Sim-ply the Best
THE GREEN MAN
A singular, larger-than-life stage and screen presence, Alastair Sim (1900-1976) got a late start on his acting career, first appearing onstage at age 30. Still, he managed five decades worth of stage and screen performances before his death at age 75. With his sardonic wit and a permanent scowl that only got scarier when he smiled, one would expect him to be typecast, but this true character actor offered audiences an astounding range and breadth of roles, as demonstrated in our three film tribute: A cagey, Columbo-like Inspector Cockrill in Green For Danger (1946), a freelance assassin named Harry Hawkins in The Green Man (1956), and his iconic portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (released in the UK as Scrooge in 1951). (BR)
- Sat., Aug. 31 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
Life during wartime gets rather deadly for a group of British doctors and nurses stalked by a serial killer in this delightfully daft WWII-era comedy-thriller. Amidst frequent air-raids and enough romantic entanglements to power a season’s worth of soap opera plotlines, the murders pile up, and no one is above suspicion in the eyes of bomb-shy Inspector Cockrill (played to perfection by the incomparable Alastair Sim). Loaded with delicious period details, sharp, dark humor, and a bomb shelter’s worth of twists and turns, Green for Danger is a crackerjack entertainment, featuring crisp black and white cinematography and stylish direction from Sidney Gilliat. (BR)
- Sat., Sep. 28 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In this irreverent black comedy that’s frequently compared to The Ladykillers, the inimitable Sim plays Hawkins, a timid watchmaker and professional assassin, whose target, a pompous Member of Parliament, is accidentally protected by a bumbling vacuum cleaner salesman (Cole). The farcical action leads to a tense and hilarious climax at a dilapidated seaside hotel called…The Green Man.
- Sat., Dec. 7 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
In the most British of the cinematic Carols, the power of Sim compels as Charles Dickens’ iconic miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Prodded to rediscover his humanity during a harrowing series of ghostly visits on Christmas Eve, Scrooge must find out if he still has the capacity for love and generosity, or if it is, in fact, too late. With less emphasis on Tiny Tim and more on Scrooge’s relentless rise through the world of business, this version is perhaps darker, more adult than most, nonetheless it is a first-rate holiday entertainment. Featuring excellent support from Mervyn Johns as the long-suffering Bob Cratchit. 35mm print from the Chicago Film Society collection at the University of Chicago Film Studies Center. (BR)