Al Lettieri is one of my favorite cinematic bad guys based on his performance in MR. MAJESTYK (1974) with Charles Bronson. I’ll never forget how bad he wanted those Keys in the famous breakout sequence. Check it out!
Category Archives: tribute
Scenes I Love: Robert Carradine vs David Carradine in Mean Streets
Rest in Peace, Robert Carradine. The veteran character actor and son of John Carradine (as well as brother of Keith and half-brother of David) has passed away at the age of 71.
Most of the articles about his death describe him as being “Lizzie Maguire star Robert Carradine.” Robert Carradine, however, had a long career and it started long before Lizzie Maguire. Eternally youthful, he was still playing teenagers when he was in his 30s. (Let’s just say that he was a bit old to be a college freshman in Revenge of the Nerds.) Robert appeared in his share of 70s exploitation films but he also appeared in films directed by Hal Ashby, Walter Hill, and Martin Scorsese.
In fact, one of Carradine’s first roles was in Scorseses’s 1973 masterpiece, Mean Streets. Here he is, sharing an unforgettable scene with his brother David.
Robert Duvall, RIP
Salud, you glorious actor.
I knew this day was going to come because he was only 5 years away from 100 but still, it breaks my heart.
Rest in peace, Robert Duvall.
In my opinion, Robert Duvall was the best of American actors to come to prominence during the 60s and 70s, someone who was consistently great, who could move you to tears or make you laugh, someone who was just as good at being a villain as he was at being a hero. It’s hard not to think of a single movie that was not improved by the presence of Robert Duvall.
He was the original Boo Radley and, though he was only in To Kill A Mockingbird for a few minutes, his performance was unforgettable. He captured both the shyness and the compassion of an outcast with a good heart.
In M*A*S*H, he was Major Frank Burns, the dangerously incompetent doctor who drove Bud Cort to tears, got punched out be Elliott Gould, and eventually tried to kill Donald Sutherland. Burns was the perfect villain and Duvall wisely didn’t play the role for laughs.
In the original Godfather novel, Tom Hagen was described as being bland and colorless. In the films, Duvall transformed him into one of the most vibrant characters in the entire saga. During the first film, when he asks Michael “why am I out?,” he breaks your heart. When Michael snaps at him in the sequel, you realize that Michael is losing the one person who still cares about him. His absence in Godfather Part III is so deeply felt that it makes you realize that Robert Duvall was just as important to the saga as Pacino, Caan, Brando, and the rest.
(Robert Duvall had previously worked with Brando in The Chase and, on the set of The Godfather, he was one of the few actors who could call Marlon out. Once, when Marlon was holding up filming with a hundred nit-picky questions, Duvall said, “Don’t worry, Marlon, we don’t have anywhere to be either.” Marlon laughed and shot the scene.)
In Apocalypse Now, Duvall delivery of one line — “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” — summed up everything that the film had to say about war.
In Tender Mercies, he gave one of the most honest performances that I’ve ever seen and he won a deserved Oscar. Tender Mercies is one of the great Texas films and that’s largely due to Robert Duvall.
In the miniseries Lonesome Dove, he made you laugh, he made you cry, he made you believe that he had stepped out of the Old West, and he made it all look easy.
With The Apostle, he proved himself to be as strong a director as an actor. He crafted one of the best American films about religion to come out in the 90s and he gave a fearless performance that should have won him a second Oscar.
Even in a seriously flawed film like The Judge, he could hold your attention like few other actors.
Robert Duvall was born in California, raised in Maryland, and began his career in New York and yet somehow, he was one of the most authentic Southerners that I’ve ever seen on screen. Down in my part of the world, we considered him to be something of an honorary Texan. By most reports, he had the fiercely independent but generous spirit that defines the best of the Southwest. When he was a struggling actor, his roommates were Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman. His best friend was James Caan. He knew and worked with the best actors and directors of the past 60 years.
He was a truly one of the greats. He may be gone but his performances will live forever.
A Late Tribute To Bud Cort
Bud Cort died on February 11th, at the age of 77. He was a beloved character actor, one who had a real skill for bringing eccentric characters to life. He became a star briefly with films like Brewster McCloud and especially Harold and Maude but Hollywood never really knew what to do with him. After he was nearly killed in a car accident in 1979, his momentum stalled. Smart directors still cast him because he always gave good performances but he spent most of his career in small roles. (In Heat, he was the obnoxious restaurant manager who drove Dennis Haysbert back into a life of crime.)
When Cort died, most of the stories focused on his performance in Harold and Maude. That was understandable. That said, I’ve always been touched by Cort’s performance in 1970’s MASH and I wanted to take a moment to just express how wonderful I thought he was in the role of Private Boone.
Though he had previously appeared in two earlier films, Cort got an “introducing” credit for his role in MASH. He played Boone, a usually quiet corpsman who speaks with a slight stutter. When a patient in Post-Op develops complications, Major Frank Burns (Robert Duvall) tells Boone to get a cardiac needle. Boone obviously isn’t sure what Burns needs but Burns snaps at him to get it. When Boone comes back with a needle, the patient has already died. Burns calls Boone an idiot for getting the wrong needle. Burns offers to get a nurse. “It’s too late, Boone,” Burns says, motioning at the dead man, “you killed him.” Burns walks away as Boone, a look of shock on his face, tries not to cry.
And I have to admit that I want to cry with him. It’s one of the more shocking scenes in Altman’s film and it works because of not only Robert Duvall’s memorably nasty turn as Burns but also Bud Cort’s emotional vulnerability of Boone. Boone, who is in Korea because he was drafted, has not only seen a man die but he’s been told that he’s responsible. With just the slightly cocking of his head and the sniffling of a young man who doesn’t want to cry on duty, Bud Cort shows us just how devastated Boone is.
And, of course, Boone was not responsible. Trapper John (Elliott Gould) takes one look at the patient’s chart and sees that it was Burns’s own incompetence that is to blame. When Trapper punches out Burns, it’s a cathartic moment. The only thing you regret is that Boone wasn’t in the room to see it.
That was Bud Cort’s big moment in MASH, though he appears throughout the film. Indeed, if you watch carefully, there’s a subplot in which Boone starts dating one of the nurses and eventually becomes much more confident in himself. We don’t know much about Boone but we do see that he’s become a member of the gang. Unlike Burns or David Arkin’s Sgt. Vollmer, Boone is accepted by the inhabitants of the Swamp.
He even gets to attend the mock suicide of Painless.. Reportedly, Boone’s line of “You’re throwing away your whole education,” was improvised on the spot by Bud Cort.
Ah, Bud Cort. Rest in peace, you wonderful actor.
Rest In Peace, James Van Der Beek
It was such a shock to hear that James Van Der Beek passed away earlier today. He was only 48 years old.
For me, James Van Der Beek will always be Dawson, even though he had a long career. If he’s not Dawson, he’ll be Mox, the quarterback who wanted to read Vonnegut in peace and who most of all did not “want your life.” When Dawson’s Creek was at its peak, I was just at the right age to develop a crush on a sensitive young man who just wanted to make movies and read books. I know a lot of people turned against Dawson as Dawson’s Creek went on. Joey ended up with Pacey and Lisa and I used to argue for hours about whether or not she made the right choice. I liked Pacey but I loved Dawson, even when everyone else was turning against him.
James Van Der Beek went on to do some movies. He played a version of himself in Don’t Trust The B—- In Apartment 23 and he was the funniest and best thing about that show. The most important thing that James did was that he became a father to six children and my heart goes out to all of them. Dawson wanted to go to Hollywood but James Van Der Beek left Hollywood to devote himself to being a dad.
Rest in Peace, James Van Der Beek.
Scenes I Love: John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The legendary director John Ford was born 132 years ago today, in Maine of all places. He may have been born in New England but few directors have done a better job of capturing, on film, the forces that shaped America.
He also directed one of my favorite films, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Today’s scene that I love comes from the end of that 1962 film and it features a line that would become a classic. “Print the legend.” That was a line that Ford clearly understood and I imagine it’s one that all great filmmakers eventually come to appreciate.
Happy Birthday in Cinema Heaven to Character Actor, Stuart Margolin!
I love the character actor Stuart Margolin. He’s well known for his work as Angel Martin on the James Garner TV series THE ROCKFORD FILES, but I’ll always appreciate him the most for his important performances with director Michael Winner and actor Charles Bronson in the movies THE STONE KILLER and DEATH WISH. Margolin passed away in 2022 but his legacy on film and TV live on forever!
For a bit of 70’s cinema trivia, if anyone ever asks you who gave Paul Kersey his Colt revolver in the original DEATH WISH, the answer is Aimes Jainchill, played by Mr. Margolin. Join me in celebrating his legacy by watching this scene from the vigilante classic!
Brad’s Scene of the Day: Rutger Hauer in SIN CITY!
Happy Birthday in Heaven to one of my all time favorite actors, Rutger Hauer. I was so happy when his career hit a resurgence in 2005 with roles in SIN CITY and BATMAN BEGINS. Today, I’m celebrating my wife’s birthday, and I’m also celebrating Rutger’s birthday by sharing this scene from the amazing SIN CITY.
Enjoy my friends, and Happy Birthday Rutger! You have brought me so much joy over the years!
Happy 64th Birthday to legendary South Korean Actor Choi Min-sik!
I’m a big fan of the South Korean actor, Choi Min-sik, especially due to his performance in the film OLDBOY (2003). I remember buying the foreign DVD when the movie came out. I had a region-free DVD player so I was able to watch it back in the early 2000’s before everyone else knew about it. Back in those days, it felt like I knew something that nobody else knew, and it was pretty awesome. Choi would soon go on to star in movies like LADY VENGEANCE (2005) and I SAW THE DEVIL (2010), cementing himself as an icon. On his 64th birthday, I invite you to celebrate this fight scene from his legendary performance in OLDBOY!
Happy Birthday, Choi Min-sik!
4 Shots From 4 Films: The Telly Savalas Edition! Happy Birthday, Telly!!
Telly Savalas would have been 104 years old today. He’s been in many of my favorite movies so I’m glad to celebrate him today with 4 Shots from 4 of my favorites!
Through the Shattered Lens 