Number of appearances as a pirate: 3 feature films, plus 24 TV episodes
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Treasure Island
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Blackbeard the Pirate
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Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
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The Adventures of Long John Silver
Appearances as a seafarer:
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Yellow Sands
- Dark Journey
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Hell's Cargo
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Waterfront
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Treasure Island
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Blackbeard the Pirate
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Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
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The Adventures of Long John Silver
Other films in which he goes to sea:
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Farewell Again
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Channel Incident (?)
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Night Boat to Dublin
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Les Miserables
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Around the World in 80 Days
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The Beachcomber
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Jamaica Inn (participates in the wrecking of ships, maneuvers a rowboat, and swims in rough waters)
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Temptation Harbour (works as a signalman at the harbor) (SG)
Performances in which he speaks with a West Country accent:
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Yellow Sands
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Busman's Honeymoon
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Treasure Island
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Blackbeard the Pirate
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Soldiers Three
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Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
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The Adventures of Long John Silver
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Herald/Schlitz Playhouse: "The Baker of Barnbury"
Films or programs in which he plays the main character:
- Dead Men Are Dangerous
- Hatter's Castle
- This Happy Breed
- Night Boat to Dublin
- Temptation Harbour
- Obsession
- Waterfront
- Blackbeard the Pirate
- Herald Playhouse "The Baker of Barnbury"
- Lux Video Theatre "The Ascent of Alfred Fishkettle"
- Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
- The Adventures of Long John Silver (series)
- The Beachcomber
Films or programs in which he plays a romantic lead:
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Jamaica Inn
- The Squeaker
- The Green Cockatoo (sort of)
- Dead Men Are Dangerous
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They Flew Alone (a.k.a. Wings and the Woman)
- This Happy Breed
- Night Boat to Dublin
- Herald/Schlitz Playhouse: "The Baker of Barnbury"
- The Adventures of Long John Silver
Films or programs in which he plays a villain:
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Hatter's Castle
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Kiss the Blood Off My Hands
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Oliver Twist
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Obsession
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Treasure Island (depending on your perspective!)
- Les Miserables
- Blackbeard the Pirate
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "The Derelicts"
- Around the World in 80 Days
Appearances as a comic (or semi-comic) character:
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Major Barbara
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Henry V
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Soldiers Three
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Androcles and the Lion
Films directed or edited by David Lean:
- Major Barbara
- This Happy Breed
- Oliver Twist
Films scored by Victor Young:
- Blackbeard the Pirate
- Around the World in 80 Days
Celluloid pets:
- Monty the dog in Obsession
- Bullseye the dog in Oliver Twist
- Captain Flint the parrot in Treasure Island and Long John Silver's Return to Treasure Island
Number of onscreen appearances with ...
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Lookalike Leo Genn (1)
Richard Burton (2)
David Niven (2)
Cyril Cusack (2)
Brefni O'Rorke (Cyril Cusack's step-father)
(2)
Herbert Lom (2)
Denis O'Dea (2)
John Howard Davies (2)
Edmund Lowe (2)
Tamara Desni (2)
Diana Wynyard (2)
Deborah Kerr (2)
Kay Walsh (a.k.a. Mrs. David Lean) (2)
Glynis Johns (2)
Alan Mowbray (3)
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Torin Thatcher (3)
Ralph Truman (3)
Sebastian Shaw (3)
Stanley Holloway (3)
John Mills (3)
Charles Laughton (3)
James Mason (4)
Flora Robson (4)
Hay Petrie (4)
Emlyn Williams (4)
Leslie Banks (6)
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| ___________ *no scenes together |
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That strange feeling of déjà vu
If you've seen many of Robert Newton's movies, it's not déjà vu you're experiencing; you really have seen him work with that familiar-looking actor before. The versatile Leslie Banks wins the grand prize for appearing in six films with Robert Newton, each role a very different type of character, which is even more remarkable considering Banks made only 35 films in total.
Welsh writer/director/actor Emlyn Williams, who was born the same year as Newton and gave his friend Richard Burton his first big break, is tied with Flora Robson, Elsa Lanchester, and James Mason for second place, each with four costarring roles. (Olivier's fourth "role" doesn't fully count since he doesn't actually appear in This Happy Breed.) Ironically, Williams and Newton were pitted against each other in all four films. In both I, Claudius and Jamaica Inn, Williams, as the villain, terrorizes Newton's character, kicking him to the floor in the former and trying to hang him, then tying him to a chair and slapping him in the face in the latter. In Major Barbara, they appear on the screen together only briefly, just enough time for Williams's unsavory character to swipe Newton's donation and to witness and scurry off to report his abuse of Salvation Army worker Deborah Kerr. Finally, playing duelling villains, Newton defeats Williams once and for all in Hatter's Castle, even though Williams's character may think he's got the last word in!
Meanwhile, poor Deborah Kerr (who herself appeared in three films opposite Emlyn Williams and once played the lead in his play The Corn Is Green in honor of his 80th birthday) was twice terrorized by Newton, being slugged in the face and knocked to the ground by him in Major Barbara and only a year later being roughly thrown out into a raging storm in Hatter's Castle—adding insult to the injury she's already suffered at the hand of Williams's character. (In real life, Kerr described Robert Newton as "a very dear man.")
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Perennial adversaries: Robert Newton
and Emlyn Williams
(click on thumbnail for larger image; click on quote for a RealAudio clip from the scene) |
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If you can think of any more career coincidences that should be listed here but aren't, please let me know. Click here to send me an e-mail. Thanks go out to the following contributors, whose initials appear next to their contributions: Vikki Cole-Richardson, and Susan Gantz.