One of the best things about the first two Harry Potter films is how the actors’ outlooks match our imagination of them from the books so well. From Harry’s eyes which glisten with the ghosts of his past exude a haunting quality, Hermione’s bushy hair, McGonagall’s stern frown, to Dumbledore’s grand silver beard.
The first film begins with Dumbledore collecting the street lights with his illuminator, introducing us to the whimsical world of magic that Harry is about to discover.
When Harry walks up to the Sorting Hat with his fellow students, we see Dumbledore sitting in the centre, taller than most teachers around him, sending a clear message that he is in charge of this place where our hero’s magical adventure is going to happen.
Hopefully all that rambling makes it clear what I’m getting at: Dumbledore is kind of an important character. And Richard Harris’ performance captured both fans of the books and regular moviegoers.
Two movies later, Michael Gambon replaced Richard Harris as Dumbledore and that’s when I started to turn a blind eye to this character. He is no longer the Dumbledore from the book.
For years, I’ve heard people defend Gambon’s interpretation of Dumbledore by saying that he brought the character’s dark side to the screen, something Richard Harris couldn’t have done. But the more I look into Harris’ other works, the more I see that not only could he have done what the character of Dumbledore required in the later films, he would also have done it with grace.
I will note here that both Richard Harris and Michael Gambon were terrific actors, so whatever flaws in Gambon’s interpretation that we will discuss here mostly have more to do with the directing and the scripts of the later films.
Here are the reasons why the two Dumbledores are so distinctively different and why the first one is distinctively better.
D = Dumbledore (it’s a long name, ok?)
HE MAKES HOGWARTS FEEL LIKE HOME
Dumbledore may be a man of secrets and a dark past and he makes mistakes just like anyone else, but students, particularly Harry, would always look at him and see a man who wants to welcome them into his school. And that is exactly what Richard Harris gives us in the first two movies among other things.
In the books, D cracks clever jokes, deflects malicious comments with humour, and makes casual conversation with Neville, Ron, and other students besides Harry. Richard Harris doesn’t get as many scenes as we would have liked due to the films’ length, but with the little screen time he was given, he makes it absolutely clear how much Dumbledore cares about Hogwarts as a home for his students even if we, book readers, know he makes unforgivable mistakes that put Hogwarts in danger many times.
The way he talks about Fawkes, the way he tells McGonagall that the school is no longer safe in Chamber, etc — you have no problem believing he is a part of Hogwarts.
This is the wise old man whose bookshelves you’d want to explore and whose office would fill you with wonder.
This is a side that is completely missing from Gambon’s D. He rarely expresses any interest in even his own office. Without reading the books, one would think that Gambon’s D can’t wait to get away from this place.
HE ONLY RAISES HIS VOICE WHEN IT IS CALLED FOR
Which is like… once.
Harris’ D shouts “silence” to get the attention of 1000+ kids so that he can go back to speaking quietly and calmly again immediately afterwards.
What about Michael Gambon’s D? We don’t even need to bring up the whole “DIDYAPUTYOURNAMEINTHEGOBLETOFFIAH?”.
He yells Harry’s name when it shoots out of the Goblet. He glares at Harry as the poor boy walks to the back with the other champions. He tells the champion to gather around him and gives them one second before snapping “quickly” at them in Goblet. He shouts at his students to go do their homework in Phoenix. His conversation with Harry after Sirius dies inspires little to no emotion.
And when Gambon’s D yells “silence”, it sounds more like “shut your mouths or I’ll beat you up”.
Once in a while, there’s an effort to be humorous — making jokes, slapping Ron’s leg, etc — but because he is usually seen to be indifferent and snappy towards the kids, these efforts cannot turn the case around.
UNSPOKEN POWER
Across discussions comparing the two Dumbledores, the most popular notion people list as a reason why they prefer Michael Gambon’s Dumby is: he plays the powerful D well and does stunts Richard Harris would not have been able to do due to his age.
And most Gambon defenders state they cannot imagine Harris in the action sequences Gambon did because Harris’ D is too frail, too soft-spoken, and too slow.
True, Dumbledore can be scary — the only one he fears — but scary doesn’t necessarily mean physical activeness or grand movements. You can be scary with just a graceful flick of a wand or a simple look, which is what Dumbledore in the book is capable of and what Richard Harris would have brought to the screen.
Michael Gambon’s D is always restless and twitchy. He shouts, he winks, and he portrays D’s powers by acting out every moment as if it was life-and-death, making Dumbledore’s “power” appear a surface reaction to threats rather than a deep-rooted quality.
In short, while Harris (and Jude Law too) embraces the intrigue of the character, Gambon tries hard to show that his character is powerful. And that is all we see in the end: a performance of power.
About the stunts, well, suppose that Richard Harris had lived to finish the later films, the solution would be simple: stunt doubles. Most actors in action/fantasy films require one. Close-up shots of Richard Harris’ expressions would do the rest of the job.
NUANCES AND MINIMAL EXPRESSIONS
If you have read all seven books, you know Dumbledore is just as human as everyone else, he is full of emotion. He just hides it better than most. And so does Richard Harris hide his character’s true feelings well in Movies 1 and 2.
Be it when Harry is in the hospital, when Harry makes it into Gryfindorr, when the troll breaks in or when the ministry sacks him, Harris gives us just enough to let the audience grasp Dumbledore’s thoughts yet still maintain his appeal. This is the D whose shameful past and betrayal would shock people. This is the D who would have gotten everyone’s attention when he said “I care too much”.
This point is particularly important because due to D’s habit of regulating his emotions and actions well, readers are moved and all the more intrigued to see him lose control in the cave in Book Six.
On the other hand, because Gambon’s D has always shown clear emotions on his face and with his speech, that one scene in Movie Six doesn’t make much of an impact.
THE TWINKLE IN THE EYE
Which does not mean literal winking, by the way, something that Gambon attempted to do once or twice in the films.
Perhaps it isn’t fair to say that Michael Gambon does not give Dumbledore the twinkle in the eye as Richard Harris does on the screen because, well, it is something you either have or you don’t.
A little amusement, a little mischief, a little gladness — all of that, briefly flickering in your eyes: that would be a twinkle. That would be the way Dumbledore is described in the books. And Richard Harris is all twinkle.
HIS STYLING
Look, I’m not sure whose idea it was to dress Dumbledore down from Azkaban on, but the drab grey outfits and the tied beard certainly change how the character is perceived.
Ever since Hagrid yells at Vernon not to insult Dumbledore, we are already under the impression that D is a larger-than-life legend; and in Stone and Chamber, they dress Richard Harris in magnificent embroidered robes that make him tower above everyone else, enabling him to live up to the hype and at the same time emphasizing his quirkiness.
From Movie 3 forth, D’s wardrobe consists of plain grey. He easily fades into the background and no amount of yelling can make him stand out.
Above are my interpretations of the two Dumbledores as a Harry Potter book fans. Now, what if I wasn’t a book fan and hadn’t known the story at all before watching those movies? My impressions of the two Ds would be like this: Harris’ D is a wise old Merlin figure with many secrets.
Gambon’s D is a grumpy grandpa who can’t wait to beat up Voldemort with his bare hands and retire.
Thoughts?