The Five Best Ronald Colman Performances

Ronald Colman was certainly one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, being equally at home in romances, swashbucklers, comedies, and dramas. He even played a murderer once, though villainous roles were not really his forté. He is also one of my favorite actors and that made culling his impressive filmography to just five movies quite a challenge.

Ronald Colman and Greer Garson.

1. Random Harvest - Ronald Colman played dual roles in the same film on multiple occasions. In The Prisoner of Zenda, he starred as lookalikes: one being a Ruritanian king and the other an English gentleman. In A Double Life, he played a stage actor with a split personality, unable to separate his performance as Othello from his real life. But for me, his most brilliant "double role" performance was in the 1942 adaptation of James Hilton's Random Harvest. The film opens with Colman as "John Smith," a World War I veteran who has lost his memory and resides in a sanitarium. During a celebration of the war's end, Smith wanders into a nearby town and meets an entertainer named Paula (Greer Garson). Smithy (as she calls him) and Paula fall in love, marry, and have a child. They live blissfully in the English countryside until Smithy journeys alone to Liverpool and is struck by a taxi. When he awakes, he remembers his life as the affluent Charles Rainer--but he has forgotten his life as Smithy. Years later, he hires Paula--still not knowing who she is--to work for him. As Smithy and Charles, Colman plays two characters that reside in the same man. It's a brilliantly textured performance that also benefits from Colman's chemistry with Garson (I'd rank it as her best film, too). Those who quibble about the plot's happenstances are grumpy bears that should focus on the sublime cast and first-rate production.

With Art Linkletter on the show
"Masquerade for Money."

2. Champagne for Caesar - I'm always surprised that so few people have seen this smart 1950 comedy featuring delightful performances from Colman, Vincent Price, and Celeste Holm. Of course, it doesn't help that it's rarely shown on television, especially compared to other Colman classics. Ronald stars as an unemployed genius who is rejected for a menial job at Vincent Price's soap company ("Milady Soap--the soap that sanctifies!"). To gain revenge (and money), he appears on a quiz show sponsored by Price's company with the goal of eventually bankrupting the soap-maker. It's great fun watching Colman's confident intellect become befuddled when Price sends a beautiful "undercover agent" (Holm) to distract him. A funny film with a satirical edge, Champagne for Caesar also provides Price with one of his finest roles.

Colman and Madeleine Carroll.

3. The Prisoner of Zenda - Ronald Colman played noble characters numerous films (e.g., A Tale of Two Cities, Lost Horizon), but none compare to Rudolf Rassendyll. While vacationing in a small European country, this English gentleman agrees to pose as a kidnapped king to prevent a coup by the king's villainous half-brother at the coronation. It doesn't take long for Rudolf to realize his greatest enemy is not Duke Michael (Raymond Massey), but rather himself--for he has become loved by the people and he has fallen in love with Princess Flavia (Madeleine Carroll). Zenda affords Colman an opportunity to match wits with Massey while romancing Carroll and dueling with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. As an added bonus, he plays the lookalike king with none of the flair and intelligence displayed by Rudolf.

Frances Dee and Colman.

4. If I Were King - Another under-appreciated Colman movie, this one casts him as 15th century French poet, thief, and all-around rascal Francois Villon. One night, while complaining loudly in a tavern about King Louis XI, Villon meets the king...who has donned a disguise while in search of a traitor. When the police try to arrest Villon for theft, a brawl ensues and Francois kills the treacherous traitor. Amused by the poet--and thankful that he disposed of an enemy--King Louis (Basil Rathbone) rewards Villon by making him the court's Grand Constable. What Villon doesn't know is that his new-found life will last only a week, as the king still intends to execute him. This lively historical yarn mixes romance, swashbuckling, and humor in equal amounts. Both Colman and Rathbone are excellent and their scenes together sparkle with wit (no surprise since Preston Sturges wrote the screenplay). It's too bad that Colman didn't make more films like this, though one suspects he was afraid of being pigeon-holed as a swashbuckler in the Errol Flynn mold.

Colman and Richard Haydn.

5. The Late George Apley - Based on John P. Marquand's 1937 novel and play, this appealing social satire takes aim at the Boston upper class circa 1912. Colman plays the family patriarch, who is determined to retain his blue-blooded values even as the world changes around him. Imagine his shock when his daughter falls in love with a "radical" young man from New York! The beauty of Colman's performance is watching George Apley evolve--somewhat painfully--from a stodgy, firm Bostonian to a man who recognizes his mistakes and becomes determined to correct them. Although I like Life With Father, I think The Late George Apley is a much better choice for a Father's Day movie.

Honorable Mentions:  A Double Life, A Tale of Two Cities, Lost Horizon, and Under Two Flags.