Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows With William Powell

1. Mister Roberts (1955)

Passed | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, War

In the waning days of World War II, the cargo officer of a Navy supply ship chafes at its role far from the action in the Pacific's backwater areas, his frustration rising when its captain denies the crew liberty over petty irritations.

Directors: John Ford, Mervyn LeRoy, Joshua Logan | Stars: Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, Jack Lemmon

Votes: 18,313 | Gross: $21.20M

2. The Thin Man (1934)

TV-PG | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Former detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton

Votes: 32,629

3. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)

Approved | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Three women set out to find eligible millionaires to marry, but find true love in the process.

Director: Jean Negulesco | Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall, David Wayne

Votes: 24,943

4. Reckless (1935)

Not Rated | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical

Wealthy Bob Harrison buys all the seats in the theatre to watch Mona Leslie's musical by himself. He loves her, her agent Ned Riley loves her. Conflict ensues.

Director: Victor Fleming | Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Franchot Tone, May Robson

Votes: 1,515

5. My Man Godfrey (1936)

Approved | 94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A scatterbrained socialite hires a vagrant as a family butler - but there's more to Godfrey than meets the eye.

Director: Gregory La Cava | Stars: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Alice Brady, Gail Patrick

Votes: 26,520

6. Life with Father (1947)

Passed | 118 min | Comedy, Family

A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor, Edmund Gwenn

Votes: 6,404

7. Libeled Lady (1936)

Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Romance

When a socialite sues a big paper for libel, the editor responsible calls in the help of his ignored fiancée and a former employee to frame her and make the false story seem true.

Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy

Votes: 8,941

8. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

Passed | 176 min | Drama, Musical

The ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., famed producer of extravagant stage revues, are portrayed.

Director: Robert Z. Leonard | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Luise Rainer, Frank Morgan

Votes: 9,042

9. After the Thin Man (1936)

Passed | 112 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Private detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart, Elissa Landi

Votes: 12,160 | Gross: $4.34M

10. Ziegfeld Follies (1945)

Approved | 110 min | Comedy, Musical

The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. looks down from Heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style.

Directors: Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, George Sidney, Merrill Pye, Charles Walters | Stars: William Powell, Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, Fred Astaire

Votes: 3,644 | Gross: $7.93M

11. The Great Gatsby (1926)

Passed | 80 min | Drama

Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbour, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is ... See full summary »

Director: Herbert Brenon | Stars: Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, Neil Hamilton, Georgia Hale

12. Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

Passed | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

Directors: W.S. Van Dyke, Jack Conway, George Cukor | Stars: Clark Gable, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Leo Carrillo

Votes: 4,813

13. Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)

Passed | 97 min | Drama, Mystery

A jockey has been shot dead at the race track. Famous detective Nick Charles and his wife Nora happen to be on the scene and Lt. Abrahams asks for Nick's expert help.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Barry Nelson, Donna Reed

Votes: 6,915

14. Another Thin Man (1939)

Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery

An explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Virginia Grey, Otto Kruger

Votes: 8,192 | Gross: $3.32M

15. The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)

Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Mystery

A wealthy mystery writer uses her doctor ex-husband's non-payment of alimony to coerce him into a reconciliation.

Director: Stephen Roberts | Stars: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Gleason, Eric Blore

Votes: 2,209

16. The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Passed | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Ralph Morgan

Votes: 4,095

17. The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

Approved | 100 min | Comedy, Crime, Film-Noir

Nick and Nora head to Nick's hometown of Sycamore Springs to spend some time with his parents. His father, a prominent local physician, was always a bit disappointed with Nick's choice of ... See full summary »

Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Lucile Watson, Gloria DeHaven

Votes: 6,298 | Gross: $3.86M

18. Song of the Thin Man (1947)

Not Rated | 86 min | Comedy, Crime, Musical

Nick and Nora Charles are on a gambling boat when someone is murdered. The two main suspects are at large and come to Nick for help. Nick turns them in to the police but then sets out to figure out the mystery.

Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Keenan Wynn, Dean Stockwell

Votes: 5,746 | Gross: $3.06M

19. The Last Command (1928)

Not Rated | 88 min | Drama, History, Romance

A former Imperial Russian general and cousin of the Czar ends up in Hollywood as an extra in a movie directed by a former revolutionary.

Director: Josef von Sternberg | Stars: Emil Jannings, Evelyn Brent, William Powell, Jack Raymond

Votes: 4,541

20. Take One False Step (1949)

Approved | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

During a conference-trip to L.A., an academic runs into an old-flame and into trouble with the police when she disappears, presumed murdered.

Director: Chester Erskine | Stars: William Powell, Shelley Winters, Marsha Hunt, Dorothy Hart

Votes: 737

21. Jewel Robbery (1932)

Passed | 68 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance

A gentleman thief charms a Viennese baron's wife and also conducts a daring daylight robbery of a jewellers.

Director: William Dieterle | Stars: William Powell, Kay Francis, Helen Vinson, Hardie Albright

Votes: 2,612

22. Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)

Approved | 89 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

While on vacation in the Caribbean with his wife, a middle-aged man unexpectedly finds, and falls in love with, a mermaid.

Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: William Powell, Ann Blyth, Irene Hervey, Andrea King

Votes: 1,353

23. Star of Midnight (1935)

Approved | 90 min | Comedy, Mystery, Romance

When a dancer disappears from a theater, her former lover asks lawyer Clay Dalzell to investigate, leading him on a trail of murder and deception.

Director: Stephen Roberts | Stars: William Powell, Ginger Rogers, Paul Kelly, Gene Lockhart

Votes: 1,799

24. I Love You Again (1940)

Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance

Boring businessman Larry Wilson recovers from amnesia and discovers he's really a con man...and loves his soon-to-be-ex wife.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh, Edmund Lowe

Votes: 3,829

25. The Canary Murder Case (1929)

Passed | 82 min | Crime, Mystery

A beautiful showgirl, nicknamed 'the Canary', is a scheming nightclub singer. Blackmailing is her game and soon ends up dead. But who killed 'the Canary'. All the suspects who knew her had ... See full summary »

Directors: Malcolm St. Clair, Frank Tuttle | Stars: William Powell, Jean Arthur, James Hall, Louise Brooks

Votes: 840

26. One Way Passage (1932)

Passed | 67 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A terminally ill woman and a debonair murderer facing execution meet and fall in love on a trans-Pacific crossing, each without knowing the other's secret.

Director: Tay Garnett | Stars: William Powell, Kay Francis, Frank McHugh, Aline MacMahon

Votes: 4,458

27. Love Crazy (1941)

Passed | 99 min | Comedy, Romance

A wife suspecting infidelity starts divorce proceedings, so the husband pretends to be insane in order to delay the divorce and clear up the misunderstanding.

Director: Jack Conway | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Gail Patrick, Jack Carson

Votes: 3,446

28. Ladies' Man (1931)

Passed | 75 min | Drama

A society gigolo goes after a rich mother and her daughter, but tries to find true happiness with his girlfriend, who is neither rich nor in "society."

Director: Lothar Mendes | Stars: William Powell, Kay Francis, Carole Lombard, Gilbert Emery

Votes: 420

29. The Benson Murder Case (1930)

Passed | 65 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

A ruthless, crooked stockbroker is murdered at his luxurious country estate, and detective Philo Vance just happens to be there. He decides to find out who killed him.

Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: William Powell, William 'Stage' Boyd, Eugene Pallette, Paul Lukas

Votes: 467

30. Man of the World (1931)

Passed | 74 min | Drama, Romance

A young American girl visits Paris accompanied by her fiancee and her wealthy uncle. There she meets and is romanced by a worldly novelist; what she doesn't know is that he is a blackmailer who is using her to get to her uncle.

Directors: Richard Wallace, Edward Goodman | Stars: William Powell, Carole Lombard, Wynne Gibson, Lawrence Gray

Votes: 1,088

31. Evelyn Prentice (1934)

Passed | 79 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

The neglected wife of a high profile attorney dallies with a unscrupulous womanizer and finds herself involved in blackmail and murder.

Director: William K. Howard | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Una Merkel, Rosalind Russell

Votes: 1,871

32. The Greene Murder Case (1929)

Passed | 69 min | Crime, Mystery

At the end of each year, the extremely wealthy but odious Greene family gets together at the spooky old family castle to establish terms of a will, though they despise each other. This year... See full summary »

Director: Frank Tuttle | Stars: William Powell, Florence Eldridge, Ullrich Haupt, Jean Arthur

Votes: 481

33. The Heavenly Body (1944)

Passed | 95 min | Comedy, Romance

The neglected wife of a tweedy astronomer becomes convinced that her astrologer's prediction of a new dream man in her life will come true.

Directors: Alexander Hall, Vincente Minnelli | Stars: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, James Craig, Fay Bainter

Votes: 1,039

34. Crossroads (1942)

Passed | 83 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

An amnesiac French diplomat is blackmailed for crimes that he committed before he lost his memory.

Director: Jack Conway | Stars: William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor, Basil Rathbone

Votes: 1,704

35. The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)

Passed | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

Two English aristocrats pursue a rich American widow who may not be quite the person she claims to be.

Directors: Richard Boleslawski, Dorothy Arzner, George Fitzmaurice | Stars: Robert Montgomery, Joan Crawford, William Powell, Frank Morgan

Votes: 1,645

36. Private Detective 62 (1933)

Passed | 66 min | Drama

A down-and-out private eye falls for a woman he has been hired to frame.

Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: William Powell, Margaret Lindsay, Ruth Donnelly, Gordon Westcott

Votes: 1,069

37. The Baroness and the Butler (1938)

Passed | 80 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A butler gets elected to the Hungarian parliament where he opposes his master's government.

Director: Walter Lang | Stars: William Powell, Annabella, Helen Westley, Henry Stephenson

Votes: 697

38. The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)

Passed | 69 min | Romance, Drama

Attorney's daughter falls for one of his gangster clients.

Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: William Powell, Elizabeth Taylor, Fernando Lamas, Gig Young

Votes: 858

39. Beau Geste (1926)

101 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

Michael "Beau" Geste leaves England in disgrace and joins the infamous French Foreign Legion. He is reunited with his two brothers in North Africa, where they face greater danger from their... See full summary »

Director: Herbert Brenon | Stars: Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Alice Joyce

Votes: 474 | Gross: $1.71M

40. Double Wedding (1937)

Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Romance

Two sisters of differing temperaments, the younger's milquetoast fiancé, and a free-spirited artist in an auto trailer are all experiencing romantic complications.

Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Florence Rice, John Beal

Votes: 2,527

41. It's a Big Country: An American Anthology (1951)

Approved | 89 min | Comedy, Drama

Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern.

Directors: Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, William A. Wellman | Stars: Ethel Barrymore, Keefe Brasselle, Gary Cooper, Nancy Reagan

Votes: 728

42. When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922)

120 min | Romance, Drama

Mary Tudor, sister of England's Henry VIII, causes a stir by falling in love with a guardsman below her class.

Director: Robert G. Vignola | Stars: Marion Davies, Lyn Harding, William Norris, Forrest Stanley

Votes: 1,141

43. Paramount on Parade (1930)

Passed | 102 min | Comedy, Music

A musical revue that basically has Paramount stars and contract-players doing things some had never done on screen, and wouldn't again; such as Ruth Chatteron , in a French-café setting ... See full summary »

Directors: Dorothy Arzner, Otto Brower, Edmund Goulding, Victor Heerman, Edwin H. Knopf, Rowland V. Lee, Ernst Lubitsch, Lothar Mendes, Victor Schertzinger, A. Edward Sutherland, Frank Tuttle | Stars: Jean Arthur, Clara Bow, Maurice Chevalier, Gary Cooper

Votes: 384

44. Sherlock Holmes (1922)

Not Rated | 85 min | Drama, Mystery

A young Sherlock Holmes seeks to bring down the criminal mastermind Moriarty as he solves a crime involving a blackmailed prince.

Director: Albert Parker | Stars: John Barrymore, Roland Young, Carol Dempster, Gustav von Seyffertitz

Votes: 741 | Gross: $0.38M

45. The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)

Approved | 88 min | Comedy

A bumbling, long-winded and crooked Southern senator, considered by some as a dark horse for the Presidency, panics his party when his tell-all diary is stolen.

Director: George S. Kaufman | Stars: William Powell, Ella Raines, Peter Lind Hayes, Arleen Whelan

Votes: 710

46. Double Harness (1933)

Passed | 69 min | Comedy, Drama

A woman tricks a playboy into marrying her and then tries to make him legitimately fall in love with her.

Director: John Cromwell | Stars: Ann Harding, William Powell, Lucile Browne, Henry Stephenson

Votes: 1,299

47. Dancing in the Dark (1949)

Approved | 92 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

Conceited actor Emery Slade, on a mission to recruit a Broadway star for Fox, picks unknown Julie Clarke instead.

Director: Irving Reis | Stars: William Powell, Mark Stevens, Betsy Drake, Adolphe Menjou

Votes: 229

48. The Youngest Profession (1943)

Passed | 82 min | Comedy, Romance

Joan Lyons and her friend Patricia Drew are autograph hounds spending most of their day bumping into, and having tea, with the likes of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Based on ... See full summary »

Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: Virginia Weidler, Edward Arnold, John Carroll, Ann Ayars

Votes: 485

49. For the Defense (1930)

Passed | 65 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

William Powell plays William Foster, a slick attorney who stays within the law, but specializes in representing crooks and shady characters. He's adept at keeping them out of jail, winning ... See full summary »

Director: John Cromwell | Stars: William Powell, Kay Francis, Scott Kolk, William B. Davidson

Votes: 679

50. The Hoodlum Saint (1946)

Passed | 91 min | Drama, Music

A former reporter returns home after serving in the Army during World War I and discovers that finding work is more difficult than he expected. Desperate, one day he crashes a wedding ... See full summary »

Director: Norman Taurog | Stars: William Powell, Esther Williams, Angela Lansbury, James Gleason

Votes: 770