THE POPULAR ACTOR WAS INTERVIEWED AT OUR MICROPHONES
BITS AND PIECES
� The Power tradition has disappeared
� He fought a bullfight at a festival in Morelia
� Ranch worth 3 million to his daughters
� Had film plans for Mexico
By Jaime PERICAS
Don't tell anyone, but Tyrone Power's plans to produce, direct and star in three movies here, next year, were cut short by his death. - THE films, in which his former sister-in-law Ariadne Welter, would appear, were based on the adventures of The Pardaillans [a series of famous adventure novels, now forgotten, by French author Michel Zevaco]. -- THE ranch which served as the location for the film EL CICLON [The Hurricane], with Raul Ramirez and Miguel Aceves Mejia, was the property of the actor, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1914. - IT IS WORTH more than three million pesos. It is located near Cuernavaca. It has a private airfield and will be held for his heirs, Taryn and Romina, the two little daughters he fathered during his marriage to Linda Christian. - WHENEVER Tyrone visited Mexico he would stay at the ranch. - HE FREQUENTLY organized barbeques for his guests. OF OUR CUSTOMS, the ones he liked the most were to play rayuela [a coin tossing game] and smoke puros [Cuban cigars] of an unknown brand he would bring from Veracruz.
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HIS "Spanish" was always poorly pronounced, but he understood it almost perfectly. HE HAD many friends among the bullfighters, among whom were "Armillita," who doubled for him in Blood and Sand [from the novel] by Vincente Blasco Ibañez, which was filmed in this country. – DURING the filming of Captain from Castile, in Morelia, around 1946, he participated in a bullfight for a benefit festival and cleanly finished off a bull calf. -- DURING the filming of The Sun Also Rises, in 1957 in Morelia, he told film reporters that if he had not been an actor, he would have been a bullfighter. – HIS grandfather and his father, also named Tyrone Power, were theater actors. -- HE DESCENDED from an Irish family and he loved to play Irishmen. -- HE LOVED fencing and among his trophies was one he won in a competition in Italy. -- ALTHOUGH he was an Academy nominee several times, he never won an Oscar.
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HE CONSIDERED The Razor's Edge his best film. – LAST year Ariadne Weltner and Gustavo Alatriste threw a birthday party for him in their home in Pedregal. –HE GAVE a generous payment to the mariachis who played "Ponciana," one of his favorite songs, for him. -- DURING 1938, 1939 and 1940, he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood. - DURING the period 1952-1954 he acted in various theatrical productions. - IN December 1945 he was discharged from Uncle Sam's forces, having enlisted in the Marines in 1942. He obtained the rank of lieutenant, for distinguishing himself as a cargo pilot. -- HIS last films shown in Mexico were The Eddy Duchin Story, Witness for the Prosecution, and Abandon Ship, in which he played very different characters. -- DIRECTORS in Hollywood considered him one of the most versatile actors; some even made him dance and sing in their films.
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IN 1955, 1956 and 1957, he won the title of best-dressed screen actor. -- HE created a hat line which was very successful in the United States, "the Power line." HE WAS ALWAYS among the top ten most successful actors at the box office. -- HE was tired of pretty boy roles and always wanted roles where he could play historical characters. --HENRY Fonda and Paul Muni were his favorite actors, he said in Paris in spring 1956. - BOTH are masters of characterization. - HE STATED that The Life of Emile Zola, with Paul Muni, was one of the best movies he’d seen in his life. - HE was the first to leave the trio of Tyrone Power-Alice Fay-Don Ameche, which became famous in several films. - HE WAS married three times: Frenchwoman Annabella (1936-1948); Mexican Linda Christian (1948-1955) and Deborah Minardos, whom he married in May this year, and who is his widow. Deborah is expecting the stork next February. -- HE WAS always very friendly with Mexican actors. Rest in peace!
Captions:
Ariadne and Linda Christian, his former sister-in-law and his former wife.
Tyrone Power - symbol of his time!
INTERVIEWED AT THESE MICROPHONES
� Maestro Armillita Chico, Pedro de Lille and the former impresario Alfonso Gaona witnessed the interview which took place during the filming of Blood and Sand
By JOSE LUIS ARIAS Reporter for CINE MUNDIAL
The radio host Pedro de Lille was in charge of receiving, in the summer of 1941, the visit of American film actor Tyrone Power, who was in Mexico to film the movie Blood and Sand.
The interview took place before the microphoes of XEW, "The Voice of Latin America," the same station where, a few weeks before, the governor elect of New York, Mr. Nelson Rockefeller, had addressed a message to the people of Mexico.
In the stations' hallways and studios of Ayuntamiento no. 54, one could sense a strange and peculiar nervousness. Not least because Power, to cap it all, was considered one of the most popular actors in the United States.
During the interview, everyone gathered around the program booth, but there wasn't enough room for everyone who wanted a close look at the hero of so many cinematic adventures.
Along with Power came to XEW the bullfighting manager Doctor Alfonso Gaona and the bullfighter Femin Espinosa, "Armillita," and a large group of bullfighters who were going act in the production of Blood and Sand.
You may remember that there were two Mexican bullfighters who doubled for Tyrone during the bullfighting scenes in the film. In the first part, when the character was young, the novice bullfighter Angel Isunza doubled; later, "Armillita" himself.
It's worth adding that the collection of "suits of lights" ["trajes de luces" - �bullfighters' traditional costumes] owned by the "Maestro de Saltillo" caused a sensation. This collection -- consisting of 14 extraordinarily luxurious suits – were in Tyrone's film, may God hold him in his Glory.
Caption: In front of XEW's microphones, Tyrone Power offers a few words during which he greeted the Mexican audience. At the time he was filming Blood and Sand.
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