...as Albert Lory in This Land is Mine. From his first entrance to his final exit our eyes are fixed; we watch as Lory goes from a sheltered, cowardly mummy's boy to a brave, patriotic citizen winning the girl he loves! I find Laughton so sweet and tender in this film, when watching, I just wanna cuddle him up and give him a big kiss! His courtroom speech is elequent and emotional and brings a tear to my eye. He really was a special actor!
shareThis Land is one of my favorites; sadly, I found out about Laughton way late in life. He was great in the Hunchback, as Capt. Bligh, as Sir Wilfrid in Witness for the Prosecution (his Thermos of "cocoa" full of brandy). He also directed the great Night of the Hunter, one of only 2 films he directed & the only one he is credited for. Laughton was so great & famous in his day that Bertolt Brecht wrote his Galileo play for Laughton.
shareThis is a fine film and Charles did a fine job. I too cried.
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I thought Sanders was the most interesting because this is the first film of his I've seen where he played against type.
shareI agree. Laughton was always great, but I think this was truly some of his finest work. One of my all-time favorite performances.
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Yeah, he makes that rather implausible change in his character almost believable. And it´d have probably been difficult to find a better mouthpiece to wax ideological/political the way he does in the last 20 or so minutes of the film; the preach he preaches is relatively well written, but it´s still thanks to his powerful delivery that it doesn´t get entirely preposterous. Excellent performance indeed.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
I saw the movie for this first time this morning on TCM and was moved by the script and Laughton's performance, especially that final speech. It brought tears to my eyes. I can only imagine how Americans hearing that speech in 1943, one of the worst in terms of American casualties and losses, were bolstered to continue the long slog of the war. He was such a great actor. This was a tremendous vehicle to showcase his talents, and may be my favorite of his movies.
shareLaughton is amazing! His range is spectacular. In this film alone he goes from meek and mild to profoundly resolute without a false note.
I must say that Leonard Maltin missed this in his 2 star capsulated review. He says the film is dated, which is true. It doesn't flow smoothly enough to warrant 4 stars, but 3 or 3 1/2 feels more correct than 2.
Why? Laughton is an acting clinic here. George Sanders is George Sanders, very good, as usual. O'Hara shines and is filmed particularly well in the courtroom speech, setting up her final lines of the movie in front of his class. I dare anyone to watch the entire classroom scene and not be moved.
This one got me in the gut and had me looking up translations of the Rights of Man. Dated? Indeed it is. But is it still pertinent? I can't think that it would ever not be pertinent.
That pertinence is perpetual mostly because Laughton is amazing!
A three star movie with a five star performance!
shareYes this is one of his best performances.
sharea fine performance.
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