The Silver Screen Oasis

A great SUTS line-up this month. Don't forget to record what I think is one of Paul Muni's best performances, in THE LAST ANGRY MAN, coming up next.

I confess I'm a Muni Maniac so what I haven't been able to watch today I've been recording. Seen 'em all before but can't see enough of 'em.

Of course the icing the cake are tonight's offerings of I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG and SCARFACE (co-starring you know who)

Saw The Last Angry Man for the first time in ten years. He was superb and brought all the other actors up to his level. I think you could update this play to work very well today--but who would play the lead so beautifully?

Wish that they could have included We Are Not Alone (1939) in the day, but his most electrifying films are all on tonight!

Western Guy, I love Muni,too. Paul was probably the screen's first Method actor. Eddie Robinson comes close, I think. I've got SCARFACE on right now! Interesting to see how much Tony Perkins resembles his dad Osgood. Georgie is looking adorable. "Poppy!" Count the symbolic crosses!

moira, it's been about that long for me too with THE LAST ANGRY MAN, so I'm thrilled TCM ran it today. I'd almost forgotten how good Luther Adler is as Abelman's gruff, materialistic, but fiercely loyal medical colleague. Their scenes together are wonderful. I remember crying during Muni's last moments on screen, so very poignant. Not a false note in his portrayal. Adler as well.
Hate to sound like a fuddy-duddy, but I have a hard time picturing any other actor in this role, 50 years ago or today. I've never seen WE ARE NOT ALONE, but was really hoping they were going to have the one where Paul plays a French-Canadian trapper (I can NEVER bring this title to mind, lol,it's maddening!) -- Laird Cregar is his "jolly" companion. This was my introduction back in the day to Muni. I had a crush on him in this part, don't ask me why!

Yes Moira...Muni will be burning up the screen tonight thanks to TCM.

You're thinking of HUDSON'S BAY (which also features Vincent Price in an early role). That was Muni's first film after ripping up his lucrative Warners' contract because J.L. reneged on his promise to let Muni star in a Beethoven biopic (where Warner uttered those famous - maybe apocryphal - words: "Who wants to see a movie about a blind composer?") and instead tried to entice Muni into starring as gangster Roy Earle in HIGH SIERRA. Too bad that Muni said "No," because Burnett's description of the bucolic bank robber in the novel almost exactly matches Muni's appearance. Anyhoo, Muni's rejection gave Bogie another step up the ladder.

Wish they'd shown WE ARE NOT ALONE, as well, Moira. Also THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA.

HUDSON'S BAY, ah! Thanks, WG. I think the last time I saw it Jimmy Carter was POTUS.

Wow, fascinating stuff about him being offered HIGH SIERRA! I never heard this before. No one could call Bogie "bucolic", lol, but he sure put his own stamp on that role. Really interesting to speculate just how Muni would have played Roy Earle.

Well, Bogie did play a similar type of grassroots bandit in THE PETRIFIED FOREST. The actor I have a hard time seeing in the role is George Raft, who was offered the part of "Mad Dog" Earle after Muni refused it. I doubt Raft could have played an Indiana farmboy-turned-bank robber any more convincingly than he could have played a cowboy. His image was much too stylized for that.

kingrat wrote:The Fire Within is the best Louis Malle film I've seen, a melancholy masterpiece.

Thanks for the heads up. Louis Malle is often one of the most interesting filmmakers of his day. Hope you have a chance to see Elevator to the Gallows (1958), another real gem from Malle airing tomorrow night.

Western Guy wrote:Well, Bogie did play a similar type of grassroots bandit in THE PETRIFIED FOREST. The actor I have a hard time seeing in the role is George Raft, who was offered the part of "Mad Dog" Earle after Muni refused it. I doubt Raft could have played an Indiana farmboy-turned-bank robber any more convincingly than he could have played a cowboy. His image was much too stylized for that.

WG, I really love your insightful description of Duke Mantee as a Heartland type criminal and, in this context, you're absolutely right about the less versatile Raft being totally wrong for the part. (but I adore Georgie in SCARFACE; he underacts beautifully, an unexpectedly charismatic performance, in character counterpoint to the deliberately broader Muni as braggert ape-like Tony Camonte) Bogie, though I have a hard time seeing him as a cowboy, (what was the one he did with Cagney, THE OKLAHOMA KID? Oh, man! lol) and even though born and bred in New York (albeit I think in an upper-class environment). really did manage to evoke a believable non-urban image as Mantee.

kingrat, another thank you for THE FIRE WITHIN heads-up!

moira, I was thinking the exact same thing looking at your Pidgeon avator, lol. I can actually put "dreamy" and Walter Pidgeon in the same sentence.

Beautifully accurate description of Muni's Tony Camonte, BG: Ape-like. Isn't he, though? An urban simian sociopath. And Raft, of course, had to underplay his part to complete the balance. Which is why allegedly Jack LaRue was vetoed from the role. That part I do believe; it was Jack's story that he personally recommended Raft for the role of Rinaldo that I find a little hard to fathom. BTW: Here's a link to something you might find of interest:

http://letsmisbehaveprecodefilmtribute. ... ce-on.html

Well, Bogie actually played a cowboy on three occasions: Yes, THE OKLAHOMA KID, opposite Cagney of whom Bogart quipped: "Wearing that ten-gallon hat he (Cagney) looked like a mushroom." Also a very early role in A HOLY TERROR (try and find that one). And his Mexican bandido in VIRGINIA CITY. But, hey, if Aussie Errol Flynn could pull it off . . .

Bronxgirl48 wrote:moira, I was thinking the exact same thing looking at your Pidgeon avator, lol. I can actually put "dreamy" and Walter Pidgeon in the same sentence.

Oh, I've been walking on air since seeing some of the Walter Pidgeon films from the other day, Bronxie. There were several gems missing from a good lineup, alas (Man Hunt, Mrs. Miniver, If Winter Comes, The Secret Heart, The Red Danube, Madame Curie, Dark Command, and more) but this interstitial got me--and I've been a little bit dreamy ever since:

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Walter Pidgeon (the Canadian from New Brunswick) is one of those Golden Age actors who seldom receives his due, yet as Moira points out he appeared in a number of classic films. I'll add my own personal favorite: BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST. A relatively small role but a memorable performance. Pidgeon and Miss Garson did some great work together and, IMO, were a screen team almost on a par with Tracy and Hepburn and Bogie and Bacall.

BTW: Here's some interesting trivia. Actor John Agar's great aunt was Edna Gladney, the woman on whom BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST was based.

Also interesting how two of Mr. Pidgeon's final roles cast him as a rascally pickpocket.

Western Guy wrote:Also interesting how two of Mr. Pidgeon's final roles cast him as a rascally pickpocket.

Harry In Your Pocket and...??