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===War and post-war=== {{Hatnote|Details of Gielgud's work, 1939β49: [[List of roles and awards of John Gielgud#jgS39|Stage]], [[List of roles and awards of John Gielgud#jgD39|Director]], [[List of roles and awards of John Gielgud#jgR39|Radio]], [[List of roles and awards of John Gielgud#jgF39|Film]], [[List of roles and awards of John Gielgud#jgA39|Accolades]]}} At the start of the Second World War Gielgud volunteered for active service, but was told that men of his age, thirty-five, would not be wanted for at least six months. The government quickly came to the view that most actors would do more good performing to entertain the troops and the general public than serving, whether suitable or not, in the armed forces.<ref name=m168>Morley, p. 168</ref>{{refn|Among Gielgud's colleagues who managed to join up, Alec Guinness and [[Anthony Quayle]] earned distinguished war records, but, more typically in Morley's view, the authorities were very glad to release Richardson and Olivier from the [[Fleet Air Arm]] to rejoin the theatre.<ref name=m168/> Gielgud told [[Jeremy Paxman]] in 1999 that he had recently discovered that Binkie Beaumont secretly told the authorities that Gielgud was unfit for military service, purely to retain his services for Beaumont's productions.<ref>Morley, p. 450</ref>|group=n}} Gielgud directed Michael Redgrave in a 1940 London production of ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'' for the [[Glyndebourne Festival]]. This was a chaotic affair: Gielgud's direction confused his star, and when Redgrave lost his voice Gielgud had to step in and sing the role as best he could. Gielgud felt that something serious or even solemn was necessary for [[The Blitz|wartime London]], where most entertainment was light-hearted. Together with [[Harley Granville-Barker]] and Guthrie he reopened the Old Vic with Shakespeare. His King Lear once again divided the critics, but his Prospero was a considerable success. He played the role quite differently from his attempt on the same stage in 1930: in place of the "manic conjurer"<ref>Morley, p. 172</ref> his Prospero was "very far from the usual mixture of Father Christmas, a Colonial Bishop, and the President of the Magicians' Union ... a clear, arresting picture of a virile Renaissance notable", according to Brown.<ref>Brown, Ivor. "At the Play", ''The Observer'', 2 June 1940, p. 10</ref> The critics singled out, among the other players, [[Jack Hawkins]] as Caliban, [[Marius Goring]] as Ariel, [[Jessica Tandy]] as Miranda and Alec Guinness as Ferdinand.<ref>"Old Vic", ''The Times'', 30 May 1940, p. 4; and Brown, Ivor. "At the Play", ''The Observer'', 2 June 1940, p. 10</ref> Following the example of several of his stage colleagues, Gielgud joined tours of military camps. He gave recitals of prose and poetry, and acted in a triple bill of short plays, including two from Coward's ''[[Tonight at 8.30]]'', but he found at first that less highbrow performers like [[Beatrice Lillie]] were better than he at entertaining the troops.<ref name=m172/> He returned to filming in 1940, as [[Disraeli]] in [[Thorold Dickinson]]'s ''[[The Prime Minister (film)|The Prime Minister]]''. In this morale-boosting film he portrayed the politician from ages thirty to seventy; this was, in Morley's view, the first time he seemed at home before the camera.<ref name=m172>Morley, pp. 172β174</ref> Gielgud made no more films for the next ten years; he turned down the role of [[Julius Caesar]] in the [[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|1945 film]] of Shaw's ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' with [[Vivien Leigh]]. He and Leigh were close friends, and Shaw tried hard to persuade him to play the part, but Gielgud had taken a strong dislike to the director, [[Gabriel Pascal]].<ref>Croall (2011), p. 300</ref> Caesar was eventually played by Gielgud's former teacher, Claude Rains.{{refn|Although Rains had enjoyed a long and successful career as a film actor, Gielgud was so out of touch with the film world that, according to [[Peter Ustinov]], he once said in an interview that at drama school he had a wonderful teacher. "His name was Claude Rains.{{space}}... I don't know what happened to him. I think he failed and went to America."<ref>Ustinov, p. 201</ref>|group=n}} Throughout 1941 and 1942 Gielgud worked continually, in Barrie's ''Dear Brutus'', another ''Importance of Being Earnest'' in the West End, and ''[[Macbeth]]'' on tour.<ref name=roles/> Returning, with more assurance than before, to entertaining the troops, he so far departed from his classical style as to join Lillie and [[Michael Wilding]] singing a comic trio.<ref>Morley, p. 181</ref> His 1943 revival of [[William Congreve]]'s ''[[Love for Love]]'' on tour and then in London received high praise from reviewers.<ref name=dnb/> In 1944 he was approached by Ralph Richardson, who had been asked by the governors of the Old Vic to form a new company. Unwilling to take sole charge, Richardson proposed a managing triumvirate of Gielgud, Olivier and himself. Gielgud declined: "It would be a disaster, you would have to spend your whole time as referee between Larry and me."<ref>Miller, p. 83</ref> [[File:Gielgud and Haas in Crime and Punishment.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Gielgud and [[Dolly Haas]] in ''Crime and Punishment'', Broadway, 1947]] A 1944β45 season at the [[Haymarket Theatre|Haymarket]] for Beaumont included a Hamlet that many considered his finest. Agate wrote, "Mr Gielgud is now completely and authoritatively master of this tremendous part.{{space}}... I hold that this is, and is likely to remain, the best Hamlet of our time."<ref>Gielgud (1979), pp. 238β239</ref> Also in the season were ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''[[The Duchess of Malfi]]'' and the first major revival of ''[[Lady Windermere's Fan]]'' (1945).<ref name=roles/> These productions attracted much praise, but at this point in his career Gielgud was somewhat overshadowed by his old colleagues. Olivier was celebrated for his recent film of ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]'', and with Richardson (and [[John Burrell (theatre director)|John Burrell]] in Gielgud's stead) was making the Old Vic "the most famous theatre in the Anglo-Saxon world" according to the critic [[Harold Hobson]].<ref>Hobson, p. 55</ref> In May 1945 Gielgud bought [[Barton Street and Cowley Street, Westminster|No.16, Cowley Street]], a [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] townhouse in [[Westminster]], central London, which remained his home for the next 31 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/john-gielgud/|title=Blue Plaques: John Gielgud, Actor & Director|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|access-date=23 December 2024}}</ref>{{refn|In 2017 Dame [[Judi Dench]] unveiled an [[English Heritage]] [[Blue plaque]] at the house, commemorating Gielgud's 31-year residence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/john-gielgud-blue-plaque/|title=Sir John Gielgud receives English Heritage Blue Plaque|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|date=27 April 2017|access-date=23 December 2024}}</ref>|group=n}} In late 1945 and early 1946 he toured for [[ENSA]] in the Middle and Far East with ''Hamlet'' and Coward's ''[[Blithe Spirit (play)|Blithe Spirit]]''. During this tour he played Hamlet on stage for the last time.<ref name=roles/> He was [[Rodion Raskolnikov|Raskolnikoff]] in a stage version of ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', in the West End in 1946 and on Broadway the following year.<ref name=roles/> Agate thought it the best thing Gielgud had done so far, other than Hamlet.<ref>Hayman, p. 154</ref> Between these two engagements Gielgud toured North America in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' and ''Love for Love''. Edith Evans was tired of the role of Lady Bracknell, and refused to join him; [[Margaret Rutherford]] played the part to great acclaim.<ref>Atkinson, Brooks. [https://www.nytimes.com/1947/03/09/archives/john-gielguds-version-of-oscar-wildes-play.html "Style in Comedy β John Gielgud's Version of Oscar Wilde's Play"], ''The New York Times'', 9 March 1947, p. XI {{subscription}}; and Morley, p. 192</ref> Gielgud was in demand as a director, with six productions in 1948β49. They included ''[[The Heiress (1947 play)|The Heiress]]'' in 1949, when he was brought in at the last moment to direct Richardson and Ashcroft, saving what seemed a doomed production; it ran for 644 performances.<ref>Miller, pp. 130β132; and Gaye, p. 1526</ref> His last big hit of the 1940s was as Thomas Mendip in ''[[The Lady's Not for Burning]]'', which he also directed. The London cast included the young [[Claire Bloom]] and [[Richard Burton]], who went with Gielgud when he took the piece to the US the following year.<ref>Croall (2011), pp. 353β355</ref>
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