credits of
Dick Powell
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.
Release Date | Title | Character Name | Rating | Your Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
June 28th, 2024 | The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout | Self (archive footage) | 5.3 | |
January 29th, 2013 | Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored | Self (archive footage) | 5.5 | |
May 15th, 2012 | Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe | Self (archive footage) | 7.2 | |
March 21st, 2006 | 42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage | Self (archive footage) | 6 | |
March 21st, 2006 | Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound | Self (archive footage) | 4.9 | |
January 1st, 1999 | Television: The First Fifty Years | Self (archive footage) | TBD | |
January 18th, 1985 | That's Dancing! | TBD | 7.1 | |
January 1st, 1984 | Going Hollywood: The '30s | (archive footage) | 9 | |
February 25th, 1983 | Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | Self (archive footage) (uncredited) | 7 | |
March 31st, 1976 | It's Showtime | Self (archive footage) | 7.5 | |
August 6th, 1975 | Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | Self (archive footage) | 6.3 | |
October 3rd, 1961 | Ricochet | Self - Host | TBD | |
September 26th, 1961 | Who Killed Julie Greer? | Host / Inspector Amos Burke | TBD | |
January 12th, 1961 | One Must Die | TBD | TBD | |
December 1st, 1958 | The All-Star Christmas Show | Self | 6 | |
July 28th, 1954 | Susan Slept Here | Mark Christopher | 6.1 | |
December 25th, 1952 | The Bad and the Beautiful | James Lee Bartlow | 7.3 | |
September 23rd, 1951 | You Never Can Tell | Rex Shepherd | 7.1 | |
August 17th, 1951 | The Tall Target | John Kennedy | 6.9 | |
February 23rd, 1951 | Cry Danger | Rocky Mulloy | 6.7 | |
October 6th, 1950 | Right Cross | Rick Garvey | 7.3 | |
May 5th, 1950 | The Reformer and the Redhead | Andrew Hale | 7.6 | |
December 23rd, 1949 | Mrs. Mike | Sgt. Mike Flannigan | 6 | |
December 28th, 1948 | Rogues' Regiment | Whit Corbett | 6.8 | |
September 1st, 1948 | Station West | Lt. John Martin Haven | 6.4 | |
August 11th, 1948 | Pitfall | John Forbes | 6.9 | |
February 7th, 1948 | To the Ends of the Earth | Commissioner Michael Barrows | 5.9 | |
December 31st, 1947 | Blow-Ups of 1947 | Self | 6.3 | |
January 7th, 1947 | Johnny O'Clock | Johnny O'Clock | 6.3 | |
November 23rd, 1945 | Cornered | Laurence Gerard | 6.2 | |
December 14th, 1944 | Murder, My Sweet | Philip Marlowe | 7.2 | |
June 1st, 1944 | Meet the People | William 'Swanee' Swanson | 5.8 | |
March 31st, 1944 | It Happened Tomorrow | Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens | 6.8 | |
December 24th, 1943 | True to Life | Link Ferris | 8 | |
November 11th, 1943 | Riding High | Steve Baird | 5.6 | |
May 8th, 1943 | Three Cheers for the Girls | Singer (archive footage) (uncredited) | 6.5 | |
January 4th, 1943 | Happy Go Lucky | Pete Hamilton | 5.5 | |
March 5th, 1942 | Star Spangled Rhythm | Dick Powell | 6.2 | |
May 30th, 1941 | In the Navy | Thomas Halstead | 6.4 | |
April 17th, 1941 | Model Wife | Frederick "Fred" Chambers | 6.5 | |
October 25th, 1940 | Christmas in July | Jimmy McDonald | 7 | |
September 20th, 1940 | I Want a Divorce | Alan MacNally | 10 | |
June 23rd, 1939 | Naughty But Nice | Professor Donald Hardwick | 6.8 | |
May 3rd, 1939 | Hollywood Hobbies | Self (uncredited) | 5.6 | |
December 31st, 1938 | Going Places | Peter Mason | 6.6 | |
December 31st, 1938 | Breakdowns of 1938 | Elly Jordan (archive footage) (uncredited) | 5.8 | |
November 5th, 1938 | Hard to Get | Bill Davis | 6.3 | |
July 9th, 1938 | Cowboy from Brooklyn | Elly Jordan | 6.3 | |
January 15th, 1938 | Hollywood Hotel | Ronnie Bowers | 5.8 | |
December 31st, 1937 | Breakdowns of 1937 | Self | 6 | |
September 4th, 1937 | Varsity Show | Charles 'Chuck' Daly | 6.8 | |
July 3rd, 1937 | The Singing Marine | Bob Brent | 5.3 | |
February 12th, 1937 | On the Avenue | Gary Blake | 7.2 | |
December 28th, 1936 | Gold Diggers of 1937 | Rosmer Peck | 6.1 | |
September 12th, 1936 | Stage Struck | George Randall | 5.3 | |
September 11th, 1936 | Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1) | Self | 6 | |
June 20th, 1936 | Hearts Divided | Jerome Bonaparte | 5.5 | |
March 21st, 1936 | Colleen | Donald Ames | 5.8 | |
January 1st, 1936 | One And One Is One | Himself | 5 | |
January 1st, 1936 | Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 5" | TBD | TBD | |
January 1st, 1936 | Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning" | TBD | TBD | |
January 1st, 1936 | Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 3, Normie" | TBD | TBD | |
December 31st, 1935 | A Dream Comes True | Himself (uncredited) | 6.7 | |
December 1st, 1935 | Things You Never See on the Screen | Self | 5 | |
November 13th, 1935 | Thanks a Million | Eric Land | 6.5 | |
October 12th, 1935 | Shipmates Forever | Richard 'Dick' Melville III | 6.6 | |
October 9th, 1935 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Lysander | 6.4 | |
September 7th, 1935 | Page Miss Glory | Bingo Nelson | 6.7 | |
July 27th, 1935 | Broadway Gondolier | Richard 'Dick' Purcell, aka Ricardo Purcelli | 6 | |
March 15th, 1935 | Gold Diggers of 1935 | Dick Curtis | 6.5 | |
December 1st, 1934 | Flirtation Walk | Dick "Canary" Dorcy | 5.7 | |
October 27th, 1934 | Happiness Ahead | Bob Lane | 6.6 | |
September 1st, 1934 | Dames | Jimmy Higgens | 6.5 | |
August 1st, 1934 | Studio Highlights | Self (archive footage) | TBD | |
May 26th, 1934 | Twenty Million Sweethearts | Buddy Clayton | 6.6 | |
April 26th, 1934 | Hollywood on Parade No. B-10 | Self | TBD | |
March 31st, 1934 | Wonder Bar | Tommy | 6 | |
March 27th, 1934 | And She Learned About Dames | Himself | 7.5 | |
March 24th, 1934 | Hollywood Newsreel | Himself | 7 | |
December 14th, 1933 | Convention City | Jerry Ford | 4.2 | |
November 4th, 1933 | College Coach | Phil "Sarge" Sargeant | 4.6 | |
October 21st, 1933 | Footlight Parade | Scotty Blair | 6.8 | |
May 27th, 1933 | Gold Diggers of 1933 | Brad | 7.2 | |
March 11th, 1933 | 42nd Street | Billy Lawler | 6.9 | |
February 25th, 1933 | The King's Vacation | John Kent | 5.7 | |
January 30th, 1933 | The Road Is Open Again | The Songwriter | 7 | |
January 17th, 1933 | Just Around the Corner | Jerry | 6 | |
December 2nd, 1932 | Too Busy to Work | Dan Hardy | 6.5 | |
September 18th, 1932 | Big City Blues | Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited) | 5.8 | |
September 10th, 1932 | Blessed Event | Bunny Harmon | 6.9 |