The Sexiest Actors?

[smudge]

Portman was a damn good actor - wish I'd had a chance to see him on the stage. They recently revived THE CREEPER with Ian Richardson in the lead originated by Portman. Good as IR was I am sure I would have been transfixed by EP. Also good as the somewhat reduced former soldier in GREAT DAY.

SMUDGE

[Johnjackgilbert]

Eric Portman is a dish...

[Steve Crook]

(smudge @ Jan 4 2006, 07:22 PM) Portman was a damn good actor - wish I'd had a chance to see him on the stage. They recently revived THE CREEPER with Ian Richardson in the lead originated by Portman. Good as IR was I am sure I would have been transfixed by EP. Also good as the somewhat reduced former soldier in GREAT DAY. SMUDGE

I find that the rarely shown or seen Great Day makes a fascinating comparison with A Canterbury Tale. They both star Eric Portman as the slightly dodgy "respectable figure" in the village and both have Sheila Sim as a Land Girl. They were both filmed by Erwin Hillier, and they both have Desmond Dew doing the sound.

But Great Day is very "studio bound" whereas A Canterbury Tale has all the joys of the countryside with some marvellous location work.

Of course, I might be slightly biased. But I do much prefer A Canterbury Tale.

Steve

[Johnjackgilbert]

I too prefer "A Canterbury Tale" to "Great Day" - although Portman is excellent in both.

"Great Day" is a simple flag waving piece without depth, although the thoughtful performances give the film a lot of heart. Portman as the deeply flawed father, shameful cadger of drinks and heavily in debt, whilst maintaining a facade of respectability and past heroic deeds... but then he is found out... he is such a wonderful actor... very good at the repressed emotional stuff, glimmering eyes, trembling lips...

"A Canterbury Tale" involves the slightly sinister aspects of Portman's personality and the haughty, arrogance of the country squire who doesn't invite girls to his lectures... but pours glue into their hair if they dare date a soldier... or go out after dark. Obviously a far more complex film but the characters are not as fleshed out as in the former, but then there are less 'character types' in A.C.T.

Ah, yes, Steve - "The 49th Parallel" - my absolutely favourite Portman performance - chilling but my God he is so SEXY in that uniform... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whip.gif[/img] and out of it... I mean in plain clothes!

My favourite bit has to be the plane crash... Ray Lovell is a scream!

[Steve Crook]

(Lady Lois @ Jan 5 2006, 12:19 AM) Ah, yes, Steve - "The 49th Parallel" - my absolutely favourite Portman performance - chilling but my God he is so SEXY in that uniform... and out of it... I mean in plain clothes! My favourite bit has to be the plane crash... Ray Lovell is a scream!

It always makes me laugh when the plane's about to crash & he suggests throwing out the cushions! It's not to lighten it but says it's because he can't see where the surface is because of the way the light's reflecting on it. But if they did throw anything out then they'd be well past it by the time those things hit the water so it still wouldn't help.

But Raymond Lovell nearly drowned in the scene where the seaplane crashes. Even those who could swim (Lovell couldn't) became flustered when the seaplane sank faster then expected. The stink bomb that was that was thrown in to "heighten the turmoil" added greatly to the chaos. A member of the camera crew jumped in and saved Lovell.

Steve

[Steve Crook]

(Lady Lois @ Jan 5 2006, 12:19 AM) I too prefer "A Canterbury Tale" to "Great Day" - although Portman is excellent in both.

There's another Portman film that is "Missing, believed lost" called Squadron Leader X (1943). Written by Emeric Pressburger, Portman stars as a Luftwaffe "ace" who is really quite a coward. He's sent on a mission to occupied Belgium to pretend to be an RAF pilot and to create some anti-British propaganda. But the resistance help him out and send him back to Britain!

I got the complete story from a 1943 fan magazine and it does look like it'd be a good film. But there's no sign of it anywhere.

Steve

[Johnjackgilbert]

I also like to think of the submarine blowing up - and how the actors had, moments before, been standing on it whilst it was already laden with explosives - after the explosion Portman was apoplectic, shouting expletives and generally shaking with rage and fear! Michael Powell had such a sadistic streak...

[Johnjackgilbert]

(Steve Crook @ Jan 5 2006, 12:43 AM) There's another Portman film that is "Missing, believed lost" called Squadron Leader X (1943). Written by Emeric Pressburger, Portman stars as a Luftwaffe "ace" who is really quite a coward. He's sent on a mission to occupied Belgium to pretend to be an RAF pilot and to create some anti-British propaganda. But the resistance help him out and send him back to Britain! I got the complete story from a 1943 fan magazine and it does look like it'd be a good film. But there's no sign of it anywhere. Steve

I too have been looking for this film - if you should ever find it - please let me know!

[Steve Crook]

(Lady Lois @ Jan 5 2006, 12:44 AM) I also like to think of the submarine blowing up - and how the actors had, moments before, been standing on it whilst it was already laden with explosives - after the explosion Portman was apoplectic, shouting expletives and generally shaking with rage and fear! Michael Powell had such a sadistic streak...

He did. And he was a bully. But he did get good work out of the cast & crew.

Steve

[theuofc]

Dirk Bogarde, hands down, absolutely, positively, swoon-worthy, drop dead SEXY HANDSOME especially in his prime from his late 30s through his 50s. After that, he still had looks to turn heads up until the last few years.
What made him so sexy was not just his striking looks but the keen intelligence behind those dark velvet eyes and further enhanced by his superb acting skills and talent as a writer.

[Steve Crook]

What do you ladies think of David Farrar?
Do you know much of his work?

At one time he had one of the largest fan clubs in the UK and was often mobbed by young(ish) female fans whenever he made an appearance. He used to get tons of fan mail as well.

Steve

[Steve Crook]

The usual pronunciation for the name Ioan, the Welsh version of Ian, is more like Yay-yan but everyone's allowed to say how they want their name pronounced. Just look at the dance troupes The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs (pronounced The Chumleys and The Fanshaws)

Steve

[Steve Crook]

There are just no rules with the pronounciation of real names (people & places).
But even where there are apparently rules in English you still have to content with things like the OUGH group and the various ways that's pronounced.

Think abouth the poor people trying to learn English as a foreign language

I'm taught p-l-o-u-g-h
Shall be pronounced "plow."
"Zat's easy w'en you know," I say,
"Mon Anglais, I'll get through!"

My teacher say zat in zat case,
O-u-g-h is "oo."
And zen I laugh and say to him,
"Zees Anglais make me cough."

He say "Not 'coo' but in zat word,
O-u-g-h is 'off,''"
"Oh, ______! Such varied sounds
Of words make me hiccough!"

He say, "Again mon frien' ees wrong;
O-u-g-h is 'up'
In hiccough." Zen I cry, "No more,
You make my t'roat feel rough."

"Non, non!" he cry, "You are not right;
O-u-g-h is 'uff.'"
I say, "I try to spik your words,
I cannot spik zem though."

"In time you'll learn, but now you're wrong!
O-u-g-h is 'owe'"
"I'll try no more, I s'all go mad,
I'll drown me in ze lough!"

"But ere you drown yourself," said he,
"O-u-g-h is 'ock.'"
He taught no more, I held him fast
And killed him wiz a rough.


In a similar vein ...

Enough Is Enough

Four letters cause me disillusion
OUGH makes phonetic confusion
Four simple letters with four pronunciations
Make learning English tough for Asians.

OUGH has no logic, no rule
Or rhyme or rhythm; it will fool
All who struggle to master expression
English may cause thorough depression.

I pour some water in a trough
I sneeze and splutter, then I cough.
And with a rough hewn bough
My muddy paddy fields I plough.

Loaves of warm bread in a row
Crispy crusts and doughy dough.
Now, my final duty to do
And then my chores will all be through.

My lament is finished, even though
Learning this word game is really slow.
It is so difficult, it's very rough
Learning English is really tough.

If a trough was a truff
And a plough was a pluff
If dough was duff
And though was thuff
If cough was cuff
And through was thruff
I would not pretend, or try to bluff,
But of OUGH I've had enough

Steve

[theuofc]

(Steve Crook @ Jan 13 2006, 02:55 PM) What do you ladies think of David Farrar? Do you know much of his work? At one time he had one of the largest fan clubs in the UK and was often mobbed by young(ish) female fans whenever he made an appearance. He used to get tons of fan mail as well. Steve

I think David Farrar was yummy, very masculine looks and attitude, great physique, just standoffish enough to thrill masochistically minded women, yet that sudden upward gaze that hinted he just might care :-) Too bad he went off to South Africa and left us all sighing in the wings for more flicks. Any news of him from there?

Barbara

[Steve Crook]

(theuofc @ Jan 14 2006, 12:5 I think David Farrar was yummy, very masculine looks and attitude, great physique, just standoffish enough to thrill masochistically minded women, yet that sudden upward gaze that hinted he just might care :-) Too bad he went off to South Africa and left us all sighing in the wings for more flicks. Any news of him from there? Barbara

He died there in 1995.
His wife had died in 1976 and his only child, daughter Barbara had moved to SA so he went out there to join her.

He was mainly a stage actor. I always got the impression that he tried film work just to see if he could do it. When he discovered that he could, he seems to have lost interest in it. He did try working in Hollywood but only ever got cast as "friend of leading man". Not even the baddie which is a much meatier role.

I think his best roles are Black Narcissus (1947) where, as Mr Dean, he does a slow stip-tease through the length of the film. Every time you see him he seems to be wearing fewer clothes. Gone to Earth (1950) where he's great as the wicked squire, Jack Reddin. And The Small Back Room (1949) where he does a good resentful, crippled bomb disposal expert. And it's not just because they're P&P films, I've seen him in other films and I think those are his best performances on film by a long way.

Steve