Well, at least SOME suppositions aside...
I made a comment in another thread that made me wonder about Typecasting and its effects, costs and benefits.
If George indeed committed suicide in his depressed state of mind, then the cost is high, indeed.
I enjoyed HOLLYWOODLAND (2006 with Ben Affleck as George, Diane Lane and Adrian Brody) because it gave us an alternative 'excuse' for the killing event. Frankly, I rather prefer THAT possibility than the one offered up since June, 1959.
Anthony Perkins has been in other Norman-esque roles (FEAR STRIKES OUT, even the recent THE TRIAL, among others). I'm sure he didn't enjoy being Norman for so much of his professional life, but I believed he came to accept Norman's role by accepting the 2 sequels' roles. Or at least the money. I thought he did fairly well in both.
Character actors, however, LIVE for typecasting. How can they accept that yet "stars" can't? Look at Charles Lanes' career - 300-odd credits as a mean, grumpy, money-grubbing hateful character.
Phil Silvers was a star, and did he EVER do more than 1 or 2 roles where he wasn't the greasy slimey weasel of a con-man? And they weren't NEARLY as good as those roles where he WAS a Sgt Bilko type!
Charles McGraw. Gene Evans. Gabby Hayes. Walter Brennan. Did they EVER do a "different character"? I don't think so. They played the same character, over and over - the script called for such a character, the production called 'em up and said, "Can you do your character for us?" and that was it.
I think Jack Nicholson has only done 1 character in his whole life, too. Maybe his EASY RIDER and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS were "different", but also "tiny".
Do you think actors REALLY stretch that much? I strongly believe in the Laziness Of Writers & Filmmakers, and I think they LOVE having typecast characters who they can re-assemble into their own productions, time after time.
So I've never quite understood why George would kill himself over an historic Hollywood behavior as opposed to finding an excuse to relish in it.
Or had he studied lookalikes-Richard Dix and -Chester Morris, and decided he didn't want to have an end-of-career like them?
George Reeves - all suppositions aside
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jdb1
One thing that sets Antony Perkins apart from someone like George Reeves is that he was an experienced and accomplished theater actor, and was in many Broadway shows, including a comedy and a musical. After having been a contract player at a studio, where they tried unsuccessfully to make him into a romantic leading man, I think Perkins must have been relieved to stretch his acting talents on the stage. Being fluent in French, and being able to make movies in France must have helped as well.
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jdb1
You are right, John. I guess I take it as a given that AP was a better actor than George Reeves, as pleasant as Reeves might have been.
As I've already mentioned, I've been a fan of Tony Perkins all my life - you just have to know how to take him, I suppose. I'm very glad to see that our colleagues here have been giving his body of work some reconsideration.
I also should have said above that he was in more than one comedy on Broadway besides starring in the Frank Loesser musical "Greenwillow."
And I have one of his albums, too, which I'm sorry to say is in pretty poor condition after all these years (on vinyl, of course, and now I have nothing to play it on). His type of voice is not my favorite (very rapid vibrato), but he did know how to sing, and how to act a song. It's from that album that I learned,when I was a girl, "Old Buttermilk Sky" and "Miss Otis Regrets," among other standards.
(Ugh. Every time we discuss Tony Perkins I think of his very loyal but unfortunate wife, Berry, who perished on one of the planes on Sept. 11)
As I've already mentioned, I've been a fan of Tony Perkins all my life - you just have to know how to take him, I suppose. I'm very glad to see that our colleagues here have been giving his body of work some reconsideration.
I also should have said above that he was in more than one comedy on Broadway besides starring in the Frank Loesser musical "Greenwillow."
And I have one of his albums, too, which I'm sorry to say is in pretty poor condition after all these years (on vinyl, of course, and now I have nothing to play it on). His type of voice is not my favorite (very rapid vibrato), but he did know how to sing, and how to act a song. It's from that album that I learned,when I was a girl, "Old Buttermilk Sky" and "Miss Otis Regrets," among other standards.
(Ugh. Every time we discuss Tony Perkins I think of his very loyal but unfortunate wife, Berry, who perished on one of the planes on Sept. 11)
"One of the best performances ever"? I'd never thought about it like that. If it was "only" the Norman moments, I'd give his performance fairly high marks. The confrontation scene in the Motel Office toward the end, where the struggle with the Boyfriend ensues, and the earlier confrontation between Arbogast catching him in a few mis-speaks before looking at the motel register - those Norman moments are so well constructed. His agitation at being "caught" builds so slowly.
And the final "Mother" scene with the downward face 'looking upwards' shows a sinister level that we never ever saw in the rest of the movie. For once, we got to see a truly crazed psychopath, and what a great way to end that film.
I also enjoyed his P-II performance, because I was never sure if he was "going along" or merely "going off" again, and that kind of uncertainty was what that script needed (well, among other things). I can only hope he was very well compensated for the P-III and -IV appearances.
All of this being said, Perkins' post-PSYCHO career was quite a bit more broad (and travel based) than Reeves was given. Perkins played a lot of 'confused' characters afterward - and before. He seemed to be well-suited to showed a lot of expressive confusion on-screen - all helpful for his Norman role.
And if anyone had a right to be disillusioned with "typecasting", I think you've made a good point with Perkins. While I never cared for his song-and-dance performances (because I don't care for musicals), I have appreciated that he delivered those so well and that all were so far away from his "confused" Norman-esque character.
And the final "Mother" scene with the downward face 'looking upwards' shows a sinister level that we never ever saw in the rest of the movie. For once, we got to see a truly crazed psychopath, and what a great way to end that film.
I also enjoyed his P-II performance, because I was never sure if he was "going along" or merely "going off" again, and that kind of uncertainty was what that script needed (well, among other things). I can only hope he was very well compensated for the P-III and -IV appearances.
All of this being said, Perkins' post-PSYCHO career was quite a bit more broad (and travel based) than Reeves was given. Perkins played a lot of 'confused' characters afterward - and before. He seemed to be well-suited to showed a lot of expressive confusion on-screen - all helpful for his Norman role.
And if anyone had a right to be disillusioned with "typecasting", I think you've made a good point with Perkins. While I never cared for his song-and-dance performances (because I don't care for musicals), I have appreciated that he delivered those so well and that all were so far away from his "confused" Norman-esque character.
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jdb1
He was also an occasional celebrity guest panelist on many quiz and talk shows that were based in NYC; since he lived in NYC, and was an articulate guest who could be very charming, he was readily available to fill in for an absent regular. I remember him and someone like Betsy Palmer, maybe, being taught the new craze, the bossa nova, by a dance instructor on I've Got a Secret.
