Manpower (1941)

. . . upon American Women, as the always prophetic Warner Bros. warn We Americans of (The Then) Far Future of the sort of HANDMAID'S TALE-like backlash doubtless in store for the female half of the U.S. Populace IF distaff dictators push their witch hunt PURGE of Real Life leaders such as Al, Roy, Charlie, Dustin, Richard, Woody, and Garrison any further. Everyone knows that women lived on a Real Life pedestal in the Early 1900s, when MANPOWER was made. Yet this flick begins with "Hank McHenry" manhandling his "taxi dancer," and the entire male cast is frequently shown "goosing" hospital nurses before "Johnnie Marshall" punches "Fay Duval" so hard in her face that she collapses in a heap! Though MANPOWER's contemporary audiences must have been stunned and totally perplexed by these then unheard-of events, Warner was primarily addressing the Ladies of Today's 2018 America. Warner advises these Modern Chicks that there's a Time and a Place for everything, and U.S. Men have NO intention of fading away quietly into the night (like the dudes who've gone AWOL on WONDER WOMAN's home island). Sociologists estimate that 80% of U.S. Men have copped some sort of feel during the past 10, 25, or 40 years (not to mention 96% of Women, when predator roles are reversed). None of these past hijinks will appear seemly under the glare of Today's Women-dominated media, Warner senses in MANPOWER. If the chick flick folks insist upon purging ALL of these guys, the resulting vacuum of Good Guys will invite a wave of New Founding Fathers whose rules will make Allred's life seem like a pleasant picnic by way of comparison, MANPOWER forecasts.

This original screenplay from writers Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald is essentially a drama about California linesmen for the power company, two of whom (Edward G. Robinson and George Raft) get tangled up over a sultry woman just out of the pen (and a recent graduate of a local clip joint). Uneasily cast film with overlays of raucous comedy, brotherly roughhousing, static adventure...but oddly, no romance. Robinson and Marlene Dietrich end up married, but the union seems loveless (she's indifferent to him, while he stays mostly hungover). Dietrich sings one colorless tune and seems to fight a case of the blahs. Special effects are good, but the mostly male supporting cast quickly tire the ear with would-be lascivious stories of 'dames' and 'babes'. Eve Arden has some funny one-liners playing Marlene's hostess co-hort, and there's a wild bit of satire set in a hash-joint. **1/2 from ****

Manpower (1941) *** (out of 4) Power company workers Hank (Edward G. Robinson) and Johnny (George Raft) end up falling in love with the same woman (Marlene Dietrich) who not only tears their friendship apart but also threatens a lot more. This Warner B-picture shares a lot in common with TIGER SHARK as well as its remake SLIM so those familiar with either of those films won't find anything too original here but to be honest even if you're not familiar with either of them, you'll probably still find this not too original. With that said, the cast is so good that you really can't blame the film for its short comings and instead you will get caught up in the drama and find yourself having a pretty good time. As with many Walsh pictures, this one here takes the simple story and the director pumps it up with all sorts of loud action including various storms with the men trying to work on power lines and of course one thing after another goes wrong. We also get countless scenes with Robinson and Raft in bars, drinking, smoking and just acting tough like not too many can. Fans of the two stars will certainly want to check this film out even though neither men give one of their greatest performances. Robinson manages to come off very tough but also can handle the softer moments with Dietrich as she begins to rip his heart up. Raft has always been fun even when playing the sidekick and that's true here. Apparently he and Robinson had a few angry moments with each other while filming this and you can tell in a few scenes. Dietrich is pretty good but the screenplay really doesn't do her any favors. Both Robinson and Raft at least had well written characters but the same can't be said for Dietrich. Alan Hale and Frank McHugh add nice support. The screenplay follows all the clichés you'd expect it to and this of course leads up to a very silly ending that really doesn't work too well. With that said, as silly as the film is it's still fun for the cast.

This is not one of Warner Brothers' finest films, as the writing is pretty silly at times and terribly predictable. For example, when the character "Pop" appeared, I said to my daughter that that old guy would have to die in the film--and about 20 minutes later, sure enough, he had assumed room temperature! In fact, throughout the film, the action was pretty ordinary and often telegraphed. Despite starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich and George Raft, the film had a definite "B-movie" feel to it due to the shallow plot and rather one-dimensional characters. This one-dimensionality was especially true with Robinson, as he was amazingly pugnacious and impossible to believe throughout.Now despite all this and the overall ordinary nature of the film, it still is rather entertaining and worth a look if there is nothing better on television. Not a great film but a decent time-passer.By the way, a few years earlier, Warner Brothers made a somewhat similar film called SLIM. While MANPOWER is not exactly a re-make, they both have a lot of similarities and involve death and danger on the power lines.