Peter O'Toole on August 28th

[Mr. Arkadin]

Mr. O'Toole will be stopping off for a few (films) tomorrow:

The Day They Robbed The Bank Of England (1960)
Turn-of-the-century Irish patriots plan to overthrow the British government.
Cast: Aldo Ray, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter O'Toole, Kieron Moore Dir: John Guillermin BW-85 mins, TV-G

The Night of the Generals (1967)
A Nazi officer tries to catch a serial killer attacking prostitutes.
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence Dir: Anatole Litvak C-144 mins, TV-PG

My Favorite Year (1982)
A flamboyant star throws a TV comedy show into chaos.
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Jessica Harper, Joseph Bologna Dir: Richard Benjamin C-92 mins, TV-14

Becket (1964)
England's King Henry II appoints his best friend Archbishop of Canterbury then turns on him.
Cast: Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit Dir: Peter Glenville C-148 mins, TV-PG

The Last Emperor (1987)
China's final emperor, Pu Yi, becomes a pawn of imperial forces, the invading Japanese and the Communist government.
Cast: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci C-163 mins, TV-MA

Lord Jim (1965)
After turning coward, a naval officer tries to redeem himself by helping Asian natives stage a revolution.
Cast: Peter O'Toole, James Mason, Curt Jurgens, Eli Wallach Dir: Richard Brooks C-154 mins, TV-PG

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
A British military officer enlists the Arabs for desert warfare in World War I.
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins Dir: David Lean C-227 mins, TV-14

The Ruling Class (1972)
When a deranged nobleman inherits a fortune, his relatives onspire to seize power.
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Alastair Sim, Arthur Lowe, Harry Andrews Dir: Peter Medak C-153 mins, TV-MA

The Stunt Man (1980)
A man on the run joins an embattled film company run by a maniacal director.
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Barbara Hershey, Steve Railsback, Sharon Farrell Dir: Richard Rush C-131 mins, TV-MA

Most of these have shown before with the exception of The Stunt Man, which--despite flaws--is a lot of fun and holds a wonderful performance by O'Toole. Originally released in a nice 2 disc set, The Stunt Man is now OOP (with prices hovering around the $40.00 mark), so you'll want to record this one!

Trailer:

[youtube][/youtube]

Other rarely seen fare include The Night of the Generals (Tom Courtenay is always great) and that controversial ode to high society, The Ruling Class.

The old Ruling Class thread is here:

http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/vie ... f=1&t=4164

[Mr. Arkadin]

Many of these films are reshowing tonight, so I thought I'd bump the thread.

[charliechaplinfan]

I've watched very little Peter O'Toole films, so I've added a couple to my rental list. The Night of the Generals, Becket and the Ruling Class. My Favorite Year hasn't been released yet.

[moira finnie]

From The Guardian, word has come that Peter O'Toole is retiring from acting.

Irish actor whose role in Lawrence of Arabia 50 years ago assured his status as a screen legend has retired

By Ben Quinn
The Guardian, Tuesday 10 July 2012

Peter O'Toole, the Irish actor whose role in Lawrence of Arabia 50 years ago assured his status as a screen legend, has announced his retirement from acting saying: "I bid the profession a dry-eyed and profoundly grateful farewell."

O'Toole, 80 next month, said his career – which has included eight Oscar nominations but no wins – "has brought me public support, emotional fulfilment and material comfort. It has brought me together with fine people, good companions with whom I've shared the inevitable lot of all actors: flops and hits."

"However," he added, "it's my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one's stay. It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: it won't come back."

O'Toole, whose birthplace is most frequently said to have been Connemara, County Galway, and who has always emphasised his Irishness, won acclaim on stage earlier in his career in several key Shakespearean roles including Hamlet.

He went into acting after serving in the Royal Navy and studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). He was among a wily new breed of young actors from the British stage who rose to Hollywood stardom.

"There was a group of us working class actors, Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney, everybody, and we changed the way things were," Michael Caine said last week in an interview for The Dark Knight Rises.

Fame for O'Toole came in films such as Goodbye, Mr Chips, The Ruling Class, The Stunt Man and My Favourite Year. His role as the adventurer TE Lawrence brought him his first best actor nomination. He won an honorary Oscar in 2003 for his numerous memorable roles.

O'Toole, who lives in London, said he is spending his time working on the third volume of his memoirs.

[JackFavell]

I was hoping for that elusive Oscar at some point.

I am very grateful to him for so much joy he has brought me, and the energy he imparted, the really hilarious moments, and the candor with which he discusses his life. I'll be looking forward to the next installment of his memoirs.

[RedRiver]

Do you ever see than man NOT smoking? It's amazing he made it to 80! O'Toole is one of those actors who pull just a little more depth from a character than we would have expected. There's interpretation. There's personality. And there's the next level, the spark that makes it real. Tracy and Hepburn had it. Charles Laughton. Carole Lombard seemed to transcend mere "acting." But this hard living Irishman put his heart into just about everything.

Not all his movies were good. Some roles won't be remembered. But as long as we have LION IN WINTER, MY FAVORITE YEAR, GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS and THE RULING CLASS, we can see film acting just about as brilliantly as it's ever been done. My opinion, for what it's worth.

[JackFavell]

You are right, even if the movies aren't good, he was always good.

I think he has tremendous acting chops, plus something they don't really make any more...style.