Manpower | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Raoul Walsh |
Produced by |
Hal B. Wallis Mark Hellinger |
Written by | Richard Macauley Jerry Wald |
Starring |
Edward G. Robinson Marlene Dietrich George Raft |
Music by | Adolph Deutsch |
Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
Edited by | Ralph Dawson |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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103 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Manpower is a 1941 film drama directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft. The picture was written by Richard Macauley and Jerry Wald, and the supporting cast features Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Eve Arden, Barton MacLane, Ward Bond, and Walter Catlett.
Robinson and Raft got into a fistfight on the set that was eagerly splashed all over the front pages of the nation's newspapers. Victor McLaglen was originally going to play Robinson's role, which would have made it a supporting part, and Raft reportedly resented sharing leading man status on the film as a result of Robinson being cast instead.
Raft chose Manpower over the remake of the 1931 pre-Code version of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, and the career-catapulting role of Sam Spade went to Humphrey Bogart instead.
The script is one of many reworkings of the plotline for a 1932 Robinson movie called Tiger Shark, in which Robinson played essentially the same part, only as a tuna fisherman rather than an electric power lineman.
A leg injury causes Los Angeles power line worker Hank McHenry to give up field work and accept a promotion to foreman. His crew includes good friend Johnny Marshall and old Pop Duval.