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Post by kims on Aug 10, 2023 22:06:53 GMT
I watched THE CROWDED SKY this a.m. Troy was a heartthrob of my sister and her friends. He's good looking, but as an actor, Dorothy Parker could have meant him when she said he showed emotions from A to B. I think he was one of those actors chosen for looks, but didn't have a studio backing to learn how to act or maybe never given the chance. During the 50's and 60's there seem to be many young actors (and I mean male and female) who had the looks but got put in "fluff" roles. Think Elvis- what a talent in LOVE ME TENDER, but continually put in films requiring little acting required.
Troy's best role was in IMITATION OF LIFE. Anyone know of another film he was given a role of depth?
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Aug 10, 2023 22:11:22 GMT
I watched THE CROWDED SKY this a.m. Troy was a heartthrob of my sister and her friends. He's good looking, but as an actor, Dorothy Parker could have meant him when she said he showed emotions from A to B. I think he was one of those actors chosen for looks, but didn't have a studio backing to learn how to act or maybe never given the chance. During the 50's and 60's there seem to be many young actors (and I mean male and female) who had the looks but got put in "fluff" roles. Think Elvis- what a talent in LOVE ME TENDER, but continually put in films requiring little acting required. Troy's best role was in IMITATION OF LIFE. Anyone know of another film he was given a role of depth? Donahue was given a very good role in the firm Parish (1961) but one can still see his limitations as an actor. |
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Post by kims on Aug 10, 2023 22:17:43 GMT
I'll search for PARISH
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Aug 10, 2023 23:12:15 GMT
Overall Parish is a good film. This is mainly due to the older actors: Claudette Colbert, Karl Malden, and Dean Jagger. |
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Post by Fading Fast on Aug 11, 2023 4:28:33 GMT
Even when he pops up in "Godfather II," he's wooden.
As you guys note, he probably didn't get the training he needed and was continually put in the same role: "Susan Slade," "Rome Adventure," "A Summer Place" and "Palm Springs Weekend," all called for him to play the same character.
Also as noted above, it would have been interesting to see if he could have turned into a good actor had he come of age at the time when the studio system groomed actors over many years.
IMHO (with an emphasis on the "H"), Elvis could have been a good or even better-than-good actor had he been trained and given better roles in better movies.
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Post by cmovieviewer on Aug 11, 2023 7:11:53 GMT
A slightly different way to answer the question is to look at a ranking of the films that Troy Donahue has appeared in. You can then pick out the best films from this list that you have not seen yet. Of course, Troy's performance in each film may not be his personal best, but at least you can concentrate on watching the best films overall. There is a web site called ultimaterankings.com that provides a ranking for films organized by actor. Here is a ranked list for Troy Donahue with the highest-rated films first: 1974 The Godfather: Part II (1974) 1959 Imitation of Life (1959) 1959 A Summer Place (1959) 1961 Parrish (1961) 1961 Susan Slade (1961) 1957 The Tarnished Angels (1957) 1958 The Perfect Furlough (1958) 1974 Cockfighter (1974) 1964 A Distant Trumpet (1964) 1958 This Happy Feeling (1958) 1957 Summer Love (1957) 1962 Rome Adventure (1962) 1958 Voice in the Mirror (1958) 1990 Cry-Baby (1990) 1963 Palm Springs Weekend (1963) 1984 Katy Caterpillar (1984) 1958 Live Fast, Die Young (1958) 1960 The Crowded Sky (1960) 1983 Tin Man (1983) 1958 Monster on the Campus (1958) 1965 My Blood Runs Cold (1965) 1958 Wild Heritage (1958) 1984 Grandview, U.S.A. (1984) 1967 Come Spy with Me (1967) 1967 Those Fantastic Flying Fools/ (1967) 1987 Cyclone (1987) 1971 Sweet Savior (1971) 1992 Double Trouble (1992) 1974 Seizure (1974) 1986 Low Blow (1986) 1977 The Legend of Frank Woods (1977) 1988 Hawkeye (1988) 1970 The Phantom Gunslinger (1970) TCM has a few of these coming up: Sep 3 - A Summer Place (1959) Sep 7 - Imitation of Life (1959) Sep 16 - Cry Baby (1990) (A TCM premiere!) (probably a minor role for Troy) You can find Troy's ranking at: www.ultimatemovierankings.com/troy-donahue-movies/I hope this helps. |
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Aug 11, 2023 16:00:17 GMT
Even when he pops up in "Godfather II," he's wooden.
As you guys note, he probably didn't get the training he needed and was continually put in the same role: "Susan Slade," "Rome Adventure," "A Summer Place" and "Palm Springs Weekend," all called for him to play the same character.
Also as noted above, it would have been interesting to see if he could have turned into a good actor had he come of age at the time when the studio system groomed actors over many years.
IMHO (with an emphasis on the "H"), Elvis could have been a good or even better-than-good actor had he been trained and given better roles in better movies.
Well said but I do disagree with the Elvis comment of "had he been trained and given better roles in better movies": That sounds like Elvis was in the same league as other young talent like Donahue. That wasn't the case by a mile; Elvis was one of America's top 5 celebrities. Therefor he could have demanded better training and not accepted the same type of silly role, in movie after movie. Also, Parker is not the sole reason or person to blame. Elvis was an adult. Elvis had the power to demand change. Elvis could have not resigned with Parker. Thus, Elvis is mostly responsible for not utilizing the vast talent he was given. I also feel this way about his music, which just got cornier and went downhill each and every day as time marched on. Again, Elvis chose his own path. If one looks at other major talents in similar situations, they pushed back and took risks and were rewarded. E.g. Katherine Hepburn (bought out her contract from RKO when they said she was box-office-poison), Bette Davis (went to England to make films which, while she wasn't allowed to, did result in Jack Warner agreeing to meet most of her demands going forward), and Olivia De Havilland (the most famous example from a legal POV). |
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Post by intrepid37 on Aug 11, 2023 19:03:33 GMT
Also as noted above, it would have been interesting to see if he could have turned into a good actor had he come of age at the time when the studio system groomed actors over many years.
I suspect he was seen as looking way too soft to ever have long-lasting popularity once the teen-mags moved on from his 15 minutes. |
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Post by topbilled on Aug 15, 2023 14:49:22 GMT
Not long ago I watched him in a 1969 episode of The Virginian. He plays a bounty hunter that goes too far trying to bring an aging fugitive (Victor Jory) to justice. He's older, has a mustache and is playing a rather morally ambiguous character and I thought it was one of his best roles, one of his best performances.
Check out season 7's 'Fox, Hound and the Widow McCloud' of The Virginian.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Aug 15, 2023 18:12:08 GMT
Looking at cmovieviewer's list, what jumped out at me was Live Fast, Die Young (1959). It's a nutty bad-girl-on-the-run movie where she gets involved in a heist with a gang of jewel thieves led by Troy. They all get jobs at the post office so they can waylay a diamond shipment because I guess diamonds just get sent through the mail like catalogs? It was directed by Paul Henried and TCM has shown it in the dim past, but it's worth searching out just for the yucks.  I liked him well enough in all those melodramas, but I never got the sense that there was a lot of range there. But as eye candy for Sandra Dee or Connie Stevens or Suzanne Pleshette he was just what the doctor ordered. The list also reminded me of how he good naturedly played against type for John Waters in Cry-Baby (1990) as the father of a juvenile delinquent who rolls his chain-smoking wife Mink Stole into a courtroom in an iron lung. It's as over-the-top as it sounds, but that's John.  |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Aug 16, 2023 23:17:15 GMT
By the time Troy came along Warner Brothers had started their own record label and Troy was pressed into service with the song "Live Young" from his film Palm Springs Weekend (1963). As Troy demonstrates here, you could do the twist to it! Others like Connie Stevens and Edd Byrnes took their turns at singing too, even doing a duet on "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb", which was just as deliriously silly as it sounds.
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Post by jamesjazzguitar on Aug 17, 2023 0:26:33 GMT
Troy Donahue was in the WB T.V. show Hawaiian Eye for the last (4th) season 1962 - 1963.
While Decades had a weekend Hawaiian Eye marathon, they only showed the first two seasons, so I have yet to see how Donahue in this show.
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