Ronald Colman

[pvitari]

But when he stands at the gate of the cottage and says, "Paula"....wow.

You can say THAT again. That is, Ronald Colman can say that again. :) As many times as he likes. :)

-- Paula

[JackFavell]

Love Random Harvest! and Smithy. And that cottage!

[Ann Harding]

If I am a devoted admirer of Colman in Lost Horizon, I never understood the appeal of Random Harvest. I guess this fantasy version of England after WWI is just too unbelievable for me. And Le Roy's direction is like treacle. Give me Brief Encounter anytime!
(and don't misunderstand me, I am a HUGE Colman fan. In fact, I created that thread years ago...)

[knitwit45]

I guess that's what these threads are all about...freedom to agree or disagree. (But I still LOVE RH. )

[feaito]

Paula, Nothing doing with this subject, sorry....Your avatar is a screencap from Sunny Side Up??

[JackFavell]

I agree AnnHarding... we all have our differing opinions and I appreciate that you state your opinions matter of factly, not with a lot of emotionally charged wording... it makes it easy to see a differing viewpoint.

I like Colman best with that little bit of the rascal thrown into his characters.... that's probably why I like Rudolf Rassendyll and Raffles so much.

[pvitari]

Feaito, the avatar is Charles Farrell & Janet Gaynor in The Man Who Came Back... not a "great" movie but has a very underappreciated performance by Charlie IMHO. (For once I think he outshines Janet!)

The Man Who Came Back is one of a slew of Charlie & Janet talkies being held hostage in the vaults at Fox -- they don't show them on FMC, they don't release them on DVD... it's VERY frustrating. If I were king, my first proclamation would be the release of the "Complete Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor Talkies" box set. ;) From carefully transferred, newly remastered elements, on pressed DVD -- with none of those godawful ghosting lines that afflict the MGM/UA DVD-Rs released by Fox!

Random Harvest is fantasy but not any less than plenty of other movies from the studio system. I just go with it -- very very happily go with it -- as something that is the way we'd like it to be, rather than the way it is. If you look at it realistically, then Ronald Colman is 25 years too old for his role, and that whole amnesia gimmick is ridiculous. But I simply refuse to look at it that way. :) I wonder if the movie brought back many memories for Colman, who did see combat in World War I and sustained a bad leg wound. He walked with a slight limp for some years afterwards.

[charliechaplinfan]

I wish you were king, I'd buy those discs.

I'm not a fan of Random Harvest, it just doesn't work for me but I'm glad it does for so many, nothing can beat an unashamedly romantic movie.

[feaito]

Paula, thanks for the feedback. How sad about those Fox films! Didn't TMWCB feature a scene in an Opium Den? (Very Pre-Code) I seem to recall that from a still I saw in Vieira's Book Sin in Soft Focus.

[pvitari]

Didn't TMWCB feature a scene in an Opium Den? (Very Pre-Code)

Sure did. Charlie's been shanghaied by his father's henchmen -- literally. He's sent to Shanghai. Poor Janet thinks she's been abandoned, but she follows him to Shanghai anyway and becomes a dope fiend. He becomes an alcoholic. He wanders into an opium den looking not for a toke but for a drink, and who just happens to be there? Janet! She's resentful, he's determined to rescue her and get both of them clean. And for a while they do get clean. Then complications ensue, etc.

Charlie in the opium den realizing that the woman he's looking at is Janet. The moment when he realizes this is one of my favorite bits of Charlie acting... the slow change of expression from disinterest to realization to horror is terrific. I always say that when it came to physical acting, he was superb. He was a great silent movie actor.


Janet not so innocent and sweet anymore.


As you can see my copy of this movie isn't exactly pristine. I wonder what shape Fox's elements are in.

And we now return you to the regular conversation about Ronald Colman, who did his own druggie movie, The Masquerader, which showed up on TCM some time ago so now it's stashed safely on my DVR, although I have a rather crummy DVD copy of it too. In fact, The Masquerader is kind of a prequel to The Prisoner of Zenda, because in it he plays lookalike cousins -- one's a drug addict, going mad Member of Parliament, the other is a journalist. When the MP gets so sick he can't get out of bed, the journalist is persuaded to pretend to be him so important work in Parliament may continue. Of course there is a romantic entanglement too. :) It's really quite a fascinating movie, and Colman is great.

[JackFavell]

I totally agree with you about Charlie Farrell, he was a great silent actor.

You're description of Random Harvest is super....I find that no matter how jaded I feel, I cannot NOT be swept up by it.

The Masquerader is a film I've never gotten to see.... I didn't know it played on TCM! There is no way I would have missed this one had I seen it on the schedule.

[feaito]

Paula, Thanks for that info on TMWCB and the screencaps, and for the additional information on Colman's "The Masquerader"!!

[intothenitrate]

I'm definitely adding all of your film picks to my "watch list," everyone. Besides Lost Horizon, the only other Colman film I have is Lucky Partners, discussed a few pages back. Whereas LH has everything going for it--story, sets, cast, direction--LP is not quite so richly supplied (as Ann Harding so deftly points out). Still, Colman brings out those same, signature qualities. He stands for good manners and respectfulness in a coarsened world. I love him for that.

[intothenitrate]

If I am a devoted admirer of Colman in Lost Horizon, I never understood the appeal of Random Harvest. I guess this fantasy version of England after WWI is just too unbelievable for me. And Le Roy's direction is like treacle. Give me Brief Encounter anytime!
(and don't misunderstand me, I am a HUGE Colman fan. In fact, I created that thread years ago...)

I saw a quote somewhere attributed to Walter Huston a while back that I can't find now. (I thought I had read it on IMDB). It was something to the effect, "I don't get paid to deliver great lines, I get paid to sell lousy lines and make them believable." Does anyone else know that one? It may have been part of a poster's signature at one point.

This sentiment has been a key to my more recent appreciation of people's work, to see what they can make out of a hodge-podge thrown together by producers and executives. When an actor is in my "I'd-watch-anything-they-were-in" category--and the film is somewhat flawed--I now enjoy watching them try to make it work, in spite of the handicaps.

[Ann Harding]

I think what irks me with Random Harvest is the way the film is constructed. It's a very MGM view of England: totally unrealistic. After WWI, people were living in abject poverty (and this is the way James Hilton describes their life in the novel). In the film, we get this perfect little cottage with flounced curtains. Ridiculous! I loath literaly the score by Herbert Stothart: sickly, boring and lacking in momentum. I am ready to accept unrealistic situation, but at least it has to be built properly. Let's take Now Voyager, it's a silly melodrama on paper. But, the film has momentum and a great score (by Max Steiner). It's sadly lacking in Random Harvest. If you ever read one day Hilton's novel (and don't forget he also wrote Lost Horizon!), there is another film waiting to be made: much sharper, with less sweetness and more believable.

Regarding The Masquerader, you are right, pvitari. Colman played often double roles. In fact he started during the silent era in The Magic Flame (1927, H. King). Colman plays a nasty crown prince and a circus clown. Alas, the film is lost. But, I translated a novelization of the film for SSO a while back. It's accessible here. I included many pictures of the film to illustrate the story.