TopBilled
-
Posts
154,044 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
376
Posts posted by TopBilled
-
-
Right...there are types of character actors...sub-categories, if you will.
I would list Barbra Streisand as a character actress, and I am sure many would object to that classification. But after she wound up eighth-billed in a Ben Stiller franchise, that is exactly the kind of role she was doing. She may be a great singer, but she is no longer selling movie tickets based on sex appeal. I think even in something like YENTL, she is doing a character-driven part.
As for the purest form of a character actor or actress, I think that even if we look at the ones from the studio era that never got the guy or never got the girl, we could probably look at their resume, and we would see they likely did play leading roles when they were younger on stage, if not in movies.
In James Robert Parish's book on character actors, he lists Gordon Westcott. I don't exactly consider him a character actor. He was leading man material, but he was working his way up the ladder in supporting roles like many of his fellow Warners-First National costars. Except unlike the others, he died very young and his promising career was tragically cut short. He would've made it to the A-list.
-
That's a great comment. You are fast becoming my favorite fellow poster around here. Personally, I think there should be a series of 'In Search of...' threads. I think you are on to something, and I certainly hope we can officially unravel the mystery of Weidler's exit from show biz. I would suggest trying to get in contact with any of her immediate family if possible.
-
Fred, you make an interesting point. However, McCarthy tends to be the fall-guy for this particular time in history.
Something that is overlooked is how reactionary certain groups were in the early 1930s, which led to the establishment of the Production Code in Hollywood. The McCarthy era was not the first time that content in motion pictures was being censored and that careers were ending in the motion picture capital because of an enforced change in programming.
-
*BARBARA STANWYCK*
THE MIRACLE WOMAN (1931) with David Manners
A LOST LADY (1934) with Ricardo Cortez
RED SALUTE (1935) with Robert Young
BANJO ON MY KNEE (1936) with Joel McCrea
THE PLOUGH AND THE STARS (1936) with Preston Foster
A MESSAGE TO GARCIA (1936) with Wallace Beery & John Boles
THIS IS MY AFFAIR (1937) with Robert Taylor
ALWAYS GOODBYE (1938) with Herbert Marshall
FLESH AND FANTASY (1943) with Charles Boyer
THE BRIDE WORE BOOTS (1946) with Robert Cummings
THE OTHER LOVE (1947) with David Niven
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER (1948) with Burt Lancaster & Wendell Corey
NO MAN OF HER OWN (1950) with John Lund
THE FURIES (1950) with Wendell Corey & Walter Huston
TITANIC (1953) with Clifton Webb & Robert Wagner
ALL I DESIRE (1953) with Richard Carlson
BLOWING WILD (1953) with Gary Cooper
CATTLE QUEEN OF MONTANA (1954) with Ronald Reagan
THE MAVERICK QUEEN (1956) with Barry Sullivan
THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW (1956) with Fred MacMurray & Joan Bennett
FORTY GUNS (1957) with Barry Sullivan
THE NIGHT WALKER (1964) with Robert Taylor
THE HOUSE THAT WOULD NOT DIE (1970) with Richard Egan
A TASTE OF EVIL (1971) with Roddy McDowall
THE LETTERS (1973) with John Forsythe & Jane Powell
-
*TORMENT (1944)*
From Agee on August 30, 1947:
The first half is a fine, ardent movie about a schoolboy, a deranged teacher and a terrified working girl. Thereafter it fritters out into pretty good horror melodrama and pale conclusions.
-
*Early Marilyn Monroe*
She plays a waitress in Fox's DANGEROUS YEARS and is an uncredited square dancer in the studio's GREEN GRASS OF WYOMING.
-
TCM aired DON'T TELL THE WIFE today. This is a great RKO film with a ton of character actors: Guy Kibbee, Una Merkel, William Demarest, Guinn Williams & Lynne Overman. Wonderful entertainment!
-
*Could There Ever Be a Remake?*
The unthinkable occurred when Universal allowed a remake of PSYCHO. What if someone wanted to remake CITIZEN KANE...?
-
*BOOMERANG! (1947)*
From Agee on March 22, 1947:
Directed by Elia Kazan, this is the story of a real-life murder and the resultant police and political work. It was made in Stamford and White Plains. Notable for Dana Andrews' best performance to date, it has a large cast mainly of Broadway actors, inspired perhaps by their surroundings. The script and photography are exactly what they should be. The film never tries to get beyond the very best that journalistic artists can do, but on that level it is a triumph, a perfect job. I very much hope it is a springboard for many more films of its kind.
-
*FLAME AS RUSTY*
FOR THE LOVE OF RUSTY (1947) with Ted Donaldson & Ann Doran
MY DOG RUSTY (1948) with Ted Donaldson & Ann Doran
RUSTY LEADS THE WAY (1948) with Ted Donaldson & Ann Doran
RUSTY SAVES A LIFE (1949) with Ted Donaldson & Ann Doran
RUSTY'S BIRTHDAY (1949) with Ted Donaldson & Ann Doran
-
I guess what I meant, instead of listing them, was which one are viewers' personal favorites and why.
-
The list does seem endless. I like your inclusion of Eve Arden.
Some character actors were leading men and women during the silent era, and their careers evolved considerably with the advent of talkies.
I was watching TCM's recent broadcast of THE FALCON TAKES OVER, and it has Anne Revere in an early film role. She's excellent as always. She is definitely not intended to be George Sanders' love interest. It's strictly a character role for her.
-
Who are the best character actors?
-
*Meg Ryan & Tom Hanks*
It started with JOE VS. THE VOLCANO...then, it was SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE.
-
*THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU (1944)*
From Agee on December 9, 1944:
THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU is a story about the wives of absent soldiers. It entangles sincerity and even some insight. There are some pretty good family quarrels and some straight acting. But there is so much wincing embarrassment of over-stylized talk and of rubbing the audience's nose in emotions that it is hardly at all worth seeing.
-
*INGRID BERGMAN*
THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (1945) with Bing Crosby
ARCH OF TRIUMPH (1948) with Charles Boyer & Charles Laughton
JOURNEY TO ITALY (1955) with George Sanders
ANASTASIA (1956) with Yul Brynner & Helen Hayes
ELENA AND HER MEN (1956) with Mel Ferrer
INDISCREET (1958) with Cary Grant
THE VISIT (1964) with Anthony Quinn
CACTUS FLOWER (1969) with Walter Matthau & Goldie Hawn
A WALK IN THE SPRING RAIN (1970) with Anthony Quinn
FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER (1973) with Sally Prager & Richard Mulligan
A MATTER OF TIME (1976) with Liza Minnelli & Charles Boyer
-
Wasn't Glenn Ford the SOTM the second month back in 1994? If so, then that would suggest TCM had a deal with Sony/Columbia right from the beginning.
-
>Sometimes I just want to watch something "fun" from the 30's or 40's.
That's what I was thinking, too. DING DONG WILLIAMS recently aired and that's a fun RKO film from the mid-40s. Compared to SCHINDLER'S LIST, it hardly seems important. But it's fun.
And can we say that SCHINDLER'S LIST is not worth airing on TCM because it was not made during the studio era? These are two different types of animals. On TCM, we get to see a variety of films.
-
*WORLD OF PLENTY (1943)*
From Agee on July 24, 1943:
There is still doubt, and should be none, about the American release of English documentaries. WORLD OF PLENTY deserves better than that rubber truncheon of a categorizer. It is about past, present and future food. It was energetically and well written by the late Eric Knight and surprisingly (to me) well edited by Paul Rotha. It has some adroit pedagogical help from the Isotype Institute and a general boldness in ideology which I would like to see cutting grease in as many American theaters as possible.
-
*Out West with Elvis Presley*
He's a FLAMING STAR named CHARRO!
-
*TOMMY & JIMMY DORSEY*
I DOOD IT (1943) with Red Skelton
THE FABULOUS DORSEYS (1947) with Janet Blair & William Lundigan
A SONG IS BORN (1948) with Danny Kaye & Virginia Mayo
MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM (1949) with Jerome Courtland & Ruth Warrick
DISC JOCKEY (1951) with Ginny Simms & Tom Drake
-
I think keeping this thread alive is the best way. You are making your interest in her films known to the TCM programmers. They look at posts on these boards.
This is an easy request because they can access many of her films, except the Paramount titles which requires them to go through Universal.
Keep in mind that they probably have the line-up for this summer already determined but it is not too early to start making a case for next year's SUTS. And certainly, they could do a primetime salute to her any night of the year.
-
*MUSIC FOR MILLIONS (1944)*
From Agee on January 6, 1945:
MUSIC FOR MILLIONS uses Margaret O'Brien and Jimmy Durante and June Allyson and Jose Iturbi and a symphony orchestra and God only knows how many dollars as to get close to the least good possible out of any of them.
-
*Good Charlotte*
The murder of a beloved is the theme in both pictures, though HUSH...HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE is a far cry from CHARLOTTE'S WEB.
Why the word STOP was used in telegrams...
in General Discussions
Posted
This topic could very easily be linked to the use of telegrams in classic movies. Yet the original post neglects to make the connection.