Bit Players We Love

Discussion of the actors, directors and film-makers who 'made it all happen'
User avatar
srowley75
Posts: 723
Joined: April 22nd, 2008, 11:04 am
Location: West Virginia

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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
klondike

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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!
User avatar
knitwit45
Posts: 4689
Joined: May 4th, 2007, 9:33 pm
Location: Gardner, KS

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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.
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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.
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
User avatar
Garbomaniac
Posts: 348
Joined: May 11th, 2007, 10:00 pm

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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.
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
Ollie
Posts: 908
Joined: January 18th, 2008, 3:56 pm

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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.
User avatar
ChiO
Posts: 3899
Joined: January 2nd, 2008, 1:26 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
User avatar
JackFavell
Posts: 11926
Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post by JackFavell »

You are kidding me!

The Wienie King is in Citizen Kane and Portrait of Jennie? Holy smokes, I gotta go check.....
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post by MissGoddess »

Is the "Wienie King" in Portrait of Jennie as one of the "old salts" up at the Cape?
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
User avatar
ChiO
Posts: 3899
Joined: January 2nd, 2008, 1:26 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post by ChiO »

To quote a favorite of some in these here parts: Ee-yup.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
User avatar
JackFavell
Posts: 11926
Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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
User avatar
MissGoddess
Posts: 5072
Joined: April 17th, 2007, 10:01 am
Contact:

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post by MissGoddess »

ChiO wrote:To quote a favorite of some in these here parts: Ee-yup.
You do that very well for a ChicOwen. :)
"There's only one thing that can kill the movies, and that's education."
-- Will Rogers
klondike

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post 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:
User avatar
JackFavell
Posts: 11926
Joined: April 20th, 2009, 9:56 am

Re: Bit Players We Love

Post by JackFavell »

It might fit her if she took that guinea pig off of the top of her head....
Post Reply