Five Fingers

« There was something electric and at the same time very dangerous about James which had nothing at all to do with conventional screen stardom. He was one of the few people who could really frighten me, and yet at the same time he was the most gentle and courteous of men. When James Mason died in 1984 at the age of 75, he left behind more than one hundred films, two wives, two children, a surprisingly modest legacy, and one overriding question : how was it that the most intelligent and intriguing character actor of his screen generation, and arguably the most talented and distinguished of all the post-war Hollywood raj, went to his grave so personally unknown and professionally uncredited ? James Mason's distinguished reportoire ranged from character actor, his early British films and those with such Hollywood giants as Ava Gardner to his later outstanding performances. Mason's personal politics alienated him from the mainstream of popular affection and examines the reasons why Mason took a backseat to such contemporaries such as Cary Grant, Rex Harrison and David Niven. He possessed as many enemies as friends during a troubled life where he was a misunderstood talent. James Mason was an actor of contradictions.
He was a quietly spoken, deeply private man who chose to follow the most public of careers. The richness of his voice was used to memorable effect in his film work. « I have not for some years seen an actor with such a gift for sinister characterisation. » wrote Daily Telegraph critic W A Darlington on a student production Mason appeared in at Cambridge.