Who do you think portrayed a wartime character well?

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by Grasmere, Jun 22, 2020.

  1. Grasmere

    Grasmere Well-Known Member

    I think that Gary Oldham in Darkest Hour and Timothy Spall in The King's Speech were excellent as Sir Winston Churchill, and Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List. So who do you think has portrayed a wartime character well on screen?
     
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  2. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

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  3. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    First thought was Oldman's Churchill too.
    Hard to see Oldman in there.
     
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  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    I liked Bruno Ganz & Taika Waititi's very differing versions of Hitler.

    Still not watched Darkest Hour .
     
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  5. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave as Guy Gibson and Barnes Wallis.
     
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  6. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    George C Scott - Patton
    James Cagney - Halsey
    Gregory Peck - MacArthur
    Brian Keith . - Teddy Roosevelt
    Errol Flynn - George Custer
    Cliff Robertson - JFK in PT-109
    Ken Watanabe -. General Kuribayashi
    James Mason - Rommel
    Tom Sellack - Ike
    Damian Lewis - Dick Winters
    Dirk Bogart - General Browning

    So many good ones over the years. A sleeper pick for me is Bill Murray as Ralph Warner Hammett in Monuments Men.
     
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  7. smdarby

    smdarby Well-Known Member

    Obvious one – Edward Fox as Horrocks in “A Bridge Too Far”
    Not so obvious – Donald Pleasence as Himmler in “The Eagle has Landed”
    Smart alec answer – Audie Murphy in “To Hell and Back”
     
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  8. Wessex_Warrior

    Wessex_Warrior Junior Member

    Windsor Davies as Sarn't Major Wiliams in It ain't half hot mum. He deserved an Oscar for that performance.
     
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  9. Dan M

    Dan M Active Member

    He did it so well the first time, they brought him back to do it again!

    This was going to be my first choice but you beat me to it.

    So I'll just say,

    Sam Elliott as Sgt Maj Basil Plumley
    Dirk Bogarde as Maj Patrick Leigh Fermor
    Takahiro Tamura as Lt Cmdr Mitsuo Fuchida
    Jason Isaacs as Georgy Zhukov
    Derek Jacobi as Adolf Hitler
     
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  10. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Joseph Mazello as Eugene Sledge.
     
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  11. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Stand up straight lovely boys:

     
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  12. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Alec Guinness portrayed somebody exceptionally well in Bridge On The River Kwai, but by all accounts that somebody certainly was not Brigadier Sir Philip Toosey. I think it was likely a composite or a sketch of a type of British officer, but it certainly rang true for me. Regardless, this is possibly some of the best acting I've ever seen:

     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2020
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  13. Don Juan

    Don Juan Well-Known Member

    My avatar.
     
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  14. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    same here....in the broadest sense...
     
  15. Dan M

    Dan M Active Member

    No idea who that is.
     
  16. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler


    IMHO Guy Siner really excels at acting being a german speaking english :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2020
  17. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

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    My suggestion: Claude Rains

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  18. Sheldrake

    Sheldrake All over the place....

    i give Robert Hardy in one of his favourite roles.
     
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  19. kopite

    kopite Member

    Richard Attenborough - The Great Escape

     
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  20. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    Jürgen Prochnow - Das Boot
    Richard Todd - Dambusters
    Donald Sutherland - Kelly's Heroes
    John Malkovich - Empire of the Sun
    Burt Lancaster - The Train
    John Mills - Dunkirk
    George Segal - The Bridge at Remagen
    Damien Lewis - Band of Brothers

    The very best may be O'Toole as Lawrence.
     
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