Ronald Colman began his career as an actor on the stage following his service in the British Army during World War I. He made his film debut in an unreleased two-reeler titled The Live Wire (1917). After achieving minor success on the stage and in British films, he immigrated to the United States in 1920. There he continued his acting with only moderate success until he was offered the lead opposite Lillian Gish in The White Sister (1923). The film's popularity and critical acclaim led to Colman becoming a major star and also a romantic idol of the silent cinema. As a contract player for Samuel Goldwyn, Colman was cast (frequently on loan-out) as leading man to many of the top actress as the silent era. In five of his silents he formed a romantic team with Hungarian actress Vilma Bánky.
Colman made a successful transition to sound with his first talking feature, Bulldog Drummond (1929), followed by Raffles (1930) and The Unholy Garden (1931). After leaving Goldwyn in 1933, Colman continued his career as a free-lance performer and starred in a succession of critically acclaimed films (A Tale of Two Cities, Under Two Flags, Lost Horizon, The Prisoner of Zenda, If I Were King, and The Light That Failed). In 1948, Colman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Double Life.
The filmography below lists all of Colman's films and is sub-divided into four sections: His British silent films, his American silents, his sound films, and a listing of short films in which he appeared as himself. In addition to his film appearances, Colman's television credits are also listed.
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Transcription
Filmography
British silents
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 | The Live Wire | The Young Man | George Dewhurst | Phyllis Titmuss | Two reels Never released; now lost[1] |
| 1919 | The Toilers | Bob | George Dewhurst | Manora Thew | Two reels survive[2] |
| A Daughter of Eve | Bit Part | Walter West | Violet Hopson | Lost,[3] Uncredited | |
| Sheba | Bit Part | Cecil M. Hepworth | Alma Taylor | Lost,[4] Uncredited | |
| Snow in the Desert | Rupert Sylvester | Walter West | Violet Hopson | Lost[5] | |
| 1920 | A Son of David | Maurice Phillips | Hay Plumb | Poppy Wyndham | Lost[6] |
| Anna the Adventuress | Brendan | Cecil M. Hepworth | Alma Taylor | Lost[7] | |
| The Black Spider | Vicomte de Beaurais | William J. Humphrey | Lydia Kyasht | Lost[8] |
American silents
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1921 | Handcuffs or Kisses | Lodyard | George Archainbaud | Elaine Hammerstein, Julia Swayne Gordon | |
| 1923 | The White Sister | Capt. Giovanni Severini | Henry King | Lillian Gish | Extant |
| The Eternal City | Extra | George Fitzmaurice | Barbara La Marr, Bert Lytell | Lost,[9] Uncredited | |
| 1924 | Twenty Dollars a Week | Chester Reeves | Hamon F. Weight | George Arliss | |
| Tarnish | Emmet Carr | George Fitzmaurice | May McAvoy, Marie Prevost | (*Extant;..George Eastman House, Rochester, New York) | |
| Her Night of Romance | Paul Menford | Sidney Franklin | Constance Talmadge, Jean Hersholt | Extant | |
| Romola | Carlo Bucellini | Henry King | Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, William Powell | Extant | |
| 1925 | A Thief in Paradise | Maurice Blake | George Fitzmaurice | Doris Kenyon, Aileen Pringle | Lost[10] |
| The Sporting Venus | Donald MacAllan | Marshall Neilan | Blanche Sweet, Lew Cody | Extant | |
| His Supreme Moment | John Douglas | George Fitzmaurice | Blanche Sweet, Belle Bennett, Ned Sparks | Technicolor sequences; Lost[11] | |
| Her Sister from Paris | Joseph Weyringer | Sidney Franklin | Constance Talmadge | Extant | |
| The Dark Angel | Captain Alan Trent | George Fitzmaurice | Vilma Bánky, Wyndham Standing | ||
| Stella Dallas | Stephen Dallas | Henry King | Belle Bennett, Alice Joyce, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lois Moran, Jean Hersholt | Extant | |
| Lady Windermere's Fan | Lord Darlington | Ernst Lubitsch | May McAvoy, Bert Lytell | Extant | |
| 1926 | Kiki | Victor Renal | Clarence Brown | Norma Talmadge, Gertrude Astor | Extant |
| Beau Geste | Michael "Beau" Geste | Herbert Brenon | Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Noah Beery, Alice Joyce, Mary Brian, William Powell | Extant | |
| The Winning of Barbara Worth | Willard Holmes | Henry King | Vilma Bánky, Gary Cooper | Extant | |
| 1927 | The Night of Love | Montero | George Fitzmaurice | Vilma Bánky, Montagu Love | |
| The Magic Flame | Tito the Clown / The Count |
Henry King | Vilma Bánky, Gustav von Seyffertitz | Survives incomplete[12] | |
| 1928 | Two Lovers | Mark Van Rycke | Fred Niblo | Vilma Bánky, Noah Beery | Survives incomplete[13] |
| 1929 | The Rescue | Tom Lingard | Herbert Brenon | Lili Damita | Survives incomplete[14] |
Sound films
Short film appearances as himself
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Screen Snapshots | Colman appears with Blanche Sweet and director George Fitzmaurice. |
| 1928 | Movie Industry Commercial | Colman appears with California governor Clement C. Young. Filmed in Technicolor. |
| 1937 | Screen Snapshots #9 | A behind the scenes look during the shooting of Lost Horizon. |
| 1942 | It Happened One Noon | Colman, Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and director George Stevens promote the British film The Invaders (1942). |
| Hearst Metrotone News | Colman is seen en route to Washington, D.C., to appear in the "Stars Over America" war campaign. | |
| 1949 | 21st Academy Awards footage | Colman presents the Academy Award for Best Actress to Jane Wyman for her performance in Johnny Belinda. |
| 1952 | 24th Academy Awards footage | Filmed in color. |
| Hearst Metrotone News | Colman presents the Academy Award for Best Actress to Vivien Leigh for her performance in A Streetcar Named Desire. | |
| 1953 | 25th Academy Award footage | 16mm kinescope. |
| Hearst Metrotone News | At the Academy Awards Colman announces Shirley Booth as the Best Actress winner for her performance in Come Back, Little Sheba. | |
| The Globe Playhouse | Colman narrates this documentary short. |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Co-stars | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Four Star Playhouse Episode: "The Lost Silk Hat" |
Gentleman Caller | Robert Florey | Richard Whorf | CBS |
| 1953 | The 25th Annual Academy Awards | Himself Presenter: Best Actress |
Bill Bennington | Bob Hope and Conrad Nagel (MCs), Shirley Booth (Best Actress Award winner) | NBC |
| Four Star Playhouse Episode: "The Man Who Walked Out on Himself" |
John Cameron | Robert Florey | Francis Pierlot | CBS | |
| Four Star Playhouse Episode: "Ladies in His Mind" |
Dr. Matthew Bosnaquent | Robert Florey | Benita Hume, Patricia Morison, Hillary Brooke | CBS | |
| 1954 | Four Star Playhouse Episode: "A String of Beads" |
Somerset Maugham | William Cameron Menzies | Angela Lansbury, George Macready, Nigel Bruce | CBS |
| 1954–55 | The Halls of Ivy (39 episodes) |
Dr. William Todd Hunter | Norman Z. McLeod William Cameron Menzies William D. Russell |
Benita Hume, Mary Wickes, Ray Collins, Arthur Q. Bryan | CBS |
| 1956 | Studio 57 Episode: "Perfect Likeness" |
Painter | Don Weis | Kim Hunter | Syndicated |
| The Jack Benny Program Episode: "The Mistaken Dinner Invitation" |
Himself | Ralph Levy | Jack Benny, Mary Livingstone, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Benita Hume, Don Wilson, Benita Hume | CBS | |
| 1957 | General Electric Theater Episode: "The Chess Game" |
Mr. Graham | Herschel Daughtery | Clifford Tatum | CBS |
References
Notes
- ^ Entry on The Live Wire
- ^ Frank, Sam (1997). Ronald Colman: A Bio-Bibliography. Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts (No. 74). Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26433-3. p. 61.
- ^ Entry on A Daughter of Eve
- ^ Entry on Sheba
- ^ Entry on Snow in the Desert
- ^ Entry on A Son of David
- ^ Entry on Anna the Adventuress
- ^ Entry on The Black Spider
- ^ Entry on The Enternal City
- ^ Entry on A Thief in Paradise
- ^ Entry on His Supreme Moment
- ^ Frank, p. 82
- ^ Entry on Two Lovers
- ^ Entry on The Rescue
- ^ Frank, p. 106
- ^ Frank, pp. 59-130
- ^ Frank, pp. 207-218
Bibliography
- Frank, Sam (1997). Ronald Colman: A Bio-Bibliography. Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts (No. 74). Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26433-3.
- Quirk, Lawrence J. (1977). The Films of Ronald Colman. Citadel Press.
- Ronald Colman at IMDb
This page was last edited on 19 January 2024, at 23:28