Anthony Higgins makes cultivated arrogance entertaining through the precision of his delivery. We recommend The Draughtsman's Contract as the clearest evidence of his appeal, though his formality can keep us at a distance.
Fi1m perspective
In The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), Anthony Higgins's Mr Neville speaks with the assurance of someone who expects his judgement to settle the matter. Higgins makes that confidence enjoyable, even when Neville is making himself difficult company. Peter Greenaway's formal dialogue suits his precise delivery, and Higgins is comfortable letting the speech sound artificial. We laughed at the civil insults, because the polite delivery makes the discourtesy worse.
Before Neville, Higgins played Emil in Vampire Circus (1972), credited as Anthony Corlan, and Gobler in Steven Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Our enthusiasm for Raiders rests on its clear action and Harrison Ford's battered capability. It gives us less reason to dwell on Higgins than Greenaway's film does. The latter brought him international notice in a leading part suited to his ease with formal dialogue.
Just as important is the company Greenaway gives him. Janet Suzman's Virginia Herbert and Anne-Louise Lambert's Sarah Talmann meet Neville with a restraint that prevents the exchanges becoming a recital of his cleverness. Higgins can be assured without making the whole film defer to him. His performance makes us care about how much Neville understands what he sees, a considerable help in a film so concerned with looking.
There is a cost to all that careful speech. The mannered conversation can leave the people remote, and Higgins's command of it does not entirely overcome the distance. At times we are listening so closely for the insult that the person delivering it becomes secondary. That is a limitation of this performance as well as of Greenaway's approach, though it does not spoil the pleasure.
Later work often placed him in supporting film parts and British television, with Professor Rathe in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) among the film roles. His precise delivery makes sense for characters accustomed to authority, though those parts need to offer him more than an imposing manner. Start with The Draughtsman's Contract, where Suzman and Lambert ensure that his assurance has something to contend with.
Biography
Anthony Higgins (born 9 May 1947) is an English stage, film and television actor, also credited early in his career as Anthony Corlan. He trained at the school of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company and began his professional stage career in 1967, performing with companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company.
His film roles include Major Gobler in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Mr Neville in The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), Professor Rathe in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), and Comte de Vaudrec in Bel Ami (2012). Television appearances encompass The Eagle of the Ninth (1977), Agatha Christie's Marple (2004) and Lewis (2009). He received the Time Out Best Actor award in 1979 for his RSC work.
