David Niven gives the polished English gentleman a vulnerability that makes the manners worth watching. We rate him most highly when staying courteous takes effort, though his charm cannot make every lightweight vehicle worth the evening.
Fi1m perspective
Peter Carter is frightened, but he has not forgotten how to be courteous. In his post-war return, A Matter of Life and Death (1946), David Niven gives Powell and Pressburger’s romantic fantasy someone to care about before its rules become clear. The performances are deliberately theatrical, with Kim Hunter’s directness as June keeping the romance convincing. We were moved by Niven’s politeness because it lets the fear show without asking us to pity him.
That gift was already useful in Wuthering Heights (1939), among the films that established him as a leading man. As Edgar Linton, he gives a man who knows he comes second a decency that is easy to overlook beside the stronger passions. Wyler’s film has its shortcomings, particularly Merle Oberon’s excessive composure as Cathy, but Niven makes restraint appropriate to his character. We can understand Edgar without needing him to become the most interesting person in the story.
The later work found several uses for his composure. Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (1956) reinforced the English-gentleman image; Major Pollock in Separate Tables (1958) gave him room to show how much more he could do within it. That performance finds dramatic depth in limited screen time. The Pink Panther (1963), with Niven as Sir Charles Lytton, made good use of his unflustered comic timing. These parts depend on an actor who knows how to listen and when to speak.
The limitation is real: the polished gentleman can become too familiar, especially when the film offers him little else to play. His later career included plenty of slight vehicles, and we would not recommend following the charm indiscriminately. Peter Carter and Edgar Linton both have reasons to find good manners difficult, which gives Niven something more demanding to play. Start with Peter Carter; leave the completism for another evening.
Biography
David Niven (born James David Graham Niven) was an English actor and author. Born in London on 1 March 1910, he trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, before working in various roles and moving to Hollywood in the mid-1930s, where he began as an extra and secured supporting parts in films such as Wuthering Heights (1939), in which he played Edgar Linton.
During the Second World War he served as an officer in the British Army. Post-war he appeared in numerous films, including Around the World in 80 Days (1956) as Phileas Fogg, The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Pink Panther (1963) as Sir Charles Lytton, and Death on the Nile (1978). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Separate Tables (1958). Niven also wrote memoirs and novels. He died on 29 July 1983.
