Walter Brennan was the head of the Clanton family.

Victor Mature played Doc Holliday.

The movie, John Ford's "My Darling Clementine" is one of the best

versions of the gunfight at the OK Corral.

Two character actors with different on-screen personas. It would be hard to imagine the golden era of Hollywood without them.

In one film they were just two members of an extensive and memorable cast.

Top - Legendary Charles Lane

Bottom - S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall

The movie: Ball Of Fire (1941)

Charles Lane lived to be 102 years old and made over 250 films (It's A wonderful Life, Arsenic And Old Lace) and lots of TV (Petticoat Junction, I Love Lucy). In Ball Of Fire he (as usual)played a crotchety assistant and Sakall was one of the "seven dwarf" professors.

Two more wonderful character actors from one of my favorite films.





Never saw Ball of Fire. I'll keep an eye out for it. Thanks, CBHagman.

I'll hold off for a bit longer in case somebody else wants to join in. (Do you think this type of thread would get more exposure in the DU Lounge?)

though some of the stuff we're posting is so estoteric it might be over-the-heads of non-classic film fans. But as a larger group we all might appreciate recent films too.

So my answer is, sure. We can keep it going in two groups, too.

Top - Alice Brady was the mother.

Bottom - Mischa Auer played a zany Russian.

The movie: My Man Godfrey (1936)

Any film with William Powell is tops on my list. (I don't

think he ever gave a bad performance.)

...but apparently not, at least not in this case.

Alice Brady should have a won the Oscar IMO -- I think it's one the greatest comedic performances I've ever seen. She was nominated but lost to Gale Sondergaard.

The entire cast was wonderful. The movie was nominated for six Oscars in total (four for actors Powell, Carole Lombard, Auer and Brady, best screenplay, and best direction) but didn't win any.

BTW, this is my first post in this forum.

Lombard and Powell are wonderful. But what sets My Man Godfrey apart is that the entire cast worked with an incredible script. What carries the film forward are the supporting cast, all wonderful. I think my favorites are Eugene Pallette (as the father, Alexander Bullock) and Jean Dixon (as the cynical cook, Molly). This film is all about the ensemble work. La Cava's vision is never off the mark.

The scavenger hunt scene is a set piece of mayhem. Director La Cava portrays it as a statement of the shallowness of the elite, Park Avenue rich vs the entire world crashing down all around them. It's a brilliant statement of our current situation.

This is high cinematic art.

BTW, I have the Criterion Collection DVD, which I highly recommend.

On edit: plus My Man Godfrey has the distinction of being the only cinematic defenestration that wasn't set in a western saloon. An alternative title for this film might be The Defenestration of Carlo.

and the plot would still click.

But please ... don't.

I've seen it. David Niven plays Godfrey which would be okay but the supporting cast was horrible.

Name a remake that was better than the original. I know of one. The Maltese Falcon. Furthermore, the earlier version had Bette Davis. I saw it years ago on TV and cannot remember much. It was a pale pre-echo of John Huston's classic. But generally remakes suck. Is Hollywood so intellectually bankrupt that they have to recycle? I think the answer is yes.

Never saw that remake.

As for earlier version of The Maltese Falcon, it's titled Satan Met A Lady.

I grew up in Detroit and Bill Kennedy hosted classic movies on TV. (Look him up. He played minor parts in B westerns.) but he had a compendious memory of Hollywood and the fact that he never hosted the program sober didn't detract. After all, he claimed that he knew Erroll Flynn.

He was a Detroit institution for decades. I saw many, many movies which would otherwise have never found their way to the airwaves.

Thanks, Bill Kennedy.

Last edited Thu Jun 28, 2012, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

The first one was from 1931, also called The Maltese Falcon. It starred Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade, Bebe Daniels as Ruth Wonderly and Dudley Digges as Caspar Guttman. It's worth seeing.

Top - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson

Bottom - Dooley Wilson

The movie: Stormy Weather (1943)

Bill Robinson made few films (way too few) and Stormy Weather was his last.

Lena Horne
Bill Robinson
Cab Calloway
The Nicholas Brothers
Fats Waller

I've often wondered why Louis Armstrong wasn't in the cast ...

Anyway, thank goodness it was made.

So name the actors (before someone else does) and we'll have winner!


rocktivity

Lorraine Bracco and Samuel Jackson

I forgot Jackson was in the movie.

He got shot because he slept through an "assignment" he was hired to carry out for Joe Pesci's character. But he resonated all the same.

This is too much fun, and let's try keep them on this level -- not too obvious, but not too obscure.


rocktivity

I saw Lorraine Bracco (All of her ) in The Graduate on Broadway. Loved her Mrs. Robinson.

I watched Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons and Bruce Willis making a Die Hard movie near Wall St years ago. Jackson and Irons were friendly with their fans. Willis....not.

James Garner wrote about him in his bio. Screw him anyhow -- he votes Republican.

Top - Grace Kelly (very different here than the plain wife Amy)

Bottom - Lon Chaney, Jr. in full Wolfman regalia.

The movie: High Noon. Another film with a great ensemble of character actors.

Thomas Mitchell
Harry Morgan
Lloyd Bridges
Katy Jurado
Otto Kruger
Lee Van Cleef.

Top - Ethel Barrymore

Bottom - Charles Bickford

The movie: The Farmer's Daughter

For her role as Katrin Loretta Young won the Oscar for Best
Actress after Ingrid Bergman had turned down the part.

Yup, the political romantic comedy with a memorable confrontation between Bickford and a dirty trickster.

Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 01:10 PM - Edit history (2)

Left - Hattie McDaniels

Right - Barbara Stanwyck

The movie: The Mad Miss Manton

Hattie McDaniels perfected the role of the wise-cracking maid (with the emphasis always on the "wise".) I got the impression that some parts were written just for her.

Good one, Fortinbras Armstrong

George C Scott

James Earl Jones

"Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."

Last edited Sat Jun 23, 2012, 11:27 AM - Edit history (1)

I know one of the actors, of course.

Top - Ann Blyth

Bottom - the incomparable William Powell

The film: Mr Peabody and the Mermaid

The funniest scene is with character actress Mary Field
as a salesperson in a women's sweater shop. It is a comic
gem.

edit: I got Mary Field's name wrong. Sorry.

Today was the annual Mermaid Parade at Coney Island. It's on my local news right now. It gives folks an opportunity to dress up in costume and parade down Surf Avenue (very much like Mardi Gras). Lots of mermaids but none as pretty as Ann Blyth.

I know the man. Not the woman nor the film for sure ...

Your clues suggest a film I remember from Hitchcock. I think.

On edit: I take it back. Not Hitchcock.

Clue number 4: A romantic comedy with one of THE top leading men of the classic film era.

Top - Jeanne Crain

Bottom - Hume Cronyn

The Movie: People Will Talk (1951)

Even though the lead role is played by Cary Grant this film gets little play. (It certainly went below my radar.) Dealing with unwed pregnancy and suicide it was ahead of it's time in subject matter.

I stumbled on the video of People Will Talk at a very fine local video rental outlet years ago and was floored to realize it was based on Curt Goetz's Dr. Praetorius, which I'd read back in the day. Joseph L. Mankiewicz adapted the play and directed it for the screen.

It does turn up on TCM now and then, and still has political resonance, given its protagonist finds himself under investigation.

Top - Paul Reubens as PeeWee Herman

Bottom - Frank Oz and friend

The movie: The Blues Brothers (1980)

I can't believe it was 32 years ago. Both had small parts,
Reubens as a waiter and Oz was a corrections officer.

I was at a conference in a small town when The Blues Brothers came out, and with essentially nothing to do in the evenings, I saw it three nights running.

I made my 11 y.o. watch it with me this spring - he LOVED it!