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Post by topbilled on Jun 13, 2024 15:12:00 GMT
Some performers veer from the sublime to the awful.
And then there are some who are just consistently excellent in everything, even lesser supporting roles.
Here's my list of 5 performers incapable of giving a bad performance:
1. I have to put Charles Bickford at the top. I've never witnessed any missteps. He doesn't have one bad scene anywhere.
2. I have to include Sidney Poitier. He wasn't always in great films, but he could always be counted on to elevate the material, even when he was typecast.
3. Thelma Ritter. Was she perhaps the most dependable character actress of the 1940s and 1950s? She never fails to make a strong impression.
4. Edward G. Robinson. I could write a book about him.
5. Mary Astor. I find her believable in everything she does. No false notes, even when the script isn't challenging.
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Post by NoShear on Jun 13, 2024 16:51:48 GMT
Some performers veer from the sublime to the awful.
And then there are some who are just consistently excellent in everything, even lesser supporting roles.
Here's my list of 5 performers incapable of giving a bad performance:
1. I have to put Charles Bickford at the top. I've never witnessed any missteps. He doesn't have one bad scene anywhere.
2. I have to include Sidney Poitier. He wasn't always in great films, but he could always be counted on to elevate the material, even when he was typecast.
3. Thelma Ritter. Was she perhaps the most dependable character actress of the 1940s and 1950s? She never fails to make a strong impression.
4. Edward G. Robinson. I could write a book about him.
5. Mary Astor. I find her believable in everything she does. No false notes, even when the script isn't challenging.
With your range and writing, do so, TopBilled! (Be sure to give a shout-out to your crew here when you make it to T CM...) Speaking of range and consistent excellence, I dropped this one on the old TCM Message Boards - off a thread of yours, I think: Jack Lemmon - from pathetic pathos to crazed comedy. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Jun 14, 2024 17:34:25 GMT
That's a good list. And, as if you would have the time with everything else you do, please do write that book about Edward G. Robinson because I'm sure we'd all love to read it. When I saw your thread my first thought was Mary Astor, but there she was already as one of your five. Since you're allowing for all kinds of roles, even supporting, I'd like to nominate Fay Bainter and Charles Coburn. My BS meter never goes off for either of them and they could both do comedy or drama equally well, even when, as you so politely put it, the script was "challenging".   |
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Post by sagebrush on Jun 15, 2024 14:44:36 GMT
I would add Donald Crisp to the list.
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Post by christine on Jun 15, 2024 16:55:07 GMT
My nominees would be Mary Wickes and Ward Bond.
Mary Wickes acted with everyone from Bette Davis, Doris Day and Whoopi Goldberg. Always gave a human, relished performance!
Ward Bond - what can I say. Acted in everything from GONE WITH THE WIND, THE MALTESE FALCON to RIO BRAVO. He not only acted in over 200 films, but starred in TV series.
Both of these gifted actors, I guess would be considered character actors, but like I've said before, a great character actor can create magic in a movie scene!
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nickandnora34
Full Member
I saw it in the window and couldn't resist it.
Posts: 103
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Post by nickandnora34 on Jun 15, 2024 22:55:56 GMT
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Post by BingFan on Jun 17, 2024 17:49:37 GMT
... Here's my list of 5 performers incapable of giving a bad performance:
1. I have to put Charles Bickford at the top. I've never witnessed any missteps. He doesn't have one bad scene anywhere.
...
All of the principals are very good, but Bickford stands out with the force and range of his performance.
I also admire his performance as the rich political family’s butler in THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER. And isn’t he the studio head in the 1954 version of A STAR IS BORN? He really can do no wrong. |
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Post by topbilled on Jun 17, 2024 18:05:48 GMT
... Here's my list of 5 performers incapable of giving a bad performance:
1. I have to put Charles Bickford at the top. I've never witnessed any missteps. He doesn't have one bad scene anywhere.
...
All of the principals are very good, but Bickford stands out with the force and range of his performance.
I also admire his performance as the rich political family’s butler in THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER. And isn’t he the studio head in the 1954 version of A STAR IS BORN? He really can do no wrong.
He's also quite excellent in THE BIG COUNTRY (1958).
It's a real treat to watch him do a regular television series, playing a kind but stern grandfather running the Shiloh ranch in seasons 5 & 6 of the long-running western The Virginian. In one noteworthy episode, he falls under the charms of visiting houseguest Myrna Loy. She's losing her marbles, and as he gradually comes to realize how fragile she is, he remains resolute and genuinely affectionate in helping her. Every single scene he does is just so meaningful. |
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Post by kims on Jun 18, 2024 0:05:28 GMT
during Covid, I passed time by reading actor biographies and books about Hollywood.
Bickford's autobio is BULLS, BALLS, BICYCLES AND ACTORS. Interesting man. Learning about some stars disappoints because they aren't like their personna. He's a star who doesn't disappoint. If you like Bickford, it is a must read-you'll like him more.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Jun 18, 2024 13:13:27 GMT
So many come to mind, but I'm going to pick Beulah Bondi. She can be the warmest, sweetest woman in the world in, "Remember the Night," then make you hate her as the judgmental prude in, "Rain." She can play any class or education and although she must have been 20 mothers she never was the same one twice.
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Post by topbilled on Jun 18, 2024 14:17:07 GMT
Love the Beulah Bondi photos, Andrea.
And...ironically, she was not a mother in real-life. Yet she knew how to play mothers on screen.
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nickandnora34
Full Member
I saw it in the window and couldn't resist it.
Posts: 103
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Post by nickandnora34 on Jun 22, 2024 21:34:39 GMT
Another one I just thought of: Claude Rains  I don't believe I've seen him in as much as the fellows I previously mentioned, but he is another notable actor who, to me, feels very natural whenever he's on screen. |
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Post by christine on Jun 24, 2024 17:09:18 GMT
I agree that Claude Rains should be added. He played in everything from THE INVISIBLE MAN 1933 to NOTORIOUS 1946, CASABLANCA 1942, THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD 1938, NOW,VOYAGER 1942 to LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962 - the list goes on.
Seven decades of films and I might add, some of my favorites!
Nominated four times for the Academy Award.
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Post by NoShear on Jun 24, 2024 23:27:57 GMT
How about Frank Morgan: He went from playing the multifaceted Professor Marvel to conveying a sense of deep pain in The SHOP AROUND THE CORNER the next year.
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Post by Andrea Doria on Jun 26, 2024 12:40:21 GMT
Good pick NoShear! I just love Frank Morgan. "Shop Around the Corner," is one of my favorite movies and although the whole cast is great, his part is essential. In his final scene when he asks Toby to go to dinner with him -- well that's my big Christmas moment, every year.
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