"Odd Man Out" by Sheridan Morley

I have just finished reading "Odd Man Out" by Sheridan Morley, a biography of James Mason. It's an interesting book and gets into some depth in his career and personal struggles. I agree with people who've read the book before me that Morley seemed to have a jaundiced view of Mason and put all of his actions into the worst possible light.

Yet, Mason wasn't a spoiled superstar, by any means. He never achieved that status, even though he deserved it. His pacifism during WWII and his antagonism to first the British and then the American establishment film industries made him less popular than he should have been. I see him as being ahead of his time, a man who wanted to have some choice and control over his acting career, at a time when this wasn't really done. He refused to sign with a studio and that certainly hurt him. It may have been foolish in those days but he was also a courageous nonconformist.

And I have always admired courageous nonconformists.

There were some very funny lines, such as what he supposedly said about his three year old daughter: that he and his first wife decided to let little Portland smoke a cigarette and let her cough and hate the taste, so that she would not smoke later on in life. Someone asked how that worked out and apparently Mason answered, "Not so well, she's now smoking two packs a day!"

I'm sure that was nonsense but what a great witty remark!

I was glad to read that Mason finally found happiness in his last years, with his second wife. He was an excellent and professional actor, always showing up on time and taking his work very seriously. (Even though he called it a silly profession). He deserves the recognition he is getting from fans today and into the future.

Soon I'll be receiving his autobiography. That should be most interesting also. A different slant and hopefully a less melancholy one.