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I should wait here for a bit. I rather like this place
Richard Morant has died. I saw him in none of the roles mentioned in this obituary; I knew him as Bunter to Edward Petherbridge's Wimsey. He was younger than I'd thought from the books, but the rapport was there. I never had any difficulty picturing him as a photography geek. He was a year older than my mother and I object to this.
One of the bloggers over at TCM's Movie Morlocks has just thrown her hat into the ring for favorite mad scientist: Robert Cornthwaite's Dr. Arthur Carrington from The Thing from Another World (1951). It's weirdly heartening to see that I'm not the only person who enthuses (I wrote "blithers," but that's unfair to the blogger) about random character actors and their memorable roles, but now I have to wonder who I'd choose. After hours of dealing with fudge, fruitcakes, a plum pudding which has just finished boiling, and the molten orange apricot-glazed sponge cake I turned last night's failed batch of fudge into filling for, I think I am tending toward boring on account of brain-dead—I thought instantly of Ernest Thesiger, Dr. Septimus Pretorius from Bride of Frankenstein (1935). This is probably like being asked for a favorite dessert and saying chocolate. (Which isn't my favorite dessert, actually.) The obvious challenger is C.A. Rotwang, but apparently tonight I feel like waspish corpse-stitching over tragic proto-robotics. The Man in the White Suit (1951) is one of the best pieces of science fiction onscreen in its decade, but I'm not exclusively enamored of Sidney Stratton, I just love watching the chaos he innocently creates. Fujimoto from Ponyo (2008) is more of a magician, magnificent sea-worshipping bundle of nerves though he is. Hans Conried's Dr. Terwilliker is a mad music teacher. Bishop—Lance Henriksen, Aliens (1986)—isn't actually mad.
Und so weiter. I could go on like this for some time. (Craziest mad scientist I've seen onscreen: Dr. Emilio Lizardo, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984). The man is introduced clipping electrodes to his tongue. He normalizes slightly once he starts with his plans for interdimensional invasion. Ladies and gentlemen, John Lithgow.) But at least until I wake up tomorrow and remember which standout of cinematic strangeness I've left off the shortlist, I'm sticking with one of the classics. Who's yours?
One of the bloggers over at TCM's Movie Morlocks has just thrown her hat into the ring for favorite mad scientist: Robert Cornthwaite's Dr. Arthur Carrington from The Thing from Another World (1951). It's weirdly heartening to see that I'm not the only person who enthuses (I wrote "blithers," but that's unfair to the blogger) about random character actors and their memorable roles, but now I have to wonder who I'd choose. After hours of dealing with fudge, fruitcakes, a plum pudding which has just finished boiling, and the molten orange apricot-glazed sponge cake I turned last night's failed batch of fudge into filling for, I think I am tending toward boring on account of brain-dead—I thought instantly of Ernest Thesiger, Dr. Septimus Pretorius from Bride of Frankenstein (1935). This is probably like being asked for a favorite dessert and saying chocolate. (Which isn't my favorite dessert, actually.) The obvious challenger is C.A. Rotwang, but apparently tonight I feel like waspish corpse-stitching over tragic proto-robotics. The Man in the White Suit (1951) is one of the best pieces of science fiction onscreen in its decade, but I'm not exclusively enamored of Sidney Stratton, I just love watching the chaos he innocently creates. Fujimoto from Ponyo (2008) is more of a magician, magnificent sea-worshipping bundle of nerves though he is. Hans Conried's Dr. Terwilliker is a mad music teacher. Bishop—Lance Henriksen, Aliens (1986)—isn't actually mad.
Und so weiter. I could go on like this for some time. (Craziest mad scientist I've seen onscreen: Dr. Emilio Lizardo, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984). The man is introduced clipping electrodes to his tongue. He normalizes slightly once he starts with his plans for interdimensional invasion. Ladies and gentlemen, John Lithgow.) But at least until I wake up tomorrow and remember which standout of cinematic strangeness I've left off the shortlist, I'm sticking with one of the classics. Who's yours?
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Not quite mad, or cinematic, but Cec Lindsay's Dr Matthew Roney from Quatermass and the Pit; he's very, warm, humane, and energetic. Or Andrew Keir's Quatermass from the Hammer film.
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Eh, it counts. I should have said television and anime were fair game, too.
but Cec Lindsay's Dr Matthew Roney from Quatermass and the Pit; he's very, warm, humane, and energetic. Or Andrew Keir's Quatermass from the Hammer film.
Can you get the original BBC serial of Quatermass and the Pit on DVD? I've wanted to see it for some years now—I've never seen any Quatermass, either television, film, or remake, but it's the story I've heard the most intriguing things about and I like André Morell.
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Morell is easily the best TV Quatermass - he has a debonair, forthright air you don't get in the first two stories. Though Keir has a grizzled charm that makes him as good. That story is just one of my favourite ever things.
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I've read about that one as well. See rant about region codes.
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My favourite mad scientist? Definitely Ernest Thesiger as Dr Pretorius. It's a sin and a shame that there's no action figure version of him, to go with my Frankenstein monster, Bride, and Fritz (no Igor from Son of Frankenstein, either... for that matter, no Dr Frankenstein!). Runners-up are Peter Lorre's Dr Gogol from the aptly-named MAD LOVE, and Dr Bunsen Honeydew from the Muppets.
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I wish your surprise could get me a region-free DVD player:
"Non-USA Format, PAL, Reg. 2.4 Import—United Kingdom."
Amazon claims to sell a solo DVD of the original Quatermass and the Pit in Region 1, but it looks on-demand and iffy. I hate region codes. I don't even understand what they're supposed to achieve; it's not like they drive sales. They just annoy people who care about art.
That story is just one of my favourite ever things.
This is what I keep hearing!
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