Actual proper genius runs anyone whose name might be raised as a contender for best film star of all time – fact! As versatile as Sellers, as subtle as Guinness, as silly as Cagney and just a better actor that DeNiro, Sim makes every single film he was in – every – single – one – worth watching. Not something any of the aforementioned stars could boast. From his baffling turn singing about being a ‘great big businessman’ to a goat in The Big Noise to his baffling – not to say swelligant – turn in Alf’s Button Afloat to his truly astonishing performance in London Belongs to Me, Ally Sim proved endlessly inventive and mesmerising. Scrooge merely made him immortal.
FINEST HOUR: As the murderous Mr Squales in the aformentioned London Belongs To Me. “Have you really sunk so low? There can only be one answer…yes!”
Glenn Aylett
March 22, 2023 at 8:16 pm
Excellent as the headmistress in the St Trinians films, of course, but another fine role for Sims was in the film Waterloo Road, where he plays a doctor and narrator in wartime London. Worth checking out for a legendary punch up between John Mills and Stewart Grainger during an air raid as well. ( The film is sometimes shown in the lunchtime classic British film slot on Film Four).