Manpower (1941)

Two friends, who are members of a road crew employed by a Los Angeles power company, battle the elements to restore electrical power and trade punches over the same woman.

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

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

Stars:

Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, George Raft

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward G. Robinson	...	Hank 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	...	Pop Duval
Cliff Clark	...	Cully
Joseph Crehan	...	Sweeney
Ben Welden	...	Al Hurst

Storyline

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. One night Hank and Johnny meet Fay Duval in a clip joint, but tensions start to show in the road crew as rivally between Hank and Johnny increases.

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Plot Keywords:

femme fatale | taming of the shrew | manipulative female | male male relationship | clip joint | 

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Taglines:

Raft and Robinson are at the brawling point!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 August 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hard to Handle

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A fistfight developed on the set between stars Edward G. Robinson and George Raft when Raft spun Robinson around too hard for a scene.

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Goofs

After Johnny bails Fay out of jail, they are seen walking together down a stairway at the police station. When they arrive at the first landing, as they turn and continue to descend the stairs, the shadow of the microphone boom can be seen on the wall behind them.

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Quotes

Fay Duval: I was running away from you. Because you're always around. And I couldn't stand to look at you any more without touching you. I was going crazy every time I thought of you.

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Connections

Referenced in Summer of '42 (1971)

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Soundtracks

Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride)
(1850) (uncredited)
from "Lohengrin"
Written by Richard Wagner
Played on the harmonium by an uncredited person during the wedding

User Reviews

Trademark Walsh dynamics

Power-line repairman Edward G. Robinson marries prostitute Marlene Dietrich, but she finds herself enamored by hubby's best friend and colleague, a gallant George Raft.

There is much to enjoy in Raoul Walsh's exhilarating melodrama, and although it adheres rather too strictly to a proved formula, Walsh, always a great master at this, gives depth and dimension to the action. Walsh paints a vivid and loyal picture of this blue-collar environment of camaraderie and pranks, and Alan Hale's repairman is the whole deal rolled into one, there is not ONE joke about high voltage that he doesn't know, or doesn't repeat, ad nauseam. Every workplace has one! 'Manpower' is full of the trademark Walsh dynamics, comparable to the electric power, the frequent thunderstorms and the high tempo. The action is engrossing, the film overall is smoothly produced, briskly edited, brilliantly lit, designed and photographed. Never did sleekly wet, black raincoats photograph more memorably.

Robinson and Raft are congenially cast, but Dietrich is a long-shot as the prostitute turned housewife. "How's this dame stacked up?", Robinson asks of Raft, before he is introduced to her. Raft, waveringly: "Oh, just a dame ...". Well, she photographs like a goddess, and is impossibly glamorous. And quite improbably so.

Don't expect another Walsh masterpiece, but brace yourself for a hugely enjoyable flic that just whirls by you.