Editing Alastair Sim (section)

==1960s and last years==

After doing little stage work in the 1950s, Sim resumed his theatre career in earnest in the 1960s. His range was wide, from Prospero in ''[[The Tempest]]'' (1962) and Shylock in ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' (1964), to the villainous Captain Hook in [[J. M. Barrie|Barrie]]'s ''[[Peter and Wendy|Peter Pan]]'' (1963, 1964 and 1968) and the hapless Mr Posket in [[Arthur Wing Pinero|Pinero]]'s farce ''[[The Magistrate (play)|The Magistrate]]'' (1969). The new plays in which Sim appeared were [[Michael Gilbert]]'s ''Windfall'' (1963), [[William Trevor]]'s ''The Elephant's Foot'' (1965) and [[Ronald Millar]]'s ''Number Ten'' (1967); he directed all three productions. The first was dismissed by ''The Times'' as a tepid comedy about a progressive young headmaster thwarted by a reactionary member of his staff; the second, billed as a pre-London tour, started and finished in the provinces; the last was castigated by [[Philip Hope-Wallace]] in ''The Guardian'' as "maladroit playmaking" with a tedious plot about political machinations.<ref name=crits60s/> Sim's performances provided some consolation: in the first, ''The Times'' said, his "treacherously sweet smiles, triple takes and unheralded spasms of apoplectic fury almost make the evening worth while".<ref name=crits60s>Lyric Theatre. "Mr Sim again the Indulgent Pedagogue", ''The Times'', 3 July 1963, p. 13 (''Windfall''); "Briefing", ''The Observer'', 4 April 1965, p. 22 (''The Elephant's Foot''); and Hope-Wallace, Philip. "Number 10 at the Strand Theatre", ''The Guardian'', 16 November 1967, p. 6 (''Number Ten'')</ref>

Much more successful among Sim's 1960s appearances were two productions at the [[Chichester Festival]]: [[George Colman the Elder|Colman]] and [[David Garrick|Garrick]]'s 1766 comedy ''[[The Clandestine Marriage]]'' (1966) and ''[[The Magistrate (play)|The Magistrate]]''. In the former he co-starred once more with Rutherford, whom [[J. C. Trewin]] in ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' praised for her "irresistible comic effect"; he thought Sim "enchantingly right".<ref>Trewin, J C. "Ha! Ha! That's Admirable!", ''Illustrated London News'', 11 June 1966, p. 31</ref> In the Pinero farce three years later, Trewin was equally approving of Sim and his co-star [[Patricia Routledge]].<ref>Trewin, J C. "Frenzy by Gaslight", ''Illustrated London News'', 31 May 1969, p. 32</ref>

On television, Sim portrayed Mr Justice Swallow in the comedy series ''[[Uncommon Law|Misleading Cases]]'' (1967–71), written by [[A. P. Herbert]], with [[Roy Dotrice]] as the litigious Mr Haddock over whose court cases Swallow presided with benign shrewdness.<ref>Simpson, p. 172</ref> Sim returned to the cinema in 1971 as the voice of Scrooge in an animated adaptation of ''[[A Christmas Carol (1971 film)|A Christmas Carol]]''. The following year he appeared as the Bishop in [[Peter Medak]]'s ''[[The Ruling Class (film)|The Ruling Class]]'' (1972) with [[Peter O'Toole]], and in 1975 he played a cameo in [[Richard Lester]]'s ''[[Royal Flash (film)|Royal Flash]]'' (1975) with [[Malcolm McDowell]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120713190950/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6a793817 "The Ruling Class"] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120713184402/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b4b8c8f "Royal Flash"], British Film Institute, retrieved 13 July 2014</ref> After playing Lord Harrogate in the 1976 [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]] film ''[[The Littlest Horse Thieves|Escape from the Dark]]'', his last role was as the Earl in the 1976 remake of ''[[Rogue Male (1976 film)|Rogue Male]]'' opposite [[Peter O'Toole]], a role for which he literally climbed out of his sick bed, saying, "Peter needs me."

On stage Sim returned to Pinero farce, playing Augustin Jedd in ''[[Dandy Dick (play)|Dandy Dick]]'' at Chichester and then in the West End. Once again he co-starred with Patricia Routledge. His last stage appearance was in a return to the role of Lord Ogleby in a new production of ''[[The Clandestine Marriage]]'' at the Savoy in April 1975.<ref name=dnb/>