MORE favourite dead not-American actors: an Advent Calendar cont…

Day 16: Donald Pleasence

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - without great character actors, films and telly shows would be less vibrant, less interesting, less engaging, less entertaining. I’m not going to get into why some actors never get a chance to be leads or I’d be here all day, because some of my faves are the odd ones, the not-traditionally-handsome ones, and that’s because they’re so flipping good. And DP is definitely in that group. And he’s also in the group of actors who get a little pigeonholed, despite being a man of great variety and subtlety. 

And so, while you can always find him in the horror genre, piercing of eye and threatening of tone, you will also find him bringing his understated talent to a wide variety of interesting roles. He is perfect as the mild-mannered, downtrodden man who finally snaps with awful consequences (Dr Crippen); as a genuinely likeable and stoic POW camp inmate (The Great Escape), as the old-school soldier who is the reasonable one in an increasingly insane Nazi world (Night of the Generals) - he imbues his roles with ambiguity and shading, so that often even the villains make sense. 

He’s also, of course, bloody marvellous at wickedness; at intelligent villainy, that veneer of civility that hides a rotten core; at weaselly, snivelling, commonplace vice; at cold, logical, steely menace. He can do pompous officiousness, bluff heartiness, irascible good-naturedness. He’s one of the best, quite frankly, and he is always worth watching. 

Favourite role: Adrian Carsini in the Columbo ep Any Old Port In A Storm (1973) which is one of my fave eps of all time. Peter Falk ups his game, as he always does with the very best co-stars, and DP is remarkable sympathetic despite doing a pretty grim murder. 

Another good place to start: The Caretaker (1963) which is a masterpiece of Pinter ambiguity and menace from all three actors; unsettling, claustrophobic, and compelling. Also Night of the Generals (1965) which is not exactly a barrel of laughs, as it’s Brownest Nazi Ever™ Omar Sharif investigating a grim murder during the Nazi occupation of France, but it has completely bonkers Peter O’Toole, adorable kitten Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence is bloody ace and it’s a really really good film.