Stream Selected Films of Ronald Coleman
Cynara 1932 Based on the novel An Imperfect Lover by Robert Gore-Browne. “Inspired by poet Ernest Downson’s immortal lines—‘I have been faithful to thee, Cynara, in my fashion.’” Directed by King Vidor. This fraught, highly mannered melodrama has a kind of old school elegance. James “Jim” Warlock (Ronald Colman) is saying goodbye to his beloved wife Clemency (Kay Francis) to start a new life in Africa. Something’s gone terribly wrong with their seven year marriage. She wants to understand before letting him go.
Flashback reveals Jim to have been a well thought of, conservative barrister whom his older friend John Tring (Henry Stephenson) considers dull and deprived. When Clemency takes her younger sister away to keep her from an inappropriate young man, Jim is alone in London over a month. At dinner date with John, his mischievous friend invites two young, working class women at the next table to join them. Jim awkwardly objects, but allows himself to spend an evening with the girls. Doris (Phyllis Barry) gives him her phone number.
You can see it coming. Jim has an affair during which, as naïve in his way as Doris is in hers, he’s too kind too often. When Clemency returns, she discovers the truth. Tragedy strikes before the couple can even try to work things out. Lives are ruined. Whether his wife forgives him hangs in the balance. Rent on Amazon Prime.
A Tale of Two Cities 1935 Based on the Charles Dickens novel. Directed by Jack Conway. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…” A classic saga set in France (Paris) and England before and during the French Revolution is lived through two men, their families, friends, and Lucie Manette (Elizabeth Allan) the woman they both love.
Charles Darnay (Donald Woods) is a French aristocrat in sympathy with the oppressed, who rejects his rank and moves to England. In retaliation, his uncle, Marquis de St. Evremonde (Basil Rathbone), frames him for treason. He’s successfully defended by cynical barrister Sidney Carton (Ronald Coleman). Sidney meets and falls in love with Lucie too late. Darnay marries her. With the revolution comes betrayal, death, and imprisonment. Carton becomes a hero. Ronald Colman coveted the part. Lively and sincere. Better, I conjecture for its limited budget. Rent on Amazon Prime.
Lost Horizon 1937 can be found in Stream Leading Men of a Certain Era at a Certain Age
The Prisoner of Zenda 1937 Based on the 1894 novel by Anthony Hope. Directed by John Cromwell. Political intrigue and adventure. 1897 Fishing in the Balkans, English gentleman Rudolf Rassendyll (Ronald Colman) is met with curious stares. He discovers why when visited by Colonel Zapt (C. Aubrey Smith), Captain Fritz von Tarlenheim (David Niven), and distant relative, soon-to-be-crowned-king, Rudolf V (Colman)…with whom he could be twins. Wine sent by Rudolf’s brother Michael (Raymond Massey) has been drugged. Rudolf can’t be awakened. If he isn’t crowned Michael will take over.
Rassendyll is talked into impersonating the king ostensibly just for the coronation, then Rudolf is kidnapped. Loyalties of two women, betrayal by Michael and his soldiers, and unexpected heroism follow. The end is bittersweet. Director John Cromwell suspected Colman didn’t know his lines and was concerned with Fairbanks’ and Niven’s late nights on the town. It doesn’t show. Coleman’s wry manner is particularly suited here. Rent on Amazon Prime.
Random Harvest 1942 Based on the James Hilton novel. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy 1918 Shell-shocked, amnesiac soldier “John Smith” is a patient at an asylum near a small British town. Difficulty with speaking keeps him alone in his confusion. During celebratory chaos at the end of the war, Smith wanders out of the institution. Actress Paula Ridgeway (Greer Garson) notices the stranger, is immediately sympathetic to his bewildered state, and guesses where he came from. As it’s clear he’s both harmless and a gentleman, she buys him a drink, then takes him to the theater with her.
Paula walks out on the tour and takes “Smithy” to the country (with, one assumes, her life savings) where he recuperates, talks again, and starts writing. They fall in love, marry, move into a picture-perfect cottage and have a baby. Offered a full time job on the Liverpool newspaper for which he’s been freelancing, Smithy travels to the city and gets hit by a car. His memory returns, obliterating anything that occurred in his three years with Paula. He returns to the family manse becoming, in essence, who he was.
His wife eventually finds him again, but Charles Rainier doesn’t remember her. Paula assumes the role of an indispensable employee, hoping to jar recollections. The befriended head doctor from the asylum warns about psychological consequences should she reveal who she is. It’s a bittersweet existence. There’s even another woman. Things come out fine in the end. The journey is satisfying. Coleman and Garson at their touching (not saccharine) best. And two of the most wonderful voices in the business. Rent on Amazon Prime.
The Talk of The Town 1942 Directed by George Stevens. Schoolteacher Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur) has for the summer rented her house to eminent law professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Coleman). The educator arrives at the same time as old schoolmate Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant), a fugitive accused of burning down the mill and causing the death of a foreman in the fire. Thinking fast, Shelley introduces Dilg as her gardener. The two men have lively arguments about the law and become friends. They’re also rivals for Shelley.
Lightcap discovers Dilg’s identity, learns extenuating circumstances, and reluctantly begins to investigate discovering it’s a frame-up. Meanwhile Dilg goes from a prejudiced trial to the hands of an angry mob…until…Both arguments and speeches are well thought-out. The Talk of the Town began with the working title “Mr. Twilight.” Grant insisted it be changed, suspecting that if the movie seemed to be about a single male character, Colman would steal the show. Rent on Amazon Prime.
By Studio – RR Auction, Public Domain, wikipedia
