James Mason

And our guy.

No, you know who he was doing? He's doing James Mason.

Oh, okay.

If you really listen, you know, it's almost like he was doing a James Mason impersonation.

Hmm, interesting.

Yeah, yeah.

Is evil grown in the blood or grown in the home? Hi podcasters, thanks for joining me today.

I'm Daryl and today we're taking a look at The Boys from Brazil, the 1978 thriller directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Gregory Peck, Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Lily Palmer, Denholm Elliott and a very young Steve Guttenberg.

Let's get into it.

Now a little bit of context first because this one comes with quite a pedigree.

When Peck and Olivier finally collide in that Pennsylvania farmhouse near the end, two giants of their generation, sharing the screen for the only time.

The film absolutely delivers on the promise of its cast.

James Mason is quietly excellent too as Mengele's increasingly nervous colleague, and Lily Palmer brings real warmth as Esther.

A quick word on the craft.

As a goodness me, I was paid roughly three times my National Film Unit salary to appear as the gallant love interest of Judy Davis.

And as it turned out, James Mason, the English star of stage and screen, he saw my brilliant career and he admired my performance.

He said, I like what you do.

And Neil later recalled Mason telling him, I'm sending you a plane ticket.

So it takes, you know, one unexpected conversation to change the trajectory of your entire life.

And as I always say, Margaret, give me a successful man and you will find a mentor.

And Sam Neill acknowledges James Mason as his primary acting model and mentor.

And observers have frequently noted that Sam Neill Well, Sam Neill shares a similar smooth, I suppose you'd call it resonant, vocal quality and understated delivery, along with the English lector, James Mason.

So there you go.

There, there's somebody, James Mason for you.

Heaven Can Wait, uh, where another, another spiritual thing where they take the body out too, uh, soon for Joe Pendleton, put him in the body.

We're gonna put you in the body of Leo Farnsworth.

Shout out, Papa Wendell.

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this movie stars Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, and Martin Landau.

With a $4.3 million budget, this movie ended up grossing $9.8 million at the global box office.

In today's dollars, that is a $49 million budget and a $112 million box office.