatrical company in 1935. Signed by 20th Century Fox in 1936, Power was cast in a supporting role in the Simone Simon vehicle Girl's Dormitory; reaction from preview audiences to Fox's new contractee was so enthusiastic that Darryl F. Zanuck ordered that Power's part be expanded for the final release version. As Fox's biggest male star, Power was cast in practically every major production turned out by the studio from 1936 through 1940; though his acting skills were secondary to his drop-dead good looks, Power was a much better actor than he was given credit for at the time. He also handled his celebrity like an old pro; he was well liked by his co-stars and crew, and from all reports was an able and respected leader of men while serving as a Marine Corps officer during World War II. After the war, Power despaired at the thought of returning to pretty-boy roles, endeavoring to toughen his screen image with unsympathetic portrayals in such films as Nightmare Alley (1947) and Witness for the Prosecution. Though Power's popularity waned in the 1950s, he remained in demand for both stage and screen assignments. Like his father before him, Tyrone Power died "in harness," succumbing to a heart attack on the set of Solomon and Sheba (1958). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1925
During the 1920s, Reginald Denny was popular in pictures for portraying all-American young men (this changed after the sound era revealed his British accent). He plays Thomas Berford, who inherited his father's business and has made a huge success of it. The only competitor who remains uncowed is George Stone (Tyrone Power Sr.). Stone becomes really furious when his daughter Alicia (Marion Nixon) becomes engaged to Berford. Trouble brews for the young businessman when a girl, Claire (Pauline Garon), shows up and claims that he married her on January 9, 1923. Berford is desperate to prove her wrong and, with his secretary Henry (Lee Moran), goes on a mad chase to track down the only man who has a record of his whereabouts on that day. During the search, Berford grabs the wrong briefcase by mistake and discovers it is loaded with money. His search is a failure and he goes home, only to be faced once again with Claire. Then Alicia shows up and Berford scrambles to hide the two women from each other. Finally, the police and Alicia's father converge on Berford's house. When Claire finds out that Berford is in love with Alicia she admits that she was hired by Stone to cause trouble. The money Berford took turns out to be his own, and in the midst of all the confusion, Alicia calls on a minister and marries her man. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reginald Denny, Marian Nixon, (more)
- 1924
This muddled, improbable drama was only interesting because it was shot in the swampland of the Florida Everglades. David, a young orphan (Jerry Devine), has a sister (Helen Rowland) who is adopted by a wealthy family, the Winfields. But the family's son mistreats David, and the girl dies of neglect. David goes to live in the Everglades, along with another embittered soul--a mother (Mary Carr) whose family died because of a careless landowner. Together they search for a hidden treasure. David grows up (now played by Eugene Strong), and is determined to exact revenge on the people that wronged him and his sister. When he holds up the son, Hugh Winfield (now played byThomas Gillen), he gets his chance. He kidnaps Hugh's wife, Edwina (Sara Mullen) and puts her to work at the shack where he lives. Edwina, however, grows to love her captor, and returns to civilization only because she hears that her husband is accused of murdering her. When she returns home, however, she discovers him in another woman's arms. Hugh goes looking for David, and finds him diving into the river, still in search of lost treasure. Hugh puts on a diving suit and goes after him. The two men battle underwater, and a hunchback--a denizen of the Everglades--stabs Hugh and kills him. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Carr, Jerry Devine, (more)
- 1924
Helene Chadwick, Gaston Glass, and a relative newcomer to the screen named Basil Rathbone were the stars of this comedy-drama, which was based on a Saturday Evening Post story by Earl Derr Biggers. Chadwick is Ellen Llewellyn, a chorus girl who is loved by orchestra leader Andy Owens (Glass), a genuinely nice guy. When Ellen meets the aristocratic Tony Winterslip (Rathbone), she's impressed by his family tree and vast wealth. When Winterslip's car breaks down during a rainstorm, Ellen gets drenched and contracts pneumonia. It takes much persuasion, but finally Ellen agrees to recuperate at the Winterslip country home. There she gets to spend a lot of time with Winterslip, his mother (Jane Jennings), and his grandmother (Esther Banks) -- too much, in fact. Esther comes to realize that money and a family tree aren't everything, and she's more than happy to return to Andy. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helene Chadwick, Mary Thurman, (more)
- 1924
This drama of international crime and intrigue was based on the famous series of novels by Louis Joseph Vance. Jack Holt plays gentleman crook Michael Lanyard, also known as the Lone Wolf. The United States government has developed a ray that can stop an airplane engine in midair, but the plans, hidden in a deck of cards, are stolen. A ring of crooks known as the Pack find out that Eckstrom (Alphonse Ethier) has the plans and goes after them. One of the gang, Lucy Shannon (Dorothy Dalton), meets Lanyard and suspects that he is the Lone Wolf. Lanyard has gone to the American Embassy and offered to get the plans back, but only if the United States will allow him to live, unmolested, in America. One of the Pack gets the plans from Eckstrom, but Lanyard knocks him unconscious and steals them. He removes them from the deck of cards and secrets them away in a cigarette. Lucy has decided to help Lanyard and they plan to escape together, but the Pack finds them together, and Lucy pretends she is still on their side by holding Lanyard at bay with a revolver. Lanyard lays the deck of cards on the table and the gang takes them. Eckstrom, however, knows better and demands the cigarette. He takes off in a plane and Lanyard and Lucy pursue him for a dramatic fight in the air. Only after they get the plans and return to earth does Lanyard find out that Lucy is actually a member of the Secret Service. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Dalton, Jack Holt, (more)
- 1924
The all-star cast of this plodding and somber melodrama does little to add any spark to the story from Pearl Doles Bell. Mary Thurmon plays a flapper who convinces her friend to care for her child when the baby is supposedly born out of wedlock. Later it is discovered she is married to a villain, but the censors of the day obviously took exception to the original story of an unwed mother. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Harlan, Florence Billings, (more)
- 1924
Alan Holt (Antonio Moreno) is a radio expert who has invented a death ray machine for the U.S. government. International spy Drakma (Tyrone Power Sr.) wants to get his hands on the invention and he sends his henchmen to attack Holt in his laboratory. Holt's sweetheart, Mary Walsworth (Agnes Ayers), is there with him and she smashes the death ray. She and Holt are captured and taken on Drakma's yacht. The spy puts Mary on a rum-runner and Holt in a workshop on a lonely island. To save Mary, Holt is ordered to build another death ray. He agrees, but instead he builds a telegraph machine and calls for help. Mary's father, the admiral of a battleship, receives Holt's message and comes to the rescue. He sends a plane to sink Drakma's yacht, and Holt takes a raft out to the rum-runner, where he holds off the crew until the arrival of Walsworth's ship. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Agnes Ayres, Antonio Moreno, (more)
- 1923
When Philippa (Mary Thurman) fails to impress the man of her dreams Norman (Edmund Lowe), she conspires to break his heart in this romantic melodrama. After Norman marries Madaline (Florence Dixon), Philippa tells him his father-in-law is the burglar who murdered his mother. Madaline's mother (Edna May Oliver) reveals that it was her first husband who is the killer and that Madaline is no relation to the scoundrel. Arthur Hausman and Tyrone Power co-star in this suspenseful story of a woman scorned and her evil plans for vengeance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Thurman, Edmund Lowe, (more)
- 1923
This drama was an early starring vehicle for fledgling star (Eleanor Boardman), and it was given a haunting directoral approach by Tod Browning, who hadn't yet devoted himself completely to horror films. After the death of philanthropist Blank Hendricks (Winter Hall), Jane Maynard (Boardman) devotes her life to his institution, which helps the needy with the philosophy, "Thy neighbor as thyself." John Anstell (Wallace MacDonald), whose father, Michael (Tyrone Power Sr.), is a formidable financial force, falls in love with Jane. Michael, who does not approve of the relationship, tries to ruin the Foundation by discrediting it in the press, and when that doesn't work, he attempts to use his financial power to destroy it. The many who have been helped by the Foundation retaliate by killing John. The grieving Anstell comes to realize that Jane really is doing good work and he reforms. Jane, meanwhile, finds happiness with Tom Barnett (Raymond Griffith). ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleanor Boardman, Tyrone Power, (more)
- 1923
While this theatrical drama is based on the clichéd premise of a country girl coming to the big city, it offers some colorful shots of the Great White Way. Charlie Murray and the Tiller Girls also perform dance numbers. The cast, too, is excellent, beginning with Doris Kenyon as Irene Marley, the country girl. While traveling through the countryside, theatrical producer Randall Sherrill (Lowell Sherman) hears Irene practicing in the church choir with her sweetheart Tom Drake (Harrison Ford). He offers to make Irene a star, so she follows him back to New York. Sherrill makes good on his promise, and Irene realizes that she has her own promise to Sherrill that she must honor. The producer has callously tossed away Connie King, his last sweetheart (Claire Dolorez), and she urges Drake to come for Irene. Drake arrives and argues with Sherrill. During their fight, Connie is shot and dies. Sherrill puts the blame on Drake, who is convicted of murder. But Irene manages to force a confession out of Sherrill, which saves Drake from being executed. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lowell Sherman, Doris Kenyon, (more)
- 1921
Hiram Scudder (Tyrone Power, Sr.) is a blind cobbler, whose son Tommy (Tom Douglas) is in love with the pretty but ambitious Peggy Hawthorne (Estelle Taylor). When Peggy insists that Tommy go out into the world and make something of himself before she marries him, Hiram is reluctant to let his son go. Then engineer Alec Campbell (Gladden James) comes to town and Peggy flirts with him to make Tommy jealous. The two men become bitter rivals for Peggy's hand. Alec plans to abscond with his company's payroll, but he and Tommy get in a fight which sets the Scudder home on fire. Only one of them leaves the burning building alive, and it is believed that Alec was killed. Hiram, however, disagrees, claiming that he can recognize anyone by their footsteps, and that eventually Alec will return for the bag of money which he left behind. In spite of the skepticism of the townsfolk, he is right. Alec does return for the money and Hiram chokes him to death. Director Charles J. Brabin allowed two of his principals -- Tyrone Power, Sr., and Tom Douglas -- to overact. Power, who had had a long stage career and performed in some important films, including D.W. Griffith's Dream Street, should have known better. If you're wondering where Power's son, future screen luminary Tyrone Power, was when this film was being made, he was with his mother, Patia -- his parents had been divorced for several years. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tyrone Power, Tom Douglas, (more)
- 1921
This long and rather convoluted drama was very loosely based on the poem "Faustine" by Algernon Swinburne. It was the first film produced by William K. Ziegfeld, the lesser-known brother of theatrical producer Florenz Ziegfeld. Florence Reed (who was better known for her stage roles than her film work) plays several characters, including a mother and daughter. The woman known as the Black Panther (Reed) runs a gambling parlor and she ruthlessly ruins men's lives. Her daughter, Mary Maudsley (also Reed), is raised by her adopted father, Lord Maudsley (Earle Foxe), in the hopes that a better environment will keep her from following in her mother's footsteps. When Maudsley dies, his son, Clive (Henry Stevenson), takes control of the estate and the girl finds herself homeless. She goes against her pure nature and enters into the dark world in which her mother lived so that she can track Clive down. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Florence Reed, Norman Trevor, (more)
