Charles Laughton is the acting equal of Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson combined.
People tend to refer to acting giants like Olivier and Gielgud. However, the name of Charles Laughton deserves to be included. He was an actor of much versatility and usually returned to the theatre, even after achieving success in films. On the one occasion Charles Laughton directed a film, he received critical acclaim for his efforts. Perhaps he should have pursued that vocation further?
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- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsCharles LaughtonRobert DonatFranklin DyallKing Henry VIII marries five more times after his divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon.Laughton is Henry VIII personified.
- DirectorAlexander KordaStarsCharles LaughtonGertrude LawrenceElsa LanchesterThe respected painter takes to drink and faces down scandal after his wife dies.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsCharles LaughtonMary BolandCharles RugglesAn English valet brought to the American west assimilates into the American way of life.
- DirectorErle C. KentonStarsCharles LaughtonBela LugosiRichard ArlenA mad doctor conducts ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor who finds himself trapped there.A controversial but good film, Laughton relishing his role!
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsCharles LaughtonMaureen O'HaraGeorge SandersA mild-mannered school teacher in a German-occupied town during World War II finds himself torn between collaboration and resistance.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsCharles LaughtonMaureen O'HaraCedric HardwickeIn 15th-century France, a gypsy girl is framed for murder by the infatuated Chief Justice, and only the deformed bellringer of Notre Dame Cathedral can save her.To this day after 30 years when I saw this film, there's something remotely haunting in Laughton's performance.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCharles LaughtonJohn MillsBrenda de BanzieWidower Henry Hobson refuses to let his three daughters get married because he doesn't want to pay settlements, so they'll just have to outsmart him.
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.Steals the film almost effortlessly.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffMelvyn DouglasCharles LaughtonSeeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when they stumble upon the Femm family estate.
- DirectorFrank LloydStarsCharles LaughtonClark GableFranchot ToneFirst mate Fletcher Christian leads a revolt against his sadistic commander, Captain Bligh, in this classic seafaring adventure, based on the real-life 1789 mutiny.Laughton takes the acting honours once again. His unyielding sadism as Captain Bligh is quite disturbing.
- DirectorJules DassinNorman Z. McLeodStarsCharles LaughtonRobert YoungMargaret O'BrienThe descendent of a ghost imprisoned for cowardice hopes to free the spirit by displaying courage when under duress.
- DirectorSidney FranklinStarsNorma ShearerFredric MarchCharles LaughtonElizabeth Barrett's tyrannical father has forbidden any of his family to marry. Nevertheless, Elizabeth falls in love with the poet Robert Browning.
- DirectorRichard BoleslawskiStarsFredric MarchCharles LaughtonCedric HardwickeIn early-19th-century France, an ex-convict who failed to report to parole is relentlessly pursued over a 20-year period by an obsessive policeman.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFranchot ToneLew AyresHenry FondaThe polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsCharles LaughtonBoris KarloffSally ForrestNoble-born cad Denis (Stapley) has been tricked into a forced stay at the eerie manor of the Sire de Maletroit (Laughton), an evil madman who can't get over the death of his beloved, 20 years after she married his brother (Cavanagh) instead, then passed away during childbirth. Maletroit is determined to have his revenge: the brother has been stowed away in the dungeon for two decades, while he's convinced his disreputable house guest will make a suitably hellish husband for his niece. As luck would have it, the young couple manage to fall in love, and with the help of manservant Voltan (Karloff), they try to make their escape, but not before a final confrontation with Maletroit in the dungeon's crushing deathtrap.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMaureen O'HaraRobert NewtonCharles LaughtonIn Cornwall, 1819, a young woman discovers she's living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.
- DirectorRobert SiodmakStarsCharles LaughtonElla RainesDean HarensAn unhappily married man begins a flirtation with a younger woman. When his wife threatens to ruin her, he decides to take action.
- DirectorHenry HathawayHoward HawksHenry KingStarsFred AllenAnne BaxterJeanne CrainJohn Steinbeck introduces a quintet of five of O. Henry's most celebrated stories from his New York Period (1902-1910) in this anthology film.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsFredric MarchClaudette ColbertElissa LandiA Roman soldier becomes torn between his love for a Christian woman and his loyalty to Emperor Nero.
- DirectorBurgess MeredithIrving AllenCharles LaughtonStarsCharles LaughtonFranchot ToneBurgess MeredithFrench police inspector Maigret investigates the murder of a rich Paris widow and ends up chasing the killer up the Eiffel Tower's girders.
- DirectorJohn FarrowStarsRay MillandMaureen O'SullivanCharles LaughtonA magazine tycoon commits a murder and pins it on an innocent man, who then tries to solve the murder himself.
- DirectorPeter HallStarsGeorgine AndersonStephanie BidmeadMichael BlakemoreMistaken identity, unrequited love, and the supernatural are combined in Shakespeare's classic set in the woods of Greece on a moonlit night.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardVincente MinnelliStarsRobert TaylorAva GardnerCharles LaughtonFederal agent Rigby, in Central America to trace stolen plane engines, falls for the gorgeous wife of the chief suspect.Total rubbish from beginning to end.
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.A natural film director is in evidence.