Tonight's Movie: Son of Fury (1942)
SON OF FURY: THE STORY OF BENJAMIN BLAKE is 98 minutes of glorious black and white bliss.Tyrone Power plays Benjamin Blake, the true heir to a British title and estate, robbed of his birthright by his cruel uncle (George Sanders). Threatened with jail due to his uncle's machinations, Benjamin leaves England to make his fortune, in hopes of returning to claim his inheritance, as well as the hand of his cousin Isabel (Frances Farmer).
Matters take an interesting turn when Benjamin settles on a tropical island, where he not only discovers a fortune in pearls, but beauteous Gene Tierney... And you'll have to see the movie to find out what happens from there. :)
The film's superlative supporting cast includes John Carradine, Elsa Lanchester, Harry Davenport, and Dudley Digges. Roddy McDowell plays Tyrone Power as a boy.
SON OF FURY was directed by John Cromwell. (Cromwell's film IN NAME ONLY was briefly reviewed here last year.) Cromwell's wife, Kay Johnson, plays Tyrone Power's aunt in SON OF FURY. Cromwell and Johnson's son, James, is an actor -- best-known recently for his role as Prince Philip in THE QUEEN -- and James Cromwell shares some of his memories in a featurette on the SON OF FURY DVD.
Fun anecdote: My husband is pretty sure he had a nice chat with Cromwell's son, a college student who was seated next to him on an airplane flight a few months ago...his dad was in first class. Between the son's comments and seeing Cromwell after the flight, my husband put two and two together and figured out who he was...
SON OF FURY was just released on DVD in a beautiful print. It can be purchased as a single title or as part of the Tyrone Power Swashbuckler Box Set. My recent post with details regarding the boxed set can be found here.
SON OF FURY has also been released on video.
Glenn Erickson, aka the DVD Savant, has written a rave review for the boxed set in general and SON OF FURY in particular. He refers to SON OF FURY as an "undeservedly ignored gem."
This film is a little slice of Tyrone Power heaven...we all exhaled a blissful sigh at the end. Enjoy.
posted by Laura @ 11:02 PM
3 Comments:
Gene Tierney....grrrowlll.
Just kidding (maybe)
That was interesting about Cromwell. I don't know how to take him sitting in first class and his son in coach...interesting.
What did your hubby say about that?
Yes! Finally something that is available to those of us without cable :)
I liked James Cromwell in The Queen. But I liked him best in Babe. He is an excellent actor and I did not know his heritage. Interesting.
If you like Gene Tierney, you'll *love* this movie. :)
"That was interesting about Cromwell. I don't know how to take him sitting in first class and his son in coach...interesting.
What did your hubby say about that?"
He didn't infer anything negative from it...he had the vague impression maybe the son was flying on FF miles or the dad had been upgraded or something like that. The son didn't seem bothered they were sitting separately. As I recall, the son had been out here making contacts "in the business" and was headed to the midwest for college; I think that was when our daughter had just started college so he and my husband engaged in "college chat."
Hope you can see this, Irene!
Best wishes,
Laura
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