THE GHOST OF RICHARD HARRIS (2022)

Adrian Sibley’s generally rewarding documentary on iconic Irish actor Richard Harris gets a lot of help from the onscreen memories of the three personable Harris boys (director Damian, actors Jared & Jamie), less from the man himself, or rather from the uneven output that shortchanged the obvious talent.  Luckily, Harris was an interesting guy off-screen, not only acting on stage and in music (‘MacArthur’s Park’ that most unlikely of mega-hit 45-rpm singles), but as a young athlete and public roister with fellow generational-shift actors Peter O’Toole, Albert Finney, Alan Bates, et al.*  After down decades in the ‘70s & ‘80s, Harris shot back to form in Jim Sheridan’s THE FIELD/’90 and, of course, in the first two HARRY POTTER pics.  Yet even in his 1960s prime, hard to care about prestige Harris mediocrities like CAMELOT/’67 and CROMWELL/’70.*  Instead, see what might have been via his Hollywood breakthru in the little remembered HAWAII/’66 which goes unmentioned here.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  *Between WWI & II, the Brits seem to have missed out on a couple of evolutionary cultural & social shifts, especially in the acting profession, so Harris and the 1950s gang brought in The Method, Working-Class social anger and ‘beat’ attitudes on dropping out into public view all at once.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: All these mentioned above:  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/06/this-sporting-life-1963.html   https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/11/camelot-1967.html    https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/cromwell-1970.html  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/05/hawaii-1966.html 

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID:  *Co-star Vanessa Redgrave is her usual batty self reminiscing about CAMELOT.  Does she really think she brought back on-the-set live singing in film musicals?  Odd when Rex Harrison famously did just that in MY FAIR LADY/’64, the previous Lerner & Loewe film adaptation.