0:00:25 > 0:00:29With looks that made him a natural leading man, and a unique voice
0:00:29 > 0:00:32that made him the perfect movie scoundrel,
0:00:32 > 0:00:38James Mason was Britain's most popular male star of the mid-1940s.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40His career spanned four decades
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and amongst his many successes were films like...
0:00:43 > 0:00:46The Man In Grey and The Wicked Lady,
0:00:46 > 0:00:51in which he played cool antiheroes that audiences love to hate.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56We join Mason first for an interview with Michael Parkinson,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00in which he discusses his lifelong love of film.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02APPLAUSE
0:01:07 > 0:01:09James, welcome, I mentioned there you've been an actor,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11you've been in movies for 45 years.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13Did you always, in fact, want to be a film star?
0:01:13 > 0:01:15- No, it wasn't my plan. - Wasn't it?
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Well, it happened rather accidentally, really, because I went
0:01:18 > 0:01:21into the business - that's to say, theatre - to make a living, really.
0:01:21 > 0:01:26Because when I came down from Cambridge, nothing was happening.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28I was a trained architect at that time
0:01:28 > 0:01:30but nobody was building anything.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32But I thought that I could make a living as an actor,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35so I went into the acting business.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39But the movies were coincidental, really.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43And I loved movies, I've always loved movies.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Tell me, what was and is the fascination about movies that...?
0:01:47 > 0:01:48For you?
0:01:48 > 0:01:53Well, when I was... My family were not moviegoers.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56But I got to the point where I managed to see
0:01:56 > 0:01:59quite a lot of the silent films, which intrigued me.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04Not only some of the...unforgettable American movies...
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Clara Bow, have you thought about Clara Bow recently?
0:02:07 > 0:02:11- Have I thought about her recently? No.- OK.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16But also, I was very keen on the rather more avant-garde films that
0:02:16 > 0:02:21were being made by UFA in Germany and some of the French film makers.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Even some of the English film makers - the silent films.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28And it stirred me up -
0:02:28 > 0:02:32I really wanted to participate in the making of movies.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36It didn't matter what I did, just in the making of movies.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39Yes. Why is it...? I mean, you did it very successfully,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42because you've been in it now 45 years.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45Difficult question, but why do you think it is that you've been
0:02:45 > 0:02:50consistently in work in movies for those 45 years?
0:02:50 > 0:02:52Erm, I can't answer that question.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54- Too difficult?- Yeah.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56It's probably because I haven't...
0:02:58 > 0:03:02..tried to give what the public wanted, perhaps.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04I don't know because there are a lot of people who go into movies
0:03:04 > 0:03:07and they feel that that this is what a movie star ought to be in,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11this is what the movie stars are doing at the moment.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15And they have tried to set themselves into a set...
0:03:15 > 0:03:19pattern, which I never tried to do, because I was always more interested
0:03:19 > 0:03:23in the movies that I was making than in the roles that I was offered.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25Erm...
0:03:25 > 0:03:26Because it was...
0:03:28 > 0:03:31I've always wanted the opportunity, as I say, of...
0:03:33 > 0:03:36..helping to make - either the director, producer, writer,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40scenery painter, actor, anything you like -
0:03:40 > 0:03:42in the making of movies.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Documentaries, any sort of films. I love the media.
0:03:46 > 0:03:47But you've made more than 100 movies,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50picking up your point there about making movies
0:03:50 > 0:03:52and making what you wanted and not what the public expected.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55But that begs the question,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58how successful have you been in making movies?
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I mean, by your own judgment.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02You've made over 100 movies, how many are you,
0:04:02 > 0:04:03in fact, are you fond of?
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Half a dozen(!)
0:04:07 > 0:04:09AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:04:09 > 0:04:12No, I'm exaggerating because there have been so many films
0:04:12 > 0:04:16that I've enjoyed making, no matter what the results were.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Some of the best films of my career
0:04:18 > 0:04:20were ones that were never made at all,
0:04:20 > 0:04:22if you can understand what I'm saying?
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Because you put a lot of work
0:04:24 > 0:04:28and a lot of enthusiasm into things which actually never get made,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31because you can't ultimately find the necessary money
0:04:31 > 0:04:34to make the things with - those can be beautiful.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38And then the second best, very often, are the films which you put
0:04:38 > 0:04:42all that good and the interested and passionate work into,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45but they don't actually get a very good showing
0:04:45 > 0:04:51because they're not precisely what the public is expected to want.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54I say "expected to want" because...
0:04:54 > 0:04:56there are people in charge of distributing
0:04:56 > 0:05:01and exhibiting these films who feel that they know what the public wants
0:05:01 > 0:05:03and therefore, if they're convinced
0:05:03 > 0:05:07that the public does not want this particular film, they won't try.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09- That happens very often, of course.- Mm.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- Some of the best films are like that. - What about...?
0:05:12 > 0:05:16What about...were there any films that you wished wouldn't get shown
0:05:16 > 0:05:18- after you'd made them? - Oh, yes. Mm-hm.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19AUDIENCE CHUCKLES
0:05:19 > 0:05:22I mean, that's really the luckiest thing that you can do and I've always wanted to...
0:05:22 > 0:05:24In fact, I think the biggest - the only...
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Perhaps the only mistake in my life was recently, I was...
0:05:30 > 0:05:31Excuse me. I was...
0:05:31 > 0:05:32AUDIENCE LAUGHS
0:05:32 > 0:05:34I was sent a script which was really silly.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37I mean, actually, it was not a bad script
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and it was acceptable in the sense that it didn't...
0:05:39 > 0:05:44It was not full of gross breaches of taste or anything like that.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47But I didn't really want to accept it
0:05:47 > 0:05:51because the part that I was being offered was about so-size.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53And they needed somebody
0:05:53 > 0:05:57to play a very important international dictator.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00I won't go into more precise detail than that.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05And they wanted somebody who obviously was...a recognisable...
0:06:07 > 0:06:10..object, with some substance.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14And I think that one of the reasons I didn't want to play it was
0:06:14 > 0:06:17because their choice of a leading man.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20They offered me quite a lot of money and I thought,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22"Well, if they'll offer me that amount of money,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26"maybe I'll get a little bit more money than that", you see.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29So I went on, and on, and on, and on, until they had got to a good level.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33And so I thought, "At this point, I will swallow my pride,
0:06:33 > 0:06:36"I will ignore the fact that I despise this actor
0:06:36 > 0:06:41"and think very little of the script and I will do it."
0:06:41 > 0:06:46But they didn't go beyond that and what would have made it perfect -
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and it very nearly happened this way - would have been
0:06:49 > 0:06:53if I'd accepted it on that level of salary and, actually,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55the film was never completed.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59It happens to other actors but it's never happened to me.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02What about the movies you've liked making?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05One of your favourites is one you made very early in your career, isn't it? Odd Man Out.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- Yes.- Why do you particularly like that film?
0:07:09 > 0:07:13Well, because it was a great film, it was a beautiful piece of writing.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18It was a very, very good conception on the author's part - FL Green.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23And because I had an enormous admiration - and I still have,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25although, unfortunately, he's no longer with us -
0:07:25 > 0:07:27for Carol Reed, the director.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30And the entire team of people involved in it were...
0:07:30 > 0:07:33consummate artists.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37One thing that has to be mentioned at this point is that...
0:07:37 > 0:07:39I would not have been offered -
0:07:39 > 0:07:41this is also a truism about actors
0:07:41 > 0:07:45and their opportunities to make some sort of progress -
0:07:45 > 0:07:49is that I would never have been offered been this beautiful thing
0:07:49 > 0:07:53to do if I had not all ready popularised myself by playing
0:07:53 > 0:07:58some films for which I had no great regard.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02But nevertheless, they had brought my name...to a level of importance.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Those were the aforesaid films where you were peering down
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Maggie Lockwood's cleavage and wielding...?
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Yes, I don't want to be specific because I do know that's a lot of people adore them.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Well, let's remind ourselves then -
0:08:13 > 0:08:17the clip we've got here from Carol Reed's Odd Man Out.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19Scripted, I think, by RC Sherriff, wasn't it?
0:08:26 > 0:08:29DREAMLIKE SCORE
0:08:48 > 0:08:49Oh, Donald, what a dream I had.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55What an outing.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58I dreamt I'd escaped from prison.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03I dreamt I was on a raid, robbing a mill.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Funds for the organisation.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I remember I wasn't feeling so good.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12I hadn't felt so good ever since I'd escaped from here.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14After we'd done the job, there was a fight...
0:09:14 > 0:09:16and I shot a man.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Yes!
0:09:19 > 0:09:20I dreamt I shot a man.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23APPLAUSE
0:09:29 > 0:09:33That was made, in what, '46? Something like that, wasn't it?
0:09:33 > 0:09:35- As long ago as that.- Yes.- It was.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37And the quality's still there - all round.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39- I mean, not dated at all. - Oh, it's a beautiful film.- Mm.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Odd Man Out and another big hit - The Seventh Veil -
0:09:45 > 0:09:48brought James Mason to the attention of Hollywood.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50At a time when he was falling out of love with
0:09:50 > 0:09:55the bosses at Britain's biggest film company - the Rank Organisation.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Mason would openly attack Rank for being too powerful and,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02for working actors and crews, too hard.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06When America beckoned, offering international stardom,
0:10:06 > 0:10:07Mason left Britain,
0:10:07 > 0:10:11something he discusses here in an interview with
0:10:11 > 0:10:15Tony Bilbow for the 1970 programme Line Up Film Night.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19When I went to Hollywood, I went to live over there, took my wife,
0:10:19 > 0:10:22dog, cats, the whole thing,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25thinking that we would settle there cos we fancied
0:10:25 > 0:10:30the idea of meeting up and getting to know with these strange Americans,
0:10:30 > 0:10:31who we had come to like.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35And we thought we'd have a go at it because,
0:10:35 > 0:10:37at the time, when I went over there,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41it was generally thought that people couldn't become important
0:10:41 > 0:10:45international stars until they did a stretch in Hollywood.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50And, also, I thought that there was a limited number of good films
0:10:50 > 0:10:53being churned out in England, and there were quite a lot of good stars.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55There were more good stars, in fact,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57than there were good pictures to go with them.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01And I thought that I would give myself a better chance out there.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04And I made it my target to try
0:11:04 > 0:11:09and become an acceptable leading man, somebody who would be an identifiable
0:11:09 > 0:11:14leading man for the international and, primarily, the American public.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18And I went with that determination and I considered that I'd failed,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21although it was not a complete failure on any level,
0:11:21 > 0:11:22my career in Hollywood,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26it was on that level, because I remained, in their minds,
0:11:26 > 0:11:33a stranger and a foreigner, and a person who had a sort of...
0:11:33 > 0:11:38dangerous, perhaps even construed as unfriendly, personality and they
0:11:38 > 0:11:40usually gave me dangerous, sinister,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44foreign parts who didn't get the girl at the end.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49You gained the reputation of being the rudest man in America.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Now, how much of that was justified?
0:11:52 > 0:11:54It was justified because...
0:11:54 > 0:11:57but only on account of very special circumstances.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I left this country and I was in the middle of a hideous
0:12:00 > 0:12:03and ridiculous lawsuit, which in point of fact
0:12:03 > 0:12:07kept me out of pictures for a year and a half of prime time,
0:12:07 > 0:12:08just when I was the hot boy.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11So, I couldn't go to work as a motion picture actor.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16So, I arrived in New York and there were several pictures showing -
0:12:16 > 0:12:20J Arthur Rank Presents pictures, you see.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22And I was a little resentful...
0:12:22 > 0:12:25I hate going over this Rank stuff, I really do,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28because it makes me feel like Christine Keeler writing...
0:12:28 > 0:12:31It should be past history
0:12:31 > 0:12:34but nevertheless people keep cueing me into it.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Anyhow, I had had some publicity in which it seemed that
0:12:37 > 0:12:39I was knocking J Arthur Rank.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43I was a bit, it's true, because I didn't believe that he was
0:12:43 > 0:12:48the white-headed boy that the newspapers seemed to...say he was.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50So, I went over there
0:12:50 > 0:12:55and I didn't have any public relations people looking after me.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58And so, when we checked in there, and I, the hot lad of the moment,
0:12:58 > 0:13:01people would try and get in touch with me by telephone -
0:13:01 > 0:13:03Louella Parsons, for instance -
0:13:03 > 0:13:06and somebody on my behalf would say,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09"Well, Mr Mason's busy and he doesn't want to see anybody,"
0:13:09 > 0:13:12and brush these people off, making immediately, enemies.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16And Louella Parsons, in order to punish me and also make me
0:13:16 > 0:13:22come crawling, immediately started knocking me on her radio programme.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25Now, according to Hollywood...patterns, I should
0:13:25 > 0:13:27have then come crawling and said,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31"Oh, Miss Parsons, I realise that you're a goddess in these parts and
0:13:31 > 0:13:34"have great importance. Forgive me. I will appear on the show."
0:13:34 > 0:13:38I didn't, of course, because I wasn't actually looking for publicity.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42I couldn't even work, so there's no point in my publicising myself.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44And so they all started knocking me,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and that's really how I came to be a bad boy.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51You eventually turned your back on Hollywood, I think,
0:13:51 > 0:13:55about 1964 at the time of your divorce,
0:13:55 > 0:13:59and you went to live in Switzerland.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Are these two happenings directly connected?
0:14:03 > 0:14:05They were a bit connected.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08First of all, professionally, I got very tired of...
0:14:08 > 0:14:11I wasn't doing what I wanted to do in Hollywood.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I didn't really make many interesting films there during the stretch
0:14:14 > 0:14:17I was there. There were two films that I would rate well -
0:14:17 > 0:14:20one was 5 Fingers and the other one was A Star Is Born,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23although it had its faults, there was something good there.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24But I was not doing...
0:14:24 > 0:14:29And I was reduced to doing hopeless things,
0:14:29 > 0:14:33like being the host on a drama series.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38All sorts of embarrassing things that I did.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42And every time I went to Europe, I was again full of life
0:14:42 > 0:14:45and I really enjoyed it so much.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47And I'd be in Europe, for instance,
0:14:47 > 0:14:51to do the film that I made with Carol Reed called Man Between -
0:14:51 > 0:14:54a great experience because I was with people who entirely
0:14:54 > 0:14:57talking my own language and it was a great excitement.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01And, again, when I did Guy Hamilton's A Touch Of Larceny and so forth.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05And so, what was originally a two-year itch to come back to
0:15:05 > 0:15:06Europe got sort of...
0:15:06 > 0:15:12It became infected and it came so close together, these itchy periods,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16that I really was now living for my life again in Europe.
0:15:16 > 0:15:22And the periods in Hollywood became boring...punctuations.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26So, finally, I thought, "Well, some moment around now, I must quit
0:15:26 > 0:15:28"and go back to Europe."
0:15:28 > 0:15:31At the same time...
0:15:31 > 0:15:36I decided that I couldn't really carry on with my...marriage.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39And...
0:15:39 > 0:15:42So, I had to put paid to that at the same time.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45So, I came all in one fell swoop.
0:15:45 > 0:15:47A year after that interview,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Mason was filmed for the BBC giving a talk at the National Film Theatre,
0:15:51 > 0:15:56where his opening topic was his relationship with Hollywood.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58To start off in this vein,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01I just came back the day before yesterday from California,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05and my times in California nowadays are always very frustrating
0:16:05 > 0:16:07because I go see my children who live there.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11On this occasion, being a master of mistiming,
0:16:11 > 0:16:15I arrived when my daughter was about to leave for Europe, which she
0:16:15 > 0:16:18did two days later, and my son was staying
0:16:18 > 0:16:21with his mother in New York until two days before I left.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26So, I stayed there for two weeks biting my nails and feeling
0:16:26 > 0:16:31antagonistic, which I usually do, about the place where I found myself.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34So, I thought, "What shall I...?" The thought of
0:16:34 > 0:16:37this lecture hit me every so often
0:16:37 > 0:16:40and I wondered what I was going to say,
0:16:40 > 0:16:43so I thought, "The easiest thing to do is to
0:16:43 > 0:16:47"release my antagonism about Hollywood."
0:16:47 > 0:16:49And then I thought...
0:16:49 > 0:16:50LAUGHTER
0:16:50 > 0:16:53"No, I think that's not fair. I shan't do that.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56"I shall do the rather more challenging thing of trying to find
0:16:56 > 0:16:58"some good news from Hollywood."
0:16:58 > 0:17:00"How about that?" I said to myself.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02"That's going to be really difficult."
0:17:02 > 0:17:07So, I sat down to lunch in the patio of the Beverly Hills Hotel,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11which is rather nice - quite nice - and I sat there.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16And as I waited for my friend to turn up, I started preparing a list
0:17:16 > 0:17:18of good news, and I asked this friend who turned up,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20"What's your first piece of good news?"
0:17:20 > 0:17:23And he paused and he said, "Well...
0:17:25 > 0:17:29"..Credence Clearwater have made 30m...
0:17:30 > 0:17:32"..and therefore they can cock a snoot."
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But that wasn't the expression he used at Hollywood producers
0:17:35 > 0:17:39who want to make films with them, so I noted that down.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41LAUGHTER
0:17:41 > 0:17:44And then he went on to tell me that the Russ Meyer film
0:17:44 > 0:17:48that had been made at 20th Century Fox called Valley Of The Dolls
0:17:48 > 0:17:49was a complete failure...
0:17:49 > 0:17:52and this he regarded as a piece of good news.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54LAUGHTER
0:17:54 > 0:17:57And then, when further asked about the scene at 20th Century,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01he said, "Yes, indeed, Myra Breckinridge also."
0:18:01 > 0:18:03LAUGHTER
0:18:03 > 0:18:06And about this time, I noticed a butterfly, an unusually pretty
0:18:06 > 0:18:11butterfly, was flying through the patio of the Beverly Hills Hotel.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15That I thought was remarkable because Beverly Hills and Hollywood,
0:18:15 > 0:18:17and Los Angeles strikes me always as the most
0:18:17 > 0:18:20highly-polluted place in the world.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24And as human beings can hardly flit from place to place,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28so to find a butterfly doing so was worth noting.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32And then I found out that Rodeos were doing very well this season
0:18:32 > 0:18:37and therefore it was very good for Lorne Green...and others.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:18:41 > 0:18:45And then we got to hear about cassette manufacturing,
0:18:45 > 0:18:51how this was going to change the face of showbiz in America, and cable TV.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57Then I met my friend Andy Stone - he joined us - movie director.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00And he said things were great because he's always had a lot of trouble
0:19:00 > 0:19:05with unions in the past, because he works entirely on live locations.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07And he surprise me once by having made
0:19:07 > 0:19:10these live location films in America...
0:19:10 > 0:19:12quite successfully,
0:19:12 > 0:19:17but always getting into a little trouble with the unions.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20He finally told me one day that he was coming to England, he said,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24"Because these Hollywood unions are becoming unbearable."
0:19:24 > 0:19:27The implication being that they would be less unbearable in England,
0:19:27 > 0:19:28which seems surprising.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30But, nevertheless, he had good news.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35He said that the unions were now quite easy to get on with because...
0:19:35 > 0:19:37On account of the general unemployment,
0:19:37 > 0:19:40they would charge less money and they would do more work,
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and the extras would only charge about 5-a-day,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45and things were great.
0:19:45 > 0:19:46And then I learned that, finally,
0:19:46 > 0:19:52Steve Allen's gag man had a very good job with Spiro Agnew.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55LAUGHTER
0:19:55 > 0:19:58And so I thought I'd pass these things on to you.
0:20:00 > 0:20:01And...
0:20:01 > 0:20:03coming back to England, I thought
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I might do the same turn for myself and find out what was good here.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09I know that this has nothing to do with delivering a lecture but
0:20:09 > 0:20:12I thought that, while I was here, I might pick up some good news
0:20:12 > 0:20:14because, up to the moment I went away to California,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18there'd only been one piece of good news in England this year,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21in my book, and that was that Huddersfield Town had been
0:20:21 > 0:20:22elevated to the First Division.
0:20:24 > 0:20:25And, er...
0:20:25 > 0:20:28But, of course, I worry always about films
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and I have a sort of growing feeling that things are not quite
0:20:31 > 0:20:35the way they should be with British Film Industry.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37I recalled a conversation - traveller's tale coming up -
0:20:37 > 0:20:41when I was in Hong Kong not too long ago and I was a dinner party.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44I was, in fact, the guest of honour
0:20:44 > 0:20:47at the Society of Yorkshiremen's annual ball.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51And I was naturally looking forward to this very much because, although
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I love Yorkshiremen, nevertheless,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56I didn't really like the English people in Hong Kong very much.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58I thought they were terribly snotty and I thought,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01"Oh, God, another evening with them - that will be awful."
0:21:01 > 0:21:05While, at the same time, I adored the Chinese people that I encountered.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Now, on this evening, I found that the English people,
0:21:08 > 0:21:13being Yorkshiremen, were absolutely adorable and...
0:21:13 > 0:21:15I was completely reassured about Yorkshiremen.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17But, on the other hand,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20the only person that I completely detested in the whole group
0:21:20 > 0:21:23was a Chinese gentleman who happened to get in there.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26He leaned over my table after dinner and he...
0:21:26 > 0:21:30His opening remark was, "How is it, Mr Mason,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34"that films from England were so good at one time and
0:21:34 > 0:21:35"now they are no good?"
0:21:36 > 0:21:39And this...
0:21:39 > 0:21:42This is a pretty hard question to answer.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44I was immediately offended and I said,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49"Well, perhaps you haven't seen all of our best films lately."
0:21:49 > 0:21:52And he said, "Not many." And I said, "Well, that's it, you see.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56"You should go around, see more films. There's been lots of films
0:21:56 > 0:21:57"this last year."
0:21:57 > 0:22:01Now, I was groping to think of what the good films were that he
0:22:01 > 0:22:02had been missing.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06And, on the tip of my tongue, the only film that I'd seen just
0:22:06 > 0:22:10previous to that was If and I thought, "No. This is ridiculous.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13"I mustn't make a fool of myself and start pleading for If."
0:22:13 > 0:22:16If was a great film, a lovely film, but to have a conversation,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20an argument, with this Chinese gentleman about how happy
0:22:20 > 0:22:22he would have been if he had seen If.
0:22:22 > 0:22:23LAUGHTER
0:22:23 > 0:22:25It seemed somehow absurd.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26And...
0:22:26 > 0:22:30But since that moment, I think that moment started it,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34by asking myself, "What has happened to British films?
0:22:34 > 0:22:36"Are there, in fact,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39"any British films or have we come to the end of the road?"
0:22:39 > 0:22:43"Is this in fact a eulogy that I'm delivering and not a lecture at all?"
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And I think that's where I'll leave it,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49because it's a question that I will pursue - perhaps not this evening.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52But, during my time here, I shall ask all my friends,
0:22:52 > 0:22:54"What's the good news from England?
0:22:54 > 0:22:56"Particularly, the British film industry."
0:22:56 > 0:23:04Mr Mason, as an actor, were you more enthusiastic to play the great roles
0:23:04 > 0:23:08in The Sea Gull and Julius Caesar's Brutus,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11which filmically could be made imaginative,
0:23:11 > 0:23:15or more enthusiastic to play more film scripted roles
0:23:15 > 0:23:17such as Man Between and Odd Man Out?
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I think that, proudly,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27I'm more enthusiastic about the more film scripted ones, really.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31Because one of the reasons why I've always leaned towards films
0:23:31 > 0:23:35rather than stage plays is because I'm more interested...
0:23:35 > 0:23:40I respond more to the idea of visual drama rather than just spoken drama.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45And so I think that, sometimes,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Shakespearean plays can be done magically.
0:23:49 > 0:23:53I know one or two subjects that could be just beautiful
0:23:53 > 0:23:55that haven't been done yet.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58But, nevertheless, there is a lot of talk in Shakespeare as a rule,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00which is a liability,
0:24:00 > 0:24:03and I was not...
0:24:03 > 0:24:07I should mention at this point that many of these films,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09some of the more important ones,
0:24:09 > 0:24:12I wasn't necessarily pleased with myself,
0:24:12 > 0:24:15particularly my own performances.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18I was very saddened, for instance, when I saw Julius Caesar.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I wasn't too crazy about it as a film and I was very,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25very dissatisfied with myself, so much so that I immediately...
0:24:25 > 0:24:26Hmm?
0:24:26 > 0:24:28AUDIENCE MEMBER SHOUTS OUT
0:24:28 > 0:24:30Oh, thank you, love.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Mr Mason, I'd like to know what criteria you have
0:24:35 > 0:24:39for accepting parts like that and, also, how important the director is.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Because recently, with all due respect,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43you've made films with rather routine directors
0:24:43 > 0:24:47and people have said they turned out to be rather routine films.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Was this expected on your part?
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Who are these silly asses who say this?
0:24:54 > 0:24:56LAUGHTER
0:24:56 > 0:25:00No. I choose them mostly on the value of the script, obviously, because
0:25:00 > 0:25:03that's the most important thing, as Silvia would agree with me.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07And, secondly, I try to avoid films - working on films -
0:25:07 > 0:25:13in which there's a director employed who I know to be a bad director.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18I haven't had a lot of conflict with directors because most of the
0:25:18 > 0:25:23people who get a job directing, particularly in these hard days,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26have proved their worth somewhere or another.
0:25:26 > 0:25:32And then, of course, the part has something to do with it.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Sometimes, I will accept something which is patently an indifferent
0:25:35 > 0:25:40and undistinguished story with an undistinguished director but,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44so long as it's a part that I feel I can play with honesty,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48then I will accept it if times are hard.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52James Mason may not have been proud of all the films he made
0:25:52 > 0:25:55but amongst the successes are some true classics,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58like Stanley Kubrick's Lolita,
0:25:58 > 0:26:04Hitchcock's North By Northwest and one Mason did rate highly himself -
0:26:04 > 0:26:06A Star Is Born.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10His role as the fading movie star Norman Maine earned him
0:26:10 > 0:26:13one of his three Oscar nominations
0:26:13 > 0:26:17and saw him starring alongside the legendary Judy Garland.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20In this interview from 1977,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Mason talks about her and his early career.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26You know all about Judy.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31She was a child actress and she was made to work, first of all,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34by her mother, I guess.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37But I'm not suggesting that her mother,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39as some people try to paint, was some sort of villain.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42I don't think that she necessarily was.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Then she got into MGM,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and there's this school of thought that believes that the
0:26:48 > 0:26:50bosses of MGM were real villains,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54because they encouraged her to take uppers and downers,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and get into these bad habits,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58and I think that's probably true.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Anyhow, she was a unique...
0:27:01 > 0:27:05instance of a girl who had lived a most...
0:27:06 > 0:27:11..unsavoury, unhealthy lifestyle, shall we say?
0:27:11 > 0:27:16And, therefore, she was a girl who was disinclined to discipline
0:27:16 > 0:27:21and she could get into terrible depressions and all that.
0:27:21 > 0:27:23But she wasn't typical in any way.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Was she difficult to work with?
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Not for me, she wasn't.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29I thought she was wonderful.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33I adored her. I thought she was such a wonderful talent
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and when she was good, she was very, very good.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39And when she was...
0:27:39 > 0:27:42When she was bad, she was...
0:27:44 > 0:27:45..predictable.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48There's to say they, the people who paid for this film, who were
0:27:48 > 0:27:53Warner Brothers, took on a gamble.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Judy had made a bad name for herself, in a sense,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00at MGM and they were disinclined to employ her any more.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05That's how she came to be, now, a freelance operator.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10And she had made friends with this kindred spirit Sid Luft, and
0:28:10 > 0:28:14they had put this project together and taken it to Warner Brothers.
0:28:14 > 0:28:20Now, Warner Brothers knew perfectly well Judy's record...at MGM.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25Nevertheless, they were willing to take the gamble.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30Now, if you do something like that, in my book of rules,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34you should not bitch if the gamble...
0:28:34 > 0:28:36If you have a few bad days.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Everybody knew about Judy.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43We all knew about Judy - she had this bad reputation -
0:28:43 > 0:28:48but instead of getting 100% behind her and just trying to do the best,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50there was an awful lot of bitching
0:28:50 > 0:28:54and complaining during the making of that film.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58I didn't think that Judy was an impressive or good dramatic actress.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59I thought she was a unique
0:28:59 > 0:29:07and marvellous comedienne with a great emotional depth and power.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11And she had a quality that perhaps could be compared to
0:29:11 > 0:29:13that of Chaplin at his best,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16that is to say, a funny little person...
0:29:16 > 0:29:18gay, happy...
0:29:18 > 0:29:22playing against either a personal background or a family
0:29:22 > 0:29:26background of sadness and tragedy.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29And if you place that little comic figure,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32playing against a sad context,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36it's most moving, and Judy could be marvellously moving
0:29:36 > 0:29:39when she was in such a situation.
0:29:39 > 0:29:41When do you think you became a star?
0:29:42 > 0:29:45Well, I became a star when I was making a lot of popular
0:29:45 > 0:29:50films in England, before anybody put any heavy responsibility upon me.
0:29:50 > 0:29:55But there was a magazine called Quigley's Motion Picture Herald,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58I think that's what it was called, and, to my great surprise,
0:29:58 > 0:30:03I found that I was voted the most popular British star.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08This, I think, was just before I made the famous Man in Grey.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11So, The Man in Grey had nothing to do with making me
0:30:11 > 0:30:14the most popular English star, as I was, at that moment.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18Not international, but English star, according to their counting.
0:30:18 > 0:30:24In The Man in Grey, you played the appalling Rohan, didn't you?
0:30:24 > 0:30:26Yes, appalling is right.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30I'm not referring to the level of your performance, the character.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32I was.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35Just one time, you will tell me the truth. You murdered her, didn't you?
0:30:35 > 0:30:37Yes! Yes! Yes!
0:30:37 > 0:30:40She stood between us and our happiness. I did it for you.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42I did it for you!
0:30:42 > 0:30:45You killed my wife.
0:30:45 > 0:30:46She was nothing to you.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49She never loved you. I love you.
0:30:49 > 0:30:50Rohan! Rohan!
0:30:50 > 0:30:52You killed her.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55Who dishonours us dies.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00You're not going to inform against me.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02You're not going to let them hang me!
0:31:02 > 0:31:05I'll not leave that heritage to my son...
0:31:06 > 0:31:09..but you're not going to escape.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20Do you look back with no affection or respect to your early roles?
0:31:20 > 0:31:23No, that's not quite right because it was always great fun,
0:31:23 > 0:31:28and great fun has always been an important ingredient in my career,
0:31:28 > 0:31:33because I've really enjoyed most of the things that
0:31:33 > 0:31:35I have perpetrated and, in those days,
0:31:35 > 0:31:37it was a sort of...
0:31:38 > 0:31:44..a nice club, which included Jimmy Granger, Stewart Granger
0:31:44 > 0:31:47and myself, and I was very, very fond of him.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50And Phyllis Calvert, and Margaret Lockwood,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54and Pat Roc and that gang at the Shepherd's Bush Studio.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58I think it was of Man in Grey that someone, I think James Agate,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00said bosh and tosh, he called it.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05Yes. I thought those were very well-chosen words.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Granger was excellent in it and I thought that Phyll Calvert was good,
0:32:09 > 0:32:11and Margaret was good, too.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14And the only one who was deficient was myself.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17I got some sort of kudos from it
0:32:17 > 0:32:20because it was a popular sort of role.
0:32:22 > 0:32:29There's to say, what might have been described as an attractive beast
0:32:29 > 0:32:31because he was extremely bad-tempered
0:32:31 > 0:32:34and rude to the women involved in the story.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38And he was supposed to be wealthy and powerful, and rather violent.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41This was considered appealing and that's why
0:32:41 > 0:32:44I did well out of it, although I didn't get any good reviews.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48Granger, deservedly, got much better reviews.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51You were mean and moody from then on for a long time
0:32:51 > 0:32:53- and you couldn't get out of it.- Yes.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Well, I could have kept out of it, I think,
0:32:56 > 0:33:01if I'd stayed in England but going to America, as I did, in 1946, I guess,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05I decided that one ought to have a whack at making films in America
0:33:05 > 0:33:08because thus one became an international star,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and one became a person of great power.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15But, in America, it was there they decided
0:33:15 > 0:33:18to label me with this label of...
0:33:19 > 0:33:23..foreign, sinister type of guy.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28And that's where I had a hard time trying to escape.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32- NARRATOR:- And no wonder.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35Here's Lord Manderstoke making his brutal mark in Fanny By Gaslight.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38- Fetch Mr Hopwood. - Get out of my way.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40Sorry, my lord.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Are you going to get out of my way or aren't you?
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Sorry, my lord.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Here, stop that! You're breaking my arm!
0:33:47 > 0:33:48SCREAMING
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Ow!
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Wherever he went, Mason left a trail of broken limbs behind him.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59Ann Todd was another victim.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02I demanded you give up this man.
0:34:02 > 0:34:03I demanded you send him away.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05SHE PLAYS PIANO
0:34:05 > 0:34:06Listen, we'll go to America.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08They've been asking for you in New York for months
0:34:08 > 0:34:11and now we can go. Will you go?
0:34:11 > 0:34:14You and I together, just as we've always done.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16Francesca!
0:34:16 > 0:34:18This happened before once, you remember?
0:34:19 > 0:34:23Came away with me then and you weren't sorry, were you?
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Didn't really love that boy and you don't love Leyton,
0:34:26 > 0:34:27and I tell you why.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31You belong to me. We must always be together, you know that, don't you?
0:34:33 > 0:34:35Promise you'll stay with me always. Promise!
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Very well. If that's the way you want it, very well.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40If you won't play for me,
0:34:40 > 0:34:42you shan't play for anyone else ever again.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45SHE SCREAMS
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Naturally, one can sit back and criticise anybody's career and say,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52"Pity he did that. Stupid. He should have done something else."
0:34:52 > 0:34:53You can always do that,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and I've no doubt that lots of people probably sit by and say,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00"Why did he go to America? Silly...ass.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03"Because he would have done much better in England."
0:35:03 > 0:35:07It's questionable, but the point is I had to go to America because,
0:35:07 > 0:35:11at any given time, you can only make one right decision for yourself.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15That was the decision that I had to make for myself
0:35:15 > 0:35:18because not only was this ambition to become an international star
0:35:18 > 0:35:22with this power, which I hoped would result and which would enable me
0:35:22 > 0:35:24to do anything that I wanted
0:35:24 > 0:35:29in terms of film but, also...
0:35:29 > 0:35:33I wanted to go to America to see what it was like.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35And I wanted to...
0:35:35 > 0:35:42that particular change of background and I didn't regret it.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45There's really nothing, professionally, that I regret.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47You also said, around this time,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49when you were just about to go to the States that,
0:35:49 > 0:35:54if you become a star and it starts to change your life,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57you would stop taking star parts and start taking little character parts.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00- Yes.- Did you find it changing your life?
0:36:00 > 0:36:03No, because I never became that sort of a star.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08What I meant by that, I presume, was that if you go to Hollywood
0:36:08 > 0:36:12and you are accepted as this popular image type,
0:36:12 > 0:36:17what you are expected to do is do the same thing over and over again,
0:36:17 > 0:36:20and this I certainly did not want to do. And all the best...
0:36:20 > 0:36:23all those wonderful heroes whom we loved - your Gary Coopers
0:36:23 > 0:36:27and your Humphrey Bogarts and people like that - they were wonderful.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31They were so attractive and really lovable, and they...
0:36:31 > 0:36:33But they did the same thing over and over again.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36At least, the way I saw it, they did.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39There was very little range, really, to their performance
0:36:39 > 0:36:41and I didn't want to do that on the one hand.
0:36:41 > 0:36:47Also, I didn't want to become what I noticed does become to people
0:36:47 > 0:36:48who become...
0:36:48 > 0:36:51I use the word again, superstar.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Because the superstars of the day live...
0:36:55 > 0:37:00..on a level which is almost out of reach of the ordinary human beings.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03It's very difficult for us to communicate with them
0:37:03 > 0:37:10and they, I think, find it a little bit difficult to communicate
0:37:10 > 0:37:13with people on a humbler level.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17Well, in Hollywood, it was a different sort of thing.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19It was then the big stars...
0:37:20 > 0:37:23..didn't have the same power as superstars but the big stars,
0:37:23 > 0:37:29let's call them, they tended to live on a slightly elevated plateau.
0:37:30 > 0:37:35But then, also, I must bear in mind, I was living on a slightly elevated
0:37:35 > 0:37:39plateau, too, because in Hollywood you live according to your income.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42You know, you mix socially.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Unless you're very careful and very grown-up and very sensible,
0:37:45 > 0:37:46which I was not,
0:37:46 > 0:37:53you tend to settle down in mixing with people of your own income group.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58But surely the economic stranglehold that the superstar has
0:37:58 > 0:38:02nowadays was roughly the equivalent of the way the stars used to
0:38:02 > 0:38:04be able to float pictures in the old...
0:38:04 > 0:38:07No, not at all the same, cos in the old days,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and I'm talking about the days which I had passed in Hollywood.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15I mean, at least the first ten years - I was there for 16 years -
0:38:15 > 0:38:19at that time, the great power was in the hands of the big studios.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23And the big studios had the money and they had the demand still,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27before television made everybody a little weak.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30But while films were still popular,
0:38:30 > 0:38:34then they didn't have to bow down to the power of stars at all.
0:38:34 > 0:38:39You may remember that Clark Gable, if, for instance, he misbehaved
0:38:39 > 0:38:42or turned down too many scripts or attempted to turn down a script,
0:38:42 > 0:38:46they were immediately put on suspension,
0:38:46 > 0:38:51because, in fact, the studios didn't really need them that much,
0:38:51 > 0:38:54because they could invent a star overnight.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58Although, I was very naive as an actor and I continued to be
0:38:58 > 0:39:03naive as an actor throughout my term in Hollywood, I will say.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07I think that I was catching on a little
0:39:07 > 0:39:11when I did A Star Is Born, but it was only really after that,
0:39:11 > 0:39:14when I started coming back and doing films more frequently in Europe,
0:39:14 > 0:39:20that I really got to have any command of acting.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24And I've developed, since that time, a great range, I think.
0:39:24 > 0:39:29And, now, I feel that I'm prepared to take on anything.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34And I regard myself as a person who is on the make
0:39:34 > 0:39:36and waiting for my big break.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41Mason carried on looking for that break
0:39:41 > 0:39:44and that love of acting saw him working to the end.
0:39:44 > 0:39:49In 1984, he died of a heart attack aged 75.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Months later came the opening of his final movie,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56the much-loved British film The Shooting Party.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Mason's reviews, as ever, were excellent,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03praising him for the quality brought to the role,
0:40:03 > 0:40:07just as they always had done from the very beginning.
0:40:12 > 0:40:14Subtitles By Red Bee Media Ltd