Walter Pidgeon (1897-1984) as the besieged (by his own men as well as the enemy) Colonel Brunswick in the 1951 production of the Rudyard Kipling story Soldiers Three.

He wears an interesting Hollywood variation of the foreign service helmet that sports a slightly flared brim somewhat reminiscent of the Wolseley pattern variety. One interesting aspect of Pidgeon's costume uniform is the fact that his campaign ribbons are actually sewn together from small bits of colored material and are not actual medal ribbons at all.

Canadian by birth, Pidgeon had a long, respected career in Hollywood with roles that varied from Mr. Gruffyd in John Ford's  How Green was My Valley (1941) to Dr. Morbius in the 1956 science fiction classic Forbidden Planet.

During World War One Pidgeon enlisted in the Royal Canadian Artillery but was so severely injured when pinned between two artillery carriages that he spent almost a year and a half convalescing and was never deployed overseas. According to Hollywood legend Pidgeon became so wrapped up with his role as a Mountie in an early stage production of Rose Marie that he attempted to enlist in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after the show closed but was found medically unfit due to his wartime injuries.

Pidgeon described his career in Hollywood: "Maybe it was better never to become red hot. I'd seen performers like that and they never lasted long. Maybe a long glow is the best way. At Metro, I was never considered big enough to squire around Norma Shearer or Joan Crawford or Greta Garbo. Well, I outlasted them all at MGM, didn't I? It takes a lot of work to appear easy-going and I tried to avoid being stuffy."


Black and White Publicity Still
8 inches by 10 inches (28cm x 18cm)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
United