SirA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
Cedric Webster Hardwicke KBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(19 February 1893 - 6 August 1964) was a noted
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor.
Hardwicke was born in the village of
LyeLye is a suburban area of the Black Country in England, between Halesowen and Stourbridge in Dudley Metropolitan Borough, West Midlands. It was formerly a village in the parish of Oldswinford, Worcestershire...
, in
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton in the far north of the county. The shape of the administrative area Warwickshire differs considerably from that of the historic county...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Edwin Webster Hardwicke by his spouse Jessie (née Masterson). He attended Bridgnorth Grammar School in
ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
and then trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , in Bloomsbury, London, is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in Britain.-Admissions:...
(RADA). He made his first appearance on stage at London's Lyceum Theatre in 1912 during the run of Frederick Melville's melodrama
The Monk and the Woman, when he took up the part of Brother John.
SirA knight was a "gentleman soldier" or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport...
Cedric Webster Hardwicke KBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions...
(19 February 1893 - 6 August 1964) was a noted
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor.
Biography
Hardwicke was born in the village of
LyeLye is a suburban area of the Black Country in England, between Halesowen and Stourbridge in Dudley Metropolitan Borough, West Midlands. It was formerly a village in the parish of Oldswinford, Worcestershire...
, in
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton in the far north of the county. The shape of the administrative area Warwickshire differs considerably from that of the historic county...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the son of Edwin Webster Hardwicke by his spouse Jessie (née Masterson). He attended Bridgnorth Grammar School in
ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
and then trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , in Bloomsbury, London, is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in Britain.-Admissions:...
(RADA). He made his first appearance on stage at London's Lyceum Theatre in 1912 during the run of Frederick Melville's melodrama
The Monk and the Woman, when he took up the part of Brother John. During that year he was at
Her Majesty's TheatreHer Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
understudying, and subsequently appeared at the
Garrick TheatreThe Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
in Charles Klein's play
Find the Woman, and
Trust the People. In 1913 he joined Benson's Company and toured in the provinces,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
, and
RhodesiaWhen the former colony of Northern Rhodesia changed its name to Zambia on independence in 1964, the colony of Southern Rhodesia changed its name to just plain 'Rhodesia'. The change had not yet been officialy ratified when Rhodesia declared itself independent on 11 November 1965...
. During 1914 he toured with Miss Darragh (Letitia Marion Dallas, d.1917) in Laurence Irving's play
The Unwritten Law, and he appeared at the
Old VicThe Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in 1914 as Malcolm in
ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's
MacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth, commonly just Macbeth, is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, Tranio in
The Taming of the ShrewThe Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1594.The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the Induction, in which a drunken tinker named Sly is tricked into thinking he is a nobleman by a mischievous Lord...
, gravedigger in
HamletThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then...
, etc.
From 1914 to 1921 he served with the British Army in
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. In January 1922 he joined the
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. Birmingham is the second-most populous British city, with a population of 1,006,500 ....
Repertory Company. He played many classical roles on stage, appearing at London's top theatres, making his name on the stage performing works by
George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays...
, who said that Hardwicke was his fifth favourite actor after the four
Marx BrothersThe Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
. As one of the leading Shavian actors of his generation, Hardwicke starred in such Shavian works as
Caesar and CleopatraCaesar and Cleopatra, a play written in 1898 by George Bernard Shaw, was first staged in 1901 and first published with Captain Brassbound's Conversion and The Devil's Disciple in his 1901 collection, Three Plays for Puritans. It was first performed at Newcastle-on-Tyne on March 15, 1899...
,
PygmalionPygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw loosely inspired by the Greek myth of the same name. It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, as a refined...
,
The Apple CartThe Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza is a 1928 play by George Bernard Shaw. Though it offers some laughs, the play is primarily a reflection on a number of political philosophies and characters who frequently deliver lengthy speeches defending their views...
,
CandidaCandida, a comedy by playwright G. Bernard Shaw, was first published in 1898, as part of his Plays Pleasant. The central characters are clergyman James Morell, his wife Candida and a youthful poet, Eugene Marchbanks, who tries to win Candida's affections. The play questions Victorian notions of...
,
Too True to Be Good, and
Don Juan in HellMan and Superman by George Bernard Shaw was written in 1903 as a four act drama, responding to those who had questioned Shaw as to why he had never written a play based on the Don Juan theme. Man and Superman opened at The Royal Court Theatre in London on 23 May 1905 without the performance of the...
, making such an impression that at age 41 he became one of the youngest actors to be knighted (this occurred in the 1934 New Year's Honours). Other stage successes included
The Amazing Dr. ClitterhouseThe Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse is a Warner Bros. crime film starring Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart. It was directed by Anatole Litvak and written by John Wexley and John Huston based on the first play written by short-story writer Barré Lyndon, which ran for three months on...
,
AntigoneJean Anouilh's play Antigone is a tragedy inspired by Greek mythology and the play of the same name from the fifth century B.C...
and
A Majority of OneA Majority of One is a play by Leonard Spigelgass. The comedy involves Mrs. Jacoby, a Jewish widow from Brooklyn, New York, and Koichi Asano, a millionaire widower from Tokyo. Mrs. Jacoby is sailing to Japan with her daughter and foreign service officer son-in-law who is being posted to the U.S....
, winning a
Tony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and...
nomination for his performance as a
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese diplomat. In 1928 he married
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
actress Helena Pickard.
His first appearance in an English film was in 1931. In December 1935, Cedric Hardwicke was elected Rede Lecturer to Cambridge University for 1936. In 1939 Hardwicke was in
HollywoodHollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, United States, situated west-northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word "Hollywood" is often used as a metonymy of American cinema...
for film work there. He played Dr.
David LivingstoneDavid Livingstone was a Scottish Baptist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and explorer in Africa. He was the first European to see the Victoria Falls, to which he gave the English name in honour of his monarch, Queen Victoria. His meeting with H. M...
opposite
Spencer TracySpencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 74 films from 1930 to 1967. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Tracy among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking 9th on the list...
's
Henry Morton StanleySir Henry Morton Stanley, GCB, born John Rowlands , was a Welsh journalist and explorer famous for his exploration of Africa and his search for David Livingstone. Stanley is often remembered for the words uttered to Livingstone upon finding him: "Dr...
in the 1939 film classic,
Stanley and LivingstoneStanley and Livingstone is a 1939 movie about reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest for Dr. David Livingstone, a missionary presumed lost in Africa. Spencer Tracy played Stanley, Cedric Hardwicke portrayed Livingstone, and other cast members included Nancy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn,...
and was also memorable as
Claude FrolloClaude Frollo is a fictional character from the Victor Hugo novel Notre-Dame de Paris .Frollo is the Archdeacon of Notre Dame de Paris. He, at first, is shown in a positive light but later becomes the main antagonist of the novel.-In the novel:In Victor Hugo's novel, Dom Claude Frollo is the...
in
The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American monochrome motion picture. It is considered by some reviewers to be the best of the many film versions of Victor Hugo's classic novel, and perhaps the one that sticks closest to Hugo's plot and intention although the ending differs. Esmeralda and...
, with
Charles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and two-time director.While best known for his historical roles in films, he started his career as a remarkable stage actor...
as
QuasimodoQuasimodo is a fictional character in the novel Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo.-In the novel:...
. He continued his stage career touring and in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In 1944 he returned to England, again touring, and reappeared on the London stage, at the
Westminster TheatreThe Westminster Theatre was a London theatre, on Palace Street in Westminster. It was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, which was altered and given a new frontage for use as a cinema from 1924 onwards. It finally became a theatre in 1931 after radical alterations...
, on 29 March 1945, as Richard Varwell in a revival of
EdenEden Phillpotts was an English author, poet and dramatist. He was born in India, educated in Plymouth, Devon, and worked as an insurance officer for 10 years before studying for the stage and eventually becoming a writer....
and Adelaide Phillpotts comedy
Yellow Sands, and subsequently toured in this on the Continent. He returned to America late in 1945 and appeared with
Ethel BarrymoreEthel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the famous Barrymore family.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...
in December in a revival of Shaw's
Pygmalion, and continued on the New York the following year. in 1951-1952, he appeared on
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
in Shaw's
Don Juan in Hell with
Agnes MooreheadAgnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...
,
Charles BoyerCharles Boyer was a French actor, who had appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After having a dramatic education, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in European and Hollywood movies during the 1930s. Although moving to the U.S., he kept up the connection with...
, and
Charles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and two-time director.While best known for his historical roles in films, he started his career as a remarkable stage actor...
.
Despite having played in such film classics as
Les MisérablesLes Misérables drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski. This was the last film for 20th Century Pictures before it merged with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century FoxThe film was nominated for...
(1935),
King Solomon's MinesKing Solomon's Mines is a 1937 movie, the first film adaptation of the 1885 novel by the same name by Henry Rider Haggard. It starred Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, John Loder, and Roland Young...
(1937),
The Keys of the KingdomThe Keys of the Kingdom is a 1944 American film based on the 1941 novel, The Keys of the Kingdom, by A. J. Cronin. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson, directed by John M. Stahl and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz...
(1944),
The Winslow Boythumb|1st ediion cover The Winslow Boy is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an actual incident in the Edwardian era, which took place at the Royal Naval College, Osbourne.-Performance History:...
(1948) and
OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century, along with his contemporaries John Gielgud, Peggy Ashcroft, Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson...
's
Richard IIIRichard III is a 1955 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play Richard III, including elements of Henry VI, Part 3. It was directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. The cast includes many noted Shakespearean actors, including a quartet of...
(1955), Hardwicke is now remembered chiefly for his role as
King ArthurKing Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defense of Britain against the Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated...
in the comedy/musical,
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 musical comedy film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel of the same name that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(1949), singing
Busy Doing Nothing in a trio with
Bing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career stretched over more than half a century from 1926 until his death....
and
William BendixWilliam Bendix was an American film actor.-Early life:Bendix, named for his paternal grandfather, was born in Manhattan, New York City, the only son of Cleveland-born Oscar and London-born Hilda Bendix...
, and for his portrayal of the Pharaoh
Seti IMenmaatre Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt , the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II...
in
Cecil B. DeMilleCecil Blount DeMille was a legendary American film director and Academy Award-winning film producer. He was renowned for the flamboyance and showmanship of his movies.-Early life:...
's 1956 film
The Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments is a 1956 motion picture that dramatized the biblical story of Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince-turned deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. It was released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Charlton Heston in...
.
In the 1961-1962
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
season, Hardwicke starred as
ProfessorThe meaning of the word professor varies. In some English-speaking countries, it refers to a senior academic who holds a departmental chair, especially as head of the department, or a personal chair awarded specifically to that individual...
Crayton in
Gertrude BergGertrude Berg was an American actress and screenwriter. A pioneer of classic radio, Berg was one of the first women to create, write, produce and star in a long-running hit when she premiered her serial comedy-drama The Rise of the Goldbergs , later known as The Goldbergs.-Career:Berg was born...
's
sitcomA situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on television as one of its dominant narrative forms...
Mrs. G. Goes to CollegeMrs. G. Goes To College is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from October 4, 1961 to April 5, 1962...
, which ran for twenty-six weeks on CBS. The story line had Berg attending college as a 62-year-old widowed freshman studying under Hardwicke, with whom she had previously acted. Earlier, Hardwicke had guest starred on the
Howard DuffHoward Green Duff was an American actor of film, television, stage, and radio.Duff was born in Charleston, Washington, now a part of Bremerton. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1932 where he began acting in school plays only after he was cut from the basketball team. His...
and
Ida LupinoIda Lupino was an English-American film actress and director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers. In her forty-eight year career, she appeared in fifty-nine films, and directed nine others. She also appeared in episodic television fifty-eight times and directed fifty other episodes...
CBS sitcom
Mr. Adams and EveMr. Adams and Eve is a CBS sitcom starring Howard Duff and his then wife, Ida Lupino, as a fictitious acting couple, Howard and Eve Adams, residing in Beverly Hills, California. In the television series, Lupino is known professionally as Eve Drake. The program aired sixty-six episodes from January...
.
Hardwicke's son is the actor
Edward HardwickeEdward Hardwicke , sometimes credited as Edward Hardwick, is an English actor.-Early life and career:Hardwicke was born in London, England, the son of actors Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard. He began his film career in Hollywood at the age of 10, in Victor Fleming’s film A Guy Named Joe,...
, who became well-known for playing
Dr. WatsonJohn H. Watson is the British doctor who becomes the friend, sometime roommate, and sidekick of the famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes...
on British television in the 1980s and 1990s.
He died at the age of 71 in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
. He was buried in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
's
Golders Green CrematoriumGolders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. It is owned by the London Cremation Co plc, and opened in 1902, designed by the architect Sir Ernest George....
.
Memorial
Hardwicke is remembered by a
sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
by
Tim TolkienTim Tolkien is a British sculptor who has designed several monumental sculptures, including the award-winning Sentinel.His other claim to fame is as the great-nephew of J. R. R. Tolkien, the famous author of the fantasy book The Lord of the Rings...
at
LyeLye is a suburban area of the Black Country in England, between Halesowen and Stourbridge in Dudley Metropolitan Borough, West Midlands. It was formerly a village in the parish of Oldswinford, Worcestershire...
, commissioned by
Dudley Metropolitan Borough CouncilThe Metropolitan borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It was created in 1974, and is made up of the towns of Dudley , Stourbridge , Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Amblecote, Sedgley and Coseley.The present borough was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local...
. The memorial takes the form of a giant filmstrip, the illuminated cut metal panels illustrating scenes from some of Sir Cedric's best-known roles, which include
The Hunchback of Notre DameThe Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American monochrome motion picture. It is considered by some reviewers to be the best of the many film versions of Victor Hugo's classic novel, and perhaps the one that sticks closest to Hugo's plot and intention although the ending differs. Esmeralda and...
,
Things to ComeThings to Come is a British science fiction film produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come and his 1931 non-fiction work, The Work, Wealth and Happiness...
, and
The Ghost of FrankensteinThe Ghost of Frankenstein, was an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie was the fourth of in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr...
. It was unveiled in November 2005. He also has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment museum...
.
Selected filmography
- Dreyfus
Dreyfus is a 1931 British film on the Dreyfus affair, translated from the play by Wilhelm Herzog and Hans Rehfisch and the 1930 German film Dreyfus.-Cast:*Cedric Hardwicke - Capt. Alfred Dreyfus*Charles Carson - Col. Picquart...
(1931)
- Rome Express
Rome Express is a film made in 1932. It was directed by Walter Forde and written by Sidney Gilliat and Clifford Grey. -Cast:*Esther Ralston - Asta Marvelle*Conrad Veidt - Zurta*Harold Huth - George Grant*Frank Vosper - M...
(1932)
- The Ghoul (1933)
- Les Misérables
Les Misérables drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski. This was the last film for 20th Century Pictures before it merged with Fox Film Corporation to form 20th Century FoxThe film was nominated for...
(1935)
- Becky Sharp
Becky Sharp is an American film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Miriam Hopkins, Frances Dee, Cedric Hardwicke, Billie Burke, Alison Skipworth, Nigel Bruce, and Alan Mowbray. It is based on the play of the same name by Langdon Mitchell, which in turn is based on William Makepeace...
(1935)
- Things to Come
Things to Come is a British science fiction film produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come and his 1931 non-fiction work, The Work, Wealth and Happiness...
(1936)
- Tudor Rose
Tudor Rose is a 1936 British film starring Cedric Hardwicke and Nova Pilbeam and directed by Robert Stevenson....
(1936)
- King Solomon's Mines
King Solomon's Mines is a 1937 movie, the first film adaptation of the 1885 novel by the same name by Henry Rider Haggard. It starred Paul Robeson, Cedric Hardwicke, Anna Lee, John Loder, and Roland Young...
(1937)
- On Borrowed Time
On Borrowed Time is a 1939 film about the role death plays in life, and how humanity cannot live without it. It is adapted from Paul Osborn's 1938 Broadway play, which was a smash hit...
(1939)
- Stanley and Livingstone
Stanley and Livingstone is a 1939 movie about reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest for Dr. David Livingstone, a missionary presumed lost in Africa. Spencer Tracy played Stanley, Cedric Hardwicke portrayed Livingstone, and other cast members included Nancy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn,...
(1939)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1939 American monochrome motion picture. It is considered by some reviewers to be the best of the many film versions of Victor Hugo's classic novel, and perhaps the one that sticks closest to Hugo's plot and intention although the ending differs. Esmeralda and...
(1939)
- The Invisible Man Returns
The Invisible Man Returns is a 1940 horror science fiction film from Universal. It was written as a sequel to the 1933 film The Invisible Man, which was based on the novel The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. The studio had signed a multi-picture contract with Wells, and they were hoping that this...
(1940)
- Tom Brown's School Days
Tom Brown's School Days is a 1940 coming-of-age drama film about a teenage boy's experiences at Rugby School in the nineteenth century under the revolutionary headmastership of Thomas Arnold. It stars Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew, and Jimmy Lydon in the title role...
(1940), portraying educator Thomas ArnoldThomas Arnold was a British educator and historian. Arnold was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement...
- The Howards of Virginia
The Howards of Virginia is a film released by Columbia Pictures and based on the book The Tree of Liberty written by Elizabeth Page...
(1940)
- Suspicion
Suspicion is a romantic psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine as a married couple...
(1941)
- Sundown
Sundown is a 1941 war film directed by Henry Hathaway. It was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Original Score and Best Art Direction by Alexander Golitzen and Richard Irvine.-Cast:* Gene Tierney - Zia...
(1941)
- The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Ghost of Frankenstein, was an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie was the fourth of in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr...
(1942)
- Invisible Agent
Invisible Agent was a 1942 science fiction film from Universal. This movie was a war-time propaganda production that was part of a Hollywood effort to boost morale at the home front...
(1942)
- Commandos Strike at Dawn
Commandos Strike at Dawn is a war film directed by John Farrow and written by Irwin Shaw from a story by C.S. Forester, starring Paul Muni, Anna Lee, Lillian Gish, Cedric Hardwicke, and Robert Coote. The story concerns a peaceful Norwegian man who is stirred to violence after the Nazis occupy his...
(1942)
- Forever and a Day
Forever and a Day is a drama film, a collaborative effort employing seven directors/producers and 22 writers, including an uncredited Alfred Hitchcock, with an enormous cast of well-known stars.-Plot:...
(1943)
- The Moon Is Down
The Moon Is Down, a novella by John Steinbeck, was published by Viking Press in March 1942. The story details a military occupation of a small town in Northern Europe by the army of an unnamed nation at war with England and Russia...
(1943)
- The Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine is a 1943 war film about French prisoners of war held by the Germans in World War II. It stars Jean-Pierre Aumont and Gene Kelly and was adapted from Hans Habe's novel A Thousand Shall Fall.-Cast:*Jean-Pierre Aumont as Paul...
(1943)
- The Lodger
The Lodger is a 1944 horror film about Jack the Ripper, based on the novel of the same name by Marie Belloc Lowndes. It stars Merle Oberon, George Sanders and Laird Cregar, features Sir Cedric Hardwicke and was directed by John Brahm from a screenplay by Barré Lyndon.Lowndes' story had previously...
(1944)
- Wilson
Wilson is a 1944 biographical film in Technicolor about President Woodrow Wilson. It stars Charles Coburn, Alexander Knox, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Thomas Mitchell, Ruth Nelson, and Cedric Hardwicke....
(1944)
- The Keys of the Kingdom
The Keys of the Kingdom is a 1944 American film based on the 1941 novel, The Keys of the Kingdom, by A. J. Cronin. The movie was adapted by Nunnally Johnson, directed by John M. Stahl and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz...
(1944)
- Tycoon
-Cast:* John Wayne - Johnny Munroe* Laraine Day - Maura Alexander Munroe* Cedric Hardwicke - Frederick Alexander* Judith Anderson - Miss Braithwaite* James Gleason - Pop Mathews* Anthony Quinn - Ricky Vegas* Grant Withers - Fog Harris* Paul Fix - Joe...
(1947)
- Lured
Lured is the title of a 1947 film noir released by United Artists, directed by Douglas Sirk, and starring Lucille Ball, George Sanders, Boris Karloff, Charles Coburn, and Cedric Hardwicke....
(1947)
- Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby is a 1947 British drama film directed by Cavalcanti. The screenplay by John Dighton is based on the 1839 novel The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens...
(1947)
- I Remember Mama
I Remember Mama is a play by John Van Druten. Based on the fictionalized memoir Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, it focuses on a loving family of Norwegian immigrants living on Steiner Street in San Francisco in the 1910s.Produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the Broadway...
(1948)
- Rope
Rope is a 1948 film based on the play Rope by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by Sidney Bernstein and Hitchcock as the first of their Transatlantic Pictures productions...
(1948)
- The Winslow Boy
The Winslow Boy is a 1948 film adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play The Winslow Boy. It was made by De Grunwald Productions and distributed by the British Lion Film Corporation. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald with Teddy Baird as associate producer. The...
(1948)
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1949 musical comedy film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel of the same name that was distributed by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(1949)
- The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel is a 1951 biographical film about Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in the later stages of World War II. It stars James Mason in the title role. It is based on the book Rommel by Brigadier General Desmond Young.-Plot:...
(1951)
- The Green Glove
The Green Glove is an action adventure film starring Glenn Ford, directed by Rudolph Maté and released by United Artists.Glenn Ford stars as an American paratrooper who travels to France after the end of World War II to try and recover a jewel encrusted glove that had been stolen from a country...
(1952)
- Salome
Salome is a Biblical epic film made in Technicolor by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by William Dieterle and produced by Buddy Adler from a screenplay by Harry Kleiner and Jesse Lasky Jr. The music score was by George Duning, the dance music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography by...
(1953)
- Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
(1953)
- The War of the Worlds (1953) (narrator)
- Richard III
Richard III is a 1955 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's historical play Richard III, including elements of Henry VI, Part 3. It was directed and produced by Laurence Olivier, who also played the lead role. The cast includes many noted Shakespearean actors, including a quartet of...
(1955)
- Around the World in Eighty Days
Around the World in 80 Days is a 1956 adventure film produced by the Michael Todd Company and released by United Artists. It was directed by Michael Anderson. John Farrow, the original director, was replaced by Anderson after a few days of shooting. Produced by Michael Todd with Kevin McClory and...
(1956)
- Diane
Diane is a 1956 American historical film drama about the life of Diane de Poitiers, produced by MGM. It was directed by David Miller and produced by Edwin H. Knopf from a screenplay by Christopher Isherwood based on a story by John Erskine. The music score was composed by Miklós Rózsa, Robert H....
(1956)
- Helen of Troy
Helen of Troy is a 1956 Warner Bros. epic film, based on Homer's Iliad. It was directed by Robert Wise, from a screenplay by Hugh Gray and John Twist, adapted by Hugh Gray and N. Richard Nash...
(1956)
- Gaby
Gaby is a 1956 drama film made by MGM. It is the third version of Waterloo Bridge, made in 1931 and 1940.This version was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and produced by Edwin H. Knopf. The screenplay was by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich and Charles Lederer, based on the screenplay of Waterloo...
(1956)
- The Vagabond King
The Vagabond King is a 1956 musical film remake of the 1925 operetta The Vagabond King by Rudolf Friml. It starred Kathryn Grayson and Oreste Kirkop , with early roles for Rita Moreno and Leslie Nielsen. Cedric Hardwicke played a notable supporting role. It was Walter Hampden's last movie...
(1956)
- The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments is a 1956 motion picture that dramatized the biblical story of Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince-turned deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. It was released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956. It was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Charlton Heston in...
(1956)
- The Story of Mankind (1957)
- Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an adventure novel by Jules Verne.It is the first Verne novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing a plot full of adventure and twists that hold the reader's interest with...
(1962)
- The Pumpkin Eater
The Pumpkin Eater is a 1964 British film which tells the story of a woman who finds herself with an unfaithful husband and pregnant with her seventh child, unsure of where life is taking her...
(1964)
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