Submitted by
Roger Mellor
John Justin
Dashing hero of 'The Thief of Bagdad'
From The Independent
7th December 2002
John Justinian de Ledesma (John Justin), actor: born London 24 November
1917; married first Pola Nirenska (died 1992; marriage dissolved), second
1952 Barbara Murray (three daughters; marriage dissolved 1964), third 1970
Alison McMurdo; died London 29 November 2002.
A handsome actor with lean, matinée-idol looks in the style of Ivor Novello
and Rex Harrison, John Justin will forever be associated with the first
major role he played on screen, that of Prince Ahmed in the opulent Korda
production The Thief of Bagdad. His film career, interrupted by the Second
World War, was never as illustrious as that start promised, and he
concentrated more on the theatre, where he had a long if variable reign as a
star.
Born John Justinian de Ledesma in Knightsbridge, London, in 1917, he was the
son of an Argentinian rancher and he spent much of his childhood in South
America. He returned to England to be educated at Bryanston in Dorset but at
16 he left college and defied his father's wishes by joining Plymouth
Repertory Company. His grandmother payed for him to be trained at Rada,
after which he joined John Gielgud's repertory company for a season at the
Queen's Theatre in 1937, appearing in Richard II, The Merchant of Venice and
The School for Scandal. The following year he played Hugh Randolph on stage
in Dodie Smith's delightful comedy drama about a large family, Dear Octopus
(1938) and was the footman in The Importance of Being Earnest (1939).
He made his screen début with a bit role in the spy story Dark Journey
(1937), produced by Alexander Korda and starring Vivien Leigh and Conrad
Veidt, but his major break came when Korda cast him as the dashing hero in
The Thief of Bagdad (1940). Though credited to three directors, the film was
primarily the vision of its producer, Alexander Korda. "He controlled it
totally," said Justin, "and, effectively, he directed it."
One of the most magical fantasy films ever made, with breathtaking sets
designed by Vincent Korda, The Thief of Bagdad was a tremendous success.
Korda originally wanted Jon Hall and Vivien Leigh to play the leading roles,
but neither was available, so Justin and June Duprez won the parts.
Alongside the portrait of venomous evil by Conrad Veidt and the exuberant
enthusiasm of young Sabu, the pair made an engaging couple, with Justin's
aristocratic bearing, athleticism and melodious voice were assets that
served him well as the story-book hero.
War broke out during production, but Justin was allowed to finish the film
before starting service as a pilot in the RAF. Later he was given time off
to appear in two propaganda films, providing brief love interest in Leslie
Howard's tribute to the women's army, The Gentle Sex (1943), and playing a
cameo role in Journey Together (1945), which promoted co-operation between
British and American airmen.
After war service, he returned to the stage, perfectly cast as Robert
Browning in The Barretts of Wimpole Street (Richmond, 1945) and playing
Admetus in The Thracian Horses (Lyric, Hammersmith, 1946), a mock-Greek
comedy co-starring Eileen Herlie. In the 1948 Stratford-upon-Avon season
Justin's several roles included lauded performances as Horatio to Paul
Scofield's Hamlet, Paris in Troilus and Cressida and Cassio in Othello. At
the Scala Theatre in 1949 he played Mr Darling and Captain Hook in Peter
Pan.
For Korda's company, London Films, he appeared in The Angel with the Trumpet
(1950), a sad tale of thwarted love and Nazi persecution starring Eileen
Herlie. Justin told the writer Brian McFarlane,
Eileen wasn't right for the part and the picture failed. It was the first
time I played a role which aged from 22 to 75 - but not the last.
He had one of his best screen roles as a test pilot in David Lean's The
Sound Barrier (1952), sharing some notably tender scenes with Dinah Sheridan
as his wife. In an enjoyable if implausible comedy thriller Hot Ice (1952),
Justin co-starred with Barbara Murray, who became his second wife the same
year (he had formerly married the Polish dancer, seven years his senior,
Pola Nirenska). The couple had three daughters, but divorced in 1964.
20th Century-Fox offered Justin a non-exclusive contract in 1953 and he
played major supporting roles in several films the studio made in the
then-new CinemaScope process. In Henry King's stirring adventure story King
of the Khyber Rifles (1953), Justin was Tyrone Power's rival for the hand of
the General's daughter (Terry Moore) and maliciously reveals that Power is a
half-caste.
Justin was teamed again with King and Power in Untamed (1955), advertised by
the studio as "Africolossal!". As the husband of Susan Hayward, Justin is
killed in a Zulu attack, leaving the way clear for Hayward and Power to get
together. In Robert Rossen's Island in the Sun (1957), a tedious film which
became a hit due to its Caribbean locations and its controversial treatment
of interracial romance, Justin was teamed romantically with Dorothy
Dandridge.
Between Fox assignments Justin had starring roles in the theatre, though
plays such as Miss Hargreaves (1952), with Margaret Rutherford, and the
Hollywood satire Olive Ogilvy (1957) with Yolande Donlan, were not very
successful.
He had a challenging star role in the film The Man Who Loved Redheads
(1955), in which he again aged from a young man to an old one. Adapted by
Terence Rattigan from his own play Who is Sylvia?, it told of a man who has
four great loves during his life and they all look the same. Co-starring
Moira Shearer as the four women, it was not a happy production - the
producer Alexander Korda and director Harold French argued throughout the
shooting and French later said,
I shouldn't have done it. I knew it was a bad script but it was partly love
of Rattigan that made me do it. I felt it was under-cast. I got on all right
with Moira but I didn't think she was quite strong enough. You couldn't meet
a nicer man than John Justin, but I really wanted Kenneth More.
It was a film that Justin recalled with affection:
The film didn't go down well, but I liked it. There were some wonderful
comic actors and some very nice moments.
In 1959 Justin joined the Old Vic company, and played Mellefont to Maggie
Smith's Lady Plyant in The Double Dealer, Orlando in As You Like It, John
Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest and King Richard in Richard II.
The following year he made his first appearance on Broadway, as Lieutenant
Boyd in Little Moon of Alban.
At the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park he was a flamboyant Don Pedro in
Much Ado About Nothing (1963) and he spent a season (1963-64) in The
Mousetrap at the Ambassador's Theatre. He tackled the demanding role of
Willy Loman in a revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman in repertory
in Northampton (1965), and he played both Prince Escerny and Puntschu in
Peter Barnes's adaptation of Wedekind's play Lulu (1970), which moved from
Nottingham to the Royal Court and then the West End. In 1974 he toured as
Winston Churchill in A Man and his Wife and as Mr Laurence in Little Women,
and the following year he went to West Germany to give recitals of Blake and
Shakespeare for the British Council.
His later film roles included three for director Ken Russell - small parts
in Savage Messiah (1972), Lisztomania (1975) and Valentino (1977). In
Michael Winner's remake of The Big Sleep (1980) he played the effete
bookstore owner and murder victim Arthur Geiger, and his last film was
Disney's limp comedy thriller Trenchcoat (1983).
By most film fans, though, he will be remembered as the athletic,
devil-may-care hero of The Thief of Bagdad.
Tom Vallance
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