Charles
Laughton (1899-1962) was the hottest actor in England following his Oscar-winning
performance in The Private Life of Henry VIII when he joined the Old
Vic in October of 1933 to play such roles as Macbeth, Prospero, and the title
role in Shakespeare's Henry VIII. He felt the latter production was a
mistake as audiences inevitably compared it to the film, but there was no doubt
about his one great triumph of the season, Angelo in Measure for Measure.
The London Times said "We are given the man of affairs, smiling, precise,
and self-confident as well as the sensualist, and Mr. Laughton sees to it that
what is horrible in the overwhelming of a formidable talent by the senses is
given its full value. But throughout the evening this performance is rich and
satisfying, full of subtle penetration and expressive gesture."
Laughton's Angelo was considered the model of how the role should be played until John Gielgud offered his definitive interpretation at Stratford in 1950. Yet despite notable stage successes in Galileo, Don Juan in Hell and Major Barbara, Laughton did not return to Shakespeare until 1959, when (in deteriorating health) he unsuccessfully took on King Lear and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream.