Editing Peter Finch (section)

===Rising film reputation===
Finch's film career received a considerable boost when cast as the [[Sheriff of Nottingham]] in ''[[The Story of Robin Hood (film)|The Story of Robin Hood]]'' (1952) for Walt Disney, opposite Richard Todd.

In 1952 Finch performed at [[St James's Theatre]], King Street, London, in Sir Laurence Olivier's and Gilbert Miller's ''The Happy Time'' a comedy by Samuel Taylor. He played the part of Papa.<ref>From an original theatre programme, printer's date 30 January 1952.</ref> He also did ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' at the Old Vic, playing Mercutio, to strong reviews.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 September 1952 |title=Peter Finch in Limelight |volume=LXV |page=13 |newspaper=[[The Barrier Miner]] |issue=17,257 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61218345 |access-date=26 June 2020 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

He then made two films for [[Alexander Korda]]. In ''[[The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan]]'' (1953) Finch played [[Richard D'Oyly Carte]] opposite Robert Morley and Maurice Evans in the lead; the resulting movie was a box office disappointment. In ''[[The Heart of the Matter (film)|The Heart of the Matter]]'' (1953), from the [[Graham Greene]] novel, Finch played a priest opposite Trevor Howard; his performance was a critical success.

Finch returned to the stage at the Old Vic with an appearance in ''[[Un chapeau de paille d'Italie (play)|An Italian Straw Hat]]'' by [[Eugène Marin Labiche|Eugène Labiche]] and Marc Michel adapted by Thomas Walton. He then received an offer from Paramount to star in ''[[Elephant Walk]]'' (1954), shot in Ceylon and Los Angeles. The part was intended for [[Laurence Olivier]] who turned it down, but [[Vivien Leigh]] agreed to play the female lead; Dana Andrews was the other star. The circumstances of production were turbulent; Leigh had a nervous breakdown during production, leading to her being replaced by [[Elizabeth Taylor]]. The experience helped sour Finch on a Hollywood career and he would only work occasionally there for the rest of his career.

Back in England, Finch was cast as the villain [[Flambeau (character)|Flambeau]] in ''[[Father Brown (film)|Father Brown]]'' (1954), receiving superb reviews opposite [[Alec Guinness]] in the title role. He narrated a documentary ''[[The Queen in Australia]]'' and had his first real star part in the Group 3/British Lion comedy, ''[[Make Me an Offer]]'' (1954), playing an antiques dealer. He was then a villain in the medieval swashbuckler ''[[The Dark Avenger]]'' (1955), opposite another Australian, [[Errol Flynn]], for Allied Artists.

He was much in demand. C.G. Scrimgeour of Associated TV wanted Finch to play a patrol officer in a film based on Colin Simpson's articles about Shangri-La Valley in New Guinea. The Rank organisation wanted him to star in a film directed by Hugh Stewart called ''The Flying Doctor''.<ref>{{cite news |date=17 October 1954 |title=World-wide Film and Theatre News |volume=XV |page=48 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |issue=48 |location=New South Wales, Australia |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article248943397 |access-date=26 June 2020 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>