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Post by mikef6 on Jul 27, 2020 4:38:22 GMT
Numbers 1 & 9. Burt did not deserve an Oscar in the year he was nominated for Boogie Nights because Robin Williams won that year and HE deserved the Oscar. I think Robert Forster deserved it that year, for the warmest and richest performance we shall likely ever see in a Tarantino movie. Shocking to think that three of that year’s Supporting Actor nominees are no longer around... it seems like only yesterday. Foster was very good. He didn't win the award but Jackie Brown re-started his career. He was great in everything he did after.
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Post by cynthiagreen on Jul 27, 2020 16:32:03 GMT
Burt L had a wonderful career, made some superb movies, well over a dozen good ones...and was historically important as one of first big names to move into producing. Unlike many of his vintage even in his dotage he didn't make too much crud (and most would concur ATLANTIC CITY a late peak) Burt L was a film star from the get go - no apprenticeship in bits and Bs...and he successfully extended the range the public would accept him in quite early on... moving out of routine action flics and noirish melos (THE KILLERS, DESERT FURY & CRISS CROSS outstanding) within half a dozen years of his debut and into the likes of largely successful prestige efforts like COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, THE ROSE TATTOO, THE RAINMAKER, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, SEPARATE TABLES (a last minute acting gig after Larry & Viv bailed I gather - Rita replaced Vivien- and canny enough with his producer hat to take "and also" starring in the billing to indulge his big name costars), ELMER GANTRY, NUREMBERG, BIRDMAN, THE LEOPARD, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, CONVERSATION PIECE, 1900..... ETERNITY in particular pushed him to the front rank of his generation in terms of good offers and he knew how to keep the bidding high and package deals where he got creative control........and even the ones seemingly done for the money (say THE PROFESSIONALS or AIRPORT or THE CASSANDRA CROSSING) are generally of a higher calibre than many of Burt Rs. Perhaps my biggest problem with him is that he can come on a little.... is serious the right word?..... or maybe earnest is the one...in some of the heavyweight stuff.....as if he's a bit over awed that he is no longer a pirate swinging from the rigging or a ROBIN HOOD type defending Virginia Mayo's virtue (Jeanne Moreau on working with him on his character motivation in THE TRAIN is fairly hilarious - going on record as wishing he would just shut up and get on with it after two hours discussing his character's motivation for picking up an ashtray,,,,)
as to whether he played the field all I'll say is he would have gotten offers from all quarters
Burt R has a Box Office record that can never be taken away from him ( I think as a sustained run in top 10 stars including 5yr(?) run at the top only Bing Crosby equals him although I think Wayne and possibly Cruise and/or Eastwood may have more total years they were in the top ten) land a couple of good movies on his CV (DELIVERANCE;STARTING OVER; BOOGIE NIGHTS). I have a soft spot for PHYSICAL EVIDENCE ... but as others have commented there is an awful lot of fluff/dross there ... I finally steeled myself to watch SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT last year and I was astonished at how cheap and sloppy it looked - no wonder it made money - it can't have cost anything to make....all they needed was petrol, a few check shirts and a track to drive the cars up and down. .......the public wanted him crashing cars in SMOKEY VS CANNONBALL redneck romps and punching/shooting people in thick ear cop/PI movies.... and he gave them what they wanted very successfully for nearly two decades. What ifs? A pity he turned down TERMS OF ENDEARMENT....
But in terms of overall career quality control Burt L wins hands down.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Jul 27, 2020 17:06:50 GMT
Apples and oranges, and I like both.
Lancaster was an actor so serious and intimidating he was like bedrock earth, even while flying high above the audience in Trapeze and leaping from building to building in The Crimson Pirate. His terrifying newspaper columnist in Sweet Smell of Success is one of the great villains of the 1950's.
Reynolds was very amusing, even in his most serious roles. He skimmed along the surface of the earth as though gravity had a difficult time holding him down and he invested his characters with genuine charm, whether creating a football team out of killer convicts in The Longest Yard or portraying a jaded, vengeful detective in Sharkey's Machine. Yeah, I have seen almost everything both stars have been in. In 1975 I saw and thoroughly enjoyed Burt on the big screen in WW and the Dixie Dancekings. But sadly the film - which is now in the public domain, has never been released on DVD or Blu Ray. It sure charmed me back in the day. Love THE LONGEST YARD. Back in 1957, sweet-talking W.W. lived in a '55 Olds, loved bubble gum, Errol Flynn, country music, fried chicken, robbing filling stations, and a girl named Dixie. Not necessarily in that order.
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Post by marianne48 on Jul 31, 2020 22:28:07 GMT
Neither. I prefer Burt Mustin.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Aug 1, 2020 6:01:15 GMT
Burt L had a wonderful career, made some superb movies, well over a dozen good ones...and was historically important as one of first big names to move into producing. Unlike many of his vintage even in his dotage he didn't make too much crud (and most would concur ATLANTIC CITY a late peak) Burt L was a film star from the get go - no apprenticeship in bits and Bs...and he successfully extended the range the public would accept him in quite early on... moving out of routine action flics and noirish melos (THE KILLERS, DESERT FURY & CRISS CROSS outstanding) within half a dozen years of his debut and into the likes of largely successful prestige efforts like COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, THE ROSE TATTOO, THE RAINMAKER, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, SEPARATE TABLES (a last minute acting gig after Larry & Viv bailed I gather - Rita replaced Vivien- and canny enough with his producer hat to take "and also" starring in the billing to indulge his big name costars), ELMER GANTRY, NUREMBERG, BIRDMAN, THE LEOPARD, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, CONVERSATION PIECE, 1900..... ETERNITY in particular pushed him to the front rank of his generation in terms of good offers and he knew how to keep the bidding high and package deals where he got creative control........and even the ones seemingly done for the money (say THE PROFESSIONALS or AIRPORT or THE CASSANDRA CROSSING) are generally of a higher calibre than many of Burt Rs. Perhaps my biggest problem with him is that he can come on a little.... is serious the right word?..... or maybe earnest is the one...in some of the heavyweight stuff.....as if he's a bit over awed that he is no longer a pirate swinging from the rigging or a ROBIN HOOD type defending Virginia Mayo's virtue (Jeanne Moreau on working with him on his character motivation in THE TRAIN is fairly hilarious - going on record as wishing he would just shut up and get on with it after two hours discussing his character's motivation for picking up an ashtray,,,,)
as to whether he played the field all I'll say is he would have gotten offers from all quarters
Burt R has a Box Office record that can never be taken away from him ( I think as a sustained run in top 10 stars including 5yr(?) run at the top only Bing Crosby equals him although I think Wayne and possibly Cruise and/or Eastwood may have more total years they were in the top ten) land a couple of good movies on his CV (DELIVERANCE;STARTING OVER; BOOGIE NIGHTS). I have a soft spot for PHYSICAL EVIDENCE ... but as others have commented there is an awful lot of fluff/dross there ... I finally steeled myself to watch SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT last year and I was astonished at how cheap and sloppy it looked - no wonder it made money - it can't have cost anything to make....all they needed was petrol, a few check shirts and a track to drive the cars up and down. .......the public wanted him crashing cars in SMOKEY VS CANNONBALL redneck romps and punching/shooting people in thick ear cop/PI movies.... and he gave them what they wanted very successfully for nearly two decades. What ifs? A pity he turned down TERMS OF ENDEARMENT....
But in terms of overall career quality control Burt L wins hands down.
By a country mile cynthiagreen. We are in agreement. Thanks for your passionate and informed posts on this thread.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 1, 2020 19:12:56 GMT
Where's Burt Young as a choice?
I'd have to go with Lancaster though because of variety but they are different generations/types. Can't picture Burt Reynolds in Seven Days in May or the Island of Dr Moreau. I can sort of picture Burt Lancaster in a Smokey and the Bandit type film--isn't the Crimson Pirate a similar kind of idea--just without the car and Jerry Reed is replaced by a scalawag?
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Post by teleadm on Aug 1, 2020 21:47:30 GMT
6 and 9,
It was the best combination I could find, a little bit of one and much more of the other.
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Post by marshamae on Aug 3, 2020 2:14:30 GMT
I am not sure what I think of Lancaster as an actor. He could be pretty wooden and I found some of his biggest films unconvincing, especially Elmer Gantry.
My favorite lancaster performance is in Run silent run deep. He plays against Gable perfectly, and Lancaster’s great strength draws a really moving performance from the aging lion. I also really like Sweet Smell Of Success, where his slightly phoney diction works well for tge character. It makes everything he says sound like a lie.
I can only remember one film of Reynolds Starting over. He was well cast as a confused divorcé trying to navigate the social scene. He is always completely relaxed and engaging.
I guess I think Lancaster may have made better films and he certainly was more ambitious. But Reynolds is more likeable.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Aug 3, 2020 3:18:30 GMT
I am not sure what I think of Lancaster as an actor. He could be pretty wooden and I found some of his biggest films unconvincing, especially Elmer Gantry. My favorite lancaster performance is in Run silent run deep. He plays against Gable perfectly, and Lancaster’s great strength draws a really moving performance from the aging lion. I also really like Sweet Smell Of Success, where his slightly phoney diction works well for tge character. It makes everything he says sound like a lie. I can only remember one film of Reynolds Starting over. He was well cast as a confused divorcé trying to navigate the social scene. He is always completely relaxed and engaging. I guess I think Lancaster may have made better films and he certainly was more ambitious. But Reynolds is more likeable. Different strokes for different folks.
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