new Christopher Plummer book

[Phil Rosenthal]

I just borrowed Christopher Plummer's new book "In Spite of Myself" from the local library. The dust jacket says "He writes about his (too brief) encounters with his favorite geniuses, Orson Welles and Jonathan Miller." Unfortunately the book (which is over 600 pages long) has no index, so it's hard finding what you're looking for. I found his recollection of meeting and working with Welles while making "Oedipus the King", which begins on page 448. Plummer is a good storyteller, and it's worth checking out.

[ToddBaesen]

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Christopher Plummer was certainly a Welles fan.

In his autobiography he tells how Welles asked him to play Prince Hal in Falstaff, and frankly, with no slight against Keith Baxter's wonderful performance in the film, I can only think that if Plummer had actually done the role, after having appeared in the biggest box office success since Gone With The Wind, (The Sound of Musicz), it could have only helped put Falstaff on the map for people, especially after the film barely got released in America in 1967.

[Alan Brody]

It seems to me that Plummer might have been too old for the role, seeing as how in 1965 when Chimes was made, he would have been about 36. At the beginning of the story Prince Hal is supposed to be about 16; about 17 when he slays Hotspur, and about 27 when he becomes king and rejects Falstaff. Plummer's character in the 1965 Sound of Music, Captain Von Trapp, actually has a daughter who is 'sixteen-going-on- seventeen'. In fact, one could even argue that Kieth Baxter, at 31, was a bit old for the early scenes too, but then he looked a lot more boyish then Plummer probably would have. I think Plummer would have made an excellent Hotspur, and again, although one can hardly quibble with Norman Rodway's performance, Plummer as you mentioned, would have provided more star power.