Editing Michael Hordern (section)

====Shakespeare Memorial Theatre====

[[File:Sir Michael Redgrave portrait.jpg|thumbnail|right|[[Michael Redgrave]], who supported Hordern financially when he was a jobbing actor]]

Hordern cited ''Saint's Day''{{'}}s negative publicity as having done his career "the power of good" as it brought him to the attention of the director [[Glen Byam Shaw]], who cast him in a series of plays at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in 1951. Among the roles were [[Caliban]] in ''[[The Tempest]]'', [[Jaques (As You Like It)|Jaques]] in ''As You Like It'', and Sir Politick Would-Be in [[Ben Jonson|Ben Jonson's]] comedy ''[[Volpone]]''. Hordern claimed to know very little about the bard's works and sought advice from friends about how best to prepare for the roles.<ref>Hordern, pp. 91–92.</ref> The same year, he travelled down to [[Walton Studios|Nettlefold Studios]], [[Walton-on-Thames]], to film ''[[Scrooge (1951 film)|Scrooge]]'', an adaptation of [[Charles Dickens]]'s ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', in which he played [[Jacob Marley|Marley's ghost]]. Reviews were mixed with ''[[The New York Times]]'' giving it a favourable write-up,<ref>[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0DEEDB143BE03ABC4151DFB767838A649EDE "The Screen In Review: Dickens A Christmas Carol, With Alastair Sim Playing Scrooge, Unveiled Here"], Bosley Crowther, ''[[The New York Times]]'', 29 November 1951, accessed 24 August 2015.</ref> while ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine remained ambivalent.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071203005950/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889415,00.html "Cinema: Import, Dec. 3, 1951"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', 3 December 1951, accessed 24 August 2015.</ref> The ''Aberdeen Evening Express'' echoed the comments made by an American reviewer by calling ''Scrooge'' a "trenchant and inspiring Christmas show".<ref>"Cheaper and Better", ''Aberdeen Evening Express'', 5 December 1951, p. 3.</ref> The author Fred Guida, writing in his book ''Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: A Critical Examination'' in 2000, thought that Marley's ghost, though a "small but pivotal role", was "brilliantly played" by Hordern.<ref>Guida, p. 105.</ref>

With the first play of the season imminent, the Horderns moved to Stratford and took temporary accommodation at Goldicote House,<ref name="HORDERN92"/>{{#tag:ref|Goldicote House was the former residence of Claud Berkeley Portman, 4th Viscount Portman (1864–1929), a member of the distinguished [[Viscount Portman|Portman family]].<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol4/pp7-12 "Parishes: Alderminster"], British History Online, accessed 23 August 2015.</ref>|group= n}} a large country property situated on the [[River Avon, Warwickshire|River Avon]]. The first of his two plays, ''The Tempest'', caused Hordern to doubt his own acting ability when he compared his interpretation of Caliban to that of [[Alec Guinness]], who had played the same role four years earlier. Reassured by Byam Shaw, Hordern remained in the role for the entire run. A few days later, the actor was thrilled to receive a letter of appreciation from Michael Redgrave, who thought Hordern's Caliban was "immensely fine, with all the pity and pathos{{nbsp}}... but with real terror and humour as well".<ref name="HORDERN93">Hordern, p. 93.</ref> More praise was received as the season continued; an anonymous theatre reviewer, quoted in Hordern's autobiography, called the actor's portrayal of Menenius Aggripa "a dryly acute study of the 'humorous patrician' and one moreover that can move our compassion in the Volscian cameo", before going on to say "we had felt that it would be long before Alec Guinness's Menenius could be matched. The fact that Michael Hordern's different reading can now stand beside the other does credit to a player who will be a Stratford prize."<ref name="HORDERN94">Hordern, p. 94.</ref>