Today would have been the 100th birthday of one of the most acclaimed actors of all time, Laurence Olivier. Famous primarily for being one of the great interpreters of Shakespeare, Olivier was also a romantic leading man when younger. Appearing in much more commercial fare as he became older, producers would sign up Olivier as his name proved to bait other actors eager to work with the master actor. Olivier also directed several films, most based on Shakespeare’s plays winning Best Actor and Best Picture for his 1948 version of Hamlet. The following list are five films starring Olivier representing some of his best non-Shakespearean work. As the Bard might have put it, “to see, or not to see, that is the question.” The following films are available on DVD.
1. Rebecca (1940) Olivier stars as the man still haunted by the wife who dies under mysterious circumstances. Joan Fontaine plays the second wife who is made unwelcomed by the housekeeper. This was Alfred Hitchcock’s first Hollywood film, and the second Best Picture winner in a row for producer David O. Selznick. Selznick’s previous winner, an indie production titled Gone with the Wind starred the future second Mrs. Olivier, Vivien Leigh.
2. Carrie (1952) In 1939, while Vivien Leigh made Gone with the Wind, Olivier was filming Wuthering Height with director William Wyler. Thirteen years later, Vivien Leigh is shooting the film that won her a second Best Actress Oscar, A Streetcar named Desire. Olivier is again working with William Wyler. Not to be confused with a Stephen King novel, Wyler’s film is about a man of some financial means who loses it all when he leaves his wife for a younger, prettier woman. Olivier was nominated for Best Actor by the British Academy.
3. The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) One of the most unlikely screen pairings is Olivier with Marilyn Monroe. Olivier found directing Monroe to be frustrating, although he was happy with what appeared on the screen. The film is an enjoyable trifle with a reputation that’s grown over the years.
4. Khartoum (1966) Olivier wore dark make-up to portray “The Mahdi”, a Muslim warrior. The film, about British soldiers in a hopeless battle in the Middle East in the late 19th Century. For those following current events, the story is remarkably contemporary indicating how little things have changed.
5. Marathon Man (1976) Going to the dentist is scary enough. Worse is a Nazi dentist who thinks you know the location of missing diamonds. Laurence Olivier plays the dentist from Hell while Dustin Hoffman is the unlucky guy in need of industrial strenth novocaine. Audiences flinch just from the sound of the drill.
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