George Sanders - Dear Boy in Exile

[MissGoddess]

I'm sure Sanders was an "arm's length" kind of man, emotionally, so it's doubtful any but a patient person would take time to look beyond his facade for what he hides. If you see only the mask he probably could be insufferable. There is so much artificiality to being in that world---acting as well as the money world and George was part of both and a master at surviving in both. But I'm willing to bet that with all his baloney, he was more genuine than most of the people around him. Maybe feeling life was a "fraud" was his problem. If he were a phoney down to his marrow, he'd have been quite content with life and easy going. Something was always eating at him, it seems.

[JackFavell]

You know, that's a great point, MissG, so many actors back then - Tracy and Flynn included, had a real embarrassment about having gone into acting. That it wasn't a seemly job for a man. All of them had trouble with the unreality of the image they were helping to create or that they felt was hindering them. Living like that, and among people one thinks of as parasites, well, it's simply phoney, and it can splatter onto you. I think from what I've read of George, he was another who was caught by the lure of the money, it was extremely important to him, but at the same time he felt very much that he wasn't living up to some manly standard he had placed on himself. I can see a correlation to all three of these men, though I think, and it's weird to say it, Tracy was the best adjusted. Flynn and Sanders both were adventurers when they came to Hollywood, they had both sailed nearly around the world and had worked at many occupations before settling. Tracy had pretty much always wanted to be an actor. George was a boxer, and I can't remember if Flynn was too. I think they both felt they had settled, when they could have done so much more. Both had a large appetite for women, makes you wonder why. Both were vagabonds in this world, looking for something they perhaps never found.

George was always on the move, he didn't like staying in one place, maybe because he was avoiding the tax man, but I think it may be more that he never really felt at home anywhere, he didn't like being bored he said. I totally agree that he may have felt a fraud, taking money for nothing, and you are so right, if he'd been a through and through phoney, he wouldn't have cared so much. And I do think he cared deeply, I get that from some of his performances, thought he hid it well. Somehow, this explains his almost catatonic states on movie sets at times, at least for me.

Just in case one thinks of him as only a morose drag on the set, I just found this wonderful picture. I love it!


with Robert Siodmak on the set of The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry

[CineMaven]

You've done it again, Wendy.

You're a good witch of GLENDA proportions. As you stir this cauldron of love with incantations of admiration, respect and welll...lust, your thread will surely resurrect GEORGE SANDERS from beyond Beyond's beyond.

You paint a "Portrait Of An Artist As A...Dear Boy" with such pithy heartfelt descriptions, you could probably single-handedly win over all but the most annoying contrarian non-fans of Sanders. Actually, I shouldn't say single-handedly; I seem to remember your and Miss G.'s conversations over at TCM-City about him that made me ( a former casual non-fan " " ) pepper the brakes on my light speed rush to a movie's handsome heroic leading man and take a second look at Georgie. I can't express it as well as you, but it seems George was the lead in the weeds of the alternate universe of any movie he did. And a lot of times, the alternate universe is a realm more interesting than where the hero dwells. Holy cow...you've made me now question whether the heroes are only MacGuffins to George Sanders' roles. Dang your witchy theses!!

I'm not as familiar with all the films on your and others' lists as I should be. I'm now very curious about Alison's choice:

My favourite George film is "VOYAGE TO ITALY", an absolute nightmare for him but he rather sheds the dear boy persona of Rebecca and other films and becomes a husband in a decaying marriage with Ingrid Bergman, it's a fine film and one that needs to be revisited.

Playing a normal guy? Okay. I like the movie trivia of Sanders appearing in a film with Ingrid Bergman years before, too. I'm also curious of April's choice of:

THE STRANGE WOMAN, one of George's straight romantic leads and very effective opposite siren Hedy Lamaar.

I'd be curious to see if Hedy raises her game opposite George's accomplished actor; and I also want to see him play against type: play the purely straight lead.

YOU'RE TOO SHORT FOR THAT GESTURE:

I have to really keep a ( renewed ) eye out for George Sanders and watch him steal the picture right from under the nose of Power's blinding beauty, Olivier's thespian mastery and Bette's volcanic tenacity. Aahhhh, he is another leading man that Bette & Stanwyck share. There are three roles or types or facets of Sanders' persona that intrigue me:

"LURED" - He has such a light tough in this crime drama with Lucille Ball. I think he could go caviar-to-caviar with the likes of Melvyn Douglas or Cary Grant, but in his own Continental way. Maybe it's the voice that adds the weight. But I remember being pleasantly surprised by him in this. He was likeable and Lucy and Georgie were well-matched.

"THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY" - He is absolutely believable to me as a repressed man who just needs the love of a good woman...who is not his sister to bring him out of his shell. Weak, a bit timid. I didn't question him at all in this role. He can turn the spigot off or on.

But of course, I want my Georgie to be dastardly. And when he turns the spigot on full blast, he unleashes the torrent, in my favorite role, as Addison DeWitt in "ALL ABOUT EVE." (( Sigh! )) He used a mighty scalpel in that one. Oh yeah...there WILL be blood. And you know I've got to talk more about that performance.

[moira finnie]

I am enjoying reading everyone's comments in this thread. I thought perhaps others might be interested in an article that appeared in Motion Picture Magazine in 1941 about George "in his own words," according to the esteemed Alyce Shupper (yeah, I never heard of her either).

(Please click on the thumbnails to see the article in detail):

[MissGoddess]

"I don't believe it necessary to take the rough with the calm." That sounds like George, alright.

Yacht builders in London? Hmmmm...but I love the idea of him leading his own dance band! Thank you for finding that article, Moira.

[charliechaplinfan]

There are plenty of parellels between Sanders and Flynn, Sanders was brought up in the Russian court and came to Britain around the time of the revolution, that's quite a place to begin your life. Flynn was the son of a professor and had a good start in life, both were adventurers, both struck out on their own before making it into films, both in the heat of tropical surroundings, both fell into acting and both were good at it and found the money making too easy.

I think my problem with the Sanders books was in his autobiography there's plenty he won't give away and because he doesn;t give it away in print and rarely in life, it's then down to the biographer to put their twist on it and it's down to assumptions again. I hired those books from the library, they were far too expensive to buy but if you can hire them, worth the read.

[RedRiver]

he didn't like being bored he said

I think his suicide note referred to that very thing. That was my understanding.

[CineMaven]

"I have not come to New Haven to see the play, discuss your dreams or pull the ivy from the walls of Yale...after tonight, you will belong to me."

[youtube][/youtube]

In "ALL ABOUT EVE" George Sanders is definitely Peck's Bad Boy with a rapier wit, and an outlook bordering on contempt. He's the sharpest pencil in the bin, with his poison pen being mightier than the sword. He can make or break people, taking Copa Cabana girls in waaay over their talent. He drips with sarcasm and is ten steps ahead of everyone. Is his ego so tremendous that once Eve Harrington is "in", he grooms her for stardom so she can be seen on his arm ( Marilyn Monroe's show girl notwithstanding. ) Grooms? Yes. He breaks her down...tells her he knows ALL about her and after she's a sobbing mess, makes her go out to perform. ( "You'll give the performance of your life." )

Or maybe his ego is fragile. I think Sanders added a flash of something in his showdown with Eve. Maybe it's my imagination, but I thought I saw a flash of a hurt little boy when Eve laughs in his face at the prospect of him + her = ROMANCE. He gets mad and slaps her face and tells her she can laugh at anyone or anything but never at him. Could Sanders have imbued DeWitt's backstory with that of an awkward teen who vowed to be a success...

Okay, maybe I'm reaching there. But no doubt, Sanders gives the performance of his career in "All About Eve." In fact, I used "All About Eve" as a subject of my MovieCHAT. In this brief excerpt we don't really talk about Sanders' technique as an actor, but about the role of Addison DeWitt.

[MissGoddess]

Brilliant!! These "Movie Chats" keep getting better and better. I loved especially how you opened it up.

And, umm, great subject matter, I'm sure George would agree...and Addison.

[CineMaven]

Thanxx a lot Miss G.. I had a few movie clips included, but YouTUBE wouldn't allow me to post 'em due to FOX. But hopefully "ALL ABOUT EVE" and his performance is thoroughly ingrained in classic film fans' mind. He was wonderful. Thanx!

[MissGoddess]

They clamp down on clips, too? Wow, that's harsh. Corporate greed, it never stops. Well I thought it worked smoothly in spite of that.

[Professional Tourist]

Fifthly: The George Sanders Movie I Want to See the Most: CAPTAIN BLACKJACK, written and directed by Julien Duvivier. Anyone here seen it?????

Captain Blackjack sounds and looks glorious!

I've seen it, and in my opinion it ain't too great. But there were some good photo opps, such as:

[Professional Tourist]

Mr. Sanders sings, with a pleasant baritone:

[youtube][/youtube]

There are a few more selections from this 1958 record album at YouTube.

[JackFavell]

But of course, I want my Georgie to be dastardly. And when he turns the spigot on full blast, he unleashes the torrent, in my favorite role, as Addison DeWitt in "ALL ABOUT EVE." (( Sigh! )) He used a mighty scalpel in that one. Oh yeah...there WILL be blood. And you know I've got to talk more about that performance.

it seems George was the lead in the weeds of the alternate universe of any movie he did. And a lot of times, the alternate universe is a realm more interesting than where the hero dwells. Holy cow...you've made me now question whether the heroes are only MacGuffins to George Sanders' roles.

Gosh, you write so beautifully! AND you've made a great point here. In watching your wonderful MovieCHat, what strikes me most is what Lindsey said, and Mark kind of elaborated on while you guided: That Addison is pulling the strings, he's the hero in his own mind, and ours,actually, the writer of this little tawdry story. He narrates the picture, after all. He knows all the sidestepping, the conniving that goes on between the characters. As a critic and writer, he is outside the realm of the living, there is something detached about him, looking down on everyone. He's Joe Mank's stand in, perhaps. This gives him enormous power outside the script and within it - Addison simply doesn't care about the people he writes about or manipulates, they are simply characters in his script to be maneuvered at his will. This is what gives the movie it's most pleasurable reflexive quality, the image within the image, etc. and on and on.

Addison creates and destroys stars, godlike. However, I agree with your statement earlier here, that there is the flash of the vulnerable boy in that moment when he slaps Eve telling her never to laugh at him. It makes him human, and I think without that scene, I wouldn't like this movie so much. Eve has been out-Eved by Addison, and he is reminding her that he doesn't buy her "act". "You're too short for that gesture" - he doesn't lap up that stuff, and he WILL tell her when she's wrong, brutally, but she must pay for her lessons. What Eve never figured on was that there might be someone like her, someone who counted every favor and every step up on someone else's back, and added it to the bill. She didn't have had to pay for all the damage she did to Margo and Karen and Bill and Lloyd, they weren't the types to tot up figures, they just wanted to get the divorce from Eve over with. Addison, well, he wasn't the type to let his knowledge go without the requisite gratuity. He sees through her and them all so plainly.... he has that discerning critic's edge, plus he doesn't lead with his emotions, he's colder and harder than any of the 'actors' in our piece (that includes Lloyd, Karen and Bill, as well as Margo). He's dead inside, we think...perhaps just has a flicker left....I think that somewhere under that hard facade is someone you just don't want to mess with, a volcano of emotion that would put those other rampant emotions and petty grievances to shame, were it ever to come out in anything other than witty bon mots, or poison pen reviews. Unleash the torrent!

I'm not as familiar with all the films on your and others' lists as I should be. I'm now very curious about Alison's choice:

My favourite George film is "VOYAGE TO ITALY", an absolute nightmare for him but he rather sheds the dear boy persona of Rebecca and other films and becomes a husband in a decaying marriage with Ingrid Bergman, it's a fine film and one that needs to be revisited.

Playing a normal guy? Okay. I like the movie trivia of Sanders appearing in a film with Ingrid Bergman years before, too.

Voyage to Italy is just brilliant, it leaves you with more questions than answers, but it feels true. I didn't like him in this one for most of the picture, like many of his films, but at the end, he becomes enormously appealing.

I'm also curious of April's choice of:

THE STRANGE WOMAN, one of George's straight romantic leads and very effective opposite siren Hedy Lamaar.
I'd be curious to see if Hedy raises her game opposite George's accomplished actor; and I also want to see him play against type: play the purely straight lead.

I think you would absolutely LOVE The Strange Woman. It's so much fun, and I love how Hedy runs rings around everyone in the picture.

"LURED" - He has such a light tough in this crime drama with Lucille Ball. I think he could go caviar-to-caviar with the likes of Melvyn Douglas or Cary Grant, but in his own Continental way. Maybe it's the voice that adds the weight. But I remember being pleasantly surprised by him in this. He was likeable and Lucy and Georgie were well-matched.

I love Lured, for obvious reasons, both George and Joe are in it. George very easily settled back in these leading-man-saves-the-day type roles. My favorites are the above movie, Foreign Correspondent, The Lodger and Hangover Square. Plus the Saint and Falcon movies. There is always the feeling that he didn't take himself quite so seriously, and this is the delicious part to me of George as a hero.

"THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY" - He is absolutely believable to me as a repressed man who just needs the love of a good woman...who is not his sister to bring him out of his shell. Weak, a bit timid. I didn't question him at all in this role. He can turn the spigot off or on.

And this is it, he CAN turn it on or off. It's so surprising. For all his posturing as a cynic, he can let himself go as an actor and really steep himself in the part, feel those emotions he's playing, let out the scary parts of his personality as well as the soft ones. I get the idea that there was a deeply serious actor under that facade, looking for a chance to come out, and terrified that he would be asked to do so.

[JackFavell]

Moira - I really enjoyed that article by the famous Alyce Shupper. It certainly caught the tone of Sanders, if not the absolute reality of him.