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Post by Katie on Oct 26, 2009 2:48:17 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 26, 2009 10:04:08 GMT 12
I have never seen him in a role that I didn't like him in, from comedy to drama. I think some f the highlights for me in his career include:
- Car Along The Pass - as Henry Duckworth. Hilarious and more pompous than Mainwaring
- Bless Me Father - as Father Duddleswell. Super subtle playing of a great character
- Microbes and Men - as Louis Pasteur. A fascinating portrayal that brings history and science alive in really decent drama
- Parsley Sidings - as Horace Hepplewhite. This radio series is great.
An interesting fact, he played the bank clerk to John le Mesuriers Bank Manager in the film The Day They Robbed The Bank of England. That was some years before Dad's Army switched those roles.
Jimmy Perry wanted to originally cast Arthur Lowe to play Sgt Wilson, with Robert Dorning as Mainwaring, in his original draft of Dad's Army - The Fighting Tigers. This was because their series Pardon the Expression and its sequel Turn Out The Lights was a favourite of Jimmy's and he hoped to carry on the great chemistry they had as a double act of boss and subordinate. All this changed when he and David Croft rewrote the script into The Man And The Hour. By that time Jimmy had remembered how he'd had a common officer in charge of men who were of a better class, including himself, on the ship home from India in 1946. He derived the common man as the officer from this memory of the tensions the real situation created. It was a stroke of genius.
Arthur learned to speak Arabic whilst serving in the Middle East in WWII and by the time Dad's Army made him a star he sometimes dressed as an Arab to go to the shops and not be recognised. He also dressed sometimes as a rabii.
While being interviewed for a magazine once he mentioned he had been trained in the army to service radar equipment. The journalist misunderstood and she wrote in the article that he trained at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts) which was completely untrue, he learned his craft in concerta parties in WWII and in repertory theatre, not at RADA. Very funny mix up, but it apprarently plagued him as reporters then on kept misreporting it as fact.
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Post by Molly on Oct 27, 2009 8:49:08 GMT 12
Hi Katie, I think Arthur Lowe is just fantastic - so talented. I'll post a proper reply very soon - I have exams at the moment so haven't been able to post much the last couple of weeks. I wish there was a Dad's Army paper I could take. This is a great idea - thanks for organising it :-)
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Post by ohblimey on Oct 27, 2009 21:11:06 GMT 12
Thank You very much for posting this ! I adore Arthur Lowe. Sometimes I think i watch DA just to see him in action  The funny thing about it all is that I like the pomposity in the man ! Thats what makes him ...him ! |
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Post by helen on Oct 27, 2009 21:24:26 GMT 12
I feel for you Molly! I am doing a psychology degree and at the moment I am up to my neck in Freud. With my usual impeccable timing we've also just adopted an ex racing greyhound who has never lived in a house and has terrible separation anxiety...and Steve has pushed off to the Middle East. This site feels like a moment of sanity in a mad World at the moment!
Terrific idea Katie. I know I am alone in this and probably alarmingly eccentric but I don't watch the DA actors in anything else. It feels as if it would somehow 'break the spell' for me!
To me Arthur Lowe IS Captain Mainwaring and I like them both. I think Lowe has to be one of the best actors of the 20th century. What he can say with a look is priceless. What I love most about Mainwaring is how three dimensional he is. Yes, he's a pompous a**e, and living on a Military Base I know plenty of those, but he's also occasionally really kind, slightly vulnerable, and we are always left wondering how different he might have been had he had a happy marriage. I for one wanted him to run off with Mrs. Grey!
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Post by Katie on Oct 28, 2009 2:19:29 GMT 12
I'm glad you all like the idea of discussion threads dedicated to each of the actors. I wasn't sure if anyone would post anything so I'm pleased you all have! And don't forget you can post in this thread at anytime, it doesn't have to be just this week! Good luck Molly with your exams! I absolutely agree with you Helen! Mum's Army is my favourite Mainwaring episode. We see a completely different side to him and I often wonder what may have happened if Captain Mainwaring and Mrs Gray had met up after the war... |
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Post by Molly on Oct 28, 2009 21:12:44 GMT 12
Yes, I agree too. Mum's Army is the perfect episode to watch Arthur Lowe really bring out different aspects of Mainwaring's character. Do you think Mainwaring really would have gone to London with Mrs Grey if she had agreed? I think he probably wouldn't have when it came down to it. Wasn't that scene brilliant where he found himself using Wilson's lines e.g. What a pretty name etc. The look on his face when he realised what he was doing :-)
Helen. like you I don't think I've seen any of the actors (with the exception of Ian Lavender and Pamela Cundell) in anything else either and I totally know what you mean about it spoiling the magic. I might be missing out big time on all sorts of other wonderful television, but I too can only think of those actors playing the one character they play in Dad's Army.
Thanks very much Katie for the exam good luck wishes. Wow Helen - a psychology degree. That sounds great. I'd better try to behave as normally as possible when I meet you :-)
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Post by Molly on Oct 28, 2009 21:35:09 GMT 12
I feel for you Molly! I am doing a psychology degree and at the moment I am up to my neck in Freud. With my usual impeccable timing we've also just adopted an ex racing greyhound who has never lived in a house and has terrible separation anxiety...and Steve has pushed off to the Middle East. This site feels like a moment of sanity in a mad World at the moment! Helen, sounds as if things are very full on at the moment. It must be hard when your husand is away. Oh, poor dog! Hope he settles in soon. Dad's Army is often my moment of sanity at the end of the day too. |
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Post by helen on Oct 29, 2009 20:45:59 GMT 12
I wouldn't worry Molly. My Tutor group is full of eccentrics like me!  |
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Post by Katie on Oct 30, 2009 2:47:37 GMT 12
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Post by ohblimey on Oct 30, 2009 10:19:42 GMT 12
I'm glad you all like the idea of discussion threads dedicated to each of the actors. I wasn't sure if anyone would post anything so I'm pleased you all have! And don't forget you can post in this thread at anytime, it doesn't have to be just this week! Good luck Molly with your exams! I absolutely agree with you Helen! Mum's Army is my favourite Mainwaring episode. We see a completely different side to him and I often wonder what may have happened if Captain Mainwaring and Mrs Gray had met up after the war...Theyd probably get married and have a couple of ' little Mainwarings .'... ;D  |
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Post by ohblimey on Oct 30, 2009 10:22:25 GMT 12
Katie....those pictures are absolutely lovely. He does look so much like his character in 'My Brother and I ' Does that make any sense after all he played the role too  . (: I never thought of him as the rolled up sleeves type of guy.  Maybe there was a poker game earlier ? |
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Post by Katie on Nov 1, 2009 22:38:44 GMT 12
Katie....those pictures are absolutely lovely. He does look so much like his character in 'My Brother and I ' Yes I suppose he does a bit! I think it's the checked trousers! |
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Post by ohblimey on Dec 5, 2009 0:51:45 GMT 12
I found this on youtube.
His son looks a lot like him...and
That clip at the presentation speech ...not much said but so funny.
That man is a real pro.!.
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Post by Katie on Jan 21, 2010 2:34:45 GMT 12
Whilst researching some newspaper articles for my website I came across this interesting article about Arthur playing Stephano in The Tempest. It comes from the Daily Mirror and it was published on 7th March 1974. As you can see from the picture, Arthur was almost unrecognizable as Stephano.  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 21, 2010 14:02:45 GMT 12
Really interesting Katie, I'd not seen him in that role's costume before.
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Post by Molly on Jan 21, 2010 20:13:05 GMT 12
Wow, doesn't he look different? He was obviously hugely flexible. Thanks for posting that Katie.
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Post by Katie on Jan 22, 2010 5:15:33 GMT 12
Wow, doesn't he look different? Absolutely Molly! I read the article several times before I realized the picture accompanied it!! |
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Post by ohblimey on Jan 29, 2010 13:30:06 GMT 12
Was it explained why Mainwaring came to the dance with a black eye? He mentioned he knocked into a cupboard ;D Did his wife give him "one ?" ;D Poor thing . |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 29, 2010 20:08:44 GMT 12
Though not blatanted stated, it is obvious that Elizabeth ruined the sausage rolls, and when Mainwaring gave her a 'good dressing down' she retaliated violently.
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