I thought Charles Laughton was wonderful in this film and for me the best thing about it. Yes his accent did stray into unusual places at times but it didn't take anything away from his fantastic performance.
It's very sad that this was his last role as I believe he was coping with cancer during the filming and died about six months later.
What a fantastic actor.
Laughton does indeed look tired and drawn in the film, but his acting-fires were far from banked! He either dominated or simply stole every scene in which he appeared.
Laughton had a history with at least two actors in the cast - he had appeared with Franchot Tone in the 1935 MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and 1949's MAN ON THE EIFFEL TOWER, and he directed Henry Fonda in the original 1954 Broadway production of THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL (he and Fonda did not get along, and Fonda reportedly made some extremely rude and wounding comments to and about Laughton).
"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."
Thanks Harold I didn't know about all that.
shareThe movie was actually filmed during 1961, and at that time Laughton was not ill with cancer, which was detected in mid-1962. (He died in December of that year.)
They made him look older for the film as Seab Cooley was supposed to have been in the Senate for 40 years (at that time no one had ever served that long in the Senate), which would have made the character in his 70s at least. One irony that always amused me is the scene near the beginning when Seab is talking with Munson on the steps of the Old Senate Office Building, and calls him a "young fella". In fact, Walter Pidgeon was two years older than Charles Laughton.
Laughton's next film was to have reunited him with Billy Wilder, with whom he had worked on Witness for the Prosecution in 1957. He was to have been in Irma La Douce but fell ill before filming began. Wilder actually held the production up to see if Laughton would get better, and after it was plain he wouldn't Wilder still visited Laughton and discussed and rehearsed the role with him, knowing (as Laughton certainly also did) that the actor would never live to do or even see the movie. But Wilder wanted to make Laughton feel he was still wanted and had something to look forward to.
Thanks for the info Hobnob
shareLaughton was to have played Moustache, the barkeeper, in Irma la Douce. The part ultimately went to Lou Jacobi, a talented actor, but a huge step down from the titan that was Laughton.
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I've actually never been a fan of Irma La Douce -- I find it long and uninteresting, rather dull, not a story that appeals to me at all. But I agree a cast of Monroe, Lemmon and Laughton would have worked better.
Of course, casting Marilyn was a moot point as she died four months before Laughton in 1962. (In fact, she died exactly fifty years ago today, as I write this, August 5, 2012. Amazing to realize it's been 50 years since her death.)
Preminger was considered a bully by many, he did have a terrible temper when it erupted, and many actors never liked him. Preminger had been so mean to Linda Darnell on the set of Forever Amber in 1947 that two years later, when she was filming A Letter to Three Wives, that film's director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, hit upon a great idea to evoke a particular emotion from Linda. She had a scene in which she was gazing with contempt at a photograph of the woman who (the film's central plot point) may have run off with her husband. We hear but never see that woman, so when Darnell's looking at the photo in a frame we never see the picture itself. In order to help Darnell get a suitable look of disdain on her face, Mankiewicz put a photograph of Otto Preminger in the frame! And it worked.
On the other hand, Preminger also helped break the Hollywood production code: using forbidden words like "virgin" in The Moon is Blue, filming an all-black cast in Carmen Jones, making a movie about drug addiction in The Man With the Golden Arm, using blunt language about rape, spermotogenesis and panties and using the word "bitch" in Anatomy of a Murder, discussing homosexuality and showing the inside of a gay bar in Advise & Consent, breaking the blacklist by hiring screenwriter Dalton Trumbo for Exodus and actor Will Geer for Advise & Consent, and hiring people in need of professional or personal help such as Franchot Tone, Lew Ayres, Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and others. So he wasn't simply a "bad guy".
And other directors often singled out one actor to pick on in a movie. John Ford, for one, was notorious for doing this all the time. But sometimes a big star who could stand up to a tyrannical director would intervene, and force the director to back down. Still, I'm glad Otto annoyed Lana Turner so much that she quit Anatomy of a Murder. She was all wrong for that role -- too old, for one thing. So sometimes there's an upside to bullying on the set!
I love Anatomy of a Murder and could come close to calling it a perfect movie.
I wonder if there are foibles that I'm overlooking.
Except for the fact that, near the beginning of the film, James Stewart and Arthur O'Connell refer to Oliver Wendell Holmes as "Chief Justice Holmes" -- he was never Chief Justice, only an Associate Justice, a glaring mistake no lawyer would ever make -- I agree with you about Anatomy of a Murder. Brilliant and always watchable, even better that A&C. I never understood why, with all Anatomy's Oscar nominations, Preminger was passed over for a nomination as Best Director.
sharei had wondered why americans do not sound like british , why if we came from there the accent and pronunciation changed until i heard a linguist explain that the american accent had not changed , the british had changed and had become lazier , much like the southern accent .
shareIf you want to compile a list of the most underrated actors of all time, the list begins with Charles Laughton. I consider him the best actor we've yet seen.
Remember When Movies Didn't Have To Be Politically Correct?
It's ridiculous to regard Charles Laughton as one of the most "underrated actors" ever. He's almost universally regarded (among classic film buffs) as one of the greatest character actors ever. He and Claude Rains are about as good as you'll ever get.
shareBut ABetterDay didn't limit his (or her) remarks to the opinions of classic film buffs.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"
And don't forget about his talents as Director. Just fantastic!
Too bad he directed only one movie: "The Night of the Hunter" (1955). And if you've never seen it, you will be very pleasantly surprised to have discovered a true cinematic gem.
I agreed about Claude Rains as well.
I don't think its at all 'ridiculous' to say Laughton was under-rated.
An actor can be celebrated but still be under-rated. :)
Q: What's the biggest accolade an actor can receive in their career?
A: The Academy Award.
It's true isn't it? Whether we like it or not, that's the standard by which the profession - at this level - is judged. And for all his magnificent performances over a 30 year career, CL only won one Oscar. ('Private Life of Henry VIII'; 1933).
What's more, he was only nominated twice more. ('Mutiny on the Bounty' and 'Witness for the Prosecution').
I call that under-rated.
_____________
"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
With the passing of time some great actors are underrated or almost forgotten but
I don't think this is the case of Charles Laughton, as he's still being honored today for the gallery of great performances and his profile is being re-discovered by new generations thanks to 'The Night of the Hunter'.
'Advise and Consent' is a strong political drama with some great performances indeed. As Seabright Cooley Laughton shines in every scene he's in.
He was ill at the time of filming, he had not been feeling well and had been hospitalized a few times just before filming. The cancer was already weakening him but not yet diagnosed.
Great actor, tough to work with if the material was weak or the director couldn't handle him. This was not the case with Preminger who was on the same level as Laughton for this movie.
Laughton won the oscar and was nominated twice for it.
Edward G. Robinson was never even nominated for it. Think about all the great performances by Robinson and the range he had. That's underrated.
Soy 'un hijo de la playa'
Edward G Robinson was a great actor and his talent underused for most of his career.
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I am now watching ADVISE AND CONSENT for the very first time. That I missed it for long is nothing short of shameful. I absolutely adore Laughton's performance in this film (almost as much as in the wonderful WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION).
And, ANATOMY OF A MURDER is another great classic film. Otto Preminger was an amazing director.
-AnaElisa
PS I'll be watching for Laughton's cayenne pepper remark.