What Was It About Dick Powell…?

Every year since 1932 the Quigley Publishing Company has taken a survey of motion picture proprietors to get their opinions of the motion pictures actresses and actors who have brought the most paying customers into their theaters. In 1934 Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler broke into the top 20 in that list and one, the other, or both of them remained in the top ten or twenty in the Quigley list through 1937.

My wife and I watched 42nd Street on TCM last night for the umpteenth time. That’s the movie that prompted Powell and Keeler’s meteoric rises. It must have as many lines and situations that have become cliches as any other pictures. I you haven’t seen it I recommend it. Great songs by Warren and Dubin, Busby Berkeley production numbers, and fine performances by Warner Baxter (the actual lead of the movie) as well as the supporting cast, including Bebe Daniels, Powell, Keeler, Ginger Rogers, Allen Jenkins, Guy Kibbee, Charles Lane (who gave his last performance in 2006, and my cousin in one his many bit parts.

What struck me in watching 42nd Street was how popular Powell and Keeler became despite how ordinary they are. Dick Powell can’t act or dance, and has a pleasant but not particularly good singing voice. Ruby Keeler can’t act or sing and can dance a little. They’re both nice looking young people—not particularly gorgeous.

I think they must have struck a chord with audiences in the depths of the Depression. Two pretty ordinary young people rising to success through sheer determination. As qualities for becoming a star it sure beats the heck out of today’s crudeness and irony.

5 comments… add one
  • sam Link

    Funny, I was thinking about Dick Powell yesterday. I didn’t watch 42nd Street (again); I watched Gold Diggers of 1933, which preceded the 42nd street showing.

    (A couple of things that amused me in the Gold Diggers movie. A very young Ginger Rogers is in the movie and in this scene. At one point, the guy trying to get the show going is trying to convince Dick Powell to star in it with Ruby Keeler. “Why,” he says, “You two’d be like the Astaires!” (Adele and Fred, of course). The second thing that I found amusing was a scene with a baby in a baby carriage. The kid was using a bean shooter to cause some mischief. The “kid” was actually a very, very young Billy Barty.”)

    Dick Powell’s later acting career, after his male ingenue period, was the opposite of his “singing” career. His Philip Marlowe wasn’t bad, I thought.

    And, of course, there was Four Star Television that made him, and his partners, very wealthy indeed.

    All in all, a pretty successful career.

  • He had a fantastic and, in many ways, bold career. I think his Philip Marlowe was probably the best portrayal ever put on film. And certainly against type. Then his move into production.

    However, he does have a couple of blots on his escutcheon. Two words: The Conqueror.

  • sam Link

    Is that the one with John Wayne and, I think, Susan Hayward? The last line made me laugh: “And the fruit of their loins ruled half the world for over 100 years.” Priceless. Some comedian had a joke that, after his kid saw the movie, he asked his father what a loin was.

  • Yep. The other line it’s famous for is “You’re bee-yoo-tee-ful in yore wrath.”

    It’s claimed that working on the movie killed the director and its stars. They were downwind from the A-bomb testing area. Ironic when you think about Dick Powell’s directorial debut.

Leave a Comment