An Appreciation for James Mason
So lucky Canadians (well those who live in Toronto) are getting an awesome film retrospective of James Mason's work. I am so jealous. We never have anything cool like this here. No I am not counting Metropolis/Breathless because that is playing across the country. I mean something that is dedicated to Classic Film/Film History that is special to Philadelphia. Is that too much to ask?
Anyways back to James Mason:
He is sort of an actor who has sneaked up on me. The first time I saw Mason was in North by Northwest and he made quite an impression on me. This was actually difficult because it was opposite Cary Grant (and if you read this journal you should all know what a Grant fan I am). He actually ended up becoming my favorite Hitchcock villain (followed closely by Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt). But despite this strong impression Mason made for the longest time I did not see anything else by him.
Then thanks to a Carol Reed fix, TCM, and Netflix I ended up catching The Man Between & Odd Man Out two British films starring Mason and what can I say I fell in love. The more I watch of Mason I can't believe he never won an Oscar (and I am pretty sure he never received an Honorary one either.) He was an actor who took risks from playing an actor who's career is in ruins & becomes a drunk in a A Star is Born to a man infatuated with a child in Lolita. He can also elevate a not so great movie. I am thinking 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which IMO was not anything special except Mason's portrayal of Captain Nemo was grand.
And another reason to love Mason as the picture indicates he was a cat lover (my kind of person). He actually wrote a book with his 1st wife called The Cats in Our Lives where he talks about the cats and other animals in his and his wife's life (he also did all the illustrations). Apparently they were a bit eccentric about their animals which is cool with me. The book which was published in 1949 is sadly OOP but it is available at libraries so I have put an IIL request in for it. I can't wait to read it.
Oh and I already mentioned Mason's sexy voice in another post so I won't dwell on that (but some videos)
I know I posted this one before but I love this clip :)
So basically if you have never seen a James Mason film you are missing out!
Anyways back to James Mason:
He is sort of an actor who has sneaked up on me. The first time I saw Mason was in North by Northwest and he made quite an impression on me. This was actually difficult because it was opposite Cary Grant (and if you read this journal you should all know what a Grant fan I am). He actually ended up becoming my favorite Hitchcock villain (followed closely by Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt). But despite this strong impression Mason made for the longest time I did not see anything else by him.
Then thanks to a Carol Reed fix, TCM, and Netflix I ended up catching The Man Between & Odd Man Out two British films starring Mason and what can I say I fell in love. The more I watch of Mason I can't believe he never won an Oscar (and I am pretty sure he never received an Honorary one either.) He was an actor who took risks from playing an actor who's career is in ruins & becomes a drunk in a A Star is Born to a man infatuated with a child in Lolita. He can also elevate a not so great movie. I am thinking 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which IMO was not anything special except Mason's portrayal of Captain Nemo was grand.
And another reason to love Mason as the picture indicates he was a cat lover (my kind of person). He actually wrote a book with his 1st wife called The Cats in Our Lives where he talks about the cats and other animals in his and his wife's life (he also did all the illustrations). Apparently they were a bit eccentric about their animals which is cool with me. The book which was published in 1949 is sadly OOP but it is available at libraries so I have put an IIL request in for it. I can't wait to read it.
Oh and I already mentioned Mason's sexy voice in another post so I won't dwell on that (but some videos)
Click to viewI know I posted this one before but I love this clip :)
So basically if you have never seen a James Mason film you are missing out!