FloydDBarber Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I always thought Gary Cooper sounded like he was reading his lines. He never seemed to project very much emotion. The one movie I really liked was High Noon. And when I read about his womanizing I respected him even less. No one can be perfect, so I can't say I disliked him, he was not a favorite. I'm not a big Gable fan either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrroberts Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 This sounds similiar to the recent "overrated" thread, but on a personal note, who "you" think is overrated. I can start with Marlon Brando, I don't dislike him but I can't see what the big fuss is all about. Same for Marilyn Monroe , wonderful to look at but so many other gals are more attractive to me and most were better actresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Except for "Gilda" I really don't understand why Glenn Ford was a star Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissMichon Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I second that about Marilyn Monroe, I don't see why she was so popular (well I do but...) she wasn't a good actress, and for some reason Natalie Wood gets on my nerves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 How funny, Floyd. I find both Cooper and Gable to be as interesting as paint drying, and their range miniscule. Same for John Wayne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EugeniaH Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I disagree with you willbefree - I think Cooper is less interesting than drying paint. I also don't understand how he made all those women swoon. Yeck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I personally never cared for: Adolph Menjou Pat O'Brien Dirk Bogard George Sanders Marlene Deitrich(I said that before...) Fatty Arbuckle Charlie Chase Ben Turpin Brian Ahern Randolph Scott( yeah, I said it!) More contemporary: Jim Carrey Will Ferrill Chris Tucker Rob Schneider Angelina Jolie Adam Sandler Bill Paxton Jack Black( except for his part in "King Kong") Kevin Costner Kevin Costner Kevin Costner (can't say it enough!) Martin Lawrence George Peppard(sic) Alec Baldwin And this is the SHORT list! Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Well, maybe it was that whole, "Strong Silent Type" thing goin' on there, Eugenia?! You know, that whole thing many women say they like about a guy, and THEN later start wonderin' why the guy will never "open up about his feelings" after they're in a relationship with a guy like that! C'mon, YOU know what I'm talkin' about here, right?! The "Men of Few Words Type". (...btw, and just for the record here, my wife says she's never had to worry about any o' that with me, 'cause I've always been willing to express my "feelings"..okay..my "opinions" to her, anyway!) :^0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EugeniaH Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I have to say that I made an effort to watch a handful of Cooper's movies, in hopes that my opinion might change about him, but I still don't think he had much range as an actor. From what I understand, Cooper's appeal to women didn't have to do with his being the "strong, silent type". However, I repeat myself - Yeck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Yeah, I've heard that about Coop. Saaaay....maybe THAT explains why I always thought Patricia Neal seemed like she walked a bit bowlegged in *The Fountainhead* ?!!!!! (...did I REALLY just say that?!...sorry folks!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveFilmNoir Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 > {quote:title=joefilmone wrote:}{quote}Except for "Gilda" I really don't understand why Glenn Ford was a star Ford grew on me, but I won't lie, there was a time when I thought "Gee, why couldn't they just ask Dick Powell if he was interested?" whenever I would see some of Ford's mystery/noir entries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Brando - too surly and then too grotesque Dustin Hoffman - too small Spencer Tracy - too pigheaded Peck - too wooden the entire Fonda family - too much Dietrich - too creepy Monroe - too overrated Hope/Crosby/Skelton/Rooney - too wholesome and formulaic Keaton - too long a career Welles - too full of himself Liz Taylor - see Brando, minus the surly part That's only 16 actors, compared to the many hundreds of actors I like or love. And except for that Hope quartet, even my un-favorites made at least one or two movies I'd watch again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Andy, I agree with you about Brando and Crosby. I'm also not fond of Loretta Young: too untalented. And yes, I mean in the pre-codes as well. Btw, although I don't agree with you about the greatness of Barbara Stanwyck -- whom I like -- I was pleased to see the great Judy Davis on your list of likes in another thread. I think she's a remarkable actress, particularly in that most challenging and subtle of roles, Adela in A Passage to India. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveFilmNoir Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 > {quote:title=Dargo wrote:}{quote}Yeah, I've heard that about Coop. > > Saaaay....maybe THAT explains why I always thought Patricia Neal seemed like she walked a bit bowlegged in *The Fountainhead* ?!!!!! > > > > > > (...did I REALLY just say that?!...sorry folks!) > ****!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I only wish that Judy Davis had more of her films available. From ingenues to hookers to the mother of Stalin's love child to sharp-tongued divorcees to Adela to Judy Garland, I've yet to see her in any movie she didn't make worth watching all by herself. Just a fabulous performer from A to Z. As for Loretta Young, it's more her face and the subject matter of her pre-code films that draws me to her. I'm not confusing her acting talent or screen persona with Stanwyck or Lombard, or any one of several dozen others among her contemporaries, but AFAIC only Louise Brooks can match that pre-code look of hers, and in this case, that's enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I promised that I wouldn't mention June Allyson any more, so I won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Good list, Andy. I had forgotten about Dietrich, ewww. The entire Fonda family - hah, good one. I left out Garbo from my list. Still and all, Tom Cruise is the oiliest of them all, every one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrroberts Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Liz Taylor (moment of silence) , was cute when she was young, but as she got older she got less appealling to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket_Man Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Glenn Ford and Loretta Young, two actors who make it clear that the universe devotes an inordinate amount of time and energy punishing the innocent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I saw Judy Davis on stage in Insignificance, playing a character modeled on Marilyn Monroe. Haven't seen the film version. Davis was recently on PBS in the BBC production of Page Eight, in which she excelled. Btw, I love Dietrich. I don't think you can evaluate an actress whose best work is with a surrealist director (Von Sternberg) based on traditional acting norms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeanHagen Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I don't know if this exactly fits the discussion, but I'll write it anyway. I think one problem with asking a question like this is that opinions vary greatly. Also different people act differently. I know people who could be considered melodramatic, but it's simply their nature. I recently watched "Bicycle Thieves". I had always assumed that people exaggerated how much Italians talked with their hands, but seeing this film shot on the streets of Rome suggested to me that it is not completely a stereotype. I'm not saying there aren't bad actors, there certainly are. But, I think that perhaps part of the reason we think an actor is bad or he isn't our favorite is because we don't know or can't imagine anyone like that. Some actor may seem 'wooden', but people in real life could be seen as wooden. For example I have never seen my dad cry. That doesn't means he's 'wooden', it's just how he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Dietrich made my list because her whole persona is just creepy, and for an actress who kept getting cast in glamour roles, she had about as much sex appeal as Mae West. That said, as an *actress* she's pretty damn good. Just finished watching Witness For The Prosecution a few minutes ago for about the 5th time, and she was absolutely terrific, as she also was in The Blue Angel, A Foreign Affair, and Stage Fright . In my mind she's like the mirror image of Loretta Young, a drop-dead gorgeous actress whose chief virtue was her looks, not her acting. Marlene's kind of like the Atlantic ocean in New Jersey on a hot day in early July: It takes a minute to get used to the frigid temperature, but once you do, you can appreciate the bracing qualities. But she's still creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 For some reason, I never found Loretta Young to be particularly pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 I have a longtime friend and whenever someone mentions Marlene Dietrich, he says "I really liked her in that film where she's a woman of dubious morals, singing in a saloon." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willbefree25 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Well, now we know Young was a rotten lousy mother, but what did Ford do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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