“I’m awful”: Alec Guinness’ worst performance and how it reinvented his career
Being one of the greatest actors of all-time doesn’t mean that Alec Guinness has never felt shame.
There are great actors, memorable movie stars, and icons of their era, but Alec Guinness is one of the rare Hollywood titans who belongs to all three categories. Across the big screen, television, and the stage, Guinness revolutionised the nature of acting with amazing versatility and has been cited as an inspiration by countless actors who followed his path.
There was never a moment in Guinness’ career when he was necessarily out of work, but it can often be a challenge to surpass a string of successes so massive that they would seem insurmountable. Guinness has that type of legendary run in the 1950s; it was after breaking out with hilarious role in the classic comedies The Lavender Hill Mob and The Ladykillers that he ended up winning the Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’ for his performance in the riveting war drama Bridge on the River Kwai, which also won ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ for David Lean.
After delivering a sensational performance as the spy George Smiley in the adaptation of the beloved John le Carré novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and earning a ‘Best Original Screenplay’ nomination at the Oscars for The Horse’s Mouth, it seemed as if Guinness could do anything. However, it was into the next decade of his career that he began facing doubts for the first time after a particularly embarrassing experience.
It was while staying in Munich in 1965 that Guinness acted in the comedy film Situation Hopeless… But Not Serious, directed by Gottfried Reinhardt. The comical World War II film may have featured an early performance from Robert Redford, who would break out two years later with Barefoot in the Park alongside Jane Fonda, but Guinness hated making it, and loathed his performance even more.
“I’m awful, a sort of lifeless doll impersonating myself,” Guinness said. “I’ve often suspected I’m not a good actor, and with the lack of energy of passing years and my technical accomplishments being pretty old-fashioned now, I know it. Can’t act comedy anymore anyway.”
Given the energy that Guinness tends to put into his performances, it’s understandable how frustrating it would be for him to feel so out-of-touch, and despite starring in many World War II-centric films and being an accomplished comedy star, Guinness finally reached a point at which it felt like the industry had passed him by.
It was possible that Guinness was reacting to the changing nature of comedy as a genre, as the 1960s saw the emergence of Monty Python, Mel Brooks, and other styles of humour that felt groundbreaking and new – inevitably, it caused Guinness to retreat back into more dramatic parts, as he felt it was better to be taken seriously, with him ironically earning a major comeback thanks to his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, which was a film he regretted making.
Guinness may have been thankful that Situation Hopeless… But Not Serious has been almost entirely forgotten. Even after the passing of Redford, when many of his older projects were being rediscovered and celebrated, his one-star vehicle with Guinness never sparked any resurgence in its popularity. It may have been enough for Guinness to falter in his confidence, but it wasn’t enough for him to face serious repercussions.
