2020 FAREWELLS: On the Screen (Part 1)

Kirk Douglas in SEVEN DAYS IN MAY

Kirk Douglas – that icon of explosive virility – died at age 103. Douglas will be forever remembered for the epic Spartacus, a blockbuster hit that he produced, with his own searing performance as the star and the effect of ending the Hollywood blacklist. He could play sexy and despicable at the same time in Out of the Past, Ace in the Hole and In Harm’s Way and a profoundly decent hero in Seven Days in May. Two of my guilty pleasures are Ulysses and The Vikings, with Kirk as a shirtless warrior.

Sean Connery as Bond…James Bond

If we’re going to talk about male cinema stars with overpowering magnetism and studly charisma, we’re going to start with Sean Connery, who has died at age 90.

No screen actor has more personally defined a role than did Connery with James Bond. The character of James Bond in Ian Fleming’s source novels is nothing special; Bond was made iconic by Connery’s gifts. The Bond movies are cartoonish, but Connery’s James Bond never is. Connery’s Bond is hunky, but he’s not just a hunk. He is supremely confident. He is cunning. He always assesses a risk before he takes it.

My favorite Connery performance (and the best movie he was in) is The Man Who Would Be King (1975).

Max Von Sydow as THE EXORCIST

Sixty-three years after the chess game with Death himself in The Seventh Seal, actor Max Von Sydow has finally succumbed.  Von Sydow is justifiably most well known among cinephiles for his many roles in a cascade of Ingmar Bergman’s grimness, including The Seventh Seal, The Magician, The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Shame and The Passion of Anna.  And in The Magician, he had to don the most off-putting of facial hair. His biggest hit, of course was as the title character in The Exorcist. Contrary to his image, he had the capacity for hilarity, which he demonstrated in Hannah and Her Sisters as a ridiculously pretentious and selfish artist.  Along with that role, my favorite Von Sydow performances were in Jan Troell’s The Emigrants and The New Land as a Swedish settler in frontier America.

Carl Reiner (far right) in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

No one has been more important in the evolution of American comedy than Carl Reiner, who has died at age 98. Reiner was a writer and performer on Sid Caesar’s seminal Your Show of Shows. He created one of the greatest and most influential TV sitcoms, The Dick Van Dyke Show. Reiner was the comedy partner who helped Mel Brooks form his work. And he directed four Steve Martin comedies. Reiner was the third person awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. My favorite Carl Reiner performance was in The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!

Olivia de Havilland in GONE WITH THE WIND

Silicon Valley native and icon of classic Hollywood, Olivia de Havilland (her real name) was raised in Saratoga and went to Los Gatos High. Her performance in A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in the Saratoga Community Theater led directly to her appearing in the Hollywood film version of the play at age 19. She starred as the leading lady in her next film, Captain Blood, the first of a series of Warner Brothets costume romances that matched her with Erroll Flynn, with whom she had undeniable chemistry: The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Santa Fe Trail, Dodge City, They Died with Their Boots On and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. In this period, she was loaned to David O. Selznick for her most remembered role, that of the profoundly sweet and decent Melanie in Gone with the Wind. De Havilland won her contractual freedom from Warner Brothers through landmark litigation in 1943. She went on to more serious fare and earned yhree Oscar nods in the next six years, winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress.

Dick Powell and Rhonda Fleming in CRY DANGER

Actress Rhonda Fleming has died at age 97. She was known as the “Queen of Technicolor” when movie studios exploited her blazing red hair, blue eyes, ivory complexion and uncommon beauty in a series of Western, sword-and-sandal and adventure films; in this period, she was a candidate for the world’s most beautiful woman, along with her age peers Gene Tierney, Lana Turner and Marilyn Monroe. But Fleming’s very best acting work was in black-and-white, in Spellbound, Out of the Past, Cry Danger and While the City Sleeps. My favorite Fleming performance is in Cry Danger, where she plays the girlfriend of the guy who had framed the hero (Dick Powell) – an irresistible woman of uncertain loyalty.

Brian Dennehy

The actor Brian Dennehy stood a bear-like 6’3”and could have filled his career by playing menacing heavies (and he had his share of those). But Dennehy had uncommon range, as evidenced by his most well-remembered roles – Rambo’s nemesis in First Blood and the alien in Cocoon. My favorite Dennehy movie roles were the crooked sheriff in Silverado and Harrison Ford’s morally complicated boss in Presumed Innocent. Dennehy was even a bigger star on stage – he won Tony Awards for his Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and his James in Long Day’s Journey into Night (the role Ralph Richardson played in the movie).

Fred Willard (left) in BEST IN SHOW

Fred Willard, as much as anyone, invented the deadpan mockumentary, starting with his talk show sidekick, Jerry Hubbard character in 1977’s Fernwood 2 Night with Martin Mull. Willard’s zenith was in This Is Spinal Tap and the Christopher Guest ensemble mockumentaries that followed: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind and Mascots. He finished up by playing yet another uncontrollable character, Phil Dunphy’s dad on Modern Family.

Here are some tidbits from Willard’s unashamedly unprepared dog show commentator Buck Laughlin in Best in Show:

  • If you put them in a race, who would come in first? You know if you had a little jockey on them, going like this imitates jockeys hitting the side of the horse]. 
  • And to think that in some countries these dogs are eaten.
  • I went to one of those obedience places once… it was all going well until they spilled hot candle wax on my private parts.
  • [sees the trophy]  I’ve taken a sponge bath in smaller bowls than that.
Chadwick Boseman in MARSHALL. Photo credit: Barry Wetcher ;ourtesy of Open Road Films

Chadwick Boseman, an emerging superstar after his iconic role in Black Panther, was able to humanize real life icons like Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown. My favorite Boseman performance was in Marshall.

Tomorrow: Part 2

Movies to See Right Now

Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

It’s time for the Oscars, and The Movie Gourmet will be rooting for Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Parasite, which lead my Best Movies of 2019. I’ll be rooting for Adam Driver (actor), Brad Pitt (supporting actor), Laura Dern (supporting actress), Bong Joon Ho or Quentin Tarantino (director and original screenplay) and Taika Waititi (adapted screenplay for Jojo Rabbit).

Roger Deakins should win the cinematography Oscar for 1917; overall, I wasn’t impressed with 1917, except for the technical achievements, so I would be OK with 1917 winning some technical Oscars. I haven’t yet seen the favorite for best documentary, American Factory, which is streamable.

If Honeyland or The Joker win anything, I will become nauseous. If 1917 takes Best Picture, it will be projectile vomit.

OUT NOW

  • The masterpiece Parasite explores social inequity, first with hilarious comedy, then evolving into suspense and finally a shocking statement of the real societal stakes. This is one of the decade’s best films.
  • Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson are brilliant in Noah Baumbach’s career-topping Marriage Story. A superb screenplay, superbly acted, Marriage Story balances tragedy and comedy with uncommon success. Marriage Story is streaming on Netflix.
  • Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman is tremendous, and features performances by Al Pacino and Joe Pesci that are epic, too. It’s streaming on Netflix.
  • Uncut Gems is a neo-noir in a pressure cooker. Adam Sandler channels a guy racing through a gambling addiction and the resultant financial desperation. It’s the most wire-to-wire movie tension in years.
  • Rian Johnson’s Knives Out turns a drawing room murder mystery into a wickedly funny send-up of totally unjustified entitlement.
  • Refusing to play it safe, director Francisco Meirelles elevates The Two Popes from would have been a satisfying acting showcase into a thought-provoker. It’s streaming on Netflix.
  • 1917 is technically groundbreaking, but the screenplay neither thrilled me nor moved me.
  • The earnest documentary Honeyland failed to keep me interested.

ON VIDEO

The character-driven suspenser The Gift is more than a satisfying thriller – it’s a well-made and surprisingly thoughtful film that I keep mulling over. The Gift is available to rent on DVD from Netflix and Redbox and to stream from Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon in ATLANTIC CITY

Turner Classic Movies continues its 31 Days of Oscar on February 8 with Atlantic City, one of only 43 movies that have been nominated for all of the Big Five Oscars (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay). Susan Sarandon plays Sally, a hard luck waitress in Atlantic City at its shabbiest. She’s never met anyone like her neighbor Lou (Burt Lancaster), an elderly small-time hood, who behaves as if he’s mob royalty, despite the fact that he lives across the alley from Sally. Despite his station, Lou has the confidence that comes from having seen every situation before. Sally’s nogoodnik ex entangles the two in a life or death drug buy. Top rate.

Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster in ATLANTIC CITY

REMEMBRANCE

Here’s my tribute to Kirk Douglas.

KIRK DOUGLAS: icon of explosive virility

Kirk Douglas in SEVEN DAYS IN MAY

Kirk Douglas has died at age 103, having outlived his co-stars John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Anthony Quinn, Laurence Olivier, Lana Turner, Robert Mitchum, Dick Powell, Gloria Grahame, Jean Simmons, Tony Curtis, Fredric March and Patricia Neal.

Douglas’ distinctive talent was the intensity and power that he could project. He was an icon of explosive virility. It seemed that ferocity was always about to erupt from his buffed chest and piercing eyes. This was one dangerous dude.

Douglas was recruited from the New York stage for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers in 1946, and followed it with Out of the Past, a masterpiece of film noir. Those performances soon got him leading roles that took advantage of his ability to be sexy and despicable at the same time – the news media noir Ace in the Hole and the showbiz noir The Bad and the Beautiful.

As a pioneering indie producer, Douglas made – and starred in – the blockbuster epic Spartacus. His decision to openly credit screenwriter Dalton Trumbo helped to end the Hollywood blacklist (and also it really helped that Spartacus was a massive financial success).

Along with Spartacus and Ace in the Hole, my two favorite Kirk Douglas performances came in the 1960s:

  • Seven Days in May (1964): In this political thriller, Douglas showd his range by playing a profoundly decent man, for whom “patriotic” meant “devoted, dutiful and loyal to the nation’s principles”, not “jingoistic”.
  • In Harm’s Way (1965): Douglas dominates this star-studded WW II epic, playing a heroic guy who does something really, really bad and then seeks to redeem himself with an act of sacrifice.

Douglas filled Spartacus, Ulysses and The Vikings with shirtless virile charisma. There’s really nothing to The Vikings except for action adventure (and a scary contact lens for Kirk), but it’s been a guilty pleasure of mine since the first time it played on TV.

Kirk Douglas in SPARTACUS

Coming up on TV: Sweet Smell of Success

Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster in Sweet Smell of Success

Billy Wilder’s 1957 Sweet Smell of Success contains Tony Curtis’ most subtly acted role.  Curtis is a Broadway press agent who is completely at the mercy of Burt Lancaster’s sadistically nasty columnist.  Many of us have experienced being vulnerable to the caprice of an extremely mean person – Curtis perfectly captures the dread and humiliation of being in that position.  Plays December 6 on TCM.

Coming up on TV: Seven Days in May

Douglas MacArthur, I mean Burt Lancaster, with Kirk Douglas in Seven Days in May

“I’m suggesting Mr President, there’s a military plot to take over the Government of these United States, next Sunday…”

John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate) is a master of the thriller, and his 1964 Seven Days in May is a masterpiece of the paranoid political thriller subgenre.  Edmond O’Brien’s performance is best among outstanding turns by Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Frederic March and Whit Bissell.  Plays November 25 on TCM.

For other great movie choices on TV, see my Movies on TV.