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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 08/18/00 -- Vol. 19, No. 7
Chair/Librarian: Mark Leeper, 732-817-5619, mleeper@lucent.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper, 732-332-6218, eleeper@lucent.com
Distinguished Heinlein Apologist: Rob Mitchell, robmitchell@lucent.com
HO Chair Emeritus: John Jetzt, jetzt@lucent.com
HO Librarian Emeritus: Nick Sauer, njs@lucent.com
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the
second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call
201-447-3652 for details. The Denver Area Science Fiction
Association meets 7:30 PM on the third Saturday of every month at
Southwest State Bank, 1380 S. Federal Blvd.
===================================================================
1. I probably should make some comments about Alec Guinness who
died at 86 less than two weeks ago. After all, Guinness really was
one of my favorite actors.
There was a crop of major English actors who came into prominence
during and shortly after the Second World War. I guess the most
respected was Lawrence Olivier, but also included were John
Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, and Alec Guinness. (Incidentally,
probably I should be using the title of "Sir" for all these actors,
since all had been knighted, but that is a bit more formal than I
want to be.) Certainly Olivier and Gielgud one thinks of as being
Shakespearean. Not Shakespearean in the sense that Kenneth Branagh
is, but sort of cast in marble. They became famous for playing in
very respectable productions of classic plays. They played in
films, but usually they were people who did not have a moment's
doubt about themselves. They took grand dramatic roles. It was a
little less true of Richardson than the other two, but it was not
true at all of Alec Guinness. From some of his earliest film roles
Guinness played people who were very human and very vulnerable. I
think I am glad I never met Lawrence Olivier's Heathcliff, but most
people that Guinness became in films are people that I would have
liked to know. When Olivier felt pain he played it as one force of
nature facing another. The impression one gets is like rain
hitting a cliff face. It is hard to feel any sympathy for Olivier
as he was in REBECCA or WUTHERING HEIGHTS.
On the other hand Guinness always played very human characters. He
played frequently with an impish smile when he was happy. But also
he knew how to feel emotion in a role and express it. More than
that he could get the viewer to feel that emotion along with him.
In the best remembered of his 1950s films I think THE MAN IN THE
WHITE SUIT, at the end when he feels betrayed, we do also. But I
think of all his performances the one that I like best is in one of
his lessor known films. He did a wonderful comedy-drama called THE
LAST HOLIDAY. In it he was a man diagnosed with a fatal disease
who after a life of penury wants to spend his last days at a very
posh resort. There was nothing overplayed about the way he let the
knowledge that death was approaching eat at him. Even today I find
it very hard to see the performance and remember that it is only
the character and not Guinness himself who is dying. I think that
Olivier and Gielgud had more respect, but I think more people feel
a genuine affection for Guinness and his characters.
Of course later on Guinness took roles that brought him more
acclaim. He got an Academy Award and a prefix of "Sir" for his
role in THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI in one of the most fascinating
studies of obsession in film. Second only to THE LAST HOLIDAY I
liked him in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. He was a perfect choice for
Prince Feisal, actually physically resembling Lawrence's own
sketches of Feisal.
Probably today Alec Guinness is best known for the role he most
regretted. When George Lucas sent him the script for STAR WARS he
said his reaction was "Oh crumbs, this is not for me." But he
liked the script and agreed to play Obi-Wan Kenobi. The role
brought the modest and shy man just precisely the sort of notoriety
that he did not want. He became a hero to a younger generation who
did not know of his serious work. Even worse people responded to
his character as if he was real and would send him mail asking for
advice.
Guinness supposedly retired in 1988 but I know better since in 1989
I saw him on the stage as Botvinik in A WALK IN THE WOODS. It was
a classic Guinness character, serious and worried, yet impish and
playful. Nobody could have played the role better.
As usual when a major actor dies, many of his old films are playing
on television and cable. I hope that the younger actors of today
take a close look. [-mrl]
Mark Leeper
HO 1K-644 732-817-5619
mleeper@lucent.com