Laurence Olivier: Best Performance

[Georgy Zhukov]

Wuthering Heights

Hamlet

Rebecca

Pride and Prejudice

Fire Over England

49th Parallel

Henry V

Richard III

The Entertainer

Othello

Sleuth

Marathon Man

The Boys from Brazil

King Lear

Spartacus

I think he is the greatest of the Pre Brando actors. You know, the ones who behaved instead of acting. Olivier could just be the part without having to prepare for it (other than wardrobe and makeup). When he see's Hoffman literally try to kill himself for Marathon Man, Olivier suggested he tried acting. He was worried about the man.

[Mao5]

"sleuth" is a masterpiece.

i really enjoyed it.

[Guest Len B'stard]

One of the greatest actors ever born. Wuthering Heights is probably a good example of his best. I like Richard III but the production values are a bit naff. Great performances though. Laurence Olivier was a classical actor and away from that whole method vein, i don't think it was necessarily better it was just a different approach. The method has always existed anyway, it's just in the pre-Method era it was just an instinctive thing to do with ones ability to direct their own emotions down whatever avenue.

BEST of the pre-Brando actors though? Hmmm, i dunno. Paul Muni anyone?

[wasted]

Gladiator.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Thats Oliver Reed man Unless you mean Spartacus?

[wasted]

must mean Spartacus was that directed by Kubrick?

[Guest Len B'stard]

Certainly was

[wasted]

somebody once used to Spartacus to try to convert me to christianity. that movie was like the only only thing he liked other than weed and the bible.

[Guest Len B'stard]

Go on, i gotta know how that goes

[Guest NGOG]

I wish I could pretend to be an avid fan of classic cinema.

[Guest Len B'stard]

I wish I could pretend to be an avid fan of classic cinema.

Why?

[Guest NGOG]

To contribute really. I'm in awe of people who can rhyme off the careers of actors like Olivier. I never had exposure to that type of cinema as a child nor have I developed a taste for it growing up (except for historical epics like Samson & Delilah or The Land of the Pharoahs).

Edited August 9, 2013 by NGOG

[Guest Len B'stard]

I love the older stuff. Cinema to me is primarily escapism. Actually, thats not entirely accurate, let me rephrase, as a kid it was primarily escapism but see i was never into like...fantastical stuff like Sci-Fi or Fantasy so they had to be like human stories but like...you watch a film with Jimmy Stewart or whatever and it's like a window into the 1930s where...it's sort of a familiar world in that it's the modern world and they all speak English but it's SOOOO far removed from the reality of where and what i'm from that it's just a joyous expierience, you almost don't want the films to end. Thats kinda the root of my watching a lot of old stuff because, as wonderful as a lot of modern cinema is there are just so many tales out there to lend yourself to.

To me, sticking to contemporary stuff is like having a time machine but only going back to last week.

Edited August 9, 2013 by sugaraylen

[Georgy Zhukov]

One cool thing about Olivier is that he liked to do his own stunts. He was like Flynn except a better actor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdj6LH-hvsQ