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Tyrone Power Tyrone Power 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd i 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM International Film Stars Series Editor: Homer B. Pett ey and R. Barton Palmer Th is series is devoted to the artistic and commercial infl uence of performers who shaped major genres and movements in international fi lm history. Books in the series will: • Reveal performative features that defi ned signature cinematic styles • Demonstrate how the global market relied upon performers’ generic contributions • Analyse specifi c fi lm productions as casetudies s that transformed cinema acting • Construct models for redefi ning international star studies that emphasise materialist approaches • Provide accounts of stars’ infl uences in the international cinema marketplace Titles available: Close-Up: Great Cinematic Performances Volume 1: America edited by Murray Pomerance and Kyle Stevens Close-Up: Great Cinematic Performances Volume 2: International edited by Murray Pomerance and Kyle Stevens Chinese Stardom in Participatory Cyberculture by Dorothy Wai Sim Lau Geraldine Chaplin: Th e Gift of Film Performance by Steven Rybin Tyrone Power: Gender, Genre and Image in Classical Hollywood Cinema by Gillian Kelly www.euppublishing.com/series/ifs 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd iiii 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Tyrone Power Gender, Genre and Image in Classical Hollywood Cinema Gillian Kelly 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd iiiiii 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutt ing-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Gillian Kelly, 2021 Edinburgh University Press Ltd Th e Tun – Holyrood Road 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 12/1 4 Arno and Myriad by IDSUK (Dataconnection) Ltd, and printed and bound in Great Britain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 5294 6 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 5296 0 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 5297 7 (epub) Th e right of Gillian Kelly to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498). 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd iivv 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Contents Figures vi Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Th e dramatic performer 33 Chapter 2: Th e comedic actor 83 Chapter 3: Th e musical star 109 Chapter 4: Th e tough Westerner 127 Chapter 5: Th e war hero 147 Chapter 6: Th e rugged adventurer 170 Chapter 7: Power off -screen 204 Conclusion 217 Power’s fi lmography 223 Bibliography 225 Index 234 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd v 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Figures Figure I.1 Power makes his entrance in Girls’ Dormitory (1936) 27 Figure I.2 Power’s introduction in Ladies in Love (1936) 29 Figure 1.1 Lloyds of London’s fi nal scene (1936) 38 Figure 1.2 Th e brightly lit Power in Marie Antoinett e (1938) 42 Figure 1.3 Th e closing image of Suez (1938) 46 Figure 1.4 Power’s ‘entrance’ in Johnny Apollo (1940) 47 Figure 1.5 Power and Hayworth in Blood and Sand (1941) 55 Figure 1.6 Power’s post-war return to the screen in Th e Razor’s Edge (1946) 58 Figure 1.7 Stanton (Power) seduces Zeena (Joan Blondell) in Nightmare Alley (1947) 63 Figure 1.8 Power is almost unrecognisable in Th e Long Gray Line (1955) 69 Figure 1.9 Power’s fi nal moment on-screen, as a corpse in Witness for the Prosecution (1957) 81 Figure 2.1 Beautiful stars Power and Lorett a Young in Second Honeymoon (1937) 97 Figure 3.1 Power’s face lit by fi relight inTh in Ice (1937) 110 Figure 3.2 Dion (Power) restrains Belle (Alice Faye) in In Old Chicago (1938) 115 Figure 3.3 A close-up while conducting in Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938) 118 Figure 4.1 Power in bandana: the enduring image from Jesse James (1939) 132 Figure 4.2 Power as tough riverboat gambler Mark Fallon at the end of Th e Mississippi Gambler (1953) 145 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd vvii 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Figures vii Figure 5.1 An extreme close-up as Tim (Power) wakes up in hospital in A Yank in the RA F (1941) 154 Figure 5.2 Power’s face is briefl y revealed to the audience in Th is Above All (1942) 157 Figure 5.3 Dana Andrews and Power as military personnel in Crash Dive (1943) 163 Figure 6.1 Th e brightly lit, shirtless Power is privileged over Linda Darnell in Brigham Young: Frontiersman (1940) 176 Figure 6.2 Th e masked Zorro (Power) threatens Quintero (J. Edward Bromberg) in Th e Mark of Zorro (1940) 182 Figure 6.3 Power and John Carradine’s contrasting bodies in Son of Fury: Th e Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) 185 Figure 6.4 Power’s bare torso in Th e Black Swan (1942) 188 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd vviiii 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Acknowledgements Firstly, thank you to everyone at Edinburgh University Press for their enthusiasm and encouragement throughout this project, especially Gillian Leslie, Richard Strachan, Fiona Conn and Bekah Dey. To the series editors Homer B. Pett ey and R. Barton Palmer for their kind words, and for including my book in this exciting series on international stars. Th anks also to Belinda Cunnison for copyediting the manuscript. Many thanks to Jenny Reburn, Christine Geraghty, Oline Eaton, Hollie Price, Lucy Bolton, Lies Lanckman and Ryan Shand for invaluable feedback and comments. Th anks to my best friend, Allison. To my family: Mum, Steven, Barry, Emma and Robyn, I love you all more than words can say. Th is book is dedicated to the memory of Gran, Auntie Mae and Uncle Alan, forever remembered and missed. 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd vviiiiii 227/11/207/11/20 11:15:15 PPMM Introduction Star power I believe in one kind of immortality. People live in the people they leave behind. There are probably people who have passed away who have infl uenced you. So long as that infl uence remains, they are alive in you. Just because we happen to ‘shuffl e off this mortal coil’ and leave some worm food behind, we are not dead, so long as someone remains on earth on whose life we have left some mark. (Power 1946) Th is quotation comes from the 1946 Screenland article ‘Th is is what I believe’, allegedly writt en by actor Tyrone Power (1914–58). Set out in subsections revealing the actor’s thoughts on life, death, immortality and religion, it presents something more contemplative than the light fare one tends to associate with fi lm fan magazines. However, given that Power had just returned to Hollywood aft er active duty in the Marine Corps during World War II, these subjects take on a particularly dark and sombre tone at the pen, or typewriter, of Power. His concerns with leaving a mark and living in those left behind are apt themes with which to begin a book that aims to bring much-needed scholarly att ention to the performance skills and star image of Power, who is a largely overlooked but extremely important star of Hollywood’s studio era. Reappraising his career from various angles, mainly gender, genre and image, given Power’s prominent good looks and the type of star he personifi ed, there is a specifi c focus on the social construction of beauty, specifi cally male beauty, throughout. An oddly neglected concept in star studies, it is one that is crucial to discussions on Power, since it aff ected his on- and off -screen image at all stages of his career. Although Power died aged just forty-four, his fi lm career spanned three separate decades from the 1930s to the 1950s. Th us, aside from Chapter 7, which explores Power’s off -screen image, each chapter focuses on a specifi c genre that he worked in. Mostly examining his progression, or lack thereof, chronologically within each genre, this study takes into 66638_Kelly.indd638_Kelly.indd 1 227/11/207/11/20 11:16:16 PPMM 2 Tyrone Power account industrial developments, such as the evolution of Hollywood’s sound era and the studio and star systems in which Power was a key player, while also focusing on the actor’s career trajectory. A particularly noteworthy aspect of this genre approach is that, while Power appeared in some genres within a limited timeframe – for example, he made musicals only in the 1930s – his work in other genres spanned much longer time periods. Most obviously, his fi rst and last fi lms, made twenty-fi ve years apart, were both dramas. Th us, while this book explores the advancement of Power’s screen persona, it also places him within the historical and industrial timeframes in which he worked, helping to demonstrate how stardom and the industry itself functioned at specifi c periods. Consequently, each genre chapter helps cement ideas around Power’s screen persona and its development, while granting a close reading of Power’s performance skills and star image. Power’s evolution from prett y boy ‘pin-up’ in the 1930s to more mature action-adventurer near the close of his career allowed his star image to progress naturally as he entered early middle age, although he would never surpass it due to his premature death.
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