This success, along with Powell's commandingly pleasant speaking voice, led to his first starring role as amateur detective Philo Vance in the "talkie" The Canary Murder Case (1929). His most memorable role in silent movies was as a vengeful film director opposite Emil Jannings' Academy Award-winning performance as a fallen general in The Last Command (1928). Between Paramount and Warner Bros., Powell and Francis made seven films together. One of their most successful films together was One Way Passage. When Powell left Paramount to sign with Warner Bros., Francis joined him.
As he gained experience, he gradually shifted into leading-man roles paired with such leading ladies as Bebe Daniels, Evelyn Brent, and Kay Francis. Under contract to Paramount throughout most of the 1920s, Powell played villains in the early part of his career. He later performed as Francis I in When Knighthood Was in Flower with Marion Davies, which was considered the most expensive film production to date. After several successful experiences on the Broadway stage, he began his Hollywood career in 1922, playing a small role as an evil henchman of Professor Moriarty in a production of Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore. In 1912, Powell left the AADA at the end of one year, and worked in several vaudeville and stock companies.
Phillips Holmes, Powell and Fay Wray in Pointed Heels, 1929Īfter high school, Powell enrolled at the University of Kansas, because his parents wanted him to prepare to study law, but after only a week there, he left and relocated to New York City where he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
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