George Arliss

Nobody remembers him nowadays, but he was the first British Actor to win an Academy Award (and you thought it was Olivier!)

Here's some more good reasons:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Arliss

And here he is in what was probably his most famous role:


http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/psionovore/iron_duke.jpg

British comedian Tony Hanc0ck claimed that he looked just like Arliss's Wellington in profile. So much so that he kept using it in his stage act until the mid-1960s. "What do you mean, you've never heard of him? He's only been dead twenty years!"

Arliss had perhaps the most impressive set of nostrils in cinema history:


http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/psionovore/Arliss2.jpg

with the possible exception of Ernest Thesiger:


http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/psionovore/ernest.jpg

It's a pity they never had a scene together. It would have been like a duel between two double-barrelled shotguns.

Be that as it may, and spectacularly out-of-date as Arliss's acting seems nowadays, he was a major force in the movies in the 1930s, and deserves not to have been forgotten. His Cardinal Richelieu is a fine performance, as is his double role in The House Of Rothschild, which gave an early break to Loretta Young.

Check him out sometime, I urge you.

Oh P-shaw of course I remember him and I bet Charlie and Asta do too! but I am so glad you are bringing him to the attention of others.

I've heard of him but sadly I'm more familiar with him through Hanc0ck's impression than through his films... :o


As for 'Battle of The Flaring Nostrils'..Kenneth Williams could show them both a flare or too...

As for 'Battle of The Flaring Nostrils'..Kenneth Williams could show them both a flare or too...

Good point! Anyone else out there want to put forward a nomination for the Nostrils Ocars?

I remember reading an early review of Julia Roberts rather snidely claiming a Semi could fit in her nostril. I've noticed her nostrils ever since.

But then - I like interesting faces and prefer various noses of character to the weirdly snipped noses cloned in vogue - especially among the surgically aging.

George Arliss in the early talkies was a bit of a...hearthrob wasn't he? He is a very interesting actor in that I find his looks unlikely for the parts he plays - until I see him playing the part... :) . He's rather a suave sort of actor to me. The way he sets objects down, and speaks, is...suave. It's interesting... He's older than I thought! Born in 1868? Wow!

This man isn't a movie star - but a royal celebrity - and I think Prince Charles should be noted for the lengh of his nostrils.

What a strange conversation :p ! LOL!

I remember reading an early review of Julia Roberts rather snidely claiming a Semi could fit in her nostril. I've noticed her nostrils ever since.

But then - I like interesting faces and prefer various noses of character to the weirdly snipped noses cloned in vogue - especially among the surgically aging.

George Arliss in the early talkies was a bit of a...hearthrob wasn't he? He is a very interesting actor in that I find his looks unlikely for the parts he plays - until I see him playing the part... :) . He's rather a suave sort of actor to me. The way he sets objects down, and speaks, is...suave. It's interesting... He's older than I thought! Born in 1868? Wow!

This man isn't a movie star - but a royal celebrity - and I think Prince Charles should be noted for the lengh of his nostrils.

What a strange conversation :p ! LOL!

Arliss played British PM Benjamin Disraeli twice on screen (once in a silent once in a talkie). Interestingly Disraeli died in 1881 so Arliss most likely would have seen the state funeral. (.or was at least a child of 13 when it took place and most likely aware of it if not an actual onlooker to the procession)...of the man who would later portray twice on screen...

But then - I like interesting faces and prefer various noses of character to the weirdly snipped noses cloned in vogue - especially among the surgically aging.

George Arliss in the early talkies was a bit of a...hearthrob wasn't he? He is a very interesting actor in that I find his looks unlikely for the parts he plays - until I see him playing the part... :) . He's rather a suave sort of actor to me. The way he sets objects down, and speaks, is...suave. It's interesting... He's older than I thought! Born in 1868? Wow!


Noses of character? You must be talking about my hero:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t222/psionovore/wcf.jpg

Arliss was an unlikely "heart-throb", seeing that he made his first talky at the age of 61, but I agree, Asta, he brought immense style and aristocratic presence into the most trivial action.

Here's what Bette Davis had to say about him:

"His small dark eyes held an ancient sadness, but his taut triangular mouth seemed always to be repressing an irrepressible mirth."