On Tuesday night I went with Brian to see Murder on the Orient Express at Film Forum, part of a Sidney Lumet retrospective. Who knew the same guy directed this and Serpico? Probably lots of people, but I’m slow on the uptake. Anyway, I hadn’t seen it since I was a kid, and it was thoroughly entertaining. The cast assembled for this was incredible—I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many well-respected British actors on one screen. Among the cast there was one Dame, two Sirs, and one almost-Dame. (Vanessa Redgrave allegedly refused the title in 1999.)More importantly, nearly all were acclaimed stage actors, particularly Shakespearean. This got me thinking. Did this generation of movie stars in the UK all get their start in the theater? And why does it seem to happen in the reverse for American actors? They often only deign to go on Broadway after they’ve become famous in film or television.
Additionally, I feel like the Shakespeare-first experience isn’t the case with today’s crop of British actors. Can you imagine Jason Statham as Macbeth? Simon Pegg as Shylock? Robert Carlyle as Hamlet? (Actually, that would be kind of cool.) I just wonder if the paradigm for career paths within the British acting community is shifting.
Most importantly of all though, was the shocking revelation that Albert Finney (not a Sir… yet) played Hercule Poirot, Daddy Warbucks, and Ed Masry in Erin Brockovich. Versatile man, he.
* Hercule Poirot
1 comments:
I haven't seen either of those films, so I can't really comment there. But I would very much like to see a Shakespearean film starring Jason Statham, Simon Pegg, and Robert Carlyle. Of course, we'll need Helena Bonham Carter to play the coked-out eccentric.
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