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Suave and soft-spoken, Paul Henreid, who died March 29 at the age of 84, was the most unusual of Hollywood actors. He could portray a victim as well as a hero without ever seeming like a wimp. And in the process, he paved the way for generations of introspective male actors, from Montgomery Clift to Dustin Hoffman. When his acting career was stifled in the '50s by the blacklist, he turned to directing B movies. But his most memorable and influential performances endure on video:

NOW, VOYAGER (1942, MGM/UA) As a married man with bags of continental charm, Henreid becomes a source of exquisite heartbreak for Bette Davis. Romance has never been grander as Henreid lights two cigarettes and Bette remarks how positively greedy it is to ask for the moon when they already have the stars. A... CASABLANCA (1943, CBS/Fox) When all the sad songs had been sung, and time had gone by, Ingrid Bergman chose to abandon Bogart and fly off instead with Henreid. It's a tribute to the actor that an audience never feels resentful toward Henreid and is just content to cry. A... DECEPTION (1946, MGM/UA) Claude Rains may be more dynamic as the composer Hollenius, but pianist Bette Davis would rather fiddle with cellist Henreid. Wonderful old kitsch with Henreid at his quietly persuasive best. B+... HOLLOW TRIUMPH (1948, Movies Unlimited) In this prototypical film noir (alternate title: The Scar), complete with neon flashing into hotel rooms and shadows spilling from venetian blinds, Henreid plays a criminal on the lam who kills a look-alike psychoanalyst and makes the mistake of falling for the dead man's world-weary secretary (Joan Bennett). Henreid with a difference-an edge. B


Posted Apr 17, 1994 | Published in issue #114 Apr 17, 1992 | Order Article Reprints