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Crime drama

Manpower (1941): Cast & Plot

Manpower (1941) movie poster

Manpower is a 1941 crime drama directed by Raoul Walsh, starring Edward G. Robinson as Hank McHenry, George Raft and Egon Brecher. It runs 1 hour 44 minutes.

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Read the plot summary
Manpower (1941) movie poster
Released
Runtime
1h 44m (104 min)
Director
Raoul Walsh
Genres
Crime , Drama
Original language
English
Studio
First National Pictures
After the credits
No No extra scene
The story

What Is Manpower About?

The premise of Manpower without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall are linesmen for a power company. After Hank suffers an accident, he is unexpectedly promoted to foreman, sparking a growing rivalry with Johnny. Tensions rise among the road crew as the two men clash over authority. Raft and Robinson try to keep order as the rivalry escalates.

Manpower Themes & Keywords

· 50 tags
  • reference to joe dimaggio
  • power outage
  • softball
  • female ex convict
  • lightning storm
  • male friendship
  • hospital patient
  • road crew
  • covered in ice
  • surviving an electrocution
  • female nightclub singer
  • prison parolee
+38 more
  • construction crew foreman
  • boarding house
  • wedding ceremony
  • loveless marriage
  • man groping a woman
  • negligee
  • attempted bribery
  • chinese restaurant
  • biscuits
  • accidental fall
  • in love with best friend
  • man beats a woman
  • confession of love
  • jealous husband
  • fatal fall
  • death of husband
  • female subjugation
  • man woman romance
  • workplace drama
  • dark romance
  • robinson and raft
  • raft and dietrich
  • clip joint
  • power company
  • domestic violence
  • one word title
  • romantic rivalry
  • police raid
  • poker game
  • nurse
  • marriage proposal
  • los angeles california
  • high voltage line
  • handicapped person
  • fog
  • fistfight
  • father daughter relationship
  • false accusation
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Cast & crew

Manpower Cast & Characters

Edward G. Robinson leads the cast as Hank McHenry, with George Raft as Johnny Marshall and Egon Brecher as Pop Duval. Directed by Raoul Walsh; 90 actors are credited in all.

Also Starring in Manpower

· 86 more
Show all 90 cast members
From the director

More from Raoul Walsh

More films directed by Raoul Walsh, best-rated first: White Heat, The Strawberry Blonde, Objective, Burma! and They Died with Their Boots On.

Full filmography
Plot

Manpower Plot Summary

What happens in Manpower from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 12 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 2-minute read.

Spoilers ahead

In Los Angeles, a power-line worker, Hank McHenry, is forced to give up field work after a leg injury and accepts a promotion to foreman. His crew includes his good friend Johnny Marshall and the veteran Pop Duval. When a brutal ice storm cripples the city’s power, Pop is killed, a loss that unsettles everyone close to him and sets off a chain of complicated feelings and loyalties. Pop’s daughter Fay Duval, who works as a nightclub hostess, seems indifferent to her father’s death, a mood that irritates Johnny while Hank finds himself drawn to her despite the chaos around them.

Full summary

The whole story of Manpower, scene by scene

Read the full summary
Quiz

How Well Do You Know Manpower?

10 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.

Question 1 of 10

  1. Question 1: not answered
  2. Question 2: not answered
  3. Question 3: not answered
  4. Question 4: not answered
  5. Question 5: not answered
  6. Question 6: not answered
  7. Question 7: not answered
  8. Question 8: not answered
  9. Question 9: not answered
  10. Question 10: not answered

Who plays Hank McHenry, the power-line worker forced to become a foreman after a leg injury?
Details

Manpower Also Known As

9 alternative titles, including “Gefährliche Freundschaft” and “L'Entraîneuse fatale”.

Also known as
  • Gefährliche Freundschaft
  • L'Entraîneuse fatale
  • Herzen in Flammen
  • Alta tensión
  • Fulminati
  • Мужская сила
  • 铁拳粉腿
  • Aquela Mulher!
  • En kvinna bland män

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FAQ

Manpower FAQ: Cast, Runtime & Release Date

Runtime, release date, director, cast and post-credit scenes of Manpower, each answered in a sentence.

How long is Manpower?

Manpower runs 1 hour 44 minutes (104 minutes).

When was Manpower released?

Manpower was released on August 9, 1941.

Who directed Manpower?

Manpower was directed by Raoul Walsh.

More films by Raoul Walsh

Who is in the cast of Manpower?

Manpower stars Edward G. Robinson as Hank McHenry, George Raft as Johnny Marshall and Egon Brecher as Pop Duval, among 90 credited actors.

Does Manpower have a post-credit scene?

No. Manpower has no extra scene during or after the credits.

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