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Other Than Holmes - In What Roles Would You Cast Jeremy Brett
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J.
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Nov 18, 2023 10:44AM
I was watching "The Scarlet Pimpernel" the other day (the Leslie Howard one, not the Anthony Andrews one, though that's also good) and it occurred to me that Brett would have been terrific in the role. Also occurred to me that he would have been an interesting Sidney Carton, Mr. Darcy and could have been a hoot in "My Favorite Year", though I loved Peter O'Toole's performance.
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This is an interesting question, here are my off the cuff thoughts on the subject - my favourite subject really. As Jeremy was particularly good in period dramas (the costumes suited him so well) so yes to Darcy, Sydney Carton and to Sir Percy Blakeney (aka The Scarlet Pimpernel). To this list I would also site Hornblower and the Reverend Dr Christopher Syn (aka Cpt Clegg, aka The Scarecrow) a part played extremely well by Peter Cushing for Hammer Films. Jeremy had already turned down James Bond (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) and done Dorian Grey and William Pitt the younger, but (from the same era) he would also have made a great William Wilberforce. So any such character would have been a triumph with Jeremy.I watched an interview with Jeremy where he did reference that he was a happier person that Sherlock so I think he would have enjoyed playing a comedic character such as Bertie Wooster or Johnny English perhaps. I watched the trailer for the Peter O'Toole movie My Favourite Year (as I was not familiar with it) and I think Jeremy would have enjoyed making something like that.
"My Favorite Year" was based on Sid Caesar's live TV show called "Your Show of Shows". As a young writer on the show, Mel Brooks was tasked with sticking close to one of the guest stars, Errol Flynn, who was known for his drinking and womanizing.In the film, an aspiring writer on a live TV show is tasked with looking after the boozing, womanizing guest, who was the star of swashbucking films. The guest is played by O'Toole. Joe Bologna is also wonderful as the show's temperamental star.
Jeremy was also very good in a version of The Barretts of Wimpole Street.
I have not had an opportunity to see the BBC version of The Barretts of Wimpole Street, but I found a small snippet on Utube, a lighter character but (for the short 5 minutes I saw) he looked rather good and sounded wonderful - I believe it was a 1957 production.
There's a snippet of him somewhere doing an operetta - maybe The Merry Widow. I guess I knew he could sing though he was dubbed in My Fair Lady - but I didn't realize he had such a good voice.
Barbara wrote: "There's a snippet of him somewhere doing an operetta - maybe The Merry Widow. I guess I knew he could sing though he was dubbed in My Fair Lady - but I didn't realize he had such a good voice."Yes, Jeremy Brett was a trained singer, at Eton (as Peter Huggins) he sang in the choir. There are are a couple of utube pieces where you can hear how beautiful his singing voice was. One is an excerpt from 'The Good Soldier'(1981 by Granada TV) where he sings 'To the Willow Tree' and the others are excerpts from 'Twiggy's TV show' where he duets with her then sings a solo of an old folk song 'She Moved Through the Fair', there is also 'The Merry Widow', etc.
Maybe because I recently watched the Hallmark Channel version of "Sense and Sensibility" and have seen a couple other versions that I think Jeremy would have been very good as Colonel Brandon.
Why not ? I think Jeremy was under rated for a great deal of his life, not by the profession but by the popularity (or lack thereof) of popular public opinion.I was rather fond of the Alan Rickman version of Col. Brandon - didn't he play the broken hearted unrequited love so well ? Probably most heart rendered in Harry Potter over the death of Lily.
What a fun topic! Jeremy Brett would have been a brilliant Colonel Brandon, Alexei Karenin - but I would have loved to see him as Don Quixote, he commanded that perfect mix of wacky and austere. Bless him, I miss him so! A very special fellow…
Sarah wrote: "What a fun topic! Jeremy Brett would have been a brilliant Colonel Brandon, Alexei Karenin - but I would have loved to see him as Don Quixote, he commanded that perfect mix of wacky and austere. Bl..."I feel as though the character of Alexei Karenin is a bit more Mycroft than Sherlock, or possibly an amalgam of the two perhaps ? Not sure about the character of Don Quixote, possibly every quirk but mad - or is he ??? But Jeremy would have done anything a bit mad or quirky well, can't get much quirkier that William Pitt, can you ?
Oh yes, Brett played mad very well but could bring that necessary dignity to the role. The thing with Quixote is he has these lucid breaks where he either realizes he is mad or speaks with more wisdom than any of the "sane" characters. Brett would have turned that marvelously. Now my heart breaks to think I shan't see it.William Pitt! Don't get me going! What a character. I've loved every William Pitt I've seen - much like Holmes. WAIT. Hold up. Does anyone remember if he ever played Richard III?
Sarah wrote: "Oh yes, Brett played mad very well but could bring that necessary dignity to the role. The thing with Quixote is he has these lucid breaks where he either realizes he is mad or speaks with more wis..."Not exactly but he did appear on Broadway as the Duke of Aumerle in Richard II
Jeremy Brett was also on the stage as Dr. Watson with Charlton Heston starring as Holmes in A Crucifer of Blood. And he played Dracula in a West Coast production while the actor Frank Langella played Dracula in NYC - and Langella also played Sherlock Holmes in a production.
It occurs to me, especially when you see Holmes in disguise in certain Granada episodes - A Scandal in Bohemia, The Master Blackmailer - that he might have done a lot with classical character roles like Uriah Heep or Fagin.@Dracula - I actually saw Langella's "Dracula" on stage ages ago. He was wonderful.
Heir to Lon Chaney snr, The Man of Thousand Faces !
OMG - this is so funny! This old show from the 70s, The Love Boat had Jeremy Brett as a guest star.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWk9t...
