7 Comments »

1. Jeff Duncanson says; March 31, 2007 @ 1:33 pm

   Bogarde is indeed a fascinating figure. I have a fondness for a role that a lot of people seem to be pretty indifferent towards - As the troubled Mahler-esque composer in Visconti’s “Death in Venice”.

2. cinebeats says; March 31, 2007 @ 4:44 pm

   I agree that Bogarde was terrific in Death in Venice! I think the films he made with Luchino Visconti (Death in Venice and The Damned) are two of his best. Visconti is one of my favorite directors so I’m fond of most of his films.

   Bogarde made challenging work throughout most of his career, which is a rare thing these days. So many great actors end up making terrible films later on in life, but Bogarde was doing some of his best work in movies like The Night Porter when he was 53 and Despair when he was 57. I really admire him for that.

3. Jeremy says; April 1, 2007 @ 3:18 am

   Thanks for that fantastic link. Bogarde is someone that I have been meaning to see more of. I love his work in THE NIGHT PORTER, the underrated MODESTY BLAISE and of course the Visconti pictures but need to see more.
   Great photos and again thanks for the link.

4. cinebeats says; April 1, 2007 @ 11:22 pm

   I’ve gotta say - Bogarde is really sexy in The Night Porter! I also loved him in Modesty Blaise. He was a really versatile actor with loads of talent.

   I really love all the British films he made with Joseph Losey like The Servant and Accident. Some of my other favorite Bogarde films are Cast a Dark Shadow, Darling, Victim, The Mind Bender and Sebastian, but he made so many great movies. I hope more of his films get DVD releases soon. I’m not sure if Sebastian and Cast a Dark Shadow even had VHS releases, but they’re both terrific.

5. dom says; April 8, 2007 @ 12:40 am

   I saw a 2 part BBC documentary on Dirk B. in which he talked about the “good & bad sides” of his face, he described either the left or the right (can’t remember which) side as looking like a “child killer”. I find his performance in “Death in Venice” to be over cooked, I much prefer it when he’s called upon to be seedy & viperish. Having said that, have you seen “The Password Is Courage” in which he is totally miscast as a butch manly type! I love the scene where he faces a roomful of hostile men looking to beat him up & he challenges them with a “tough guy” look on his face by saying “Come on! I’ll take all of you on!”….Given Dirk’s sexual preference this assumes a significance not intended by the director! Then there’s the leather pants that Roy Ward Baker refuses to talk about from “The Singer Not The Song” & that favourite film of gay men “The Spanish Gardener”. No wonder Fassbinder used him…he’s the British Helmut Berger, or rather Berger is the German Bogarde ( and Bogarde apparently resented Berger whom he appeared alongside…never put 2 queens together in a film!).

   I like his turn in “Our Mother’s House”…very seedy. I’d put Denholm Elliot & Dennis Price is in the same mould as Bogarde.

6. cinebeats says; April 9, 2007 @ 8:06 am

   Thanks for the informative comment Dom! I haven’t seen the Bogarde films you mentioned but I’d really love to. Bogarde is an actor that’s fun to watch no matter what movie he’s in.

7. dom says; April 9, 2007 @ 6:42 pm

   I agree, he’s one of those actors that’s always worth watching regardless of the film. Don’t know about the US but here in England the tv channel TCM shows “The Password Is Courage” & “Our Mother’s House” regularly, “Our Mother’s House” has a cast of mostly children, Dirk plays a creepy/funny role menacing the children. In fact he worked well alongside kids, in “The Spanish Gardener” he befriends a lonely boy & then there’s “Death In Venice”.

   My dad’s sister lives in Norfolk (England) & apparently she used to see Bogarde now & again walking about with his partner.

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