Michael Rennie
Encyclopedia
Michael Rennie was an English
film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu
in the 1951 classic science fiction
film The Day the Earth Stood Still
. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons
and other well-known actors. During World War II
, Rennie served in the Royal Air Force
. From 1959 onward, Rennie also appeared in some popular U.S. TV shows, between making films.
, a village near the West Riding of Yorkshire
city of Bradford
(subsequently a Bradford suburb) and educated at the Leys School
, Cambridge
. He attempted a number of professions, including periods as car salesman and manager of his uncle's rope factory, before deciding (at the time of his 26th birthday, in 1935) on a career as an actor. Retaining his surname but adopting the professional name Michael Rennie, the tall (6′4″) show business hopeful, with chiseled cheekbones and features, first appeared onscreen in an uncredited bit part in Alfred Hitchcock
's Secret Agent, which had its London
premiere in May 1936.
During the late 1930s, Rennie served his apprenticeship
as an actor, gaining experience in acting technique while touring the provinces in British repertory. There is evidence that, at the age of 28, he was noticed by one of the British film studios, which decided to appraise his potential as a film personality by arranging a screen test. The 1937 screen test, which exists in the British Film Institute
archives under the title "Marguerite Allan and Michael Rennie Screen Test," did not lead to a film career for either performer. In Secret Agent, he was primarily a stand-in for leading man Robert Young
, and his own on-camera bit was so small that it cannot be discerned in the preserved final version of the film. He also played other bit parts, and later, minor unbilled roles in ten additional films produced between 1936 and 1940, the last of which, "Pimpernel" Smith
, had a belated release in July 1941, while Rennie was already in uniform, serving in the Royal Air Force
during World War II
.
, seen in March 1940. Michael Redgrave
, by then a full-fledged star, had one of the leading roles in the film. Six films later, however, Michael Rennie also had his first film lead. The suspense drama Tower of Terror, released in late December 1941 was styled in the manner of a horror film and starred Wilfrid Lawson
as a mad Dutch
lighthouse keeper in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, while second-billed Rennie and third-billed Movita had the romantic leads.
Michael Rennie enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve on 27 May 1941 (Serial No 1391153). He was discharged for commission on 4 August 1942 and, the following day, was commissioned "for the emergency" as a Pilot Officer
(No 127347) on probation in the General Duties Branch of the RAFVR. On 5 February 1943, he was promoted to Flying Officer
on probation. He resigned his commission on 1 May 1944 (not invalided out, as studio publicity stated). Rennie carried out his basic training near Torquay
in Devon
, after which he was posted to the United States
, where he served in Macon, Georgia
, purportedly as a flying instructor—although no record of his holding such rank could be confirmed in the RAF's archives. A story Rennie told to an interviewer, which was subsequently recounted in a number of his film-magazine biographies, concerned his period with the U.S. military. While stationed in Macon, he was asked by some of the American flyers what he did for a living. On hearing his response that in civilian life he was an actor and had appeared in a few films, they laughed disbelievingly. That evening, with free time on their hands, the group decided to go into town to see a film. The film they picked, Ships with Wings (released in the UK in January and in the U.S. in May 1942), featured the tenth-billed Rennie in a few brief but prominent scenes as an RAF Flight Lieutenant
. The Americans were astonished to discover that their British flying instructor was really as he described himself.
. The latter turned out to be the year's biggest box office hit, subsequently being listed ninth on a list of top ten highest-grossing British films. He also had a single prominent scene as a commander of Roman
centurions in the film described at the time as the most expensive (and financially ruinous) British film enterprise ever made, Gabriel Pascal
's production of George Bernard Shaw
's Caesar and Cleopatra
, starring Vivien Leigh
and Claude Rains
.
Second leads and then leads in seven other British films produced between 1946 and 1949 followed, including what may be considered Michael Rennie's only role as one of two central characters in a full-fledged love story. In the 47-minute episode "Sanatorium
", the longest among the Somerset Maugham tales constituting the film Trio
(released in London on 1 August 1950), the mature-looking, lightly mustached, 40-year-old Rennie and the 20-years-younger Jean Simmons
are patients in the title institution, which caters to victims of tuberculosis
. They fall in love and decide to marry, despite the doctor's grim prognosis that Rennie, a former Army
major, can only expect a few months of life; Simmons's character also faces a premature death within a couple of years. The final scene shows them joyfully leaving their institutional surroundings, secure in the knowledge that their brief remaining time will be spent in the happiness of their love for each other and the ability to face the inevitable on their own terms. Their indomitable spirit even gives inspiration to the other patients who cannot leave the "Sanatorium" but whose sagging spirits are momentarily lifted out of the doldrums of depression.
Jean Simmons would, in fact, turn out to be Michael Rennie's most frequent costar. Although they shared no scenes within the context of their minor roles in Caesar and Cleopatra, it was the first of their four films together. The remaining two titles were both 20th Century-Fox epics made in 1953–54 that had them primarily involved with other characters. In 1953's The Robe
and its 1954 sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators
, Rennie was billed fourth and third, respectively, playing the Apostle Peter, who provides affirmation in the new faith, as Jean and Richard Burton
become martyrs for Christianity
. In the sequel, they were only briefly seen in a flashback
, as the focus shifted to Demetrius (Victor Mature
), third-billed in The Robe; his temptation by the sexually brazen (within 1954 standards) future Empress Messalina
(Susan Hayward
); and the continued religious support and uplift provided by Peter to Demetrius and other faithful.
The final film that cast Michael Rennie with Jean Simmons was 1954's Desiree. He was again billed fourth, after Marlon Brando
(as Napoleon), Simmons (as the title character, Désirée Clary
), and Merle Oberon
(as Joséphine
). As French
marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who becomes King Charles XIV John of Sweden
, Rennie marries Jean's Désirée, but her true love always remains with Brando's Napoleon.
, was one of a number of British actors offered Hollywood contracts in 1949–50 by 20th Century-Fox's studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck
. The first film under his new contract was the British-filmed Medieval period adventure The Black Rose
, starring Tyrone Power
, who became one of Rennie's closest friends. Fifth-billed after the remaining first-tier stars Orson Welles
, Cécile Aubry
and Jack Hawkins
, Rennie was specifically cast as 13th century King Edward I
, whose 6' 2" (1.88 m) frame gave origin to his historical nickname
, "Longshanks
".
Rennie's second Fox film gave him fourth billing in the top tier. The 13th Letter
, directed by his future nemesis and love rival Otto Preminger
, was a remake of the 1943 French
film Le Corbeau
(The Raven), with the setting changed to the Canadian province of Quebec
. Rennie's next film dramatically moved his billing up to first and assured him screen immortality. (The role had been intended for Claude Rains
, who turned it down.) The Day the Earth Stood Still
was the first post war, respectably budgeted, "A" science-fiction film. It was a serious, high-minded exploration of Cold War
paranoia and humanity's place in the universe. A unique aspect of the film is the participation, within its fictional structure, of four top newscasters and commentators of the period: Elmer Davis
, H. V. Kaltenborn, Drew Pearson
, and Gabriel Heatter
. The story was dramatised in 1954 for Lux Radio Theatre, with Rennie and Billy Gray recreating their roles and Jean Peters
speaking the dialogue of the Patricia Neal
character. Seven years later, on March 3, 1962, when The Day the Earth Stood Still had its television premiere on NBC
's NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
, Michael Rennie appeared before the start of the film to give a two-minute introduction.
Buoyed by the strong critical reception and profitability of the film, Fox assigned much of the credit to the central performance by Michael Rennie. Convinced that it had a potential leading man
under contract, the studio decided to produce a version of Les Miserables
as a vehicle for him. The film, released on August 14, 1952, was directed by All Quiet on the Western Front's Lewis Milestone
, and Rennie's performance was respectfully, but not enthusiastically, received by the critics. Ultimately, Les Misérables turned in an extremely modest profit and put an end to any further attempts to promote the 43-year-old Rennie as a future star. He was, however, launched on a thriving career as a top supporting actor, as in Sailor of the King
. Based on the positive reaction to his two turns as the Apostle Peter, Fox assigned him another third-billed, top-tier role as a stalwart man of God, Franciscan
friar
Junipero Serra
, who, between 1749 and his death in 1784, founded missions
in Alta California
. The film was September 1955's Seven Cities of Gold
, with Richard Egan
, who had been ninth-billed as a vicious fighting machine and rapist of ingenue Debra Paget
in the previous year's Demetrius and the Gladiators and was now receiving star buildup and first billing; Anthony Quinn
was billed second. Both actors played Spanish
expedition leaders on a quest that resulted in the 1769 founding of San Diego, California
.
under contract with 20th Century Fox
. It was released in 1953 as a black-and-white noir
ish mystery film. It was directed by Joseph M. Newman
, starred Rennie and Jeanne Crain
, and was based on a 1943 play Cabin B-13 by John Dickson Carr
. The production reused sets and props from "Titanic
" of the same year, in which Rennie did the closing narration. Michael Rennie's next film was the last under his five-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. The Rains of Ranchipur
, released on December 14, 1955, assigned him fifth billing after the lead romantic teaming of Lana Turner
and Richard Burton
and the second-tier romance featuring depressed alcoholic Fred MacMurray
unwillingly pursued by Joan Caulfield
. As Lana Turner's cuckold
ed husband, Lord Esketh, Rennie maintained his typical dignity and stiff upper lip in the face of the character's diminished self-esteem.
Now a freelancer, Rennie appeared in six additional features between 1956 and 1960, three of which were produced or released by Fox. Rennie appeared as adventurer Lord John Roxton in director Irwin Allen
's 1960 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
, a tale of a jungle expedition that finds prehistoric monsters in South America
; the film also starred Claude Rains
, David Hedison
, Fernando Lamas
, Jill St. John
and Richard Haydn
. No longer bound by the no-television clause in his studio contract, he began his prolific 15-year association with the medium.
. During the 1960s, he continued his television career, with guest appearances on such series as The Barbara Stanwyck Show
, Route 66
(a moving portrayal of a doomed pilot in the two-part episode "Fly Away Home"); Alfred Hitchcock Presents
; Perry Mason
(one of four actors in four consecutive episodes substituting for series star Raymond Burr
, who was recovering from surgery); Wagon Train
(a 90-minute colour episode as an English big game hunter who, in a display of amazing marksmanship, is able to kill an Indian
chief from a great distance); The Great Adventure
(in an installment of this anthology series about remarkable events in American history, he portrayed Confederate
president Jefferson Davis
); Lost in Space
(another two-part episode—as an all-powerful alien zookeeper, "The Keeper," he worked one last time with his Third Man costar Jonathan Harris
); The Time Tunnel
(as Captain Smith of The Titanic, in the series' September 9, 1966 premiere episode); Batman
(as the villainous Sandman, in league with Julie Newmar
's Catwoman
); three episodes of The Invaders
(as a malign variation of the Klaatu
persona, culminating in a parallel plot also involving an assembly of world leaders); an episode of I Spy ("Lana"); and two episodes of The F.B.I.
appearance in Mary, Mary
playing Dirk Winsten, a jaded film star. After two previews, the sophisticated five-character marital comedy written by Jean Kerr
and directed by Joseph Anthony
opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre
on March 8, 1961. It ran for a very successful 1,572 performances, closing at the Morosco Theatre
on December 12, 1964. Rennie stayed with the production less than five months, to be replaced by Michael Wilding
in July 1961.
When Warner Brothers Pictures cast the film version in early 1963, Rennie, along with leading man Barry Nelson
and supporting actor Hiram Sherman
(who joined the play two years after the opening in the part first played by John Cromwell
) were the only Broadway cast members to transfer to the big screen. Debbie Reynolds
was given the title role (created by Barbara Bel Geddes
), and Warners contractee Diane McBain
, whom the studio saw as a potential star of the future, took over "the socialite part" essayed by Betsy von Furstenberg
. Veteran Mervyn LeRoy
produced and directed the film, which opened at Radio City Music Hall
on October 25, 1963. Ironically, while the film disappeared from cinemas by the end of 1963, the Broadway version continued for another full year.
, Sussex
, England
. Both marriages ended in divorce
.
He also had a son, John Marshall, by his longtime friend and mistress, Renée (née Gilbert), whose married name was Taylor. The British Film Institute
's database also lists him as having a son, John M. Taylor, who is listed as "a producer." John Marshall Rennie used the pseudonym "Taylor" during his long career in the industry to avoid accusations of nepotism
.
Michael Rennie was also briefly engaged to the ex-wife of Hollywood director Otto Preminger
.
John Rennie
, the designer and builder of the original Waterloo Bridge
over the River Thames
in London
, is presumed to have been his great-great-grandfather.
and The Devil's Brigade
, as well as top guest-starring roles in two episodes of the ABC
/Quinn Martin Productions series The F.B.I., Michael Rennie moved from Los Angeles
to Switzerland
in the latter part of that year. His final seven feature films were filmed in Britain, Italy
, Spain
and, in the case of Surabaya Conspiracy, the Philippines. Less than three years after leaving Hollywood, he journeyed to his mother's home in Harrogate
, Yorkshire
at a time of family grief following the death of his brother. It was there that he suddenly died of a ruptured aneurysm of the abdominal aorta almost two months before his 62nd birthday. After his cremation, his ashes were laid to rest in Harlow Hill Cemetery, Harrogate
.
and The Rocky Horror Picture Show
, "Science Fiction Double Feature", begins with the words "Michael Rennie was ill The Day the Earth Stood Still
, but he told us where we stand..." ("and Flash Gordon
was there in silver underwear, Claude Rains
was The Invisible Man..." etc.)
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film, television, and stage actor, perhaps best known for his starring role as the space visitor Klaatu
Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well...
in the 1951 classic science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film directed by Robert Wise and written by Edmund H. North based on the short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates. The film stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Hugh Marlowe...
. However, he appeared in over 50 other films since 1936, many with Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
and other well-known actors. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Rennie served in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. From 1959 onward, Rennie also appeared in some popular U.S. TV shows, between making films.
Early years
Eric Alexander Rennie was born in IdleIdle, West Yorkshire
The village of Idle and its outskirts make up a mainly residential suburban area in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, in England. The area is loosely bordered by the areas of Eccleshill, Wrose, Thackley and Greengates, in the north east of the city....
, a village near the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
city of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
(subsequently a Bradford suburb) and educated at the Leys School
The Leys School
The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. He attempted a number of professions, including periods as car salesman and manager of his uncle's rope factory, before deciding (at the time of his 26th birthday, in 1935) on a career as an actor. Retaining his surname but adopting the professional name Michael Rennie, the tall (6′4″) show business hopeful, with chiseled cheekbones and features, first appeared onscreen in an uncredited bit part in Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Secret Agent, which had its London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
premiere in May 1936.
During the late 1930s, Rennie served his apprenticeship
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
as an actor, gaining experience in acting technique while touring the provinces in British repertory. There is evidence that, at the age of 28, he was noticed by one of the British film studios, which decided to appraise his potential as a film personality by arranging a screen test. The 1937 screen test, which exists in the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
archives under the title "Marguerite Allan and Michael Rennie Screen Test," did not lead to a film career for either performer. In Secret Agent, he was primarily a stand-in for leading man Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
, and his own on-camera bit was so small that it cannot be discerned in the preserved final version of the film. He also played other bit parts, and later, minor unbilled roles in ten additional films produced between 1936 and 1940, the last of which, "Pimpernel" Smith
Pimpernel Smith
"Pimpernel" Smith is a British 1941 anti-Nazi thriller, produced and directed by its star Leslie Howard, which updates his role in the 1934 The Scarlet Pimpernel from Revolutionary France to pre-World War II Europe. The British Film Yearbook for 1945 described his work as "one of the most valuable...
, had a belated release in July 1941, while Rennie was already in uniform, serving in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The Second World War years
Shortly after the outbreak of war in September 1939, Rennie began to receive offers for larger film roles, starting with his first (small) billed performance in the wartime morale booster The Big BlockadeThe Big Blockade
The Big Blockade is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy-drama, propaganda film, war film, directed by Charles Frend and starring Will Hay, Ronald Shiner as the Shipping Clerk and John Mills. It was produced by Ealing Studios...
, seen in March 1940. Michael Redgrave
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...
, by then a full-fledged star, had one of the leading roles in the film. Six films later, however, Michael Rennie also had his first film lead. The suspense drama Tower of Terror, released in late December 1941 was styled in the manner of a horror film and starred Wilfrid Lawson
Wilfrid Lawson (actor)
Wilfrid Lawson was a British character actor of stage and screen.-Life and career:...
as a mad Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
lighthouse keeper in Nazi-occupied Netherlands, while second-billed Rennie and third-billed Movita had the romantic leads.
Michael Rennie enlisted in the RAF Volunteer Reserve on 27 May 1941 (Serial No 1391153). He was discharged for commission on 4 August 1942 and, the following day, was commissioned "for the emergency" as a Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
(No 127347) on probation in the General Duties Branch of the RAFVR. On 5 February 1943, he was promoted to Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
on probation. He resigned his commission on 1 May 1944 (not invalided out, as studio publicity stated). Rennie carried out his basic training near Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, after which he was posted to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he served in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, purportedly as a flying instructor—although no record of his holding such rank could be confirmed in the RAF's archives. A story Rennie told to an interviewer, which was subsequently recounted in a number of his film-magazine biographies, concerned his period with the U.S. military. While stationed in Macon, he was asked by some of the American flyers what he did for a living. On hearing his response that in civilian life he was an actor and had appeared in a few films, they laughed disbelievingly. That evening, with free time on their hands, the group decided to go into town to see a film. The film they picked, Ships with Wings (released in the UK in January and in the U.S. in May 1942), featured the tenth-billed Rennie in a few brief but prominent scenes as an RAF Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
. The Americans were astonished to discover that their British flying instructor was really as he described himself.
British film star (1945–1950)
With the war's end in May 1945, Michael Rennie began to be seen as a potential star as a result of playing second leads in two vehicles for Britain's most popular leading actress of the era, Margaret Lockwood: the musical I'll Be Your Sweetheart and, most prominently, the sensual costume adventure The Wicked LadyThe Wicked Lady
The Wicked Lady is a 1945 film starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who secretly becomes a highwayman for the excitement...
. The latter turned out to be the year's biggest box office hit, subsequently being listed ninth on a list of top ten highest-grossing British films. He also had a single prominent scene as a commander of Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
centurions in the film described at the time as the most expensive (and financially ruinous) British film enterprise ever made, Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal
Gabriel Pascal was a Hungarian film producer and director.Born 1894 in Arad, Austria-Hungary , Pascal was the first film producer to bring the plays of George Bernard Shaw successfully to the screen. His most famous production was Pygmalion, for which Pascal himself received an Academy Award...
's production of George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. 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...
's Caesar and Cleopatra
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945 film)
Caesar and Cleopatra is a 1945 British, Technicolor, biographical, romantic comedy film directed by Gabriel Pascal and starring Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh. It was adapted from a 1901 play, Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw...
, starring Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier was an English actress. She won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire , a role she also played on stage in London's West End, as well as for her portrayal of the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara, alongside Clark...
and Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
.
Second leads and then leads in seven other British films produced between 1946 and 1949 followed, including what may be considered Michael Rennie's only role as one of two central characters in a full-fledged love story. In the 47-minute episode "Sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
", the longest among the Somerset Maugham tales constituting the film Trio
Trio (1950 film)
Trio is a 1950 British anthology film based on three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham: "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All" and "Sanatorium". Ken Annakin directed "The Verger" and "Mr...
(released in London on 1 August 1950), the mature-looking, lightly mustached, 40-year-old Rennie and the 20-years-younger Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
are patients in the title institution, which caters to victims of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. They fall in love and decide to marry, despite the doctor's grim prognosis that Rennie, a former Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
major, can only expect a few months of life; Simmons's character also faces a premature death within a couple of years. The final scene shows them joyfully leaving their institutional surroundings, secure in the knowledge that their brief remaining time will be spent in the happiness of their love for each other and the ability to face the inevitable on their own terms. Their indomitable spirit even gives inspiration to the other patients who cannot leave the "Sanatorium" but whose sagging spirits are momentarily lifted out of the doldrums of depression.
Jean Simmons would, in fact, turn out to be Michael Rennie's most frequent costar. Although they shared no scenes within the context of their minor roles in Caesar and Cleopatra, it was the first of their four films together. The remaining two titles were both 20th Century-Fox epics made in 1953–54 that had them primarily involved with other characters. In 1953's The Robe
The Robe (film)
The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
and its 1954 sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators
Demetrius and the Gladiators
Demetrius and the Gladiators is a 1954 sword and sandal drama film and a sequel to The Robe. It was made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Delmer Daves and produced by Frank Ross. The screenplay was by Philip Dunne based on characters created by Lloyd C...
, Rennie was billed fourth and third, respectively, playing the Apostle Peter, who provides affirmation in the new faith, as Jean and Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
become martyrs for Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. In the sequel, they were only briefly seen in a flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
, as the focus shifted to Demetrius (Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
), third-billed in The Robe; his temptation by the sexually brazen (within 1954 standards) future Empress Messalina
Messalina
Valeria Messalina, sometimes spelled Messallina, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Claudius. She was also a paternal cousin of the Emperor Nero, second cousin of the Emperor Caligula, and great-grandniece of the Emperor Augustus...
(Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
); and the continued religious support and uplift provided by Peter to Demetrius and other faithful.
The final film that cast Michael Rennie with Jean Simmons was 1954's Desiree. He was again billed fourth, after Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
(as Napoleon), Simmons (as the title character, Désirée Clary
Désirée Clary
Bernardine Eugénie Désirée Clary , one-time fiancée of Napoleon Bonaparte, was a Frenchwoman who became Queen of Sweden and Norway as the consort of King Charles XIV John, a former French General. She officially changed her name there to Desideria, a Latin version of her original name...
), and Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon was an Indian-born British actress best known for her screen performances in The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Cowboy and the Lady . She began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in The Private Life of Henry VIII . She travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel...
(as Joséphine
Joséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
). As French
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who becomes King Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
, Rennie marries Jean's Désirée, but her true love always remains with Brando's Napoleon.
Hollywood stardom (1951–1952)
Michael Rennie, along with Jean Simmons and The Wicked Lady leading man James MasonJames Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
, was one of a number of British actors offered Hollywood contracts in 1949–50 by 20th Century-Fox's studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
. The first film under his new contract was the British-filmed Medieval period adventure The Black Rose
The Black Rose
The Black Rose is a 1950 20th Century-Fox film starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles, loosely based on Thomas B. Costain's book. It was filmed partly on location in England and Morocco which substitutes for the Gobi Desert of China...
, starring Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
, who became one of Rennie's closest friends. Fifth-billed after the remaining first-tier stars Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Cécile Aubry
Cécile Aubry
Cécile Aubry was a French film actress, author, television screenwriter and director.Born Anne-José Madeleine Henriette Bénard, Aubry began her career as a dancer...
and Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins
Colonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
, Rennie was specifically cast as 13th century King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, whose 6' 2" (1.88 m) frame gave origin to his historical nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
, "Longshanks
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
".
Rennie's second Fox film gave him fourth billing in the top tier. The 13th Letter
The 13th Letter
The 13th Letter is a 1951 film directed by Otto Preminger. The film is a remake of Le Corbeau directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.-Plot:...
, directed by his future nemesis and love rival Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
, was a remake of the 1943 French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film Le Corbeau
Le Corbeau
Le Corbeau is a 1943 French film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot. The film was notable for causing serious trouble to its director after World War II because it had been produced by Continental Films, a German production company established in France in the early months of the war, and because...
(The Raven), with the setting changed to the Canadian province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. Rennie's next film dramatically moved his billing up to first and assured him screen immortality. (The role had been intended for Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
, who turned it down.) The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film directed by Robert Wise and written by Edmund H. North based on the short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates. The film stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Hugh Marlowe...
was the first post war, respectably budgeted, "A" science-fiction film. It was a serious, high-minded exploration of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
paranoia and humanity's place in the universe. A unique aspect of the film is the participation, within its fictional structure, of four top newscasters and commentators of the period: Elmer Davis
Elmer Davis
Elmer Davis was a well-known news reporter, author, the Director of the United States Office of War Information during World War II and a Peabody Award recipient.-Education and early career:...
, H. V. Kaltenborn, Drew Pearson
Drew Pearson (journalist)
Andrew Russell Pearson , known professionally as Drew Pearson, was one of the best-known American columnists of his day, noted for his muckraking syndicated newspaper column "Washington Merry-Go-Round," in which he attacked various public persons, sometimes with little or no objective proof for his...
, and Gabriel Heatter
Gabriel Heatter
Gabriel Heatter was an American radio commentator whose World War II-era sign-on became both his catchphrase and his caricature...
. The story was dramatised in 1954 for Lux Radio Theatre, with Rennie and Billy Gray recreating their roles and Jean Peters
Jean Peters
Jean Peters was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second wife of Howard Hughes...
speaking the dialogue of the Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal was an American actress of stage and screen. She was best known for her film roles as World War II widow Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still , wealthy matron Emily Eustace Failenson in Breakfast at Tiffany's , middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud , for which she won...
character. Seven years later, on March 3, 1962, when The Day the Earth Stood Still had its television premiere on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
NBC Saturday Night at the Movies
NBC Saturday Night at the Movies, was the first continuing weekly prime time network television series to show relatively recent feature films from major studios in color...
, Michael Rennie appeared before the start of the film to give a two-minute introduction.
Buoyed by the strong critical reception and profitability of the film, Fox assigned much of the credit to the central performance by Michael Rennie. Convinced that it had a potential leading man
Leading man
Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
under contract, the studio decided to produce a version of Les Miserables
Les Misérables
Les Misérables , translated variously from the French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched, The Poor Ones, The Wretched Poor, or The Victims), is an 1862 French novel by author Victor Hugo and is widely considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century...
as a vehicle for him. The film, released on August 14, 1952, was directed by All Quiet on the Western Front's Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone was a Russian-American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front , both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director...
, and Rennie's performance was respectfully, but not enthusiastically, received by the critics. Ultimately, Les Misérables turned in an extremely modest profit and put an end to any further attempts to promote the 43-year-old Rennie as a future star. He was, however, launched on a thriving career as a top supporting actor, as in Sailor of the King
Sailor of the King
Sailor of the King is a 1953 war film based on the novel Brown on Resolution by C. S. Forester and filmed in the Mediterranean Sea...
. Based on the positive reaction to his two turns as the Apostle Peter, Fox assigned him another third-billed, top-tier role as a stalwart man of God, Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
Junipero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
, who, between 1749 and his death in 1784, founded missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
. The film was September 1955's Seven Cities of Gold
Seven Cities of Gold (film)
Seven Cities Of Gold is a 1955 historical adventure film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Anthony Quinn, Richard Egan and Michael Rennie. It tells the story of the 18th. Century Franciscan priest, Father Junípero Serra and the founding of the first missions in what is now present day...
, with Richard Egan
Richard Egan (actor)
Richard Egan was an American actor. In some films he is credited as Richard Eagan.-Career:Born in San Francisco, California, Egan served in the United States Army as a judo instructor during World War II...
, who had been ninth-billed as a vicious fighting machine and rapist of ingenue Debra Paget
Debra Paget
Debra Paget is an American actress and entertainer who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s in a variety of feature films including Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender, the film début of Elvis Presley.-Early life and career:Paget was born in Denver, Colorado...
in the previous year's Demetrius and the Gladiators and was now receiving star buildup and first billing; Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
was billed second. Both actors played Spanish
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
expedition leaders on a quest that resulted in the 1769 founding of San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Post-20th Century-Fox
In 1953, Michael Rennie starred in Dangerous CrossingDangerous Crossing
Dangerous Crossing is a 1953 Black & white noirish, mystery film, directed by Joseph M. Newman and starring Jeanne Crain and Michael Rennie, based on a the 1943 play Cabin B-13 by John Dickson Carr.-Plot synopsis:...
under contract with 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
. It was released in 1953 as a black-and-white noir
Noir
Noir is the French word for black. It may refer to:- People :* Noir , Danish Dj & Producer. Owner of Noir Music...
ish mystery film. It was directed by Joseph M. Newman
Joseph M. Newman
Joseph M. Newman was an American film director most famous for his 1955 film This Island Earth. His credits include episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour....
, starred Rennie and Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Crain
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress.-Early life:Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, a school teacher, and Loretta Carr; she was of Irish heritage on her mother's side, and of English and distant French descent on her father's...
, and was based on a 1943 play Cabin B-13 by John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr was an American author of detective stories, who also published under the pen names Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson and Roger Fairbairn....
. The production reused sets and props from "Titanic
Titanic (1953 film)
Titanic is a 1953 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco. Its plot centers on an estranged couple sailing on the maiden voyage of the , which took place in April 1912.-Plot:...
" of the same year, in which Rennie did the closing narration. Michael Rennie's next film was the last under his five-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. The Rains of Ranchipur
The Rains of Ranchipur
The Rains of Ranchipur is a 1955 film drama made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Frank Ross from a screenplay by Merle Miller, based on the novel The Rains Came by Louis Bromfield. The music score was by Hugo Friedhofer and the cinematography by Milton R...
, released on December 14, 1955, assigned him fifth billing after the lead romantic teaming of Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
and Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
and the second-tier romance featuring depressed alcoholic Fred MacMurray
Fred MacMurray
Frederick Martin "Fred" MacMurray was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 movies and a successful television series during a career that spanned nearly a half-century, from 1930 to the 1970s....
unwillingly pursued by Joan Caulfield
Joan Caulfield
Joan Caulfield was an American actress and former fashion model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures....
. As Lana Turner's cuckold
Cuckold
Cuckold is a historically derogatory term for a man who has an unfaithful wife. The word, which has been in recorded use since the 13th century, derives from the cuckoo bird, some varieties of which lay their eggs in other birds' nests...
ed husband, Lord Esketh, Rennie maintained his typical dignity and stiff upper lip in the face of the character's diminished self-esteem.
Now a freelancer, Rennie appeared in six additional features between 1956 and 1960, three of which were produced or released by Fox. Rennie appeared as adventurer Lord John Roxton in director Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...
's 1960 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
The Lost World (1960 film)
The Lost World is a 1960 science fiction adventure film based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Conan Doyle and directed by Irwin Allen...
, a tale of a jungle expedition that finds prehistoric monsters in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
; the film also starred Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
, David Hedison
David Hedison
Albert David Hedison, Jr. is an Armenian-American film, television, and stage actor. He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work. In 1959, when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers, NBC insisted that he change his name...
, Fernando Lamas
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:...
, Jill St. John
Jill St. John
Jill St. John is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tiffany Case, the lead Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever.-Early life:...
and Richard Haydn
Richard Haydn
Richard Haydn was an English comic actor in radio, films and television.-Early life and career:Born George Richard Haydon in London, he was known for playing eccentric characters, such as Edwin Carp, Claud Curdle, Richard Rancyd and Stanley Stayle. Much of his stage delivery was done in a...
. No longer bound by the no-television clause in his studio contract, he began his prolific 15-year association with the medium.
The Third Man series and television
In 1959, Rennie became a familiar face on television, taking the role of Harry Lime in The Third Man, an Anglo-American syndicated TV series very loosely based on the character previously played by Orson WellesOrson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. During the 1960s, he continued his television career, with guest appearances on such series as The Barbara Stanwyck Show
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
The Barbara Stanwyck Show is an American anthology drama television series which ran on NBC from September 1960 to September 1961. Barbara Stanwyck served as hostess, and starred in all but four of the half-hour productions. The four she did not star in were actually pilot episodes of potential...
, Route 66
Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
(a moving portrayal of a doomed pilot in the two-part episode "Fly Away Home"); Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
; Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
(one of four actors in four consecutive episodes substituting for series star Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
, who was recovering from surgery); Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
(a 90-minute colour episode as an English big game hunter who, in a display of amazing marksmanship, is able to kill an Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
chief from a great distance); The Great Adventure
The Great Adventure (TV series)
The Great Adventure is a historical anthology series that appeared on CBS for the 1963-1964 television season. The series, hosted each week by Van Heflin, and featuring theme music by Richard Rodgers, presented each week a one-hour dramatization of the lives of famous Americans and important...
(in an installment of this anthology series about remarkable events in American history, he portrayed Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
president Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
); Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
(another two-part episode—as an all-powerful alien zookeeper, "The Keeper," he worked one last time with his Third Man costar Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris was an American stage and film character actor. Two of his best-known roles were as the timid accountant Bradford Webster in the TV version of The Third Man, and the comic villain Dr. Zachary Smith, in the 1960s sci-fi television series, Lost in Space...
); The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen, his third science fiction television series. The show's main theme was Time Travel Adventure. The Time Tunnel was released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran...
(as Captain Smith of The Titanic, in the series' September 9, 1966 premiere episode); Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
(as the villainous Sandman, in league with Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar
Julie Newmar is an American actress, dancer and singer. Her most famous role is Catwoman in the Batman television series.-Early life:...
's Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
); three episodes of The Invaders
The Invaders
The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
(as a malign variation of the Klaatu
Klaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well...
persona, culminating in a parallel plot also involving an assembly of world leaders); an episode of I Spy ("Lana"); and two episodes of The F.B.I.
Broadway
At the start of the 1960s, Michael Rennie made his only BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
appearance in Mary, Mary
Mary, Mary (play)
Mary, Mary is a play by Jean Kerr. The play became one of the longest-running productions of the decade. After two previews, the Broadway production opened on March 8, 1961 at the original Helen Hayes Theatre , where it ran for nearly three years and nine months before transferring to the Morosco...
playing Dirk Winsten, a jaded film star. After two previews, the sophisticated five-character marital comedy written by Jean Kerr
Jean Kerr
Jean Kerr was an American author and playwright born in Scranton, Pennsylvania and best known for her humorous bestseller, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, and the plays King of Hearts and Mary, Mary...
and directed by Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony
Joseph Anthony was an American playwright, actor, and director. He made his film acting debut in the 1934 film Hat, Coat, and Glove and his theatrical acting debut in a 1935 production of Mary of Scotland...
opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre
Helen Hayes Theatre with 597 seats is the smallest Broadway theatre and is located at 240 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan....
on March 8, 1961. It ran for a very successful 1,572 performances, closing at the Morosco Theatre
Morosco Theatre
The Morosco Theatre was a legitimate theatre located at 217 West 45th Street in the heart of the theater district in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States....
on December 12, 1964. Rennie stayed with the production less than five months, to be replaced by Michael Wilding
Michael Wilding (actor)
-Early life:Born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, Wilding was a successful commercial artist when he joined the art department of a London film studio in 1933. He soon embarked on an acting career.-Career:...
in July 1961.
When Warner Brothers Pictures cast the film version in early 1963, Rennie, along with leading man Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.-Early life:...
and supporting actor Hiram Sherman
Hiram Sherman
Hiram Sherman was an American actor.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Sherman made his Broadway debut as a playwright with the short-lived comedy Too Much Party in 1934. It proved to be his sole attempt at writing. Two years later he made his first appearance as an actor in Horse Eats Hat...
(who joined the play two years after the opening in the part first played by John Cromwell
John Cromwell (director)
Elwood Dager Cromwell , known as John Cromwell, was an American film actor, director and producer.-Biography:...
) were the only Broadway cast members to transfer to the big screen. Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
was given the title role (created by Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes was an American actress, artist and children's author. She is best known for her role in the television drama series Dallas as matriarch Eleanor "Miss Ellie" Ewing. Bel Geddes also starred in the original Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the role of Maggie...
), and Warners contractee Diane McBain
Diane McBain
Diane McBain is an American actress who, as a Warner Brothers contract player, reached a brief peak of popularity during the early 1960s...
, whom the studio saw as a potential star of the future, took over "the socialite part" essayed by Betsy von Furstenberg
Betsy von Furstenberg
Betsy von Furstenberg is a German-born American radio, television, film, and Broadway actress.-Birth and childhood:...
. Veteran Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy
Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director, producer and sometime actor.-Early life:Born to Jewish parents in San Francisco, California, his family was financially ruined by the 1906 earthquake...
produced and directed the film, which opened at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
on October 25, 1963. Ironically, while the film disappeared from cinemas by the end of 1963, the Broadway version continued for another full year.
Personal life
Rennie was married twice: first to Joan England (1938–1945), then to actress Margaret (Maggie) McGrath (1947–1960); their son, David Rennie, is an English circuit judge in LewesLewes
Lewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England
England
England 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, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Both marriages ended in divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.
He also had a son, John Marshall, by his longtime friend and mistress, Renée (née Gilbert), whose married name was Taylor. The British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
's database also lists him as having a son, John M. Taylor, who is listed as "a producer." John Marshall Rennie used the pseudonym "Taylor" during his long career in the industry to avoid accusations of nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
.
Michael Rennie was also briefly engaged to the ex-wife of Hollywood director Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
.
John Rennie
John Rennie (father)
John Rennie was a Scottish civil engineer who designed many bridges, canals, and docks.-Early years:Rennie, a farmer's younger son, was born at Phantassie, near East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland, and showed a taste for mechanics at a very early age, and was allowed to spend much time in the...
, the designer and builder of the original Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge
Waterloo Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, England between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge. The name of the bridge is in memory of the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815...
over the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, is presumed to have been his great-great-grandfather.
Final years
After completing what amounted to guest roles in two 1968 films, The PowerThe Power (film)
The Power is a 1968 film based on the science fiction novel The Power by Frank M. Robinson. It stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette.-Plot:...
and The Devil's Brigade
The Devil's Brigade (film)
The Devil's Brigade is a 1968 American war film based on the 1966 book of the same name co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col...
, as well as top guest-starring roles in two episodes of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
/Quinn Martin Productions series The F.B.I., Michael Rennie moved from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
in the latter part of that year. His final seven feature films were filmed in Britain, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and, in the case of Surabaya Conspiracy, the Philippines. Less than three years after leaving Hollywood, he journeyed to his mother's home in Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
at a time of family grief following the death of his brother. It was there that he suddenly died of a ruptured aneurysm of the abdominal aorta almost two months before his 62nd birthday. After his cremation, his ashes were laid to rest in Harlow Hill Cemetery, Harrogate
Harrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
.
Partial filmography
- The Squeaker (1937)
- GangwayGangway (film)Gangway is a 1937 British musical film directed by Sonnie Hale and starring Jessie Matthews, Barry MacKay, Nat Pendleton and Alistair Sim. A young reporter goes undercover to unmask a gang of criminals who are planning a jewel heist.-Main cast:...
(1937) - The Divorce of Lady XThe Divorce of Lady XThe Divorce of Lady X is a 1938 British romantic comedy film made by London Films and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Tim Whelan and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenplay by Ian Dalrymple and Arthur Wimperis, adapted by Lajos Biró from the play Counsel's Opinion by Gilbert...
(1938) - Bank HolidayBank Holiday (film)Bank Holiday is a 1938 British drama film directed by Carol Reed and starring John Lodge, Margaret Lockwood, Hugh Williams and Kathleen Harrison...
(1938) - The Briggs FamilyThe Briggs FamilyThe Briggs Family is a 1940 British drama film directed by Herbert Mason and starring Edward Chapman, Felix Aylmer, Jane Baxter, Oliver Wakefield and Austin Trevor. During the Second World War, a special constable and former solicitor is called upon to defend his son who is accused of the theft of...
(1940) - This Man in ParisThis Man in ParisThis Man in Paris is a 1939 British comedy mystery film directed by David MacDonald and starring Barry K. Barnes, Valerie Hobson and Alastair Sim. A British journalist and his wife travel to France to investigate a counterfeiting rang involving a British aristocrat.It was a sequel to the 1938 film...
(1940) - This Man Is DangerousThis Man Is DangerousThis Man Is Dangerous is a 1941 British thriller film, directed by Lawrence Huntington and starring James Mason and Gordon McLeod. The film is based on the novel They Called Him Death by David Hume....
(1941) - Dangerous MoonlightDangerous MoonlightDangerous Moonlight is a 1941 British film, starring Anton Walbrook, best known for its score written by Richard Addinsell with orchestrations by Roy Douglas, which includes the Warsaw Concerto...
(1941) - The Patient Vanishes (1941)
- 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941)
- Turned Out Nice AgainTurned Out Nice AgainTurned Out Nice Again is a British comedy film starring Lancashire-born George Formby. The film was released in 1941 and filmed at Ealing Studios, London.-Sypnosis:...
(1941) - Ships with WingsShips with WingsShips with Wings is a 1941 British war film directed by Sergei Nolbandov and starring John Clements, Leslie Banks and Jane Baxter. During the Second World War the British fleet air arm fight the Germans in Greece.-Release:...
(1941) - Tower of TerrorTower of TerrorTower of Terror may refer to:* The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, an accelerated freefall ride located in many Disney theme parks** Tower of Terror , a TV movie based on the Disney attraction...
(1942) - The Big BlockadeThe Big BlockadeThe Big Blockade is a 1942 British, black-and-white, comedy-drama, propaganda film, war film, directed by Charles Frend and starring Will Hay, Ronald Shiner as the Shipping Clerk and John Mills. It was produced by Ealing Studios...
(1942) - The Wicked LadyThe Wicked LadyThe Wicked Lady is a 1945 film starring Margaret Lockwood in the title role as a nobleman's wife who secretly becomes a highwayman for the excitement...
(1945) - I'll Be Your Sweetheart (1945)
- Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
- The Root of All EvilThe Root of All Evil (1947 film)The Root of All Evil is a 1947 British drama film, directed by Brock Williams for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Phyllis Calvert and Michael Rennie. The film was the first directorial assignment for Williams, who was better known as a screenwriter, and also produced the screenplay based on a...
(1947) - White Cradle InnWhite Cradle InnWhite Cradle Inn is a 1947 British drama film directed by Harold French and starring Madeleine Carroll, Ian Hunter and Michael Rennie. In Switzerland after the Second World War a French evacuee boy wants to stay there rather than return home leading to a moral dilemma.-Cast:* Madeleine Carroll -...
(1947) - Idol of Paris (1948)
- Uneasy TermsUneasy TermsUneasy Terms is a 1948 British thriller film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring Michael Rennie, Moira Lister and Faith Brook. It is based on a novel by Peter Cheyney.-Cast:* Michael Rennie - Slim Callaghan* Moira Lister - Corinne Alardyse...
(1948) - The Golden Madonna (1949)
- Miss Pilgrim's ProgressMiss Pilgrim's ProgressMiss Pilgrim's Progress is a 1950 British black-and-white film by producer Nat Cohen....
(1950) - TrioTrio (1950 film)Trio is a 1950 British anthology film based on three short stories by W. Somerset Maugham: "The Verger", "Mr. Know-All" and "Sanatorium". Ken Annakin directed "The Verger" and "Mr...
(1950) - The Black RoseThe Black RoseThe Black Rose is a 1950 20th Century-Fox film starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles, loosely based on Thomas B. Costain's book. It was filmed partly on location in England and Morocco which substitutes for the Gobi Desert of China...
(1950) - The 13th LetterThe 13th LetterThe 13th Letter is a 1951 film directed by Otto Preminger. The film is a remake of Le Corbeau directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot.-Plot:...
(1951) - The Day the Earth Stood StillThe Day the Earth Stood StillThe Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film directed by Robert Wise and written by Edmund H. North based on the short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates. The film stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Hugh Marlowe...
(1951) – as KlaatuKlaatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still)Klaatu is the humanoid alien protagonist in the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still and its 2008 remake. Klaatu is famous in part because of the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" used in the classic film and its re-use in the Bruce Campbell cult comedy film Army of Darkness, as well... - The House in the Square, also known as I'll Never Forget You (1951)
- Five Fingers5 Fingers5 Fingers, known also as Five Fingers, is a 1952 American 20th Century Fox spy film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and produced by Otto Lang. The screenplay by Michael Wilson and Mankiewicz was based on Operation Cicero by L.C...
(1952) - Phone Call from a StrangerPhone Call from a StrangerPhone Call from a Stranger is a 1952 American drama film directed by Jean Negulesco, who was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. The screenplay by Nunnally Johnson and I.A.R...
(1952) - Les MisérablesLes Misérables (1952 film)Les Misérables is a 1952 American film adapted from the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, and featured Michael Rennie as Jean Valjean, Robert Newton as Javert, Sylvia Sidney as Fantine, Debra Paget as Cosette, Edmund Gwenn as the bishop, Cameron Mitchell as...
(1952) – as Jean ValjeanJean ValjeanJean Valjean is the protagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables... - Sailor of the KingSailor of the KingSailor of the King is a 1953 war film based on the novel Brown on Resolution by C. S. Forester and filmed in the Mediterranean Sea...
(1953) - King of the Khyber RiflesKing of the Khyber Rifles (film)King of the Khyber Rifles is a 1953 adventure film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power and Terry Moore. The film is based on the novel King of the Khyber Rifles by Talbot Mundy. It is a remake of John Ford's The Black Watch . The Khyber Pass scenes were shot in Alabama Hills, Lone...
(1953) - The RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
(1953) – as the Apostle Peter - Demetrius and the GladiatorsDemetrius and the GladiatorsDemetrius and the Gladiators is a 1954 sword and sandal drama film and a sequel to The Robe. It was made by 20th Century Fox, directed by Delmer Daves and produced by Frank Ross. The screenplay was by Philip Dunne based on characters created by Lloyd C...
(1954)
- Désirée (1954)
- MamboMambo (1954 film)Mambo is a 1954 Italian/American film directed by Robert Rossen.- Plot summary :The film stars Silvana Mangano as Giovanna Masetti, a poor Venetian who is admired by the crafty croupier Mario Rossi and the rich count Enrico Marisoni . Giovanna lives out a dream to become a dancer and moves to Rome...
(1954) - Soldier of FortuneSoldier of Fortune (film)Soldier of Fortune is a 1955 adventure film about the rescue of an American held prisoner in the People's Republic of China in the 1950s. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk, starred Clark Gable and Susan Hayward and was written by Ernest K...
(1955) - Seven Cities of GoldSeven Cities of Gold (film)Seven Cities Of Gold is a 1955 historical adventure film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Anthony Quinn, Richard Egan and Michael Rennie. It tells the story of the 18th. Century Franciscan priest, Father Junípero Serra and the founding of the first missions in what is now present day...
(1955) - The Rains of RanchipurThe Rains of RanchipurThe Rains of Ranchipur is a 1955 film drama made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Frank Ross from a screenplay by Merle Miller, based on the novel The Rains Came by Louis Bromfield. The music score was by Hugo Friedhofer and the cinematography by Milton R...
(1955) - Teenage RebelTeenage RebelTeenage Rebel is a 1956 drama film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Ginger Rogers. It was nominated for two Academy Awards; for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction Teenage Rebel is a 1956 drama film directed by Edmund Goulding and starring Ginger Rogers. It was nominated for two...
(1956) - Island in the SunIsland in the Sun (film)Island in the Sun is a 1957 film that stars an ensemble cast including James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Dorothy Dandridge, Joan Collins, Michael Rennie and Harry Belafonte. The cast includes also Diana Wynyard, Patricia Owens and Stephen Boyd. The film is about race relations and interracial romance...
(1957) - Omar KhayyamOmar Khayyam (film)Omar Khayyam is an American movie directed by William Dieterle, filmed in 1956 and released in 1957...
(1957) - Battle of the V-1Battle of the V-1Battle of the V-1 is a British war film from 1958, starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Medina, Milly Vitale, David Knight and Christopher Lee...
(1958) - Third Man on the MountainThird Man on the MountainThird Man on the Mountain is a 1959 American Walt Disney Productions movie set during the golden age of alpinism about a young Swiss man who conquers the mountain that killed his father. It is based on Banner in the Sky, a James Ramsey Ullman novel about the first ascent of the Matterhorn, and was...
(1959) - The Lost WorldThe Lost World (1960 film)The Lost World is a 1960 science fiction adventure film based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Conan Doyle and directed by Irwin Allen...
(1960) - Cyborg 2087Cyborg 2087Cyborg 2087 is a 1966 science fiction film starring Michael Rennie, Karen Steele, Wendell Corey and Warren Stevens.-Plot:Garth , a cyborg from the future, travels back in time to 1966 to prevent Professor Sigmund Marx from revealing his new discovery, an idea that will make mind control possible...
(1966) - Hotel (1967)
- The PowerThe Power (film)The Power is a 1968 film based on the science fiction novel The Power by Frank M. Robinson. It stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette.-Plot:...
(1968) – as Arthur Nordlund/Adam Hart - The Devil's BrigadeThe Devil's Brigade (film)The Devil's Brigade is a 1968 American war film based on the 1966 book of the same name co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col...
(1968) – as General Mark ClarkMark Wayne ClarkMark Wayne Clark was an American general during World War II and the Korean War and was the youngest lieutenant general in the U.S. Army... - SubterfugeSubterfuge (1968 film)Subterfuge is a 1968 British espionage film directed by Peter Graham Scott and starring Gene Barry, Joan Collins and Richard Todd.-Cast:* Gene Barry as Michael A...
(1968) - Surabaya Conspiracy (1969)
- The Battle of Elalamein (1969)
- Dracula vs. FrankensteinLos Monstruos del TerrorLos Monstruos del Terror , also known as Dracula vs. Frankenstein and Assignment Terror, is a 1969 Spanish/German/Italian horror film that is the third in a series featuring the werewolf, Waldemar Daninsky, played by Paul Naschy.-Synopsis:Aliens who run a traveling circus revive a vampire, a...
(1969/1970)
In popular culture
The opening song of The Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
and The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
, "Science Fiction Double Feature", begins with the words "Michael Rennie was ill The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film directed by Robert Wise and written by Edmund H. North based on the short story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates. The film stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Hugh Marlowe...
, but he told us where we stand..." ("and Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
was there in silver underwear, Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
was The Invisible Man..." etc.)
External links
- The Complete Michael Rennie - Incomplete Fan site