MovieChat Forums > 36 Hours (1965) Discussion > James Doohan's accent a 'Scotty' try-out...

James Doohan's accent a 'Scotty' try-out?

posted 17 years ago by hobnob53
4 replies | jump to latest

It always struck me that James Doohan's faux Scottish accent in his one line in this film was sort of a dry run for the role of Scotty -- not intentionally, of course, but maybe it helped put him in the right frame of mind. (Those who still haven't found him, he's about five minutes into the film, entering the room where Garner and Alan Napier are discussing the D-Day invasion -- he stands in the doorway and delivers his one line.)

The plot of the movie must have hit him close to home because in real life Doohan was wounded in the Normandy invasion. The middle finger of his right hand was shot off, and if you watch his many performances you will see that he always tries to cover the hand a little, folding his fingers up, holding the hand slightly behind him, using his left hand as much as possible, etc. (as he does here in his brief scene). Only occasionally do you notice he's missing a finger.

36 HOURS is notable also for the three performers who made it big on TV soon after this movie: James Doohan in "Star Trek", John Banner in "Hogan's Heroes", Alan Napier in "Batman". Good they finally got the recognition they deserved after so many years of great performances in small movie roles.

[–] OC47150 17 years ago

What character does Doohan play? I just saw this movie for the first time and must've missed him.

[–] hobnob53 17 years ago

IMDb says he plays a character called "Bishop", but he's not called by name in the film. As I said in the top post, he's seen about five minutes into the film, AFTER the opening credits, that is. James Garner and Alan Napier are in the briefing room, alone, discussing D-Day -- it's the scene where Garner slits his finger on the side of the map, giving him the paper cut that later gives the game away -- and about a minute after Garner cuts his finger there's a knock on the door, Napier says "Yes?" and James Doohan enters and says, "Colonel? The General's office just called. He can see you now, sir." He's on screen all of about seven or eight seconds, maybe.

[–] hq-3 14 years ago

Add Karl Held, who had had a recurring role in a season of "Perry Mason" (law student David Gideon) and went on to be Garth in 46 episodes of "Falcon Crest." In "36 Hours," he's a young officer seen only a few of times, once phoning a German commander.

[–] hobnob53 14 years ago

Now that's obscure. Still, there are a number of other actors here who may be best known for their TV work -- even James Garner and Rod Taylor fall into that category -- and, to be blunt, Held could never remotely be called a "star". Certainly he never attained the fame and durability of these others, or played any kind of iconic character as they did.