Roger Lewis On Olivier

[poliphilo]

Laurence Olivier has always bugged me- which is why I'm reading Roger Lewis's little book about him. Well, not reading, more like skimming. The reason he bugs me is because I've been hearing all my life that he's the greatest actor of the 20th century and I've never been able to see it and I wish I could. 

He didn't leave much behind. Not in terms of quality. He was in lots of films but few of them were good-  and  few of them offered him a starring role.  The Shakespeare movies,  Hitchcock's Rebecca, The Entertainer, Spartacus- these are the career highlights. And the Shakespeare performances are really just the record of big, fruity stage performances. That goes for The Entertainer too. He was good in Rebecca but Cary Grant would have been better and he was good in Spartacus but it's Ustinov you remember. He did quite a lot of TV in old age, but nothing wonderful. Did his cameo performance dominate Brideshead Revisited? No, it didn't. John Gielgud- another fruity, old stage actor- puts in a teeny-tiny appearance that's a lot more compelling. 

Was he gay? Lewis doesn't think so.

Comments

[msjann65.livejournal.com]

I did not appreciate "Wuthering Heights" because I felt that Heathcliff was too "je-ne-sais-quois" (I dont want to say "gay"). Like you I would rate others above Olivier for the "Greatest of the 20th Century" award. I prefer Guinness to Olivier, also Gielgud, and yes, James Mason too. The Shakespeares were OK, but in my opinion some of the more recent ones have been much better, for example Brannagh's "Much Ado".

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I like James Mason too- a wonderful actor.

My favourite Shakespeare film is Chimes at Midnight- Orson Welles' adaption of the Henry IV plays, with himself (who else?) as Falstaff.