Charles Laughton Woman" (1933) in which he co-starred with Carole Lombard as a Cockney river trader in the Malayan jungle. Then came "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934) as Norma Shearer's character's malevolent father (although Laughton was only three years older than Shearer); "Les Misérables" (1935) as Inspector Javert; one of his most famous screen roles in "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935) as Captain William Bligh, co-starring with Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian; and "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935) as the very English butler transported to early 1900s America. He signed to play Micawber in "David Copperfield" (1934), but after a few
Charles Laughton appeared at the Comédie-Française as Sganarelle in the second act of Molière's "Le Médecin malgré lui", the first English actor to appear at that theatre, where he acted the part in French and received an ovation. Laughton commenced his film career in Britain while still acting on the London stage. He also took small roles in three short silent comedies starring his wife Elsa Lanchester, "Daydreams", "Blue Bottles" and "The Tonic" (all 1928) which had been specially written for her by H.G. Wells and were directed by Ivor Montagu. He made a brief appearance as a disgruntled diner in another