Frank Morgan was a superb actor. He co-starred with Bob in four movies starting with When Ladies Meet (1933), in which he portrays the married man with whom Myrna Loy wants to have an affair while putting aside the advances of her avid suitor Bob. In Piccadilly Jim (1935) Morgan takes on the role of Bob's father and in Trouble for Two (1936) becomes a subordinate and fellow adventurer as the Colonel to Bob's Prince. Lastly, he appears once again as Bob's competitor in The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937), both men pursuing Joan Crawford. And he is totally believable in all four roles.
It is understandable that Morgan's main claim to fame is his excellent performance in The Wizard of Oz, perhaps an Oscar nominee in any other year but the golden year of 1939. The regret is that the one role overwhelms in popularity an entire career of excellent performances. Frank Morgan died in 1949, only 59 years old. There's another regret.
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I love Frank Morgan. He was a great talent and seems to show up everywhere in classic films. If you haven't seen it, check out 1933's "A Lost Lady" with Morgan and Barbara Stanwyck. I came across it during one of TCM's pre-code movie days. It's a sweet love story about an older man who marries a younger woman. She has just gone through a devastating loss of her fiancee the day before her wedding. Morgan adores her and wants to take care of her. It's a chick flick for sure, but he's marvelous in it and of course Stanwyck is too.
I honestly don't remember ever seeing a poor performance by Frank Morgan. He was a treasure.
Sorry, "A Lost Lady" is from 1934. My bad.
Oh, that's a biggie, Debbie. No William Powell movies for the rest of the week!!
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