10 Favorite Actors and their performances

[charliechaplinfan]

I've searched on all our threads to see if we have anything similar to this topic. I think we've discussed favorite actors and actresses so I searched invain to see who I had on my list, when actually I've thought a lot about actors and the body of work they left behind ie to list your favorite actors by the quality of the film performances they left on celluloid, this can include dancers and singers and you are your own judge of quality. I'm trying to get away from my tendency to put the good looking, most appealing actors in there, we can leave that for another list. If this proves popular I'll start an actresses list

For now and in no particular order my actors

Charlie Chaplin - of course and always top of my list
Jean Gabin - a wonderful actor, reminds me of Spencer Tracy, made so many good choices with the films he made, always engaging.
Charles Boyer - often in support of the leading lady, a slow burn with me but now a great favorite with me.
Cary Grant - screwball comedian, Hitchcock villan, equally good in comedy, romance, adventure or drama. A longtime at the top, deservedly.
Montgomery Clift - an intense actor, my favorite of the 'method' actors.
Buster Keaton - I can't claim that he was great in everything he was in but for his own work, shorts and features he deserves his place.
Marcello Mastroianni - his career took a while to take off, he hit his stride with Fellini, equally at home in comedy or drama, can play dangerous, made some brave choices too.
Jean Louis Trintignant - only recently have I discovered more of his films after having seen one or two of his better known films but well worth inclusion.
Fred Astaire - words fail me, he's a one off and perfect.
Gene Kelly - for being so different to Fred and still as enjoyable.

[Rita Hayworth]

Here is my 10 Actors

Marlon Brando - for taking on difficult roles and helping Christopher Reeve in Superman - to stardom
Gene Kelly - for his works in film-making, entertaining me in Cover Girl and Signin in the Rain
Fred Astaire - for being a terrific dancer and performance in two Rita Hayworth's movies always warms my heart
George C. Scott - For being a versatile actor, his performance in Patton was impressive - even looks like him!
Peter Sellers - For carrying on the traditions of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, W.C.Fields, and others
Charlie Chaplin - Being Hard of Hearing, his movies made me feel good - I seen Gold (50 times) Rush, without the narration - and he always warms my heart with great joy and laughter. I love his cute mustache and his trademark cane.
Henry Fonda - His works in 12 Angry Men, Midway, My Darling Clementine, and host of other movies - including Tales of Manhattan with Charles Boyer and Rita Hayworth. He made my joy of watching movies even better. He speaks very clearly for me.
Alec Guinness - For having a wonderful career - From Ladykillers to Star Wars - he commands respect, he done all kinds of roles,and does things with TOUR DE FORCE attitude.
Spencer Tracy - For his approach to the Silver Screen, his legacy is stamped with my approval. He just like Henry Fonda - I find him easy to listen - and his role as Captain Culpepper in Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - was one's of my sentimental favorites. I love this guy!, nine down and one to go.
John Wayne - The Duke - The Greatest Action Star of all Time - He done Longest Day, Green Berets, True Grit, and so many Westerns and Action War Heroes films - its laughable. To me, he is the most awesome Actor - bar none. Being Hard of Hearing, with his beautiful low sounding voice and distinctive tone ... he made love him even more. John Wayne - I seen over 50 of his films and many times on a Saturday Afternoon - there is a Wayne Movie on. I watch it with great joy and respect.

[Lzcutter]

John Wayne: many people think he was just playing himself but as he proved on more than one occasion he could act and do it in ways that startled us, moved us to tears and in the case of The Searchers created one of the darkest characters to ever grace the silver screen. When paired with a strong director, he could deliver performances that we are still talking about over thirty five years after he passed from our lives. "Lest we forget."

Gregory Peck: He could be romantic, he could be stalwart, he could be cold and cunning. He's all of that but for me, he is and shall always be, Atticus Finch. When he stands and exits that court room over almost forty years later we all tear up. I'm with Sam Jackson on this one. Peck reminds us all with that performance how much an actor can become a character and, in the end, become an icon that moves us tears some forty years later. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. "

Lee Marvin: A face that looked like it had seen hard times and voice that sounded like sandpaper on gravel, Lee Marvin could deliver on a multitude of levels from bad guy to good guy to romantic hero. "I drink alone."

Humphrey Bogart: He wasn't supposed to be a star. He was supposed to be a gangster, a character actor backing up the A-list of Warner Brothers stable. Instead, George Raft turned down one role too many and we all discovered that Bogart was much deeper than anyone, especially Jack Warner, had ever given him credit for being. We all learned, thanks to Bogie, that it really did matter more than a hill of beans who Ilsa got on that plane with.

Joel McCrea: He started out shallow and sexy and we all discovered throughout his career that he really had a lot of depth, was still sexy but had the power to make us laugh, make us cry and reminded us all, what it takes to be a western hero. "I just want to enter my house justified." Don't we all?

Jimmy Cagney: A fast-talking song and dance man who became so much more, Jimmy Cagney came up from the streets to become a beloved American icon. He did it not only with charm but a great deal of talent that he frequently didn't get enough credit for. "For an actor or a dancer, it was no different then than today. It was a struggle."

Randolph (cue chorus) Scott: See Joel McCrea. "I'm going to finish this. If they come, I'm going to finish this once and for all."

William Holden: Can you imagine anyone else going toe to toe with Norma Desmond? Me neither. And that was just one role. Can you imagine anyone else leading the Bunch? Me neither. Sexy, handsome, a ne'er do well with a sense of charm, deadly charm. "It's been my experience that every time I think I know "where it's at," it's really somewhere else. "

Cary Grant: A man named Archie Leach became an icon named Cary Grant. How much was really Archie Leach and how much was Cary Grant? We will probably never know but we are all better for there being a Cary Grant. "They said I led a dull life." In your dreams, Cary.

Robert Ryan: He could be good, he could be bad but he was always world-weary and he made us feel that weariness in every role. "The next time you make a mistake, I'm going to ride off and let you die." And you believed he would.

[charliechaplinfan]

You've both named a few that are my honorable mentions

Henry Fonda - Really getting to like this guy
Alec Guinness- for a Brit I haven't nominated any British actors, he's the guy who comes closest
Jimmy Cagney - all of the above and he can dance too.
Marlon Brando - very nearly up there but he wasn't consistent but when he was good he was one of the best.

Some of your nominations I haven't seen them in enough films, William Holden, Robert Ryan and Joel McCrea but from what I've seen I like

[MissGoddess]

I like this topic very much. Lynn---that quote by Lee Marvin, "I drink alone", is that from a movie or did he say that in an interview?

I'll go ahead and list a movie for each of my favorites, one title that I think best represents why they are my favorite (these are not necessarily what I consider their "best" work as actors or even my favorite films they were in, they are performances that indicate why I love the guy, purely subjective choices):

1. Gary Cooper - Will Kane in High Noon. Coop acted with his eyes, not with words. You have only to see a few key moments in this film where all the conflicts of the situation are clearly registered in his eyes. He makes me feel very empathetic to his more human characters, especially when they exhibit pain, conflict and the natural fear of an ordinary man overwhelmed, and yet he's also terrifically entertaining as a smart aleck, macho type. Not easy to do the two extremes well.

2. Spencer Tracy - "Gunner" in Test Pilot. It's hard for me to pick just one so I chose one that is among his most likable. I recently rewatched the movie and can never make up my mind who to focus on in any given scene, the three leads are all so good (Gable, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy). But Tracy has arguably the least to work with, being mostly reactive and supportive. He's just fascinating to watch when all he's really doing is standing there, listening to one of the other characters rattle on. I can't explain it, it's just something he does in all his movies...it could be called scene stealing...or it could be just doing his job brilliantly.

3. Clark Gable - Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind. What more can I say except it's my favorite character in movies played by the only actor I think could do him justice. I continue to appreciate the sensitivity and tenderness Gable can express, something that many of his shadows fail to exhibit to this day. I don't believe I'd be half so fond of him if he lacked this gracious characteristic.

4. Robert Mitchum - Jeff Bailey in Out of the Past. The more I revisit Mitchum's movies, the more I like him, and watching his interviews only seals the deal. I believe he was handed an ideal character with some of the best lines of his career in "Jeff Bailey"...because they aren't so great on paper when you read some of them, it's his inimitable delivery that makes them so memorable. Mitchum IS a verbal actor, and an uncannily talented one who liked to appear as if...baby, he didn't care. Don't you believe it.

You get a break because that's all I can post right now because this forum won't let me type more.

[Rita Hayworth]

Miss Goodness - we are looking forward seeing 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

By the way, I love your selections of 4 actors listed here. Well thought of.


I love your AVATAR ... Sean Connery ... best 007 ever.

[charliechaplinfan]

I forgot to include James Mason, how could I ever have done that.

My favorite English actor, a multi faceted career, he produced many of his own films and wasn't afraid of unlikeable or strange characters, Humbert Humbert, Bradley Morohan, Johnny McQueen. He's grown on me over time much the same as Charles Boyer, I began noticing him more and more and finally ended up looking for films because of him alone.

[Dewey1960]

Here they are; at least this is who they are today. This is the type of list that tends
to change every several days. But really, not that much.
1. ROBERT RYAN “On Dangerous Ground” (1952)
2. HUMPHREY BOGART “In A Lonely Place” (1950)
3. JAMES DEAN (tie) “Rebel Without A Cause” / “East of Eden” (1955)
4. STERLING HAYDEN “The Killing” (1956)
5. ROBERT MITCHUM “Out of the Past” (1947)
6. DAN DURYEA “Black Angel” (1946)
7. JAMES CAGNEY “White Heat” (1949)
8. MARLON BRANDO “On The Waterfront” (1954)
9. KEVIN McCARTHY “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956)
10. TIMOTHY CAREY “Paths of Glory” (1957)

[charliechaplinfan]

Some great names and performances coming out, my original intention was to judge their whole body of work, I'm always on the look out for watching an actor others find interesting in their various performances and finding out the reason why.

Dewey, I agree with you about Brando and On The Waterfront but Idiscounted him from my list because when he's good he's extremely good but when he's bad he's pretty awful. I went with Montgomery Clift instead but it was a tough choice because of Brando's great perfromances, of which I'd put OTW at the top.

I'll try and redress the balance tomorrow and start an actresses thread. I'll have to start thinking up my list now.

[Rita Hayworth]

I'll try and redress the balance tomorrow and start an actresses thread. I'll have to start thinking up my list now.

Go for it. ... I will start thinking myself too. I will definitely be looking for to it. Matter of fact - I will start getting my list together ... CCF!

[Lzcutter]

that quote by Lee Marvin, "I drink alone", is that from a movie or did he say that in an interview?

MsG,

No, not from a film or an interview but from Lee's appearance in a wonderful music video with George Thorogood. Thorogood sings I Drink Alone which he said he was inspired to write because of Lee.

[MissGoddess]

my original intention was to judge their whole body of work, I'm always on the look out for watching an actor others find interesting in their various performances and finding out the reason why.

Okay, I can do that.

Coop - I like his early years, including some of the silents I've seen, and the sexiest he ever was, was in Morocco and The General Died at Dawn. Then I like his post-1950 work for the most part. The late thirties and 40s are more uneven for me, because he began playing male beauties in distress and innocents. It pains me to see him cut off at the knees, but I take my hat off at his ability to play both ends of the spectrum.

Spence - He's more fun and looser in the 1930s, somewhat romantic and all over the place in the 1940s, and gradually grew into a voice of reason and authority, a voice I'd listen to because it generally contained a note of self-awareness. Like Garson Kanin wrote, his face looked like it could be carved on Mt. Rushmore.

Gable - As with Gary, I iike Gable best when he was younger, feisty and even villainous on occastion, and in his later years when there was some gravitas and even a willingness to go tongue-in-cheek about his legendary appeal. The 1940s were the most uneven in my opinion, in the appeal of the films.

Mitch - His "body of work" is hard for me to describe, as it became more varied and he was suddenly to be found in Australia, the Pacific, Ireland as well as out in the wild west and when he returned to New York it was as an insecure, faded businessman having an affair with a kooky dancer. I look for the moments that tell me he was a heck of a better actor than anyone ever gave him credit for. And through it all, just about the perfect definition of 'cool' in my opinion, much more so than any who came after him.

[MissGoddess]

Thanks, Lynn!

[jdb1]

I've been thinking about this since yesterday, and I don't think I can do it. Every time I think of some I really like, I come up with a dozen more that I might like better. If I had seen only 10 or 12 movies in my lifetime, it would be easier to come up with 10 favorites. The closest I can come is:

Spencer Tracy -- in everything he's ever done.
James Stewart -- ditto
L&H -- the same
Walter Brennan -- yeah, him too

And so on.

[ChiO]

1. James Stewart - Wonderful in everything he did, but THE NAKED SPUR probably is my favorite. My highest praise: He's the Barbara Stanwyck of male actors.

2. Robert Ryan - Did anyone do "dark" better? ON DANGEROUS GROUND

3. Timothy Carey - You know when he's on the screen because he just made the movie better. THE KILLING

4. Edward G. Robinson - Another one who can do it all. THE RED HOUSE

5. Humphrey Bogart - There are movie icons and then there's Bogart. IN A LONELY PLACE

6. Sterling Hayden - I can't think of anyone so dour and straight who can make me laugh so hard. DR. STRANGELOVE

7. Cary Grant - That's it, just Cary Grant. HIS GIRL FRIDAY

8. Charles Chaplin - I like to laugh and cry. MONSIEUR VERDOUX

9. Joel McCrea - The actor for whom my appreciation is constantly growing. STARS IN MY CROWN

10. Robert Mitchum - Baby, I don't care. OUT OF THE PAST

My apologies to: Orson Welles, Lee Marvin and John Cassavetes.