Is he on par with Gielgud, Guinness, Mason, Olivier, Redgrave, Richardson?
Seems he is forgotten about.
I only know him from his later years in films. He usually had supporting roles, always very stiff upper lip. Don't know if he was ever humorous. I would imagine he was never regarded in the same league as Gielgud, Olivier, or Redgrave. Not a heart throb like Bogarde. He didn't have the Hollywood career that Mason had and was from a slightly different generation.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | December 29, 2021 8:42 PM |
He didn't have those actors' range...but he was, or could be, frighteningly powerful.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | December 29, 2021 8:42 PM |
Not by me, he's not. One of the greatest film actors who ever lived. Start with OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS (51) and THE THIRD MAN (49), and then watch him make Brando look like the mannered punk he is in MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (62).
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | December 29, 2021 8:43 PM |
He lacked the identifying flair that the top British stage-to-film-and-back actors of his and nearby generations had. Stalwart, nuanced, outwardly controlled with signs of inner action slipping out, "reliable." But R3 is right. Howard reminds viewers in every scene that Brando was freakish and unpleasantly self-referential in the film. Fascinating in a genre-warping way, to the detriment of the film.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | December 29, 2021 9:28 PM |
I don't see "Brief Encounter" (1945) mentioned often on DL, but it is a masterpiece and he is great in it.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | December 29, 2021 10:24 PM |
He looked like Art Linklater.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 29, 2021 10:27 PM |