Robert Duvall is one of the great actors of all time. The picture above is from the 1975 film BREAKOUT, where he co-starred with Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland. I always loved that he worked with Charles Bronson at the height of their popularity.
He has been in so many classic movies. My personal favorites include THE GODFATHER 1 and 2, LONESOME DOVE, and OPEN RANGE. They just don’t make them like Robert Duvall anymore.
Thank you sir for all the enjoyment you’ve brought to my life through your work! Happy Birthday!!
Through the Shattered Lens 
Duvall made great appearances on ‘The Howard Stern Show’ radio and tv in the ’90s, very fun and “gets it!” He invited everybody to call him “Bobby” and DeNiro does the same thing, it is a nice way to “gift” somebody with the status of not-quite-a-friend, but also not-a-stranger.
Happy to see you thought ‘Open Range’ was worth a mention, this was at time when Kevin Costner was trying his best not to slide back down the greased pole of show business and financed it himself for $25 million. Duvall brought some fun and credibility to the story, improvising some lines, “how’d you like my little palavar”? Hahaha! Well played, Bobby! I also enjoyed the ‘rub’ he gave Tom Cruise in DAYS OF THUNDER (1990) and later JACK REACHER: ONE SHOT (2012).
Brad, you note ‘Godfather 1 & 2’ and ‘Lonesome Dove’, and I have not seen those but, will seek them out now. Thank you.
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Duvall just seems to act to a rhythm that only he feels. It makes him unique and I love his sense of humor. I loved him in Jack Reacher. I watched his Oscar winning role for Tender Mercies for the first time a couple of years ago and he’s so good. And one of my favorite Duvall scenes in any movie is when he prayed with Billy Bob Thornton and saved his soul in THE APOSTLE. It was an amazing movie moment.
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I ran the TV part of that show for E! He was candid, insightful and funny! So many great performances and my wife and I love his role in “The Paper”…just having fun as part of a great ensemble!
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You just may be one of the coolest guys out there, John!
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Am recalling you mention the first 500 episodes, which, imho, were the best!:-) Howard turned Scott Einzeger and Robin Radzinsky into stars! Appreciate your work, and thoughts on film/tv/etc. here!
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A CIVIL ACTION
TENDER MERCIES
THE OUTFIT
Just to name 3 of his best … of which the first and last hardly ever get credit, which I don´t get.
R.D. has an unmatched intensity.
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All great movies my friend!!
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I watched THE OUTFIT just some 2 weeks ago and I was blown away by how great it is: such a neat gritty little organized crime flick, which has all the right ingredients and two other of my favourite character actors, ROBERY RYAN (who made a string of GREAT movies late in his career, but not only then of course) and JOE DON BAKER, who made THREE great movies one after the other in 1973. Plus all the character actors in small parts.
I VERY MUCH encourage everyone to watch this, it´s a totally overlooked gem.
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Small bit of trivia on ‘The Outfit’ (1973), am recalling a similarly named ‘The Organization’ (1971). My childhood parish was right outside MGM studios in Culver City, so for a couple of months we drove past a billboard for ‘The Outfit’. The trivia is that both movies required names that were not really recognized by the public, but were necessary because ‘The Mafia’ and ‘The Mob’ terms had fallen into blah, blah, blah, you know exactly what I’m talking about.:-)
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Yessss. :-))
Seen THE ORGANIZATION many many years ago, but don´t recall anything, just that it´s the last (and weakest) part of the Virgil Tibbs-“Trilogy”, which 1st is IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT” (but that´s well known, of course).
Just remembering my teen-years when I was watching all those in small rerun-cinemas or on TV.
On this topic but non-related to R. Duvall, there´s one I enjoyed quite a lot, it´s CRAZY JOE with a memorable leading part by another great character actor of this era long gone by, PETER BOYLE. Crazy Joe was gunned down in April 1972 in an Italian Restaurant and already in 1974 the movie was out. That´s what I call fast reaction, LOL. Great B-stuff, recommended.
Anyway, it´s midnight here, good night overseas.
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