Brian Donlevy, the Good Bad Guy: A Bio-Filmography

by Derek Sculthorpe

Overview

Brian Donlevy (1901-1972) was an underrated film actor with surprising range and a little-heralded gift for comedy. Often typecast as a villain, he played the definitive bad guy in such films as Destry Rides Again, Union Pacific and Beau Geste (all in 1939). He showed his versatility in the title role of Preston Sturges' political satire The Great McGinty (1940) and impressed both New York critics and the Soviet government as the cooly authoritative Major Caton in Wake Island (1942).

Donlevy was fondly remembered as globe-trotting U.S. Special Agent Steve Mitchell in the television series Dangerous Assignment (1952) and as Professor Quatermass in two acclaimed science fiction films.

This first ever biography of Donlevy covers his colorful early life as a boy soldier, his years playing comedy roles on Broadway and his long career in Hollywood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476626581
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	01/25/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	220
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Derek Sculthorpe, an archives assistant and researcher, has written plays, short stories and articles. He lives in Leeds, Yorkshire.
Derek Sculthorpe, an archives assistant and researcher, has written plays, short stories and articles. He lives in Leeds, Yorkshire.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
 1. “Mention my name in Sheboygan”
 2. Broadway: “Mr. Donlevy is between engagements”
 3. Hollywood at Last: The Fox Years
 4. Beau Geste and Beyond
 5. The Great Donlevy
 6. The War Years: Riding High at Paramount
 7. “Gentlemen, this is my wife…”
 8. The Postwar Years
 9. Impact and the Early 1950s
10. Radio and Television
11. Quatermass to the Rescue
12. Fade Out
13. Happiness with Lillian
Epilogue
Appendices
delete Filmography delete165 delete• deleteTheater delete169 delete• deleteRadio delete170 delete• delete
delete Television delete174 delete• deleteRecordings
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Sculthorpe’s analyses are superb...Sculthorpe does a fine job resurrecting Donlevy’s ‘intriguing if very uneven career.’ He is a good writer with solid, definite opinions and a knack for telling an interesting story. His research is amazing, unearthing many nuggets...very impressive”—Classic Images; “Sculthorpe has done a great job in providing readers with a very useful bio-filmography of the actor and his achievements in film, radio, theater, and television.”—Film International.

From the Publisher