The Silver Screen Oasis

O' Toole strikes me as the most charming of the Hellraisers. He never seems sullen or violent. He seems to have had a pretty good time, without too much nastiness. Is that true?

Definetly, I've just reviewed the book, he seems a kind man, one who is kind to new cast members and directors. One director, I can't remember which one, with a few credits to his name was terrfied of directing O'Toole because he was such a legend, O'Toole realised and asked for the direction. He seems a sweet man.

What do you suppose the reason is that O'Toole wasn't as bad tempered? Was it in his background? Or maybe something in the other's background that made them more... well... crazy?

Moving from the sublime to the silly, I watched What's New Pussycat? (1965) a few days ago. For his part, O'Toole doesn't need to "be funny"--rather, he just remains earnest in the midst of zany situations. Where other 'serious actors' might have balked at such a vehicle, he seems to have been a very good sport about it. He's generous to the other actors, and generous (with his talent and attention) to the material.

Your description, intothenitrate, is perfect - he's a man who can be a superb actor, but he never takes himself seriously. This is why I adore Peter O'Toole.

I've never seen What's New Pussycat but have put it on my rental list after reading the book. I do love How To Steal A Million. Peter O'Toole seems to have a wicked sense of humour, pursuading Audrey Hepburn to have a drink or two before the take, something she would never otherwise do, she promptly did her scene, driving the little mini, straight into the set and demolished it.

I think that Peter O'Toole just wasn't as aggressive as the others, Richard Harris sounds a nightmare, liking a good fight. Peter O'Toole did get jailed for the odd punch up, like when he attacked a policeman in Paris because he'd seen a policeman earlier hassling some poor person. It's Oliver Reed and Richard Harris who liked the fighting. Apperently the Gaelic liver can handle a lot of booze.

Does America have anyone comparable? Apart from Charlie Sheen of course.

I've got a recording of the TV movie Svengali (1983) that was sent to me by mistake when I ordered the Barrymore film. Amazon let me keep it and rushed me the proper disc. I only watched it once, but it's got O'Toole playing opposite Jodie Foster. I'll take a look at it and get back with you.

That sounded interesting when I read about it. It was Jodie's first role after the shooting of Ronald Reagan, Peter O'Toole was quite protective of her, which is another thing I liked about him, he seemed to care about his fellow actors, unlike the others. The author thought he was wrong in the casting because his boozing had prematurely aged him. I'd love to know what you think when you watch it.

This is my first post on this thread ... its regarding to Peter O'Toole movie Lawrence of Arabia EPIC film. For one thing this movie is exactly 216 minutes ... That's 3 hours and 36 minutes long folks. To me, this movie is around 25-35 minutes too long for me ... I do enjoy this movie members, but they need to do more "editing of the film" to make it more worthwhile watching it. I just recently saw this movie about a year ago at a friend's place and I forgot how long this film was. It was on TCM (in the last 3 weeks, and I did not want to watch it, because it was a tad too long a film) and forgo watching it and decided to watch Charles Boyer's film Algiers again with Hedy Lamarr instead.

Getting back to the movie ... I have watching it because its tends to bore me "in places" and I often "fall asleep" watching it. This movie showcased O'Toole's grandeur and I do love him as an actor ... but this film is way too long ... and I feel very frustrated enjoying this wonderful film about TE Lawrence of whom I read so much in my many history classes in both High School and College. Not to mention, its won 7 Academy Awards too. This is a POWERHOUSE film ... but, members ... its way too long for me to watch it ... and I for one ... had a very hard time following it. Its has too much dialogue ... and being hard of hearing ... I have trouble enjoying it.

A few years back when Lawrence was in heavy rotation on TCM, MrCutter and I watched it. About half way through the film he turned to me and said, "The photography reminds me of those John Ford films we've been watching."

I had to admit he was right and it was that moment that I realized that TCM and I were having a postive effect on MrCutter's movie watching.

Ha! That's priceless, Lynn!

I think it's been released in different editions, I think the original issue might have been shorter but the fashion to make things longer when they came to video perhaps meant the longer version was used. It is a long movie and for a movie that doesn't have a female role in it I'm surprised that I find it as watchable as I do. It makes me shiver as Lawrence gets more and more bloodthirsty.

I think the scenery is the most stunning I've seen on film, but I'm content to leave it on the film, I have no desire to visit the area. Lean did such a good job I've no need to see it. I wonder if that's the same with Monument valley, it's more accessible and safer but did Ford and other directors make it more impressive by using the best angles etc?