#one way passage

[wellntruly]

My beloveds Powell & Kay! Silky elegance yet also warm & comforting--the White Russian cocktail of pre-Code Hollywood screen couples

[x]

[x]

Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar (Devdas, Naya Daur, Ganga Jumna)—no propaganda submitted

William Powell and Kay Francis (Jewel Robbery, One Way Passage)—HELLO i suggested william powell and kay francis yesterday but didnt think to include propaganda lol so here is some in case im the only person who submitted them and u have time to throw it in. this prolific duo made seven movies together between 1930 and 1932 and they are the quintessence of pre-code sophistication and witty sensuality to me. their chemistry together is delightful and it's no wonder they were paired up so many times. jewel robbery, which opens with debonair jewel thief william powell commiting the suavest robbery ever complete with offering the shop staff marijuana and just escalates from there, is an especially unhinged classic but doomed shipboard one way passage might be their best.

This is round 1 of a mini Christmas tournament. Each poll lasts for three days. If you'd like to send additional propaganda supporting your favorite hot couple, you can reblog this post with your propaganda added, send it to my asks, or tag me in it. To vote in all the polls, click here. Happy holidays!

[additional sexy propaganda under the cut]

Vyjayanthimala and Dilip Kumar:

William Powell and Kay Francis:

[marypickfords]

One Way Passage (Tay Garnett, 1932)

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

one way passage |1932|

[emmieexplores2]

(1932)William Powell and Kay Francis in a scene from 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒚 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒈𝒆.

[womansfilm]

One Way Passage (1932)

[queer-cinephile]

our upscaled and colorized versions of this photo of William Powell and Myrna Loy kissing. The pair starred in 13 movies together in the 1930s and 1940s

[filminghere]

I was tagged by @norashelley, as well as @chantalstacys and @marciabrady (on my main) to post my to share my nine favorite first watches of 2023 (I know January's almost over alksdjfa). Thank you to all three of you for tagging me! I look forward to doing this every year :). I didn't watch that many new films in 2023 and most of the ones I watched were pretty darn bad lol. These were definitely the nine I enjoyed best, in chronological order.

💖 One Way Passage (1932), dir. Tay Garnett | A super well-directed film that's very somber in a good way. Bill Powell is also probably the most charming actor I've ever seen. 💖 Top Hat (1935), dir. Mark Sandrich | I just casually watched this on an airplane because I don't usually care much for 30s musicals or the kinds of characters I see Fred Astaire usually play, but I really loved him in this. I also don't usually like misunderstandings (a huge part of the plot is one big misunderstanding), but the film handled in it in such a comedic and engaging way. 💖 Daughters Courageous (1939), dir. Michael Curtiz | Literally the perfect romance movie made for me minus the absolutely heartbreaking ending :(. 💖 Mr. Skeffington (1944), dir. Vincent Sherman | I really love watching Old Hollywood romantic melodramas haha. Bette Davis and Claude Rains never fail to entertain, and this movie was also way sadder than I expected it to be (in a good way). 💖 Mrs. Parkington (1944), dir. Tay Garnett | A historical romance story made for me :'). Greer Garson is also perfect in everything, and I was so shocked to see Walter Pidgeon play such a domineering yet likable character. He did it so well. 💖 The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), dir. Albert Lewin | I enjoyed watching this movie more than reading the book 😅. Very well-directed. The cinematography is a work of art, and I love how so many things are conveyed visually instead of through words. 💖 Marty (1955), dir. Delbert Mann | I'd say that this is the only movie on this list that knocked me off my feet because it's so darn good. So beautifully understated and lowkey in its tone and subject and so tight in terms of acting and pacing. 💖 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), dir. Henry Selick | Yes, I've gone this many years of my life without ever having seen this movie in full, and it was very good! I'm very impressed with how pleasant, likable, and simple it is. I love that it doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. It's so lovely and earnest. 💖 The Most Reluctant Convert (2021), dir. Norman Stone | I don't usually like movies with long monologues or dialogue, but Max McLean is a very engaging actor, and I like the extensive use of long shots. I also really enjoyed the scenery and sets; they're very pretty.

Tagging @sonnet77, @valsemelancolique, @glamourofyesteryear, @audreytotter, and anyone who wants to do it!

[lesbiancolumbo]

one way passage (1932, tay garnett)

[precodesoul]

William Powell, Kay Francis and Warren Hymer during a break on the set of One Way Passage (dir. Tay Garnett, 1932)

[craigfernandez]

[girlboysupreme]

one way passage aka william powell and kay francis compete for biggest saddest wet eyes kay is winning but william has amazing eyelashes

[byneddiedingo]

Kay Francis and William Powell in One Way Passage (Tay Garnett, 1932)

Cast: William Powell, Kay Francis, Aline MacMahon, Frank McHugh, Warren Hymer, Frederick Burton, Roscoe Karns, Herbert Mundin. Screenplay: Wilson Mizner, Joseph Jackson, Robert Lord. Cinematography: Robert Kurrie. Art direction: Anton Grot. Film editing: Ralph Dawson.

One Way Passage is a small gem that won an Oscar for best story by Robert Lord, though the story is by no means the best thing about it. It is, for example, a prime demonstration of romantic movie chemistry in its teaming of Kay Francis and William Powell. She plays a woman dying of MHM (Mysterious Hollywood Malady), and he's a convicted murderer who is going to be hanged at San Quentin. They meet in a somewhat seedy bar in Hong Kong. She bumps into him and makes him spill his drink, and when they exchange glances it's love at first sight. If you ever want to know what the phrase "acting with the eyes" means, just check out that scene. When they part, they smash their glasses and leave the stems crossed on the bar -- a gesture that becomes a motif through the film, even providing a near-perfect ending for it. They meet again soon, boarding a ship bound for San Francisco, though she's accompanied by her doctor (Frederick Burton) and he by the cop (Warren Hymer) taking him to his doom. The rest is just a matter of working out ways to keep their fatal secrets from each other as their romance blossoms. And if that were all there were to it, One Way Passage really wouldn't be much of a movie. Fortunately, there's as much larceny as love on board, with the introduction of con artist Barrel House Betty (the wonderful Aline MacMahon), who is posing as the Comtesse Barilhaus and is aided by a lightfingered lush known as Skippy (Frank McHugh); they seem to have fleeced their way around the world. A romance even develops between Betty and the cop as a comic counterpart to the main one. The screenplay by Wilson Mizner (who was something of a con artist himself) and Joseph Jackson gives us some salty tough talk dialogue to offset the romantic melodrama of the main plot. (Mizner and Jackson probably deserved the Oscar at least as much as Lord, but at the time, the Academy treated story and screenplay as two discrete categories.) The Production Code would probably have forced the screenwriters to tell us more about the murder Powell's character committed, but all we get is a suggestion that the victim had it coming to him. That everything in the movie comes in at only a little over an hour -- 67 minutes -- is another reason to cherish One Way Passage.

[marypickfords]

Kay Francis in One Way Passage (Tay Garnett, 1932)

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

one way passage |1932|

[haverwood]

One Way Passage Tay Garnett USA, 1932 ★★★★ Awww don't end like that!

[mtonino]

One Way Passage (1932) Tay Garnett