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I think I've mentioned this before, but we're movie buffs in my family. And we've always played a couple of games: who are they now and name the three.
Who are they now is as simple as: Jimmy Stewart/Tom Hanks. Started in light comedy and graduated to drama, though never losing their comedic touch or the ability to go back to a semblance of it.
Name the three comes from an observation that every "movie star" had at least three great films to his credit. You can't use sequels as additions. Those that didn't, popular as they might be, never quite had that gleam about them. So we'd note Gary Cooper had High Noon, Sgt. York and For Whom the Bell Tolls...also Beau Geste, Pride of the Yankees, Mr. Deeds, Meet John Doe and the Fountain Head.
Now it's interesting to play the 3 with modern actors to see how it or the actor holds up.
To my mind that's why Keanu Reeves isn't a star. He's had two truly noteable movies and a series of lesser, if interesting now and again, hits. I love A Walk in the Clouds, but it's Speed and the first Matrix that stand out and he managed to tarnish the latter with parts two and three.
So, feel free to set out a modern actor and see who he might be the modern version of and if he's had his quota. I'll start with a bridge from the golden age to the modern era.
Al Pacino: The Godfather: Scarface; Scent of a Woman. I personally prefer Serpico and a few others to the Foghorn Leghorn shtick of Scent, but those three will be shown and talked about for generations.
I don't know who he would have been a modern version of...maybe a better looking George Raft.
Harrison Ford replaced Humphrey Bogart. Maybe. That is about all I can think of.
And yeah, mostly because Spielberg wanted to have Ford walk in wearing that black tux with a white jacket just like in Casablanca.
Interesting. I always thought of Jack Nicholson as Bogart. Not handsome but charismatic. And both had that great affectation in speech that marked the old school more than the new.
Ford I always thought of as a modern hybrid between Coop and Fonda.
And of course Ford easily makes the 3 with Star Wars, Indiana Jones and his turn in the Fugative or in Witness, or as Jack Ryan. Though my favorite film of his is a quiet one, Regarding Henry.
I liked it, but it doesn't fit the game unless you're nominating one of the two gentlemen who star in it.
Burt Lancaster: Elmer Gantry, From Here to Eternity, Birdman of Alcatraz...done deal as a movie star without getting to Gunfight at the OK Coral or Seven Days.
Kirk Douglas: Spartacus, Lust for Life, Paths of Glory...before we get to Days.
To my mind that's why Keanu Reeves isn't a star. He's had two truly noteable movies and a series of lesser, if interesting now and again, hits. I love A Walk in the Clouds, but it's Speed and the first Matrix that stand out and he managed to tarnish the latter with parts two and three.
You know, that's fair...though his turn in Dracula and the horror show that was Matrix two and three probably account for his not really having the luster. And that's before we get to a number of other, dreadful turns. He should have stayed in his wheelhouse and really concentrated on the craft. Look at Costner. He turned a one note voice into a respectable career by force of will.
There's another one.
The 3: Kevin Costner: Field of Dreams, Dances With Wolves, Bull Durham. And the Untouchables wasn't awful, even if he mostly was...same for Robin Hood and a number of other forgettable roles. Tin Cup was solid and his last western, Open Range, was really a fine piece, even if it went largely unseen. So lets overlook what he did to The Postman and agree that Waterworld might not have been great, but it was compared to The Postman. He's a movie star, just one without a great film in a long while.
Who are they In his prime he was a little like Gary Cooper, sharing that with Mel Gibson, but not as interesting or strong a presence and lacking the comedic element Coop could bring.
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July 30th, 2012, 03:01 PM
Clint Eastwood
The definitive 'man with no name' in the 'Dollars Trilogy', 'Pale Rider' etc. Nobody pulls off the enigmatic or the laconic quite like 'Clint'. Brilliantly understated performance in 'Unforgiven' as well as consummate direction. I doubt anyone else could pull off the role of 'Dirty Harry' in such a manner either.
Couldn't say who he's a modern day version or combination of at all. Clint's pretty much Clint...
I liked it, but it doesn't fit the game unless you're nominating one of the two gentlemen who star in it.
Burt Lancaster: Elmer Gantry, From Here to Eternity, Birdman of Alcatraz...done deal as a movie star without getting to Gunfight at the OK Coral or Seven Days.
Kirk Douglas: Spartacus, Lust for Life, Paths of Glory...before we get to Days.
So both legitimate movie stars.
Both terrific movie stars. Two of my favorites. I think Burt Lancaster was the better actor, though. Or maybe I just liked his character's more. It's hard to say.
What do you think of a Clint Eastwood as a sort of newer Burt Lancaster? Same dark, tall, quiet demeanor. Same almost scary intensity. Same brooding hero kind of characters. Just a thought. I could see Burt Lancaster as the "Pale Rider" pretty easily.
"Unforgiven" is one of the greatest films, ever, by the way.
Walter Matthau has always been one of my favorites: The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men, and Hopscotch (my favorite) or Charley Varrick.
But I can't think of anyone he might have followed, or even who might be following him. Partly why I like him is that he's such an original. There's a little Rock Hudson in his sense of sarcastic humor but he's never been the "handsome leading man" that Hudson always was.
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July 30th, 2012, 04:42 PM
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Originally Posted by PureX
Both terrific movie stars. Two of my favorites. I think Burt Lancaster was the better actor, though. Or maybe I just liked his character's more. It's hard to say.
What do you think of a Clint Eastwood as a sort of newer Burt Lancaster? Same dark, tall, quiet demeanor. Same almost scary intensity. Same brooding hero kind of characters. Just a thought. I could see Burt Lancaster as the "Pale Rider" pretty easily.
"Unforgiven" is one of the greatest films, ever, by the way.
I can't say I see a great similarity between Eastwood and Lancaster myself PureX. Lancaster is an undoubtedly great actor (Birdman Of Alcatraz springs to mind along with The Train) but brooding and quiet demeanour (generally) aside they're completely different in terms of how they express that. Just my opinion of course so not worth much really....
Another actor who has a natural gift for understated dry laconic humour in either comic or serious film fare (Grosse Point Blank, 1408, The Grifters)
Can't really think of who he might have modelled it on or is comparable to either. I suck at that bit....
I think Grosse Point and the Grifters had great critical success but limited popular success. Con Air and The Rock were popular as heck, but critical bombs. I think he's one of those around the edges sort of guy and I don't know that he has a leading man identity, which makes it hard to call him a star or find a Golden Age equivalent. He's more like a great character actor who occasionally gets a lead, but always with great support or the public shrugs him off.
Both terrific movie stars. Two of my favorites. I think Burt Lancaster was the better actor, though. Or maybe I just liked his character's more. It's hard to say.
What do you think of a Clint Eastwood as a sort of newer Burt Lancaster? Same dark, tall, quiet demeanor. Same almost scary intensity. Same brooding hero kind of characters. Just a thought. I could see Burt Lancaster as the "Pale Rider" pretty easily.
"Unforgiven" is one of the greatest films, ever, by the way.
Eastwood is a definite movie star on the strength of his westerns, easily: Unforgiven, The Outlaw Josey Wales, any of the Italian westerns, High Plains Drifter...leaving off Kelly's Heroes, Gran Torino and a few others that were pretty darn good.
I don't know that he has an old school connection.
Walter Matthau has always been one of my favorites: The Odd Couple, Grumpy Old Men, and Hopscotch (my favorite) or Charley Varrick.
But I can't think of anyone he might have followed, or even who might be following him. Partly why I like him is that he's such an original. There's a little Rock Hudson in his sense of sarcastic humor but he's never been the "handsome leading man" that Hudson always was.
Dunno.
Good choice and well backed. He may have a tangential W.C. Fields connection if you think of his character.
believe it!
He's a movie star, just one without a great film in a long while.
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