It's clear enough in the film that Professor Nesbitt, our hero, is not a native-born American. Not only is there his accent, but also, Lee says at one point "When he first came to this country, etc." But what country is Tom from?
shareI think Tom was from Canada. Am I wrong???
shareThe script never says where he was from. But Lee's phrase (cited earlier), about "when he first came to this country" certainly sounds as if he was from Europe; I mean, how many times does an American refer that way to a Canadian (assuming he can tell the difference)? Paul Hubschmid was indeed Swiss, as another poster stated, and in fact spoke German, French, and Italian as well as English, so we can assume Tom Nesbitt was some sort of central-western European (but not a German, I'd think -- not that soon after the war!).
"Christian" was the name his American agent foisted upon him when he came here for a stab at Hollywood in 1949 -- "Hubschmid" was much too German for the time. "Beast" was his last purely US film before he returned to Europe, where he appeared for the next two decades in many routine German, French, Italian, and some British and made-in-Europe American films, in some of which his name was given as "Paul Christian" for US release.
Odd that he and Paula Raymond died exactly two years to the day apart...and that that day was New Year's Eve (Paul on 12/31/01, Paula on 12/31/03).
And please, don't anyone start a thread called "Hey Paul, Hey Paula".
Odd that he and Paula Raymond died exactly two years to the day apart...and that that day was New Year's Eve (Paul on 12/31/01, Paula on 12/31/03).
Another member of that cast, Kenneth Tobey, past away on 12/22/02, almost in between Paul and Paula!
In the summer of 2003, I attended a Ray Harryhausen festival, (with Ray on hand) and they showed THE BEAST. Paula Raymond was invited, but could not attend because of poor health. (but she did send best wishes to Ray and everyone in attendance). It would have been great to see her.
Ray Harryhausen thought highly of his actors for THE BEAST, especially Paul Hubschmid and Kenneth Tobey, whom was to appear in a later Harryhausen pic, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA.
Yes, if only Ken Tobey had lived an extra nine days...how weird would that have been?
He was always one of my favorite character actors (and occasional leads), and of course we remember him best now for things like "Beast" and "The Thing" as well as "It Came From Beneath the Sea". He was the closest friend of none other than Gregory Peck -- they attended college together, and later roomed together in New York in the early 40s when both were looking for work. Peck recalled how one time they had only 11 cents between them, and a box of pancake mix, so they used the 11 cents to buy milk and lived on pancakes for a week! Of course, that was a step up -- not long before, Gregory Peck was sleeping in Central Park, he was so broke. Amazing. Tobey was in four of Peck's films ("12 O'Clock High", "The Gunfighter", "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" and "MacArthur") but received screen credit only for the last.
I read on Paula's imdb page that in 1962 she was in a car accident in which her nose was cut off. Good God! But looking at her later, they certainly did a good restorative job. Still, she seemed to have been plagued by bad health and bad luck throughout her life and career, which is unfortunate because she was certainly beautiful and a good actress. Check her out in some of her MGM films such as "Crisis" (1950), with Cary Grant, and "The Tall Target" (1951) with Dick Powell...neither one, unfortunately, ever on DVD or even VHS, but they turn up regularly on TCM.
Amazing. Tobey was in four of Peck's films ("12 O'Clock High", "The Gunfighter", "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" and "MacArthur") but received screen credit only for the last.
Yes it is strange. I suspect Kenneth Tobey appeared in these roles as a favor to his old friend Gregory Peck. Actually, he is credited in 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, as the sergeant who gets a talk down from his superior Peck. In THE MAN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT, his part is considerably smaller, in fact, so small that it is probably only noticeable by those who know of Kenneth Tobey.
No, Ken Tobey's not credited in "12 O'Clock High" -- I mean in the film itself, not on the IMDb page or perhaps other studio press kit stuff. That was typical of Hollywood from the early 40s well into the 60s -- lots of actors never got credit, often people who had fairly substantial roles (more than just a line or two). It happened to K.T. a lot -- I've found him in bits where you can barely see it's him, as you say. But I also think his part in "Gray Flannel" is bigger than in "12" -- he's in a couple of different scenes with Peck: walking out of their HQ after learning they're to be sent to the Pacific, then later when Greg kills him with the grenade -- not to mention he has to let Peck carry him "dead", and then be laid out in the open, still "dead" while the scene plays itself out: which I always thought must have been particularly difficult to do. (And how about the two corpsmen whom Peck insists "treat" his dead friend? The first one's none other than DeForest Kelley, a decade before "Star Trek"; the black corpsman is Roy Glenn Sr., who'd later play Sidney Poitier's father in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" -- both, naturally, also uncredited.)
shareI skimmed the two films and both times I stand corrected! Good eyes hobnob53. That was indeed Peck carrying the dead Kenneth Tobey in FLANNEL SUIT, and of course the amusing part was DeForest Kelly saying his most famous line to Peck, "He's dead Captain!". In a dramatic moment like that, you can’t help but to think of it as humorous as well.
shareYeah, that's right, I forgot Kelley's "He's dead" line in "Flannel Suit"! Too bad Peck's character wasn't named Jim. This is straying away from The Beast, but the following year, 1957, Kelley was cast as one of the Earp brothers in "Gunfight at the OK Corral", and I always assumed that movie was on late night TV at some point in the 60s when one of "Trek's" writers saw it and thought, "Hey! How can I bring the OK corral into outer space?" Hence the third-season Trek episode, "Day of the Gun" -- or whatever the precise title of the show was -- it was certainly stretching the point!
The late Robert Clarke (of "The Hideous Sun Demon" and "The Man From Planet X") recalled in his autobiography that Ken Tobey said he'd tried an old trick while filming "It Came From Beneath the Sea" in 1955. He had that scene with Faith Domergue, standing on the beach kissing, and Tobey wanted to be sure he looked significantly taller than his leading lady, so he piled up sand on the spot he was to stand on to add an extra couple of inches. It worked, except for the fact that as they shot re-takes the sand began settling under him, and he suddenly felt himself sinking lower and lower as he was holding Faith -- certainly not the manly image he was trying to convey!
Of all the characters in "Beast", I always liked his Major Evans the best.
This is straying away from The Beast, but the following year, 1957, Kelley was cast as one of the Earp brothers in "Gunfight at the OK Corral"
Not so much. GUNFIGHT did feature two alumni from THE BEAST, Kenneth Tobey and Lee Van Cleef. Some don't even realize that was Van Cleef as the sharpshooter who eventually disposes of the Rhedosaur. Heck, his spaghetti Western co-star, Clint Eastwood, was also a monster killer, as he disposed of the giant spider in TARANTULA (1955).
True about Clint...and he had his face hidden behind his oxygen mask throughout his brief scene in the TARANTULA climax, and -- you guessed it -- got no screen credit for it...which at least LVC did in The Beast's credits.
I wonder if he and Lee ever compared notes on their respective methods of dispatching rampaging monsters?
Regarding the original question, I always thought that Nesbitt -- in spite of his Anglo last name -- was supposed to have been a native of France, since he speaks the language over the telephone to the French/Canadian ship's captain who survived the Beast's aquatic attack. Steve V.
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