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A total of 39 different films featuring TCM’s Star of the Month William Powell will be shown over each of five Thursday nights throughout December 2011. The selection spans William Powell’s career from Sherlock Holmes in 1922 through Mister Roberts in 1955 with tons of meat in between including 13 with his most famous co-star Myrna Loy (What, no rights on The Senator Was Indiscreet?).

Personally William Powell is an all-time favorite. I practically consider him akin to a gateway drug to Warren William, who played similar roles admittedly without the more mainstream appeal of Powell. Regardless of situation, William Powell, talkie-era this is, never comes across as dangerous. His rougher pre-code edges didn’t sharpen, they smoothed out just right and left us with the screen character whose name is routinely preceded by the words urbane or debonair–try reading something about him without one of those. He’s always if not the smartest guy in the room at least the quickest witted. Razor wit.

For the DVD collectors amongst us the final two nights of William Powell’s Star of the Month turn is a bit anticlimactic. Of course if you haven’t seen these movies then they’re going to be the highlight of your month!

But if you’re like me you already have a good 8-10 inches of shelf space dedicated to both The Complete Thin Man Collection and the Myrna Loy and William Powell Collection. But even if you’ve seen them each a dozen times there are plenty worse ways to spend a Thursday evening than parked on the couch in front of TCM all night on the December 22 and 29!

But those first three Thursdays, those hold our hidden gems. Yes, there are some more commonly shown titles among the offerings as well, but those sharper edges I mentioned earlier are on display as well! I’ve recently written about three that I consider can’t miss, so if you haven’t seen them yet circle them in bold: Jewel Robbery (1932), One Way Passage (1932) and Lawyer Man (1932). The latter two are buried deep within the late night schedule but Jewel Robbery is front and center, the first movie kicking off not only Powell’s Star but I believe Robert Osborne’s return to TCM hosting duties as well.

My own DVR will be set for a handful I either haven’t seen before or can’t recall: High Pressure (1932) and Double Harness (1933) on December 8 and The Key (1934) and The Road to Singapore (1931) on the 15th. One other title I’ll definitely be adding to my collection, not because I haven’t seen it and entirely because I do remember it is Fashions of 1934 (1934) airing on December 8/9. If you listened to me earlier and circled those other titles then put a deep dark ring around this one as well.

I’ve written about several William Powell movies on Immortal Ephemera and you’ll find those not only linked in the schedule below but stationed in the sidebar to the right of this page throughout the month of December.

William Powell complete December 2011 TCM Star of the Month schedule follows immediately after this image. A William Powell gallery showing off even more vintage collectibles follows the schedule.

Press photo shows William Powell at the races with his wife Diana Lewis. Powell married Mousie in 1940. They were together until Powell's death in 1984 at age 91.

William Powell TCM Star of the Month Schedule

*All times EST; Schedule for TCM in the U.S.

Thursday, December 1

• 8:00 pm – Jewel Robbery (1932) starring William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson
• 9:30 pm – The Kennel Murder Case (1933) starring William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette
• 11:00 pm – The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936) starring William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason
• 12:30 am – The Hoodlum Saint (1946) starring William Powell, Esther William, Angela Lansbury
• 2:15 am – The Emperor’s Candlesticks (1937) starring William Powell, Luise Rainer, Maureen O’Sullivan
• 4:00 am – Lawyer Man (1933) starring William Powell, Joan Blondell, Helen Vinson
• 5:15 am – Rendezvous (1935) starring William Powell, Rosalind Russell, Binnie Barnes
• 7:00 am – Star of Midnight (1935) starring William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly
• 8:30 am – Crossroads (1942) starring William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Basil Rathbone
• 10:00 am – Sherlock Holmes (1922) starring John Barrymore, Roland Young, Carol Dempster

Thursday, December 8

• 8:00 am – The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, William Powell
• 10:00 pm – High Pressure (1932) starring William Powell, Evelyn Brent, Guy Kibbee
• 11:30 pm – My Man Godfrey (1936) starring William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady
• 1:15 am – Double Harness (1933) starring Ann Harding, William Powell, Henry Stephenson
• 2:30 am – Ziegfeld Follies (1946) starring Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Judy Garland
• 4:30 am – The Youngest Profession (1943) starring Virginia Weidler, Jean Porter, Edward Arnold
• 6:00 am – The Heavenly Body (1943) starring William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, James Craig
• 7:45 am – Fashions of 1934 (1934) starring William Powell, Bette Davis, Verree Teasdale
• 9:15 am – Reckless (1935) starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone

Thursday, December 15

• 8:00 pm – Life With Father (1947) starring William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor
• 10:15 pm – The Girl Who Had Everything (1953) starring Elizabeth Taylor, William Powell, Fernando Lamas
• 11:30 pm – Mister Roberts (1955) starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Jack Lemmon
• 1:45 pm – It’s a Big Country (1951) starring Ethel Barrymore, Van Johnson, Gene Kelly
• 3:30 am – One Way Passage (1932) starring Kay Francis, William Powell, Aline MacMahon
• 4:45 am – The Key (1934) starring William Powell, Edna Best, Colin Clive
• 6:00 am – The Road to Singapore (1931) starring William Powell, Louis Calhern, Doris Kenyon

Thursday, December 22

• 8:00 pm – The Thin Man (1934) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan
• 9:45 pm – After the Thin Man (1936) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart
• 11:45 pm – Another Thin Man (1939) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, C. Aubrey Smith
• 1:45 am – Shadow of the Thin Man (1941) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Donna Reed
• 3:30 am – The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson
• 5:15 am – Song of the Thin Man (1947) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn

Thursday, December 29

• 8:00 pm – The Great Ziegfeld (1936) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer
• 11:15 pm – Love Crazy (1941) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Jack Carson
• 1:00 am – I Love You Again (1940) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh
• 2:45 am – Manhattan Melodrama (1934) starring Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy
• 4:30 am – Libeled Lady (1936) starring Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy
• 6:15 am – Evelyn Prentice (1934) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Una Merkel
• 7:45 am – Double Wedding (1937) starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Florence Rice

For another look at William Powell’s turn as TCM Star of the Month take a look at Laura’s Miscellaneous Musings

William Powell Gallery of Collectibles

None of the following images were shown above … Enjoy!

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