LAURENCE OLIVIER, born this day in 1907

His Richard III rules everything. Though I have not seen his Hamlet or his Lear.

obviously rebecca will win.

he's fine in Carrie (Dreiser, not King)

Fwiw, 'That Hamilton Woman' was released here as 'Lady Hamilton'.

Carrie is his best performance.

The NPR tribute I heard 20 minutes ago was sickly (re dueling acting styles in Marathon Man: Dustin Hoffman = "feeling", Olivier = "technique")

now is the winter of our discontent

write-in vote

obviously rebecca will win.

-- Frogman Henry, Tuesday, 22 May 2007 19:35 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

I voted for that one! Lots of great films on that list, but "Rebecca" was still an easy choice. It's so charming, and both Olivier and Joan Fontaine are great & very sympathetic.

I'd like to see "Perfect Understanding", from 1933 w/Gloria Swanson!

from imdb's page on "Rebecca":

Because star 'Laurence Olivier' wanted his then-girlfriend 'Vivien Leigh' to play the lead role, he treated 'Joan Fontaine' horribly. This shook 'Joan Fontaine' up quite a bit, so 'Alfred Hitchcock (I)' decided to capitalize on this by telling her EVERYONE on the set hated her, thus making her shy and uneasy on the set - just what 'Alfred Hitchcock (I)' wanted from her performance.

LOL, Hitchcock in "unbelievably hateful borderline psychopath" shocker.

I'm with Kael on Rebecca: one of his rare poor performances by his standard: too pinched and one-dimensional. Still magnetic (rowr).

The NPR tribute I heard 20 minutes ago was sickly (re dueling acting styles in Marathon Man: Dustin Hoffman = "feeling", Olivier = "technique")

Is this the story where he asks Hoffman, who hasn't slept in days, why he doesn't simply act?

yeah Kenan... "I HAFF NO ZUN!"

Wow, I didn't realize Raphaelson worked that long!

he's really funny w/ the Midwest accent in The Betsy. "It's the GAR!"

http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/Olivier.jpg

I was expecting Titans to be the first pile of paycheck crap someone put forth, but Neil Diamond won out. how about his Polaroid voiceovers?

Don't forget Inchon!.

Easy, since I never saw.

"The Jazz Singer"? Where the "greatest actor of his generation" is out-acted by Neil Diamond?

I should have voted for my childhood favorite Spartacus -- Roman triumvir as proto-fascist/sodomist.

Oysters and snails for you? (that scene wasn't even in there then)

The ILX Great Artist threads always race to the bottom. 20 years from now, Robert de Niro's obit thread will focus on the Rocky & Bullwinkle movie.

Is this the story where he asks Hoffman, who hasn't slept in days, why he doesn't simply act?

i was just gonna say this! i was told he said, "my dear boy, why don't you try acting?" but that's too good to be true

btw, the failed standup comedian in me voted for The Entertainer. "Let me know where you're playing tomorrow and I'll come see you."

see Eric, I knew this would make the Cannes poll look like American Idol.

i figured i'd be the only one who voted for merchant of venice. it's a bland made-for-tv production and woefully edits out some of the best lines ("i hate him for he is a christian"), but olivier's shylock is one of my favorite performances ever. he's at once utterly sympathetic and utterly frightening. i much prefer it to his hamlet or henry (i like richard, but haven't seen it in years).

i caught as you like it on TCM last summer. it's ok; olivier is young and charming in it, but the girl who plays rosalind is so abominable she ruins the whole thing.

His accent in 49th Parallel is classic.

so hott, this man.

caught 'rebecca' last night. had to keep reminding myself i wasn't watching robert shaw.

but what about Olivier?

saucer of milk for my friend here

holy crap that new criterion transfer of Richard III

John Simon touts new bio

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/books/review/philip-zieglers-olivier.html

btw, the failed standup comedian in me voted for The Entertainer. "Let me know where you're playing tomorrow and I'll come see you."

This was on last night, normally the involvement of Olivier, John Osborne AND Tony Richardson would be enough to torpedo any project but this is still a good watch - and Olivier IS good in it, he's a pretty good dancer for a start! Everyone is so West End posh in it though, so it's a relief when Thora Hird and Miriam Karlin show up. The poshness could be explained away as the faked gentility of fading show business types but it's grating nonetheless - Brenda de Banzie's performance as stereotypical Osborne stupid hysterical woman is especially grating.

... Roger Livesey as his old dad though, fantastic.