West End star John Gielgud

returning west end, gielgud starred in j b priestley s companions, adapted stage author , edward knoblock. production ran may 1931 331 performances, , gielgud described first real taste of commercial success. played inigo jollifant, young schoolmaster abandons teaching join travelling theatre troupe. crowd-pleaser drew disapproval more austere reviewers, felt gielgud should doing more demanding, found playing conventional juvenile lead had challenges of own , helped him improve technique. during run of play made film, insult (1932), melodrama french foreign legion, , starred in cinema version of companions in 1933, jessie matthews. letter friend reveals gielgud s view of film acting: there talk of doing inigo in film of companions, appals soul appeals pocket. in first volume of memoirs, published in 1939, gielgud devoted 2 pages describing things filming detested. unlike contemporaries richardson , laurence olivier, made few films until after second world war, , did not establish himself prominent film actor until many years after that. put in 1994, stupid enough toss head , stick stage while watching larry , ralph sign lucrative korda contracts.

peggy ashcroft in 1936

in 1932 gielgud turned directing. @ invitation of george devine, president of oxford university dramatic society, gielgud took charge of production of romeo , juliet society, featuring 2 guest stars: peggy ashcroft juliet , edith evans nurse. rest of cast students, led christopher hassall romeo, , included devine, william devlin , terence rattigan. experience satisfactory gielgud: enjoyed attentions of undergraduates, had brief affair 1 of them, james lees-milne, , praised inspiring direction , protégés success play. notorious innocent slips of tongue (he called them gielgoofs ), in speech after final performance referred ashcroft , evans 2 leading ladies, of whom hope shall never meet again.

during rest of 1932 gielgud played in new piece, musical chairs ronald mackenzie, , directed 1 new , 1 classic play, strange orchestra rodney ackland in west end, , merchant of venice @ old vic, malcolm keen shylock , ashcroft portia. in 1932 starred in richard of bordeaux elizabeth mackintosh. this, retelling in modern language of events of richard ii, greeted successful historical play since shaw s saint joan 9 years earlier, more faithful events shakespeare had been. after uncertain start in west end rapidly became sell-out hit , played in london , on tour on next 3 years.

between seasons of richard, in 1934 gielgud returned hamlet in london , on tour, directing , playing title role. production box-office success, , critics lavish in praise. in new york times, charles morgan wrote, have never before heard rhythm , verse , naturalness of speech gently combined. ... if see better performance of play before die, miracle. morley writes junior members of cast such alec guinness , frith banbury gather in wings every night watch seemed intuitively know hamlet of time.

herbert farjeon on rival romeos.

the following year gielgud staged perhaps famous shakespeare production, romeo , juliet in co-starred ashcroft , olivier. gielgud had spotted olivier s potential , gave him major step in career. first weeks of run gielgud played mercutio , olivier played romeo, after exchanged roles. @ oxford, ashcroft , evans juliet , nurse. production broke box-office records play, running @ new theatre 189 performances. olivier enraged @ notices after first night, praised virility of performance fiercely criticised speaking of shakespeare s verse, comparing co-star s mastery of poetry. friendship between 2 men prickly, on olivier s side, rest of life.

gielgud in publicity photograph secret agent (1936)

in may 1936 gielgud played trigorin in seagull, evans arkadina , ashcroft nina. komisarjevsky directed, made rehearsals difficult ashcroft, whom had been living, had left him. nonetheless, morley writes, critical reception ecstatic. in same year gielgud made last pre-war film, co-starring madeleine carroll in alfred hitchcock s secret agent. director s insensitivity actors made gielgud nervous , further increased dislike of filming. 2 stars praised performances, hitchcock s preoccupation incident felt critics make leading roles one-dimensional, , laurels went peter lorre gielgud s deranged assistant.

from september 1936 february 1937 gielgud played hamlet in north america, opening in toronto before moving new york , boston. nervous starring on broadway first time, particularly became known popular actor leslie howard appear there in rival production of play. when gielgud opened @ empire theatre in october reviews mixed, but, actor wrote mother, audience response extraordinary. stay @ end , shout every night , stage door beset fans. howard s production opened in november; was, in gielgud s words, débâcle, , battle of hamlets heralded in new york press on had begun. howard s version closed within month; run of gielgud s production beat broadway records play.

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