Favorite Actors, #5: Burt Lancaster

Now we enter that special place: The Top Five. This is where the appreciation for each actor grows exponentially with every entry.

First Movie I Saw Him In: Gunfight at O.K. Corral (1957; circa 1984, age 13)

Three Favorite Movies: From Here to Eternity (1953); Sweet Smell of Success (1957); The Swimmer (1968)

Honorable Mention: Lawman (1971)

Favorite Performance: Elmer Gantry (1960)

Why I Like Him: With sixty-four teeth instead of the traditional thirty-two, unparalleled athleticism, and distinct speaking mannerisms, Burt Lancaster was one of the 1950s’ most magnetic on-screen personalities. He was brash, cool, belligerent, and charming. I’ve already scribbled a couple of entries on Burt’s career, but what I didn’t touch on was his ability to change with the times. After a tentative period in the mid-1960s, Lancaster evolved into elder statesman status with a series of gritty, bleak, and violent films beginning with 1971’s Lawman. He continued on that track with Valdez is Coming (1972), Ulzana’s Raid (1972), and Scorpio (1973). These movies weren’t masterworks like many of his 1950s films, but they’re fascinating to see how Lancaster was able to use the harshness of his own personality to full effect once the Production Code and Studio System were dead. Sometimes it’s off-putting to see the “old timers” in the early 1970s performing in such graphic films, but Lancaster took the challenge and was able to be believable in movies with graphic material. Burt Lancaster would’ve been a star during any time in film history.

Maybe it was all those Noir roles early in his career, but for me Lancaster’s best movies are the ones where he’s morally shady: Come Back, Little Sheba; Vera Cruz; Sweet Smell of Success; Elmer Gantry; The Birdman of Alcatraz; Seven Days In May; and Lawman, for example. Burt’s characters inhabit the gray area of morality or they can just be downright bad. When Lancaster gets parts like these he’s the most mesmerizing figure in films. When Burt is cast as a regular movie hero, the performance is fine, but lacks the depth (and interest from me) that he brings to the morally ambiguous characters which typify his best performances. I think the real Burt Lancaster, for better or worse, comes out in those roles, and he’s a knockout when he does. You'd also be hard pressed to find another leading man from Burt's era who so willingly chose unconventional projects with which to stretch his acting range. Would Gary Cooper ever play a cold-blooded killer? Never. But Burt would do it and do it well.


Random Info: Though raised in a humble family, Burt became a learned, wealthy, and highly-cultured man after fame found him. He boasted a large art collection, and loved opera.

Sun, Sand, and Surf With Gene Tierney

The Favorite Actors countdown will resume Monday. In the meantime, enjoy the sun, sand, and surf with lovely Gene Tierney.

Favorite Actors, #6: William Powell

First Movie I Saw Him In: Mr. Roberts (1955)

Three Favorite Movies: The Thin Man (1934); After the Thin Man (1936); Love Crazy (1941)

Honorable Mention: Libeled Lady (1936)

Favorite Performance: The Thin Man (1934)

Why I Like Him: Powell’s the relative newcomer on this list, even though I’ve watched those Thin Man movies countless times for nearly ten years now. He’ll always be Nick Charles to me, and that makes him just as great as, say, Sean Connery as James Bond or Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Powell is the one on this list that I’d love to be. As I mentioned in a previous post, if I could live my Silver Screen Dream, it would be in a continuous Thin Man film, with endless wisecracks, cocktails, and murders to solve, all while trying to spend all the money my wife inherited (my own wife will be stunned to learn of this newfound wealth). Powell was so cool, calm, and witty. A great speaking voice, a subtlety--he’s the “b” in subtlety—in his wit that makes him the ideal guest or host at a sophisticated cocktail party and a comeback for everything. He never gets ruffled or loses his composure, even when he’s engaging in slapstick and becomes disheveled, as in Libeled Lady and Love Crazy, Powell never fell as low as his character.

The only “trouble” with William Powell is that his brand of elegance, wit, and personality are unknown and unwanted in Hollywood today. You often hear “There’ll never be another [name here]”, but in his case, even more so; we’re just not classy like that in movies anymore. Something else I've noticed about Powell is that he's the best listener onscreen. I can't help but watch what he's doing when another actor is speaking. Observe him and take in how good he is, even when merely listening to another actor. Ol' Bill also does "phone acting" really well, and I don't mean a "dialed-in" performance! In a scene where he's on the receiving end of a phone call, his reactions and timing are superb. I've seen enough crappy takes of this from other performers, including ones I like.

Random Info: In 1936, he had the greatest year of any actor ever. He appeared in the Best Picture of 1936, The Great Ziegfeld, was nominated for Best Actor in My Man Godfrey, and in addition to those films, starred in After the Thin Man, Libeled Lady, and the wonderful, Thin Man-styled The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, which was a box-office smash for RKO (their #3 moneymaker that year).

Gentleman of Leisure: William Powell spent the last thirty years of his life in retirement and seclusion, happily married, with cocktail in hand; it's just what Nick Charles wanted.

Favorite Actors, #7: Fred Astaire

First Movie I Saw Him In: Ghost Story (1981; I was a kid and shouldn’t have been watching!)

Three Favorite Movies: Top Hat (1935); Swing Time (1936); The Bandwagon (1953)

Honorable Mention: Shall We Dance (1937)

Favorite [Song and Dance] Performance: “No Strings (I’m Fancy Free)” from Top Hat (1935)

Why I Like Him: His movies with Ginger Rogers are among my all-time favorites. The best of those exist in their own Deco world and is the ultimate 1930s fantasy. He's the most underappreciated actor on my list, given his other tremendous abilities. Astaire excels at snappy dialogue with impeccable comic timing, a lighthearted wit, and gentlemanly charm. That comic ability is often overlooked, even by classic movie buffs. There's also Fred the singer. It was he who introduced more music Standards (Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter) than any other singer. Astaire’s way with a vocal is sublime. Listen to Fred sing “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”, and then you’ll know why. Astaire also sings the definitive version of The Way You Look Tonight (sorry, Frank!). It's also no debate that he's the single most influential dancer of the twentieth century, and, dare I say it, the twenty-first century. Fred Astaire was an entertainment giant who conquered every entertainment medium he was involved with. Did he have a radio show? He’s probably the best radio dancer ever, too. And off-screen, based on most accounts, Astaire was a true gentleman. Oh, and for my money he's the best-dressed man on the planet---even if he apparently didn't like wearing "top hat, white tie, and tails", but photos of him in even the most casual attire saw Astaire impeccably put together.

Random Info: Nothing revelatory, but I love the showbizzy names he has in his RKO musicals: Guy Holden, Jerry Travers, Bake Baker, Lucky Garnett, Pete Peters, etc. When I go into witness protection someday, I want one of those names as my alias.

Not That You Asked: This is Hollywood Dreamland's 100th post.