Editing Michael Hordern (section)

====Films and 1950s theatre====

[[File:Dirk Bogarde Hallmark Hall of Fame.JPG|thumb|right|[[Dirk Bogarde]], one of Hordern's many film co-stars during the 1950s]]

Hordern viewed the 1950s as a good decade to appear in film, although he did not then particularly care for the medium. Writing in 1993 he said: "With cinema one has to leap into battle fully armed. From the start of the film the character has to be pinned down like a butterfly on a board. One does not always get this right, of course, sometimes starting at the beginning of shooting a film on a comedic level that cannot be sustained."<ref name="HORDERN165">Hordern, p. 165.</ref> He disliked his physical appearance, which he found to be "repulsive", and as a result loathed watching his performances. He preferred radio because the audience only heard his voice, which he then considered his best attribute.<ref name="HORDERN165"/> Another reason was his recognition of the differences between his sense of personal achievement within a theatre compared to that on a film set: "You get a certain sort of satisfaction in delivering what the director wants of you, but the chances of being emotionally involved are slim."<ref name="HORDERN165" /> He acknowledged his good ability at learning lines, something which he found to be especially helpful for learning film scripts which frequently changed. He enjoyed the challenge of earning as much value as possible out of a scene and revelled in being able to hit "the right mark for the camera".<ref name="HORDERN165" /> With the experience of ''Nina'' still fresh in his mind, Hordern took a break from the stage and decided to concentrate on his film career.<ref name="HORDERN108">Hordern, p. 108.</ref>

Hordern was appearing in three to four films a year by 1953 (including a small part as Jacob Marley's ghost in ''[[Scrooge (1951 film)|Scrooge]]'', the 1951 film adaptation of [[Charles Dickens]]' "[[A Christmas Carol]]"), a count that increased as the decade progressed. In 1956 he took a leading part in ''[[The Spanish Gardener (film)|The Spanish Gardener]]'' for which he spent many months filming in southern Spain<ref name="HORDERN108" /> alongside [[Dirk Bogarde]], [[Cyril Cusack]], and Bernard Lee.<ref>[https://variety.com/1956/film/reviews/the-spanish-gardener-1200418207/ "Review: The Spanish Gardener"] ''Variety'', 31 December 1956, accessed 26 August 2015.</ref> ''The New York Times'' called Hordern's role of the strict and pompous Harrington Brande "an unsympathetic assignment", but thought the actor did "quite well" in his portrayal.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D02E6DF1E3BE433A2575AC0A96F9C946692D6CF "Screen: Father and Son; Spanish Gardener by Cronin Arrives"] by A.&nbsp;H. Weiler. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 9 September 1957, accessed 26 August 2015.</ref> By the mid-1950s Hordern's name was becoming one of reliability and good value; as a result, he was offered a clutch of roles. In 1956 he appeared as [[Demosthenes]] in ''[[Alexander the Great (1956 film)|Alexander the Great]]'',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120712174240/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a65339c "Alexander the Great" (1955)], [[British Film Institute]], accessed 26 August 2015.</ref> and Commander Lindsay in ''[[The Night My Number Came Up]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120712171350/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b18276a "The Night My Number Came Up " (1955)], [[British Film Institute]], accessed 26 August 2015.</ref> He appeared in two other films the following year; the medical drama ''[[No Time for Tears (film)|No Time for Tears]]'',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120712004419/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b1ba7c4 "No Time for Tears (1957)"], [[British Film Institute]], accessed 27 August 2015.</ref> and the thriller ''[[Windom's Way]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120712001329/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6bade840 "No Time for Tears (1957)"], [[British Film Institute]], accessed 27 August 2015.</ref> The Second World War was a popular genre for filmmakers during the 1950s. Hordern said the conflict took up a large part of people's lives; "whether it be one of love, loss, nostalgia or tragedy",<ref name="HORDERN109–110">Hordern, pp. 109–110.</ref> everybody, according to the actor, had a story to tell and could relate to the situations that were being depicted before them on screen.<ref name="HORDERN109–110" /> He found his earlier naval experience to be an asset when cast in many war films,<ref name="BFIHORDERN">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120802201435/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b9ef754d6 "Michael Hordern"], [[British Film Institute]], accessed 27 August 2015.</ref>{{#tag:ref|The war films in which Hordern appeared in the 1950s were: ''[[The Man Who Never Was]]'', ''[[Pacific Destiny]]'', ''[[The Baby and the Battleship]]'', all from 1956,<ref name="BFIHORDERN" /> and ''[[I Was Monty's Double (film)|I Was Monty's Double]]'' in 1958.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120712172858/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ad6ec78 "I Was Monty's Double (1958)"], [[British Film Institute]], accessed 27 August 2015.</ref> During the 1960s he starred in ''[[Sink the Bismarck!]]'' (1960), ''[[The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (film)|The Spy Who Came in from the Cold]]'' (1965), ''[[How I Won the War]]'' (1967), and ''[[Where Eagles Dare]]'' (1968).<ref name="BFIHORDERN" />|group= n}} including ''[[The Man Who Never Was]]'', ''[[Pacific Destiny]]'', ''[[The Baby and the Battleship]]'', all in 1956, and ''[[I Was Monty's Double (film)|I Was Monty's Double]]'' two years later.<ref name="BFIHORDERN" />

[[File:Playbill for Moonbirds on Broadway 1959.jpg|thumb|left|Hordern (left) and [[Wally Cox]] on ''Playbill''{{'}}s front cover for [[Marcel Aymé|Marcel Aymé's]] comedy ''Moonbirds'' in 1959]]
Hordern was cast in [[John Mortimer|John Mortimer's]] 1957 play ''The Dock Brief'' in which Hordern played the [[barrister]]. The story centres on a failed lawyer who is hired at the last minute to defend a man on a charge of murder.{{#tag:ref|A dock brief is a defunct legal procedure within a courtroom where a defendant answering a criminal charge without legal representation could, on indictment, choose any barrister within the courtroom who was not directly involved in the case to represent them in exchange for a small fee.<ref>[http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095724237 "Dock Brief"], Oxford Index, ''A Dictionary of Law'', Oxford University Press, accessed 31 August 2015.</ref>|group= n}} Hordern played the barrister opposite [[David Kossoff|David Kossoff's]] murder suspect. After some positive comments from the theatrical press, the play transferred to radio in May the same year.<ref>[http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/287e78b0f681463dbdb12c11524809b9 "Michael Hordern and David Kossoff in 'The Dock Brief'"], [[BBC]], accessed 31 August 2015.</ref> It was broadcast on television in September,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a8534347cd3d49198927f5c8cd76a428|title=The Dock Brief BBC Television|work=[[Radio Times]]|date=16 September 1957 |publisher=BBC|access-date=1 October 2019}}</ref> and earned Hordern a [[British Academy Television Award for Best Actor|Best Actor Award]] at the 1958 [[British Academy Television Awards]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Chit Chat|work=The Stage|date=27 March 1958|page=8}}</ref><ref>[http://awards.bafta.org/award/1957/television/actor "Television Actor in 1957: Michael Hordern"], [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (BAFTA), accessed 1 October 2019.</ref> The Horderns moved to [[Donnington, Berkshire]] in 1958 where they renovated three cottages into one; the property became the family home and is where Hordern and Eve remained until their deaths.<ref>Hordern, pp. 123–124.</ref>

The year 1959 was professionally disastrous for Hordern. He made a return to stage at the Old Vic in [[Arthur Wing Pinero|Arthur Wing Pinero's]] ''[[The Magistrate (play)|The Magistrate]]'' in which he played Mr. Posket. The play was not particularly successful and received mixed reviews: According to the author and theatre critic J. P. Wearing, Hordern was miscast,<ref name="WEARING2">Wearing (1950–1959), p. 632.</ref> while a reporter for ''The Stage'', thought he gave a "convincing portrayal".<ref name="WEARING2"/> Wearing believed that overall the play was not "played briskly enough",<ref name="WEARING2"/> while a critic for ''[[The Times]]'' thought that it had "durable theatrical quality".<ref name="WEARING2"/> The role was followed with a part of Pastor Manders in ''Ghosts'' opposite [[Flora Robson]]. ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' published an unenthusiastic notice, and thought Hordern's character had "an anxious air" about him.<ref>''[[The Sunday Times]]'' review; quoted in Hordern, p. 125.</ref> He received equally critical notices when he took to the stage to play [[Macbeth (character)|the title character]] in ''Macbeth'', opposite [[Beatrix Lehmann]]. The press wrote of Hordern's "unintended comic interpretation" when characterising the evil king: "Half his time on stage he cringed like an American carpet seller in an ankle-length black dressing gown of fuzzy candlewick" thought one reviewer, who went on to say "he would make a sinister Shylock, a frightening Fagin. But this Thane of Cawdor would be unnerved by Banquo's valet, never mind Banquo's ghost."<ref>Anonymous critic; quoted in Hordern, p. 125.</ref>

On 9 October 1959, Hordern made his debut on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]<ref name="NYTOBIT">[https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/04/obituaries/sir-michael-hordern-dies-at-83-british-actor-of-infinite-range.html "Sir Michael Hordern Dies at 83; British Actor of Infinite Range"] by Mel Gussow. ''[[The New York Times]]'', 4 May 1995, accessed 16 November 2015.</ref> at the [[James Earl Jones Theatre|Cort Theatre]] in [[Marcel Aymé|Marcel Aymé's]] comedy ''Moonbirds'', alongside the comedian [[Wally Cox]].<ref name="PLAYBILL1">[http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/Whos_who/3543/36015/Moonbirds "Moonbirds"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126184456/http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/Whos_who/3543/36015/Moonbirds |date=26 January 2016 }}, ''[[Playbill]]'', 9 October 1959.</ref> The play was a disaster<ref>Hordern, p. 124.</ref> and closed after only two nights and three performances.<ref name="PLAYBILL1" /> Little was offered in the way of praise, although critics singled out Hordern's performance in particular as being good.<ref>Hischak, p. 309.</ref> He was unsure why the play failed, and attributed it to clashes of personality between cast and management.<ref name="HORDERN83">Hordern, p. 83.</ref>