Larry Peerce Director Of The Incident (1967)

[Det Jim McLeod]

Peerce made an appearance last week at a screening of The incident in New York's Film Forum.

 

First, the film is a brutal and harrowing experience of two thugs (Tony Musante and Martin Sheen ) who board a subway train and terrorize the passengers. The cast is excellent with mix of old pros (Thelma Ritter, Gary Merrill and Jan Sterling) and up and coming stars (Sheen,Beau Bridges and Donna Mills).

 

Peerce gave a great talk after the film. He said that they ran out of money after some on location NY filming. But the cast stuck together and waited until the money was raised. Gary Merrill at first did not want to return because he was looking for work anywhere he could get it and also had a very bad drinking problem (as did his character in the film) He finally agreed to come back after an all night drinking binge with Peerce. Thelma Ritter was working with some Method actors in the cast (a style she did not like) but she said "Hey i'll try anything!" There is a scene where she slaps punk Musante, which was not in the script. She came up with it in rehearsal, when she got so worked up from the intensity. 

 

The best part of the night was when Peerce was speaking about cast member Robert Bannard, who played one of two soldiers on leave (Beau Bridges being the other) and said by the way he is here tonight!. It was a great treat for a film buff to watch a 50 year movie and then have one of the actors suddenly appear in the flesh. In the film Bridges is the one person who stands up to the hoodlums while Bannard's character just sits back and does nothing. He said that a week after the film opened, a construction worker recognized him and yelled out "COWARD!" (LOL)

 

All in all, one of the best experiences I ever had in movie theater. Anyone have any thoughts on the film or the cast?

[TopBilled]

Great post. Lucky you getting the chance to hear them speak. This is an interesting film, sort of an ensemble character study (don't know how else to describe it). The on-location filming certainly helps the story, giving it strong atmospheric touches. 

 

Ritter had worked with several Method actors on THE MISFITS so I'm surprised it would have been something she was still getting used to. 

[ChristineHoard]

I'm not familiar with this movie.  It looks interesting and it seems like it was a great experience at the Film Forum.  Yes, nice mix of cast - newcomers and veterans.

 

Don't mean to pick nits, but as far as Thelma Ritter goes, Det. Jim writes it was a style she did not like but would try.  TopBilled infers that because of her involvement with THE MISFITS, she would have been used to The Method.  I think she could have been used to Method acting (due to her participation in MISFITS)  but that doesn't mean she liked it.  Ritter was a great actress who didn't need any "method" to play a character.

 

Speaking of THE MISFITS, I wonder what Clark Gable, an old school kind of actor if there ever was one, thought of all this Method stuff.

 

Maybe TCM will pick up THE INCIDENT someday.

[TopBilled]

I'm not familiar with this movie.  It looks interesting and it seems like it was a great experience at the Film Forum.  Yes, nice mix of cast - newcomers and veterans.

 

Don't mean to pick nits, but as far as Thelma Ritter goes, Det. Jim writes it was a style she did not like but would try.  TopBilled infers that because of her involvement with THE MISFITS, she would have been used to The Method.  I think she could have been used to Method acting (due to her participation in MISFITS)  but that doesn't mean she liked it.  Ritter was a great actress who didn't need any "method" to play a character.

 

Speaking of THE MISFITS, I wonder what Clark Gable, an old school kind of actor if there ever was one, thought of all this Method stuff.

 

Maybe TCM will pick up THE INCIDENT someday.

 

Gable did not like the Method. He and Montgomery Clift did not get along because of their vastly different approaches to scenes in THE MISFITS. Some of the old school actors felt the Method was a lot of pomp and circumstance. And many of the Method actors felt the old school actors didn't go deep enough with their characterizations. 

 

Actually I think Ritter is probably someone who saw the benefit in going deeper with the character. So the whole philosophy of Method acting should be one she would have liked and adapted to. 

 

I think what really was going on is a lot of the old timers were feeling insecure and threatened by the new, younger wave of actors. Spencer Tracy had problems on the set of INHERIT THE WIND with the younger Method types. He felt he didn't need to adapt or change his style, but I think a lot of that was arrogance. All actors should have to adapt to changing work conditions.

[Det Jim McLeod]

Gable did not like the Method. He and Montgomery Clift did not get along because of their vastly different approaches to scenes in THE MISFITS. Some of the old school actors felt the Method was a lot of pomp and circumstance. And many of the Method actors felt the old school actors didn't go deep enough with their characterizations. 

 

Actually I think Ritter is probably someone who saw the benefit in going deeper with the character. So the whole philosophy of Method acting should be one she would have liked and adapted to. 

 

I think what really was going on is a lot of the old timers were feeling insecure and threatened by the new, younger wave of actors. Spencer Tracy had problems on the set of INHERIT THE WIND with the younger Method types. He felt he didn't need to adapt or change his style, but I think a lot of that was arrogance. All actors should have to adapt to changing work conditions.

Robert Bannard said Ritter was his favorite person to talk to on the set. He asked her about the Method and about Clark Gable. She said "He may not have played the Method, but he played one helluva Clark Gable!"

[TopBilled]

Robert Bannard said Ritter was his favorite person to talk to on the set. He asked her about the Method and about Clark Gable. She said "He may not have played the Method, but he played one helluva Clark Gable!"

 

That's great. The quote of the day. Thanks for sharing about your experience seeing THE INCIDENT.

 

It used to air on the Fox Movie Channel. Not sure if it's ever been released on home video, but it deserves an audience.

[JamesJazGuitar]

Gable did not like the Method. He and Montgomery Clift did not get along because of their vastly different approaches to scenes in THE MISFITS. Some of the old school actors felt the Method was a lot of pomp and circumstance. And many of the Method actors felt the old school actors didn't go deep enough with their characterizations. 

 

Actually I think Ritter is probably someone who saw the benefit in going deeper with the character. So the whole philosophy of Method acting should be one she would have liked and adapted to. 

 

I think what really was going on is a lot of the old timers were feeling insecure and threatened by the new, younger wave of actors. Spencer Tracy had problems on the set of INHERIT THE WIND with the younger Method types. He felt he didn't need to adapt or change his style, but I think a lot of that was arrogance. All actors should have to adapt to changing work conditions.

 

I'm not sure I'm following you here.   Why would 'old timers' have to change their style?    Of course they need to be flexible as it relates to working with Method actors or any type of actor that approaches acting from a different 'place' than they do  (so if that is what you meant by 'adapt' I would agree that some 'old timers' didn't). 

 

In addition are you saying that these non-Method actors needed to change their style because they just weren't good enough?

[TopBilled]

I'm not sure I'm following you here.   Why would 'old timers' have to change their style?    Of course they need to be flexible as it relates to working with Method actors or any type of actor that approaches acting from a different 'place' than they do  (so if that is what you meant by 'adapt' I would agree that some 'old timers' didn't). 

 

In addition are you saying that these non-Method actors needed to change their style because they just weren't good enough?

 

Obviously an old school actor would not have to change his/her style if they were working with other old school actors. Lucille Ball's later sitcom, Here's Lucy, featured a lot of old time movie people as guest stars and that's probably because Lucy was comfortable with them-- she didn't have to adapt her performance style with people who approached scenes the way she did. Interestingly, the only Method actor I can think of who appeared on that program was Shelley Winters, and I don't think they got along, probably because Shelley challenged Lucy's "comfort zone" as an actress.

 

As for adapting, we can even extend the discussion to include what's going on now. In the 2010s, the Method actors have become "old school" compared to the newer generation of performers. So does this mean the Method actors have to adapt to new techniques? In theory, yes. But when I attended the Actors Studio in 2003/2004, the older generation Method Actors were still performing on screen, but they also devoted many hours to teaching us younger ones the Method so the Method would transfer on to the next generation of performers. I remember joking-- and it's true actually-- that I was starting to feel so Method that I couldn't go into a grocery store without having a Method for selecting the food I put in my shopping cart.

 

To address the last sentence in the post I quoted, I think we do have to say that some movie star styles were ultimately not good enough, and that's why some careers petered out early. Or why some stars had to rely on personality to keep going, even though most people knew they really couldn't act very well.

 

In the case of Thelma Ritter, I think she did have a method. It might not have been the METHOD, but it was no fluke she earned a Tony and had six Oscar nominations. She doesn't strike me as the type of performer who winged it or left anything to chance. She studied her script and developed a thorough understanding of her character and used certain techniques to bring the role to life. I sincerely doubt Gable put that much thought into his roles, and his Oscar win for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT actually does seem like it was based on popularity instead of recognition for his excellence in scene interpretation.

[Terrence1]

TopBilled, I like your thoughts on this.  Not only did Thelma Ritter receive six Oscar nominations, but she holds the record for the greatest number of nominations in that category.

[papyrusbeetle]

Speaking of Larry Peerce---
I remember when his very famous father, the opera singer Jan Peerce, was talking about him on "The Tonight Show" (back in the day).

 

Larry's first film (I think) was the controversial (at the time) ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO.

I have looked for this for ages.

Has anyone ever seen it?

 

thanks, experts!

[Det Jim McLeod]

Speaking of Larry Peerce---

I remember when his very famous father, the opera singer Jan Peerce, was talking about him on "The Tonight Show" (back in the day).

 

Larry's first film (I think) was the controversial (at the time) ONE POTATO, TWO POTATO.

I have looked for this for ages.

Has anyone ever seen it?

 

thanks, experts!

Yes, One Potato Two Potato was Peerce's first film. It was a very good portrayal of an interracial marriage. Barbara Barrie (later of TV's Barney Miller) won the Cannes Film Best Actress and Bernie Hamilton ( Starsky and Hutch's boss) are both excellent. I believe TCM may have shown it a few years ago, not sure, but I know I have seen it on TV within the last 10 years.

[TopBilled]

Yes, One Potato Two Potato was Peerce's first film. It was a very good portrayal of an interracial marriage. Barbara Barrie (later of TV's Barney Miller) won the Cannes Film Best Actress and Bernie Hamilton ( Starsky and Hutch's boss) are both excellent. I believe TCM may have shown it a few years ago, not sure, but I know I have seen it on TV within the last 10 years.

 

TCM has aired it during MLK's birthday and also during 31 Days of Oscar (nomination for screenplay).

[papyrusbeetle]

Thanks for the info on Larry Peerce :-)

[FrankGrimes]

I love "The Incident". I saw it back in the early days of the Fox Movie Channel and I was mesmerized. It's very much a social commentary. Rather similar to "Lady in a Cage", in many ways.

 

I've had a small list of films I want a DVD release for and this has been on the list forever. I'm amazed that Fox has never released it.

[cinemaspeak59]

I like your review on Method acting.  In a sense, actors from Hollywood’s Golden Era looked at their work like a job: don’t be late, know your lines, hit your mark, and go home.   Method actors brought to acting a social awareness, and that what they do is not simply just show business.   When one went to see a Clark Gable or Cary Grant film, one went to see Clark Gable and Cary Grant.   Both actors understood this, and were a little bothered by it.  This is not to say there were no great performances prior to Method acting.  Rather, different acting styles reflected the evolution of film, and the changing times.  Montgomery Clift, in 1949’s The Heiress, complained that Olivia de Havilland wasn’t giving him anything.  And you mention the example of Spencer Tracy.  Today, we have swung back to acting as a brand, especially with the dominance of Marvel and DC Comics tent-pole movies, which I love.  These pictures, in the midst of all the wondrous CGI, still manage to make subtle social commentary.   The joke among many Hollywood veterans is whether acting as a human exercise will one day be phased out, replaced by computer simulations.  Let’s hope that never happens.

Gable did not like the Method. He and Montgomery Clift did not get along because of their vastly different approaches to scenes in THE MISFITS. Some of the old school actors felt the Method was a lot of pomp and circumstance. And many of the Method actors felt the old school actors didn't go deep enough with their characterizations. 

 

Actually I think Ritter is probably someone who saw the benefit in going deeper with the character. So the whole philosophy of Method acting should be one she would have liked and adapted to. 

 

I think what really was going on is a lot of the old timers were feeling insecure and threatened by the new, younger wave of actors. Spencer Tracy had problems on the set of INHERIT THE WIND with the younger Method types. He felt he didn't need to adapt or change his style, but I think a lot of that was arrogance. All actors should have to adapt to changing work conditions.