Ralph Richardson, film actor

[JackFavell]

Hi, Bronxie!

I don't think very many people even know about Kit Hewitt. He was not one to talk about his personal life much, at least with outsiders. I don't know what he was like with his close friends like Olivier or Gielgud. He was notoriously hard to pin down on anything, at least by biographers or talk show hosts like Russell Harty, as you well know!

He did remarry, but I think it's fascinating that his second wife's name was Muriel Forbes (of the Forbes Robertson theatre clan).

[Bronxgirl48]

Jackie, your break-down of LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT is so brilliant, I'm thunderstruck. Your analysis and insights are beyond amazing. And what a multi-faceted cornucopia of Richardson you've given us with this thread -- it's delicious! I don't know where to start first with Ralph's films and plays -- maybe I'll dive into FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH, revisitTHE GHOUL, then perhaps some Ibsen, followed by his Shakespeare roles. So much to appreciate and so little time!

[JackFavell]

Hi, Bronxie! It's so good to see you over here!

I forget what I said about it. I really should thank you for mentioning Long Day's Journey in the first place. I would probably have stayed away from it if left to my own devices, it scared me! But it repaid for itself ten fold, what a great movie. I could actually watch it again, but not too soon... it really wears you out!

Friday the Thirteenth I think you will like. Plus it has Emlyn Williams in it, so you get to see two great actors for the price of one.

I've now got six books about Sir Ralph, including two biographies, one of which is "official". The unofficial biography by Garry O'Connor is just marvelous. I highly recommend it, and it's very cheap. All six of the books I have were under $10.00 each. Some of them have absolutely incredible pictures, but my scanner seems to like to print the grain in the paper more than the actual photos.



Hey, How did he get in here???? Wrong Ralphie.

(I had to give you a little present for coming over here to visit.)

Ah, yes. Here he is, as Petruchio. I believe this was one of Richardson's first acclaimed roles, somewhere around 1930, or 1932.

[JackFavell]

Here is a little something to get you in the Christmas spirit, I hope. A recording of A Christmas Carol with Ralph Richardson as Scrooge, and Paul Scofield narrating. Both are wonderful. I especially like the ghost story-ish part where Scofield whispers, "I am here, sitting at your elbow." Shivers!

Richardson makes me almost cry when, finding himself in his boyhood home, he is asked by the Ghost of Christmas Past, "Your lip is trembling. And what is that upon your cheek? A tear?" Richardson replies, "Oh, no, no. Nonsense..... nonsense.... It's...a raindrop."

[youtube][/youtube]

[Bronxgirl48]

Jackie, LOL re: "my" Ralphie!! Aww, that was sweet! You didn't have to. (I never realized that Bellamy had lovely slender hands) Wow, Richardson looks dashing and sexy as Petruchio. Make-up helps, of course, but I feel he really under-estimated his physical appeal.

Emlyn Williams with him in FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH? Even better!
I love Emlyn, such a Welsh bad-boy. (like Burton)

Ooh, I like the idea of inexpensive biographies of famous people. I'd like to see pictures of Ralph as a child. I think he'd be adorable.

You don't remember what you wrote on LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT? (This confirms it, you're the author of that NIGHT TIDE post, lol. I'm still looking for it, though, ha!) Your analysis of each character, and the actors' interpretations, are so enriching.

Thanks for bringing us A CHRISTMAS CAROL!

[JackFavell]

Emlyn is one of my favorite actors - I wish he had made more movies.

Make-up helps, of course, but I feel he really under-estimated his physical appeal.

I was looking at a full length photo yesterday from The Heiress, and was surprised that Richardson looked so slender, young and fit. I shouldn't have been, because I knew he was an avid tennis and squash player (what IS squash, anyway?) and rode a bicycle much of the time, unless he was motoring about on his beloved motorcycle. I think it's one of the factors of his long life. But when I watch The Heiress, he seems so very old and set in his ways, that you forget that he was only about 45.



Here is Ralph as a boy of 12:



There is something uncanny about him. He was either a boy with an unnerving manner, or he simply wasn't there. I can't decide which is more likely, probably a combination of both. There is something precocious about his mouth, there is a stubborn resolve to it, which offsets his dreamy, faraway eyes. He tells a story of being in school (which he hated), and when called on to recite, he bellowed out the passage, scaring the bejesus out of everyone, including himself. They all looked at him differently after that, but they never asked him to recite again.

[JackFavell]

I just watched The Heiress again yesterday, and tried to look at it solely from Dr. Sloper's viewpoint. A wealth of underacting is going on in Richardson's performance. He is never still, and although there is a lot of self-satisfaction in his portrayal, mostly about his work and his home, there is also much sadness, confusion and bitterness in the personality of Dr. Sloper that I never noticed. I only noticed the coldness and the little verbal slaps he seems to give to Catherine, trying to make her over in her mother's image. His bitterness is palpable, but the underlying reasons for it are not immediately apparent. Only the cat and mouse games that he plays with Morris and the brutality of his feelings about Catherine are readily observed. But I think this character is more deeply drawn than is assumed from watching these surface traits initially. Richardson's brilliant and painfully felt portrayal is miles deeper than I originally thought.

Watching more closely, I really felt for Dr. Sloper for the first time. I would certainly want to protect Catherine from a fortune hunter as well, were she my own daughter. How to go about it? He is suspicious from the start, but he does give Morris the benefit of the doubt, inviting him casually and almost jokingly to dine with them. He indulges his daughter's whim, he is doubtful the relationship will lead anywhere. Morris seems to say everything wrong during this dinner - he is supremely self centered, and does not understand that he has put more suspicion into Dr. Sloper's mind, rather than alleviating any fears he might have had. Here is where Sloper begins to see what he thinks is Morris' character. Is he right? Most probably yes. Does he handle it well? Without a doubt, NO. How does one disabuse one's daughter of a foolish lovesick crush? He tries to make it all go away. He tries for months not to hurt her. I don't think he ever purposefully tries to hurt her, but his cold anger at his wife's death has already pushed her out of his life. How can he be tender with her when he is seething with the injustice of losing his wife?

He is mortified when he realizes that he must tell Catherine that Morris is a bounder. Sloper is not completely unfeeling as I had always thought:



Wyler has inserted these small thoughtful scenes in which the doctor suffers over Catherine. He doesn't understand Catherine, and he cannot make her understand his own point of view. His dilemma is growing larger and larger as Morris thrusts himself into their lives. Catherine has fallen in love and is totally gullible. It is his duty to take on the burden of opening her eyes to Morris' "true" nature. He is terribly upset that his wife is not there to help him. It hangs in the air around him at all times:







There's a nice telegraph here of the later scene where he finds Morris' cigar wrapper on the hearth. I find this scene heartbreakingly sad. His wife would know what to do, he knows this.....he twists himself in knots thinking about it. Perhaps Catherine would not have been so ....disappointing had Mrs. Sloper lived (almost assuredly, since Dr. Sloper would have treated her much differently). He is lost, and does not know what to do. The perfectly accurate and precise world he has maintained in order to survive his grief is going to fall apart around him.

Once he has interviewed Morris' aunt (he actually begs her to find one unselfish thing in Morris' character - she cannot answer him), he is overcome with doubts and mistrust. He tries to make Catherine see Morris as HE does, but she seems almost willfully stupid. He is a frustrated man in every way, grieving for his wife, and forced to live in a home with no one of similar mental acuteness. That frustration crosses over to his dealings with the stubborn, foolish Catherine. His mantra throughout the movie is "You forced me to do it". He says this to Morris, at the end of their marriage interview when Morris accuses him of being rude, and one can almost hear him thinking the same thing when he finally tells Catherine why he thinks Morris is a scoundrel and fortune hunter. He has tried not to be cruel to her for a long period of time, but to no avail. Catherine is a mixture of two traits that are extremely unattractive when put together - complete vulnerability and stubbornness. Her bland vacuity and trust of the first man to notice her forces him to take drastic measures, and her stubbornness causes him to lose his temper - he tells her how undesirable she is, how her demeanor makes it impossible for Morris to be anything but a scoundrel. This is his unforgivable mistake. I think, later on, he would have taken it back if he could.

In the scene in Europe, at the little cafe, Catherine once again blunders into her father's reverie of his wife. She serves only as a reminder to him that he has lost his one love. I believe he is still carrying on his love affair with his wife, even though she is gone. If Catherine had any of her traits it would be easier for him to let go, but she hasn't, and he can't stop himself from bringing her up at every turn. He can't show love for Catherine without destroying the memory of his wife. I do think he cares for Catherine, but his cold depression and force of habit is blocking it from coming through. He would not change even if he were aware of it. It is his way of honoring Mrs. Sloper and he could not stop or she would cease to exist. That can never happen. I think he would die rather than lose her memory.

He would never have come to Paris if he did not love Catherine, I truly think that. I really can't imagine that he would have brought her here simply to prove a point or to protect family interests. His anger later in this scene was very shocking to me, but perhaps he is thinking that he would never have come back to those places he loved and cherished, reliving the past all alone, all the places he remembered from his honeymoon which are now just fatal reminders - if it had not been for Catherine's foolish love of Morris.




And the torture of it has all been for nothing! done no good, because the child again exhibits that stubborn insensible nature by refusing to stop communicating with Morris. The pain here in his face is excruciating.

There is no room in his life for anything but pain, memory and attention to small details. Here is the first view of our doctor in Paris, and it's as if he is with someone, even though no one is there. He seems so different. I think his whole life is like this - he is only alive when he thinks about Mrs. Sloper, communes with her. At the beginning of the scene, he is obviously waiting for Catherine to come. But as it unfolds, in just a matter of seconds, he allows himself a moment to drift, to think of his beloved. His dreamy eyes are caught in the close up shot.....he's remembering, and he's with her.

[charliechaplinfan]

I loved The Heiress when I watched it, I've only seen it the once and I admit, I watched the whole film, hoping that Morris wsn't a fortune hunter and that it was a case of true love. From that viewpoint Dr Sloper does not come off well but neither does Catherine. I was inclined to like Morris the most, even though he was a fortune hunter. Do you think watching it again that Morris had learned to care for her? It might not have been the love she expected from him but could she have known some happiness with him? with Dr Sloper she knew none. I suppose it depends on how you read Morris's character, did he want the fortune because he was poor? Once he had it was he inclined to gamble with it? I can't remember whether he was a gambler.

The Heiress is a layered film, like a good work of literature one can read different things. Ralph Richardson was a big scene stealer, I remember this from Montgomery Clift's biography, he'd never come across anyone like him and needed all his wits about him. Their scenes together are brilliant.

[JackFavell]

I admit I watched the movie this last time only from Dr. Sloper's viewpoint, so I wasn't concentrating on Clift per se..... however, I find that the more I watch the movie, the more I think that Morris was exactly what Dr. Sloper thought. I used to think there was an iota of truth to his love, but there seemed to me to be an awful lot of clues leading one toward the direction of "bounder" or "cad". I suppose it depends on your mood when you watch too.

That being said, he seems to me to be a fairly nice cad, I think he sympathizes a bit with the poor girl. He is perfectly willing to subvert a sexual attraction for her money. I think the scene which disturbed me the most this time was the one in the pouring rain where Clift is trying helplessly to extricate himself from Catherine's arms, guiltily realizing that he is completely disgusted by Catherine without her money and home to back her up. Morris is fairly honest, (one of his qualities which is pointed out throughout the movie). When he comes back from California, he tells her he has thought about her the whole time he was gone. I think it's true, but the movie only goes so far - it's tantalizing, Morris' character - we don't know whether he thinks of her with sympathy, or if in Morris' mind, Catherine IS her property - was he thinking of her as a lost opportunity? Perhaps she was just a niggling feeling of guilt in the back of his mind.

I have read a lot of writing on the different message boards about how Morris could have made her happy, and how he probably would have treated her with kindness and tenderness. He could not have been worse than Dr. Sloper. I also see a possibility of a dimly lit future in which Morris becomes exactly like Dr. Sloper - correcting Catherine, becoming cruel, and witholding love from her as he tries to extricate himself from her suffocating stranglehold of love, feeling trapped in the devil's bargain he made for himself. Or perhaps Catherine became as she is at the end of the film, a cold harpy, constantly pointing out that the money is hers, doling it out parsimoniously and only when Morris was "a good boy". Ugh. I don't actually see a lot of happiness in this story, I guess. I hope I haven't dashed any romance to the ground.

This is the greatness of the movie - each of the viewpoints is sympathetic, and unsympathetic, by turns. If you spotlight one character, they seem perfectly right - but when all come together it's devastating.

[charliechaplinfan]

We started discussing Wyler last year, here is the thread

http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... liam+wyler

I reread my comments from last year, I think the romantic in me automatically wants a couple to end up with the fairytale ending so that was my mindset and like you say, he's a likeable cad, I wanted Dr Sloper to be wrong. I sympathised with Catherine but didn't feel very warm towards her, I willed her to stand up to both of them. I hoped that by showing some spirit Morris would see her as more than a walking wallet. I remember having strong feelings about the film but it's so detailed that to do it absolute justice I would have to see it again.

[JackFavell]

The Happiest of Birthdays, Sir.

[Bronxgirl48]

That photo of 12 year old Ralph is remarkable. His eyes do look dreamy, but the rest of the expression seems resolute, and possibly a young force to be reckoned with.

Do you notice that Miriam Hopkins becomes a Southern belle in speech and manner whenever she takes her leave of Morris? I wonder how Wyler let her get away with this.

I have this horrible alternate scenario in my mind: Catherine elopes with Morris the first time around. Dr. Sloper doesn't have the heart to disown her. Morris loves living in the lap of luxury, but doesn't know how to manage the $30,000 a year. He basically sqanders it on expensive works of art. fine brandy, luxurious trips abroad, and several women, one of which he actually falls in love with. He decides, (after much angst) to finally murder Catherine and become a rich widower.

He goes up the stairs to his and Catherine's bedroom, with a glass of warm, poisoned milk. (he read Isobel's latest mystery, lol) "Here, dear, this will help you sleep. I know you've been agitated as of late, but I promise not to spend all my time at the club".

[CineMaven]

"I have this horrible alternate scenario in my mind: Catherine elopes with Morris the first time around. Dr. Sloper doesn't have the heart to disown her. Morris loves living in the lap of luxury, but doesn't know how to manage the $30,000 a year. He basically sqanders it on expensive works of art. fine brandy, luxurious trips abroad, and several women, one of which he actually falls in love with. He decides, (after much angst) to finally murder Catherine and become a rich widower.

He goes up the stairs to his and Catherine's bedroom, with a glass of warm, poisoned milk. (he read Isobel's latest mystery, lol) 'Here, dear, this will help you sleep. I know you've been agitated as of late, but I promise not to spend all my time at the club'." -
<<< (( BRONXGIRL )) >>>

WHOA! What a bleak scenario, Jackaaaaaaaaaaay. I see your taking from the Master (Hitchcock) in creating this. May I piggyback on your scenario Ma'am?

INT. - THE SLOPER MANSION - (EVENING)
Catherine wanly lays in bed. Morris comes upstairs with a glass of warm milk. He sets it by her bedside table next to his carafe of brandy. Catherine brightens and sits up in her bed when she sees Morris approach. He sits down on the bed next to her. It's the closest he's been to her in months. She looks lovely. She feels a little faint as he puts his hands on her shoulders. ('Perhaps tonight?' she thinks). His soft brown eyes make her melt. Morris' dark beauty has always made her feel...a bit faint.

MORRIS: "...I know you've been agitated as of late, but I promise not to spend all my time at the club."
CATHERINE: "I know you will dear."

He allows himself (just this once) one touch...one smidgen...one iota...one scintilla of sympathy in his heart for her...before he gives her the poisoned milk to drink. Morris kisses her hand gently. Catherine feels the old familiar but distant fluttering within her. She wants more, this night.

CATHERINE: "Do you know how much I love you."
MORRIS: "Catherine, how can you love me so much?"
CATHERINE: "Morris." She looks deep into his eyes for some human sign of tenderness from him towards her and alas...finally accepts she sees none. She sighs. "Dear dear Morris. I have been taught by masters."
MORRIS: "Oh Catherine...Happy New Year. Happy New Year darling Catherine."
CATHERINE: "Happy New Year dearest."

He leans over and kisses Catherine deeply on the lips as one final favor to her. He chuckles slightly as Catherine's soft delicate arms wrap around the back of his neck. It reminds him he needs a haircut. Her kiss is sweet and strangely passionate. Funny he hadn't noticed how sweet her lips were. Yes, he believes he actually can feel her love. It excites him. It excites him more, knowing Emily will be the beneficiary of his excitement. Catherine lovingly hands him his glass of brandy. He hands her the glass of milk. They look into each other's eyes and toast and drink.

She lays back on her pillow. Her hair is loose, cascading down her shoulders. Her dressing gown has the top button, unbuttoned. With another sip of brandy, Morris thinks how fetching Catherine looks. How absolutely inviting she is right now. It can't possibly hurt now to say this...to send her off to the angels with these last words; he musters up all the sincerity he can:

MORRIS: "I love you Catherine."

She looks up at Morris as he sips her father's brandy...her eyes soft...glazed...a little cloudy. She sees that he does mean it...in this last moment of hers.

CATHERINE: "I loved you Morris." (PAUSE) "And now...I'm free."
MORRIS: "Yes Catherine...free."

Catherine closes her eyes for the last time and drifts off into the ether of eternity. She has a slight smile on his face. Morris believes Catherine is going peacefully into that good night; and she is. She goes with the knowledge that she has poured arsenic into his brandy. Morris takes one last greedy gulp of his father-in-law's brandy. He leaves the bedroom and heads down the staircase. His new love...his real love, Emily, is in the study. And now his life can really begin. He rehearses how he will tell the police of his wife's passing.

In the study is a beautiful beautiful young woman. Without asking permission, she presumptuously pours herself some of the expensive brandy that was on the mantelpiece. She sips it. It's a little bitter, but it's something she'll have to get used to now that she'll be the lady of the manor. She looks around at the decor.

EMILY (to herself): "This will never do. My, so dreary. She has [/i]notaste."

Emily walks around the drawing room sipping her brandy, making mental notes of what she'll have to change. Morris screams out as he tumbles down the stairs. Emily hears the thud and comes running out of the drawing room. She sees Morris in a heap mid-staircase. He is pale, sweating profusely, gasping for air.

EMILY (frantic): "Morris. MORRIS!!! What is it MORRIS!"

She loosens his collar, feeling rather warm herself.

MORRIS (gasping): "Catherine...Catherine..."

EMILY: "Catherine? Is it done?"

She feels a slight irritation in her throat.

MORRIS: (coughing) "The brandy....the brandy."

EMILY: "The brandy?"

She feels the burning sensation in her throat...and begins to cough.

[JackFavell]

OH you guys! I am howling with laughter....black, black laughter! You both have it down so perfectly!

Maven you must know by now that I haven't the creativity to come up with such a scenario - that was Bronxgirl's gem of a plot twist....

It couldn't possibly match you two, but may I offer one other possibility? There should be another including Dr. Sloper, since this is Sir Ralph's thread. Thank you.

The Heiress, part trois:

Morris and Catherine elope. Dr. Sloper relents, and does not have the heart to cut Catherine off without her precious money. At the formal wedding, which Dr. Sloper insists on, Morris looks like the cat that ate the cream. He's literally beaming.

He and Catherine go to Europe for their honeymoon. When they come back, Morris is practically licking his lips at the thought of enjoying his new home and property. He is a gentleman at last! Morris slowly begins to realize that Dr. Sloper has no intention of moving out of the house. He retains the master bedroom, and still has charge of the desk and home. Instead of the pleasant chats he thought they would have over the fire with brandy, Morris is subtly made to feel ....inappropriate. He is treated to Dr. Sloper's withering stare of disapproval when making conversation. Morris is disconcerted, but rallies bravely. This can't last. He can melt the fellow eventually.

Everywhere Morris turns, Dr. Sloper is there. Always with the same lightly ironic, overly polite tone. "Morris, you were out late last night. That cannot happen again, for propriety's sake." "Morris, are you writing another draft? I should think you could get along on the money I gave you last week. Perhaps NOT, this time, old chap. I'll take that checkbook.....Thank you." "Morris, do you really think that you should be smoking and drinking to such excess? It is bad for your health."

Catherine floats around the house like a cloud, hardly noticing that Morris is becoming desperate. How is it he is never alone? Morris can barely breathe between the two of them. He's suffocating in that house, which somehow seems much smaller than he thought it was...

Maria is sent to work for Mrs. Almond, Austin Sloper's sister. The new house parlor maid, Mrs. Redmond, is played by Constance Ford. She makes Morris excessively nervous. It seems she is watching him all the time, disapprovingly.

He and Catherine have a double suite, adjoining one another. He has started keeping the door between them locked - the girl will give him no peace, her arms twining around him all the time, and her incessant chatter is starting to drive him mad. If only she would talk of something, anything interesting!

One night, Morris awakes to hear the sound of something.... a scratching, then a clinking noise outside the door of his room. He opens the door to find Austin Sloper slowly placing brick on top of brick, cementing the doorway shut. The bricks are at eye level, as Morris confronts Sloper. "WHAT are you doing???" cries the strangely affected Morris, who for once is almost at a loss for words.... "My dear boy, this door.... it is of no use anymore. I am bricking it up." replies Sloper casually, brushing off the fingers of one hand delicately, but with flourish. A flicker of a smile crosses his lips. Morris runs his hands through his long dark hair, trying to think... this is some surreal dream.... He remembers the key to Catherine's door, and runs to his dresser - looking in the top drawer, in the much too expensive mahogany valet he bought for himself the first week of his marriage - yes, he's had to pay for it a thousand times over - Sloper had questioned and questioned him about it and let him know it was far too grand. "The man takes inventory of every little item I've bought", thought Morris. He can hear Sloper now, scraping and clicking at the door. The last brick slides grittily into place. "Of course, you'll want your meals sent up from now on." the doctor calls to him. "Morris? .....Really, you should at least acknowledge that I am speaking to you dear fellow." He can hear Sloper walking away down the hall, dusting off his hands, whistling Soldier Rest, The Fight Is Over.

Morris fumbles in the drawer. The key isn't there! He can hear excited breathing nearby. He turns to find Catherine standing close behind him. "Oh, Catherine! You gave me a start." She smiles lovingly at him. "Are you looking for this?" She coyly pulls the key from behind her back where she has been hiding it. "Catherine....I'm.... glad...to see you! Yes. let's have the key! I don't understand why your father decided to have this work done in the middle of the night." Morris takes the key and tries not to rush over to the door to try it. The key slides into the lock, but only so far. It doesn't turn. The door remains locked. "Catherine, this.... this is... is the wrong key...." "I know, dear. Mrs.Redmond has the key. She is holding it for me on the other side of the door. And she will only answer to ME, so don't think you can wheedle your way around her.... It's my little surprise! Now we can be truly alone together." Morris takes in a little breath. He runs to the window, throwing up the shade.....Bricks. Bricks with no chink in them, not even to let in a drop of sunlight. "Catherine....Catherine.... this is madness! What have you done??" Catherine takes a step to him, adjusting her voice to a deeper more womanly tone. Quiet, but stern, as if talking to a child. She smiles. Her eyes take him in.A gluttonous look crosses her face - one that Morris has never seen, ghastly, but flickering with desire. "Morris, as I said, now we can truly be alone. There is no place for you to go. You are mine.....ALL mine. at last."

[CineMaven]

Oooooohhh...Jackaaaaaaaaaay, you have finally made me feel sorry for Morris. Holed up with Catherine...talkative... chatty...needy Catherine? Aye yi yi!! You've got a little Casque of Amontillado going on in your O.Henry head.

Bronxie...forgive me for not giving you the writer's credit. I've changed my post above. (I read too quickly).

It's official. You both are sick puppies.

Now write a scenario where Dr. Sloper finds a girl. Or if Helen Walker came on the scene being as sweet as she can be, can turn on Morris and take the money he's inherited from Catherine.

My head is spinning.