Alternate Best Actor 1944: Laird Cregar in The Lodger

Laird Cregar did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Mr. Slade the titular character in The Lodger.

The Lodger is one of the many adaptations of the Jack the Ripper inspired story of a mysterious man taking residence in the upstairs of a London home.

 

Laird Cregar is one of the great "could've been actors" having only a six year run in films before his untimely death at the age of 31. One must note though then the remarkable thing it is to discover the man, and to see what he was able to accomplish within that tragically brief tenure. Cregar naturally was cast within the classic "heavies" however again notable how Cragar in that time was able to create different types of characters within that role. Whether it was the sniveling weasel henchmen in This Gun For Hire, a particularly affable devil in Heaven Can Wait, or of his creepy yet tragic inspector in I Wake Up Screaming. Cregar found a different approach and even a different tone for each. We find that again here, where honestly one might be able to quickly presume that Cregar is in fact playing Jack the Ripper as the Lodger known as Slade, a nearby street name to his hopeful residence. Cregar's performance then is what must create the intrigue far beyond the "is he?" the defines the story. He's obviously him, so really it comes down to how intriguing he is in revealing the strange state of the man. This from his opening scene where the man investigates the upper floor of the residence. Cregar's higher pitched voice granting both a elegance and an off-beat peculiar quality to the man. His eyes filled with something that isn't so easily described as he looks upon the quarters, and his almost lustful way of speaking that the home will provide the "intense heat" for his "medical experiments". 

Where the part would be later played by Jack Palance with a steely calm, there is something far more dynamic within Cregar's performance that seeks to grant a certain odd sympathy for Slade even as he also reveals the nature of the man. This in his first scene as the man remarks the place shall be a refuge for him after be spoken to of the Jack the ripper murders. Cregar's monetary gaze up into though shows the man's need for some kind of solace within his mind, befitting a man technically being constantly hunted. Cregar's performance creating an intrigue within itself through his manner as he tips towards the stylized yet never goes too far in granting an nearly intangible quality about the man. This again remarkable as Cregar suggests a man almost another plane of thought that alludes towards what is that Slade is doing when he is not "lodging". Cregar's performance, which the cinematographer particularly seems to love in the way his face essentially glows here, is captivating within itself in creating Slade not as a, is he, isn't he, question but rather an examination of what a man who does such would be. We are granted to explore more of this as Slade's introduced to the idea of his landlady's niece Kitty (Merle Oberon) is a showgirl. First explaining his distinct fascination with showgirls. This as Cregar is impeccably creepy in speaking the fear nearly in the man's voice as he explains the way he oddly seems to think he's oppressed by them in some way. This though at the same when distinctly speaking of one Cregar's glare is of a precise transfixing thought. 

His first meeting with her is a brilliant scene for Cregar this is as he's both creepy but in a strange way an almost romantic quality he brings. This when explaining river in the night to her. This as Cregar speaks the words with a poet's grace but just with an intensity that is more than that. There is something pressing with the man, a madness that he so eloquently realizes as a state that makes Slade's psychopathy on that different state of mind. Again though Cregar is chilling with a nearly ethereal quality in creating the deranged state so uniquely. Cregar's performance in a way know that the material has been tried many times before in a way, as though his performance in some way subvert the material, he glides through in a way to grace each note with some marvelous eccentricity. This just in the way he watches others, including an inspector, discuss the case. Cregar's look craft the man suspicious of well...the suspicions, but there's more. His little glares grant a critical quality in the man almost annoyed at the others attempting to pigeonhole himself as some kind of particular maniac. Although I wouldn't quite say Cregar makes the character of Slade fun, there is something quiet entertaining in his portrayal that is playful in a way without being dismissive of the material. This most often in playing the "monster" of the lodger, just in his particular gait, and especially his way of looking upon the others with the manner of a predator minding his prey. That so often with the look of dead eyes of Slade. This though still with the complication in his work of showing Slade is in some way conflicted between disgust and lust in his crimes. This in his interactions with Kitty where Cregar is so many things at once. That looking as both in love with her and with a hate. This speaking though with some critical venom and some hope of seduction. Cregar's always elegant delivery making the most of the hypocrisy of Slade. Cregar apparently attempted to grant the part a "romantic veneer" and successful he is in this. This in making his performance fascinating kind of a mad man. This in even his final scene with Oberon where he reveals his murderous intent that Cregar plays both as a horror scene and a love scene. This in going back and forth between the seduction and the kill as this terrible sort of dance. Although the film is just fine otherwise, if only just fine, Cregar achieves greatness here by both fulfilling and subverting expectations of the part of Slade. A part that was played before and would be played again, but Cregar makes it his own. This as a magnetic hypocrite that exists in his own realm that clashes violently when he attempts to confront reality.