He's one of my all time favorites and I'm always amused about how, in many of his supporting roles, he often stole the movies right from under the stars noses before they even knew what hit 'em.
Just watched A Shot in the Dark for the umpteenth time (my favorite comedy) and he always cracks me up with his dead pan performance (especially in the billiard game scene) where he is the perfect foil to Peter Seller's Clouseau and gets laughs with his subtle body language, trademark wry delivery and understated facial expressions that speak a thousand words. He was one of a kind!
One doesn't think of him as an "action hero" (or villain), but it's interesting to note how he duked it out with Robert Taylor in IVANHOE and Tyrone Power in SON OF FURY.
My first remembrance of George Sanders is with Tony Hancock in The Rebel. At the same instance I can never forget him in the end of Village Of the Damned, when his character is desperately trying to think of nothing but a brick wall. Then there's All About Eve, Sampson and not forgetting The Saint. I wonder what he would have most wanted to be remembered for, if anything at all?
One fun part of "A Dreadful Man," Brian Aherne's bio of Sanders is when he prints a letter from Sanders, who is
1) trying to get Aherne to go in on yet another (suspect) money-making, tax-avoiding venture and
2) taking a dump (an eloquent one, too) on Aherne's continued pursuit of acting work.
Aherne then comments on it, saying:
"This letter of course delighted me, for it was real vintage Sanders, written with authority and a fine command of the English language, almost every sentence a challenge to common sense."
My first remembrance of George Sanders is with Tony Hancock in The Rebel. At the same instance I can never forget him in the end of Village Of the Damned, when his character is desperately trying to think of nothing but a brick wall. Then there's All About Eve, Sampson and not forgetting The Saint. I wonder what he would have most wanted to be remembered for, if anything at all?
He will most likely be remembered for either Rebecca or one of the following two: Batman 1966 or Man from U.N.C.L.E.
In my hazy memory I confused him with his brother Thomas Charles Sanders (Tom Conway) whom I know as The "My other car is another big white car" Falcon from "The staggering stories of Ferdinand the Bargos" - Series 4, Episode 6, The Falcon And His Big White Car (1995)
My first remembrance of George Sanders is with Tony Hancock in The Rebel. At the same instance I can never forget him in the end of Village Of the Damned, when his character is desperately trying to think of nothing but a brick wall. Then there's All About Eve, Sampson and not forgetting The Saint. I wonder what he would have most wanted to be remembered for, if anything at all?
He will most likely be remembered for either Rebecca or one of the following two: Batman 1966 or Man from U.N.C.L.E.
In my hazy memory I confused him with his brother Thomas Charles Sanders (Tom Conway) whom I know as The "My other car is another big white car" Falcon from "The staggering stories of Ferdinand the Bargos" - Series 4, Episode 6, The Falcon And His Big White Car (1995)
His role as Favell in Rebecca is a pretty good candidate for his best remembered role (my first live-action exposure to him was his portrayal of Bois Guilbert in Ivanhoe), but I think he'll be remembered more for his voice work in Jungle Book (as Shere Khan) than for Batman.
