What is a mixed movie? A film to which artists of various nationalities contribute. Popular examples are "Land of the Pharaohs", "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Casino Royale" and "The Sundowners". British players like Errol Flynn, Stewart Granger, Rex Harrison and James Mason have always been welcome in Hollywood. Not so well known are the numerous examples of American actors who lent their talents to British films, such as Robert Ayres, Phyllis Kirk, Mona Freeman, Frank Sinatra, Carol Lynley, William Bendix, Russ Tamblyn, William Holden, Raquel Welch, Joan Crawford, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson, Vincent Price, Tab Hunter, Alex Nicol, Zachary Scott, and Wayne Morris, to mention but a few such appearances that are detailed in this book.
You must be logged in to post a review.
Please log in
1
Person Reviewed This Product
By John Reid
Oct 15, 2009
"Many Hollywood Stars Worked in British Films" Although most people think of big cinema blockbusters boasting a host of international stars as a comparatively recent phenomenon, mixed movies on a smaller scale have actually been around for some time. I define a “mixed movie” as one with cross-over talent, for example a British star in a Hollywood movie, or a Hollywood star in a British film. Of course, there are also movies like “Father Brown, Detective” which were totally homegrown at the time they were made, but star people like Alec Guinness and Peter Finch who were later to become international celebrities. The accent in this book, however, is primarily on those British films whose stars were either already well-established in Hollywood or were later to become overwhelmingly popular with American moviegoers. Films like “The Scarlet Pimpernel” with Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey and Nigel Bruce; or “Personal Affair” with Gene Tierney, Leo Genn and Glynis... More > Johns; or “On the Double” with Danny Kaye, Dana Wynter, Margaret Rutherford and Diana Dors; or “Naked Runner” with Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan and Nadia Gray; “Land of the Pharaohs” with Jack Hawkins, Joan Collins and Dewey Martin; “The Angry Silence” with Pier Angeli; “Knight Without Armor” with Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat; “The Battle of the Sexes” with Peter Sellers and Constance Cummings; “I Was a Spy” with Madeleine Carroll, Conrad Veidt and Herbert Marshall; “Hot Millions” with Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith, Karl Malden, Cesar Romero, Bob Newhart; “Hobson’s Choice” with Charles Laughton and John Mills; “Happy Go Lovely” with David Niven, Vera-Ellen and Cesar Romero; “The City under the Sea” with Vincent Price and Tab Hunter; Mia Farrow in “Blind Terror”; Anna May Wong in “Chu-Chin-Chow”; Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Woody Allen, Orson Welles, Deborah Kerr, William Holden, Charles Boyer in “Casino Royale”; Van Johnson and Vera Miles in “Beyond This Place”. Even the boxoffice appeal of British “B” productions was often augmented by the presence of one or more Hollywood stars. Thus we find Mona Freeman in “Before I Wake”, Zachary Scott and Peggie Castle in “The Counterfeit Plan”, Alex Nicol in “The Gilded Cage”, Alex Nicol and Hilary Brooke in that little Ken Hughes masterpiece, “House across the Lake”, Otto Kruger in “Housemaster”, Wayne Morris in “The Master Plan”, Phylls Kirk in “River Beat”. More prestigious productions were often helmed by Hollywood directors: Robert Siodmak directed William Bendix and Nadja Tiller in “The Rough and the Smooth”; Fielder Cook coached Arthur Kennedy in “Home Is the Hero”; while William K. Howard worked with Edmund Lowe on “The Squeaker”. This book also covers a few Hollywood productions with British stars such as “The Ghost and Mrs Muir”, “The Reckless Moment”, “Gentleman Jim”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. Also included in the book by way of contrast are films like “Tom Jones”, “Elephant Boy”, “South Riding”, “The Lady Vanishes”, and “Where No Vultures Fly”. On the surface, some of these movies seem totally British, but on closer inspection you can see the involvement of either a Hollywood producer or director.< Less
