THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 18, 1995 TAG: 9510180040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
AT CHRYSLER HALL this week, it's a case of dial ``M'' for McDowall - Roddy McDowall, that is.
You've seen him opposite everyone from Lassie to Elizabeth Taylor in a near-record 132 movies and 300 television productions. Now he's on stage to unmask a killer in Frederick Knott's classic thriller ``Dial M for Murder.''
``I haven't done a play in 15 years,'' McDowall said from his suite in the St. Regis Hotel in Detroit, where the national tour opened last week. ``It's been longer since I really toured about the country. This is a very nice company, and a wonderful role, so the choice was an easy one to make.''
McDowall plays Inspector Hubbard, the well-mannered but relentless sleuth who knows, like the audience, who did it. It's all a matter of how to catch the killer. The play has intrigued audiences since its London premiere in 1952. The movie version, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starred Grace Kelly, Ray Milland and Robert Cummings.
``It still works,'' McDowall said. ``There were those who wondered. You know, it requires that people listen, and many social observers currently feel that listening is out of style. I'm pleased to say that they do listen. With this play, unlike many others I've been in, silence is a compliment.''
But people also laugh. ``A person is killed, and when it happens, invariably the audience laughs,'' McDowall said. ``I think it is laughter to relieve tension. People are, currently, afraid to show they are involved. They laugh as a relief.''
This is the latest role in a career that has been as varied as it is long. In 132 movies, he's played everything from a dog lover (``Lassie Come Home'') to a horse lover (``My Friend Flicka''). He's even played a chimpanzee (the ``Planet of the Apes'' films). He's co-starred with Doris Day (``Midnight Lace''), Elizabeth Taylor (``Cleopatra''), John Wayne (``The Longest Day''), and Paul Newman (``The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean''). He directed the legendary Tar Heel beauty Ava Gardner in ``Tam Lin'' (sometimes known as ``The Devil's Widow''). He published a series of photography books. He won a Tony Award on Broadway.
It's quite a record, even for someone who has been at it since age 4, when he became a child model in London. ``My mother always wanted to be in movies,'' he said. ``She put me in movies instead. I think my first acting job was at about age 8. I made 22 movies in London before we evacuated London during the blitz of 1940.''
In Hollywood, he achieved immense popularity, first in ``How Green Was My Valley'' in 1941 and then in ``Lassie Come Home'' in 1942.
``There was a conspiracy,'' he said, ``against my ever growing up. I was playing 14-year-olds until I was 23, simply because I'm bedeviled by looking younger than I really am.'' According to the record books, he's 67 now.
He's only taking the current stage tour because he has two movies ready for release. ``The Glass Harp,'' based on a story by Truman Capote, will be released around Christmas. Directed by Charlie Matthau, it will also star Piper Laurie, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
``I played a barber with a Southern accent,'' he said, lapsing into an exaggerated Alabama drawl. ``It's a wonderful cast. I just hope people go to see it. It's a family movie that they keep saying they want to see. Now let's see if they do.''
Then he'll be in ``It's My Party,'' directed by Randal Kleiser and co-starring George Segal and Gregory Harrison.
Is he a workaholic?
``No, I have a very varied life,'' he said. ``I'm, of course, very into my photography. It's just that when I work, I enjoy my relaxing time more. But, then, there's that old, familiar paranoia of actors. You always think the current job will be your last job.''
He has no regrets about being a child actor. ``I don't think I missed anything,'' he said. ``Quite the contrary, I had a much better childhood because I was in movies. But adolescence is a terrible time for anyone. Being under a magnifying glass doesn't make it any better. Growing up, and finding an identity, is quite terrible for anyone. I was no exception.''
Of ``Cleopatra,'' the 1963 spectacle with Richard Burton and Taylor, he said: ``It is a much better film than anyone gave credit. It was the last film of that genre that will ever be made on that level. We had 9,000 people in one scene - her entrance into Rome. And I had a great part - that of Octavian. I remember it all very fondly.''
Of ``Planet of the Apes'': ``How often do you get asked to play a chimpanzee? I was in those parts over a period of 10 years. There was a socially important theme, but the part was very uncomfortable. I had to arrive at 3:30 a.m. for 3 1/2 hours of makeup before work.''
``Tam Lin,'' starring Gardner, was his only directorial effort. ``She never believed she was a good actress,'' he said. ``You couldn't convince her. But she was. You know, she'd revert to her Southern accent when she was frightened.''
``Dial M for Murder'' co-stars Nancy Allen (from ``Carrie,'' ``Robocop,'' ``Blowout'' and ``Dressed to Kill'') as the wife who may be set for death. (Maybe not. Expect no clues here). John James, the veteran of the ``Dynasty'' and ``The Colbys'' TV ensemble, co-stars.
In spite of the American cast, McDowall says the treatment will be British.
``It's the material that is the fuel - the gasoline,'' he said. ``That's the difference between a bad assignment and a good assignment. When you have a good script, you can just go out there and play it. Happily, this one is a good script.''
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW PROFILE BIOGRAPHY THEATER by CNB