Tom Courtenay

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Conversely, I have never liked him.

I assume Lean intended that the weaselly Bolshevik be played by an actor who looked like a weasel.

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I always liked him. Just before this he and Julie Christie and been together in a movie called "Billy Liar." She had a supporting role, but steals the show. - intofilm

I like Tom Courtenay quite a lot too. However, I disagree that Julie Christie "steals the show" in Billy Liar.

Billy Liar was a career-defining role for Courtenay, who owns the film. In a way, I think that Christie was slightly miscast in Billy Liar. The film is so drab and gritty (not a value judgment--it's supposed to look that way) that when Christie shows up, she seems too glamorous, too appealing. That may be part of the point, I realize, and her character's function is certainly to call Billy's bluff because she really is the one who does light out on adventures that Billy can only fantasize about. But she is such a shining jewel amidst the Midlands shabbiness that her very appearance contradicts the film's entire approach even if she does deliver a quite credible performance.

As I think about it, I realize that I haven't seen enough movies with Tom Courtenay in them. I really enjoyed his performance in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, the grimmer yet no less compelling companion piece to Billy Liar, and as part of the ensemble of '60s icons in the terrific Last Orders.

Last word on Billy Liar: After seeing Courtenay do his riff on "Shadrack, Mister Shadrack, Shaddy-Addy-Addy-Addy," no one is going to steal the show from him, even if she does look like Julie Christie.
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"If life's for living, what's living for?" - Ray Davies

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And here he kind of returns the favour

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Shiloh isn't haunted – men are haunted. Shiloh doesn't care.

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