Toast off to Ustinov

[dmolson]

A great, if somewhat misunderstood, talent, Peter Ustinov, passed away yesterday. The often hilarious author-playwright-actor-director had a few ties with our Orson W. He was married to OW's Desdemona (imdb.com had even misprinted that Suzanne Cloutier was once married to OW, although in an interview she once said it was a choice between Peter and Orson), and his multi-talents and many hats often produced works of near-genius. He was also accused of falling short of his talent. Here's a brief snippet from the Guardian's obituary about Sir Peter, which includes a couple of his quotes re. Orson...


'He became, as he once said, "a dancing bear", and worked hard at it. Into his late 70s, he travelled arduously for television programmes and gave a spate of good interviews to publicise them. Succeeding the late Orson Welles as a foreign member of the Académie Française, he delivered a tribute to the film director which was full of barely disguised autobiography. He said, "The observer might think that the young man of 25, who had succeeded in leaving the rest of the race so far behind in the first 100 metres, was indeed capable of every victory he could ever wish for. Yet... "

He also said of Welles, "He could have hung up the chains of the dancing bear and given himself over to contemplation and quiet - something he enjoyed but for which he rarely had the peace of mind." His own life would have been sadder if the wellspring of laughter inside him had not run so deep.

But in addition to being a celebrity, he shuttled about on behalf of Unicef, the world children's agency, and was president of the little-known World Federalist Movement. Last year, he was honoured with a graduate college named after him at Durham University, where he was chancellor.'

[Harvey Chartrand]

And yet the only credit shared by these two portly geniuses was NIGHT OF 100 STARS in 1982, an all-star variety special celebrating the centennial of the Actors' Fund of America.

Broadcaster Alistair Cooke has died at age 95. He hosted the OMNIBUS series back in the early fifties. One of the episodes was Welles' 1953 KING LEAR production.

All the greats are dying off.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

I think his performance in Spartacus is one of the greatest ever. I just think its wonderful - in the midst of a rather uninteresting epic, though much better than it would have been without Kubrick, there's him giving this really fun, really genuine characterisation. It doesn't look like acting at all.

He was also great fun in Death on the Nile. I haven't seen much else from him.

[Harvey Chartrand]

I didn't realize that Peter Ustinov directed eight films, almost equalling Welles' output as a director. I thought BILLY BUDD was a masterpiece, right up there with KANE.
Another similarity with Welles is that "(Ustinov) grew fat spreading himself too thin." One wag noted that "Ustinov was a jack of all trades and master of none — but what a jack!"
It occurs to me that Peter Ustinov was a happier, more disciplined and perhaps even more versatile multitalent than Welles. And his choice of film roles (especially in the fifties) was inspired (witness his circus ringmaster in Max Ophuls' LOLA MONTES and his Russian spy in Henri Georges-Clouzot's LES ESPIONS). And who can ever forget Ustinov's delightful, innocent old man (with American accent) in LOGAN'S RUN?

Peter Ustinov's "oeuvre" as a film director:

Memed My Hawk (1984)
Hammersmith Is Out (1972)
Lady L (1965)
Billy Budd (1962)
Romanoff and Juliet (1961)
Private Angelo (1949)
Vice Versa (1948)
School for Secrets (1946)

[dmolson]

he really surrounded himself with a terrific cast in Budd -- Robert Ryan was Clagget to a 'T', and Terrence stamp as Budd! Plus Melvyn Douglas, Leo Genn, a pre-Man from Uncle David McCallum, and a pre-Baron Munchausen John Neville... The lone miscue, and he admitted it himself, was Ustinov's turn as the honour-bound and firm captain.
Another element that mirrors Welles career was how he kind of 'petered' out as a talk show staple and the odd appearance as a Muppet consort. Even his Agatha Christie role was mostly minor except in the way he delivered the utterly comic strains of the Belgium detective who always steps into the scene of a crime.