And this type is everywhere. For those who may not know, that is actor Roland Young in his defining portrait of Uriah Heep, in the David O. Selzncik-George Cukor 1935 film of "David Copperfield." In the Dickens story, Uriah is a seemingly humble clerk (pronounced "clark") to Judge Wickfield, father of Agnes, who is a functional alcoholic. Uriah, to the public eye, is the sort of whom it might be said butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He lives with his elderly mother, under the guise of taking care of her, but, if you read the novel, it becomes a question of who is taking care of who. Or, more accurately, controlling him.
Uriah Heep is this week's winner of The Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award, because he is dangerous, like Regan , in 'Lear' When the gloves come off, out comes a man so dominated by his mother that, at her bidding he seeks power. He encourages, subtly, Judge Wickfield to drink even more, so that all the functions he used to do now get done by Uriah. He is, in fact, stealing the business from him.
I am sure we have known our own varieties of Uriah. People who think so highly of themselves they think nothing of hogging all the action. And are positive they will get away with it.
To them, I say, watch the scene in this film, dominated by the brilliance of W.C. Fields, in a genuine acting role, as Wilkins Micawber, When he lets Uriah Heep have it, you want to cheer!!!!!!!!!!!!
But, until that time, he is one of literature's and film's great bitches. And to those real Uriahs out there, I say, watch out--those mill grinds are exceedingly small, but they eventually have a way of coming back at you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And we all know there isn't a nasty bone in my body! Well, maybe not like Uriah!
Humble pie, my ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment