Jack Hawkins Movies
Crusty, craggy British leading man Jack Hawkins began as a child actor, studying at the Italia Court School of Acting. After his first film, 1930's Birds of Prey, Hawkins languished for several years in secondary roles before achieving minor stardom by the end of the '30s. During the war, Hawkins was a colonel in ENSA, the British equivalent of the USO. He became a major movie "name" in the postwar era, often as coolly efficient military officers in such films as The Cruel Sea (1953), Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The League of Gentlemen (1961), and Lawrence of Arabia (1962, as General Allenby). He was considered an Academy Award shoe-in for his portrayal of Quintus Arrius in 1959's Ben-Hur, but the "Best Supporting Actor Oscar" went to another actor in that blockbuster, Hugh Griffith. Around this same time, Hawkins was one of four rotating stars in the J. Arthur Rank-produced TV series The Four Just Men; the other three were Vittorio de Sica, Dan Dailey and Richard Conte. In 1966, Hawkins underwent an operation for cancer of the larynx. Though the operation cost him his voice, publicity releases indicated that Hawkins was training himself to talk again with an artificial device -- and also that he defiantly continued chain-smoking. Hawkins remained in films until his death, but his dialogue had to be dubbed by others. In his next-to-last film Theatre of Blood (1973), he was effectively cast in a substantial role that required no dialogue whatsoever -- something that the viewer realizes only in retrospect. Ironically, Hawkins' biography was titled Anything for a Quiet Life. Jack Hawkins was married twice, to actresses Jessica Tandy and Doreen Lawrence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1933
Based on a novel by J. B. Priestley, this British musical-comedy follows an unlikely trio as they try to revive the fortunes of a floundering touring theatrical troupe. Inigo Jolifant (John Gielgud) is a schoolteacher with a talent for songwriting, and Jess Oakroyd (Edmund Gwenn) is a man with theatrical ambitions who has just lot his job. Together, they persuade Miss Trant (Mary Glynne), an older single woman looking for adventure, to back them as they try to bring "The Dinky Do's" back into the spotlight. Susie Dean (Jessie Matthews) is a chorus girl who dreams of stardom, and when she's made the new leader of the show, it looks as if her dreams may finally become a reality. The Good Companions is buoyed by the superb singing and dancing talents of Matthews, who was considered one of the screen's greatest musical stars in England and Europe, though she inexplicably never achieved the same fame in the United States; Gielgud also got a rare opportunity to display his vocal abilities in this film. Keep your eyes peeled for Jack Hawkins and horror film great George Zucco, who both appear in supporting roles. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jessie Matthews, Edmund Gwenn, (more)
- 1933
British matinee idol Ivor Novello carries the weight of Autumn Crocus on his handsome shoulders. Novello plays an alpine innkeeper, happily married and the father of a cute little daughter. He seriously considers kicking over the traces when he meets beautiful British schoolteacher Fay Compton, who is vacationing in the mountains. Both Novello and Compton become too deeply involved with each other to accommodate a happy ending. Autumn Crocus was adapted from the long-running West End stage production by C. L. Anthony. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivor Novello, Fay Compton, (more)
- 1932
In Belloc-Lowndes' original novel The Lodger, the reclusive young man suspected of being Jack the Ripper turns out to be exactly who he's assumed to be. When Alfred Hitchcock directed the 1926 film version of The Lodger, he was advised that the public would never accept the popular star Ivor Novello as a serial killer, thus the film was given a happy ending. Novello himself wrote the screenplay for the 1932 non-Hitchcock talkie version of The Lodger, which, though updated from the novel's 19th century setting, retains its original shocker climax. Well received at the time of its release but rarely seen in recent years, the 1932 Lodger can be regarded as a serviceable bridge between the 1926 Hitchcock silent and the definitive 1944 20th Century-Fox remake starring Laird Cregar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
- 1931
In this British murder mystery, a host is murdered just before a gala dinner party at his country estate. The killers are revealed immediately though it seems they have committed the perfect crime by making it appears as if the host killed himself. This is discovered by a suspicious young couple. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Loraine, Dorothy Boyd, (more)
