Who are some actors you feel don't get enough credit for the work they did in this era, and should be remembered alongside the Bogarts and the Hepburns?
For me it's Teresa Wright and Donna Reed.
Underrated Actors
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David Niven! I feel like he was pretty well known at the time but doesn't get the love that Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Gregory Peck, and Humphrey Bogart get, especially now. He's fantastic as the intended jewel thief in The Pink Panther and as the bishop in The Bishop's Wife - plus, wow, two wildly different roles, and he manages to play both of them so well.
In the Pink Panther he has a comedic role: a thief who plays the part of a gentleman (although technically speaking he is also actually a gentleman in the literal sense), tries to seduce a princess as part of his plan, and watches his plans all go awry by sheer bad luck. Peter Sellers is better know for comedy in the Pink Panther series, as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, but David Niven makes for an excellent and hilarious antagonist.
On that note, Robert Wagner (as George) and Capucine (as Simone Clouseau) are both brilliant.
In the Bishop's Wife, David Niven has a much more serious role: as the bishop who puts his plans for a new cathedral before everything and everyone else. Cary Grant kind of steals the scene there (as the angel who comes to help him but instead falls in love with the bishop's wife #tragic ), but David Niven is fantastic as the bishop losing sight of what's really important.
They're two drastically different roles, but he pulls them both off perfectly and I can't imagine anyone else playing his part.
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