Introduction
By the time the 1940s arrived, Tyrone Power had found happiness in his family life, and his film career was on the ascent. This period would end up being the most prolific of Power’s career. It would also solidify his status as a legend of classic Hollywood. During this decade, Power evolved from a romantic swashbuckler into a more complex and dramatic actor. He’d also grapple with challenges due to World War II, his transformation, and a changing Hollywood landscape.
Becoming Zorro
Power’s third film of 1940 was one of his most memorable. In The Mark of Zorro (1940), Power plays the swashbuckling Don Diego/Zorro in one of his most thrilling adventure films. This was a remake of the 1920 Douglas Fairbanks classic. It produced the same result for Power as it did for Fairbanks, as it cemented Power’s status as a dashing, charismatic hero. His dual portrayal of the foppish aristocrat and masked vigilante displayed his versatility.
The film was both a commercial and critical hit and is still considered one of his most iconic roles. It features an impressive cast, including rising star Linda Darnell and Sherlock Holmes himself, Basil Rathbone. Due to its enduring impact, In the Mark of Zorro was named to the National Film Registry in 2009.
Power was drawn to the challenge of playing two contrasting personalities. Don Diego, the foppish nobleman, and Zorro, the bold and cunning vigilante. He reportedly said it was one of the more “fun” acting experiences of his career. This is because he got to display both comic subtlety and heroic charisma in one role. Power said:
“I enjoyed that part very much. It let me play two sides of the same man. Quiet and clever in one moment, fierce and bold the next”
This duality allowed Power to stretch beyond simple heroics. It showcased his timing, humor, and physicality. Through the years, Power expressed appreciation for the lasting impact of Zorro. Yet, he was equally conscious of the artistic limitations it might impose. His comments over the years reflect both pride in the role and a desire for greater artistic depth beyond it.
Blood and Sand
Galvanized by the success and profitability of the film, Power was cast in another prestige film for the studio. Blood and Sand (1941) was a major Technicolor production. It was also one of Power’s most critically and commercially successful dramas of the early 1940s. The film offered him a more serious role within the framework of a visually lush melodrama. It was a turning point in how critics and audiences viewed him.
In Blood and Sand, Power played the role of Juan Gallardo, a celebrated matador, whose fame and vanity ultimately derail him. His downfall in the film was also helped by the seduction of the femme fatale, played beautifully by Rita Hayworth. Power’s abilities as a dramatic actor were becoming evident with this film.
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised Power’s “controlled intensity” as a marked improvement from his earlier lightweight roles. Variety Magazine was effusive about Power’s “more mature and restrained performance.” It acknowledged that he carried the film with “grace and conviction. Power’s standout performance was helped by his chemistry with Linda Darnell and the star power of Rita Hayworth. The tension between the three of them was central to the film.
Blood and Sand garnered an Oscar for Best Cinematography and was nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Sound. It ended up as one of Twentieth Century Fox’s top earners that year. Power appreciated that it was a meaningful opportunity to showcase his dramatic range and was deeply committed to its production. He undertook rigorous training for the role, including studying Spanish culture and bullfighting choreography. Power stated:
“This was a man with passion, pride, and weakness. That’s what I wanted to play. Not just the hero, but someone who falls”
The Black Swan
Little did Power know that his performance in Blood and Sand would closely mirror some of the more intense and morally complex characters he would play after World War II. 20th Century Fox realized that Power’s appeal as an action hero was so lucrative for the studio that they would have to continue producing similar films to showcase Power’s talents. This thinking led to the 1942 film The Black Swan.
In glorious Technicolor, Power is paired with Maureen O’Hara as a reformed rogue turned hero. The film is visually stunning and filled with high-seas bravado. It reinforced his romantic-adventure persona and was a box office success. Film critic Bosley Crowther of the New York Times described the film as:
“a blazing technicolor adventure…with Tyrone Power doing what he does best, cutting a dash and stealing kisses”
The Black Swan won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and was also nominated for Best Special Effects and Best Art Direction. Power enjoyed his work on the film. One of the reasons was that he had a good relationship with director Henry King, who was Fox Studios’ most successful director. He also enjoyed working with fencing master Fred Cavens. According to Film Historian Fred Lawrence Guiles, Power remarked about the film:
“We knew we were making a big, bold, beautiful picture, and it delivered. That was pure escapism, done right”
This Above All
While The Black Swan was a commercial and artistic success, that same year, Power also succeeded in an underrated picture, which proved the actor could excel in dramatic roles. Capitalizing on the impact of the Second World War, all the studios increased their production of war films to mobilize support for America’s entry into the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. As a result, Power co-starred with screen legend Joan Fontaine in the film This Above All (1942).
In the film, Power plays Clive, a working-class soldier who goes AWOL out of disillusionment with the British class system. His character later falls in love with Prudence, an upper-class Women’s Auxiliary Air Force officer, played superbly by Fontaine. Through love and awakening, he finds a renewed sense of duty.
Both stars made a powerful impact with their portrayals. Variety Magazine commended both Fontaine and Power for “elevating the material” and called Power “solidly convincing” as a man torn between bitterness and principle. Film Daily magazine noted that Power gave one of his “most honest and heartfelt” performances to date. These reviews proved that Powell’s instincts as an actor were correct. He could shine in dramatic roles, and no doubt films like This Above All only increased his desire to have more roles like that.
World War II
World War II had a profound impact on Power’s personal life and career trajectory. More than just a temporary break in his film work, the war became a turning point that reshaped his identity, deepened his emotional maturity, and altered his ambitions as an actor. In August 1942, at the height of his fame, Power voluntarily enlisted in the US Marine Corps.
Power deliberately refused a comfortable PR assignment, asking instead for active duty. He trained as a Marine pilot and flew cargo planes in dangerous combat zones, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa. He earned the rank of First Lieutenant and was later promoted to Captain. Power flew over seventy missions, including evacuations of wounded soldiers and supply drops under enemy fire.
Power’s heroism and patriotism came at a cost. His marriage to French actress Annabella suffered during and after the war, partly due to long separations and his emotional transformation. They later divorced in 1948. Indeed, friends and family observed a clear emotional change in Power after the war.
Power became more introspective, serious, and spiritually searching. The war left him with survivor’s guilt, particularly from witnessing battlefield injuries and deaths. This moved him to explore spirituality and deeper meaning after witnessing the war up close. He grew more interested in literature, philosophy, and non-commercial films. It was these circumstances that fueled even further his artistic ambitions.
After returning home in 1946, Tyrone Power was determined to break away from his typecasting as the romantic lead and appeared in Technicolor adventures. According to various Biographers, Power is reported to have remarked:
“There’s more inside me than a sword and a smile”
The Razor’s Edge
It was this inner transformation that helped him tremendously in two of his most powerful roles after the war. The first was The Razor’s Edge (1946), based on Somerset Maugham’s novel, and later Nightmare Alley (1947). For The Razor’s Edge, he lobbied for the role of Larry Darrell, a spiritually wounded World War One veteran seeking meaning, which echoed his postwar soul searching.
Power convinced 20th Century Fox to purchase the film rights and delayed his return to action films to make this picture. The film is rich with spiritual, philosophical, and personal lessons both on screen and behind the scenes. It features a powerful cast including Gene Tierney, Anne Baxter, and Clifton Webb.
The plot revolves around Larry, a young American traumatized by WW I, who rejects materialism to seek spiritual meaning through travel and self-discovery. The film explores his journey through Paris, India, and back to American society. It also traces the contrasts between Larry’s spiritual evolution and the inner struggles of his friends whom he left behind. The film critiques American consumerism and the shallow values of a postwar society.
Along with The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Razor’s Edge also brought much-needed attention to the psychological trauma that returning war veterans were enduring. Power was quoted in multiple biographies as saying:
“I had to play Larry. I understood him…He wanted to find peace, truth, not just a job or a promotion. That’s a rare kind of courage”
While proud of the film, Power found the production challenging. Director Edmund Goulding clashed with cast members, and some felt the film couldn’t fully capture the novel’s philosophical depth. Despite this, it was a major success at the box office, helped by the novel’s popularity, and Power’s performance was warmly received.
Nightmare Alley
Power’s film, Nightmare Alley (1947), is widely considered his boldest and most subversive work. A chilling descent into ambition, deception, and existential ruin. Underappreciated at the time of release, it’s since become a cult classic and a standout in Power’s postwar career. Its themes and Power’s reflections reveal powerful lessons about human nature, morality, and the corrupting power of success.
Based on Lindsay Gresham’s 1946 novel, Power plays Stanton Carlisle, a slick carnival worker who learns the secrets of a mentalist’s act and manipulates his way to fame as a phony spiritualist before spiraling into ruin. Stanton reinvents himself constantly as a carny, nightclub mentalist, and psychic healer. Each role distances him from his real self. The more successful he becomes, the more hollow and disconnected he feels.
Just as with The Razor’s Edge, Nightmare Alley became Power’s passion project. He fought Fox hard to make it, going against their preference for him to stay a romantic swashbuckler. He optioned the novel himself, determined to play against type. Power later said:
“I had to prove I could play something dark, something real…He’s (Stan) not evil. He’s just too clever and too wounded to stop himself.”
The film received mixed reviews. Audiences and critics were unprepared to see the handsome matinee idol in such a grim, unsympathetic role. Fox subsequently buried the film shortly after release due to concerns that it would damage Power’s marketability. The actor was disappointed it didn’t fare well at the box office, but still considered it one of his greatest achievements on screen. It can be said that The Razor’s Edge and Nightmare Alley were the truest reflections of the artist Power wished to be known as.
Back to Basics
Due to the mixed reviews of critics and fans alike, Fox would not let Power deviate from their winning and lucrative formula. That is his allure as a hero in adventure films and costume dramas. In 1949, Power was cast for the film Prince of Foxes (1949), under the direction of Fox’s top director, Henry King, once again. This time, Power would co-star with an actor who was just as accomplished as he was, the great Orson Welles.
Set in Renaissance Italy, Power plays the role of Andrea Orsini, a cunning artist and soldier who worked for Cesare Borgia, played superbly by Welles. In this role, Power reveals more depth as an actor, since the storyline evolves around Orsini’s later pursuit of a more honorable path once he sees Borgia’s ambition and ruthlessness firsthand. Variety Magazine recognized this when it praised Power for:
“bringing soul to a character that could have been pure cloak-and-dagger”
Time Magazine went even further by commending Power’s restraint and dignity in portraying a man of intellect and action torn between expediency and virtue. Once again, Fox was recognized for its prestigious technical production capabilities by receiving nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.
Power himself was pleased with the overall film and his role. He felt that the location filming in Italy added more authenticity to the film and substance to his character portrayal. He saw Andrea Orsini as a man “caught between two worlds,” the Renaissance court of deception and brutality, and his evolving embrace of a more principled and just system. In the biography The Secret Life of Tyrone Power by Hector Arce, Power stated:
“Andrea is not just a swordsman. He’s a man learning how to live with himself. That’s what drew me to him”
Big Changes
The 1950s were a turning point not just for Power but for the studio system. The Supreme Court case United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. (1948) forced the major studios to relinquish their ownership of movie theaters. Now, the studios could no longer control production, distribution, and exhibition, which had augmented their profits and staved off competition. This led to the gradual dismantling of the monopoly the major studios had in film production, and it opened the door for the emergence of independent producers.
Fewer pictures were made as the studios contracted their assets and personnel. The emergence of Television as a medium also brought a formidable challenge to Hollywood, as movie theater attendance plummeted. Power was not immune to these changes, as 20th Century Fox Studios continued to try and adapt.
Power later formed his own production company (Tyrone Power Productions) and began to work outside the studio system, notably co-producing The Mississippi Gambler (1953). He also realized that his classic matinee idol image was becoming increasingly out of sync with an America that was shaped by postwar realism. This led to the public embrace of the anti-hero, which made stars of actors like Humphrey Bogart, John Garfield, and Robert Mitchum.
The advent of New York City’s method acting brought a new stable of stars such as Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and later Paul Newman. These actors brought a rugged, brooding, and tenacious realism that was not the norm during Hollywood’s glory years before World War II. Power did not fully transition into this new style as a result of poor timing, and his enduring image of a Hollywood that was no more. His attempts to reinvent himself were even more difficult because now actors like him no longer had the contracts and stability of the old studio system.
The 1950s
Despite these changes, Power still had a few solid performances toward the end of his life. He was cast in the lead role in the biopic The Eddy Duchin Story (1956). Filmed in Technicolor, Power played the popular pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin. The role allowed Power to showcase glamour, heartbreak, and emotional depth. The film was generally well received for its music, emotional tone, and Power’s poignant portrayal of Duchin’s life.
The Los Angeles Times praised Power’s performance, writing that he brought “a maturity and grace” to the role that made the melodrama grounded and realistic. As a testament to Power’s evolution as an actor, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor. The film was a major success for Columbia Pictures, and Power reportedly said that Duchin’s emotional journey reflected his struggles with balancing fame with life’s most important things. Biographer Hector Arce wrote:
“There’s something in Eddy’s quiet heartbreak that I understood. Fame doesn’t protect you from sorrow”
Final Glory
In 1957, Power was cast in a critically acclaimed masterpiece that endures to this day. It would be a fitting end to a legendary career for someone who had talented beginnings, never accepted complacency, and was committed to his growth as an actor. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) was a courtroom drama based on a play by Agatha Christie. The film’s success must also be attributed to the skillful direction of Billy Wilder.
Power plays the role of Leonard Vole, who is accused of murdering a wealthy widow who recently changed her will in his favor. Vole’s wife is played masterfully by the legendary Marlene Dietrich. It is her testimony and performance that would later provide one of the classic twist endings in Hollywood history.
While the best performance in Witness for the Prosecution was delivered by Charles Laughton, as the prosecutor, Power was also singled out for recognition. Variety Magazine applauded his “subtlety and menace” as he skillfully balanced charm and suspicion. The Los Angeles Times noted that Power’s character demonstrated “a deceptive innocence” that made the final twist believable and shocking all at once.
Witness for the Prosecution ultimately received six Academy Award nominations. Power had enormous respect for Laughton’s ability as an actor and enjoyed a quiet on-set chemistry with Marlene Dietrich. Dietrich herself later said that Power was “a gentleman and a craftsman.” She praised him for the experience and intelligence he brought to the role. She continued:
“He didn’t need to shout or steal scenes. He let the story work through him.”
Final Days
Power must have been pleased that he was once again able to work in a high-quality drama with accomplished performers such as Laughton and Dietrich, and must have believed more good roles were to come. However, just like his father before him, tragedy beset Tyrone Power just when his career had been revived by the success of Witness for the Prosecution.
Power had been filming a dueling scene for his next role in the epic Solomon and Sheba (1958). He suffered a massive heart attack in the middle of a physically demanding sword fight with actor George Sanders. Power was rushed to the hospital, but passed away shortly after arrival. His death shocked the Hollywood community since Power still had many admirers and close friends in the industry.
As is now known, Power’s family had a history of heart disease, as his father similarly died on stage. Also, in the months leading up to his death, Power had been overworked and physically strained. He had a difficult filming schedule, along with family pressures, including his third marriage with a baby on the way. The stress of filming on location in Spain with the hot weather and the grueling sword-fighting scenes was the final tipping point.
Legacy
It can be hard to explain why some successful and famous people in their time become forgotten while others become transcendent. In Power’s case, he was an iconic actor in his time, but as the years have passed, his career and legacy have become overshadowed. Even the actor most compared to him, Errol Flynn, became a household name to future generations of movie fans decades after his passing.
Tyrone Power was in many good movies, and almost all of them were profitable. However, none of his movies could be perceived as classic or legendary like Casablanca (1942) was for Bogart, or To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) was for Gregory Peck. To Power’s credit, he didn’t have a scandalous career, and perhaps his image of being a universally liked and personable actor was not enough to make him transcendent to future generations.
However, this does not diminish what Power accomplished. In many ways, Power was an overachiever because he became more than just a matinee idol. He co-starred with many of Hollywood’s leading ladies, such as Alice Faye, Gene Tierney, Linda Darnell, Maureen O’hara and Anne Baxter. In almost every single film, he was the main star, and almost all of them were immensely profitable.
It’s also apparent when one analyzes Power’s career, what intrigued him the most about acting was the importance of revealing the complexity and structure of the human condition, whether good or bad. Power preferred playing roles that emphasized the flaws, frailties, and virtues that, in essence, defined humans. He preferred depth and not fantasy or superficiality.
Conclusion
Was Power’s career overshadowed because 20th Century Fox was not on the level of premier studios such as MGM or Warner Bros? Power never got a chance to work with luminaries such as Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, or Barbara Stanwyck. That’s not a knock on the leading ladies of Fox, which had Rita Hayworth and later Marilyn Monroe. This is to underscore how competitive and talented Hollywood’s Golden Age was, that an actor like Tyrone Power, a leading man for twenty-two years and Fox’s most bankable star, is marginally remembered today.
Yet, Power should be remembered because he dared to reinvent himself and proved that a truly successful actor had to have substance over appearance. His commitment to his craft is why he became a legend in his day, and why future generations of classic cinema fans will appreciate that his portrayals of real people closely mirrored his own life. Tyrone Power was not just another pretty face, but a performer with depth and principle. That’s how he would have liked to have been remembered.
