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A popular romantic actor with a fan club rivalling that of Ivor Novello, John Stuart was frequently mobbed by his adoring fans. He starred in films by Alfred Hitchcock and G.W. Pabst, played opposite British stars such as Madeleine Carroll, Fay Compton, Gracie Fields, and German actor Conrad Veidt, and was also the first actor to ever speak on screen in Britain. Yet despite a film career lasting six decades and 172 films, his name and achievement are little known today.
With access to Stuart's private archive, his surviving films, press cuttings, film reviews, interviews, profiles, features, and gossip columns, his son Jonathan Croall presents a detailed account of an actor who made a significant contribution to the British film industry of the 20th century.
List of contents
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Part One: Silent Idol
¿1.¿Childhood, School, War
¿2.¿From Stage to Screen
¿3.¿An Emerging Star
¿4.¿Alfred Hitchcock and Maurice Elvey
¿5.¿Britain or Hollywood?
¿6.¿Fame and a Fan Club
Part Two: The Background
¿7.¿Working Lives
¿8.¿Writers, Screenplays, Titles
¿9.¿The Film Press and the Film Society
10.¿The Publicity Machine
11.¿The Coming of Sound
12.¿Winners and Losers
Part Three: Into the Talkies
13.¿Kitty
14.¿From Dupont's Atlantic to Pabst's L'Atlantide
15.¿With Gracie Fields and Conrad Veidt
16.¿Stage Matters
17.¿Fatherhood and War
18.¿Propaganda and Escapism
Part Four: Character Actor
19.¿On the Small Screen
20.¿Back to the Theater
21.¿Leading Roles and Cameos
22.¿From Quatermass to Superman
23.¿The Final Years
Epilogue
Film, Documentary, Theater, Television, and Miscellaneous Appearances
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Based in Putney in south-west London, Jonathan Croall is an established journalist, theatre and film historian, and author of 25 books, including acclaimed biographies of Sir John Gielgud and Dame Sybil Thorndike, and two books in the Arden Shakespeare series on Hamlet and King Lear. He was formerly an editor at Penguin and Oxford University Press, features editor of the Times Educational Supplement, and program editor at the Old Vic theatre in London.
Summary
As a popular romance actor, John Stuart was frequently mobbed by his adoring fans. With access to Stuart’s private archive, his films, press cuttings, reviews, interviews, profiles, features, and gossip columns, this work presents a detailed account of an actor who made a significant contribution to the British film industry of the 20th century.
