MovieChat Forums > Foreign Correspondent (1940) Discussion > George Sanders

George Sanders

posted 15 years ago by omari322
17 replies | jump to latest

********Possible Spoiler************

I'm always blown away by the consummate skill of the great George Sanders but his role as ffolliot in FC was still a revelation. First off, if the movie was made today ffolliot would have been cast as the betrayer and/or killed for not being the main hero so the fact that while his character had his own agenda it was not for the ends movies of today usually lead one to believe.

I've never seen any of Mr. Sanders' "The Fox" movies but I do know one serial character he could have pulled off and that would have been James Bond. He had the suaveness and the competence of 007 as ffolliot with also that touch of humanity the Bond character will always drop in the better of the Bond movies.

All a matter of timing but dang if Sanders wasn't the truth in FC.

'Cause I'm Black you think I did it?

[–] rexshard93 15 years ago

He is a great actor. I think he is closest to a true Hitchcockian actor. He was also great in Rebecca as Jack Favell.

[–] archer1949 15 years ago

Sanders stole this movie. ffoliet was the real hero of the story. A badass who was not afraid to play dirty to beat the badguy. Jones was just along for the ride, making googly eyes at the girl.

Jesus is my Best friend, but he still won't loan me money.

[–] bothpartiessuck 13 years ago

Hear, hear!! Ffoliett was SMART (he thought up the "kidnapping of Carol" plot), BRAVE, and the male protagonist of this film! As such, I found myself attracted to that character rather than John Jones.

[–] ImOkayLarry 14 years ago

I agree, He was just fantastic in this film! I've always liked Sanders but it's good to see him in a slightly more down-to-earth role than usual (as opposed to the 'cad' or the 'snob'.

Also interesting to see Santa as a hitman... Three cheers for Edmund Gwen!

"Oh, it's more than a hobby. A hobby should pass the time, not fill it."

[–] canuckteach 14 years ago

Sanders was brilliant in the comedy A Shot in the Darka as a 'straight' man/murder suspect, playing deadpan against Peter Sellers' kinetic Clouseau. Reminiscent of the (later) performance of Michael Caine as 'straight' man to Steve Martin in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

although 'veddy British', he was actually born in Russia (1906). item of note: married (briefly) to TWO Gabor sisters!!!

hate to rain on your parade.. committed suicide 1972.. my mother, who grew up watching GS from early days, always lamented that Sanders was a very unhappy man, despite his on-screen elegance, and savoir-faire.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001695/bio
http://www.nndb.com/people/728/000043599/

:-) canuckteach (--:

[–] fang123horn 14 years ago

I just plain surprised by his performance because I grew up watching him do the voice of Shere Kahn in The Jungle Book and he always had the look and voice of a villain. Here its not so and he can be just as good a guy as Joel Mccrea was but with a little bit more cleverness in him. He was one of the things that made the movie for me.

[–] jemimakahn 14 years ago

Ah Shere Khan, what a voice! He pretty much became the hero as the film progressed. Joel McCrea started to pale a bit next to him. So much charisma. And he got the best lines in the 2nd half..."cancel my rumba lesson", hehe!

[–] wmousie 14 years ago

If you are still around, omari322, there may be a good reason why you have never seen Sander’s “The Fox” movies. That is because they were actually “The Falcon” movies.

George Sanders starred in several of the early "Falcon" films playing Gay Lawrence, but when he started getting better roles in 'A' pictures, the series was spun off to Gay’s brother, Tom Laurence — starring George’s older brother, Tom Conway — after Gay had been eliminated by a Nazi sniper.

The family name was Sanders, but when both brothers went to Hollywood they decided that one of them would have to change his last name to avoid confusion. They decided it with the toss of a coin.

Although Conway was less successful in his career than his younger sibling, he carried the "Falcon" series so successfully that it is now more closely associated with Tom than his brother, George.

[–] omari322 13 years ago

Thank you for the correction, wmousie, and I will definitely check out "The Falcon" movies...anything with Mr. Sanders in it.

'Cause I'm Black you think I did it?

[–] Flight_of_Fantasy 13 years ago

Yeah, George definitely stole the show, although I must say I was surprised to see him playing a good guy! If only he'd been a few years older, he would have been excellent playing Herbert Marshall's character. Ah well, it was nice to see him in the hero role (and I agree, he was the true hero of this movie). He was actually quite fantastic as the good guy in this, as opposed to in Village of the Damned, in which I just couldn't get past the fact that he was a good guy. That was just jarring.

But this... yes, he was incredibly awesome as the good guy in this movie.

"He's already attracted to her. Time and monotony will do the rest."

[–] lrrap 11 years ago

And Sanders was a very fine SINGER, too! Check out his "good guy" role in "Call Me Madam", as he romances and serenades Ethel Merman!

He sings two gorgeous Irving Berlin songs with her; worth the price of the dvd alone! Also, I understand he actually recorded an LP of romantic songs sometime in the late '50's.

And then there's "All About Eve"; talk about stealing a film...from Bette Davis, yet!

LR

[–] Doc_Ostrow 10 years ago

"He was actually quite fantastic as the good guy in this, as opposed to in Village of the Damned, in which I just couldn't get past the fact that he was a good guy. That was just jarring."

What!? In Village of the Damned, he saved Earth by exploding the bomb in his briefcase.

Monsters from the Id

[–] Prismark10 10 years ago

Sanders stole the film!

Its that man again!!

[–] Errington_92 10 years ago

Sanders had a great comic presence as well as a dramatic one. He offered light-hearted moments in this serious thriller.

"I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not".

[–] rtw416 8 years ago

Omarri-your post is 7yrs old,but I agree with your impression of Sanders....he defiantly made every character he played memorable.However-I think you may have meant to say "Falcon" and not "Fox"-in reference to his string of 007 type roles,known as the Falcon.

[–] camille-05424 7 years ago

I totally agree with all the comments made about George Sanders in the Foreign Correspondent. One film I did not see mentioned was Mr. Sanders in Dorian Gray. He really is the voice of Oscar Wilde, if one is a fan of Oscar Wilde's writings. I was also sad to read about Mr. Sander's suicide. It has been written he left behind a note saying in part that he was "bored with life". He did leave behind many film watchers who truly admire his work then and now.