Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
2 appearances
A very distinguished actor, known for his stage and screen career.
On the island
Eight records
Three Compline Hymns (Gregorian Chant)
Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes
I'm very fond of Gregorian chant and about three or four years ago I had a chance of going to Salaim and hearing monks sing.
Sonata No. 2 in G minor, 2nd movement
I find him very civilized and gentle and soothing and cool, all of which I might uh find it necessary either to remind myself of the past or to quieten my spirit.
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Dino Lipatti, Philharmonia Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
I first heard this during the war in Algiers. In fact, I think it was the only concert I was able to get to during the war. I served in the Navy.
I first heard of this when lunching with David Niven in Hollywood. And uh Fred Astaire was with us and he they got to talking about drummers. And Frederistair said that in his opinion, this was the finest piece of drumming he knew.
Symphony No. 94 in G major 'Surprise'
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Fritz Lehmann
Well, I think on my desert island I'll need to uh keep my sanity and I find um Haydn very clear and soothing and uh sweet minded.
Agnus Dei from Verdi's Requiem MassFavourite
I think I've chosen this because I find it very lovely. And it's a constant reminder to me of my religion.
this is rather the equivalent of my paperback uh thriller in in choice, I suppose. But I think it would remind me of uh Oh, all sorts of things. I like the skyscrapers of New York and uh. A kind of life in the theatre which I've enjoyed.
Two things. A, it suggests New York, which I happen to love very much, a certain brilliance in the air of New York, which suits me. I mean, you know, I feel terribly well there, and I've I've had very happy times in New York. And also I think if I was on my desert island, I happen to like the song very much. I would feel that the words of it justified my existence in being away from civilization as we know it.
Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani in G minor
I only came across this record a matter of about three weeks ago, so it's a new one in my life, and I'm kind of mad about it.
Three Mexican Folk Songs: No. 1. Yo adoro a mi madre (Arr. Segovia)
John Williams playing one of three Mexican songs by Ponce and arranged by Segovia.
Symphony No. 85 in B-flat major, Hob. I:85 'La Reine'
Philharmonia Hungarica (conducted by Antal Doráti)
Well, I love Haydn. I think he's my favourite composer, generally speaking, and I believe that it would help keep me sane. In fact, any Haydn would help keep me sane on my isolated island.
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Georg Solti)
What intrigues me about this is a feeling of foreboding and a an historical feeling of fourteen eighteen war and the whole of the civilization. the beginning of this century, possibly about to crumble, it kind of throws me back to just before I was born. And uh A sort of the A discomfort which I maybe I would rather like on my island.
Trois Morceaux en forme de poire
I don't quite know why I've chosen this, except there's a kind of a sad coolness and a rather ironical quality which maybe is in my personality sometimes, anyway. Uh and I feel kind of at home with it.
Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111Favourite
This for me is the tops of everything. I first put it on the gramophone one Warm summer night and sat outdoors with the windows wide open and the stars were there and I I was sort of dumbfounded by it. For me it's it's the the greatest sort of spiritual experience uh in music that I've ever had.
Compline Hymn (Te lucis ante terminum)
Choir of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes
I think this is what I would like to play each evening as the sun went down. It's a wonderful evening chant.
In conversation
Presenter asks
5:38You are a Londoner, aren't you?
Yes, I was born within the sound of [Bow Bells].
Presenter asks
5:55Was the theatre your first job when you left school?
Uh no, I went into an advertising agency as a copywriter and layout man.
Presenter asks
6:06What sort of products did you write about?
Razor blades. And um Radio valves and lime juice, as far as I can remember. They stick in my mind mostly.
Presenter asks
6:11Looking back, do you think you were good at it?
No, I know, I was very bad. And as a layout man, I very firmly remember the day when I ordered a A four foot by four foot block instead of a four inch square one.
The keepsakes
The book
The Oxford Book of Twentieth-Century English Verse
Philip Larkin
Well, to begin with I thought I might like to take Maurice Baring's wonderful Anthology, have you anything to declare? But it is a little slim, so I think I better go thicker than that and take the Oxford Twentieth Century book of modern verse.
The luxury
Leather folding photograph case containing family photos
I have a little kind of little leather folding... job which can contain a photograph of my wife, my son and his family, my grandchildren, and uh I better not say above all, but certainly would include uh a photograph of my favourite dog.
Presenter asks
6:25Why did you give it up?
Well, I got a scholarship to the Fay Compton Studio of Dramatic Art and I'd always wanted to be an actor so um I said goodbye to advertising.
Presenter asks
10:30Which of your films have satisfied you most? Which were the most rewarding?
Well, I don't think I get much satisfaction out of any of them. Once I've uh appeared in them, they're dead as far as I'm concerned. But I suppose The Bridge on the River Kwai was the most successful, in fact easily the most successful of the films I've appeared in. And therefore I have a regard for it.
Presenter asks
2:43Do you find it difficult to find a play that intrigues you?
Well, I don't think I'd do a play that didn't intrigue me unless I was sort of desperate for the cash. … anything written by Alan Bennett is going to intrigue me before I've opened the cover, because I think he's a very brilliant writer.
Presenter asks
5:44Was there any particular occasion when you said to yourself what that man is doing is just what I intend to do?
Very difficult to sort of be accurate about it, but I think I first fell in love with a performer when I fell in love with Nellie Wallace at the Coliseum in her elastic-sided boots and a funny feather in her hat and the rude noises she made whenever she bent down. … I laughed so much as a kid at her and I I think that really set me thinking I would love to be able to do that sort of thing.
Presenter asks
6:22Was the theatre your first job when you left school?
No, I went into advertising. I wanted to go into the theatre, I just didn't know how to get started. Uh and I was found very kindly a job in an advertising agency, first of all as a copywriter and then layout, and I made a mess of it all, and then back to copyright until I was able to Fortunately get a scholarship to the Faycompton Studio of Dramatic Art.
Presenter asks
16:44Are there any parts in the classical repertory that you still feel that you should have a crack at?
No not really. I mean, I I regret That I haven't Either seized an opportunity or made an opportunity to play certain things. I mean, for instance, Lear … Well, I think all those major Shakespeare parts are really for young men or young-ish men. I don't know that after forty or so you can uh give them the the physical power that they need and the vitality that they need.
Presenter asks
21:09What was your favorite of the Ealing comedies?
I think the one that I as a film, purely as film, which I think is is probably a real classic, is The Man in the White Suit.
“I was in love with the theatre and rather turned up my nose at films, I think.”
“Well, I don't think I get much satisfaction out of any of them. Once I've uh appeared in them, they're dead as far as I'm concerned.”
“I think it's good for an actor to contact a live audience and also for him technically to fill his lungs with air and do some shouting now and then.”
“I'm certainly retiring from the list on that.”
“I wouldn't mind uh trying on the quiet to play Macbeth again.”
“I think all those major Shakespeare parts are really for young men or young-ish men. I don't know that after forty or so you can uh give them the the physical power that they need and the vitality that they need. I mean the fact that Lear is an old man, I I think it's f fairly disastrous to be elderly uh and tackle it for the first time anyway.”
“I think an actor needs to at least an actor like me, needs to contact an audience and to open his lungs and uh all those sort of things. And and in the film world you can become very, very Small in your work.”
“For me it's it's the the greatest sort of spiritual experience uh in music that I've ever had.”