“I had the great honor of shaking his hand once!”
On this day in 1932, one of the greatest actors of all time was born.
Maybe that’s pushing it a little bit, but not much. Peter O’Toole is a great actor and one of my favorites.
He’s done everything from deep drama to hilarious comedy to musical to fantasy.
His announcement last year that he is retiring is a sad, but not unexpected one. The man is, after all, 81 years old.
He was still doing great work, but I guess he knows when it’s time for him to pack it in and enjoy life without work.
Here are five movies to watch to break yourself into the world of Peter O’Toole.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
Directed by David Lean
Written by Robert Bolt/Michael Wilson
Based on autobiography of TE Lawrence
It’s completely expected, but the list wouldn’t be complete without this, one of the top five best films ever made. TE Lawrence was just a young soldier when he led the Arab tribes to revolt against their Ottoman oppressors. The details of this revolt may be a bit sensationalized, but it makes for an amazing film and one of the indelible characters in history. O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sherif, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Claude Rains: all put in great performances in Lean’s masterpiece.
Well, ONE of his MANY masterpieces. Did this guy ever make a bad film?
If somehow you haven’t seen Lawrence Of Arabia…well, the best way to see it is on the big screen. That way you really feel the oppression of the desert landscapes. The scene with Omar Sharif appears out of nowhere from a tiny moving dot on the sandy horizon may take forever, but it’s enthralling in a way that most modern movies can only dream of. It’s a beautiful film of desolation with a riveting lead performance from O’Toole in his first lead role. (For those keeping count, it was his fourth film, but no one really remembers those first three movies. This is often erroneously called his debut.)
Don’t be scared by the nearly four hour run time. The movie keeps you in your seat and pays off in spades.
LION IN WINTER (1968)
Directed by Anthony Harvey
Written by James Goldman
Based on a play by James Goldman
This was O’Toole’s second time to play King Henry II (the first was in 1964’s Becket) but, as great as that first performance was, this is the more memorable. King Henry is a scheming old man who has his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katherine Hepburn in a great performance), locked in a tower basically because he’s afraid of her. His sons (Anthony Hopkins, John Castle and Nigel Terry) are possibly just as scheming as he is and they each want the king to name them his successor. He’s just not ready yet.
On Christmas he allows Eleanor to visit. That’s when all Hell breaks loose. She knows who should be the leader. He knows that she knows. He won’t admit to anything. This is one of the most dysfunctional families ever put on film and it’s amazing. The wordplay nails it, the performances are perfect and it just hits every spot that it could possibly hit. I love this movie.
This is not only Anthony Hopkins first major role (and first released film), but Timothy Dalton’s debut.
THE RULING CLASS (1972)
Directed by Peter Medak
Written by Peter Barnes
Based on a play by Peter Barnes
Certainly one of the strangest films in O’Toole’s filmography, The Ruling Class has something for everyone, but it’s not for everyone. It’s the story of Jack Arnold Alexander Tancred Gurney, the 14th Earl of Gurney. He is quite mad. When his father dies, he is brought in to take over the title. Everyone is a bit concerned because he has a bit of a God complex. As a matter of fact, he basically thinks that he’s Jesus. He “heals” people, doles out words of wisdom and generally acts all high and mighty…literally. Meanwhile, everyone else in the family tries to take the title.
Somewhere around the middle of the film, things change. There’s a musical number. Jack snaps. He seems to become “normal,” but he, in fact, becomes another famous “Jack” of British history.
This dark commentary on the British class system is pretty skewering and shocking. It’s no wonder that not many people have seen it. It’s legendary in its way, but your typical, everyday movie fan has stayed away from it. That’s unfortunate. I think it would find a much broader audience in this more permissible age. Or it could languish again because of its absolute weirdness.
THE STUNT MAN (1980)
Directed by Richard Rush
Written by Richard Rush/Lawrence B Marcus
Based on a novel by Paul Brodeur
O’Toole plays Eli Stone, a William Friedkin-esque director who will do anything to get his shot…possibly even murder.
When escaped con Cameron (Steve Railsback) accidentally causes the death of the stunt man, he is found by Eli and is pressured to take the dead man’s place. Eli will hide him from the cops as long as he does his job. Cameron instantly falls in love with leading lady Nina (Barbara Hershey) and develops a man crush on Eli. Who wouldn’t? He’s a charismatic rogue who always gets what he wants.
This pitch black comedy is an absolute railing of Hollywood and their “take no prisoners” attitude, but it’s also an anti-war film about how we treated the Vietnam vets when they came home. (Cameron is a vet who is always on edge and perhaps even a bit dangerous.) There’s so much going on in this film that it’s no surprise that it’s just another one of O’Toole’s gems that fell just under the radar when it came out, despite it’s three Oscar nominations (Director, Writer and Actor). In fact, it almost didn’t get released. It took seven years to get into production, was shot in 1978 and then took two years to get released.
Oh, yeah. The stunts are pretty amazing, too. And I want one of those cranes.
MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982)
Directed by Richard Benjamin
Written by Norman Steinberg/Dennis Palumbo
For some reason, this is the hardest film on this list to find. Netflix has it on DVD, but it’s actually out of print. (In other words, DON’T LOSE IT IF YOU GET IT FROM NETFLIX!!)
My Favorite Year is the story of Alan Swann (O’Toole), a once great swashbuckling actor of years gone by. It’s the days of the television variety show (mid 50s) and Swann has a (well-deserved) reputation as a drunken has-been. But his biggest fan, Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker in one of his first roles, definitely pre-Cousin Larry), has been put in charge of him. Benjy is a lower level writer on King Kaiser’s weekly show. Kaiser wants to throw Swann out, but Benjy just won’t let him. With the help of KC Downing (Jessica Harper), Benjy is going to force the show to go on.
Unfortunately, Swann may not want it to.
This is O’Toole’s best comedic performance. Full of prat-falls, one-liners (“I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star!”) and just great comedy, it’s an unheralded little gem of a film that needs to find a new audience.
