Robert Donat was a truly gifted actor and this was his last film appearance as a major character. I think he carried off the role quite well. Watching the film again recently it was quite evident that he was very tired during the making of the "Inn of the Sixth Happiness" however his true mastery of the actor's craft continued to shine in any scene he was in. Here was a great actor in the twilight of his career. A real star of British cinema. Vale, Robert Donat.
shareAlso, amazingly, during the shooting he was diagnosed with throat cancer which sadly was what caused his death. Imaging having to act and proeject your voice when you've got throat cancer.
shareMr. Donat's biographer said that the cause of death was a stroke as the result of a brain tumor.
shareHe was asthmatic, he only smoked on film (not inhaling) but never in real life. I think it was the asthma that weakened his voice and his health throughout his career, but the undiagnosed brain tumor the size of a duck's egg was what killed him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk5lgZBrGWM
I was looking for him throughout the movie, but I didn't realize he was playing an Asian. I didn't recognize him.
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