Powell was a twinkle-eyed cutie in his Thirties musicals;
ladies loved him, he had pep. As he aged, I don't think he
lost his handsomeness altogether -- that is subjective, of
course, but I'm gay and I wouldn't kick him out of bed -- but
one begins to discern a pain in him that certainly wasn't
apparent earlier. One sees it in Murder My Sweet, I'm told
one sees it big-time in Pitfall (which I'm dying to see), one
sees it in Cry Danger, one sees it in The Bad and the
Beautiful. It is an intriguing quality that is attractive in
its own very different way.
Mark
On 3/27/08, Juri Nummelin <
juri.nummelin@pp.inet.fi> wrote:
>
> John Lau:
>
> "guys, especially actors look different now than
they did back then."
>
> Yes, sure, but still I insist that Powell isn't
convincing in that scene.
> Okay, he is (since he is convincing as Marlowe in
the whole), but why the
> hell did they make the dame come to him and say he's
really good-looking
> when he really isn't? All that I really ask is that
the dame says
> something
> else. (And you don't have to tell me that men back
then didn't look like
> Stallone - there must be some golden middle or
whatever. If it were Bogart
>
> in that scene (thanks for the photo!), I wouldn't be
complaining.)
>
> But as much as I like the film (as a Chandler film,
it really is better
> than
> THE BIG SLEEP), I've never understood Dick Powell.
He has a weak chin and
> his eyes are not very attractive. I see him always
as Marlowe, a bit
> shoddy,
> his chin unshaven, temporarily blind, and certainly
not as a cheerful guy
> who makes ladies swoon in high society
films.
>
> Juri
>
> PS. As for realism in hardboiled, just see SIN CITY.
The Hammer myth is
> still very much alive. Sadly, some seem to equate
hardboiled (and pulp)
> with
> SIN CITY and think they can approach with a campy
smile (or smirk) on
> their
> face. And aren't Dan Simmons's novels (HARD AS NAILS
etc.) also near
> Spillane? Based on the cover, David Schow's coming
Hard Case novel moves
> along in similar veins.
>
>
>
-- Mark R. Harris 2122 W. Russet Court #8 Appleton WI 54914 (920) 470-9855 brokerharris@gmail.com
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