Happy Birthday to a film favorite — Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman, award-winning actor of stage and cinema, radio and television — and one of my favorite stars of the cinema — was born on this day in 1891. Colman was a man of another time and another place than those we now know, but his performances continue to capture us and move us. Maybe it was his good looks … maybe it was his charm … maybe it was that voice of his, and his wonderful delivery, which served him so well when he made the move from silent films to ‘the talkies.’ Or maybe it was all of the above, brought together in one very special package.
We might never have come to appreciate him, if he had pursued his original intention to study engineering… or if his service in the Great War had taken a tragic turn. Things were different back then, especially in England, where few were content to remain at home. Colman — along with fellow actors Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall and Basil Rathbone — enlisted in the army, and was among the first to fight in World War I. In 1914, at the Battle of Messines, Colman was seriously wounded by shrapnel in his leg, which led to his being released from service.
You have to wonder, though, if that service left an indelible mark upon Colman, and upon what he would bring to the characters he played in the course of his career. Some of my favorite performances by him are all characters who have been out in the world, and have come home with weariness and wounds from that experience … Robert Conway in “Lost Horizon,” Dick Heldar in “The Light That Failed,” John Smith in “Random Harvest” and — perhaps most of all — Sydney Carton in “Tale of Two Cities” … to me, it is a far, far better performance than anyone else has ever done.
But whatever the role, Colman always brought a sense of grace and style, even panache, to his portrayal that was not easily duplicated, no matter how often filmmakers might try in later re-makes.
There aren’t very many (non-subscription) online resources for Ronald Colman (at least, when compared to other stars). There is his Wikipedia write-up, and there are pages devoted to him on Internet Broadway Database and Internet Movie Database.
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We dedicate this comment to King Leonardo’s faithful skunk-sistant Odie Colognie, (“Ah, Sire!”), known not just to speak perfect English, but in an urbane lilt sounding for all the world like Ronald Colman…
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&newwindow=1&q=%22odie%20cologne%22%20%22ronald%20colman%22
Scott, good one … Odie Cologne borrowed more than just his voice from Colman. He was also called upon to be a point of calmness in the midst of King Leonardo’s animated antics … which is something Colman’s characters were often called upon to be, as well … just take out King Leonardo, and insert Madame Defarge.
From our Great Minds Think Alike (And So Do We) file: flipping channels a couple of hours ago, I saw that Kismet, with Colman and Marlene Dietrich from 1944, was running on Turner Classic Movies; The Talk of the Town was on right before it.