James Donald makes doctors and officers seem worth listening to, especially when somebody more imposing is in charge. We value his quiet good sense, though his supporting parts do not always ask enough of him.
Fi1m perspective
In The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), James Donald's Major Clipton is the doctor who questions the colonel's actions. David Lean gives Alec Guinness's Colonel Nicholson the central role, but Donald supplies a reason to doubt him. We found Nicholson quietly alarming, and were grateful for Clipton's willingness to question him. Donald makes the sensible supporting part worth attending to beside a much more imposing one.
He had already played Doc in In Which We Serve (1942), a Noël Coward and David Lean production. His Theo van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956) brought international notice; he also voices the narrative letters. The cultivated figure in a period drama belongs comfortably alongside the military men of conscience. We rate that steadiness, although it can leave him looking like the sensible appointment whenever a film needs a doctor or an officer.
In John Sturges's The Great Escape (1963), Donald plays Group Captain Ramsey, the senior British officer in the prisoner-of-war camp. James Clavell and W.R. Burnett's screenplay arranges the ensemble around clearly understood duties: Donald Pleasence's Blythe is the forger, Charles Bronson's Danny a tunnel digger. That clarity makes the practical business of escape absorbing, and Donald's seniority fits neatly into it. The men can become so closely identified with their jobs that we learn little else about them. We warmly recommend it, but its efficient division of labour leaves less room for the supporting actors to surprise us.
He continued in war and action pictures through the 1960s, while Quatermass and the Pit (1967) gave him Dr Mathew Roney, a scientist rather than an officer. That is another natural home for the intelligence and good sense he brings to the screen. Leading parts largely eluded him, so there is a limit to what these recurring supporting duties allow us to judge. Begin with The Bridge on the River Kwai, and pay attention to the doctor as well as the colonel.
Biography
James Donald (1917–1993) was a Scottish actor who appeared in British and American films and on stage. He specialised in roles as authority figures, particularly military officers, doctors and scientists.
Born in Aberdeen, he was educated at Rossall School and made his professional stage debut in the late 1930s. During the Second World War he took minor roles in films including In Which We Serve (1942). His theatre work included Noël Coward's Present Laughter (1943) and productions with Ralph Richardson and Peggy Ashcroft.
He is known for playing Maj. Clipton in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Group Captain Ramsey, the Senior British Officer, in The Great Escape (1963). Other film roles include Theo van Gogh in Lust for Life (1956), Lord Egbert in The Vikings (1958) and Dr. Kennedy in King Rat (1965). He received an Emmy nomination for playing Prince Albert in the television production Victoria Regina (1961).
