Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection (Cafe Metropole/Girls Dormitory/Johnny Apollo/Daytime Wife/Luck of the Irish/Ill Never Forget You/That Wonderful Urge/Love Is News/This Above All/Second Honeymoon)
by Walter Lang, Henry Hathaway, Anatole Litvak
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Herbert Marshall, Loretta Young, Ruth Chatterton, Simone Simon, Tyrone PowerDirector: Anatole Litvak, Henry Hathaway, Walter Lang
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Box set, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 852 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-07-29
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection (Cafe Metropole/Girls Dormitory/Johnny Apollo/Daytime Wife/Luck of the Irish/Ill Never Forget You/That Wonderful Urge/Love Is News/This Above All/Second Honeymoon)
Movie Review: ten wonderful Ty movies for a whole new generation to discover...
Summary: 4 Stars
This set fills some holes in my classic movie library. As well as giving Tyrone Power fans ten of his early films, it's also been a pleasure to increase the number of Loretta Young, Ann Blyth, Anne Baxter, Gene Tierney and Joan Fontaine titles in my collection. It's a really fun set. In many of his early movies, the females were the main box-office drawcard (this was especially true with the three films starring Loretta Young); although along the way the emphasis shifted to Power thanks to his handsome good looks and undeniable screen charisma.
In the Tyrone Power Matinee Idol collection, we can follow Ty's progress from supporting player to leading man. Starting with 1936's GIRLS' DORMITORY, a B-programmer starring Herbert Marshall and Ruth Chatterton--and Simone Simon in her American movie debut--we find Power in a small supporting role; indeed he doesn't actually appear until the final ten minutes. The story, set in a picturesque German girls' boarding school, was I imagine quite risqu? for the time. Eighteen-year-old graduating student Marie Claudel (Simone Simon) is attracted to middle-aged head lecturer Dr. Dominick (Herbert Marshall). Dominick is also the secret infatuation of plain-jane professor Anna (Ruth Chatterton). Ms Simon sparkles off the screen and her scenes with Herbert Marshall are very memorable. J. Edward Bromberg also has some great scenes playing a filthy-minded old psychology professor who is slapped silly by Chatterton.
It was his appearance in GIRLS' DORMITORY which first got Power noticed by film critics and the producers at Twentieth Century-Fox soon cast their promising young leading man in the first of several films with Loretta Young (LOVE IS NEWS) in 1937. LOVE IS NEWS is a breezy romantic comedy starring Young as Toni Gateson, an heiress who decides to get even with Steve (Power), an overzealous reporter, by announcing she's going to marry him. A snappy comedy in the tradition of Capra's "It Happened One Night".
1937 was a busy year for Young and Power, who also co-starred in two more movies that year--CAF? METROPOLE and SECOND HONEYMOON. CAF? METROPOLE is a delicious screwball comedy (very Ernst Lubitsch in nature) where Power--pretending to be a Russian prince--romances sparky American heiress Young. SECOND HONEYMOON is a cute spin on "Private Lives" with a plot that revolves around newly-remarried Young bumping into her former husband (Power) during a vacation with Hubby #2 (Lyle Talbot), only to discover their passion is still alive and well. Delightful support is provided by Claire Trevor, J. Edward Bromberg and Marjorie Weaver.
Sultry brunette Linda Darnell is Ty's leading lady in 1939's DAY-TIME WIFE. When Jane (Darnell) suspects her husband Ken (Power) of carrying on an affair with his secretary, she exacts secret revenge by applying as a secretary to one of his business partners (Warren William). Loretta Young was originally cast as Jane before stunning nineteen-year-old Darnell came on the scene. On the strength of their chemistry here, the two would be paired again in "The Mark of Zorro" in 1940.
Ty found his most dramatic role to date in the pre-noir favourite JOHNNY APOLLO in 1940, with the lovely Dorothy Lamour. Power is the son of a Wall Street embezzler (Edward Arnold) who is forced to fend for himself when his father is sent to prison.
A stirring wartime romance, THIS ABOVE ALL (based on the book by Eric Knight) paired Power with Joan Fontaine in 1942, and was one of his final film role before heading off for active service in the Marines. It's always a pleasure seeing Ms Fontaine, and whilst she was often criticised in her early films for being too wooden, she delivers an exceptional performance. Tyrone also completed "The Black Swan", "Son of Fury", and "Crash Dive" before his enlistment. He returned to the screen in 1946.
It was back to romantic comedy territory in 1948's THE LUCK OF THE IRISH, a whimsical fantasy with Anne Baxter (his Oscar-winning co-star from "The Razor's Edge"). 1948 also saw Power back in his original role for a remake of LOVE IS NEWS entitled THAT WONDERFUL URGE, this time with "Razor's Edge" leading lady Gene Tierney in the Loretta Young role.
Finally, in 1951's thrilling, time-traveling love story I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU, Power is seen in breathtaking Technicolor scenes which also showcase the porcelain beauty of Ann Blyth to maximum effect. Tied up in legal and copyright battles, which prevented any possible home video or cable releases for many, many years, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU finally makes it's long-awaited return with this box set collection.
Hopefully Fox will continue releasing these Tyrone Power boxes. In the third volume I'd love to see "Suez" (the final pairing of Power and Loretta Young), "Thin Ice", "Lloyd's of London", and maybe even "Ladies in Love".
Recommended.
More Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection (Cafe Metropole/Girls Dormitory/Johnny Apollo/Daytime Wife/Luck of the Irish/Ill Never Forget You/That Wonderful Urge/Love Is News/This Above All/Second Honeymoon) reviews:
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Summary of Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection (Cafe Metropole/Girls Dormitory/Johnny Apollo/Daytime Wife/Luck of the Irish/Ill Never Forget You/That Wonderful Urge/Love Is News/This Above All/Second Honeymoon)
Disc 1: CAFE METROPOLE '37 + GIRLS DORMITORY '36 Disc 2: JOHNNY APOLLO '40 + DAYTIME WIFE '39 Disc 3: LUCK OF THE IRISH '48 + I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU '51 Disc 4: THAT WONDERFUL URGE '48 + LOVE IS NEWS '37 Disc 5: THIS ABOVE ALL '42 + SECOND HONEYMOON '37If you're a Tyrone Power fan, it's very difficult to complain about the star's showing on DVD. Not only are Power's best-known films available, but the Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection serves up 10 titles that greatly fill in his tenure at Twentieth Century Fox. There isn't a classic in the set, just the kind of titles that audiences ate up when the handsome young actor was at his most popular. The oldest film in the box is Girls' Dormitory (1936), and Power is barely in it--he shows up in the final 10 minutes of this 66-minute drama. But it's a good one, energetically directed by Irving Cummings, about schoolmaster Herbert Marshall being dangerously worshipped by young student Simone Simon. The ending just might surprise you. Caf? Metropole is an efficient comedy about restaurant owner Adolphe Menjou and his plot to pay off debts by getting Power to impersonate a Russian prince and woo wealthy Loretta Young. Young is also Ty's co-star in two other 1937 pictures. Second Honeymoon pits them as a pair of exes, romping around Miami as Loretta shows off her new husband. The movie's a weirdly coarse approximation of the screwball formula that was in the air at the time. Love is News is better: Power is a newspaper reporter whose stories makes life uncomfortable for heiress Young; she turns the tables by pretending to be engaged to him. Director Tay Garnett gets a loose, knockabout quality into the performances, and Don Ameche contributes some Front Page salt. The remake of Love is News is also included: That Wonderful Urge (1948), with Power back in his role and Gene Tierney as the heiress. Day-Time Wife (1939) pairs Power with new Fox starlet Linda Darnell; he's too busy at work with his secretary, and she takes a job as a secretary herself (to wolfish boss Warren William, who could do wolfish better than anybody). In this battle of the sexes, male chauvinism reigns supreme. Power squirmed at Fox's lightweight view of him, and Johnny Apollo has a little more guts: Power is a feckless Ivy League lad who becomes disillusioned and falls into the world of the mob. You can see the actor excited by the darker possibilities of the role--but rest assured he's still every inch the elegant clotheshorse in this one. This Above All (1942) is a strange story and a dry run for Power's role as the soul-searcher in The Razor's Edge: he's an embittered soldier questioning the purpose of fighting the war. Patriotic Joan Fontaine has a few speeches for him, and director Anatole Litvak makes it all look sharp.After a run of dramatic roles and a break for WWII service, Power came back to romantic comedy with The Luck of the Irish, a whimsy-heavy thing about a reporter who tries to sell out--but not if a leprechaun (Cecil Kellaway) and a sweet Irish lass (Anne Baxter) have anything to do with it. The movie's no great shakes, but the DVD provides an option to watch the Irish scenes with green tinting, a novelty from the original theatrical release.
I'll Never Forget You (aka The House in the Square), directed by Roy Ward Baker, is a costume picture with a supernatural edge--and fans of Somewhere in Time will recognize a kindred spirit. Ty plays a scientist whose house is a portal to the 18th century, where he travels to impersonate a lookalike ancestor. This nifty romance co-stars Ann Blyth and gives a delightfully foppish role to Dennis Price. Short documentaries fill out the box, including a lovely reminiscence from Power's three children. --Robert Horton
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