In the 1968 film, Targets, Boris Karloff gave one of his final performances.  It was also one of his best.

Karloff played an aging horror actor named Byron Orlok, a role that was based on Karloff himself.  Though once a huge star, Orlok’s style of horror has gone out of fashion.  As he explains it, the real world has gotten so scary that his horror films are now tame by comparison.  In this scene, Orlok proves that he can still give a compelling performance when he recites a short story about death and fate.

Reportedly, Karloff did this scene in one take and received a standing ovation after director Peter Bogdanovich called cut.