Happy Eclipse Day!
In honor of the eclipse that I will probably not be able to see because of the clouds and the rain, today’s scene that I love comes from 2014’s A Field In England. This film may (or may not) take place during a solar eclipse. I won’t try to explain everything that is happening in the scene, beyond stating that this particular field in England is home to some interesting mushrooms. I encourage you see to watch the film for yourself.
1974 was a very good year for Francis Ford Coppola. Not only did he direct the Oscar-winning Godfather Part II but he also directed another film that was nominated for Best Picture, an intense study of paranoia called The Conversation.
Today’s scene that I love comes from The Conversation. Surveillance expert Harry Caul (Gene Hackman, giving one of his best performances) fears that his work may lead to murder. In this scene, he has a nightmare in which he tries, in vain, to talk to one of the people who he has been surveilling. This scene perfectly captures the horrific logic and helpless feeling of a nightmare. Harry, who is not the most open or emotional of men, can only be his true self in his dreams.
108 years ago today, the actor Gregory Peck was born in San Diego, California. With his deep voice and his Lincolnesque profile, Peck was always best cast as a man of integrity who was willing to take a stand, even if it meant going against the majority. That made him ideal for the role of attorney Atticus Finch in 1962’s To Kill A Mockingbird.
Today’s scene that I love comes from that film. In this scene, Atticus makes his closing statement in the murder trial of Tom Robinson. While Atticus is speaking to the jury, Gregory Peck is speaking to the audience in the theater (and later, in front of the television). Reportedly, Peck only needed one take to perfectly deliver his speech.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to actor and now-Oscar winner Robert Downey, Jr!
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1987’s Less Than Zero. Long before he played Iron Man, Downey played Julian, a young, self-destructive drug addict in Los Angeles. In this scene, Julian talks to his father, played by the great character actor, Nicholas Pryor.
Downey has said that playing Julian was not a huge stretch for him as he was dealing with his own growing drug addiction while making Less Than Zero. (Considering how heavy-handed the film was in its anti-drug message, it’s interesting that both Downey and Andrew McCarthy have talked about first experimenting with cocaine while making the film.) It’s been quite a turn-around for Downey, who went from being a poster boy for self-destruction to a beloved pop cultural icon. Just last month, Downey won an Oscar for his performance in Oppenheimer. He deserved every minute of the applause he received.
Continuing our tribute to the great Marlon Brando, today’s scene that I love comes from The Godfather.
In this scene, a self-pitying Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) discusses his career problems with Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone. Johnny is losing his voice. Johnny is up for a role in a big movie but he worries that the producer will never allow him to appear in the film. Johnny says he doesn’t know what to do and he sheds a tear….
….and that’s not a smart thing to do when you’re talking to Don Corleone.
This scene contains some of the best moments of The Godfather. Al Martino was a professional singer with little acting experience. (While Johnny Fontane was a major character in Mario Puzo’s book, he only appeared in two scenes in the film version. Coppola later said that he thought the Johnny Fontane chapters were so poorly written that he would have turned down the film if he had to include too much of the character.) In order to get an effective performance out of Martino, Brando did not warn him that he would actually be slapping him. During one take, Brando got so aggressive that he knocked off Martino’s toupee and caused Robert Duvall to start laughing. It was all worth it, though. Martino was thoroughly convincing as Johnny Fontane and Marlon Brando won (but did not accept) his second Oscar for Best Actor.
The great Alec Guinness, one of the best actors of all time, was born 124 years ago on this date.
Today’s scene of the day comes from the film that won Guinness the Oscar for Best Actor, 1957’s The Bridge on the River Kwai. In that film (which was one of many that Guinness made with director David Lean), Guinness plays Col. Nicholson, a British POW who is tasked, by the Japanese, with building a bridge. Though many of his men claim that it will mean collaborating with the enemy, Col. Nicholson feels that the bridge should be a symbol of British ingenuity. As Nicholson explains it, the bridge will show what the British are capable of doing, even under the most trying of circumstances. Eventually, Nicholson’s obsession with showing up his captors by constructing the perfect bridge blinds him to everything else that is going on.
In this scene, Nicholson reveals just how obsessed he has become. It’s a phenomenal piece of acting from Guinness, an actor who — up until the film — was largely known for his comedic performances.
Today would have been the 92nd birthday of the great Debbie Reynolds.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the 1952 classic, Singin’ In The Rain. In this scene, Debbie performs the song Good Mornin’ with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.
Today is Opening Day! I’m excited! There’s no way to know who is going to win the World Series this year but I know who I want to win and I bet most people reading this know too. Because it’s Opening Day, I thought I would share a scene from last year that I really, really love.
Watch as the Rangers win their first World Series championship!
Good luck to all the teams and GO RANGERS!
The great character actor M. Emmet Walsh passed away yesterday. He was an actor who had a long career, often playing small but important roles. 1985’s Blood Simple brought Walsh one of his few starring roles and today’s scene that I love comes from that film.
In this scene, M. Emmet Walsh’s sleazy private detective meets with bar owner Dan Hedaya and reveals the result of his investigation into whether or not the bar owner’s wife is cheating on him. Blood Simple was the directorial debut of the Coen Brothers and featured Frances McDormand in one of her first starring roles. It also featured M. Emmet Walsh at his best.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 91st birthday to Sir Michael Caine.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 2010’s Inception, a film that featured Caine in a small but key role. Caine shares this scene with Leonardo DiCaprio and, as good an actor as DiCaprio may be, Caine dominates from the moment he first looks up.
Through the Shattered Lens 