John Gielgud Movies
One of the theatre's greatest legends, Sir John Gielgud spent almost 80 of the 96 years of his life appearing in countless plays that saw him portray every major Shakespearean role. The last surviving member of a generation of classical actors that included Laurence Olivier, Peggy Ashcroft, and Ralph Richardson, Gielgud worked up to a month before his death, performing in over 50 films and numerous television productions when he wasn't busy with his stage work.The grandnephew of famed stage actress Ellen Terry, Gielgud was born in London on August 14, 1904. He received his education at Westminster School and would have studied to be an architect had he not rebelled against his parents by announcing his plans to be an actor. Persuading his parents to let him train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Gielgud promised them that if he had failed to make a stage career by the age of 25, he would become an architect.
As it turned out, Gielgud was playing Hamlet by the time he was 26, having made his stage debut eight years earlier at the Old Vic. His reputation was made in 1924, when he played Romeo to rave reviews; in addition to Hamlet, roles in plays by Chekov and Ibsen followed, and in 1928, Gielgud traveled to the U.S. for the first time to play the Grand Duke Alexander in The Patriot. The epitome of the kind of old-school Englishness associated with the Victorian theatre, he went on to break theatre box office records when he brought his Hamlet to Broadway in the 1930s.
Gielgud began appearing on the big screen in the 1920s, and over the course of the next seven decades, he lent his name to films of every imaginable genre and level of quality. In addition to starring in a number of film adaptations of Shakespeare, he could be seen in projects as disparate as Orson Welles' Chimes at Midnight (1967), the 1977 porn extravaganza Caligula, and Peter Greenaway's Prospero's Books (1991), in which he was able to fulfill a lifelong dream by playing the role of the Shakespearean patriarch Prospero.
In 1981, Gielgud was awarded his only Oscar for his portrayal of Dudley Moore's butler in Arthur; he reprised the role for the film's 1988 sequel, despite the fact that the character had died. Gielgud continued to appear onscreen until the year preceding his death, making enthusiastically-received turns in Shine (1996), in which he played pianist David Helfgott's mentor; Al Pacino's Looking for Richard (1996); and Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth (1998), in which he made a brief appearance as the Pope.
Gielgud also did notable work on television, particularly in Brideshead Revisited (1981), which cast him as a stodgily eccentric patriarch, and Merlin (1998), a lavish and well-received take on Arthurian legend. He wrote several books as well, including an autobiography entitled Early Stages. Gielgud was knighted in 1953 and was honored on his 90th birthday with the decision to rename the West End's Globe Theatre as the Gielgud Theatre. He died on May 21, 2000, at the age of 96, having spent the last 25 years of his life with his partner, Martin Hensler. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
The murders by the infamous British criminal, Jack the Ripper, catch the attention of Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer), but he does not receive the expected call from Scotland Yard because he is being purposefully excluded from the investigation. Instead, Robert Lees (Donald Sutherland), a psychic who volunteered information to the police about the murders, provides the Great Detective with the necessary incitement to action. As the murders proceed, it becomes clear to all concerned that it is more important to stop them than to announce their solution, and Holmes enters the fray with the help of his trusty aide, Dr. Watson (James Mason). The former mistress of a "prominent personage," Annie Crook (Genevieve Bujold), provides crucial information leading to a final confrontation on London's docks. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, James Mason, (more)
- 1979
- R
This routine espionage drama is based on a novel by Graham Greene about a low-level British informant who is caught in a trap. Castle (Nicol Williamson) has a desk job in British intelligence. Around him are heavyweights like Col. Daintry (Richard Attenborough), Sir John Hargreaves (Richard Vernon), and Percival (Robert Morley) who will cold-bloodedly stop at nothing to do their jobs as they see fit. And Castle certainly is a nobody compared to them. One day when a friend of his in Africa needs some help, Castle is conned into supplying the Eastern block countries with info on demand. No one suspects him because of his low position, but when his office partner is hauled off, Castle begins to rethink his situation. This was director Otto Preminger's last film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, (more)
The 1979 TV movie Les Miserables was advertised as the 12th feature film to be based on the 1862 Victor Hugo novel (and that was a modest estimate). This time, Richard Jordan is the persecuted French ex-convict Jean Valjean, and Anthony Perkins is the relentless police officer Javert, who dogs Valjean's trail for forty years. Screenwriter John Gay does a nice compression job on Hugo's mammoth novel, including most of the familiar episodes ("The Bishop's Candlesticks" etc.) and reintroducing several vignettes that had been ignored by earlier adaptations. Norman Rosemont produced Les Miserables on a lavish scale in both England and France, populating the cast with several of Europe and America's best actors (including veteran Claude Dauphin, in his last screen appearance). Les Miserables debuted as a three-hour "IBM Special" on December 27, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1977
The first English-language film from Alain Resnais, this drama about a spiteful, alcoholic novelist contains the French director's typically playful surrealist touches and recurring use of characters shackled by memory. John Gielgud stars as Clive Langham, a drunken author in failing health who spends an increasingly intoxicated evening at his Rhode Island estate working on his new novel. Clive bases the characters in the melodramatic story on his own family, including his two sons, Claude (Dirk Bogarde) and the illegitimate Kevin (David Warner), as well as Claude's wife Sonia (Ellen Burstyn). Imagining a bitter love triangle full of spite between the three protagonists of his tale, Clive uses generous doses of imagination and symbolism, including a discordant soccer player (Denis Lawson) related to Kevin and werewolves. When his real-life family appears for a meal with Clive, however, they are not quite the embittered, devious players in the author's booze-fueled fiction. Although dividing critics between those delighted with Resnais' comic flourishes and others annoyed by his arty pretensions, Providence (1977) swept the Cesar Awards, France's Oscar equivalent, winning seven including Best Director for Resnais. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Ellen Burstyn, (more)
The 1977 BBC feature adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1919 theatrical opus Heartbreak House can be relished again and again in this home video release. A response to the First World War, the play dramatizes Captain Shotover's weekend party at his Sussex estate for his two daughters and their freewheeling artiste friends, including such indelible characters as Boss Mangan, Ellie Dunn and Hector Hushabye. The narrative explores the various romantic attachments that form and dissolve over the course of a few days. Heartbreak represents a defiant call to the audience, Shaw demanding (through the drama) that viewers step back to reestimate and reevaluate how they live and which life-priorities are most important. Directed by Cedric Messina, the '77 miniseries stars such legends as Sir John Gielgud, Lesley Anne-Down and Daniel Massey. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gielgud
- 1977
Adapted by Judith Rascoe from James Joyce's first novel, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is told through the eyes of Joyce's alter ego Stephen Dedalus. Played by Bosco Hogan, Dadelus comes of age in many ways when he attends Dublin University. The film retains Joyce's pointed, inquisitive barbs at Catholicism, a fact that caused as nearly much uneasiness in 1977 as it did when the novel was first published. Also retained are vestiges of Joyce's stream-of-consciousness technique, though producer/director Joseph Strick adopts a more cinematic narrative approach. In 1967, Strick had produced the film version of Joyce's Ulysses; several of the cast members of that earlier film (T. P. McKenna, Rosaleen Linehan, Maureen Potter) are reunited for Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Tony Richardson attempts to re-create the glory days of Tom Jones in this adaptation of the 1742 Henry Fielding novel. Peter Firth stars in this picaresque tale as Joseph Andrews, a young servant switched at birth who undergoes a series of romantic escapades. Joseph even has the fortune of becoming the personal footman to Lady Booby (Ann-Margaret). Joseph's romantic peccadilloes cause consternation among a collection of stuffy noblemen and women in 18th-century England. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann-Margret, Peter Firth, (more)
- 1976
Malcolm McDowell plays a World War I air ace, in charge of an elite squadron. Outwardly a bastion of courage, McDowell dies a little every time one of his boys is killed. To steel his nerves, he takes to drink, which has an adverse effect on his abilities. Christopher Plummer staunchly portrays McDowell's commanding officer. Aces High is a remake of Journey's End (1930), which in turn was based on a play by R.C. Sheriff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1976
No kidding! The real Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud show up for some highly Pinteresque banter while waiting for their cue in the dressing room. Actually, this episode is more famous for the first appearance of "The Sammy Maudlin Show," featuring Joe Flaherty as Sammy, Andrea Martin as Lorna Minelli, Eugene Levy as Bobby Bittman, Catherine O'Hara as rising starlet Trish Nutly, and John Candy as unctuous co-host William B. (This was clearly intended as a one-shot sketch, as witnessed by the hilarious closing gag.) Also on tap: "The 211,000 Dollar Triangle"; Johnny LaRue (John Candy) shows out-of-work viewers how to prepare cat food; a commercial for the new album "Shakespeare's Greatest Jokes"; and a promo for "The Exorcist of Oz." ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, (more)
Filmed in England, Galileo is based on Charles Laughton's 1947 adaptation of the play by Bertolt Brecht, which, like this 1975 film, was directed by Joseph Losey. Israeli film-star Topol plays the 17th century Italian astronomer, whose theories run contrary to the edicts of the Catholic Church. Forced to renounce his ideas about planetary movement, Galileo nonetheless holds fast to those beliefs to the end of his days, certain that time will vindicate him. Brecht's trademarked "alienation" technique, wherein the audience is constantly reminded that it is watching a play, is muted by Losey's cerebral direction. Galileo was one of producer Ely Landau's American Film Theatre presentations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Topol, Colin Blakely, (more)
- 1974
- PG
Based on the novel by Gerald A. Browne, 11 Harrowhouse is a 1974 heist spoof with an all-star cast. The story concerns millionaire Clyde Massey (Trevor Howard) pressuring diamond merchant Howard R. Chesser (Charles Grodin) into robbing a London diamond exchange owned by Meecham (John Gielgud. Howard gets help from his girlfriend Maren Shirell (Candice Bergen), discontented employee Charles D. Watts (James Mason), and a cockroach in order to execute the plan. Once he has the fortune, Massey tries to double-cross his team of forced thieves, but his wealthy partner-in-crime Lady Anne Bolding (Helen Cherry) helps them escape. Charles Grodin, who also co-wrote the screenplay adaptation, provides voice-over commentary. 11 Harrowhouse is also known as Anything for Love and Fast Fortune. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Grodin, Candice Bergen, (more)
Like many of Agatha Christie's mysteries, Murder on the Orient Express is predicated on an actual event, in this case the Lindbergh kidnapping. In the movie, everyone on board the Orient Express seems to have concluded that hateful financier Ratchett (Richard Widmark) was behind the abduction and murder of the infant daughter of a famed aviatrix. Thus, when Ratchett is himself found murdered, everyone is suspect. Normally, the police would handle the investigation, but the train has been stalled by a snowslide halfway between Istanbul and Paris. Thus, it's up to the insufferable but brilliant Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (an unrecognizable Albert Finney) to activate his "little grey cells" and determine who's guilty. Among the suspects are colorful characters played by Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, Wendy Hiller, John Gielgud, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, and Ingrid Bergman, whose performance won her a third Academy Award. (In her acceptance speech, Bergman apologized for her win, insisting that Day for Night's Valentina Cortese deserved the prize.) The first and best in a long line of contemporary Christie adaptations, the film scores on atmosphere, period detail, and richness of characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, (more)
This made-for-TV adaptation of the Leon Uris epic stars Anthony Hopkins as a Polish doctor accused by an American writer (Ben Gazarra) of assisting the Nazis with medical experiments. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Adapted for the screen by Edward Anhalt from the play by John Osborne, Luther stars Stacy Keach as religious leader and "heretic" Martin Luther. In minimalist fashion, the film traces Luther's disillusionment with the Catholic Church, and his eventual spearheading of the Reformation movement. Over the course of the film, Keach ages from an ingenuous seminarian to a disgruntled, middle-aged firebrand. Director Guy Green does little to cinematize the material, instead favoring a theatrical approach and thus allowing the rich dialogue to be better appreciated. Luther was a production of the American Film Theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Peter Hunt directed this old fashioned -- if not reactionary -- action film about gold-mining in South Africa. The story concerns a nefarious scheme to control the international price of gold by sabotaging the country's largest gold mine, flooding it with an underground sea. Hurry Hirschfeld (Ray Milland) is a cranky but kind millionaire who owns the gold mine. His granddaughter, Terry Steyner (Susannah York), is a beautiful women suffering from the old ennui. She happens to be married to chief bad-guy Manfred Steyner (Bradford Dillman), who, along with unscrupulous international tycoon Farrell (John Gielgud), hatches the plot to flood Hurry's gold- mine. To the rescue comes Rod Slater (Roger Moore) and his faithful black sidekick Big King (Simon Sabela), ready to right the wrongs and stem the tide in order to make South Africa safe for cheap black labor. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, Susannah York, (more)
- 1973
Taped in London and originally telecast by the BBC, this ABC Afternoon Special combines comedy, drama, and song to introduce young children to the marvels of William Shakespeare. In the course of a lively 46 minutes, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson read excerpts from Hamlet, Richard III, and As You Like It; Lynn Redgrave and Simon Ward perform quickie comic blackouts, encapsulating some of the Bard's more lighthearted efforts; and Paul Jones sings "Maria" from West Side Story, which of course is an updating of Romeo and Juliet. The revels are ended as the entire cast joins in on a rendition of "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," from Cole Porter's Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, (more)
- 1973
James Hilton's beloved fantasy novel about the land of Shangri-La was given an awkward musical treatment in this extravagantly produced flop. Larry Kramer's screenplay stays close to the 1937 Frank Capra original, as a plane fleeing China crashes in the Himalayas and a mixed group of survivors discovers the magical, peaceful land of Shangri-La. Here the film becomes a full-fledged musical, with songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David illustrating the distant realm's nature and the conflict that happiness causes amongst the survivors. Curiosity-seekers may be intrigued by the film's reputation as a notorious dud, but fans of the story would be better served by the classic original, despite a cast of well-respected names, including Peter Finch (in the Ronald Colman role), John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, and Charles Boyer. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Finch, Liv Ullmann, (more)
Per its title, Jack Smight's Frankenstein: The True Story, strives for greater faithfulness to Mary Shelley's novel than prior versions. Thus, as in the book, Dr. Frankenstein's (Leonard Whiting) creation is no monster, but a handsome young man of high intelligence (Michael Sarrazin). In fact, the doctor and his creature are the best of friends until the latter's body begins to deteriorate. This sends the creature over the bend into insanity, prompting Frankenstein -- with the help of his evil mentor, Dr. Polidori (James Mason), a character not in the Shelley novel -- to try, try again to create a viable synthetic human. The film ends more or less as the novel does, with the outcast Frankenstein and his creature expiring in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Adapted for television by Christopher Isherwood, Frankenstein: The True Story was originally telecast in two parts on November 30 and December 1, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson star in this made-for-TV adaptation of David Storey's award-winning comedy-drama as two genial but eccentric men who may or may not be inmates in a mental institution. Storey's text also serves as a pointed metaphor for the slow decline of British culture and society. Home was directed by Storey's frequent collaborator, Lindsay Anderson. Former Animals keyboardist Alan Price, who worked with Anderson on the film O Lucky Man!, composed the music. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- PG
Television veteran Fielder Cook brings a TV-like intimacy to his direction of Eagle in a Cage. This underrated film stars Kenneth Haigh as Napoleon Bonaparte, in his years of exile on St. Helena. The story is told from the point of view of the island's governor (John Gielgud), a former schoolteacher who finds greatness thrust upon him upon becoming Napoleon's jailer. By necessity, the emphasis is on conversation rather than action, but it holds the ear throughout. Eagle in a Cage is one of a handful of theatrical films released by the American broadcasting firm of Group W. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Except for the omission of several passages in the original play, this 1970 adaptation of Julius Caesar faithfully retells Shakespeare's account of events surrounding the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C. The film begins when Caesar John Gielgud is at the height of his power after conquering Pompey "the Great" in a civil war. Important senators worry that Caesar means to become king, diminish their power, and abolish their beloved Roman republic. Two senators, Cassius Richard Johnson and Brutus Jason Robards, hatch an assassination plot involving other disenchanted Roman citizens. Although a soothsayer warns Caesar of trouble ("Beware the ides of March") and his own wife reports ominous signs ("A lioness hath whelped in the streets; and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead"), Caesar decides to go to the senate on the ides (March 15). Upon arrival, the conspirators greet him with daggers. In his funeral oration, Mark Antony Charlton Heston extols Caesar and incites the citizens against Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus and Cassius flee Rome with their armies, but Antony and two other sympathizers track them down with their armies. When the tide turns against the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius commit suicide. As does Shakespeare's play, the film leaves the discerning viewer wondering who was the real villain -- Caesar, because of his ambition for power, or Brutus, because of his underhanded plot to maintain the status quo. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Jason Robards, Jr., (more)
Oh! What a Lovely War is an every-man-for-himself adaptation of Charles Chilton's 1963 play, as staged in London by Joan Littlewood. The tragedy of World War I is redefined in bawdy music-hall terms, beginning with a verbal free-for-all involving the Crowned Heads of Europe. The war is presented as the "new attraction" at the Brighton Amusement Pier, complete with syrupy cheer-up songs, shooting galleries, free prizes and a scoreboard toting up the dead. Throughout the proceedings, the camera concentrates on a middle-class family, whose five sons end up as cannon fodder. The final image is a veddy proper British picnic on a graveyard. Of the many fleeting satiric images parading past the camera, one of the most indelible is the sight of several generals playing leapfrog as the world all around them goes to hell in a handbasket. The awesome all-star cast includes Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Maggie Smith, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Jack Hawkins, John Mills, Susannah York, Dirk Bogarde and Phyllis Calvert. We haven't seen this many Englishmen in one place since the last Wimbledon match. The whole affair was supervised by Richard Attenborough, making his directorial debut (a question: why was he up to the challenge of this musical extravaganza, yet seemed helpless in the face of 1985's A Chorus Line?). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Meriel Forbes, (more)
- 1968
Sebastian (Dirk Bogarde) is an undisciplined mathematics genius who works in the "cipher bureau" of the British government. While cracking enemy codes, Sebastian finds time to romance co-worker Susannah York. The film dwells upon Sebastian's rather lax morals (even by 1968 standards), culminating in his refusal to commit himself to York once he's rendered her pregnant. This aspect of the story is frankly more fascinating than the main espionage plotline. Keep an eye out for Canadian actor Donald Sutherland in a bit as an American. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Nigel Davenport, (more)
