Author:
Susan
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Date Posted: 22:49:25 07/26/05 Tue
Thanks for the ideas. There are some good questions there. I've used one of them to update the poll, if you want to cast your votes!
Here are my answers (hope you don't mind a few Long John Silvers slipping in):
* Most subtle/restrained performance: This Happy Breed, Tom Brown's Schooldays, The Squeaker, Jamaica Inn, Fire Over England
* Handsomest: Night Boat to Dublin, Vessel of Wrath, Green Cockatoo, The Squeaker, They Flew Alone, Busman's Honeymoon, Major Barbara ... I'm also partial to his grungy look in Treasure Island and Oliver Twist.
* Most mellifluous: Androcles and the Lion, Major Barbara, Treasure Island, Baker of Barnbury, Henry V, Poison Pen, Busman's Honeymoon, Odd Man Out
* Most range: Waterfront, Obsession, Treasure Island, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Desert Rats
* Most challenging/complex: Desert Rats, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Oliver Twist, Treasure Island
(I know his performance in Treasure Island isn't considered by many people to be subtle, but considering the role had never been played quite the way he did it and that he managed to make Robert Louis Stevenson's villain even more beguiling and likable, I'd have to say that Long John Silver in Treasure Island was a challenging and complex role to play. To illustrate how much his interpretation has become a part of our culture, I just saw the Topsy Turvy, a movie about how Gilbert & Sullivan wrote the Mikado, and there was a reference to the Pirates of Penzance, prompting actor Timothy Spall to do a brief, anachronistic Robert Newton impression!)
* Overall most appealing: Long John Silver, Baker of Barnbury, Desert Rats ...
It's so hard to pick one or even just a few roles for each category. So many of his performances are a combination of all those things and more!
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