Happy Birthday, Charles Laughton! Born today in 1899, this English stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
He first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future wife, English actress Elsa Lanchester, with whom he lived and worked until his death. They were married in 1929, but had no children.
In his later career, Laughton took up stage directing, notably in Herman Wouk's two-act play of the 1953 courtroom drama type, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. This was from Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1951 nautical historical war fiction novel of the same name.
Laughton had also starred in Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist George Bernard Shaw's Don Juan in Hell. This was the name of one of the drama's four-part acts (Act 3, Scene 2) from Shaw's 1906 satirical comedy Man and Superman.
Of the early 1930s, Laughton's biggest film hits were the 1934 American black and white drama/romance film 'The Barretts of Wimpole Street', the 1935 American black and white romance/history drama film 'Mutiny on the Bounty' and the 1935 American black and white comedy/Western film 'Ruggles of Red Gap'.
Of these, Laughton is best known for starring in 'Mutiny on the Bounty' as Captain William Bligh. The film was one of MGM's biggest hits of the 1930s. It had been based English-born American novelist and traveler Charles Nordhoff and American writer James Norman Hall's 1932 historical fiction novel of the same name.
The film had been directed British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer Frank Lloyd. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president from 1934 to 1935.
The book was the first installment of their Bounty Trilogy. The others were the 1934 historical biographical nautical fiction novel Men Against the Sea and the 1934 historical biographical nautical fiction novel Pitcairn's Island.
Despite historical inaccuracies, some film critics consider this adaptation to be the best cinematic work inspired by the mutiny.
According to MGM records, 'Mutiny on the Bounty' earned $2,250,000 in the United States and Canada and $2,210,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $909,000. It was the third most popular film at the British box office in 1935–1936.
The following year of its release, the film won the Oscar Best Picture. This occurred at the 8th Academy Awards in early March 1936.
Of the late 1930s, Laughton's biggest film hits were the 1939 British black and white thriller adventure/crime film 'Jamaica Inn' and the 1939 American black and white romance/drama film 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.
Of the 1940s and 1950s, Laughton's biggest film hits were the 1948 American black and white noir/thriller film 'The Big Clock' and the 1957 American black and white mystery/drama film 'Witness for the Prosecution'.
During the mid-1950s, Laughton co-wrote and directed his first and only feature film. This was the 1955 American black and white noir/thriller film 'The Night of the Hunter'. However, Laughton went uncredited as a co-writer.
The film had been based on American novelist and short story writer Davis Grubb's 1953 thriller suspense horror fantasy fiction novel of the same name.
The novel and film draw on the true story of Dutch-born American serial killer Harry Powers, who was hanged in 1932 for the murder of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
The film's lyrical and expressionistic style with its leaning on the silent era sets it apart from other Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s, and it has influenced later directors.
These included American film director, screenwriter, and producer Robert Altman and West German filmmaker, actor, playwright, theatre director, composer, cinematographer, editor, and essayist Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
In the early 1960s, Russian-American film director Lewis Milestone ('All Quiet on the Western Front') and English film director Carol Reed ('Odd Man Out', 'The Third Man') co-directed the 1962 American Technicolor epic historical adventure/drama film 'Mutiny on the Bounty'.
During the film's horrible and nightmarish production, Marlon Brando (as Fletcher Christian) and his notorious behavior during the production, the immense backlash against him by the press for his behavior, the overwhelmingly negative reviews aimed directly at Brando's performance in the film, and the film's disastrous performance at the box office destroyed his film acting career and star power.
However, it was only revived with the release of American film director, producer, screenwriter, and film composer Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 American crime film 'The Godfather' ten years later. Milestone had said later that he thought Brando's performance was "horrible".
On a budget of $19 million, 'Mutiny on the Bounty' only grossed $13.6 million at the box office and was therefore a flop.
Laughton was cast in many Disney cartoons. One month after the release of Brando's 'Mutiny of the bounty', Laughton was originally cast as Lord Glenarvan in the 1962 American Technicolor Walt Disney Productions adventure family/sci-fi film 'In Search of the Castaways'.
However, he was replaced with English character actor of stage, film and television Wilfred Hyde-White due to Laughton's passing.
In 1992, 'The Night of the Hunter' was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
In 2008, the influential French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma selected 'The Night of the Hunter' as the second-best film of all time, behind 'Citizen Kane'.
Throughout his acting career, Laughton had portrayed everything from monsters and misfits to kings.
Daniel Day-Lewis once cited him as one of his inspirations, saying: "He was probably the greatest film actor who came from that period of time. He had something quite remarkable. His generosity as an actor; he fed himself into that work. As an actor, you cannot take your eyes off him."
Laughton had been active from 1926–1962.
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