[This is one of a series celebrating British artistes who
found fame on the stage or in the cinema]
The two artistes I here describe often played heroic roles
in a style which changed over the generations. More was the stiff-upper-lip
Englishman, Dalton an edgier, more fashion conscious type. Both played a
variety of other roles very competently and both gave much pleasure.
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| Kenneth More and Kay Kendall in Genevieve (1953) |
Kenneth More (1914-1982)
was the son of a former naval pilot, who became general manager of the Jersey
railway. Kenneth was educated mainly in the Channel Islands. An unsettled
youth, he eventually first worked as a compere at the Windmill Theatre, home of
broad comedy and the then daring nude tableaux. More drifted into acting in the
mid-1930s and earned his apprenticeship in repertory in Birmingham and
Wolverhampton. Enlisting on the outbreak of war, he saw active service and was
commissioned lieutenant in the Royal Navy.
He resumed his acting career, edging up his profession, and
eventually was talent-spotted by Noel Coward (who inevitably but unsuccessfully
tried to seduce him). In 1952 he had a substantial success in the West End as
Freddy, the drunken former pilot in Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea playing opposite Peggy Ashcroft. Stardom came in 1953 in the
British hit film Genevieve where More
greatly amused as the caddish Ambrose,
paired with lovely Kay Kendall racing his veteran car against John Gregson on
the London to Brighton rally: a very English entertainment. Other bright and
breezy comedy parts followed in Doctor in
the House, Raising a Riot and The
Admirable Crichton.
 |
| More as Douglas Bader |
However More was already being cast in the heroic mould. He
impressed as Douglas Bader in Reach for
the Sky, the cocksure pre-WW2 RAF pilot, becoming a double amputee after a
crash and later a fighter ace before capture and incarceration in Colditz. He
was an officer on the Titanic in A Night
to Remember (1958), a redoubtable
Richard Hannay in a remake of The 39
Steps, a gallant Army officer protecting an Indian prince from mutinous
tribesmen, succoured by glamorous Lauren Bacall and dependable Wilfred Hyde
White in North West Frontier. He
reached his apex of film stardom with
Sink the Bismarck! in 1960, playing the naval strategist tracking down the
Nazi battleship, causing havoc with British shipping – a flag-waving triumph
here at home.
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| More with Dana Wynter in Sink the Bismarck! |
More had been consistently popular during the 1950s but his
type was passing out of fashion. He did not have matinee idol good looks and he
was derided by some as a typical returning- from-war officer with crinkly hair
and a tweed jacket. His acting range was thought limited – probably not a natural
Shakespearean thespian nor a kitchen-sink drama ranter.
His film career stalled in the 1960s, dwindling to cameo
roles. He had blotted his copy-book, no doubt while in his cups, by heckling
and swearing at John Davis, head honcho of the Rank Organisation at the BAFTA
awards dinner in 1960. His contract was terminated and he was not given the
part he coveted (it went instead to David Niven) in The Guns of Navarone, a global hit. He had TV success in the BBC’s Forsyte Saga playing Young Jolyon in
1967 and with Father Brown. His
private life unbalanced him; married for 20 years to popular “Bill” Barkby, he
upset family and friends by running off with actress Angela Douglas, 26 years
his junior. Their 1968 marriage was generally a success and lasted until his
death.
I saw Kenneth More on the London stage in 1970 in the role
of Sir Robert Morton, the eminent KC, in a revival of Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy. He was excellent,
especially in the dramatic scene he brutally cross-examines a weeping Ronnie
Winslow in his own home, calling him “a liar and a cheat” then calls for the
papers to be sent to his chambers, taking on the case and intoning – “the boy
is clearly innocent!”
A theatre was named after him in
Ilford but More was afflicted by Parkinson’s and was progressively unable to
work. He died aged 67 in 1982. He may have had a repertoire limited to
stiff-upper-lip heroics and breezy light comedy but he played both
superlatively and is affectionately remembered.
Timothy Dalton (1946-
) is a much more versatile actor than Kenneth More ever was though his stage
persona is less overtly genial.
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| Handsome Timothy Dalton |
Born in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, the son of an advertising
executive, the family moved to Belper, Derbyshire where Timothy was educated.
Spurred on by seeing Macbeth, he decided
to be an actor, attending but not completing the RADA course (1964-66). He
quickly found work, as the French king in The
Lion in Winter movie and as Heathcliff in a BBC TV version of Wuthering Heights. He played Lord
Darnley (not one of his best efforts) in the epic movie Mary, Queen of Scots in 1971, played by Vanessa Redgrave. More
significantly he became Vanessa Redgrave’s lover, a tempestuous affair which
was to last on and off until 1986.
Vanessa was an attractive woman but over time became a
wildly Leftist harridan voicing extreme views noisily and unconvincingly. She
was consumed by her belief in the forthcoming Revolution and when Timothy made
her choose between him and Revolution, she chose her dismal cause. She inspired Dalton to study acting seriously
and from 1971-76 he worked mainly at The Royal Shakespeare Company. He was to
play many of the great roles and his Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew was particularly memorable. Tall, lean,
green-eyed and with rather saurian good looks, Dalton was much in demand with
the ladies and had various liaisons. He finally married musician Okesema
Grigorieva in 1998.
 |
| Dalton as James Bond in Licence to Kill |
Far from his serious acting, he appeared as Prince Marin in
the gloriously camp 1980 comic-strip and sci-fi extravaganza Flash Gordon with its distinguished cast
wildly over-acting to a great Queen soundtrack. He became better known and this
led to his recruitment as James Bond on the retirement of Roger Moore. He made
only two Bond films – The Living
Daylights (1987) and Licence to Kill
(1989) which were well regarded, and his darker interpretation of Bond has
endured subsequently. Dalton was now a global star. Although contracted for 5
Bond films, the franchise producers got bogged down in a 4-year legal dispute
and Dalton did not renew.
Since then Dalton has capitalised on his fame and was an
excellent Rhett Butler in the US mini-series Scarlett in 1994. He has appeared in numerous plays, TV dramas and
done voice-overs. He is now 70 and his heroic days are behind him. His career
has been versatile and highly rewarding.
SMD
23.04.16
Text Copyright ©Sidney Donald 2016
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