Ray Milland: Underrated?

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When I think back on cinema history, I think the most magical time was the 1950s.

One of the greatest films in that period was Dial M for Murder (my favourite Hitchcock too), and I'd go as far as to say all the performances, particularly Ray Milland's, were on top form.

I've come to regard Milland as one of the finest actors of all time. And I've never come across a bad performance yet either.

I always find it strange when people either say he was 'forgetable' or they have no idea who he was.

So, does anyone have an opinion on this fine actor? Do you agree he is perhaps one of the most underrated/overlooked stars of the '50s?



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
I like Ray Milland. I even started a thread on him on another site regarding his accent (not quite English or American). But to call him one of the finest actors of all times is stretching things. He was one of those actors, and there are a number of them, who was better as he got older because he was more suited to character roles than playing leading men/romantic types. As for later films where he is not at his best, he was a bland substitute for Vincent Price in Premature Burial.

This thread isn't going to jump like your last one. A lot of people here probably have no idea who he is.



I haven't seen quite enough of him to have an informed opinion, but as you can see from my favorites list, I love me some Dial M For Murder, so I'm definitely on board with Milland as an especially talented actor, and given how little I usually hear about him, I'd probably still venture to call him underrated, yeah. The sophisticated criminal is a very well-tread archetype by now, but I'm guessing it was a good deal less so when he, as Tony Wendice, casually poured his oft-renamed guest a drink while calmly explaining why he had no choice but to murder his wife. It's definitely one of my all-time favorite scenes.



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
Hey, Eric, were you thinking about this when you said Ray Milland was one of the greatest actors of all time?





I haven't seen quite enough of him to have an informed opinion, but as you can see from my favorites list, I love me some Dial M For Murder, so I'm definitely on board with Milland as an especially talented actor, and given how little I usually hear about him, I'd probably still venture to call him underrated, yeah. The sophisticated criminal is a very well-tread archetype by now, but I'm guessing it was a good deal less so when he, as Tony Wendice, casually poured his oft-renamed guest a drink while calmly explaining why he had no choice but to murder his wife. It's definitely one of my all-time favorite scenes.
I didn't know about the favourite films list, I just clicked yours and you have it at number 1. I'd say it's one of my favourites, definately top 20, and most definately the best Hitch I've ever seen, though Strangers on a Train and the 39 Steps are also favourites.

In regards to Dial M, I always, always remember Milland's brilliant portrayal, and can clearly remember how the story unfolds, the building tension and general awesomeness of the film as a whole. Despite being about 15 years since I even watched it, it's a fond favourite for sure.

John Williams was particularly memorable too, despite his somewhat brief role, and to this day I remember how he commanded the scenes he appeared in. There weren't any weak performances as a whole, and even though the film is mostly set in one place (rather like another Hitch film, Rope) it wasn't boring in the least.

I think one of the reasons people overlook Milland (and Dial M as a film in itself) is because of their attention spans, espcially modern audiences. Most people remember Hitch films like Pyscho and North by Northwest, which have a more rapid, varied pace, and this seems to suit the attention spans of the general movie goer quite well.

That's probably why films like Rope and Dial M (and hence, the main stars of both films) have been overlooked, at least in part imo.

The exception to the rule, of course, is Rear Window, which also uses one setting. I can't think why that film seems to be rated higher than Rope and Dial M, because imo it is the weaker entry in Hitch's filmography.

If you haven't already watched them, I highly recommend The Lost Weekend (an obvious choice really) and Lisbon in particular.

Will.15: Yes, The Thing With Two Heads is actually a good film, despite the somewhat corny trailer. Have you watched it at all?



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
Considering the OP turned out to be the notorious Film Expert, who in his previous existence declared Steven Seagal a great actor and cited terrible direct to video movies as examples of him at his best and compounded it by posting a horrible clip from same, I don't know how sincere he was about Ray Milland. But except for saying he was one of the greatest actors of all time, I don't disagree overall with his comments. Was he underrated? Well, he won an Oscar, which puts him in select company. And he had a long acting career, working steadily up to the time of his death. He was originally cast in Trading Places in the Don Ameche role, but was rejected by the insurance company because of his health. Like I said before, his accent fascinates me. Did he always sound like that., a Welsh born actor? In his only British talkie, made before coming to Hollywood, The Flying Scotsman, he has a Cockney accent, obviously a put-on. But it makes me think at a time when British actors rarely changed their accent for American films, Milland deliberately adopted the Mid Atlantic accent, which many American actors used at the time. It allowed him to be one of the few (only?)British actors to frequently appear in the 1950s in Westerns. Dial M for Murder was I believe the first time Milland played a villain and it wouldn't be the last. I also liked him on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, in the episode Home Away from Home, where he played an insane doctor who takes over a mental asylum and puts the patients in charge. That episode is available on Hulu.

Here he is in on of his best films (and, no, I'm not kidding) The Roger Corman directed Man with the X Ray Eyes. Yeah, I know, that's Don Rickles with him, but Rickles was a pretty good actor and this was made before his career took off as an insult comic.


&feature=related



This thread isn't going to jump like your last one. A lot of people here probably have no idea who he is.
Really? Sad. And I would hope that wasn't his reasoning for starting a thread.
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Grossly underrated! The Lost Weekend is one of the finest films of all time, and his performance is legendary.



Milland never comes to my mind when considering the great actors of the 1940s and '50s-- but he was. Adept at most any kind of role, his serious character roles are most familiar, but he's good at comedy too.

My favorite roles of his are in The Big Clock (1948), The Thief (1952)-- the film had no dialogue, and Dial M for Murder (1954).

The Lost Weekend (1945) was a fine film, and Milland won and Oscar and other awards for his performance of the alcoholic sriter. It was hard to watch.



Panic in Year Zero is one of my favorites and I think it was ahead of it's time for it's time period. However if one compares it to more current 'end of the world' survival movies like The Road it probably won't be to their liking.

Besides the movies Gulfport Doc mentioned I also like Milland in:
The Uninvited (1944)
Kitty (1945)
Golden Earrings (1947) criminal underrated
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) one of producer Roger Corman's best.

I've seen Milland in a few more things too and he never disappoints.