Thursday, June 19, 2008

Smooth Operator


PUBLICITY STILL FROM FRANK CAPRA'S LADY FOR A DAY (1933)

The superbly smooth Warren Warren successfully navigated his career from silents to talkies; possessed of a rich, enticing speaking voice, he was a natural for the new medium. His first talkie, Honor of the Family (1931), was apparently a major release, but has been lost today.


ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE "LOST" FILM HONOR OF THE FAMILY (1931)

William also appeared opposite Claudette Colbert in two high-profile 1934 projects: he played Julius Caesar to her Cleopatra in the Cecil B. DeMille epic; and her suitor in the original version of the erstwhile soaper, Imitation of Life.


WARREN WILLIAM AS JULIUS CAESAR IN CECIL B. DEMILLE'S CLEOPATRA (1934)

This rakishly handsome rogue also played Sam Spade in the 1936 comic version of The Maltese Falcon, this time dubbed Satan Met a Lady. Bette Davis was Williams' femme fatale in this snappy B picture, and although critics drubbed it, the film is actually quite funny and racy. William is the perfect example of an actor who isn't traditionally handsome, but exudes sexy, masculine allure through his charm alone. His portrayal of Spade (renamed "Ted Shayne") makes the detective even more of a ladies' magnet, and it's not difficult to understand why.


MAKING BETTE DAVIS EYES AT WARREN WILLIAM IN SATAN MET A LADY (1936)

A far cry from the heartless cads he often portrayed, the private Warren William was often described as shy and retiring, perhaps even a little dull (he was "an old man before he was a young man," observed his frequent co-star, Joan Blondell). Married to one woman for all of his adult life, William was also an intelligent man who held patents on several inventions. He died far too early, at age 53, of incurable bone marrow cancer in 1948.

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