Ronald Colman
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Ann Harding
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movieman1957
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moira finnie
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Ann Harding
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Here is the tribute to Ronald Colman I promised: an exclusive INTERVIEW with the notoriously reclusive actor. You probably wonder how I managed such a feat 50 years after his death... Well, let's say I managed to get a set of keys to H.G. Wells' Time Machine and went back 70 years or so.... 
Mr Colman even provided us with a dedicated still!!!!:
Most of you are probably not very familiar with Ronald Colman's career and persona. So I just want to mention a few facts to situate Colman in the history of cinema. He was born in Richmond (SW London suburb) on February 9, 1891. He started his career in the London theatres in 1916 mostly with small parts. In 1917, he made his first film with British pioneer George Dewhurst. He made 8 British silents before he moved -for good- to the US in 1920. He worked first in the Broadway theatres, climbing slowly the ranks from extra to second lead. In 1922, his big chance occurred. He was noticed by Henry King & Lillian Gish and landed the first lead in The White Sister (1923). His career in American films was launched. He maintained his star status until he died in 1958.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RONALD COLMAN FOR SSO
Q: When did you see your first motion picture?
A: I saw my first motion picture with my father. It was my eleventh birthday (i.e. 1902). My father took me to Earl's Court Exhibition. Father and I came upon an attraction which was new, at any rate to me. Over a cavernous entrance we saw a sign which read: Animated Pictures. What, I thought, are they? We paid our admissions and went into an inky-black pit. Directly before my dilated eyes an express train was running out of a tunnel and heading straight for the bench upon which my father and I were seated. The sensation it gave me of narrowly escaping a violent death did not seem to me to come under the heading of amusement. Father laughed when, safely out of the open air again I told him what I thought of this divertissement. Then, he said: 'This invention has a future, son, watch it. It is going to make the fortunes of a great many people.'
Q: As most stars have a discoverer, whom do you most credit as being yours?
A: My first break came from Henry King and Lillian Gish.
Q: What did you think of your own performance in your first British silents?
A: When I watched the films my conclusion were that the lighting was all wrong, my make-up was all wrong and my gestures were all wrong. My head was simply moving about on the shoulders of a body that was not mine. I wished to withdraw from my contract but heard with amazed ears the assurance from film producers that I was bound to improve… I made another picture. This time during a showing I sat in a well-filled row in the audience, looked and listened. Out of the gloom to my left came the voice of a woman, whispering:
-"He walks well and I can tell everything he says when his lips move, can't you?"
I was delighted. It proved to me I had misjudged my habilities and everything was all right with the world. But from the right came another voice. Another woman whispered:
-"Look at him, chattering like a fool! He is like a ventriloquist dummy!"
I slumped in my seat, re-established in complete inferiority. Then I heard the gentle lady's companion's reply:
-"Yes, and look at his walk! Where did he get that from? A duck or a kangaroo?"
I stumbled out through the darkness. The woman on my right had confirmed my worst suspicions…
Q: When have you ever deliberately tried to steal a scene in a picture?
A: During scenes with animals and babies. It's a fair fight with the odds against you.
Q: How would you classify yourself as an actor?
A: Lucky.
Q: What bores you most about your daily work?
A: Stills, portraits and answering questionnaires.
Q: As a top star of both eras, would you say that today's pictures are better than those of the silent days?
A: On the whole yes – a few of the old ones, however, have never been beaten.
Q: Do you enjoy attending previews and premieres?
A: No.
Q: Why do you make but one or two pictures a year?
A: So that people don't get sick of the sight of me.
Q: What type of leading lady do you prefer in your pictures?
A: One who can act.
Q: If you were forced to seek some other vocation, what would be your choice?
A: Writing.
Q: Do you think the public has any claim on the private life of a star?
A: What private life?
Q: What characteristic, not generally known, gives a cue to your personality?
A: I am afraid I chase fire engines.
Q: In keeping with your position, how many suits of clothes must you have, for a complete wardrobe?
A: Besides evening clothes, my 'position' necessitates only a couple of suits; but my professional wardrobe is considerable – and provides the moths with no end of fun.
Q: Are you argumentative?
A: On certain subjects and with certain people, I avoid arguments like the plague; with others I just can't wait to get to work.
Q: What one feat gave you the greatest pride and thrill?
A: When I landed a 228 pounds Marlin swordfish. Am I glad you asked that one!
Q: What has been one of your greatest disappointments?
A: When Al Wood fired me after one week's tryout in my first leading part on Broadway.
Q: Of the screen are you as reserved and dignified as you usually appear to be on the screen?
A: If I am, I should be severely spoken to.
Q: Do you consider yourself a romantic figure?
A: That's none of my business.
Q: Why do columnists and interviewers refer to you as the Man in the Iron Mask?
A: Possibly because I dislike talking too much about myself. Interesting things are often unpublishable and the publishable things are so dull.
I am called 'high hat', 'aloof' and 'the hermit of Hollywood'. That isn't so. It isn't fair. I am merely demanding for myself the right to live quietly.
There was a scene once I didn't like and I will not put it higher than that. Bill Powell had got me to make a trip with him to Agua Caliente, the 'Monte Carlo' just across the Mexican border south of Los Angeles. Everyone in Hollywood goes there, and Bill convinced me it was worth a try. Well, I went.
We were standing in the bar having a quiet glass of ale and not bothering anybody. It was a beautiful spot and the ale was excellent. I was dubious about the place at first, but I was beginning to like it. And then the trouble began.
First it was a slightly inebriated man who thrust his countenance in front of my startled eyes and remarked:
-"I know you. You're Ronald Colman. You gotta have a drink with me."
I indicated that I had a drink, but it was useless. So Bill and I had a drink with the inebriated fellow. In the midst of that one another man, slightly more hilarious, came on the scene and craved the honour of buying Mr Ronald Colman a drink.
When I declined he got highly insulted.
-"Oh! He exclaimed in a loud voice. I suppose you think you are too good to drink with me! You picture stars think you are pretty good, don't you? You think – "
The matter was getting a bit out of hand when a third man thrust himself into the cast. He said:
-"I know you. You're Ronald Colman. You gotta dance with my wife. My wife's crazy about you. She wants to dance with you. Come on."
I explained that I was honoured, but I did not dance. It availed nothing. The woman's husband grabbed me by the coat to drag me dancewards, whereupon the first man grabbed my coat from the other side and proclaimed that I was his pal and that I was going to stay right there and have another little drink.
The ladies joined in and a quarter of an hour later I was hiding behind a night-blooming cereus in the patio, looking for a chance for a clean get-away…
Q: Are you temperamental?
A: Certainly – but not in the popular conception of it.
Q: Are you inclined to make snap judgments?
A: No, I am very deliberate.
Q: Do you consider yourself a sentimental person?
A: Very – 'Danny Boy' really gets me down.
Q: Do you usually travel incognito…and if so, do you get away with it?
A: I don't travel incognito, but when possible, I do have my name excluded from passenger lists. Thus I may find myself addressed as Baxter, Marshall, Olivier, Fairbanks Jr, etc.
Q: What would you do if you were dictator of Hollywood?
A: Abdicate immediately!
Q: During this interview have you answered every question truthfully?
A: Only one slight exaggeration. The Marlin swordfish was not quite 228 pounds…227 pounds and a half.
(NB the text above contains only genuine answers to interviews taken from vintage publications)
I hope you appreciated Ronald Colman's honesty and his lovely sense of humour.
Mr Colman even provided us with a dedicated still!!!!:
Most of you are probably not very familiar with Ronald Colman's career and persona. So I just want to mention a few facts to situate Colman in the history of cinema. He was born in Richmond (SW London suburb) on February 9, 1891. He started his career in the London theatres in 1916 mostly with small parts. In 1917, he made his first film with British pioneer George Dewhurst. He made 8 British silents before he moved -for good- to the US in 1920. He worked first in the Broadway theatres, climbing slowly the ranks from extra to second lead. In 1922, his big chance occurred. He was noticed by Henry King & Lillian Gish and landed the first lead in The White Sister (1923). His career in American films was launched. He maintained his star status until he died in 1958.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH RONALD COLMAN FOR SSO
Q: When did you see your first motion picture?
A: I saw my first motion picture with my father. It was my eleventh birthday (i.e. 1902). My father took me to Earl's Court Exhibition. Father and I came upon an attraction which was new, at any rate to me. Over a cavernous entrance we saw a sign which read: Animated Pictures. What, I thought, are they? We paid our admissions and went into an inky-black pit. Directly before my dilated eyes an express train was running out of a tunnel and heading straight for the bench upon which my father and I were seated. The sensation it gave me of narrowly escaping a violent death did not seem to me to come under the heading of amusement. Father laughed when, safely out of the open air again I told him what I thought of this divertissement. Then, he said: 'This invention has a future, son, watch it. It is going to make the fortunes of a great many people.'
Q: As most stars have a discoverer, whom do you most credit as being yours?
A: My first break came from Henry King and Lillian Gish.
Q: What did you think of your own performance in your first British silents?
A: When I watched the films my conclusion were that the lighting was all wrong, my make-up was all wrong and my gestures were all wrong. My head was simply moving about on the shoulders of a body that was not mine. I wished to withdraw from my contract but heard with amazed ears the assurance from film producers that I was bound to improve… I made another picture. This time during a showing I sat in a well-filled row in the audience, looked and listened. Out of the gloom to my left came the voice of a woman, whispering:
-"He walks well and I can tell everything he says when his lips move, can't you?"
I was delighted. It proved to me I had misjudged my habilities and everything was all right with the world. But from the right came another voice. Another woman whispered:
-"Look at him, chattering like a fool! He is like a ventriloquist dummy!"
I slumped in my seat, re-established in complete inferiority. Then I heard the gentle lady's companion's reply:
-"Yes, and look at his walk! Where did he get that from? A duck or a kangaroo?"
I stumbled out through the darkness. The woman on my right had confirmed my worst suspicions…
Q: When have you ever deliberately tried to steal a scene in a picture?
A: During scenes with animals and babies. It's a fair fight with the odds against you.
Q: How would you classify yourself as an actor?
A: Lucky.
Q: What bores you most about your daily work?
A: Stills, portraits and answering questionnaires.
Q: As a top star of both eras, would you say that today's pictures are better than those of the silent days?
A: On the whole yes – a few of the old ones, however, have never been beaten.
Q: Do you enjoy attending previews and premieres?
A: No.
Q: Why do you make but one or two pictures a year?
A: So that people don't get sick of the sight of me.
Q: What type of leading lady do you prefer in your pictures?
A: One who can act.
Q: If you were forced to seek some other vocation, what would be your choice?
A: Writing.
Q: Do you think the public has any claim on the private life of a star?
A: What private life?
Q: What characteristic, not generally known, gives a cue to your personality?
A: I am afraid I chase fire engines.
Q: In keeping with your position, how many suits of clothes must you have, for a complete wardrobe?
A: Besides evening clothes, my 'position' necessitates only a couple of suits; but my professional wardrobe is considerable – and provides the moths with no end of fun.
Q: Are you argumentative?
A: On certain subjects and with certain people, I avoid arguments like the plague; with others I just can't wait to get to work.
Q: What one feat gave you the greatest pride and thrill?
A: When I landed a 228 pounds Marlin swordfish. Am I glad you asked that one!
Q: What has been one of your greatest disappointments?
A: When Al Wood fired me after one week's tryout in my first leading part on Broadway.
Q: Of the screen are you as reserved and dignified as you usually appear to be on the screen?
A: If I am, I should be severely spoken to.
Q: Do you consider yourself a romantic figure?
A: That's none of my business.
Q: Why do columnists and interviewers refer to you as the Man in the Iron Mask?
A: Possibly because I dislike talking too much about myself. Interesting things are often unpublishable and the publishable things are so dull.
I am called 'high hat', 'aloof' and 'the hermit of Hollywood'. That isn't so. It isn't fair. I am merely demanding for myself the right to live quietly.
There was a scene once I didn't like and I will not put it higher than that. Bill Powell had got me to make a trip with him to Agua Caliente, the 'Monte Carlo' just across the Mexican border south of Los Angeles. Everyone in Hollywood goes there, and Bill convinced me it was worth a try. Well, I went.
We were standing in the bar having a quiet glass of ale and not bothering anybody. It was a beautiful spot and the ale was excellent. I was dubious about the place at first, but I was beginning to like it. And then the trouble began.
First it was a slightly inebriated man who thrust his countenance in front of my startled eyes and remarked:
-"I know you. You're Ronald Colman. You gotta have a drink with me."
I indicated that I had a drink, but it was useless. So Bill and I had a drink with the inebriated fellow. In the midst of that one another man, slightly more hilarious, came on the scene and craved the honour of buying Mr Ronald Colman a drink.
When I declined he got highly insulted.
-"Oh! He exclaimed in a loud voice. I suppose you think you are too good to drink with me! You picture stars think you are pretty good, don't you? You think – "
The matter was getting a bit out of hand when a third man thrust himself into the cast. He said:
-"I know you. You're Ronald Colman. You gotta dance with my wife. My wife's crazy about you. She wants to dance with you. Come on."
I explained that I was honoured, but I did not dance. It availed nothing. The woman's husband grabbed me by the coat to drag me dancewards, whereupon the first man grabbed my coat from the other side and proclaimed that I was his pal and that I was going to stay right there and have another little drink.
The ladies joined in and a quarter of an hour later I was hiding behind a night-blooming cereus in the patio, looking for a chance for a clean get-away…
Q: Are you temperamental?
A: Certainly – but not in the popular conception of it.
Q: Are you inclined to make snap judgments?
A: No, I am very deliberate.
Q: Do you consider yourself a sentimental person?
A: Very – 'Danny Boy' really gets me down.
Q: Do you usually travel incognito…and if so, do you get away with it?
A: I don't travel incognito, but when possible, I do have my name excluded from passenger lists. Thus I may find myself addressed as Baxter, Marshall, Olivier, Fairbanks Jr, etc.
Q: What would you do if you were dictator of Hollywood?
A: Abdicate immediately!
Q: During this interview have you answered every question truthfully?
A: Only one slight exaggeration. The Marlin swordfish was not quite 228 pounds…227 pounds and a half.
(NB the text above contains only genuine answers to interviews taken from vintage publications)
I hope you appreciated Ronald Colman's honesty and his lovely sense of humour.
Last edited by Ann Harding on May 19th, 2008, 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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moira finnie
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- Posts: 8024
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Ann, thank you so much for bringing Ronald Colman back to visit with us. I can hear that wonderful voice, always laughing a bit at himself. The "snapshots" are wonderful, especially the one from (I believe) "Random Harvest" Isn't that the scene in the village where Greer Garson first met him, when his memory finally begins to return?
Such a lovely way to start the day..sharing a cup of coffee with Mr. Colman
Nancy
Such a lovely way to start the day..sharing a cup of coffee with Mr. Colman
Nancy
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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Ann Harding
- Posts: 1246
- Joined: January 11th, 2008, 11:03 am
- Location: Paris
- Contact:
Hi everybody!
This being my first post I'd like to introduce myself: I'm from Germany, interested in silent and early talking movies and an acquaintance of Christine's!
Knitwit45, I believe you're a bit wrong about the snapshot, it's actually from Lost Horizon, just the moment when Conway casts a last look down on Shangri-La, which he is about to leave.
Christine, you've really done a marvellous "interview" and some great animations ( and let's hope you'll soon get to watch both Her Sister From Paris and Her Night of Romance). Just one quote about talking pictures though:
"The talking pictures, for instance. You will admit it is a supreme achievement of mechanics, even if you do not like it. The mechanical device is on the ascent. Interest has been centered on it for the past three or four centuries. And what happened to art? With every step forward that mechanics has made, that much has there been retrogression in art.
How do the Nathans, Fitzgeralds, Andersons of today's literary world compare with the Scotts, the Dickens of yesterday? And do they,in turn, rank with the Percy Shelleys and Byrons of the step before? It's the same in music, in painting. How does a futuristic painting compare with, say, a Da Siena, a Titian?"-Ronald Colman in Countenancing Mr Colman Motion Picture Feb 1929
Best wishes,
Daniela
This being my first post I'd like to introduce myself: I'm from Germany, interested in silent and early talking movies and an acquaintance of Christine's!
Knitwit45, I believe you're a bit wrong about the snapshot, it's actually from Lost Horizon, just the moment when Conway casts a last look down on Shangri-La, which he is about to leave.
Christine, you've really done a marvellous "interview" and some great animations ( and let's hope you'll soon get to watch both Her Sister From Paris and Her Night of Romance
). Just one quote about talking pictures though:"The talking pictures, for instance. You will admit it is a supreme achievement of mechanics, even if you do not like it. The mechanical device is on the ascent. Interest has been centered on it for the past three or four centuries. And what happened to art? With every step forward that mechanics has made, that much has there been retrogression in art.
How do the Nathans, Fitzgeralds, Andersons of today's literary world compare with the Scotts, the Dickens of yesterday? And do they,in turn, rank with the Percy Shelleys and Byrons of the step before? It's the same in music, in painting. How does a futuristic painting compare with, say, a Da Siena, a Titian?"-Ronald Colman in Countenancing Mr Colman Motion Picture Feb 1929
Best wishes,
Daniela
Hello, Daniela, and welcome to the friendliest board on the web! My oldest son lives and works in Koln, and I have been fortunate enough to visit him twice. What a lovely country you have.
Ann, sorry about the confusion on the clip, I guess I just wanted it to be from my favorite of his movies! It's a lovely clip, isn't it?
Thanks again for sharing so much info about him.
Nancy
Ann, sorry about the confusion on the clip, I guess I just wanted it to be from my favorite of his movies! It's a lovely clip, isn't it?
Thanks again for sharing so much info about him.
Nancy
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
Welcome, Daniela! One of our loveliest vacations was driving from Mainz, up the Rhine, down the Moselle, into Luxembourg, to Brussels/Bruges/Antwerp, to Aachen, to Koln (and back to the Frankfurt airport). And almost no other pesky American tourists along the way! We'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles