In the fine tradition of such Hollywood players as Douglas Dumbrille and Richard Deacon, Australian actor Allan Cuthbertson was expert in portraying icy, glaring officials at odds with more warmhearted heroes and heroines. Cuthbertson was suitably condescending and sometimes downright nasty in such films as Carrington VC (1954), The Man Who Never Was (1956), Room at the Top (1959), The Running Man (1964), The Railway Children (1974) and The Sea Wolves (1981). The actor was also seen as a foil to several British TV comedians of the '60s and '70s. Allan Cuthbertson always came in handy whenever American movie companies filming abroad needed someone to personify cold-blooded British propriety; the Guns of Navarrone (1961) and The Mirror Crack'd (1982) feature the actor at his supercilious best.