Christopher Reeve (1952-2004) had the clean-cut, all-American look that made him a natural as Superman, but he didn’t want to be typecast and was determined to stretch as an actor. That’s how he turned up in a decent number of frock flicks, from romances to westerns. These probably aren’t a big part of this new documentary biopic about Reeve:
So let’s review his historical costume roles and add to the Superman myth!
Richard Collier in Somewhere in Time (1980)
Father John Flaherty in Monsignor (1982)
Prince Charming in “Sleeping Beauty,” Faerie Tale Theatre (1983)
Basil Ransome in The Bostonians (1984)
Edgar Anscombe in The Aviator (1985)
Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina (1985)
Maj. John Dodge in The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988)
Allan Pinkerton in The Rose and the Jackal (1990)
Robert Rutherford in Avonlea (1992)
Humphrey Van Weyden in The Sea Wolf (1993)
Will Parker in Morning Glory (1993)
Congressman Jack Lewis in The Remains of the Day (1993)
Alan Johnson in Black Fox (1995)
What’s your favorite of Christopher Reeve’s frock flick roles? Or will he always be Superman first?Â
He’s got a little Rupert Sewell thing going on in Avonlea!
Very true Mary! I had to do a double take when I scrolled past The Bostonians, thought it was Tom Cruise at first.
I had such a giant crush on Reeves as a young woman, he was my ideal. And Superman was a big favorite. I have honestly not seen many of these, except Somewhere in Time – which was very well done. I have more watching to do clearly, and am adding several of his titles to my list.
I must see the documentary too. Reeves was quite a remarkable human and incredibly rose above his tragedy to inspire others. Super – man indeed!
And there was the bit where he did Hamlet on the Muppet Show in quasi-Shakespearean.
I definitely watched all of Road to Avonlea (original title for Avonlea) growing up, but do not remember Christoper Reeve (or Ryan Gosling, going off the IMDB page) in it – clearly time for a rewatch.
Same! I religiously watched that show when it aired on the Disney Channel in the 90s, and do not remember him. It is clearly time to purchase the series and do a nostalgic rewatch.
I wish I’d been able to meet him; so cute. I loved his Clark Kent (channeling Cary Grant from his screwball days) in Superman, but absolutely adored him as Richard in “Somewhere in Time.” That’s the FrockFlick that I save for when I need a really good cry – I rarely watch it because I want it to stay special. I did see his Merchant-Ivory films (yay); sadly I didn’t know he did a remake of “Anna Karenina” – I suppose we’ll have to blame that film for his learning to ride and subsequent accident. I have a local friend who went to Julliard, and was in the same class with Chris, Robin Williams, who also happened to be roommates there with Kelsey Grammar. As you can imagine, losing both Chris and Robin was devastating to a lot of people. To me, he’ll always be the young, healthy guy on the big screen. I’m sorry, no disrespect to more recent actors, but Chris’ take on Superman with a definite moral center, emotional strength, and old fashioned sincerity was the best. The only other actor I’ve seen capture those same qualities as a superhero is Gal Gadot – I only wish they’d been born in the same generation, because I would have loved to see them work together.
What a wonderful MCM choice! I had no idea that Christopher Reeve had so many Frock Flick roles. To answer your question, he will always be Superman first to me, but that doesn’t take away from his other roles. Like several others have said here, I saw him in Somewhere in Time. I’d forgotten that he was briefly in The Remains of the Day. I also watched Avonlea on Disney Channel back in the day and don’t remember him. This is a time to re-watch and watch lots of the movies on this list! Excellent MCM choice!
I’m not going to lie, Mr Reeves and the lovely Jane Seymour make a beautiful couple (Good thing too, we deserve some compensation for all those moustache shots!).
God rest him and may his legacy fly high for a very long time to come.
This post inspired me to watch Remains of the Day, which has been on my To Watch list for ages. I’m so glad I did. The movie was just my cup of tea!
Somewhere in Time isn’t my favorite, but I did enjoy my trip to Mackinac Island more, and my stay at The Grand Hotel, after watching it!