Steve Crook

Denville Hall is a big charity home for retired actors in Northwood, Middlesex. Actually not all that far from Denham & Pinewood studios. They offer residential care for actors and also offer specialist dementia and palliative care. Lord Dickie Attenborough is a patron and it was him who told me Kathleen was now in there. I sent her a Christmas card last year although I didn't expect any reply.

Steve

stevie boy

Thanks for all comments, I knew Mr. Crook would respond Steve, there should be a roadshow to showcase the incredible talent of P&P. There are many who know of their genius, but more who do not. I certainly loved many of the actors mentioned in relation to this thread and I personally would have loved to meet Roger Livesey, he seemed a very warm individual and his seedy role in the League of Gentlemen must have been a million miles away from his real persona. Did you ever meet the great man ??

Steve Crook

Alas, no. A few people tried to write his biography but he was such a nice man who was liked by just about everyone and was very happily married to Ursula Jeans for 36 years (until her death) and they had no children. There was no scandal in his life, so no publisher is interested in a biography about him.

We are currently working to try to redress this terrible imbalance in the way things should be. With the help of some friends and relations of Roger and Ursula we have started working on the biography of Roger Livesey & Ursula Jeans.


It's a long term project that a group of us add to whenever we can and we will probably only publish our findings on the web. But at least then there will be a better record of their life and their work.

Steve

stevie boy

power to you Steve, keep up the good work

stevie boy

I have just been reading on your great site Roger Livesey and his double. That is a fantastic story and again shows what a master of the medium Mr. Powell was. I now have to watch the film again to see this clever work, thanks Steve

Steve Crook

It certainly shows how cheeky Powell was
To even consider making a film with as many exterior shots as IKWIG that was shot on location and to have the leading man in a lot of those shots on location - and yet to do it without him having to come within 500 miles of that location, now that's cheek

But this was the team who had already had the whole of Canada to play in for 49th Parallel, who had aged that same leading man by 40 years and who had rebuilt Canterbury cathedral in the studio.

So they went on to recreate the Himalayas in the back lot of the studio, to create their own ballet and opera companies and in The Battle of the River Plate they had the British (and large parts of the American) Mediterranean fleet to play with.

And in AMOLAD they showed us the whole universe, they stopped time and showed us other worlds.

And that was all done without CGI!

They really didn't know the meaning of the word "restraint"

Steve

TimR

I'm very sorry to hear that...terrible disease.

TimR

From what I have seen, it would seem Roger Livesey, Pamela Brown and Esmond Knight would come to mind for me. However, there are still several films I have not seen yet.

I have always found Pamela Brown fascinating. The only complaint I have about I Know Where I Am Going is that she is not in enough scenes.

Even in a relatively small role - such as Eleanor of Aquitaine in Becket (one of my favorite films), she is captivating.

stevie boy

I am sure that Mr. Crook will be on here soon, I believe that Pamela Brown was a bit of a scene stealer(I am sure that Steve has mentioned this??)

Steve Crook

Check out Olivier's Richard III (1955) [aka Dickie three eyes]
Pamela plays Jane Shore, the king's mistress in that and although not a single word passes her lips she speaks volumes and you can't keep your eyes off her whenever she's on screen.

She not exactly a scene stealer in the usual sense of the expression. She just has such a remarkable presence that your eyes are drawn to her to note every tiny thing she does.

In IKWIG, when Bridie is arguing with Joan about the rights and wrongs of Joan's bribing Kenny and attempting to get to Kiloran (the island) and escape from Kiloran (the man), Catrinona (Pamela) is just standing there, holding Bridie in her arms and as the camera moves back and forth between Bridie and Joan, it is moving slowly over Catriona's face every time it moves.

Pamela was mainly a stage actress, she didn't do much on film, sadly. But when she did, she understood the difference and knew the power of stillness and small movements.

She often only has a fairly brief appearance in the films she's in like as Van Gogh's muse in Lust for Life (1956) or as the dowager like Mrs Washington in Half a Sixpence.

Even when she was older she was still well worth watching, like as the bed-ridden mother in The Night Digger (1971) [aka The Road Builder]

An amazing lady.

Pamela suffered from severe arthritis nearly all her life. It first hit her aged 16 and although often controlled by drugs it never really left her.

Michael Powell said of Pamela - "She was a witch. Women adored her, men feared her, and for the same reason - she fascinated them."

And as I wrote in the mini-biography for the IMDb "Her memorable face with eyes you can drown in & a resonant voice always made Pamela an actress worth watching. She was often cast as an eccentric or mysterious character which suited her perfectly."

Steve

stevie boy

you never let us down Steve, great post

TimR

Thanks for the interesting post, Steve.

I have been reading about Powell's relationship with her. She does have an intensity about her that is compelling. I can't imagine I Know Where I'm Going without her presence. It is so strong that it continues even in the scenes where she is absent.

I am sorry that a film of The Lady's Not For Burning was never made (at least to my knowledge). I enjoy Christopher Fry's plays, although I know they are not popular today. Gielgud, Richard Burton, Claire Bloom - all in addition to Pamela Brown! That would be worth seeing.

penfold

She was wonderful in IKWIG.....now you know about her crippling arthritis, watch how she moves around the front parlour set when she's not hiding her legs behind sofas and wolfhounds........part skipping, part hopping, to disguise the fact that, as is briefly obvious in one shot, she can only get one leg about 80% straight at the knee. Incredible inner strength she must have had. In terms of sex appeal, and possibly in film acting technique too, she wipes the floor with Wendy Hiller, IMHO.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

I like that, "Pamela's presence is so strong that it continues even in the scenes where she is absent". I know just what you mean

And mention of Powell's relationship with her makes me think of the way that Emeric never really understood her. He thought she was ugly! Well she wasn't a classical beauty, but had he never looked into those eyes?

And that does seem to be an odd problem that Emeric had. Although he could write wonderful roles for feisty, independent, intelligent women like Valerie Hobson in The Spy in Black and Contraband, Catriona and Joan in IKWIG, Alison in A Canterbury Tale and of course Vicky in The Red Shoes. But in his own life it seems that he could never treat women as equals (or even his superiors). He married twice and neither marriage lasted very long. He seems to have wanted to put them on pedestals and worship them - but I think they all suffered from vertigo or just got lonely up there

Steve

Steve Crook

<pedantic>
They're actually deerhounds
</pedantic>

But otherwise I agree 100%
Although, to be fair, remember that Wendy is playing a character who's not all that nice for most of the film. Joan is an unashamed gold-digger.

But I still prefer Pamela



Steve