28 thoughts on “Trevor Howard Movies”

1. 6/Bruce tells us in 5 of his Interesting Facts above that Trevor “Howard and Keith McConnell were largely responsible for helping Brando win a lawsuit against a British newspaper.” I hadn’t been aware of THAT and I thank The Work Horse for revealing it especially as it is more consistent with other things I have read – and observed – about the Brando/Howard relationship. For example

   (1)Trevor was a notorious boozer and had a fave drinking den in London which his pals nicknamed Trev’s Tavern. In a TV interview that I saw he said that Marlon would be “very welcome to my pub to have a drink with me if he’s in London.”

   (2)After Bounty Trev and Marlon made 1965’s Morituri and 1978’s Superman together. In a documentary that I saw about the making of the latter film Brando and Howard were in a scene together and when shooting had finished and the director cried “Cut!” both actors shook hands and courteously bowed to each other.

   7/Anyhow whatever the precise relationship between those two Trev was a great actor in his own right and richly deserving of his Cogerson page which I welcome with a “Vote Up!”. ADDITIONAL TRIVIA: I like Bruce’s lovely coloured miniatures from The Sea Wolves and Bounty above. When Trev/Greg/Roger and Niven were making that movie way back in 1980 they – and The Sea Wolves of the title – were collectively referred to in the publicity press as “Peck’s Pack” I’d love to have challenged Flora for beating me all the time in “have seen” lists by asking her to name the other actors in Peck’s Pack!

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   1. Hey Bob. Glad I could share something new about Brando with you. Glad you liked The Sea Wolves photo. I have never heard the term Peck’s Pack. Maybe Flora will have the answer. Good stuff.

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      1. I had heard of the term Peck’s Pack. I love the photo of them sitting in the wrong chairs. I was 4 when The Sea Wolves came out.

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         1. HI FLORA:

            I think that you and I show off our Greg credentials in knowing about Peck’s Pack. Bruce has no chance of matching us -especially you – in Peck-assiciated info and trivia; so ole Cogey needs to get used to it.

            I see that you are now a young 44 – that 3 years younger than my own daughter and the same age as my son! How time flies. Anyway please contiunue to keep safe.

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2. 5/When Brando played characters who would naturally be inarticulate he wasn’t going to speak like Laurence Olivier. However when he played a Roman aristocrat in Julius Caesar and British ones in Mutiny on the Bounty and Burn [aka Queimada] he spoke in a very clear English-type accent and in the case of Mutiny that was over a 3 hour film.

   Accordingly for me to accept that an intelligent man like Trevor really did accuse him of “mumbling” I would have to ignore the advice that Burt Lancaster gave in the opening scene in 1952’s The Crimson Pirate “Avast there! Gather round lads and lasses for the last voyage of the Crimson Pirate. And remember: believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see!”

   [In Guys and Dolls Brando spoke very clearly also and used that peculiar Runyon-Speak that all Damon’s gamblers and con-artist characters engage in. Therefore in implying that Brando mumbled in that movie Hirschhorn either (1) never saw the film (2) was prey to delusions or (3) frankly lied.

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   1. Hey Bob….Brando and his mumbling….is like Cary Grant saying…Judy Judy Judy….it is close..but actually was never said. Good stuff.

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3. 3/It was often alleged as well that Brando and Charlie Bill Stuart [aka Glenn Ford] hated each other and fought the bit out when making Teahouse in 1956. However I saw an interview with the Great Charlie Bill in later years and he praised Brando’s acting skills; spoke with obviously genuine warmth about Marlon as a person; and said that he had greatly enjoyed working with him on Teahouse.

   Anyway some of the incidents quoted by even Marlon’s own friendly biographers as examples of the alleged Brando/Ford feuds always struck me as a bit suspect. For instance Charlie Bill is said to have liked eating cookies on set and it is alleged he accused Brando of stealing his cookies. For me the jury will always be out on the authenticity of that one: it sounds like something out of the famous Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School gluttony stories

   4/When they were making Reflections in a Golden Eye in 1967 Brando and Liz Taylor are supposed to have locked horns and whilst even the best of friends can quarrel (1) Liz in an interview that I saw said “He tries to professionally intimidate other actors but I wasn’t frightened of him and I adore him. There will never be another Marlon Brando (2) Marlon accepted on Liz’s behalf an award on one occasion (3) They [along with Burton] socialized together and one time she invited Marlon round for dinner and to mark the occasion she played a video of The Godfather for them to watch together.

   [Jean Simmons said that Brando was such fun to work with on Guys and Dolls that she couldn’t stop laughing at times and was disappointed when it was time to leave the set in the evenings.]

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   1. Hey Bob. good stories on Charlie Bill Stuart (though I admit I am not aware of him), Reflections in a Golden Eye (one of my least liked Brando movies) and his interactions with Elizabeth Taylor. Good stuff.

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4. 1/It is true that a big part of the awful publicity that the making of the 1962 Mutiny of the Bounty attracted involved the supposed bad blood between its 2 main stars Trevor and Marlon; but I have often wondered how far Hollywood will go to confect such stories as ones about bad behaviour and friction between performers attract attention and audiences. As Steve would say it’s box office.

   John McEnroe certainly proved that in tennis in his younger days. Also Biblically: “Not this man (Jesus). Free Barabbas!” demanded the crowd. “Now Barabbas was a robber”. John 18:40

   2/Sinatra and Brando were said to have feuded when making Guys and Dolls and Frankie is quoted as having called Marlon “Mumbles”. True Sinatra was easy and unforgiving to get on the wrong side of but in his autobiography he said “When I get stuck in interpreting a part for the screen I always take a leaf out of Marlon Brando’s book.”

   To his discredit in my view Joel Hirschhorn in his ongoing character assassinations of Brando chose to quote the Sinatra “Mumbles” unsubstantiated ‘here-say’ gossip rather than what apparently Frankie actually said in his own book. “When the Legend’s more pleasing than the truth print the legend.” [Liberty Valance movie 1962] But then of course Hirsch was clearly looking for the kitchen sink to throw at Marlon; whereas if guys like him had been bothered to – and were interested in -doing a bit more balanced research they might have found some pleasant and positive stories to tell.

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   1. Hey Bob….good stuff on Mutiny on the Bounty, Sinatra and Guys and Dolls and Joel’s take….I actually think his jab at Brando was the meanest of the jabs he took at Brando.

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      1. HI BRUCE Thanks for all the feedback.

         No matter how great a thespian is not everyone will like him/her and even acknowledged classic movies have their genuine critics; but the ferocity of Joel’s attack on MB and the personalisation of it always puzzled me until I read the great critic Pauline Kael’s article in The New Yorker.

         She explained that Brando’s civil rights activities and his independent attitude to Hollywood and its Establishment figures such as Hopper and Parsons [and later his criticism of Hollywood’s depiction of the American native Indians] annoyed the Establishment so they declared open season on him.

         What Kael called their “outriders” in the movie
         magazines and the general press along the critics class got in on the act and rubbished Brando unrelentingly. Kael [though she may never have known about Joel] would have regarded him as a Deja Vu outrider for the Establishment after Brando turned down that Oscar and threw a grenade into the 1973 ceremonies.

         There is coincidentally a subtle Dan-like link in all of this as another Joel [McCrea] made a 1950 western actually called The Outriders [56% rated by you]. Was that in effect a harbinger for the coming of a 2nd Joel within Kael’s take on Marlon and Hollywood politics?

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5. “Trevor Howard is a perfectionist. He once said, “I won’t do anything unless I know it’s right.” All of Howard’s performances are “right”, and sometimes–as in Brief Encounter–perfect. In fact, a strong case could be made for Howard as the finest actor ever to appear in films.” – Rating The Movie Stars book (1983)

   Rating the Movies Stars 4 Star Trevor Howard performances
   Movie (Year)
   Johnny In The Clouds/The Way to the Stars (1945)
   Brief Encounter (1945)
   I See A Dark Stranger/The Adventuress (1946)
   Green for Danger (1946)
   So Well Remembered (1947)
   I Became A Criminal/The Made Me A Fugitive (1947)
   Third Man, The (1949)
   Passionate Friends, The (1949)
   Odette (1950)
   Golden Salamander (1950)
   Clouded Yellow, The (1950)
   Outcast of the Islands (1951)
   Glory At Sea/Gift Horse (1952)
   Heart of the Matter, The (1953)
   Stranger’s Hands, The (1954)
   Lovers of Lisbon, The (1954)
   Cockleshell Heroes, The (1955)
   Run for the Sun (1956)
   Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
   Roots of Heaven, The (1958)
   Key, The (1958)
   Sons and Lovers (1960)
   Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
   Man in the Middle/The Winston Affair (1964)
   Father Goose (1964)
   Von Ryan’s Express (1965)
   Matter of Innocence/Pretty Polly, A (1967)
   Charge of the Light Brigade, The (1968)
   Ryan’s Daughter (1970)
   Night Visitor, The (1971)
   Mary, Queen of Scots (1971)
   Kidnapped (1971)
   Doll’s House (II), A (1973)
   Hennessy (1975)
   Conduct Unbecoming (1975)
   Stevie (1978)

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   1. 1. And yet another Joel subject off the board.
      2. Seems like I have been working on this page for a very long time.
      3. Found a source for some of his early British movies…so I do not think I am missing many of his movies.
      4. Hey Bob….I know this will get you going…Joel takes a shot at Brando in his Howard thoughts…but I just discovered another error in the book…..in the Howard part….it is listed that Howard has a 2.52 overall ranking…the rating is actually 3.52…..so make a note of another time Joel and the Consumer Reports people dropped the ball.

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      1. HI BIG BOY:

         You are right: you got me to draw! I’ve hit you with a four-parter quick-shoot!

         WH to Me above :”So make a note of another time Joel and the Consumer Reports people dropped the ball.” Response –

         “I’m giving you another chance I want to win this game so if you fumble the catch again you’ll always be known in this town as The Guy who Dropped the Ball.” Reno Hightower [Kurt Russell] to Jack Dundee [Robin Williams] in 1985’s The Best of Times

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