TCM REMEMBERS LEO MCKERN, 1920-2002
The recent death of Leo McKern, 82, marked the passing of one of Britain's finest and most respected character actors. He was suffering from ill health in recent years and was moved to a nursing home a few weeks before his death on July 23 2002 in Bath, England. An actor of commanding presence with a deep-throated voice, the portly, bulbous-nosed McKern had a long, distinguished career spanning more than half a century, earning numerous plaudits along the way in all major mediums: theatre, film and television.
Born Reginald McKern on March 16, 1920 in Sydney, Australia; he served with the Australian Army during World War II and worked in regional theatre in his native Sydney before immigrating to England in 1946. It was a slow start, but after a three-year apprenticeship of painting scenery, stage-managing and acting, McKern eventually joined the celebrated Old Vic theatrical company in 1949 and proved one of the more versatile actors in the troupe tackling diverse roles in comedy, the classics and serious contemporary parts.
His film debut came in Murder in the Cathedral (1952) but it took a few years before he made his mark in cinema. Some of his best film work included roles as Peter Sellers' comic henchman in the classic satire The Mouse That Roared (1959); a bungling train robber in the charming Disney film The Horse Without a Head (1963); a nefarious professor who kills off his colleagues for amusement in the brilliant black comedy A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964); Clang, a cartoonish villain in the Beatles' pop film Help! (1965); Cromwell, the persecutor of Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966) and as Thomas Ryan in the David Lean drama, Ryan's Daughter (1970).
Yet despite all the accolades McKern earned in theatre and films, it was television where he foundinternational fame as the wily, irascible barrister Horace P. Rumpole in John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey in 1975. Infusing the character with beguiling skill and energy, McKern made the acerbic, wine swilling, Tennyson-quoting Rumpole a much loved figure that was adored by critics, audiences and even its creator Mortimer. Perhaps Mortimer offered the most fitting tribute when he once referred to McKern - "His acting exists where I always hope my writing will be: about two feet above the ground, a little larger than life, but always taking off from reality." Enough said.
By Michael T. Toole
Katy Jurado, an Oscar nominee and major actress in Westerns, died July 5th at the age of 78. She was born in Guadalajara, Mexico on January 16th 1924 as Maria Cristina Estella Marcela Jurado Garcia, daughter of a cattle rancher and an opera singer. Jurado started to appear in Mexican films in 1943. After 15 films in her native country, director Budd Boetticher saw Jurado attending a bullfight (Jurado wrote about the subject for Mexican newspapers) and cast her in his Bullfighter and the Lady (1952), her Hollywood debut. For much of her career Jurado alternated between the two film industries. In the US, she was memorable for the sensual energy she brought to roles in High Noon (1952), One-Eyed Jacks (1961) which was directed by Marlon Brando, Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) and John Huston's Under the Volcano (1984). She was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for Broken Lance (1954). Jurado's Mexican films were in a broader range of genres and included Luis Bunuel's El Bruto (1952), Ismael Rodriguez's We the Poor and Miguel Littin's The Widow Montiel (1979). She won three Ariel Awards (Mexican equivalent to the Oscars) and one special award. She was married to Ernest Borgnine from the end of 1959 to summer 1963. One of her final films was The Hi-Lo Country (1998), a contemporary Western directed by Stephen Frears and co-starring Woody Harrelson, Billy Crudup and Penelope Cruz.
by Lang Thompson
DOLORES GRAY, 1924 - 2002
Broadway and nightclub star Dolores Gray died June 26th at the age of 78. Her movie career was brief but consisted of high-profile MGM musicals which guaranteed her a place in film history. Gray was born in Chicago on June 7th, 1924 (and where, according to a common story, she was accidentally shot by a gangster as a child and had a bullet in her lung her entire life). As a teenager she began singing in California until Rudy Vallee featured her on his radio show. Gray moved to Broadway in 1944 and then to the London stage in 1947, solidifying her reputation as a singer/actress while constantly giving the gossip columnists plenty to write about. She had two small singing roles in Lady for a Night (1941) and Mr. Skeffington (1944) but didn't really light up the big screen until It's Always Fair Weather (1955) even though Gray reportedly didn't much care for the role. Her rendition of "Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks," which has her gunning down a slew of male dancers on-stage and kicking them through trap doors, is a genuine showstopper. Three more unforgettable musical roles quickly followed: Kismet (1955), The Opposite Sex (1956, which Gray turned down Funny Face to do) and Designing Women (1957). That was it for Gray's film career. She kept busy with TV appearances (mostly singing though she did one 1988 episode of the cult show Dr. Who) and a busy recording and nightclub schedule. In 1987, she appeared in a British production of Follies at Stephen Sondheim's request.
by Lang Thompson
The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders
Brief Synopsis
A woman emabarks on a wild search for true love.
Cast & Crew
Read More
Terence Young
Director
Kim Novak
Moll Flanders
Claire Ufland
Young Moll
Richard Johnson
Jemmy
Angela Lansbury
Lady Blystone
Vittorio De Sica
The Count
Film Details
Genre
Adaptation
Comedy
Historical
Release Date
Jan
1965
Premiere Information
New York opening: 27 May 1965
Production Company
Winchester Film Productions
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures
Country
United Kingdom
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (London, 1721).
Technical Specs
Duration
2h 6m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Synopsis
As Moll Flanders grows up in an orphanage in the 18th century, she dreams of becoming a lady. She first seeks to realize her ambition in the home of a local mayor where she is employed as a servant. She loses her virginity to the older son and marries his younger brother, a drunkard who soon leaves her a widow. She next becomes a personal servant to the wealthy Lady Blystone and travels to London where she encounters a young highwayman, Jemmy. Jemmy thinks that Moll is Lady Blystone, and disguised as a wealthy sea captain, he courts her; but upon discovering their mutual error, they part company. Lady Blystone's Latin lover, the Count, tries to seduce Moll, and when the two are discovered, Moll loses her job. She then marries a prominent banker and promptly abandons him on their wedding night when she sees the militia chasing Jemmy. Searching for her lover, Moll joins a band of thieves led by Dutchy. She is reunited with Jemmy when they both end up in the same jail, awaiting execution. The banker visits the jail one day and dies of heart failure when he sees his wife behind bars. With the fortune left to her by the banker, Moll buys a reprieve for herself and Jemmy. Their sentence is reduced to deportation, and the two are married aboard a ship sailing away from England.
Director
Terence Young
Director
Cast
Kim Novak
Moll Flanders
Claire Ufland
Young Moll
Richard Johnson
Jemmy
Angela Lansbury
Lady Blystone
Vittorio De Sica
The Count
Leo Mckern
Squint
George Sanders
The Banker
Lilli Palmer
Dutchy
Peter Butterworth
Grunt
Dandy Nichols
Orphanage superintendent
Noel Howlett
Bishop
Cecil Parker
The mayor
Barbara Couper
Mayor's wife
Daniel Massey
Elder Brother
Derren Nesbitt
Younger brother
Ingrid Hafner
Elder sister
June Watts
Younger sister
Judith Furse
Miss Glowber
Anthony Dawson
The Officer of Dragoons
Roger Livesey
Drunken parson
Hugh Griffith
Prison governor
Jess Conrad
1st Mohock
Noel Harrison
2d Mohock
Alex Scott
3d Mohock
Alexis Kanner
4th Mohock
Mary Merrall
A lady
Richard Wattis
Jeweler
Terence Lodge
Draper
Reginald Beckwith
Doctor
Lionel Long
Singer in prison
David Lodge
Ship's captain
David Hutcheson
A nobleman
Michael Trubshawe
Lord Mayor of London
Richard Goolden
The Ordinary
Leonard Sachs
Prison doctor
Basil Dignam
Lawyer
Michael Brennan
The Turnkey
Liam Redmond
Convict ship captain
Neville Jason
Convict ship officer
Crew
John Addison
Music comp & Conductor
David Anderson
Assistant Director
Joan Bridge
Costumes
Syd Cain
Production Design
Denis Cannan
Screenwriter
Mickey Delamar
Prod Supervisor
Pauline Grant
Choreography
Elizabeth Haffenden
Costumes
Marcel Hellman
Producer
Richard Hellman
Associate Producer
Vyvyan Holland
Period adv
Bob Jones
Sound
Roland Kibbee
Screenwriter
James Laver
Period adv
Ted Moore
Director of Photography
Bert Ross
Sound
Alex Vetchinsky
Loc art Director
Frederick Wilson
Film Editor
Film Details
Genre
Adaptation
Comedy
Historical
Release Date
Jan
1965
Premiere Information
New York opening: 27 May 1965
Production Company
Winchester Film Productions
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures
Country
United Kingdom
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe (London, 1721).
Technical Specs
Duration
2h 6m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1
Articles
TCM Remembers - Leo McKern
TCM Remembers - Leo McKern
TCM REMEMBERS LEO MCKERN, 1920-2002
The recent death of Leo McKern, 82, marked the passing of one of Britain's finest and most respected character actors. He was suffering from ill health in recent years and was moved to a nursing home a few weeks before his death on July 23 2002 in Bath, England. An actor of commanding presence with a deep-throated voice, the portly, bulbous-nosed McKern had a long, distinguished career spanning more than half a century, earning numerous plaudits along the way in all major mediums: theatre, film and television.
Born Reginald McKern on March 16, 1920 in Sydney, Australia; he served with the Australian Army during World War II and worked in regional theatre in his native Sydney before immigrating to England in 1946. It was a slow start, but after a three-year apprenticeship of painting scenery, stage-managing and acting, McKern eventually joined the celebrated Old Vic theatrical company in 1949 and proved one of the more versatile actors in the troupe tackling diverse roles in comedy, the classics and serious contemporary parts.
His film debut came in Murder in the Cathedral (1952) but it took a few years before he made his mark in cinema. Some of his best film work included roles as Peter Sellers' comic henchman in the classic satire The Mouse That Roared (1959); a bungling train robber in the charming Disney film The Horse Without a Head (1963); a nefarious professor who kills off his colleagues for amusement in the brilliant black comedy A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964); Clang, a cartoonish villain in the Beatles' pop film Help! (1965); Cromwell, the persecutor of Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons (1966) and as Thomas Ryan in the David Lean drama, Ryan's Daughter (1970).
Yet despite all the accolades McKern earned in theatre and films, it was television where he foundinternational fame as the wily, irascible barrister Horace P. Rumpole in John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey in 1975. Infusing the character with beguiling skill and energy, McKern made the acerbic, wine swilling, Tennyson-quoting Rumpole a much loved figure that was adored by critics, audiences and even its creator Mortimer. Perhaps Mortimer offered the most fitting tribute when he once referred to McKern - "His acting exists where I always hope my writing will be: about two feet above the ground, a little larger than life, but always taking off from reality." Enough said.
By Michael T. Toole
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Released in London in September 1965.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in England September 1965
Released in United States July 29, 1992
Released in United States May 26, 1965
Released in United States on Video July 29, 1992
Released in United States Summer May 26, 1965
Panavision
c Technicolor
Released in United States May 26, 1965 (New York City)
Released in United States Summer May 26, 1965
Released in United States July 29, 1992
Released in United States on Video July 29, 1992
