as the villain in State Secret (1950), for Sidney Gilliat with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. He was recruited by 20th Century Fox to support Tyrone Power and Orson Welles in the expensive epic The Black Rose (1950). He made another with Powell and Pressburger for Korda, The Elusive Pimpernel (1950), playing the prince of Wales. Hawkins played the lead in The Adventurers (1951), shot in South Africa, then had a good role in another Hollywood-financed film shot in Britain, No Highway in the Sky (1951), with James Stewart. It was followed by a British thriller with Ralph Richardson, Home at Seven (1952). In the spring of 1951 he went to Broadway and played Mercutio in a production of Romeo and Juliet with Olivia de Havilland. Stardom Hawkins became a star with the release of three successful films in which he played stern but sympathetic authority figures: Angels One Five (1951), as an RAF officer during the war; The Planter's Wife (1952), as a rubber planter combating communists in the Malayan Emergency (with Claudette Colbert); and Mandy (1952), the headmaster of a school for the deaf. All films ranked among the top ten most popular films at the British box office in 1952 and British exhibitors voted him the fourth most popular British star at the local box office. Hawkins consolidated his new status with The Cruel Sea (1953), playing a driven naval officer in World War II. Sir Michael Balcon said: "Even before the script was written, we knew it had to be Jack Hawkins. If he hadn't been free to play the part, then there wouldn't have been a film." The Cruel Sea was the most successful film of the year and saw Hawkins voted the most popular star in Britain regardless of nationality. According to his Guardian obituary, he "exemplified for many cinemagoers the stiff upper lip tradition prevalent in post-war British films. His craggy looks and authoritative bearing were used to good effect whatever branch of the services he represented." Malta Story (1953) was another military story, with Hawkins as an RAF officer in the Siege of Malta during the war. It too was a hit, the ninth most popular film in Britain in 1953. He had a guest role in Twice Upon a Time (1953) for Emeric Pressburger. He followed this with two mildly popular dramas – The Intruder (1953) and Front Page Story (1954). The Seekers