Metropolisforever Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 (no message) Message was edited by: Metropolisforever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolisforever Posted December 30, 2007 Author Share Posted December 30, 2007 FOR EXAMPLE: I think Clara Bow should have tried to act in horror films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipHeartsMovies Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 What a fun thread to start! I had never thought of Clara Bow as a star in horror films (and I assume you mean at the time of her career peak in the late 20's/early 30's --- not in her "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" years), and I agree, she would have been great as the ORIGINAL Scream Queen. Obviously, most stars in the Olden Days didn't have much say in what films they appeared in --- the contract system being what it was. Who else should have shifted genres? I've always felt that Veronica Lake's comedic abilities were never really explored. Sure, she starred in comedies like the legendary "Sullivan's Travels," and the terrific "I Married a Witch," but you still look back at her as the star of noir movies like "The Glass Key" or Westerns like "This Gun for Hire." Would have been great if she had been able to do a few romantic comedies. And my all-time fave Judy Garland --- CLEARLY a musical star of the highest order. "Meet Me in St. Louis," "The Wizard of Oz," "A Star is Born" --- among the greatest films ever made, all musicals. But note her (Oscar-nominated) dramatic turn in "Judgment at Nuremburg." Check her out in the Cassavetes "A Child is Waiting," which TCM has happily been running of late. If you haven't seen it, be sure you check out "The Clock" --- her best movie (other than "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "Wizard" for MGM, and it's a romantic drama, with no music). Would have been nice if Judy had been able to do a few more dramas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopsgirl Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I've never thought of Clara as a horror movie star but I guess I could see it. She did make the film *Black Oxen* in 1923 which was based on a best-selling sci-fi novel of the same name. I would have like to see her do more dramas as she had the ability to be a wonderful dramatic actress as seen in films like *Call Her Savage* and *Children of Divorce* (haven't seen that one but from what I've read she was very good in it). I think she could have also been good at comedy. She did make one film with Ernst Lubitsch called *Kiss Me Again* in 1925 that was supposed to have been a big comedy hit but it's been lost. I think it would have been cool to see Gary Cooper play a cop in a modern crime drama. He played lots of different types of law enforcement officers but they were period pieces, usually Westerns like *High Noon* and *Northwest Mounted Police*. My idea would be for him to be a young cop (so like early 1930s) in say a mid-sized city who is honest and does his job well but he discovers there is corruption in the police force and he tries to uncover it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Now you're talking. Gary Cooper as a policeman / detective. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traceyk65 Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Cooper as a cop--yep, that works. In the Sgt Joe Friday mold, but pretty--Just the facts, ma'am. Marlene Dietrich was actually good at comedy, but they rarely used her that way. Did Ava Gardener get to do many comedies? I'm not real familiar with her career, but She has some nice scenes in "Mogambo" which make me think she would have been very good as a comedic actress. Bette Davis should have made more movies like "All About Eve" I wonder if Humphrey Bogart could have pulled off comedy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coopsgirl Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 I think Bogart might have done well at light comedy. He seems like he would have a very dry and deadpan sense of humor. I bet they could have done something with him like Gary did in *Along Came Jones* where he spoofed his cowboy image by playing a bumbling cowpoke who has to be saved by the girl. They could have done that with Bogie but maybe as a bumbling detective or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsmellofsuccess Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Seeing Cary Grant in Suspicion and Notorious, I think he would have done really well in film-noir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimpole Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 Considering Michael Palin's work in "Brazil," maybe he could work in genres where he was the villian. The same could be said for Alyson Hannigan. I wonder whether Jodie Foster would be good as a romantic lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Jodie as a romantic lead...I dunno. I don't think so. But I love her. My favorite Foster film is "CONTACT." I moreso believed her when she made contact with extra terrestrials than when she was kissing hunky Matthew McConaughey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Well, she might be good with the right female co-star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Aw dude...you hit the nail right on the head. And I'm waiting for THAT film with baited breath. Come out come out whoEVER you are!!! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Maybe a female version of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN for us straight guys to enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casablancalover Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I thought Bogie did a great job with timing in The Big Sleep. At the bookstore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Bogart also had some good comic scenes in ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, which was remarkable considering he was surrounded by some of the best comic actors of the time in that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Well...start with "Desert Hearts" and end up with "When Night is Falling." Not quite a western, but it should do the trick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ayresorchids Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 I've always wished Fred Astaire had done more dramatic roles, even back in his youth. He didn't truly try it until On the Beach, but even in musicals he showed a lot of seriousness and subtlety at times. He was praised for his performance in OTB, but most of the non-musical work he did after that was rather light in comparison. Even in Astaire's stage days of the 1920s, Broadway director Guthrie McClintock was encouraging him to do some straight dramatic roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Fred was very good in "On the Beach," I agree with you. You know folks are reluctant to mess with a good (money-making) thing. I'm sure Elvis wanted to try his hand at dramatic roles too...but the Colonel had a friggin' death grip on Elvis' career. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennethlawson Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 In all due respect to Elvis, I sure there was point at which he could tell the Col to "Go Fly A Kite" among other things, he didn't for whatever reason we'll never know, If he had got shed of the Col, AS soon as possible maybe he could have been in a position to try other things and show he was more then a pretty face that could sing.. If he had been able to start his OWN production company, not something ran by the COL. Maybe he could have done some serious work,, However its a lot too late to speculate,,,,Still one wonders,,,What IF..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CineMaven Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Okay Kenneth, you have a point there. Elvis WAS the master of his fate...the captain of his ship and could have fired the Colonel and gotten a hold of his career. Not sure why he didn't unless he was made to feel very grateful; or he himself didn't want the peanut butter and jelly gravy train to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipHeartsMovies Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary Cooper as a contemporary law officer --- absolutely. I have to say, my whole take on him has shifted thanks to these boards. He was never one of my favorites, but I'm beginning to enjoy his performances more and more. And CineMaven & scsu1975 --- you'll both be as happy as I was to learn that Jodie Foster basically came out in December, when accepting an award at a Women in Entertainment breakfast. She dedicated it to "My beautiful Cydney, who sticks with me through all the rotten and the bliss." Cydney Bernard is her longtime girlfriend, since 1992. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udVcJSwiWfE News: http://www.afterellen.com/people/2007/12/jodiefoster http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=501256&in_page_id=1773 And many more news articles... Jodie, take a deep breath --- the air is so much cleaner when you're out of that stuffy closet. Guess what? Nobody really cared! You TCM guys, hardcore film fans, hadn't even heard, apparently. The big question: who's next? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolisforever Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Congratulations, Jodie Foster. I wonder who's next... The nasty right-wingers are probably going to get their panties in a twist. Luckily, nobody cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsclassic Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Gary Cooper as a ZOMBIE I think all actors should try all genres just to see if how comfortable they are doing it... Bogart in the Return of Dr X - he hated the role & to my knowledge never went back into horror movies or science fiction Grant pushed the horror button slightly with Suspicion & Arsenic, but there was to much light-heartedness in Arsenic to make it a true horror... James Stewart was pretty diverse, I dont know if he did horror or science fiction, I think late in his career (??) He was in a Thin Man movie, he was Mr Smith, he was Elwood in Harvey, he was an Atty in Anatomy of a Murder, he was a cowboy in some westerns he did..blah blah blah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scsu1975 Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Chip: Of course we knew about Jodie ... hence the silly remarks. And you are correct. Nobody really cared! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metropolisforever Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 You misunderstood my post. I wasn't saying that nobody cares about Jodie. I was saying that nobody cares about the homophobic right-wingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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