stevie boy

Very much an impossible & unfair question,but, What actor/actress is most recognised as working on Powell & Pressburgers incredible body of work. My quick answer would be the great Roger Livesey if you had to narrow it down to one name. Can we answer this question or are there too many factors/variables???

Steve Crook

The ones that worked most often with them are Esmond Knight and Googie Withers. That is if we include all of Powell's early films.

Esmond Knight was in:
77 Park Lane (1931)
Someday (1935)
Contraband (1940)
The Silver Fleet (1943) - Dir Vernon Sewell & Gordon Wellesley (Prod: P&P)
A Canterbury Tale (1944)
Black Narcissus (1947)
The End of the River (1947) - Dir Derek Twist (Prod: P&P)
The Red Shoes (1948)
Gone to Earth (1950)
The Wild Heart (1952) - US remake of Gone to Earth
Peeping Tom (1960) - Powell only
The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972)
So even if we ignore the "dubious" ones, Esmond was in 5 films which were directed by Powell & written by Pressburger.

Googie Withers was in:
The Girl in the Crowd (1935)
The Love Test (1935)
Crown v. Stevens (1936)
Her Last Affaire (1936)
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
The Silver Fleet (1943)
So that's 2 films which were directed by Powell & written by Pressburger.

It does depend a lot on which films you want to include. There are others who get a potential high score of appearances in P and/or P films like
Bernard Miles, Hay Petrie, Ian Hunter, John laurie, Cyril Cusack, David Farrar, Jerry Verno, Anthony Bushell, Anton Walbrook, Eric Berry, Leslie Banks, Ludmilla Tchérina, Marius Goring, Miles Malleson, Pamela Brown, Raymond Massey etc., etc. down through the list of the stable of regular actors that they used many times.

Steve

Steve Crook

PaPAS

D Cairns

If we are looking at the very best P&P films, from late in the war and immediately after, I think the most striking presences are Livesy and Kathleen Byron and Anton Walbrook, but it's impossible to overlook Deborah Kerr and Moira Shearer and many many others.

batman

My favourite actors in P&P films are David Farrar and Kathleen Byron. Mrs Bat goes for Anton Walbrook as her favourite.

Bats.

ps - Kathleen also had the dubious honour of being Max's partner in crime in Madness of the Heart

"Do you know why fattries are called fattries .... it's because they are big and people make things in them."

smudge

Been watching old episodes of Charlie Drake's THE WORKER of late and very surprised to see Kathleen Byron turn up in two of these (thus far). Quite a contrast to working with P&P I should think, but I suppose it paid the bills...

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Steve Crook

When Kathleen Byron went for the role of Sister Ruth in Black Narcissus Powell told her that she'd never get a better role, and he was right.

She did get typecast as a crazy nun and for a long time nobody was offering her any other roles. She does admit to having been "awkward" and having struggled against the system. Many of the roles she finished up playing are in quite dire films - like Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood (1969). But she managed some good performances in otherwise terrible films - like Twins of Evil (1971). And she also appeared in major roles in some very good films - like Prelude to Fame (1950), but that's hardly ever seen.

But just like nobody got as good a performance from Roger Livesey like P&P could, nobody got as good a performance from Kathleen Byron as P&P could and her 3 films for P&P (AMOLAD, Black Narcissus and The Small Back Room), especially the last two, remain some of her very best work

Steve

batman

Kathleen certainly had a long and varied career. She has cropped in several things I have watched recently including .... Callan, An Englishman's Castle, Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes and One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing.

Bats.

"Do you know why fattries are called fattries .... it's because they are big and people make things in them."

batman

Kathleen's role in Madness of the Heart is very much in the 'crazy nun' vein. Having finally seen AMOLAD (which I thoroughly enjoyed) I would count the three P&Ps as her best work too. I think her performance, in a very difficult role, in The Small Back Room is perfect.

Bats.

"Do you know why fattries are called fattries .... it's because they are big and people make things in them."

Mark O

When I first saw the title of this thread I too immediately thought of Kathleen Byron before anyone else, it heartens me to know she worked with my favourite Judith Furse in at least two Movies, 'Black Narcissus', and 'Sky West and crooked'

Checking Kathleen's IMDB page she has acted for eight decades, though I guess she's retired now, strangely Kathleens 'Sky west' appearance is not credited at IMDB, I know she was definitely in it as I recall the scene after the Church service where some of the locals are enjoying a Sherry, Mrs. Rigby (Judith) rants about what she's like to do with Brydie (Hayley Mills) (she had catapulted a stone at Judith's rear!) and she finally says "I'll eat my hat"!(Judith is wearing hat of pretend fruit)........Kathleen's character says "at least you won't be undernourished dear"!

Mark

Harbottle

My instant thought was Roger Livesey too, due mainly I suppose to those two corkers AMOLAD and L&DOCB.

welshgal1986

Has anyone on here seen the film 'LITTLE WHITE LIES' made by Helen Griffin?? It was made in Wales back in 2006, also does anyone know if or where I could get it if it's on DVD??

Steve Crook

And IKWIG

Steve

Steve Crook

Sadly Kathleen is now suffering from Alzheimer's and is being looked after at Denville Hall.

Steve

Harbottle

Still in my to view pile

Mark O

Thank you for the info Steve, I'm sorry to read about Kathleen's condition, my thoughts are now with her, also my instinct tells me Kay Walsh may have lived there too until her relatively recent death?......I know Kay was living in a 'London nursing home' but that was all I did know

Mark