Arthur Lowe lets us see how badly a pompous man needs to be taken seriously. We value the precision and sympathy of his comedy, though repeated routines sometimes ask too little of him.
Fi1m perspective
Captain George Mainwaring insists on being treated as the senior man, and Arthur Lowe gives that insistence his full attention. In Dad's Army (1968), he never seems to be asking us to notice how funny the captain is. His seriousness makes the need for respect visible, so the pomposity has something at stake beyond the next laugh. John Le Mesurier's Sergeant Arthur Wilson can disturb his certainty with a hesitation; Lowe supplies the firmness that makes such a small hesitation count.
Before Mainwaring, Coronation Street (1960) brought Lowe national recognition as Leonard Swindley, a draper and lay preacher. He reprised Swindley in two spin-off series, and Dad's Army went on to define his later career. The repeated casting as self-important men makes sense: he is precise about the behaviour without suggesting that we should dismiss the person. It also became a restriction, with later television comedy returning him to familiar types despite his straight roles in the theatre.
In Dad's Army, we were moved by how hard Lowe works to keep Mainwaring's dignity intact, even while making his pomposity funny. We can see the effort behind the captain's demands for respect, and begin to wish that someone would grant him a little. Jimmy Perry and David Croft give that effort room by allowing their men to be tiresome without making them merely a nuisance. The limitation is repetition: several episodes together can make behaviour that was finely observed feel overworked. Lowe's precision remains worth watching, but it cannot make every return to a familiar routine equally rewarding.
The films offer a way beyond that familiarity: Lowe plays Mr Kemp in Lindsay Anderson's if.... (1968), and Tucker, the family retainer, in Peter Medak's black comedy The Ruling Class (1972). Those parts belong beside the television work, though Mainwaring remains the performance we would send someone to first. The pleasure is in Lowe's dealings with Le Mesurier, where a small difference in delivery is enough to make the exchange funny. Watch Dad's Army an episode at a time, rather than asking its repeated routines to fill a whole evening.
Biography
Arthur Lowe (22 September 1915 – 15 April 1982) was an English actor. He played Captain George Mainwaring in the BBC sitcom Dad's Army (1968–1977) and Mr. Kemp in the film if.... (1968).
Lowe began his professional acting career in 1945 after service in the British Army during the Second World War. He appeared in numerous theatre productions and gained early television recognition as Leonard Swindley in Coronation Street (1960–1965) and its spin-offs.
He had recurring collaborations with director Lindsay Anderson, including roles in if.... (1968) and O Lucky Man! (1973), for which he won a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He received seven BAFTA nominations in total.
