In praise of: Alastair Sim
Born this
day in 1900 Alastair Sim
(born in Edinburgh) is my favourite actor, even more so than Terry-Thomas (born
in Finchley). And here they are both with
Ian Carmichael (born in Hull), and the by-golly luminous Janette Scott (born in
Morecambe), daughter of Thora Hird (also born in Morecambe), in the closing three minutes of my
favourite film, School for Scoundrels.
Those “born ins” will mean something to English readers: what is striking is
how clearly, despite their disparate native accents, they enunciate. Talk
about crisp.
The film was based on the very funny books by Stephen Potter – Gamesmanship: the art of winning games without actually cheating, Lifemanship and One-Upmanship. (His Anti-Woo is pretty
good too.) Sim plays Potter and is
fantastically insincere throughout. In this closing scene he does wonderful
business in the background lighting a cigarette. I can’t find online the
critical praise for his “expressive teeth” but here you see his expressive eyes
as he says, despairingly, “No, not
sincerity!” My hero.
While I have a sneaking fondness for Rupert Everett's disturbing resemblance to Camilla Parker-Bowles-Mountbatten-Windsor , when it comes to sociopathic headmistresses accept no substitutes. Sims is the ONLY Miss Fritton in my cankered heart.
ReplyDeleteHe was peerless in every role. There are photos of him as a young man that are eerily like photos of CK Stead as a young man. Karl doesn't have the expressive teeth, but otherwise I wonder if they were ever seen in the same room.
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