By the way, I had Edward G. Robinson's Five Star Final fifth on my list -- the performance is so good it actually keeps pointing out how bad everybody else in the movie is. I kept thinking this is what would happen if you brought Gene Hackman in to star in your kid's high school play.
Whereas Wallace Beery, who I've got fourth, is a pure ham, but a corny movie like The Champ needs a big side order of ham to make it work. Like Boston Legal only worked because William Shatner was perfectly hammy, a more modulated, realistic portrayal of the over-the-hill boxer would have sunk The Champ.
Or at least that's my reaction to it.
As for the Buster Keaton header, I've had the picture sitting around for a year, but there's actually a ticket taker smack in the middle of it that made it unusable as a header. Fortunately, I discovered I have the "Paint" program on my computer and I airbrushed her right out of there.
Named for Katie-Bar-The-Door, the Katies are "alternate Oscars"—who should have been nominated, who should have won—but really they're just an excuse to write a history of the movies from the Silent Era to the present day.
To see a list of nominees and winners by decade, as well as links to my essays about them, click the highlighted links:
Remember: There are no wrong answers, only movies you haven't seen yet.
The Silent Oscars
And don't forget to check out the Silent Oscars—my year-by-year choices for best picture, director and all four acting categories for the pre-Oscar years, 1902-1927.
Look at me—Joe College, with a touch of arthritis. Are my eyes really brown? Uh, no, they're green. Would we have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save a person from drowning? That's a key question. I, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it. Say, haven't you anything better to do than to keep popping in here early every morning and asking a lot of fool questions?
7 comments:
My nominees, in rank order are:
Winner - Muni
#2 - March
#3 - John Barrymore (Grand Hotel)
#4 - Edward G Robinson (Five Star Final)
#5 - Lowell Sherman (What Price Hollywood)
My honorable mentions are Ronald Colman (Arrowsmith), Colin Clive (Frankenstein) and Groucho.
I vote for Buster Keaton....
Nice.
yeah, fabulous heading! :)
1# Fredric March
2# Paul Muni
By the way, I had Edward G. Robinson's Five Star Final fifth on my list -- the performance is so good it actually keeps pointing out how bad everybody else in the movie is. I kept thinking this is what would happen if you brought Gene Hackman in to star in your kid's high school play.
Whereas Wallace Beery, who I've got fourth, is a pure ham, but a corny movie like The Champ needs a big side order of ham to make it work. Like Boston Legal only worked because William Shatner was perfectly hammy, a more modulated, realistic portrayal of the over-the-hill boxer would have sunk The Champ.
Or at least that's my reaction to it.
As for the Buster Keaton header, I've had the picture sitting around for a year, but there's actually a ticket taker smack in the middle of it that made it unusable as a header. Fortunately, I discovered I have the "Paint" program on my computer and I airbrushed her right out of there.
The Soviets would have loved Paint.
As for the Buster Keaton header,
What this country needs is a good 40¢ movie house . . . .
What this country needs is a good 40¢ movie house . . . .
As you may have observed, in Casablanca life is cheap!
Sorry I'm totally biased but it's Freddy all the way for me.
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