Laurence Olivier: A Life.

• Author: Rothenberg, Robert S.

Acknowledged by critics, the public, and his peers as the greatest actor of his day, Sir Laurence Olivier created a gallery of performances uniquely his own. The one criticism that dogged his career--that he was a "technical" actor, rather than a "feeling" one--stemmed from a chameleon-like ability to alter his looks with makeup and his voice by changing pitch and accent. Examining some of his most noteworthy roles--a blond, brooding Hamlet; stalwart King Henry V; seething, Gypsy-like Heathcliff in "Wuthering Heights"; seedy, down-at-the-heels Archie Rice in "The Entertainer"; arrogant Roman aristocrat in "Spartacus"; Nazi war criminal in "Marathon Man"; malevolent, crookbacked Richard III; and Othello, played in blackface without being the least bit demeaning--confirms his amazing grasp on technique, but one wonders what his detractors were watching when they claimed he lacked feeling. The external, physical attributes of his characters simply formed a self-contained inner theater in which the magnificent actor portrayed his roles.

This stunning documentary/biography, shot in 1982 to commemorate Olivier's 75th birthday, primarily is a wide-ranging interview with London Weekend Television's Melvyn Bragg conducted over a number of weeks in the actor's...