21 August – Birthday Cake for Filmfolk

Image by Kgayhart

We don’t suggest film-makers are horses, but several interesting players celebrate birthdays today…

1892: Charles Vanel

Charles was the whispery menace of films of the 1940s and 1950s, most memorably in The Wages of Fear (above) and To Catch a Thief (below).

1924: Jack Weston

His career didn’t have many highlights, but as Elaine May’s corrupt and needy attorney in A New Leaf, he was sensational.

1930: Frank Perry

He had more misses than hits, but The Swimmer, based on a story by John Cheever, was out of the top drawer:

1944: Peter Weir

Probably the greatest Australian director, whose films include The Cars That Ate Paris (below), The Last Wave, Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously, Witness, The Mosquito Coast, Master and Commander, and, of course, the sublime Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Happy Birthday all!