That Wonderful Urge (1948): Tyrone Power's Post-WWII Newspaper Comedy

That Wonderful Urge (1948) reunited Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney for the second time (after Son of Fury, 1942). The 20th Century-Fox production directed by Robert B. Sinclair is a late entry in the newspaper-and-heiress romantic comedy tradition that It Happened One Night (1934) had established 14 years earlier. The screwball framework was past its commercial peak by 1948, but the Power-Tierney pairing gave Fox enough star power to justify the production. The picture is in the public domain through Fox's failure to renew.

The premise

Power plays Thomas Jefferson Tyler, a New York newspaper reporter who specializes in tabloid stories about wealthy heiresses. When he writes a damaging story about Sara Farley (Tierney), the resulting libel suit forces him to plead temporary insanity. The court accepts the plea on condition that Tyler pretend to marry Sara temporarily — a face-saving compromise that gradually becomes complicated as Tyler discovers Sara isn't the spoiled rich woman he had portrayed.

The screenplay's central comic premise — a fake marriage that gradually becomes a real one — is conventional 1940s screwball material. The picture's execution is competent professional work but doesn't quite achieve the comic momentum that the genre's best entries (the Frank Capra/Preston Sturges productions) reached.

The Tyrone Power performance

Power was 34 years old when That Wonderful Urge was filmed. He had returned to Fox in 1946 after his WWII Marine Corps service. His post-war productions were more substantial than his pre-war matinee-idol work — The Razor's Edge (1946), Nightmare Alley (1947), Captain from Castile (1947) demonstrated his expanding range.

That Wonderful Urge was something of a reversion. Fox wanted to remind audiences of Power's pre-war romantic-comedy appeal, and the picture was deliberately constructed to showcase his charm. Power plays Tyler with practiced lightness — his timing is sharp, his physical presence is engaging, his romantic chemistry with Tierney is genuine. The picture demonstrates his capacity for screwball-comedy register that his more serious post-war productions had moved beyond.

The Gene Tierney performance

Gene Tierney was 28 years old when That Wonderful Urge was filmed. Her career had reached its critical peak earlier in the decade — Laura (1944), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), The Razor's Edge (1946). By 1948 she was a major star but at a transitional career moment.

Her performance in That Wonderful Urge is one of her lightest screen registers. Tierney's particular screen presence — slightly aloof, refined, with a hint of melancholy — generally suited more dramatic material. Romantic comedy challenged her range, but she handles the role with professionalism. Her chemistry with Power is the picture's primary appeal.

The Robert B. Sinclair direction

Robert B. Sinclair had directed primarily Broadway material throughout the 1930s before transitioning to film in the 1940s. His Hollywood directing career was solid but never quite first-rank. That Wonderful Urge is one of his most polished productions — light, well-paced, technically competent.

The Reginald Gardiner supporting performance

Reginald Gardiner co-stars in a substantial supporting role as Count Andre de Guyon, a European nobleman pursuing Sara. Gardiner was a British character actor who specialized in playing slightly absurd Continental aristocrats — a screen persona he repeated across dozens of 1940s productions. His Count Andre is the picture's primary obstacle to the Power-Tierney romance.

The wartime echoes

That Wonderful Urge was released in December 1948, three years after WWII ended. The picture barely references the war — its New York newspaper setting and wealthy-heiress plot mechanics operate as if the war hadn't happened. This was deliberate. Audiences in late 1948 were beginning to crave entertainment that didn't dwell on wartime concerns. That Wonderful Urge offered escapist romantic comedy precisely because it ignored the war.

The reception

That Wonderful Urge received mixed critical reception. Variety and the New York Times reviewers found Power's performance engaging but criticized the screenplay as derivative. Audience reception was stronger; the picture performed solidly at the box office. The film didn't become a defining Power vehicle, but it provided steady employment for both lead actors at a transitional career moment.

The public-domain status

That Wonderful Urge is in the public domain through 20th Century-Fox's failure to renew the copyright in 1976. The studio missed the renewal date for this and several other late-1940s productions during a period of post-1948 corporate restructuring. The picture has been widely available in public-domain distribution since the late 1970s.

Why it matters

That Wonderful Urge is one of the few Tyrone Power features in the public domain. For modern audiences wanting to experience Power's screen presence without navigating studio copyright restrictions, the picture is the most accessible entry point. The film also preserves a specific late-1940s comedic register — the transition from pre-war screwball comedy to post-war romantic comedy — that the larger studio system gradually moved beyond.

Where to start

Watch That Wonderful Urge for the Power-Tierney scenes. Their on-screen chemistry is the picture's primary appeal. The 82-minute runtime is accessible. The newspaper-and-heiress comic framework is dated but executable — Power's particular charm makes it work better than the screenplay alone would suggest.