Sir Alec Guinness was, as none of you who know him don't need to be told, one of the greatest actors of the 20th Century. To most people, he is Obi-Wan Kenobi, the sagely Jedi who tutored Luke Skywalker in the ways of the force. A lot of people also know him for his various roles for director David Lean - Fagin in Oliver Twist, the Colonel in Bridge on the River Kwai, supporting turns in Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and (ack!) A Passage to India. Others will know him for his portrayal of John Le Carre's George Smiley for BBC, and more discerning film fans will note his hilarious unique and quirky Ealing comedies like Kind Hearts and Coronets or The Ladykillers. A very few may know of his stage work, where he expertly played everything from Shakespeare to Shaw to modern playwrights.
Sir Alec and I first crossed paths when I watched Star Wars as a kid. I didn't think much of the film, nor its sequels to be honest, and Sir Alec wasn't really remembered for that reason. But then I fell in love with Lawrence of Arabia, where he played the key supporting role of the cultured but duplictious Prince Feisal, and since then he's been an absolute favorite of mine.
Guinness is one of a select few actors - John Wayne, Audrey Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Cary Grant - whom I will actively seek out a film of just for their presence alone. What makes him special? His ability as a chameleon - to play any part, transcending national, class, and even racial and gender boundaries - witness his eight performances in Kind Hearts and Coronets. And his amazing voice.
I have to date seen 26 films with Sir Alec in them, more than any other actor I can think of. In honor of what would have been his 95th birthday, here is my evaluation of his screen performances:
Alec's Performances:
Great Expectations (1946, David Lean; with John Mills, Valerie Hobson, and Martita Hunt) - Herbert Pocket - A mite disappointing in my estimation, and it definitely suffers from the inevitable attempts to compress a Dickens tome to a two hour movie. Alec makes his first major screen appearance as Herbert Pocket, and sadly is nothing to write home about - although his rather green initial turn is among the least of the film's problems. Film: 7/10 Performance: 2/5
Oliver Twist (1948, David Lean; with John Howard Davies, Robert Newton, and Kay Walsh) - Fagin - A pretty good movie, though I can't stand to read Dickens so I can't comment on the novel. Alec's performance as Fagin is wonderfully disgusting - it's easy to see why it was perceived as an anti-Semitic stereotype, his very broad Jewish accent, the make-up with the hook nose, etc. - he's almost unrecognizable. Film: 8/10 Performance: 5/5
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949, Robert Hamer; with Dennis Price, Joan Greenwood, Valerie Hobson) - The D'Asconye Family - My first impression was... meh, pretty good but nothing to get worked up over. Alec's eight performances are amusing for the most part, but honestly I wasn't that impressed by it - however, his talent manages to avoid it being little more than a gimmick. Also, the movie dragged in spots, although when it was going it was going quickly. Dennis Price is fabulous too. Needs a rewatch. Film: 7/10 Performances: 4/5
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951, Charles Crichton; with Stanley Holloway, Sid James, Audrey Hepburn) - Henry Holland - Easily the best of the Ealings I've seen. Very short, lots of stuff going on, amusing characters, interesting plots. Stanley Holloway is wonderful and nice early cameos by Audrey Hepburn and Robert Shaw. Alec is at his comic best here as the mild-mannered criminal schemer. Film: 9/10 Performance: 5/5
Man in the White Suit (1951, Alexander Mackendrick; with Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough) - Sidney Stratton - Interesting film which actually tries to say something, satirizing big business, labor, and pretty much everything else. Not up to some of the other Ealings, however. Alec is generally amusing although it's not one of my favorite performances or films. Film: 7/10 Performance: 4/5
The Card (1952, Ronald Neame; with Glynnis John, Valerie Hobson, Petula Clark) - Denry Machin - A fairly light slice of fluff with Alec as a glad-handing, endlessly cheery young man who charms his way up the social ladder almost by accident. Nothing to write home about in spite of the great cast; Alec's performance is solid as usual but he's not able to add too much to the fairly light material. - Film: 6/10 Performance: 4/5
The Captain's Paradise (1953, Anthony Kimmins; with Celia Johnson, Yvonne DeCarlo, Charles Goldner) - Captain Henry St. James - Not an Ealing film, but very much in the same spirit. Either way it's one of Alec's absolute best comedies, a wonderfully dark attack on masculine ego and a just plain funny film in its own right. Alec gives one of his very best performances, getting to live out the masculine fantasy of having two very different wives (the wonderful Celia Johnson and Yvonne DeCarlo) in different ports to support his varied needs - until, of course, it all catches up with him. Lots of fun, with a wonderfully out-of-left-field ending that will have you rolling in the aisles. Film: 9/10 Performance: 5/5
The Prisoner (1955, Peter Glenville; with Jack Hawkins) - The Cardinal - A stuffy social/psychological drama which doesn't quite transcend its stage roots, and doesn't make a lot of points that haven't been covered, and better, in other films and plays. It's worth watching, however, for its powerful performances by Alec, as the dedicated Cardinal with a fatal weakness, and definitely Jack Hawkins, who has never been better than here. Film: 6/10 Performance: 5/5
The Ladykillers (1955, Alexander Mackendrick; with Peter Sellers, Katie Johnson, Herbert Lom)- Professor Marcus - This is one of those movies that I love if I'm in the right mood, though I haven't watched it in ages. A very good dark comedy, not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny but still amusing in a perverse way. Sir Alec is marvellously grotesque in this movie, with his Alastair Sim hair/make-up, his maniacal grin, and that wonderfully menacing voice and spastic mannerisms. Just a fun performance to watch. For a bit of self-indulgence, I shall not that I based my performance in my High School Musical ("I'm Sorry, the Bridge is Out") off of Professor Marcus (and voice of Prince Feisal). Film: 8/10 Performance: 5/5
The Swan (1956, Charles Vidor; with Grace Kelly, Louis Jordan, Agnes Moorehead) - Prince Albert - This film is pretty much a routine costume drama, notable mostly for being Grace Kelly's last film. Alec does what he can, but his part is poorly written and uninteresting so he's not up to much - at least not until the very end. Film: 5/10 Performance: 3/5
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, David Lean; with William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa) - Colonel Nicholson - One of my favorite performances and films of all time. Perhaps it isn't as flashy as some of his other performances, but Guinness played Colonel Nicholson perfectly - his stubbornness and twisted sense of pride, his humanity and vulnerability, his blind sense of duty and confusion in the chaos of war. The end of the movie, where he realizes the ramifications of his actions ("What have I done?"), is one of the most brilliantly subtle bits of acting in film history. Film: 9/10 Performance: 5+/5
The Horse's Mouth (1958, Ronald Neam; with Kay Walsh, Michael Gough, Renee Houston) - Gulley Jimson - Guinness' funniest film aside from Lavender Hill Mob. The only performance I would definitely put above this is Kwai, and maybe a few others if I were in the right mood. Lovely supporting cast, particularly Michael Gough and the great Kay Walsh, but it's Alec's show all the way - his Gully Jimson is one of the funniest characters ever created, allowing Alec to utilize all of his talents of voice, mime, expressions, everything imaginable. Oh, and he wrote the screenplay too. Film 8/10 Performance: 5+/5
Our Man in Havana (1959, Carol Reed; with Ernie Kovacs, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara) - Jim Wormold - Starts out as a fun spy-spoof in the vein of the best of the Ealing comedies, then makes an abrupt U-turn into a dark and serious thriller in the last half hour, without much success. Alec seems unable to cope with the change of character - however versatile an actor Alec is, a hard-boiled tough guy he is not - and it's the supporting cast which does most of the heavy lifting as a result. Film: 8/10 Performance: 3/5
Tunes of Glory (1960, Ronald Neame; with John Mills, Denis Price, Susannah York) - Major Jock Sinclair - A fantastic character study about the clash of wills between two tough-minded military officers on a remote army base in northern Scotland. Uniformly strong performances, with Alec giving one of his very best turns as Jock Sinclair, a deceptively chummy man who turns out to be an egotistical bully. However, it must be noted that he is matched, and perhaps even bettered, by John Mills, an actor I ordinarily dislike, as his much more sympathetic rival. Film: 8/10 Performance: 5/5
Lawrence of Arabia (1962, David Lean; with Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn) - Prince Feisal - A smallish part, but very well-played. Guinness's accent is a bit dodgy, but he does a nice job of investing Feisal with a combination of dignity and weary cynicism. This is a part very well-suited for Guinness's talents, and I personally have to think that this performance, along with Yevgraf Zhivago and maybe Marcus Aurelius, is the basis for his being cast as Obi Wan Kenobi. Film: 10/10 Performance: 5/5
The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964, Anthony Mann; with Sophia Loren, Steven Boyd, Christopher Plummer) - Emperor Marcus Aurelius - An overlong, overbloated historical epic, with Guinness's brilliant performance as the tragic Emperor Marcus Aurelius being arguably the sole reason for watching. He's miles better than Richard Harris in the part, at any rate, although to be fair Gladiator is considerably better as a whole. Film: 6/10 Performance: 5/5
Doctor Zhivago (1965, David Lean; with Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Geraldine Chaplin) - General Yevgraf Zhivago - While Yevgraf is a small part, and arguably inconsequential to the story, he somehow manages to stand out despite very limited screen time - particularly for his wonderful monologue about World War I. I think most of the credit should go to Robert Bolt's screenplay, with Guinness giving a wonderful amount of gravitas and dignity to what's essentially a glorified cameo appearance. Film: 8/10 Performance: 4/5
The Quiller Memorandum (1966, Michael Anderson; with George Segal, Senta Berger, Max Von Sydow) - Pol - I don't understand why this film seems to be so highly acclaimed, it's a boring-as-hell spy film that takes a pretty good cast and an interesting story and turns it into rubbish. Alec plays the spy-master Pol, and it's basically a cameo: he's in three brief scenes and flits in and out of the story doing little of import. Film: 4/10 Performance: 2/5
Caesar and Cleopatra (1974, James Cellan Jones; with Genevieve Bujold, Ian Cuthbertson, Noel Willman) - Julius Caesar - A rather dry and static made-for-TV adaptation of the shaw play. Guinness, Genvieve Bujold and the rest of the cast give creditable performances, but they're done in by the limitations inherent in the format. Film: 5/10 Performance: 4/5
Murder by Death (1976, Robert Moore; with Peter Sellers, Peter Falk, Maggie Smith) - Bensonmum - A wonderful, endlessly funny detective spoof - very much in the vein of Clue - with a wonderful ensemble cast playing spoofs of some of literature and cinema's best-known detectives. Alec's role as the blind butler is a fairly minor turn and he's one of the least remarkable performances of the film, but considering the talent around him that's almost to be expected. His final scene, where the murder is repeatedly "solved" and his identity(identities) revealed, is Alec at his absolute best, however. Film: 9/10 Performance: 3/5
Star Wars (1977, George Lucas; with Mark Hammil, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford) - Obi-Wan Ben Kenobi - I think Star Wars and its sequels are okay but nothing special. I do think that Alec, despite his clear distaste for the role, was the best choice for Obi-Wan, and the character is perfectly suited for his talent. Film: 6/10 Performance: 5/5 No additional comments on Empire or Jedi, where he had miniscule cameos.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979, John Irvin; with Michael Jayston, Bernard Hepton, Terence Rigby) - George Smiley - As much as I'd love to give a glowing review of this acclaimed miniseries, I must admit I found it rather convoluted, stuffy, dry, and even dull in spots - not really my line of country. It must be said, however, that Alec is absolutely perfect for the role of George Smiley, the experienced spymaster who skillfully and methodically tracks down a mole within MI6. Not one of his better films, but one of his very best performances. Film: 6/10 Performance: 5/5
A Passage to India (1984, David Lean; with Judy Davis, Peggy Ashcroft, James Fox) - Professor Godbole - This is a brilliant movie, IMO, on a par with "Lawrence" as Lean's best film, but the casting of Guinness as the Indian mystic Godbole is just off. The make-up job is reasonable enough, but he's nothing more than a caricature; he looks and sounds like a Muppet. I don't think he's bad enough to be truly offensive, but it seems like Alec was just tossing this performance off. He has one nice moment with Peggy Ashcroft at the train station - but it's a wordless, thirty-second scene, which says a lot. A pity, as the character of Godbole was significantly expanded from the original novel just for him. Film: 10/10 Performance: 2/5
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