--- name: "Bernard Miles" canonical: "https://film.one/person/bernard-miles" fi1m_id: "bernard-miles" imdb_id: "nm0587061" tmdb_id: 8239 wikidata_id: "Q822610" roles: ["Actor"] born: "27 September 1907" died: "14 June 1991" reviewed_on_fi1m: 4 average_fi1m_score: 77 average_as: "actor" average_over: 3 updated: "2026-09-25T07:48:13.295427+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Bernard Miles ## Identity Bernard Miles - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/bernard-miles - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** bernard-miles - **IMDb ID:** nm0587061 - **TMDB ID:** 8239 - **Wikidata ID:** Q822610 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Miles, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q822610, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587061/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8239 Actor. Born 27 September 1907 in Uxbridge, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, UK. Died 14 June 1991. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 27 September 1907, Uxbridge, Hillingdon, Middlesex, England, UK - **Died:** 14 June 1991 - **Active:** 1942–1956 - **Also known as:** Bernard James Miles - **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 acting, 1 other - **Frequently works with:** [David Lean](https://film.one/person/david-lean.md), [John Mills](https://film.one/person/john-mills.md), [Kay Walsh](https://film.one/person/kay-walsh.md) - **Average Fi1m score:** 77, as actor, over 3 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 74 (1), 1940s 79 (2), 1950s 74 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 77 to 68 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Drama 3, Mystery 1, Romance 1, Thriller 1, War 1 - **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $16m across 3 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Miles, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q822610, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587061/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8239 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Great Expectations*](https://film.one/film/great-expectations.md) (84), [*In Which We Serve*](https://film.one/film/in-which-we-serve.md) (74) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Bernard Miles > Bernard Miles played countrymen and working men with a rolling bass-baritone and a direct sincerity that let pain show under the stoicism. He was at his best in David Lean's two films with him and seldom given as much to do anywhere else. Watch Bernard Miles in a David Lean film and notice how little he does. He does not reach for a line or wait for the laugh. He says the thing, in a rolling bass-baritone with the flat country vowels of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and then he stops. In *In Which We Serve* (1942) his Chief Petty Officer Hardy has a slow, contented decency the film otherwise struggles to find below decks. In *Great Expectations* (1946) his Joe Gargery has a directness that holds its own beside Alec Guinness and Francis L. Sullivan, both of whom are doing a great deal more. Joe is the one to start with. He is the kindly blacksmith, and there is nothing in the part a lesser actor could not make sentimental inside a minute. Miles refuses. He plays a man who is not clever, knows it, and has decided that this need not stop him being good, and we believed him completely, which surprised us in a film so crowded with grotesques that we had expected the plain man to vanish. He does not. It is his best work on screen, and the general view of his career is that few of his other parts came near it. The career itself was busier than that suggests. He went into repertory in 1930 as actor, designer and stage manager, started in films in the mid-1930s, and became a familiar face in the patriotic pictures of the early 1940s, working three times each with Michael Powell and the Boulting brothers. He directed twice: *Tawny Pipit* (1944), a rural comedy about people getting along, and *Chance of a Lifetime* (1950), a drama about a factory and its workers. Both are modest fables of harmony, which tells you something about the man. Hitchcock cast him against type as Edward Drayton in *The Man Who Knew Too Much* (1956), and the stillness that made Joe trustworthy turns out to work just as well for menace. Off screen he wrote and performed comic monologues in the speech of his grandfather, an act which, in his own words, "carried me around England in the music halls" and paid for the Mermaid Theatre, which he founded with Josephine Wilson and opened in 1959. The voice in the monologues and the voice at the forge are the same voice. He was not putting the countryman on. He was letting him out. The caveat is the one his admirers already know. Two fine parts in two Lean films, then a long run of smaller ones in which he is reliable and rarely stretched. Start with Joe, move on to Hardy, and do not expect the rest of the filmography to explain why those two are so good. The explanation is Lean, and Miles seems to have known it. ## Biography Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE (27 September 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English character actor, writer and director. He was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex, and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. He entered the theatre in the 1930s and soon began appearing in films. Miles is known for roles including Joe Gargery in *Great Expectations* (1946), Chief Petty Officer Hardy in *In Which We Serve* (1942), Edward Drayton in *The Man Who Knew Too Much* (1956), and The Manxman in *Moby Dick* (1956). He founded the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century. He was made a CBE in 1953, knighted in 1969 and created a life peer in 1979. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.* ## On Fi1m (4) ### Performed in (3) — the average rests on these - *The Man Who Knew Too Much* (1956), Fi1m 74, as Edward Drayton — [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-who-knew-too-much.md) - *Great Expectations* (1946), Fi1m 84, as Joe Gargery — [page](https://film.one/film/great-expectations.md) - *In Which We Serve* (1942), Fi1m 74, as Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy — [page](https://film.one/film/in-which-we-serve.md) ### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *The Citadel* (1938), Fi1m 74, as Medical Aid Society Committee Member (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-citadel.md) ## Complete filmography (63) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *The Lady and the Highwayman* (1988), as Judge - *Treasure Island* (1982), as Long John Silver · Writer - *Why Didn't They Ask Evans?* (1980), as Dr. Thomas - *Closing Ranks* (1980), as Sir Alec Ware - *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, as Mr Rummins - *Lock Up Your Daughters* (1969), Writer - *Run Wild, Run Free* (1969), as Reg - *The Specialist* (1966), Actor - *Heavens Above!* (1963), as Simpson - *Barbara Hepworth* (1961), as Narrator - *Sapphire* (1959), as Ted Harris - *Tom Thumb* (1958), as Jonathan - *Wuthering Heights* (1958), as Joseph - *The Vision of William Blake* (1958), as Poems & Narration - *Saint Joan* (1957), as Master Executioner - *The Smallest Show on Earth* (1957), as Old Tom - *Doctor at Large* (1957), as Haymaking Farmer (uncredited) - *Fortune Is a Woman* (1957), as Mr. Jerome - *Zarak* (1956), as Hassu the one-eyed - *Tiger in the Smoke* (1956), as Tiddy Doll the Gang Leader - *Moby Dick* (1956), as The Manxman - *The Man Who Knew Too Much* (1956), as Edward Drayton — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-who-knew-too-much.md) - *Nathaniel Titlark* (1956), series, Actor - *Never Let Me Go* (1953), as Joe Brooks - *The Magic Box* (1952), as Cousin Alfred - *Treasure Island* (1951), series, Actor - *Henry Moore* (1951), as Narrator - *Chance of a Lifetime* (1950), as Stevens · Director, Writer, Producer - *The Guinea Pig* (1948), as Mr. Read · Screenplay - *Fame Is the Spur* (1947), as Tom Hannaway - *The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby* (1947), as Newman Noggs - *Great Expectations* (1946), as Joe Gargery — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/great-expectations.md) - *Carnival* (1946), as Trewhella - *Tawny Pipit* (1944), as Colonel Barton-Barrington · Writer, Director, Producer - *Tunisian Victory* (1944), as British soldier (voice) - *Two Fathers* (1944), as The Englishman - *The New Lot* (1943), as Ted Loman - *Thunder Rock* (1942), Screenplay - *In Which We Serve* (1942), as Chief Petty Officer Hardy / Walter Hardy — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/in-which-we-serve.md) - *The Goose Steps Out* (1942), Idea - *The Day Will Dawn* (1942), as McAllister (Irish Soldier) - *One of Our Aircraft Is Missing* (1942), as Geoff Hickman, Front Gunner in B for Bertie - *The Big Blockade* (1942), as Royal Navy Mate - *The Common Touch* (1941), as Cricket Steward - *Quiet Wedding* (1941), as PC - *Freedom Radio* (1941), as Capt. Muller - *The Dawn Guard* (1941), as Farmer - *Pastor Hall* (1940), as Heinrich Degan - *Contraband* (1940), as Man Lighting Pipe - *Band Waggon* (1940), as Saboteur (uncredited) - *The Lion Has Wings* (1939), as Civilian Observer Controller - *The Spy in Black* (1939), as Hans - Hotel Receptionist - *They Drive by Night* (1938), as Detective at Billiard Halls (Uncredited) - *The Citadel* (1938), as Medical Aid Society Committee Member (uncredited) — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-citadel.md) - *The Challenge* (1938), as Villager - *Strange Boarders* (1938), as Chemist (uncredited) - *The Rebel Son* (1938), as Polish Prisoner - *Secrets of Kew Gardens* (1937), as Narrator (voice) - *Crown v. Stevens* (1936), as Detective Wells - *Twelve Good Men* (1936), as Inspector Pine - *Late Extra* (1935), as Charlie (uncredited) - *The Guv'nor* (1935), as Man at Meeting - *The Love Test* (1935), as Allan ## Gallery - ![Encina Drive-In theater advertisement for the American suspense thriller film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). From the 8 June 1956 Santa Cruz Sentinel.](https://film.one/media/person/59132/gallery-9ae3f8f492a8.jpg) Encina Drive-In theater advertisement for the American suspense thriller film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). From the 8 June 1956 Santa Cruz Sentinel. — Paramount Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Encina_Drive-in_Ad_-_8_June_1956%2C_Santa_Cruz%2C_CA.jpg/1280px-Encina_Drive-in_Ad_-_8_June_1956%2C_Santa_Cruz%2C_CA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Lord and Lady Miles (1976)](https://film.one/media/person/59132/gallery-1d58cf68336f.jpg) Lord and Lady Miles (1976) — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Lord_%26_Lady_Miles_2_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Lord_%26_Lady_Miles_2_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Lord & Lady (Bernard) Miles (1976)](https://film.one/media/person/59132/gallery-5697df2cd9ad.jpg) Lord & Lady (Bernard) Miles (1976) — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Lord_%26_Lady_Miles_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Lord_%26_Lady_Miles_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Bernard Miles](https://film.one/media/person/59132/gallery-a8404cd2ff27.jpg) Bernard Miles — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Lord_Miles_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Lord_Miles_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Bernard Miles](https://film.one/media/person/59132/gallery-94ee88a5b9e9.jpg) Bernard Miles — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/bernard-miles