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Post by mikef6 on May 22, 2017 17:50:09 GMT
Laurence Olivier, born May 22, 1907, were he immortal, would have been 110 years old today. He left us in 1989 at a young-ish 82. Running errands this morning, I heard our local classical station observe the day by playing William Walton’s prelude to Olivier’s “Richard III” (1955).
Hilariously (and sadly) the Admins at the IMDb (remember them?) highlight the birthdays of the following people on their main page:
Sean Gunn
Ginnifer Goodwin
Molly Ephraim
Maggie Q (I’ve heard of her and actually seen her in movies!)
Camren Bicondova
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Post by teleadm on May 22, 2017 18:24:10 GMT
Hilariously (and sadly) the Admins at the IMDb (remember them?) highlight the birthdays of the following people on their main page: Sean Gunn Ginnifer Goodwin Molly Ephraim Maggie Q (I’ve heard of her and actually seen her in movies!) Camren Bicondova Yes that is hilarious! They are apparently following something called a Starometer, whatever that is. There are very seldom names I've heard of on their "front page" anymore. Laurence Olivier is number 9 on that Starometer Barbara Parkins No 18 Richard Benjamin No 19 Michael Sarrazin No 21 Michael Constantine No 23 Merry Anders No 27 Paul Winfield No 28 Susan Strasberg No 34 Alla Nazimova No 51 Charles Aznavour No 52 Arthur Conan Doyle No 58 Quinn Martin No 77 Jim Thorpe No 84 Richard Wagner No 87 All who should be more worthy to be on their "front Page" ! Happy Birthday to them all! 22 May kids! Real talents are not a merit anymore, but popularity sadly is. |
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gadolinium
Sophomore
@gadolinium
Posts: 282
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Post by gadolinium on May 22, 2017 20:08:09 GMT
Happy birthday!
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Post by jervistetch on May 22, 2017 20:17:37 GMT
Is it safe to say Happy Birthday?
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Post by london777 on May 22, 2017 23:31:01 GMT
Walton was a good composer (very Elgarish here with a dash of Stravinsky). He composed a complete score for Battle of Britain (1969) but it was dumped and replaced by Ron Goodwin's vulgar effort. Part of Walton's score was retained for the extended "Battle in the Air" sequence, which is far and away the best part of the movie along with Olivier's sympathetic portrait of Dowding. I am not a particular fan of Olivier in movies. He tended to be far too "theatrical" and his attempts at various foreign accents were painful, but he was perfect as Dowding.
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Post by marshamae on May 23, 2017 15:57:14 GMT
TCM's birthday tribute to Olivier included the Entertainer so I finally saw the whole thing. It was a very cinematic performance, dialed back nicely, and that's especially tough since he had done it on stage and on tour.
Having said that, it didn't wow me the way some of his other work did. Maybe, ultimately , the character is too unsympathetic.
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