Editing Tyrone Power (section)

===1950s===
Power was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his costume roles, and he struggled between being a star and becoming a great actor. He was forced to take on assignments he found unappealing, such movies as ''[[American Guerrilla in the Philippines]]'' (1950) and ''[[Pony Soldier]]'' (1952). In 1950, he traveled to England to play the title role in ''[[Mister Roberts (play)|Mister Roberts]]'' on stage at the [[London Coliseum]], bringing in sellout crowds for twenty-three weeks.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 

Protesting being cast in one costume film after another, Power refused to star in ''[[Lydia Bailey]]'' with his role going to Dale Robertson; Power was placed under suspension.<ref> p. 70 Capua, Michelangelo ''Jean Negulesco: The Life and Films'' McFarland; Illustrated edition September 1, 2017 </ref> Power next appeared in ''[[Diplomatic Courier]]'' (1952), a [[Cold War]] spy drama directed by [[Henry Hathaway]] which received very modest reviews.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 

Power's movies had been highly profitable for Fox in the past, and as an enticement to renew his contract a third time, Fox offered him the lead role in ''[[The Robe (film)|The Robe]]'' (1953). He turned it down ([[Richard Burton]] was cast instead) and on 1 November 1952, he left on a ten-week national tour with ''[[John Brown's Body (poem)|John Brown's Body]]'', a three-person dramatic reading of [[Stephen Vincent Benét]]'s narrative poem, adapted and directed by [[Charles Laughton]], featuring Power, [[Judith Anderson]] and [[Raymond Massey]]. The tour culminated in a run of 65 shows between February and April 1953 at the [[New Century Theatre]] on Broadway. A second national tour with the show began in October 1953, this time for four months, and with Raymond Massey and Anne Baxter. In the same year, Power filmed ''[[King of the Khyber Rifles (film)|King of The Khyber Rifles]]'', a depiction of India in 1857, with [[Terry Moore (actress)|Terry Moore]] and [[Michael Rennie]].<ref name=Brooklyn>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/686556264/?terms=Corby |author=Jane Corby |title=Tyrone Power Knocks Off Revolt in India, at the Rivoli |newspaper=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (New York) |page=7 |date=1953-12-23 |access-date=2025-05-22 }}</ref> 

Fox now gave Power permission to seek his own roles outside the studio, on the understanding that he would fulfill his fourteen-film commitment to them in between his other projects. He made ''[[The Mississippi Gambler (1953 film)|The Mississippi Gambler]]'' (1953) for [[Universal Pictures|Universal-International]], negotiating a deal entitling him to a percentage of the profits. He earned a million dollars from the movie. Also in 1953, actress and producer [[Katharine Cornell]] cast Power as her love interest in the play ''[[The Dark is Light Enough (play)|The Dark is Light Enough]]'', a verse drama by British dramatist [[Christopher Fry]] set in Austria in 1848. Between November 1954 and April 1955, Power toured the United States and Canada in the role, ending with 12 weeks at the ANTA Theater, New York, and two weeks at the Colonial Theater, Boston. His performance in Julian Claman's ''A Quiet Place'', staged at the National Theater, Washington, at the end of 1955 was warmly received by the critics.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 

[[File:Tyrone Power in Witness for the Prosecution trailer 2.jpg|thumb|Power as the accused murderer in the 1957 adaptation of [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'']]

''[[Untamed (1955 film)|Untamed]]'' (1955) was Tyrone Power's last movie made under his contract with 20th Century-Fox. The same year saw the release of ''[[The Long Gray Line]]'', a [[John Ford]] film for [[Columbia Pictures]]. In 1956, the year Columbia released ''[[The Eddy Duchin Story]]'', another great success for the star, he returned to England to play the rake Dick Dudgeon in a revival of [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]]'s ''[[The Devil's Disciple (play)|The Devil's Disciple]]'' for one week at the [[Manchester Opera House|Opera House]] in [[Manchester]], and nineteen weeks at the Winter Garden, London.{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} 

Darryl F. Zanuck persuaded him to play the lead role in ''[[The Sun Also Rises (1957 film)|The Sun Also Rises]]'' (1957),{{Citation needed |date=August 2024}} adapted from the [[Ernest Hemingway|Hemingway]] novel, with [[Ava Gardner]] and Errol Flynn. This was his final film with Fox. Released that same year were ''[[Seven Waves Away]]'' (US: ''Abandon Ship!''), shot in Great Britain, and John Ford's ''[[The Rising of the Moon (film)|Rising of the Moon]]'' (narrator only), which was filmed in Ireland, both for Copa Productions.

For Power's last completed film role he was cast against type as the accused murderer Leonard Vole in the first film version of [[Agatha Christie]]'s ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'' (1957), directed by [[Billy Wilder]]. The film was a critically well-received box-office success. Writing for the ''[[National Post]]'' in 2002, Robert Fulford commented on Power's "superb performance" as "the seedy, stop-at-nothing exploiter of women".<ref>{{cite web
 |url = http://www.robertfulford.com/BillyWilder.html
 |title = Witness for the Prosecution Commentary
 |work = [[National Post]]
 |publisher = [[Robert Fulford (journalist)|Robert Fulford]]
 |date = March 29, 2002
 |access-date = January 27, 2007
}}</ref> Power returned to the stage in March 1958, to play the lead in [[Arnold Moss]]'s adaptation of [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]]'s 1921 play ''[[Back to Methuselah]]''.