Editing Charles Laughton (section)

===1933–1943===
[[File:Charles Laughton in Mutiny on the Bounty trailer.jpg|right|thumb|From the trailer for [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']] (1935)]]
After his smashing success in ''[[The Private Life of Henry VIII]]'', Laughton soon abandoned the stage for films and returned to Hollywood, where his next film was ''[[White Woman]]'' (1933) in which he co-starred with [[Carole Lombard]] as a [[Cockney]] river trader in the [[British Malaya|Malayan]] jungle. Then came ''[[The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 film)|The Barretts of Wimpole Street]]'' (1934) as the malevolent father of [[Norma Shearer]]'s character (although Laughton was only three years older than Shearer); ''[[Les Misérables (1935 film)|Les Misérables]]'' (1935) as Inspector [[Javert]]; one of his most famous screen roles in ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1935) as Captain [[William Bligh]], co-starring with [[Clark Gable]] as [[Fletcher Christian]]; and ''[[Ruggles of Red Gap]]'' (1935) as the very English butler transported to early 1900s America. He signed to play Micawber in ''[[David Copperfield (1935 film)|David Copperfield]]'' (1934), but after a few days' shooting asked to be released from the role and was replaced by [[W. C. Fields]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-post-gazette-career-of-melvin/149213675/ |title=Career of Melvin Purvis Will Be Brought to Screen |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |page=9 |date=27 October 1934 |access-date=12 June 2024 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Back in the UK, and again with Korda, he played the title role in ''[[Rembrandt (1936 film)|Rembrandt]]'' (1936). In 1937, also for Korda, he starred in an ill-fated film version of the classic novel, ''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]'', by [[Robert Graves]], which was abandoned during filming owing to the injuries suffered by co-star [[Merle Oberon]] in a car crash. After ''I, Claudius'', he and the expatriate German film producer [[Erich Pommer]] founded the production company [[Mayflower Pictures]] in the UK, which produced three films starring Laughton: ''[[Vessel of Wrath]]'' (US title ''[[The Beachcomber (1938 film)|The Beachcomber]]'') (1938), based on a story by [[W. Somerset Maugham]], in which his wife, Elsa Lanchester, co-starred; ''[[Sidewalks of London|St. Martin's Lane]]'' (US title ''[[Sidewalks of London]]''), about London street entertainers, which featured [[Vivien Leigh]] and [[Rex Harrison]]; and ''[[Jamaica Inn (film)|Jamaica Inn]]'', with [[Maureen O'Hara]] and [[Robert Newton]], about [[Cornwall|Cornish]] shipwreckers, based on [[Daphne du Maurier]]'s novel (and the last film [[Alfred Hitchcock]] directed in Britain), before moving to Hollywood in the late 1930s.

The films produced were not commercially successful enough, and the company was rescued from bankruptcy only when [[RKO Pictures]] offered Laughton the title role ([[Quasimodo]]) in ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' (1939), with ''Jamaica Inn'' co-star O'Hara. Laughton and Pommer had plans to make further films, but the outbreak of [[World War II]], which implied the loss of many foreign markets, meant the end of the company. Laughton's early success in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' established him as one of the leading interpreters of the costume and historical drama roles for which he is best remembered (Nero, Henry VIII, Mr. Barrett, Inspector Javert, Captain Bligh, Rembrandt, Quasimodo, and others); he was also type-cast as arrogant, unscrupulous characters.{{Citation needed|date=May 2012}}

He largely moved away from historical roles when he played an Italian vineyard owner in California in ''[[They Knew What They Wanted (film)|They Knew What They Wanted]]'' (1940); a South Seas patriarch in ''[[The Tuttles of Tahiti]]'' (1942); and a US admiral during World War II in ''[[Stand By for Action]]'' (1942). He played a [[Victorian era|Victorian]] butler in ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943) and an Australian bar-owner in ''[[The Man from Down Under]]'' (1943). [[Simon Callow]]'s 1987 biography quotes a number of contemporary reviews of Laughton's performances in these films. [[James Agate]], reviewing ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'', wrote: "Is there no-one at RKO to tell Charles Laughton when he is being plain bad?" On the other hand, [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' declared that ''Forever and a Day'' boasted "superb performances".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F00E5D61E39E33BBC4B52DFB5668388659EDE|work=The New York Times|first=Bosley|last=Crowther|title='Forever and a Day', Pageant of Some English People, Made Cooperatively in Hollywood, Is Attraction at the Rivoli|date=13 March 1943}}</ref>

[[C. A. Lejeune]], wrote Callow, was "shocked" by the poor quality of Laughton's work of that period: "One of the most painful screen phenomena of latter years", she wrote in ''[[The Observer]]'', "has been the decline and fall of Charles Laughton." On the other hand, [[David Shipman (writer)|David Shipman]], in his book ''The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years'', said "Laughton was a total actor. His range was wide".<ref>David Shipman ''The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years'', London: Macdonald, 1989, p.353</ref>