Vincent Price could have been Ashley Wilkes.
That may sound strange today, the idea of horror icon Vincent Price playing the courtly and handsome Ashley Wilkes in Gone With The Wind. But, when Price came to Hollywood in the late 30s, it actually seemed like ideal casting. Before he became known as a horror actor, the Missouri-born Price was known for being a handsome stage actor who specialized in playing romantic parts. Though Price would become best-known for his horror films, he was capable of much more and he also appeared in much more.
Here are just six of Vincent Price’s memorable non-horror performances!
- Robert Wade in Service de Luxe (1938)
At the age of 27, Vincent Price made his film debut in this romantic comedy, playing Robert Wade. Robert Wade is a young man from Albany who comes to New York City because he is trying to raise money that he can then use to build and perfect a new tractor. It’s in New York that he meets and eventually falls in love with a life coach named Helen Murphy (Constance Bennett). Helen is relieved to discover that the earnest Robert is someone who doesn’t need a life coach to tell him how to live his life …. or design a tractor as the case may be! This is a rather slight film but, in his film debut, Price is charming and handsome.
2. Vital Dotour in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
In this Oscar-nominated film, Price has a key role as the prosecutor who looks into the claims that a girl named Bernadette (Jennifer Jones) has experienced visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Though the role does carry some hints of the type of work that lay in Price’s future, it’s still a far cry from his later horror roles and Price brings some needed nuance to a characters who, in lesser hands, could have just been a flat-out villain.
3. Shelby Carpenter in Laura (1944)
Perhaps the best-known and most-regarded of all of Price’s non-horror films, Laura features Price in the role of the good-for-nothing, wealthy boyfriend of Laura (Gene Tierney). When Laura is (incorrectly) believed to have been murdered, Shelby Carpenter is one of the more obvious suspects. Price is wonderfully sleazy in the role of Shelby.
4. William Gibbs McAdoo in Wilson (1944)
Vincent Price doesn’t really get to do much in this epic biopic of America’s worst President but it’s still amusing to see the instantly recognizable Price as Wilson’s son-in-law and wannabe successor, William G. McAdoo.
5. Baka In The Ten Commandments (1956)
Perhaps the worst of all the villains to be found in The Ten Commandments, Baka’s cruelty ends only when he’s killed by Charlton Heston’s Moses. Price truly does a wonderful job turning Baka into a villain who can be despised by all viewers.
6. Nicholas Maranov in The Whales of August (1988)
In one of his final roles, Price played a charming Russian who visits two elderly sisters (Lillian Gish and Bette Davis) at the seaside vacation home in Maine. After decades of being typecast as a horror actor, Price showed off his considerable charm and wit in this role and received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor from the Independent Spirit Awards.
Through the Shattered Lens 