‘Idol of the Odeons’

For any filmgoer not part of 1950s British Cinema, the magnitude of Dirk Bogarde's presence as a major star comes as a revelation. It is difficult to imagine anyone at the height of Bogarde’s fame in Britain who did not instantly recognize his name and face. Crowned the ‘Idol of the Odeons’, he dominated British screens as Rank’s biggest star and the nation’s most popular actor. His runaway hit Doctor in the House was the top moneymaker of 1954, taking £500,000 in Britain alone, almost five times its budget. (Falk, 98) Seventeen million tickets were sold, or roughly one for every two cinemagoers. (Coldstream, 205) During the lean years for UK cinemas, ticket sales from his films helped keep theatres open. More than 4000 cinema managers chose him as ‘the World’s Greatest Money-Drawing Star’. (Coldstream, 207) For five years, from 1955 to 1960, Bogarde’s enthusiastic fans voted for him over major Hollywood stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day in the Motion Picture Academy poll in Europe. (Tanitch, 9) On the home front, Picturegoer magazine presented him with its Annual Award for ‘best actor’ three years in a row. (Hinxman and d’Arcy, 14) But, from 1960, Bogarde would change his matinée-idol image by taking on complex, mature roles, and by the 1970s he would have extended his artistic reach abroad to become one of the premier actors in international art house cinema.