On Movie Stars, Everyday Dads, and the Meaning of Legacy

On the weekend of November 14 in Los Angeles, I took part in a tribute to the actor Tyrone Power on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. American Cinematheque sponsored a weekend of his films, planned and programmed by myself and writer/editor Bryan Cooper. The tribute included a panel of his female costars, a Q&A with co-star Loretta Young's and Clark Gable's daughter, Judy Lewis, a panel of his children, and an enormous memorabilia display representing a lifetime of my collecting and that of another fan, Debbie Beno.

For those non-classic film buffs, Tyrone Power (1914-1958) was an international superstar from the time of his appearance in the film Lloyds of London in 1936 until the day he died on the set of Solomon and Sheba in Madrid, Spain, on November 15, 1958. Best known for his stunning good looks and swashbuckling adventure films such as The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan, Prince of Foxes, and Captain from Castile, he nonetheless appeared successfully in every genre. His films include the cult classic film noir, Nightmare Alley, the Billy Wilder dramatization of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution, the biopic The Eddy Duchin Story, one of the great musicals, Alexander's Ragtime Band, and the disaster epic that beat out Gone with the Wind and Wizard of Oz for a Special Effects Oscar in 1939, The Rains Came. The sleeper hit of the American Cinematheque weekend was a Howard Hawks-like 1937 comedy, Love Is News, that had Power dropping his elegant costar, Loretta Young, in the mud and verbally sparring with her from adjoining jail cells.

Tyrone Power plays with his children, Romina and Taryn, circa 1955

After being ignored by Turner Classic Movies because they don't own any 20th Century Fox films, Power has at last found a presence in a new Turner Classic Movies book, Leading Couples (with co-star Gene Tierney), and his films from UA and Columbia are now being shown on the Turner Classic Movies network. TCM is showing one of his Fox films, The Rains Came, in 2009 — a very good omen indeed, one encouraged by his many fans.

Article Author: Maria Ciaccia

Maria Ciaccia went from singer to writer as a contributing editor to Hollywood Studio Magazine. In subsequent assignments for The World Times, Soaps in Depth, Washington Times, and PEOPLE magazine online, she has interviewed countless celebrities from film, television, and theater. …

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