I May Have to Re-Think My Position on Mimes

Here is Cary Grant’s description of what he learned touring the English provinces with the tumbling troupe, when he was 13, 14. He learned lessons that he used in his acting – years later, when he was a huge star.

Touring the English provinces with the troupe, I grew to appreciate the fine art of pantomime. No dialogue was used in our act and each day, on a bare stage, we learned not only dancing, tumbling, and stilt-walking under the expert tuition of Bob Pender, but also how to convey a mood or meaning without words. How to establish communication silently with an audience, using the minimum of movement and expression; how best immediately and precisely to effect an emotional response — a laugh or, sometimes, a tear. The greatest pantomimists of our day have been able to induce both at once. Charles Chaplin, Cantinflas, Marcel Marceau, Jacques Tati, Fernandel, and England’s Richard Herne. And in bygone years, Grock, the Lupino family, Bobby Clark, and the unforgettable tramp cyclist Joe Jackson; and currently Danny Kaye, Red Skelton, Sid Caesar, and even Jack Benny with his slow, calculated reactions.

Surprisingly, Hitchcock is one of the most subtle pantomimists of them all.

Beautiful analysis. And that shows up time and time again in Grant’s acting, which is why I think it is so good. He conveys emotions, effortlessly, with no words. He constantly cut lines out of his scripts, so that he would have less and less to say, knowing that it was all about the eyes, the face. Beautiful.