By Eric Kohn

Who is Norman Lloyd
Directed by Mathew Sussman


A movie called Who is Norman Lloyd? better answer its own question. Fortunately, the conventional documentary using that title does just that. A kind, engaging portrait of the 94-year-old veteran actor Lloyd, the movie (directed by Matthew Sussman) applies the Forest Gump effect to show business, revisiting seminal moments in the history of stage and screen production while inserting Lloyd into the legacies of widely acknowledged artisans like Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir.

Of course, Lloyd was there all along, as an increasingly successful actor, producer and director in dozens of seminal accomplishments of the American entertainment industry, but many of his achievements have been obscured by the associated reputations of famous names. Who is Norman Lloyd? sets the record straight.

It’s one thing to see an elderly performer recall the Golden Age of Hollywood, but due to the sheer volume of Lloyd’s work with iconic talent, he seems to represent it. A genial man, able to unload anecdotes with plenty of sparkle and élan, he constructs the narrative of his own life through his creative output, which is impressively stuffed into this amusing overview in 67 compact minutes. Lloyd recalls his early career as an original member of Welles’ Mercury Theatre, during which a key role in Welles’ New York production of Julius Caesar brought him early acclaim. After moving to Los Angeles with his wife, he staves off working for the overly ambitious Welles, losing a spot in Citizen Kane. His freelancer stature, however, leads him directly into the viewpoint of Alfred Hitchcock, opening the door to his role in Saboteur, Hitchock’s 1942 thriller, as the deranged pyromaniac whose crimes lead to the wrongful conviction of an aircraft worker (the movie screens at Film Forum this week along with the documentary).

Rather than becoming stereotyped as a villain a la Peter Lorre, Lloyd continued working with Hitchcock throughout both men’s careers, but he also developed relationships with the likes of Jean Renoir and Charlie Chaplin (the aging Tramp cast him in a brief role in Limelight). Later in life, Lloyd’s gigs included television parts on St. Elsewhere and Murder, She Wrote, but he’s hardly faded into obscurity, having recently acted alongside Cameron Diaz as a moody hospital inmate for In Her Shoes.

Due to its trim length, Who is Normal Lloyd? provides little more than an overview, but it’s an endearing one that speaks to the legacy of talent as a categorically separate phenomenon from celebrity stature. There are names that fill in the cracks of Hollywood myth, and Norman Lloyd’s story seals several gaps. Not all great artists get the acclaim they deserve—just ask the WGA.