05 September 2008

Spotlight on Robert Morley



As the summer season draws to an end, my mind casts about for sartorial inspiration. Few things get my juices flowing more than the sight of flannel and tweed. The cinematic actor Robert Morley (1908-1992), shown above, was often to be found wearing such cloth. Large, rotund, jowly, sporting bushy eyebrows and a plummy accent, Morley was frequently placed in the role of quintessential Englishman. Note, too, his classic hair style, which featured a trimmed "winged" effect at the sides, sans sideburns. As luck would have it I recently saw Morley in the film The African Queen (1951), in which he plays an upright English missionary. Scenes of intense African heat and malarial swamps mingle with shots of sweat-stained bush jackets and moist brows. A timely reminder, one might say, of why I for one look forward to cooler weather.

2 comments:

Will Boehlke said...

Welcome back Admiral.

Anonymous said...

If I'm not mistaken Mr Morley was quite the socialist.