MovieChat Forums > Nora Prentiss (1947) Discussion > Kent Smith=Laurence Olivier?

Kent Smith=Laurence Olivier?

posted 11 years ago by gosh717
4 replies | jump to latest

I thought Kent Smith looked so much like Laurence Olivier in the first part of this movie, when he still had the moustache. Someone in another post on this board mentions the movie "Carrie". Compare Olivier in that movie to Smith in this one, and see if you don't think that there's a strong resemblance. By the way, I was never very impressed by Kent Smith's acting, but I thought he was excellent in "Nora Prentiss".

[–] IFeedPigeons 11 years ago

I have never seen "Carrie," but I think there's very much a resemblance between Smith in "Nora Prentiss" and Olivier as Maxim de Winter in "Rebecca." Both were very handsome in their time.

[–] rayincumbria 9 years ago

Thank you.. that was my overwhelming thought during this film.. What is max deWinter doing in San Franciscco...

few visible scars

[–] joeparkson 9 years ago

Olivier should have sued Kent Smith for stealing his 'look' and acting like a stiff.

Soy 'un hijo de la playa'

[–] mdonln 9 years ago

Olivier should have sued Kent Smith for stealing his 'look' and acting like a stiff.

Olivier has been accused of acting like a stiff himself. See Bunny Lake is missing. I didn't agree but I remember a few comments that suggested he was stiff and wooden.

In regards to Kent Smith, he's supposed to be as straight-laced as you get early in the movie; very rigid in his ways. Remember how Nora says she could set her watch by him? She also said he was so 'cold and dignified.' Later in the movie, he's tense, stressed out and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Playing it stiff fits the role. Talbot was hardly a laid-back kind of guy.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]