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Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 10:53 am
by srowley75
Some of my favorites come from the Preston Sturges stable of reliables: cantankerous Al Bridge, perpetually tipsy Jack Norton, lovable Jimmy Conlin, gentleman's gentleman Robert Grieg, and the already-mentioned Byron Foulger.

-Stephen

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 11:02 am
by klondike
MissGoddess wrote:
Loved seeing him in every film. There was no pulling the rug from under ol' Charles. He
was nobody's fool. Loved him. Remember when he put Lucy on a budget? lol! [/color]
After seeing him in a dozen great little roles over about 20-some-odd years, my favorite Charles Lane sighting came when I encountered him in Strange Behaviour, an Aussie indie quickie from the early 80's, which went on not only to become a small cult hit, but inspired a dark-horse cult hit from the mid 90's: Disturbing Behavior.
Anyway, in SB, Charles portrays a quirky, fossilish professor (looking his usual spry, bemused 95 or so) drawn into the X-Files-type small town mystery. In his best scene, CL has his strategic confab with protagonist Mike Murphy interrupted by a laughably sudden stage-left entrance by equally-shabby-looking Scott Brady, who launches into an introductory spiel about why he's there to save the day; at the wrap of that monologue, preparing to follow the hero out of the room, Brady quips at the still-seated Lane: "I like your tie, Pops, where'd ya get it?", and Charles yells in response, without looking up: "Monkey Ward!"
If you think it reads funny, you should watch it play out; it absolutely slew me!

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 11:13 am
by knitwit45
Hey, MissG, was the fabulous Charles Lane really your cousin??? How cool is that! All I can claim is to know someone who knows someone who......well, you get the drift.

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 11:17 am
by MissGoddess
klondike wrote:Brady quips at the still-seated Lane: "I like your tie, Pops, where'd ya get it?", and Charles yells in response, without looking up: "Monkey Ward!"
If you think it reads funny, you should watch it play out; it absolutely slew me!


Lol! I honestly haven't seen any of his later day appearances, but it sounds like
the the spark was never dimmed.

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 3:32 pm
by Garbomaniac
Thanks for the insight, moira, cause I was going to write and say, "Well, aren't bit players the same as character actors?" I have always viewed them the same way and thought the terms interchangeable. Anyway, thanks to this thread, I understand the difference. And, now I can see how a character actor can also have a bit part, like William Frawley in Monsieur Verdoux had a bit part, but I have always thought of him as a character actor. Now, that I think of it, most of his parts were bits.

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 3:49 pm
by MissGoddess
How can I forget my favorite "Little Bit" bit player!

Elizabeth "Tiny" Jones, who's piquant figure appeared in several John Ford films.
She's the one who tells Red Will to "wipe your boots" before he enters the Widow's
house in The Quiet Man.

Here is "Tiny", in Drums Along the Mohawk

Image

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 6th, 2009, 4:23 pm
by Ollie
My fondness for Una O'Connor and THE QUIET MAN led to the coincidental discovery of Tiny. Before we get to know anything about Red Will Danaher, he gets dressed down by the smallest member of the crew. Every time he's frustrated or flabbergasted in that film, that "Wipe yer boots/Thank ya, ma'am" comes back.

Charles Lane's incredible appetite for work remains astonishing to me. He and Will Wright represented such a huge volume of mean characters in American entertainment.

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 6:07 pm
by ChiO
The Amazing Criswell reads my mind again:
Some of my favorites come from the Preston Sturges stable of reliables
Robert Dudley

For Sturges there's SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, THE PALM BEACH STORY (gotta love the Wienie King), THE LADY EVE, THE MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK, and THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK.

Then there were a few other movies, including: MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, CITIZEN KANE, IT HAPPENED TOMORROW, PORTRAIT OF JENNIE, and my favorite Hey! Isn't that the Wienie King!?! moment, SLEEP, MY LOVE.

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 6:17 pm
by JackFavell
You are kidding me!

The Wienie King is in Citizen Kane and Portrait of Jennie? Holy smokes, I gotta go check.....

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 6:19 pm
by MissGoddess
Is the "Wienie King" in Portrait of Jennie as one of the "old salts" up at the Cape?

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 6:24 pm
by ChiO
To quote a favorite of some in these here parts: Ee-yup.

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 6:27 pm
by JackFavell
Here are some caps I made of Robert Dudley a long time ago, because you never know when you might need a Wienie King....

Image Image

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 7th, 2009, 6:59 pm
by MissGoddess
ChiO wrote:To quote a favorite of some in these here parts: Ee-yup.
You do that very well for a ChicOwen. :)

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 8th, 2009, 3:08 pm
by klondike
JackFavell wrote:Here are some caps I made of Robert Dudley a long time ago, because you never know when you might need a Wienie King....

Image Image
Isn't it ironic that a hat too big for Bob Dudley still looks too small for Claudette? :shock:

Re: Bit Players We Love

Posted: May 8th, 2009, 3:19 pm
by JackFavell
It might fit her if she took that guinea pig off of the top of her head....