Manpower (1941)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Richard Macaulay (original screenplay) and
Jerry Wald (original screenplay)

Release Date:

9 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Crime

Tagline:

Raft and Robinson are at the brawling point!

Plot:

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work on a road crew for the power company. In a freak accident Hank is injured and is promoted to foreman of the gang...

Plot Keywords:

Power Company | Ice | Police Raid | Attempted Murder | Wedding

Cast

Edward G. Robinson	...	Hank 'Gimpy' McHenry
Marlene Dietrich	...	Fay Duval
George Raft	...	Johnny Marshall
Alan Hale	...	Jumbo Wells
Frank McHugh	...	Omaha
Eve Arden	...	Dolly
Barton MacLane	...	Smiley Quinn
Ward Bond	...	Eddie Adams
Walter Catlett	...	Sidney Whipple
Joyce Compton	...	Scarlett
Lucia Carroll	...	Flo
Egon Brecher	...	Antoine 'Pop' Duval
Cliff Clark	...	Cully
Joseph Crehan	...	Sweeney
Ben Welden	...	Al Hurst

Runtime:

USA:103 min (Turner library print) | USA:104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

While visiting his friend George Raft on the set, Bugsy Siegel was introduced to Virginia Hill as depicted in the film Bugsy (1991). There's a scene where Raft gets into a brawl with Barton MacLane that is depicted in Bugsy (1991).

Quotes:

Fay Duval: I don't get anything out of this joint but tired.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Navy Blues (1941)

Soundtrack:

I'm in No Mood for Music Tonight

Tense Gentlemen on the High Tension Wires

Edward G. Robinson and George Raft are a couple of linemen. Robinson is the foreman of the crew and a bit of a lug when it comes to the opposite sex. Raft however is a smooth operator.

They both meet Marlene Dietrich at a clip joint, the Code euphemism for a bordello. Robinson falls for her and Dietrich's looking for a way out of the working life. They marry, but she starts getting a yen for Raft and that brings on trouble.

Manpower has a place in film history having nothing to do with the content or the quality of the movie. While visiting his good buddy George Raft on the set, one Benjamin Siegel was introduced to Virginia Hill as depicted in the film Bugsy. There's a scene where Raft gets into a brawl with Barton MacLane that is depicted in Bugsy.

And if that wasn't enough, Raft and Robinson got into a real brawl over Marlene just like in the film. It seems as though Dietrich was involved with Raft during the production. But Raft was not the most educated of men.

Edward G. Robinson came from a slum background like Raft, but he'd educated himself and in fact was a well known art collector. Dietrich was no dummy herself and she and Eddie got friendly on the set, talking about stuff that Raft didn't have a clue about. Of course this got George jealous and they had a knock down drag out over her. You couldn't buy that kind of publicity. Lucky for Robinson Raft didn't call on Ben Siegel for his services.

So Manpower entered its place in Hollywood lore. Too bad the film wasn't any great masterpiece. It's entertaining enough though with a good cast of Warner Brothers regulars supporting Ms. Dietrich and her gentlemen friends. It seems though just about every film Warners made back then had either Alan Hale or Frank McHugh in it, in this case both. They're always entertaining. Add to that Eve Arden in her usual role as the wisecracking best friend of the heroine.

Not the greatest film ever made, but a historic one and not bad on the entertainment scale.