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Post by snsurone on Jun 9, 2018 23:00:00 GMT
I must say that I'm impressed by how actors can portray corpses in films and TV shows without any sign of motion or breathing.
Or were they the actors?
I read somewhere that David Selznick had a "mannequin" made of Ellen O'Hara's lifeless body in GWTW, out of fear that actress Barbara O'Neil would ruin the scene.
And there also was a "dummy" of Louis Calhern as the dead title character in the film JULIUS CAESAR.
That must have been very costly to the producers of movies and TV.
Yet, I cannot help but be impressed by the sight of "corpses" in morgues that I'm sure were the actors who played them.
BTW, not all "corpses" were that convincing.
I can remember seeing THE EDDY DUCHIN STORY in a revival theater, and I swear that the "dead" Kim Novak's eyelids fluttered.
LOL
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Post by petrolino on Jun 9, 2018 23:48:56 GMT
It's a skill. The best I ever saw was the late great Pamela Gidley. She made a perfect robot because she could remain so still yet somehow still project emotion through her face. Her work in 'Twin Peaks : Fire Walk With Me' (1992) is extraordinary in this regard.
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jun 10, 2018 1:39:27 GMT
How extraordinary; hubby and I were talking about that very thing only this morning. With the popularity of investigative crime shows in the last couple decades, I ventured that there must be any number of actors who specialize in playing corpses, or at least feature it as a talent on their resumes.
I always screw up the SPOILER buttons, so I'll just note here that some follow for Blood and Sand (1941), The Rains Came (1939) and Sadie McKee (1934).
In BaS, John Carradine has a long death scene that he plays bare-chested, making it even more imperative that he not betray any hint of breathing as Tyrone Power, at his bedside, continues to deliver dialogue after Carradine is gone. He did it quite well. Power has a similar scene with Myrna Loy in TRC, at her bedside as she dies of cholera, and she goes Carradine one better, expiring with her eyes wide open as Power goes on for quite a while before realizing she no longer hears him. In SMcK, Gene Raymond performs an eyes-open death scene with Joan Crawford. These must be especially difficult, gazing motionless into space while flat on your back with bright studio lights in your face, all while doing your best not to appear to breathe.
I've noticed a number of actors who can't manage the not-breathing thing, although no specific ones come to mind. A couple of dead-with-eyes-open failures do: the slight twitch of Janet Leigh's eye in Psycho is probably pretty well-known; after Judson Scott has died in the arms of Ricardo Montalban in ST II: The Wrath Of Khan, his eyes inappropriately close seconds later when Montalban clutches him to his chest, pledging to avenge his death.
A lot can go into playing dead. Must present something of a conundrum for method actors: it's the one thing they can't recreate from personal experience!
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Post by claudius on Jun 10, 2018 7:22:31 GMT
I would mention Brian Blessed's death scene in I, CLAUDIUS (1976), a long take of him going from living to dead with eyes open (although his next, final close-up- after Livia and Tiberius have a brief talk {"Don't Touch the Figs..."}- does have the eye-lid twitch).
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Post by snsurone on Jun 10, 2018 21:10:01 GMT
How extraordinary; hubby and I were talking about that very thing only this morning. With the popularity of investigative crime shows in the last couple decades, I ventured that there must be any number of actors who specialize in playing corpses, or at least feature it as a talent on their resumes. I always screw up the SPOILER buttons, so I'll just note here that some follow for Blood and Sand (1941), The Rains Came (1939) and Sadie McKee (1934). In BaS, John Carradine has a long death scene that he plays bare-chested, making it even more imperative that he not betray any hint of breathing as Tyrone Power, at his bedside, continues to deliver dialogue after Carradine is gone. He did it quite well. Power has a similar scene with Myrna Loy in TRC, at her bedside as she dies of cholera, and she goes Carradine one better, expiring with her eyes wide open as Power goes on for quite a while before realizing she no longer hears him. In SMcK, Gene Raymond performs an eyes-open death scene with Joan Crawford. These must be especially difficult, gazing motionless into space while flat on your back with bright studio lights in your face, all while doing your best not to appear to breathe. I've noticed a number of actors who can't manage the not-breathing thing, although no specific ones come to mind. A couple of dead-with-eyes-open failures do: the slight twitch of Janet Leigh's eye in Psycho is probably pretty well-known; after Judson Scott has died in the arms of Ricardo Montalban in ST II: The Wrath Of Khan, his eyes inappropriately close seconds later when Montalban clutches him to his chest, pledging to avenge his death. A lot can go into playing dead. Must present something of a conundrum for method actors: it's the one thing they can't recreate from personal experience! Y'know, I never understood why Hollywood producers insisted than men's chests be clean shaven, yet their hairy (and probably smelly, LOL) pits could be displayed. Case in point: Carradine's death scene in BLOOD AND SAND. To tell the truth, I loathe body hair on both men and women (facial hair is another story). Reminds me of our simian ancestry. |
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Jun 10, 2018 22:12:19 GMT
Steve Guttenberg in The Boys From Brazil-he blinks after he is dead.
I was watching a movie the other day where the actress not only blinks but also moves her head slightly.
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Post by snsurone on Jun 10, 2018 23:00:39 GMT
Isn't it possible that Janet Leigh's eye movement was just a post-mortem tic?
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Post by Doghouse6 on Jun 11, 2018 0:01:45 GMT
Isn't it possible that Janet Leigh's eye movement was just a post-mortem tic? Are there such things? I dunno. Maybe I should: about two-and-a-half years ago, my husband was technically dead for at least ten minutes: went into full cardiac arrest early one morning, but I was too busy trying to do my amateur version of CPR while waiting for the EMT's to arrive to notice. I'll tell ya, real-life CPR is nothing like in movies or on TV, and not for sissies. Those guys were built like football players, and they had to rotate every two minutes. The procedure can be so vigorous and aggressive that it cracks the breastbone. De-fib, which they applied twice, is just the opposite: no big dramatic "Bang" when they apply the charge; no great heaving of the torso. Just a little "click," and the slightest twitch of the legs. There were at least a half-dozen of them working on him, and those people are forged steel, chrome-plated, diamond-studded heroes in my book. Absolutely tireless and relentless, they would not give up, and it was a full 20 minutes before they had re-established respiration and stabilized him so he could be removed to the cardiac ICU. All the docs at the hospital said he had no more than a 5% chance of even surviving such an event, much less making a full recovery, but he did both. Forgive me for going OT, but I like to sing the praises of those heroic people when I can. Oh, and for the record, hubby says he has absolutely no recollection of any "white light" or dead relatives or pets welcoming him or anything like that. Just zippo. And now back to Janet Leigh's eye-twitch. As the story goes, Hitchcock's wife Alma was the only one who noticed it, and said while they were watching the answer print, "Hitch, you can't ship it. Her eye moved." His predictable reply was, "It's only a mooooovie." Just one more thought: I'm terribly grateful that real life is sometimes even better than what we see in a "mooooovie." |
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Post by snsurone on Jun 11, 2018 13:58:16 GMT
It's a skill. The best I ever saw was the late great Pamela Gidley. She made a perfect robot because she could remain so still yet somehow still project emotion through her face. Her work in 'Twin Peaks : Fire Walk With Me' (1992) is extraordinary in this regard. I looked up Pamela Gidley on Wiki. She died less than two months ago, at age 52. So far, the cause of her death has not been determined. So sad. |
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