'Henry V'

Sir Laurence Olivier was a very interesting person.

He was obviously a very talented actor even at a young age and it was pretty well known that that was his profession since before he was a teenager.

So, when he felt dissatisfied with others and with the medium of film in general, people had to listen. Other than becoming a big star, I would think Olivier didn't need film. Or was it important for Olivier the stage actor to be a success as Olivier the film actor?

Was Olivier continually doing stage work like an American soccer star staying in his home country instead of playing in the more sophisticated and advanced European leagues?

He starred in Henry V, which was released in July 1944 as a supposed rallying cry for D-Day. The fact that D-day had taken place more than a month earlier and British and American troops had already liberated Cherbourg (and its umbrellas), Caen and had reached St. Lo. Of course, the troops still need the support and the folks on the homefront needed a trusted voice to say:

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by/From this day to the ending of the world/But we in it shall be remembered/We few, we happy few, we band of brothers/For he to-day that sheds his blood with me/Shall be my brother.

Sir Olivier attempted to join the Royal Air Force at the onset of World War II. He wasn't able to and instead joined the reserves and clocked in with 200 hours of flight time.

Sir Olivier was a smart man. He was not smart enough to stay away from Vivien Leigh, who was a total nut, but was probably dynamite in the right ways.

They started an affair in the 1930s and both travelled to Hollywood: Leigh to film Gone With the Wind and Olivier, Wuthering Heights.

Both were successes and Olivier would then release Rebecca with director Alfred Hitchcock.