Gerald du Maurier | WatchedThis
Gerald du Maurier
Acting
Biography
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: writers Angela du Maurier and Daphne du Maurier , and painter Jeanne du Maurier. His popularity lay in his subtle and naturalistic acting: a "delicately realistic style of acting that sought to suggest rather than to state the deeper emotions". His Times obituary said of his career: "His parentage assured him of engagements in the best of company to begin with; but it was his own talent that took advantage of them."
Filmography Movies
Acting
The Rise of Catherine the Great
The woman who will become Catherine the Great marries into the Russian royal family when she weds Grand Duke Peter, the nephew of Empress Elizabeth. Although the couple has moments of contentment, Peter's cruel and erratic behavior causes a rift between him and Catherine. Mere months after Peter succeeds his aunt as the ruler of Russia, a revolt is brewing, and Catherine is poised to ascend to the throne as the country's new empress.
I Was a Spy
During World War I, a young nurse in a hospital in German-occupied Belgium is secretly feeding military information to the British. Complicating matters is the guilt she feels when she has to treat the German casualties inflicted as a result of the information she's passed on, and the fact that the local German commandant is falling in love with her.
Escape!
When Matt Denant (Gerald de Maurier) finds himself wrongly imprisoned for manslaughter, he takes an opportunity to escape from jail during a foggy day and is forced to rely on the goodwill of local people to remain a fugitive of the law.
Lord Camber's Ladies
In this drama the owner of a flower shop falls in love with one of her patrons. Unfortunately, he is married to a shrewish actress and cannot get out of the marriage. The distraught woman then leaves her shop to become a nurse. Trouble ensues when the actress suddenly appears, accuses the nurse of fooling around with her husband and dies leaving the nurse and the husband to be charged with murder. Fortunately, they are found innocent and they are free to fall in love at last.
The Scotland Yard Mystery
A doctor uses his unique medical knowledge to mastermind a lucrative life-insurance scam; in a rare film role, legendary thespian Gerald du Maurier stars as the Metropolitan Police Commissioner who sets out to uncover the secret of five empty coffins and catch the villainous swine responsible for such depravities.
Jew Süss
A historical satire critical of the rising tide of Anti-Semitism in Germany. Based on the novel by Lionel Feuchtwanger, Jew Süss is the story of life in the 18th-century Jewish ghetto of Württemberg. Süss works himself out of the ghetto and into a position of power with the help of an evil duke.
Masks and Faces
An actress cures an aged flirt by posing as his wife.
Production
The Dancers
Young Tony, unable to make a living in crowded and fast-paced London, goes to South America in search of his fortune. He soon becomes the owner of a saloon and dance hall. One of the dancers in his place, Maxine, falls in love with him, but Tony is still in love with his childhood sweetheart Una, although Una is now a "party girl" back in London and has forgotten about Tony. However, Tony comes into an unexpected inheritance, along with a title, and returns to London for Una. Although disappointed with Una's current lifestyle, he asks her to marry him despite her "indiscretions". However, the night before they are to be married Una confesses a deep, dark secret to Tony that could change their lives forever.
The Dancers
After moving from England to Canada, Tony becomes the owner of a dance hall and meets dancer, Maxine. Soon after falling in love, Tony learns he has become heir to his family’s fortune and duty compels him to return home to England. Back in England Tony meets Diana and is forced to choose between love and family duty.
Gallery
