Sir Percy - A Ripping Good Scoundrel

If I had to list the most praiseworthy and lovable scoundrel of all the dastardly villains that ever dared show their face on the silver screen, Sir Percival Ware-Armitage of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines ( 1965 ) would rank high on the list. 

Like Jack Lemmon's marvelous portrayal of Professor Fate in that equally entertaining race classic The Great Race ( 1965 ), Terry-Thomas made the part of Sir Percy completely his own. It could never be replicated by another actor, for even the name Sir Percy tends to conjures up images of Terry-Thomas' gap-toothed grin. 

Speakeasy, Shadows and Satin, and Silver Screenings are co-hosting the 4th annual Great Villain Blogathon which gives me the opportunity to gush about what makes Sir Percy such a stupendous bounder. But before I go into this let me just give you a brief account of the setting of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines : 

The year is 1910 and Lord Rawnsley, a wealthy newspaper publisher, sets out to prove that Britain rules the air as well as the sea by sponsoring an International Air Race from London to Paris. Flyers from all around the world are invited to take part in the race. These magnificent men include an Italian count ( Alberto Sordi ), an amiable Texan ( Stuart Whitman ), an intrepid German ( Gert Forbe ), a Japanese man ( Yujiro Ishihara ), a womanizing Frenchman ( Jean-Pierre Cassel ) and Britain's very own hero the dashing Richard Mays ( James Fox ). Where there is a hero you will often find a wrongdoer as well, and in this case it is none other than Sir Percival Ware-Armitage, whose skulduggery endangers all the flyers. Naturally....

The ultimate test of any disrespectable villain is his ability to maintain the lowest of standards. Now Sir Percy is not an forthright evil man, and you'll never catch him directly murdering a fellow ( he may arrange to get him smashed to pieces in an accident instead ), molesting children ( does sticking a lollipop in their hair count? ), or stalking someone ( that's what his stooge is paid to do ), but nevertheless he embodies certain qualities and lives up to a code that I believe all villains should strive for : 

1. An Untrustworthy Appearance 

Anyone should be able to recognize a villain by his appearance. Shifty eyes are a given, but added to that must be some thoroughly unsavory facial expressions such as sneering, muttering to oneself, and biting one's lip. Sir Percy nails these traits. A handlebar mustache and a dangling cigar only add to his charm. Since he is an English "gentleman", too, he dresses to the tee in all occasions. Pip-pip, old bean!

2. Ingenuity

Sabotage isn't easy and it takes a great deal of creative thought to devise schemes on the fly. Sir Percy had to tax his ingenuity to the limit for the International Air Race from cutting the wires on his opponent's planes to spiking their drinks with poison. 

3. Perseverance

When the going gets really tough and you find all your brilliant plans of sabotage lying to waste on the wayside - Hard cheese! - that's the time you need perseverance. Sir Percy desperately wanted to win the air race so he never let set-backs get him down. After stomping his foot and pouting a bit he would grit his teeth and start to work on a new tactic. 

4. The Ability to Hiss

It's taken for granted that all villains hiss, but in reality few can be proven as having done so. Sir Percy is a bonafide hisser....with Terry-Thomas portraying him he was bound to be one! Gapped teeth are a rare commodity in the acting world and so Terry-Thomas made the most of his natural born gift and whistles whenever possible. 

5. Knowing How to Lose Like a Villain

If you find yourself thoroughly beaten at the end of the day and quite knackered, then there is no reason to play noble. Here is your opportunity to shake your fist at your opponent, curse him, or throw yourself on the floor and cry ( kicking up your legs as you do so ). If Sir Percy had the German flyer's blunderbuss on hand when he was defeated he surely would have used it on the winner of the race. 

This post is our contribution to The Great Villain Blogathon being hosted by Speakeasy, Silver Screenings, and Shadows and Satin. Be sure to head on over to any of their blogs to read posts about some rattling good villains of the silver screen.

George Brougham in The List of Adrian Messenger ( 1963 )

The devil in disguise. That is the only phrase that can be used to describe George Brougham, portrayed with admirable ferociousness by Kirk Douglas in John Huston's overlooked dark thriller The List of Adrian Messenger ( 1963 ). He is the most vile of villains for he has no conscience to reprimand him and will equally do harm to man, woman, or child. Murder is only a means by which he can accomplish his objective. One by one he crosses off the names of his victims from the list he keeps in his little black book until only one remains; the name of the final person standing in the way of his diabolical plan. However, writer Adrian Messenger ( John Merivale ) discovers his ghastly scheme while doing research for his memoir and duplicates the list of intended victims, all of whom are bound by a common thread. 

When Messenger dies in a plane bombing, his friend, former MI6 agent Colonel Anthony Gethryn (George C. Scott ), decides to investigate the list of contacts that was left in his care. Aiding him in his endeavor is Raoul ( Jacques Roux ), the sole survivor of the plane crash and the only man who overheard Messenger's cryptic last words. Together they discover that seven of the eleven men on the list have already perished in "accidental" deaths. 

So clever is Brougham that each one of his victims appears to have been a passenger in a mass transit accident or came to an abrupt demise on their own. No two of his crimes are alike. Drowning, stabbing, bombing, hit and run....he employs all methods. As a double insurance against being discovered, Brougham utilizes heavy disguises while in the preparation of annihilating his victims. These were not unpremeditated crimes he was committing, each one was strategically planned with no room for error. 

The List of Adrian Messenger was released in late May of 1963 and was heavily promoted for its mystery gimmick - five leading actors were selected to be buried under cakes of makeup and the audience had the fun of trying to spot who is who and who is not whom they seem to be. Tony Curtis, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum were the actors who provided cameos, but so thick is their makeup that it is difficult to distinguish them, save for Robert Mitchum.

John Huston had just completed filming Hud and wanted to delve into a project that he could relax with. The List of Adrian Messenger provided him with an excuse to return to his ancestral home of Ireland and indulge in one of his favorite pastimes : fox-hunting. Some of the most impressive scenes in this fun thriller revolve around the hunt sequences. 

This unique endeavor also allowed Huston to work alongside screenwriter Anthony Veiller whom he collaborated with on Beat the Devil ( 1953 ) and, later, on The Night of the Iguana ( 1964 ). Veiller crafted his script from the first book in the Anthony Gethryn series created by novelist Philip MacDonald ( "The Lost Patrol", "X v. Rex" ).

George C. Scott is excellent as a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, trying to put himself into the shoes of the killer and anticipate his next move before he strikes, but he finds it is a fiend more cunning than Moriarty that he is up against. Jacques Roux is also very good as his Dr. Watson, acting as a sounding board for the brainstorms of the retired agent. Playing his love-interest is the stately Dana Wynter, and rounding out the cast are some of Hollywood's veteran Brits : Herbert Marshall, Gladys Cooper and Clive Brook. 

Even with such an impressive cast it is Kirk Douglas, who is credited on the original posters only as a "cameo" actor, that steals the film with his portrayal of the devious George Brougham. He is an egotistical killer who, in his warped mind, derives immense satisfaction in his own cleverness. 

Jerry Goldsmith penned a wicked tango theme that plays in a leisurely fashion during each of Brougham's scenes, emphasizing the gentle patience in which Brougham goes about executing his crimes. Unlike some villains who are so evil they're good, George Brougham is just plain evil. He is a villain beyond hope of redemption and, ultimately, he receives his just punishment.

This post is our contribution to The Great Villain Blogathon being hosted by Speakeasy, Shadows and Satin, and Silver Screenings running from April 13-17th. Be sure to head on over to their sites to check out all the dastardly villains being dished up.