julian_craster

A new poll....


Nominate your worst performance by a *leading* actor/actress in a Powell and Pressburger or Michael Powell movie......


Anthony Steel in HONEYMOON (the blue light on my external Hard Disc drive
is more intereting to watch.....) ?


Anthony Quayle in BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE ?


Anna Massey in PEEPING TOM ?



Daniel Massey in THE QUEENS GUARDS ?


Laurence Olivier in 49th PARALEL (hilarious...) ?


Merle Oberon in THE LION HAS WINGS ?

More ?

batman

Carl Boehm in Peeping Tom - very wooden.

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

CaptainWaggett

Marius Goring is absolutely terrible in The Red Shoes

dremble wedge

Mel Ferrer in Oh... Rosalinda!

Haven't seen it for years but Ferrer was often quite wooden.

penfold

Well, I may as well join the heretics here for one post....the one performance that really makes me cringe, is from one of my favourite actors in one of my favourite films. Hang your head in shame, Esmond Knight playing the Village Idiot in A Canterbury Tale.
Others mentioned thus far, have either a lack of talent (eg Steel) or a poor film around them (EG Oh Ros!) to excuse them...Esmond has no such excuse.
Disagree entirely re. Anna Massey and Carl Boehm....they're strangely perfect.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

It's a good idea for a poll, although it's difficult because their worst films are very rarely seen.

Larry Olivier certainly deserves the nomination for that French-Canadian accent in 49th Parallel. Many people are misled because they expect a French-Canadian to speak with a regular French accent, or even an accent like the people from Montreal or other Quebecois. He is meant to be a trapper who's been out in the wilds for a year and he did have a real French-Canadian trapper as an accent coach. But maybe that was the French-Canadian trapper who all the other trappers laugh at because he's got such a strange accent
And whatever it's meant to be like, it does wander quite a bit as he gets excited!

Ah yes, Merle Oberon in The Lion Has Wings. An actress so exciting that her big speech puts her husband (Ralph Richardson) to sleep
Mind you, most of her performances are equally riveting. Would she have worked so much if she hadn't married the boss of the studio (Alexander Korda)?

But my vote has to go to Anthony Steel in Luna de meil (Honeymoon). If you've ever heard it said that somebody "phoned in" their performance but weren't sure what it meant, then see this. There really doesn't seem to be any reason to have him there for most of the scenes. One of the sheep from the Australian sheep station they're heading for would have given a more convincing, mire dramatic performance.

Steve

batman

I think Anna is very good in Peeping Tom, for me her performance highlights what is lacking in Boehm's. Anna projects a warmth of personality which makes her vulnerability real when she discovers the truth about Mark. Boehm falls into the trap of making Mark a nostril flaring, twitching movie cliche 'psycho'. It fails because there is nothing behind it. The physicality of the performance doesn't reach his eyes and to successfully portray the kind of heightened emotional state that Mark is supposed to be experiencing the eyes are crucial, for me Boehm fails. If Mark were a Michael Myers type character he could have got away with it, but the back story indicates there is more depth to the character that Boehm is able to convey. For me it is a very wooden and one dimensional performance and as a viewer I should have been able to have some kind of emotional reaction to Mark's plight, but I felt nothing for the character at all.

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

julian_craster

Librarians do not like Anna Massey in PEEPING TOM, as the character reinforces many of the negative stereotypes of the female librarian. (her occupation in the film) ..

I will not list them here , but they are evident in the way the character is presented !

Steve Crook

But isn't Mark's distance and coldness part of the character? How else could he do what he does?

Many people do feel a sympathy for Mark, especially when his background is revealed. Of course that then leads to their realisation that they're feeling sympathy for a despicable character. And it's that sense of unease that makes a lot of people dislike the film.

I think that for most of the film he plays it superbly. Although I must agree, that last part, after he discovers Helen in his "studio", does sometimes leave something to be desired.





Steve

stevie boy

Another bit of confidence or cheek by P & P, (having recently spoke about Roger Livesey's double in IKWIG) How could anyone put in a novice actor(I say that fondly) Mr. Sweet in ACT. What a gamble and what a winner, I could not imagine this film without that fantastic gentleman. Is he still well Steve ???

Steve Crook

Last I heard, yes.
I emailed them (John doesn't use the email so we exchange messages via his wife, Barbara) to tell them about the screening in the cathedral and I got a nice reply saying that they were both well and very pleased that the evening had been such a success.

I emailed again after John's 82nd birthday earlier this month but I haven't heard anything back from that as yet

Steve

stevie boy

thanks Steve

batman

I agree about the coldness of the character and in the 'quieter' scenes Boehm's wooden acting is less noticeable.

As I have said in the past I admire but do not like the film, but I do not have the sympathy for the character which would, as you suggest, make me feel uneasy.

Perhaps I am simply expecting too much of the actor in a very difficult part, or maybe Powell has quietly worked his magic on me and what I perceive as wooden acting is exactly the kind of lifeless performance he intended.

I haven't watched it for ages so maybe I need to give it another look.

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

penfold

A Typo from Steve there...Mr Sweet is 92 of course....

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

Oops

Steve