We're in Bologna, Italy, for Il Cinema Ritrovato 2023! The Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna returns to the Piazza Maggiore stage for two breathtaking cine concerts to be conducted by Timothy Brock. The masterpieces that will receive full orchestral accompaniment are Stella Dallas by Henry King on 26 June, featuring a new original score by Stephen Horne, and Ernst Lubitsch’s Lady Windermere’s Fan on 30 June with a new score by Timothy Brock. We'll be there. In both films, the leading man is elegant British actor Ronald Colman (1891-1958). He was a top box office draw in Hollywood films as the archetypal English gentleman throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. ‘The Man with the Velvet Voice’ was nominated for four Academy Awards. In 1948 he finally won the Oscar for his splendid portrayal of a tormented actor in A Double Life.
French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 217. Photo: United Artists.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1684/2, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
Two Lovers (Fred Niblo, 1928).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1795/1, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926) with
Vilma Bánky.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3943/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3667/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4779/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.
Italian postcard by Vecchioni & Guadagno, Roma. Photo: Columbia EIA.
Ronald Colman in
Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937).
Decorated, discharged and depressed
Ronald Charles Colman was born in 1891 in Richmond, England. He was the fifth of six children of silk importer
Charles Colman and his wife
Marjory Read Fraser. Ronald was educated at a boarding school in Littlehampton, where he discovered he enjoyed acting. When Ronald was 16 his father died of pneumonia, putting an end to the boy's plans to attend Cambridge and become an engineer. He went to work as a shipping clerk at the British Steamship Company.
He also became a well-known amateur actor and was a member of the West Middlesex Dramatic Society (1908-1909). In 1909, he joined the London Scottish Regiment, a territorial army force, and he was sent to France at the outbreak of World War I. Colman took part in the First Battle of Ypres and was severely wounded at the battle at Messines in Belgium. The shrapnel wounds he took to his legs invalided him out of active service.
In May 1915, decorated, discharged and depressed, he returned home with a limp that he would attempt to hide throughout the rest of his acting career. He tried to enter the consular service, but a chance encounter got him a small role in the London play
The Maharanee of Arakan (1916). He dropped other plans and concentrated on the theatre.
Producers soon noted the young actor with his striking good looks, rich voice and rare dignity, and Colman was rewarded with a succession of increasingly prominent parts. He worked with stage greats
Gladys Cooper and
Gerald du Maurier. He made extra money appearing in films like the two-reel silent comedy
The Live Wire (Cecil Hepworth, 1917). The set was an old house with a negligible budget, and Colman doubled as the leading character and prop man. The film was never released though.
Other silent British films were
The Snow of the Desert (Walter West, 1919) with
Violet Hopson and
Stewart Rome, and
The Black Spider (William Humphrey, 1920) with
Mary Clare. The negatives of all of Colman's early British films have probably been destroyed during the 1941 London Blitz. After a brief courtship, he married actress
Thelma Raye in 1919. The marriage was in trouble almost from the beginning. The two separated in 1923 but were not divorced until 1934.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 259.
French postcard by Europe, no. 212. Photo: publicity still for
The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1795/3, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists.
Ronald Colman and
Vilma Bánky in
The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 2079/2, 1927-1928. Photo: United Artists.
Ronald Colman in
The Magic Flame (Henry King, 1927).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3375/3, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
Two Lovers (Fred Niblo, 1928) with
Vilma Bánky.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3377/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3377/4, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Ronald Colman in
Two Lovers (Fred Niblo 1928).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4431/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.
Romantic tearjerker
In 1920 Ronald Colman set out for New York in hopes of finding greater fortune there than in war-depressed England. His American film debut was in the tawdry melodrama
Handcuffs or Kisses? (George Archainbaud, 1920). He toured with
Robert Warwick in 'The Dauntless Three', and subsequently toured with
Fay Bainter in 'East is West'.
After two years of impoverishment, he was cast in the Broadway hit play 'La Tendresse' (1922). Director
Henry King spotted him and cast him as
Lillian Gish's leading man in
The White Sister (Henry King, 1923), filmed in Italy. The romantic tear-jerker was wildly popular and Colman was quickly proclaimed a new film star.
This success led to a contract with prominent independent film producer
Samuel Goldwyn, and in the following ten years, he became a very popular silent film star in both romantic and adventure films. Among his most successful films for Goldwyn were
The Dark Angel (George Fitzmaurice, 1925) with Hungarian actress
Vilma Bánky,
Stella Dallas (Henry King, 1926), the
Oscar Wilde adaptation
Lady Windermere's Fan (Ernst Lubitsch, 1925) and
The Winning of Barbara Worth (Henry King, 1926) with
Gary Cooper.
Colman's dark hair and eyes and his athletic and riding ability led reviewers to describe him as a ‘Valentino type’. He was often cast in similar, exotic roles. The film that cemented this position as a top star was
Beau Geste (Herbert Brenon, 1926), Paramount's biggest hit of 1926. It was the rousing tale of three brothers (Colman,
Neil Hamilton and
Ralph Forbes), who join the Foreign Legion to escape the law.
Beau Geste was full of mystery, desert action, intrigue and above all, brotherly loyalty. Colman's gentlemanly courage and quiet strength were showcased to perfection in the role of the oldest brother, Beau. The film is still referred to as possibly the greatest Foreign Legion film ever produced.
Towards the end of the silent era, Colman was teamed again with
Vilma Bánky under Samuel Goldwyn. The two would make a total of five films together and their popularity rivalled that of
Greta Garbo and
John Gilbert.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4431/2, 1929-1930. Photo: Kenneth Alexander / United Artists.
French postcard by Cinémagazine-Edition, Paris, no. 495. Photo: United Artists.
Ronald Colman and
Vilma Bánky in
The Magic Flame (Henry King, 1927).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3375/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
Two Lovers (Fred Niblo, 1928) with
Vilma Bánky.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3667/1, 1928-1929. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4029/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.
Ronald Colman and
Lily Damita in
The Rescue (Herbert Brenon, 1929).
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4780/1, 1929-1930. Photo: United Artists.
Ronald Colman and
Joan Bennett in
Bulldog Drummond (F. Richard Jones, 1929).
Italian postcard by Cinema-Illustrazione, series 2, no. 24. Photo: United Artists.
Estelle Taylor and
Ronald Colman in
The Unholy Garden (George Fitzmaurice, 1931).
Sophisticated thoughtful characters of integrity
Although Ronald Colman was a huge success in silent films, with the coming of sound, his extraordinarily beautiful speaking voice made him even more important to the film industry. His first major talkie success was in 1930 when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for two roles -
Condemned (Wesley Ruggles, 1929) with
Lily Damita, and
Bulldog Drummond (F. Richard Jones, 1929) with
Joan Bennett.
Thereafter he played several sophisticated, noble characters with enormous aplomb such as
Clive of India (Richard Boleslawski, 1935) with
Colin Clive, but he also swashbuckled expertly when called to do so in films like
The Prisoner of Zenda (John Cromwell, 1937) with
Madeleine Carroll.
A falling out with Goldwyn in 1934 prompted Colman to avoid long-term contracts for the rest of his career. He became one of just a handful of top stars to successfully freelance, picking and choosing his assignments and studios. His notable films included the
Charles Dickens adaptation
A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, 1935), the poetic classic
Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937), and
If I Were King (Frank Lloyd, 1938) with
Basil Rathbone as vagabond poet
Francois Villon.
During the war, he made two of his very best films -
Talk of the Town (George Stevens, 1942) with
Cary Grant and
Jean Arthur, and the romantic tearjerker
Random Harvest (Mervyn LeRoy, 1942), as an amnesiac victim, co-starring with the luminous
Greer Garson. For his role in
A Double Life (George Cukor, 1947), an actor playing Othello who comes to identify with the character, he won both the Golden Globe for Best Actor in 1947 and the Best Actor Oscar in 1948. Colman made many guest appearances on
The Jack Benny Program on the radio, alongside his second wife, British stage and screen actress
Benita Hume. Their comedy work as Benny's next-door neighbours led to their own radio comedy
The Halls of Ivy from 1950 to 1952, and then on television from 1954 to 1955.
Incidentally, he appeared in films, such as the romantic comedy
Champagne for Caesar (Richard Whorf, 1950), and his final film
The Story of Mankind (Irwin Allen, 1957) with
Hedy Lamarr.
Hal Erickson at
AllMovie: "a laughably wretched extravaganza from which Colman managed to emerge with his dignity and reputation intact." Ronald Colman died in 1958, aged 67, from a lung infection in Santa Barbara, California. He was survived by
Benita Hume, and their daughter
Juliet Benita Colman (1944). In 1975, Juliet published the biography 'Ronald Colman: A Very Private Person'.
British Valentine's postcard in the Famous Film Stars Series, no. 7123 I.
British postcard in the Film Weekly series. Photo: United Artists.
Ronald Colman and
Kay Francis in
Cynara (King Vidor, 1932), a romantic drama film about a British lawyer (Colman) who pays a heavy price for an affair. Francis plays his wife.
British postcard in the Filmshots series by Film Weekly. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for
The Masquerader (Richard Wallace, 1933) with
Juliet Compton.
British postcard in the Film Partners Series, London, no. F 201. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Ronald Colman and
Elizabeth Allan in
A Tale of Two Cities (Jack Conway, 1935).
Italian postcard by Vecchioni & Guadagno, Roma. Photo: Columbia EIA.
Ronald Colman,
Jane Wyatt and
Margo in
Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937).
Italian postcard by Vecchioni & Guadagno, Roma. Photo: Columbia EIA. Publicity still for
Lost Horizon (Frank Capra, 1937) with
Jane Wyatt.
Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois-D'Haine, Serie C, no. C. 170. Photo: M.G.M. Publicity still for
Random Harvest (1942) with
Greer Garson.
Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine, no. C 156. Photo: M.G.M. Publicity still for
Kismet (William Dieterle, 1944) with
Marlene Dietrich.
British postcard by De Reszke Cigarettes, no. 19 (of a series of 24 cards).
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 447. Photo: Universal International.
Sources:
Hal Erickson (AllMovie),
Jim Beaver (IMDb),
Julie Stowe (The Ronald Colman Pages),
Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Il Cinema Ritrova 2023,
Wikipedia and
IMDb.
This post was last updated on 24 February 2024.