Talk:Albert Finney

Untitled
Some IDIOTIC ARSEHOLE is removing correct facts about Finney's theatrical carrer. This might be worth including:

Peter Bradshaw Friday February 24, 2006 The Guardian Albert Finney turned down a knighthood some years ago, remarking: Maybe people in America think being a Sir is a big deal. But I think we should all be misters together.

Palefire 01:03, 21 April 2006 (UTC)

So apparently being an actor consists of being nominated for and winning awards. Finney appeared in the film NETWORK in 1976

Movie Career
I love that in a career spanning 60 years, he's best known overwhelmingly for movies he made in the last 20. Only on wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:441:4D00:5960:51E8:B9E6:141F:8516 (talk) 10:46, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

The Wall
Why is his part in Pnk Floyd The Wall not mentioned? I'd add it myself but i dont know enough about the film. AlmightyClam (talk) 15:50, 3 February 2008 (UTC)


 * He's not in the Wall. 2601:441:4D00:5960:51E8:B9E6:141F:8516 (talk) 10:45, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

Lawrence of Arabia
In every book and article I have read about David Lean and the making of Lawrence of Arabia, there has never been a mention that Finney quit after four days of shooting. Finney was used in shooting screentests that cost 100,000 pounds. He refused to sign a 7-year-contract required by producer Sam Spiegel, so did not get the role.Shemp Howard, Jr. (talk) 04:07, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

It is no reflection on Finney that the screen tests cost what they did. Is it really notable that he stepped away from the role? Surely this is common in the field.172.10.238.180 (talk) 07:15, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Golden Globes
First off, as a cineaste, I would not mention the corrupt Golden Globe Awards in any article I would write about the cinema, but setting it apart like it is in this article is ridiculous.Shemp Howard, Jr. (talk) 04:07, 21 February 2012 (UTC)

Finney's theatrical career
This was considerable and merits more than a mere passing mention. [unsigned]

Peter Hall's production of Tamburlaine, with Finney in the title role, was the launch production for the Olivier Theatre at the new National Theatre building in October 1976. It was a considerable indication of Finney's status at the time. The play got goodish but mixed reviews: it was impressive but extremely long and, while everyone admitted Finney's charisma, he was said to be gabbling his lines. (The actor may have felt that the critics were indulging in a bit of snobbery.)

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/ren/projects/elizabethan_jacobean_drama/christopher_marlowe/tamburlaine_stage_history/professional/1976nt/

Hall's 1975 NT Hamlet, again with Finney in the lead, premiered at the Old Vic and was then revived at both the Olivier and the Lyttelton in the new building from 1976, confirming Finney as a box-office draw: it was quite difficult to get tickets for the new building's shows. Again, though, Finney was criticised for gabbling, and for being too bluff and brutal, as if he'd taken a bet to deliver the 'To be or not to be' soliloquy in record time or something. Supposedly, though, his attitude to 'playing the Dane' was typically Northern and quite relaxed:-

'For the actor, the part demands a razor-like intelligence, sardonic humour and great vulnerability. It’s an impossible role and a gruelling marathon to boot. But at least its author built in some tea breaks. Albert Finney, for one, took full advantage. After “how all occasions do inform against me”, he would go off and have a Guinness, a smoke and a snooze before coming back on for the Gravedigger.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-features/8025080/Hamlet-what-a-piece-of-work-is-this-prince-of-roles.html

At any rate, unlike Richard Burton, or Anthony Hopkins (who accepted a knighthood, something Finney disdains), he did a good deal of theatre at the peak of his career and never thought films were the be-all and end-all. His one film as director, Charlie Bubbles, is a minor-key masterpiece, but not calculated to make the fat potentates of Hollywood line up to hand him more money. Khamba Tendal (talk) 19:31, 31 January 2018 (UTC)

Shakespearean actor?
Re: "began to work in the theatre as a Shakespearean actor before attaining prominence on screen in the early 1960s"

Certainly Finney's early (and later) work included some Shakespeare (as would any actor's have in the late 50s UK), but Finney's most celebrated stage work - and most of the noted early work - was not Shakespeare. Was it? Pincrete (talk) 20:20, 10 February 2019 (UTC)
 * So, The Party and Luther, yes. But are you perhaps thinking of others? Black Comedy is also listed, but it's currently not "noted" in the article text. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:36, 10 February 2019 (UTC)
 * I'm merely noting that the opening para "began to work in the theatre as a Shakespearean actor before attaining prominence on screen..." isn't born out by the body. Finney, from the beginning, was someone who 'also did the bard', which is probably true of 90% of 'straight' UK actors at that time and most still now. His most notable work - from the start - was not WS. Pincrete (talk) 00:20, 11 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Tend to agree. Martinevans123 (talk) 08:39, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in 2000s ??
The claim in the 2000s section that Finney "continued his association with the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic in London" - apart from being uncited, is pretty unkikely since the National moved out of the Old Vic in the mid/late 1970s!

I dimly recall a Finney Cherry Orchard early in the NT's life on the South Bank (late '70s) and him working for a season there at that time. Pincrete (talk) 12:49, 2 April 2019 (UTC)