I know this is a trivial point, but I'm perplexed as to why Tyrone Power did not attempt to assume a British accent, or at least why not one mention was made that he was "Canadian"--the usual way to explain that someone with a North American accent was a British Subject.
shareIn the original story he was, and FYI the film is much better than the original Agatha Christie story.
But it's not at all implausible that a Canadian married to a German would be living in London at the time, Canada was either part of the empire or the Commonwealth at the time, and citizens and their spouses had immigration rights. Maybe not common, since postwar London was not a great place to live, but people lived there.
"But it's not at all implausible that a Canadian married to a German would be living in London at the time"
Yeah, except it wasn't mentioned he was Canadian. All remarks seemed to point to him being British. It's his accent that was confusing.
Or maybe he was supposed to be an American who'd spent years there during the war and who'd settled down with his German bride, that wouldn't be beyond the pale either. Then as now, people emmigrated.
shareOr maybe bc Billy Wilder directed it. And Tyrone Power was in it. Great performances btw. So, however you want to look at it to make the people who are in it fit. Technically, the character is British as you mentioned. But isn’t it a moot point. Does it matter. Tyrone isn’t British. He’s actually of Irish extraction but he’s American. And I’m betting his British accent, if attempted, is probably awful. But wasn’t Marlene Dietrich fantastic. And always Charles Laughton and his wife Elsa Lanchester. Tyrone Power, other than Errol Flynn, the most handsome of men. And leave it to Agatha Christie to tell a story of woman defending her husband/lover.
shareLots of possibilities, but nothing is even alluded to so. So to see some guy with an US accent who fought for the RAF more than a decade earlier and was able to provide his German wife with British citizenship is a bit confusing.
shareBasically, I don't really care about the character's background, I'm willing to just accept that a guy with a North American accent lives in the UK for whatever reason.
It's like watching a Schwarzenegger or Van Damme action film, where sometimes they throw in a line or two to explain why someone with a heavy foreign accent lives in the US, and sometimes they don't. The audience just accepts it, they don't care where the action hero was originally from, as long as he kicks ass while here.
Well, good for you if you don't care, but the OP cared at least somewhat about this admittedly "trivial point" and just wanted to know if the character was supposed to be British.
shareThe original op asked this 6 years ago. And Otter answered him 5 years ago in his first sentence. “In the original story he was.” And you are asking this guy 5 years later.
The actor is American playing a Brit with an American accent.
I wasn't "asking" anything, but at least I was replying to an active MC account, not an old post from IMDb. And the OP question was about the movie, not the original story.
Cheerio, 🧦.
"Or maybe he was supposed to be an American who'd spent years there during the war and who'd settled down with his German bride, that wouldn't be beyond the pale either. Then as now, people emmigrated."
This is what I always thought.
I honestly don't recall.
shareHis health was not very good at this point. He wasn't likely to attempt anything requiring extra efforts.
I suppose he was such a big star by then that they probably figured "nobody cares - it's Tyrone Power!".
i thought he was american, possibly canadian.
shareI think the solution is that it was a joke - it's a reference to a previous Tyrone Power film 'A Yank in the R.A.F.' in which he plays an American pilot who joins up to fight against the Germans before America enters the war.
The film also references another of Power's roles. When he meets the old lady in the cinema, they are watching 'Jesse James' in which he starred in 1939. Allusions are also made to various of Marlene Dietrich's famous roles of the 'thirties.