CHARLES LAUGHTON

Even Babe Ruth never had a year like Charles Laughton had in 1935. With today’s shooting schedules it would be next to impossible to crank out Les Miserables, Ruggles of Red Gap and Mutiny on the Bounty in the same calendar year. Though he was homely and stocky, the underrated Laughton’s great range and versatility made him the “go-to guy” of the 30's.
Laughton’s incredible run began with an Oscar for best actor in The Private Lives of Henry VIII (1933). His performance brought depth and texture to a historical figure previously viewed merely (and merrily) as a lecherous villain. 
If Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s father weren’t the strictest dad in England, he was certainly in the top ten. He forbade his children to marry and apparently kept all of Elizabeth’s extensive earnings. Mr. Laughton somehow makes this loathsome prig believable in The Barretts Of Wimpole Street (1934). If the movie ultimately belongs to Frederic March, as Robert Browning, and Norma Shearer, as Elizabeth, it would never get off the ground without Mr. Laughton’s haughty villain. 
In 1935, Mr. Laughton (Inspector Javier) again teamed with Mr. March (Jean Valjean)  in Les Miserables. There are at least seven filmed versions of the Victor Hugo classic and this one is easily the best. Javier hunts down Valjean for a minor crime against the backdrop of the French Revolution. Mr. Laughton’s reading of the persistent, law-and-order at all costs policeman is a gem.
Ruggles Of Red Gap (1935) is a British gentleman’s gentleman washed up on 
the shores of the American West and somehow won in a poker game by rancher Charlie Ruggles. Ruggles is rich, well-placed and as uncouth as a hog. Mr. Laughton is drily persuasive as the unlikely butler. This is a delightful, much overlooked film that holds up very well.
Charles Laughton again defines a famous role as the domineering Captain Bligh in Mutiny On The Bounty (1935). And again, this version of the Melville story is by far the best one. You won’t shed a tear when Bligh is set adrift in a lifeboat; Bligh doesn’t want your sympathy, even at that desperate moment. 
Mr. Laughton closed out the 30's as the heroic, misshapen Quasimodo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1939). The humanity Mr. Laughton brings to this difficult part is most affecting.  Forget the Disney version, this one gets it right.
All of the movies in this column are available on video. Unfortunately, only the last two are available on DVD at this time. All are fine for children 10 and up.