Laurence Olivier

[hearthesilence]

Just came across this article on Olivier. I knew of his reputation before seeing any of his films - I don't mean this as a slight, but it's sad that his greatness may have been in his stage work. How amazing would it be to witness any of those legendary performances that knocked out the naysayers of his film work? Of his films, I favor The Entertainer and Richard III the most, but I'll have to check out Carrie now.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Funny you should mention Olivier as the Guardian had a terrific article about him yesterday

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/f ... ve-letters

...I woke up absolutely raging with desire for you my love … Oh dear God how I did want you. Perhaps you were stroking your darling self...

[hearthesilence]

Nice! Welles' centennial and Film Forum screenings got me to revisit Welles' work, particularly his Shakespeare films, and that's actually what got me thinking about Olivier. The critics and press were far kinder towards Olivier's adaptations, but Welles' were the true masterpieces. I think Olivier's weren't quite great films, but they certainly have plenty of merit, and that got me thinking about his stage work vs. his film work. I actually didn't realize his staging of Othello was filmed and released by WB! Apparently much more stage-bound (or rather, beholden to his stage production) than the three more-renowned works released by Criterion.

It's amazing how Vivien Leigh's film legacy rests almost entirely on two roles - I actually prefer the "less" famous one, which I think is one of the great film performances of all-time, very much on par with her co-star's revolutionary performance. I didn't realize she and Olivier were on good terms following their split. Very sad what happened to her in general, I always wondered how much her profession damaged her emotional and physical health?

Looking through the Guardian, it's amazing how regularly he appears in their newspaper. He definitely retains an iconic status in the UK that surpasses his reputation in the States, but I suppose that's always been true. Most of his theatrical work was in the UK, correct? This certainly must have helped in shoring up his reputation there as the century's greatest actor.

[hearthesilence]

Stephen Fry also has this nice, brief anecdote about Olivier, which relates to my original post.

[Roger Ryan]

...The critics and press were far kinder towards Olivier's adaptations, but Welles' were the true masterpieces.

Olivier himself reportedly said as much to Welles' eldest daughter at a dinner party, noting that Welles' take on MACBETH and OTHELLO worked far better as films than Olivier's own Shakespeare adaptations.

[ando]

Other than The Entertainer Olivier impressed me most as Astrov in his film version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. It's radily available still and one of the best film versions, though I'm partial to the 1970 BBC production with Freddie Jones as Vanya and Anthony Hopkins as the doctor.

[hearthesilence]

Unfortunately there's no William Wyler thread, perhaps understandably, but I'll post this here since it concerns Olivier just as much.

Wyler is not one of my favorites, and I'm certainly not alone as his reputation has taken a serious beating for a very long time. But as Kent Jones, David Thomson and Howard Hampton have pointed out, "it’s grossly unfair to make an also-ran out of someone who was able to deliver studio films as intelligent and affecting as The Best Years of Our Lives, The Letter (1940), Dodsworth (1936), and Carrie (the wrenching 1952 adaption of Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie)." I've seen just two of the films listed there, and they do make a great argument in his favor. (As mentioned in the John Huston thread, no filmmaker or artist deserves to be completely dismissed or devalued if they've done great work, even if their entire output is often disappointing.)

I noticed in one of my five-year posts above that I came across an article singling out Carrie as the best cinematic proof of Olivier's worth as an actor. I wish I hadn't forgotten that, but it wasn't until now with the ongoing pandemic that DVD's and streaming have taken up most of my viewing. (For the most part, I had been relying on Blu-Rays and whatever was programmed at a local venue, which was more than enough to keep me occupied.)

I never heard anyone bring up Carrie as a defense for Wyler either, at least not until recently when I came across supportive remarks made by Thomson, Hampton, possibly Jones (can't remember if he vouched for it as well) and the late Elliott Stein, so I finally gave it a chance. I wasn't eager to see it before due to Wyler's most famous collaboration with Olivier, Wuthering Heights. A poor adaptation, it made Olivier a star and it was distinguished by Gregg Toland's cinematography, but its merits as a film and Olivier's performance have been torn apart by Wyler's detractors for good reason.

Michael Billington is not wrong, and Carrie is a wonderful surprise. I'm reluctant to call it a great film, but it's certainly no embarrassment to Dreiser's celebrated masterwork. The film is indeed wrenching largely because of Olivier, and that is a revelation because this is the first time I've been genuinely and thoroughly moved by an Olivier performance. To be fair, I still have not seen his recorded stage performances (it's often said his legend truly rests there, not on-screen), and the best and most memorable performances I've seen involved scoundrels - Richard III, Archie Rice, Christian Szell - so it comes down partly to his choice of roles, but he brings such a profound sadness this film, it may very well be my favorite Olivier performance. Absolutely wonderful.

[domino harvey]

Discussion of the merits of William Wyler moved here

[ando]

Starring Laurence Olivier is a decent collection of films starring Olivier currently streaming on The Criterion Channel. Course, glaring omissions are his '65 directed film of Shakespeare's Othello, Marathon Man, Slueth and Boys From Brazil. In all his oeuvre Othello has entertained me the most often. The theatrical release of the blackface throwback could hardly have been at a worse time in The States but Larry's performance is such a bizarre spectacle that, coupled with The Bards language, it's difficult to look away. It remains my favorite version of the play for all the reasons that compel and revolt contemporary sensibilities. Maggie Smith, Derek Jacobi and Frank Finlay aren't bad support, either.

[domino harvey]

Olivier’s perf in Othello is indeed delightfully bonkers, hard to imagine anyone who actually watches it getting worked up, since it’s closer to a Martian than a caricature of any black man who ever lived. I think Finlay is more than not-bad support, I think he’s the best (traditional) aspect of the production and should have won the Oscar even though he was dumped into supporting for what is really the lead or co-lead

[ando]

I think Finlay is more than not-bad support, I think he’s the best (traditional) aspect of the production and should have won the Oscar even though he was dumped into supporting for what is really the lead or co-lead

Well, Larry couldn't get Booth so Finlay had to do.

Smith, Jacobi and Smith are marvelous i it. But Olivier was the diva (in the best - old - sense of the word). I've never seen anyone take as long to enter stage left on the Dick Cavett Show as Olivier - and then pause once he got out there.

And I forgot to mention Wyler's Wuthering Heights (now on Prime) as another favorite.

[Roscoe]

I'll put in a word for Olivier's performance as James Tyrone in LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT -- there's a DVD of a television version of a famed National Theater production, and he's brilliant, the only actor I've seen to make the old guy into anything but a tyrant. He's thrilling and genuinely heartbreaking in the role.

[ando]

That’s the production Olivier speaks of in the Cavett interview (Criterion extra). Hard to top the ‘62 Lumet version (imo) as everyone in that one was brilliantly cast but I’ll give the production with Larry version a go (though the casting of Mary Tyrone is equally vital).

[barbarella satyricon]

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