Noel coward was on the radio quite a lot when I was a high school student. We kids entertained each other singing the lyrics of his complicated, clever patter songs-a tour de force for kids or anybody, but noboy told us we couldn't do it. I still know every word of "Mad About the Boy." (Well, I'm 92.)
“Mad Dogs and Englishmen.” My sister and I used to spout it to each other daily. We also loved Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top” Coward is forever the most sophisticated man of his time in “Blithe Spirit,” He also wrote and produced “In which we Serve.”” Our brilliant Irving Berlin created the loving prayer “God Bless America.”
I think it's a privilege for those who care to watch them that there are recordings like this for future generations to see, I will be 60 next year and I am contented that these precious pieces of film are now immortalised digitally and know that there will always be youngsters that will be interested to watch them.
@@annbush1826 I love those songs. Noël Coward, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, (especially the music from “An American in Paris”), and a bit of Ivor Novello. I like hearing Ella Fitzgerald sing Porter’s songbook as well. She was a very talented singer. All those old performers and more are so witty and timeless. I wish more of that talent persisted today.
Brittle? Mannered? Affected? NO. This was at bottom a lovely man with a great and tender heart capable of the greatest degree of subtlety. Funny? Well, yes, but capable too of the geatest poignancy. He often had us smiling through tears with a lump in our throats. A very great artist, indeed! But I imagine he'd hate me for saying it out loud.
Sometimes you are disappointed when someone you loved in a film turns-out to be very different themselves. Noel Coward never disappoints! In all respects he is the equal of any character he has ever played and is more interesting than some of them.
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Given the time in history, Mr Coward had the theatre world at his feet - he was greatly revered by most of the 'great' theatre luminaries for a long time. His plays, done correctly, are great comedic and social commentaries. It can seem period, and some must be played accordingly, but many remain quite contemporary. What he says about acting is from a lifetime of experience at dizzying heights, and extraordinarily insightful. As far as 'being affected', the great Stella Adler was in England and out shopping. A clerk asked where in London he should have the packages delivered. 'New York', she replied. 'Oh!', said the clerk, 'I thought you were British!' 'No,' replied Ms Adler, 'just affected.' Those people had wit and style. And that ain't easily done...
Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith of Lost In Space), himself a New Yorker of Jewish extraction, later used that story to great effect on one of his many fans.
He also loathed what passed for entertainment in his own time - he had a real go at the Angry Young Men and the Kitchen Sink style plays of the 1950s. The backlash was so great he actually recanted and tried to repair his relationship with John Osborne, but alas to no avail.
In Which We Serve is a favorite of mine, I have it on DVD. It was interesting to hear him say it was one of the most difficult projects/roles he ever did. He pulled it off with aplomb.
His great quality was to demand that things be given their true value. He had no patience with laziness, dishonesty or self-indulgence, so he could seem blunt and demanding. However, it is never helpful or respectful to accommodate mediocrity when people are capable of great things.
Rupert von Trapp - I could not agree more! I met him when I was a child and too young to know that I was meeting a celebration of life and wit. The latter is dead and the former comes to all of us, but Noel made even this a celebration.
Oh come back, Noel...just for half an hour and put the world to rights. What a total breath of spring you remain in this hateful, lack lustre world of mediocrity we now find ourselves in.
As a child, I saw him in an obscure film called Bunny Lake is Missing, playing a character part. I had no idea I was watching a theatrical legend. I didn't know who he was. I think the film is on RU-vid.
A lesson in acting that every actor should see. His overwhelming self importance can be off putting, but don't forget that he has been there and done it. Thanks for making it available.
Born on his birthday, i was introduced to his genius at age 11. Noel changed my life in the theatre and I have never forgotten him and his edge on humanity. . . .
The tapped r or the trilled r is here. I'm an elocution teacher in England and I teach it to children who were saying I'm 'alwhite' and now they can say I'm 'alright!'
@@judithcressey1682gotten is only correct after “have” e.g. “I have eaten” vs “I ate”; “I have sung” vs “I sang”; it applies to “I have gotten” vs “I got.” This is because “got” is past tense but “gotten” is the past participle, so both are correct depending on the situation. Americans tend to only say “got” which is poor grammar.
Noel Coward always produced the best put down lines. Speaking of one of his friend Ivor Novello's earliest appearences in a play he said ' He was always very bad ...... even then!' A wicked sense of humour.
When speaking about Apple cart by GB Shaw, Noel and the interviewer are in a slight disagreement, but they are handling it all so elegantly, cordially and professionally, that it's hardly noticeable. So unlike nowadays....
The farewell speech in In Which We Serve kills me every time. Brilliant uplifting emotional and only serves to yell out why didn't the Master do more serious drama?
Damn, if only he were alive in this century, I bet he would have surfed 21st century life in the same expressive direct and honest manner as he did back then.
It is not politically correct to say so I am afraid but I qualified as a social worker in Australia in 1976 and at no time have I done anything but act. My study of coward even in my family upbringing and during social work training gave me incredible resilience from.roles in social activism to palliative care. Despite the naive view about feelings being necessary to work with people Noel coward demonstrates the aloof science of theatre
Watching this interview I'm sure Michael Caine MUST have watched it a number of times before he did that interview with Michael Parkinson on how an actor must perform on camera.
5 mins 10 sec's, Noel mentioned Lunt and Fontanne, the famous acting duo in USA. There is a substantial Wikipedia entry about them😊 . They had a place called "Ten Chimneys" , now a treasured centre ref ' drama.😊⭐📖 🦉Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman did several " mickey-takes" ( I'm sure made affectionately) with parody theatre stars, " Lunt and Fontaine ", in the Carol Burnett Show " .🇬🇧😊⭐🦉 🇬🇧🌈💙⭐😊📖🇬🇧
Just been re-watching " Present Laughter ", on RU-vid. Recommended ! 😊 Donald Sinden, Gwen Watford, Dinah Sheridan. With Julian Fellows ( now known for Downton Abbey), as the creepy "Mr. Maul ", from Uckfield (" it's near Lewes..." )😊📖 🇬🇧📖⭐💙🦉😊🇬🇧
Very interesting. Touching and very funny at times. Though I must admit, I'm hard of hearing, so I put the close captioning on, and one of my biggest laughs was when the CC in the 'In Which We Serve ' scene rendered "Come a little closer" as "I'm a little pest". Clearly the automated CC is not well in synch with Noel's accent.
He always did very well in Londons West End Theatre but not too well in the provinces. His musicals were not as good as Ivor Novello who was more popular.
Actually many of his plays had their first run in Manchester, where audiences were hard to impress but appreciated wit. Coward liked the place, for various reasons, not all theatrical. See Anthony Burgess's autobiography, Little Wilson and Big God. The main character in Burgess's great novel Earthly Powers is a blend of Somerset Maugham and Noël Coward.
He's an okay actor, no John Barrymore et al.. as Orson Welles said about Barrymore, there is none like him the best and had that certain thing. I think Coward is better as a raconteur.
i've came up with a simple answer: they probably have a more developed feminine side- greater sensitivity, intuition, they can express more feeling and dedication. i think . being a female, i'm always amazed at how brilliantly written Noel Coward's female characters are (especially Amanda- Private Lives ), they feel and react the same way as i or any other woman would in a certain situation. Noel understood women very well, which thing -anybody knows - men usually can't.
Wonder why so many aren't.. Honestly, the way some go on about it nowadays you'd think Homosexuality was some sort of transcendent existence, it's just one man putting his front pipe up another's back pipe for a sexual thrill..
@@naly202 What a load of sexist tosh. Only women have filigree sensibilities? Only women have more feeling and dedication? Absolute piffle .. Was Bach a toilet trader? Did Shakespeare mince around like a 17thC Quentin Crisp? No...
4 года назад
@@Lytton333 No big deal, but your sexual orientation should not be advertised in Gay parades...... As it were a BADGE OF HONOR...
IF only contemporary actors could take on board this man's advice. He was much better at knowing how others should act than he was able to do himself. He was far TOO theatrical both on stage and in film. He was fundamentally false, probably because of the closet gay syndrome imposed upon him by the mores of his generation. Sad.
Coward was never arrested. And he was never in no closet, though he negotiated his public image with care. And he pushed it as far as possible. The 1935 musical Jubilee had a character modeled on him, called Eric Dare. He was always under attack for the lavender element in his work. Never bothered to wive it.
@@alexkije Coward never had any problems with the law, perhaps, paradoxically, because he never tried to hide his homosexuality. You may be thinking of John Gielguid.
