Karl Malden

[Littledrummerboy]

Growing up I can remember the face of Karl Malden flashing on the screen of our television. In the films I can recall; I remember him always playing a spirited character. One of the few actors I can recall in my youth that really put genuine emotion and made you believe he was his character. I think the first movie I can remember him playing in was Pollyanna (1960). I grew up watching a great deal of Disney Classics and I had a secret crush on Hayley Mills. I don't think I would have ever noticed him if I hadn't been watching. His face stands out to me as the character of the pastor who preached hellfire and brimstone and the transformation that took place after he was informed of the "happy verses" in the bible by the lovely Mrs. Mills was the difference of night and day. I'm ashamed to say that the only other movie I have seen him in was the Gunfighter (1950). It was a great movie but my knowledge of the actor himself is what I'm ashamed of. I recently saw Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). It great film in which Malden plays the spirited Warden. I'm glad I saw it because it brought back memories of the the first time I saw him. I recently found a list of the other films he played in along with television series. I'll enjoy tracking them down and watching him bring his character to life. If you have other actor you think I may enjoy please post them here. I am complete novice at this sort of thing so I welcome the chance to gain more knowledge.

[mongoII]

LDB, you've barely scratched the surface with the great actor Karl Malden. You are in for a treat when you gradually discover his many accomplishments on film.
Be sure to see Malden in "One-Eyed Jacks", "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Hanging Tree"
for a start.

[Professional Tourist]

I liked Karl Malden's performance in Pollyanna too.

In addition to the good recommendations you've received from Joe, I would add On the Waterfront, which to me is an even better performance than his Oscar-winner in Streetcar, and How the West Was Won. He's only in the first forty-five minutes or so of HTWWW, but it's a good picture in general.

[MissGoddess]

Welcome to the board, littledrummerboy!

I love big, burly, bawling Karl! He and Lee J. Cobb had the loudest voices in classic movies, lol, and I cannot imagine Hollywood without them. Karl could be terribly sweet, or a real son-of-a-gun and in everything he was passionate and honest.

His TV series with Michael Douglas, "The Streets of San Francisco", is a big favorite of my Mom's. It's on DVD so you might check it out if you haven't already. More movies you might like with Karl include Hitchcock's I Confess, Baby Doll (not a favorite of mine, but he certainly was great in all the movies he made with director Elia Kazan), Ruby Gentry, and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

[knitwit45]

he is so evil in Nevada Smith, he makes your skin crawl! I much prefer to think of Mr. Malden in Pollyanna (Wonder if that's why I am called Pollyanna now and then??)

[Rita Hayworth]

I like Karl Malden in more ways into one the problem with Karl Malden is that he is one of those rare actors that embraces both Television and Movies at the same time. I love him in the Streets in San Francisco with young Micheal Douglas. I love him in both The Hanging Tree and Patton ... of which he played General Omar Bradley in that film.

My problem with him that he embraces both media ... Television and Big Screen.

He also, did low budget movies too ... He was the villain (Julian Wall) in Dean Martin's Matt Helm Movie - The Murderer's Row and that alone how dynamic of an actor he truly is. He is everywhere and quite common of an actor to do many different forms of roles to get himself noticed.

He is quite versatile as an actor and I wished he wasn't ... Why?

I prefer his work in movies like The Hanging Tree and Patton because he is made for the big screen not the little screen. When, I got older and wiser throughout the years ... I wished that he had not done The Streets in San Francisco and wasted 5 years on Network Television and done movies instead. I wished he was first and foremost a Movie Actor and not a versatile doing all sorts of things across the board.

In closing,

I love him on the big screen not the little screen!

[moira finnie]

Welcome to the boards, littledrummerboy.

All of the fore-mentioned films with Karl Malden are excellent examples of his fine work on screen (and reminded me of how broad his range was as a character actor). For some lighter fare, some of the actor's favorite movies (he even got the girl in a few of these!) are the frothy Come Fly With Me (1963) in which he played an awkward but sincere Texan courting a stewardess, the enjoyably soapy Parrish (1961) with an over-the-top Karl as Claudette Colbert's fella, and his roguish turn as a thief in Hotel (1967). The best role he ever had in movies may be one of his least known: the bittersweet Twilight Time (1982), in which Malden played an elderly Yugoslavian who returns to his homeland after decades in America.

Btw, actress Dolores Hart's last movie before she entered the convent was Come Fly With Me (1963). She and Malden became fast friends on the set and Malden stayed in touch with her over the years. In 1990, after the actress had become Mother Dolores in the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut and Karl Malden was named the head of AMPAS, he insisted that the cloistered nun resume her rights as a member of the Academy, ensuring that she received review copies of films being considered for the Oscar and that her votes counted. Hart mentions him with fondness in the recent Academy Award nominated documentary about her, God Is the Bigger Elvis (2012).

Pamela Tiffin, Hugh O’Brien, Dolores Hart, Karlheinz Böhm, Lois Nettleton and Karl Malden in Come Fly With Me (1963).

Malden wrote an interesting autobiography too, called "When Do I Start?: A Memoir" (Limelight, 2004). In it he discusses his youth in Gary, Indiana, his struggles during the Depression to gain a foothold as a young actor, his experiences with the Group Theater and later with The Actor's Studio and his impressions on and off-screen with everyone from Elia Kazan to Tyrone Power.

[Western Guy]

Enormous fan of Karl Malden. One of those actors equally convincing as either a hero or heavy. Knitwit, yes he certainly was nasty in Nevada Smith, but I found him even more villainous as the betrayer of Brando in One-Eyed Jacks. To make it worse, his character was named Dad!

[knitwit45]

I have to confess, Stone, I've never been tempted to see either One Eyed Jacks or The Wild Bunch, Ben (sigh) Johnson notwithstanding...I simply don't like violence and gore. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about those movies here at the 'safe' place, but I have to pass on watching for myself

[Rita Hayworth]

I love him in the The Wild Bunch

[charliechaplinfan]

What a great actor he was, A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront, I Confess, One Eyed Jacks, Baby Doll, these are all brilliant performances and in these films with Brando and Clift, actors who are great shakes in the acting world themselves but Malden is never lost in the mix, he's as memorable in these films as these two great actors and the characters he plays in these films all very different, he completely inhabits all these characters. What a great man and performer.

[MissGoddess]

One-Eyed Jacks is available to view at YouTube via Openflix (and I think it's the restored print, too):

[youtube][/youtube]

[charliechaplinfan]

Karl Malden must have had a great deal of patience to work with Brando so often, he wasn't known as being the easiest of actors to work with but they at least went back to the beginning of Brando's career, the films Brando made with Malden are my favourite Brando movies.