On Broadway in Anouilh's Becket (TIME, Oct. 17), Sir Laurence Olivier played the title role against Anthony Quinn's Henry II. In Boston last weekQuinn having exited for HollywoodOlivier played Henry II against Arthur Kennedy's Becket. Olivier had always been intrigued by the part, and when Director Peter Glenville offered it to him for a short road tour, he grabbed it. Such switching is historical enough; Edwin Booth and Henry Irving once played Othello and lago back and forth for weeks.
Though he lost the title role, Olivier gained by the switch. It is really the title role in name only: in his...
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