Ronald Colman : THE VOICE

Ronald Colman came along at precisely the right time for sound pictures. So
many performers failed in the transition to sound, but he was fortunate to be
blessed the most magnificent speaking voice God ever created. I could listen
to that man recite the phone directory of any given city. He was a star on the
silent screen and when sound was introduced, his career took off like a rocket.

He was also the quintessential Englishman, he was the English like to see them-
selves, civilized, idealistic, believers in fair play and worldly wise. It was no accident that he starred in films based on the works of Dickens, Kipling, and James Hilton. Ironically he became an American citizen.

He and his wife Benita Hume had a running gag in that they were regular guests
on Jack Benny's radio program as his "neighbors." Their essential Englishness
played against Jack Benny's character were very funny, I urge any who are Colman fans to get copies of those radio shows if they can be obtained.

Forget Frank Sinatra, this is the man who really deserves the title of THE
VOICE.

I agree that he had one of the greatest voices on film (just about every Hollywood star in those days had a distinctive voice, I don't believe that could be said of today's stars). It does seem strange to think that Ronnie was a big star in silents before anyone had ever HEARD his voice.

Jaycag, just like Ronald Colman's good friend William Powell who was also a star in silent films and then in sound was bigger than ever due to that very
well trained diction he had.

Also someone completely different from Colman, yet the same phenomenon. When I
watch W.C. Fields movies I can't believe he could have been a star in silent
films. That nasal twangy voice of his is soooooo much a part of his comic
personna.

Yes they did. He had the best voice of all. George Sanders had a very smooth distinctive voice also, but not as great. Benita Humes must have b68 been a "voice girl" because she was married to George and upgraded to Ronald.

I don't think it's strange at all that Colman was a star in silents. He had a beautiful face and enormous acting talent. The voice was a plus - a huge plus - but he still had amazing talent as a silent actor, when facial expressions and body poses were everything.

There was an old cartoon series that had a character that was a skunk named "Odie Cologne", and I would have sworn it was Ronald Coleman. I doubt it now since he probably had passed away before the series was created. Does anyone know who might have been the voice of the skunk?

What a magnificent voice, one of the few silent stars to become an even bigger talkie star.

What about Disney's animated version of "Robin Hood". I believe Robin Hood's voice was patterned after Colman

Yes, Robin Hood's voice is definitely a tribute to Ronald Colman. But I am surprised no one has mentioned the Donald Duck cartoon where Donald buys a box of pills which change his voice to that of Ronald Colman. Daisy really goes for this new Donald, but each pill only lasts for a short time. Just as he is about to propose, the pill wears off...he's down to his last one - which he drops and ends up chasing madly as it rolls down the street, onto some guy's hat, and on and on. It's a classic!

What's up with his pimp-stache?

Now you can listen to this great voice as you hear a thrilling tale of SUSPENSE.

NOOSE OF COINCIDENCE (1949)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FebH5_tVQVI

We can revel in the voice as Ronald Colman hosts FAVORITE STORY. Colman hosts some of the most famous stories of all time.



ALLADIN'S LAMP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpdV2GNimjQ


WUTHERING HEIGHTS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQKPlNQgoJ4


JEAN VALJEAN AND THE BISHOP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_GfaxLPZlU


THE DIAMOND LENS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDS5xpS9fBc


LITTLE WOMEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPY2KzXoW8g


DAVID COPPERFIELD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ck-fY8JZqM


A CONNECTICUT YANKEE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKy6ZQIeiI4&feature=relmfu


CYRANO DE BERGERAC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyVAwP9c738&feature=relmfu

More examples of Colman's fantastic voice in these stories.


THE PETRIFIED FOREST with Ginger Rogers January 18, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mabjce7SKZk


BERKELEY SQUARE with Greer Garson February 8, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQNX6v7r58I


OF HUMAN BONDAGE with Bette Davis March 7, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MozJRTWY2BI


AN OSTRICH IN BED with Joan Bennett March 28, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK1qRot7ncg


A MAN TO REMEMBER with Bob Burns February 15, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm2Xhwzq5kQ


LOST HORIZON with Mercedes McCambridge, Janet Blair, Norman Field and Ronald Colman February 1, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E86fqV6GRY


THE GHOST GOES WEST with Anne Baxter March 14, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdwWgYLJt8A


THE LIVING BOOK with Dennis Day, Mercedes McCambridge March 28, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY0IgFOWmKk


A GIRL ON THE ROAD with Martha Scott March 21, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhsZrQP-WMo


THIS ABOVE ALL with Olivia de Havilland, May 9, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVHmuhMnIWc


THE CITADEL with Ida Lupino, April 11, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukee7EepIYQ&feature=relmfu



QUALITY STREET with Agnes Moorehead and Maureen O'Sullivan, May 23, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKv9D_DBzYI&feature=relmfu



THE JARVIS BOY GOES DOWN with Ella Logan, April 18, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKv9D_DBzYI&feature=relmfu


BLITHE SPIRIT with Loretta Young and Edna Best, May 16, 1944
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFA71-4fIgg

Live on the radio June 6, 1944 Ronald Colman reads Edna St Vincent Millay's Poem & Prayer For An Invading Army, which she wrote for the occasion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnISioShkVg

Here is Ronald Colman narrating A CHRISTMAS CAROL.


Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZiy9vSCmQ


Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ThScbuVAM

COMMAND PERFORMANCE

Cast: Ronald Colman, Jascha Heifetz, Rise Stevens, Lena Horne, Robert Benchley, & Walter Tetley on COMMAND PERFORMANCE, 18-09-1943


Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyXepXnpNGY

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaF_dDH32Ys

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymVCYP_W9Is

LOL...I was just saying the same thing. The name of the cartoon was The King and Odie. It would come on during the Tennessee Tuxedo and his Tales Cartoon Show. And sometimes Fred G. Sanford would do imitations of Ronald Colman. He was sort of a black version of Goober Pyle and his Cary Grant imitations. I think Larry Storch might have been the one who did the voice of Odie though.

I have virtually nothing to add to the excellent observations made here by the OP and other commentators except to say it's a pity that more people in this day and age have never heard of Mr. Colman, one of the finest actors ever to grace the silver screen.

And yes, the irony is tremendous -- that a popular leading man from the silent days should be discovered by the emergence of the talkie era to have a voice like that!

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!

I agree. Fred Sanford and Odie Cologny of cartoon fame did good imitations of him too. Goober Pyle probably could have too if only he hadn't concentrated so much on Cary Grant and Edward G. Robinson.

And yes, the irony is tremendous -- that a popular leading man from the silent days should be discovered by the emergence of the talkie era to have a voice like that!
5b4 --

Also consider that Ronald Colman was one star who didn't want to make a talkie.

Colman had yet to learn his own strength as an actor; numerous colleagues of his were washed up when the talkies arrived so it's no wonder that, at first, he dreaded the new era in cinema. Fortunately for him and for filmdom itself, his voice was MADE for the sound era.

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