|
|
Post by mikef6 on Mar 26, 2020 18:08:00 GMT
Sterling Hayden, a film noir staple of the 1950s (The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing, Suddenly, Naked Alibi, and noir western Johnny Guitar) but famous mainly for two later iconic roles, Gen. Jack D. Ripper in “Dr. Strangelove” and Capt. McCluskey in “The Godfather.” Two “nobody else could’a done ‘em” performances. I am a member of a fun Facebook group called Classic Film Noir 1940-1958. Hayden’s son Andrew Hayden, whose mother was the last of the four women who were his wives (he married one of them twice for 5 marriages in all), is a member of the group and often comments on his father’s movies. It was he who alerted us to his dad’s birthday today. In his autobiography, “Wanderer” (1963), Sterling speculates on what others think of him: “Hayden's wild. He's kind of nuts—but you've got to hand it to him. He doesn't give a damn about the loot or the stardom or things like that—something to do with his seafaring, or maybe what he went through in the war . . .” Sterling Hayden died on March 23, 1986, age 70. Looking very menacing in a police lineup from The Asphalt Jungle  Suddenly  Johnny Guitar  Dr. Strangelove (with Peter Sellers)  The Godfather  |
|
|
|
Post by mattgarth on Mar 26, 2020 18:13:17 GMT
Don't bone me, Mike!
(JK -- fave line from ASPHALT)
|
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Mar 26, 2020 18:30:29 GMT
Don't bone me, Mike! (JK -- fave line from ASPHALT)  Love it. 
|
|
|
|
Post by teleadm on Mar 26, 2020 20:05:04 GMT
Fascinating one-of-a-kind personality.  Bahama Passage 1941 From tall, young and handsome...  ...to Italian farmer in 1900 1976  ...to rich capitalist in 9 to 5 1980  ...to John Brown (who's soul goes marching on) in The Blue and the Grey 1982 |
|
|
|
Post by Prime etc. on Mar 26, 2020 20:25:32 GMT
Was a Han Solo-type character (I suspect the inspiration for Han Solo) in PRINCE VALIANT (with Debra Paget infatuated with him--and he tries to give her the brush off!).
He tells Robert Wagner: "a man can't live without truth."
|
|
|
|
Post by OldAussie on Mar 26, 2020 22:37:44 GMT
in the 2 best heist movies of the classic noir period - The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing. Very memorable in The Long Goodbye.  |
|
|
|
Post by TheGoodMan19 on Mar 26, 2020 23:22:00 GMT
Dr. Strangelove on TMC right now.
Sterling Hayden had the greatest scowl in film history. Shows it well in The Killing.
|
|
|
|
Post by millar70 on Mar 26, 2020 23:51:29 GMT
How's the Eye-talian food in this place?
The guy was great in everything I've seen him in.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Mar 27, 2020 0:39:42 GMT
"I frisked a thousand young punks."
|
|
|
|
Post by mikef6 on Mar 27, 2020 1:09:02 GMT
Hard not keep your eyes on him in every scene (an unwitting scene-stealer, I mean). And he had one of the great voices in films. I especially loved him in THE KILLING and DR. STRANGELOVE. Never read his memoir, "Wanderer," but always meant to. It was written after he gave up Hollywood for awhile and sailed around the seas, a little like Thor Heyerdahl of "Kon-Tiki" fame. Here's an excerpt: "The sun beats down and you pace, you pace and you pace. Your mind flies free and you see yourself as an actor, condemned to a treadmill wherein men and women conspire to breathe life into a screenplay that allegedly depicts life as it was in the old wild West. You see yourself coming awake any one of a thousand mornings between the spring of 1954, and that of 1958—alone in a double bed in a big white house deep in suburban Sherman Oaks, not far from Hollywood. The windows are open wide, and beyond these is the backyard swimming pool inert and green, within a picket fence. You turn and gaze at a pair of desks not far from the double bed. This is your private office, the place that shelters your fondest hopes: these desks so neat, patiently waiting for the day that never comes, the day you'll sit down at last and begin to write. Why did you never write? Why, instead, did you grovel along, through the endless months and years, as a motion‑picture actor? What held you to it, to something you so vehemently professed to despise? Could it be that you secretly liked it—that the big dough and the big house and the high life meant more than the aura you spun for those around you to see? 'Hayden's wild,' they said. 'He's kind of nuts—but you've got to hand it to him. He doesn't give a damn about the loot or the stardom or things like that—something to do with his seafaring, or maybe what he went through in the war . . ."
EDIT TO ADD: Sorry for the last paragraph repeat, mikef6 , but it didn't seem complete without having it there. Anyway, have your ever read "Wanderer?" I heard through the years that it's quite a book, well-written and interesting, with serious analogues to "Kon-Tiki." I'll probably never get around to reading it now; should have done it when I was younger. I may get around to reading it one day myself. It is available on Amazon but I am going to wait until the distancing has passed to make the rounds of used bookstores locally before I order online.
|
|
|
|
Post by london777 on Mar 27, 2020 1:58:07 GMT
Fascinating one-of-a-kind personality. Bahama Passage 1941 From tall, young and handsome... ...to Italian farmer in 1900 1976 ...to rich capitalist in 9 to 5 1980 ...to John Brown (who's soul goes marching on) in The Blue and the Grey 1982 He was also King of the Gypsies (1978) dir: Frank Pierson  Have any of us seen that film? No, I thought not.
|
|
|
|
Post by bravomailer on Mar 27, 2020 2:33:58 GMT
"That's good shooting, soldier. But two can play at that game!" (If he fired that Browning .30 for two seconds or more, his left hand would be burned badly.)  |
|
|
|
Post by petrolino on Mar 27, 2020 17:10:00 GMT
Fantastic actor. Always in my list of crime cinema icons of the original film noir cycle. Mean, meaty and unkempt, he could ruffle his hair with the best of them, or go slickback for a fedora.
|
|
|
|
Post by hitchcockthelegend on Mar 27, 2020 18:47:49 GMT
An absolute ledge! Adored in my family, from parents to my older brother and then to me. If you be a Western and film noir fan (so that's me then) then he is simply a name you are happy to see in the leading credits. Some personal favourites > The Asphalt Jungle Hellgate Crime Wave Arrow in the Dust Johnny Guitar Suddenly Top Gun The Killing The Iron Sheriff Valerie Terror in a Texas Town The Long Goodbye Thanks for the remind in the thread about The Blue and the Gray, I have it now and will binge watch the whole thing one of the days next week  |
|
|
|
Post by TheGoodMan19 on Mar 27, 2020 19:34:12 GMT
"Alright sister, that's a mighty pretty head you got on your shoulders. You want to keep it there or start carrying it around in your hands?"
Corny line from most actors. Not Hayden
|
|
