CINXE.COM

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-xhtml1-20000126/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <title>BFI Screenonline: Price, Dennis (1915-1973) Biography</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <meta name="description" content="Actor" /> <meta name="keywords" content="Dennis Price, " /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../css/backward.css" type="text/css" /> <style type="text/css"> @import url(../../../css/bfi_global.css); </style> <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">  </script> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff"><a href="#main_content" name="top" style="display: none;"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="Skip to main content" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></a> <center><div class="outline"> <table width="778" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="3"><form name="search" action="../../../search/quick.jsp" style="margin: 0px;"> <table bgcolor="#101010" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> <tr> <td><img src="../../../images/nav/logo.gif" alt="BFI logo" /></td> <td> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"> <tr> <td><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../index.html" title="screenonline home page">Home</a></p></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../film/index.html" title="Film genres and themes, plus industry and audiences, places and all films by decade">Film</a></p></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../tv/index.html" title="TV genres, themes and formats, industry, places, and all programmes by decade">Television</a></p></td> <td class="header-bg-people"><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../index.html" title="Hundreds of entries about personalities from British film and television">People</a></p></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../history/index.html" title="Britain's history as told in over a century of moving images">History</a></p></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../education/index.html" title="Resources for students, teachers and lifelong learners">Education</a></p></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../tours/index.html" title="Illustrated guides through subjects in British film and television">Tours</a></p></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><a href="../../../help/index.html" title="Answers to common questions, and information for schools and libraries">Help</a></p></td> <td width="40"> </td> <td><img src="../../../images/nav/searchicon.gif" alt="search" /></td> <td><p class="header-nav">Search</p></td> <td><input id="sh" type="text" name="quickSearchText" size="8" maxlength="60" class="quicksearch" /></td> <td><p class="header-nav"><input type="submit" value="Go" class="go-button" /></p></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td><img src="../../../images/nav/banner.gif" alt="Screenonline banner" /></td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </form></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" align="right" class="upper-nav-cell"><div class="upper-nav-text"><a href="../../../feedback.html" class="upper-nav">Contact & Feedback</a> | <a class="upper-nav" href="../../../help/terms.html">Terms of Use</a><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="10" height="1" border="0" /></div> </td></tr> <tr> <td colspan="3">  <table width="778" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td class="peoplemastbg" valign="bottom"> <div class="mastheadpeople">Price, Dennis (1915-1973)</div> </td> </tr> </table> </td></tr> <tr><td width="30"> </td> <td valign="top"> <table width="740" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="3"></td></tr> <tr><td width="435" valign="top"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="435" height="20" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr> <td height="24"> <p class="smg">Actor</p> </td> </tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/755403.jpg" alt="Main image of Price, Dennis (1915-1973)" id="mainimg"/> <p>Radley- and Oxford-educated, from a military background, <cite class="party">Dennis Price</cite> (born Dennistoun Rose-Price in Twyford) made his stage debut in 1937, was in the <cite class="party">Royal Artillery</cite> in World War II (1940-42), and starred in many films without ever, paradoxically, being a star.</p> <p>He was introduced to films in <cite>A Canterbury Tale</cite> (d. Powell & Pressburger, 1944), as the sensitive young soldier, former cinema organist who realises an ambition to play in the Cathedral. Mercilessly used by <cite class="party">Gainsborough</cite> in one unsuitable role after another (hopeless at costume heroes, better as villains such as Sir Francis in <cite>Caravan</cite>, d. Arthur Crabtree, 1946), he had his one great role at <cite class="party">Ealing</cite>.</p> <p>This was as the lynch-pin of the plot of <cite>Kind Hearts and Coronets</cite> (d. Robert Hamer, 1949), where the brilliance of his contribution to the passionate but coolly satirical <em>com茅die noire</em> has often been overshadowed by praise for <cite class="party">Alec Guinness</cite>'s octet of roles. <cite class="party">Price</cite>'s elegance, wit and sense of just-contained rage inform one of the most fully achieved roles in British film.</p> <p>He was a hopeless <cite>Bad Lord Byron</cite> (d. David MacDonald, 1949), though it is hard to know who might have played that script; looked and - thanks to <cite class="party">Ivor Novello</cite> - sounded ridiculous in <cite>The Dancing Years</cite> (d. Harold French, 1950) and settled into smoking-jacket roles from the early 1950s, though <cite>Dear Murderer</cite> (d. Arthur Crabtree, 1947) had surely indicated that this was how it would be.</p> <p>He parodies himself as a vain film star in <cite>Lady Godiva Rides Again</cite> (d. Frank Launder, 1951), has a good snooty bit in <cite>The Intruder</cite> (d. Guy Hamilton, 1953), as a snobbish and cowardly officer, is enjoyably snooty and corrupt as Bertram Tracepurcel in <cite>Private's Progress</cite> (d. John Boulting, 1956) and <cite>I'm All Right Jack</cite> (d. John Boulting, 1959), has some telling moments as an upper-class gay in <cite>Victim</cite> (d. Basil Dearden, 1961), and was the quickly disposed of drama critic in <cite>Theatre of Blood</cite> (d. Douglas Hickox, 1973).</p> <p>He soldiered on to the end, totting up over 100 credits, sometimes seeming to lift a weary eyebrow at the rubbish he found himself mired in, returned occasionally to the stage, and found a niche on TV as Jeeves in <cite>The World of Wooster</cite> (1965-68).</p> <p class="bricksrc">Brian McFarlane, Encyclopaedia of British Cinema</p> <img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="10" border="0" alt="" /> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"></td></tr> </table></td>  <td width="1" class="verticaldots"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td> <td width="312" valign="top"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="312" height="20" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="3" height="1" border="0" /></td><td><p class="smg">More information</p></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"> <tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="../../../images/gt/GT_articles.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="" border="0" /></td> <td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="credits.html" class="thumbheadlink-people"><img src="../../../images/icon_document.gif" alt="" vspace="2" class="clipmenu-icon-right" border="0" />FILM & TV CREDITS</a></td> </tr> <tr><td><p>From the BFI's filmographic database</p></td> </tr> </table></td></tr>  <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="3" height="1" border="0" /></td><td><p class="smg">Related media</p></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="3" height="1" border="0" /></td><td><p class="smg">Selected credits</p></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/636447.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Canterbury Tale, A (1944)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/438020/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Canterbury Tale, A (1944)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Weird and fascinating tale of modern-day pilgrims in WWII</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/631409.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Caravan (1946)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/440361/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Caravan (1946)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Flaming passions, treacherous gypsies and Stewart Granger</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1074754.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Good-Time Girl (1948)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/440457/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Good-Time Girl (1948)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Gainsborough melodrama about a girl's descent into ruin</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/700741.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of I'm All Right Jack (1959)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/441166/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">I'm All Right Jack (1959)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Peter Sellers is a militant trade unionist in this peerless workplace satire</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1183945.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Jassy (1947)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/440528/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Jassy (1947)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Technicolor melodrama about a gypsy girl with second sight</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/634615.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/441483/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Deliciously dark comedy, featuring no fewer than nine Alec Guinnesses</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/631504.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Magic Bow, The (1946)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/441045/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Magic Bow, The (1946)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Stewart Granger (and Yehudi Menuhin) as the violinist Paganini</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1075750.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Magic Box, The (1951)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/453725/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Magic Box, The (1951)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Star-studded biopic of British film pioneer William Friese-Greene</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1094970.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/459967/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Powell & Pressburger musical comedy based on 'Die Fledermaus'</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/936929.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Rebel, The (1960)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/547351/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Rebel, The (1960)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Tony Hancock's big-screen debut stars him as a talentless but ambitious artist</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/787096.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of School for Scoundrels (1959)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/487382/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">School for Scoundrels (1959)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Alastair Sim teaches Ian Carmichael how to be a cad like Terry-Thomas.</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1409201.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Song of Paris (1952)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/1405865/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Song of Paris (1952)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Comedy about a French cabaret star falling for a passing Englishman</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1374874.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of V.I.P.s, The (1963)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/472097/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">V.I.P.s, The (1963)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Assorted celebrities are stranded in an airport when fog hits the runway</p></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1076659.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of Victim (1961)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../film/id/444107/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">Victim (1961)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dirk Bogarde stars in the first serious British film about homosexuality</p></td></tr></table></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="rh-item"><tr><td valign="top" rowspan="10"><img src="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/files/1114655.jpg" class="rh-thumbpic" alt="Thumbnail image of World of Wooster, The (1965-67)" border="0" /></td><td class="rh-headcell-people"><a href="../../../tv/id/478555/index.html" class="thumbheadlink-people">World of Wooster, The (1965-67)</a></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ian Carmichael and Dennis Price give P.G.Wodehouse the sitcom treatment</p></td></tr></table></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="3" height="1" border="0" /></td><td><p class="smg">Related collections</p></td></tr> <tr><td><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="3" height="1" border="0" /></td><td><p class="smg">Related people and organisations</p></td></tr> <tr><td class="underline" colspan="2"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /></td></tr> </table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width="8"> </td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3"><img src="../../../images/spacer.gif" alt="" width="778" height="20" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3"><table width="778" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr class="upperfoot"> <td width="465" align="right" class="upperfoot"></td> <td class="upperfoot"><div class="footer-txt">  <a href="../../../help/terms.html" class="copylink">2003-14 © BFI Screenonline </a> | <a href="../../../help/credits.html" class="copylink">credits</a></div></td> <td align="right" class="upperfoot"><img src="../../../images/nav/lowernav_right_mask.gif" alt="" border="0" /></td> </tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </div></center> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-3761544-1"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview(); </script> </body> </html>