Il vagabondo dell'isola

I don't recall exactly when I became a fan, although Witness for the Prosecution must have had something to do with it, so now I catch whatever I can of this wonderful, towering actor.

And, I was not disappointed with the Beachcombers, although the plot let me down, and I did not watch it all the way through.

That being said, Charles Laughton is riveting as usual and dead-on as a stumble bum. I always wonder if modern-day actors can emulate the truly greats, and my answer is essentially no they cannot because, first, there aren't the scripts today, which greatly enhance an actor's performance and, second, it doesn't matter because, perhaps with the exception of Leonardo, D. Washington, D. Hoffman, and perhaps a few others, no actors today can tie on the bootstraps of the actors of yesteryear.

Not considering the greats of the silent age (I'm thinking C. Chaplin, B. Keaton and H. Lloyd, all exceptional, and the many, fantastic character actors throughout cinema who added inestimable richness to many a movie, my personal favorites, and I know it's subjective, and I'm speaking of film presence including Charles Laughton, are: William Powell, Spencer Tracy, and Jack Lemmon. Heck, I'm not allowing myself to include Steve McQueen, one of my favorites because he is a notch below the above-mentioned, in my overly haughty assessment.

P.S. I'm sure I'm leaving someone of the list, and, by the way, I notice the inherent sexism of my comments, but I chalk most of it up to contemporary society where woman are not afforded the stardom or roles of men. Again, an overly presumptuous statement.

Maybe not one of W. Somerset Maugham's more complex stories, but it still gives us a chance to watch Robert Newton, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester give us a bit of the reverse "Sadie Thompson". It's the unlikable "Ginger Ted" (Laughton) who manages to upset the rather puritanical "Martha" (Lanchester) and her minister-brother "Owen" (Tyrone Guthrie). She demands that local magistrate (Newton) throw the book at him after his latest drunken outburst, but the wily old administrator sees an opportunity to ensure peace breaks out by managing to have the pair stranded on a remote island amidst his Indonesian archipelago - and maybe the two can get past their initial mutual loathing and find some common ground? It's a bit too long, even at ninety minutes, and much of it struggles against a background of ropey production and poor editing, but there are some funs scenes between an on-form and perfectly plausible Laughton and a Lanchester whose character you would cross at your peril - even if you were completely sozzled. It does rather peddle the superiority of the Christian faith as against those more pagan traditions held by the natives, but in it's aggressive piousness lies some of it's best humour - especially now it's eighty-odd years later and we can use new eyes to poke fun at it's daftness. Newton's accent isn't the best, but fans of characterful cinema might enjoy these three - and Erich Pommer - having a bit of fun in the sun (though clearly nowhere near the actual South China Sea!).

I really enjoyed this movie. Laughton looked like he had a great time with this one playing the indolent womanizer as well his wife as the uptight missionary. Fun!

I recently read that one of the preliminary casting choices of The African Queen was Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester, which would have been absolutely adorable. I love seeing them act together, and if you want to see a taste of what they would have been like as Mr. Allnut and Rosie, check them out in The Beachcomber.

In this comedy, Elsa is a missionary among the heathens of a Polynesian island. Charles is the title character, a perpetually drunk--and very happy--beach bum who enjoys his women and his carefree life. Most of the movie is the offscreen couple's antagonistic relationship, but as soon as the tide turns and they start to like each other, it's incredibly cute. In one of my favorite scenes, they're stranded out in the rain, and Charles covers her with his coat. While I like Rembrandt infinitely better, this one is a lighter choice if you don't want an evening full of Kleenexes. As a bonus, you'll get to catch a glimpse of a pre-famous Robert Newton, who starred in a 1954 remake!

Compared to Charles Laughton in Vessel of Wrath, Cary Grant in Father Goose and Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen look they stepped out from a Savile Row tailor.

They don't know what to do with him over in the Dutch East Indies. He's a lazy, shiftless bum who won't work, won't pay his debts and is leading the natives that good Christian missionaries Elsa Lanchester and her brother Tyrone Guthrie are trying to convert into sober, hardworking Protestants.

My guess is that Laughton is in the Dutch territories because he's been kicked out of British island possessions for exactly the same reasons. As it is he has a friend in the local magistrate Robert Newton. But Newton's patience is being tried. The British would say he'd gone native.

He exiles Laughton after Laughton tried to disgrace one of Elsa Lanchester's pupils. But wouldn't you know it, fate casts Elsa right on the island that Laughton is exiled to, doing 'hard labor.' A few things happen and she decides maybe she should try to reform him as opposed to ostracism.

Laughton and Lanchester give a couple of cute performances about some middle-aged people finding romance, of course anticipating The African Queen by 13 years. Lanchester has a much tougher reforming Laughton than Kate Hepburn did with Humphrey Bogart. Bogey may have been seedy, but he did own his own business.

In a way this story is sort of Somerset Maugham's yin to the yang of Rain. Both stories are based in the tropics with missionaries as their leading characters, but this one is essentially comedic, although there are some serious events here like a typhoid out break, where Laughton proves invaluable in dealing with the natives.

Charles and Elsa give us a grand show, don't miss it.

Lanchester has a much tougher job