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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 1:31:22 GMT
Changing Faces : Tony Curtis Gallery
"Now Tony, I really like. Really." - Frank Sinatra
Tony Curtis & Frank Sinatra
Tony Curtis & Piper Laurie
Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh
Tony Curtis & Marilyn Monroe
Tony Curtis & Natalie Wood
"Yes, Elvis raised his hair like mine. I was making a picture at Paramount, and Elvis was on the lot. He had these big trailers, about a hundred feet long. I liked to get out, put on a sweater and shorts and walk around on the backlot, it was a lot of fun. I'd look at the sets and think where I remembered that from. I was immersed in movies, I just love them, and look at what a break they gave me. Made me a fortune. It's fabulous. So I walked by his trailer, the door opened, I looked up, and there was Elvis. And he grabs me and pulls me in. And he said, "Mr Curtis, I want you to know what a fan I am. I used to watch your movies in Tennessee." And I said, "Please, don't call me Mr Curtis." And this handsome kid looks at me and said, "So what do you want me to call you?" And I said, "Just call me Tony." And I said, "So what do I call you?" And he said, "Mr Presley." [audience laughs] Bam, was he funny. We had a great time together. We passed a few girls between us, that's what guys do. I think you're getting an impression of what my life in the movies has been like. But I've had my troubles - I lost a son, Nicholas, through an overdose of heroin when he was 32. And I had a brother who was a schizophrenic; he couldn't manage and he died. When I was 12 and my brother Julius was nine, he was hit by a truck in New York City and died. So as a kid growing up, I had run across these unfortunate experiences. But I think of these guys now in my life, how kind and how much pleasure they brought me, just by their behaviour. I used to take Julius to Central Park in the summertime. That was during the Depression, and in Central Park, there was a place called Hooverville. Corrugated metal, boxes, cardboard had permeated itself in this section of the park, and all the guys who couldn't afford anything lived there in Central Park. It was devastating to see that in Central Park. When things were not going so well, my parents put Julius and me in an orphanage for about three weeks. It was a right on 62nd Street, big room with a lot of beds in it. I wet the bed mercilessly. It was horrible. When I got up in the morning, all these people would be standing around my bed. I couldn't help it. They wouldn't give me and my brother chocolate cookies at night because they didn't want us to drink milk, any liquids after five o'clock. Well, were we thirsty. Frank (Sinatra) was a great friend and very supportive. All these guys we're talking about, were 10-12 years older than I was. So I was 22, these guys were 32 or 34, and had had a lot of success. Frank was like that. Frank had a girlfriend called Carmen, and after he busted up with Ava [Gardner], Carmen moved in with him. And he had the most incredible hi-fi equipment - well, he was Frank Sinatra. And he had music playing all day and night, his songs would play. He and Carmen made love one night, and he said, "How was that?" And she said, "I loved the music." [audience laughs] At one point, she said to him, "Who's your favourite movie star?" And he said, "Tony Curtis." "Why?" And Frank said, "Because he beat the fucking odds." That was the first time I understood why Frank liked me. Searching for a career was not an easy thing. We made a movie together, Kings Go Forth."
- Tony Curtis, The British Film Institute
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 3:07:33 GMT
Kirk Douglas with Tony Curtis & Jean Simmons
Sammi Davis Jr with Tony Curtis
Ernest Borgnine with Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas & Jean Simmons
Burt Lancaster with Tony Curtis
Cary Grant with Tony Curtis
Jerry Lewis with Tony Curtis
Henry Fonda with Tony Curtis
Sidney Poitier with Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon  "When his handsome face and a stroke of luck brought Curtis to Hollywood in 1948, he was 23 years old and felt as if he was in heaven. That wasn't because of the acting opportunities. It was because of the women, and Tony was one of the town's best-known lotharios for decades. He loved acting, too, and made great films and bad ones with the same sense of fun. He was also a lifelong artist, whose paintings commanded decent fees, and a party animal until he got clean and sober in 1982. One thing you will not notice in the obituaries is anyone with a bad word to say about him. He was fun, and few had more fun than he did himself."
- Roger Ebert, in remembrance of Tony Curtis, 2010 |
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 3:27:43 GMT
Thanks for all the great photos, petro. Curtis was a very good-looking man. And a much better actor than he was given credit for. He and Janet Leigh also passed some good genes along to daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis. I think he left behind some great movies but I miss him. He was kind of a fixture here in U K after many years over. Robert Vaughn was here alot too. Both men made some entertaining (and not so entertaining) b-movies later in their careers. On tv, Curtis appeared in 'The Persuaders' and Vaughn in 'The Protectors'. |
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Post by wmcclain on May 6, 2017 12:29:15 GMT
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Post by teleadm on May 6, 2017 13:30:01 GMT
To just wave off Tony Curtis as just another pretty face who got lucky, I think is wrong, though it seams like he stopped caring in what he appeared in somewhere in the early 1970s, maybe after the failure in USA of the TV-series The Persuaders and McCoy, starring in whatever that cames along.
Trapeze 1956
Mr Cory 1957
The Vikings 1958
The Defiant Ones 1958
Some Like it Hot 1959
Spartacus 1960
Who Was That Lady 1960
The Rat Race 1960 (what a sweet movie that was)
The Great Impostor 1961
The Outsider 1961
OK he might have done a few too many so called sex (not porno) comedies in the sixties but he returned strongly in
The Boston Strangler 1968
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Post by Nalkarj on May 6, 2017 14:15:14 GMT
The Sweet Smell of Success is undoubtedly one of the best things Curtis ever did, but I'm probably unduly fond of his performances in Operation Petticoat and Houdini--in the first case because he's obviously having the time of his life, acting with his idol Cary Grant, and in the second because Houdini was one of the first "old movies" I saw when young, excluding Laurel and Hardy and Sherlock Holmes, and I loved it at the time (largely because Houdini was a hero of mine then). Houdini is not a great movie by any means, and it's wildly unfaithful to the man's actual life, but I do still enjoy it for a number of factors, of which pure nostalgia is not the least significant.
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Post by wmcclain on May 6, 2017 14:28:16 GMT
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 14:55:43 GMT
OK he might have done a few too many so called sex (not porno) comedies in the sixties but he returned strongly in The Boston Strangler 1968 I like 'Sex And The Single Girl' (1962); a funny movie based on a book written by 'Cosmopolitan' editor Helen Gurley Brown. |
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 15:05:23 GMT
The Sweet Smell of Success is undoubtedly one of the best things Curtis ever did, but I'm probably unduly fond of his performances in Operation Petticoat and Houdini--in the first case because he's obviously having the time of his life, acting with his idol Cary Grant, and in the second because Houdini was one of the first "old movies" I saw when young, excluding Laurel and Hardy and Sherlock Holmes, and I loved it at the time (largely because Houdini was a hero of mine then). Houdini is not a great movie by any means, and it's wildly unfaithful to the man's actual life, but I do still enjoy it for a number of factors, of which pure nostalgia is not the least significant. Hey Sal, with your passion for magic, I can see why you'd enjoy 'Houdini'. Blake Edwards' comedy 'Operation Petticoat' was probably the first Cary Grant movie I owned on VHS video, I found it hiding at the bottom of a bargain bin in WH Smith retailers. It has Mrs C from 'Happy Days' lol. |
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 15:08:55 GMT
Nice review of 'Houdini' wmcclain, I thought I'd better read it quick before it disappears lol. And wonderful picture scrolling, as always, thanks for sharing. My favourite part : 'There are some good scenes, as in the tense moments when he is trapped under the ice of a frozen river. The more important attraction is the combination of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, newly married when this was made. When he puts in her in a box and saws her in half, she says: "I expected something different on my wedding night." Curtis is pretty for a man, and quite fit, but Leigh, with that face, figure and voice: I'm always staggered by her beauty.' |
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Post by teleadm on May 6, 2017 15:21:07 GMT
OK he might have done a few too many so called sex (not porno) comedies in the sixties but he returned strongly in The Boston Strangler 1968 I like 'Sex And The Single Girl' (1962); a funny movie based on a book written by 'Cosmopolitan' editor Helen Gurley Brown. I think it was 1964 actually, I personally enjoy those sex comedies he made, It was a stern critic who wrote that she couldn't tell any Curtis movies apart in the 1960s, and I can somehow agree as I can remember a funny scene from a movie but I can't remember what movie, and I've read the plots over and over (on old IMDB), and still don't know what movies it was. But I can tell you that one mystery was solved, I remembered a scene about a drummer who was abandoned, Iv'e read every movie plot from Bing and Frank to Sal Mineo, and couldn't find it, and a local movie channel showed an old movie for once with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds, and I thought what a sweet and adorable movie this is, The movie was The Rat Race, and when that scene of the drummer beeing abandoned, I knew I had been looking in the wrong places |
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Post by Nalkarj on May 6, 2017 15:25:28 GMT
wmcclain , like you and petrolino , I too am always staggered by Miss Leigh's beauty. Gorgeous girl. And, yes, petrolino , I do love magic--a weakness of mine, in addition to detective stories, anagrams, crossword puzzles, and riddles (all of which are closely related, of course). Edmund Wilson would hate me! As for Houdini... Not a great film, maybe not even a good one, but fairly decent. Its biggest problem may just be its sheer dullness, especially in direction (by George Marshall, who did one or two interesting movies that were interesting for every reason other than their mise-en-scène!), for long sequences. The implied supernatural stuff may be silly, but I think it gives the picture cohesion.
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 15:29:02 GMT
I like 'Sex And The Single Girl' (1962); a funny movie based on a book written by 'Cosmopolitan' editor Helen Gurley Brown. I think it was 1964 actually, I personally enjoy those sex comedies he made, It was a stern critic who wrote that she couldn't tell any Curtis movies apart in the 1960s, and I can somehow agree as I can remember a funny scene from a movie but I can't remember what movie, and I've read the plots over and over (on old IMDB), and still don't know what movies it was. But I can tell you that one mystery was solved, I remembered a scene about a drummer who was abandoned, Iv'e read every movie plot from Bing and Frank to Sal Mineo, and couldn't find it, and a local movie channel showed an old movie for once with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds, and I thought what a sweet and adorable movie this is, The movie was The Rat Race, and when that scene of the drummer beeing abandoned, I knew I had been looking in the wrong places I've not seen 'The Rat Race' before but I'm a fan of the director Robert Mulligan's sensitive dramas, thanks for the recommendation. 'Sex And The Single Girl' is nicely handled by director Richard Quine who made some fun comedies. There's a heavyweight supporting cast in tow but it's the sparkling interactions between Curtis and Natalie Wood I recall most fondly. |
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Post by teleadm on May 6, 2017 15:38:59 GMT
I think it was 1964 actually, I personally enjoy those sex comedies he made, It was a stern critic who wrote that she couldn't tell any Curtis movies apart in the 1960s, and I can somehow agree as I can remember a funny scene from a movie but I can't remember what movie, and I've read the plots over and over (on old IMDB), and still don't know what movies it was. But I can tell you that one mystery was solved, I remembered a scene about a drummer who was abandoned, Iv'e read every movie plot from Bing and Frank to Sal Mineo, and couldn't find it, and a local movie channel showed an old movie for once with Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds, and I thought what a sweet and adorable movie this is, The movie was The Rat Race, and when that scene of the drummer beeing abandoned, I knew I had been looking in the wrong places I've not seen 'The Rat Race' before but I'm a fan of the director Robert Mulligan's sensitive dramas, thanks for the recommendation. 'Sex And The Single Girl' is nicely handled by director Richard Quine who made some fun comedies. There's a heavyweight supporting cast in tow but it's the sparkling interactions between Curtis and Natalie Wood I recall most fondly. Sec and the Single Girl usualy gets bad reviews, and that usually intrigues me I mean a movie with Tony Curtis Natalie Wood, Laureen Bacall (!!) and Henry Fonda (!!) can't be all that bad. I've only seen a few seens someone posted on Youtube, but they wanted me to see more.... |
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Post by wmcclain on May 6, 2017 20:17:12 GMT
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Post by petrolino on May 6, 2017 21:09:29 GMT
Nicolas Roeg wrote a beautiful tribute to Tony Curtis when he died. He held great respect for him. |
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Post by wmcclain on May 7, 2017 12:37:31 GMT
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Post by wmcclain on May 7, 2017 20:14:24 GMT
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Post by TheOriginalPinky on May 10, 2017 20:10:50 GMT
Thanks for the great picture. He was so damned delicious looking. That picture of him with Kirk Douglas and Jean Simmons (Spartacus), what a heart-breaker.
I loved his movies, and he had some really good dramas, and comedies. What a great career!
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Post by petrolino on May 13, 2017 19:29:26 GMT
While he did have a penchant for comedy, particularly later in his career, he gave some exceptional performances that will not be forgotten - for me among them is The Outsider (1961), the story of Ira Hayes, the Pima Indian who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima, but whose life came to a tragic end. I haven't seen it since 1969, but parts of it haunt me to this day. Having spent part of my childhood near the Pima Indian reservation in Arizona, I'm well aware of the damage that alcohol does to the Native American body, a body that is physically unable to metabolize it. The Outsider is not a great film, but a very good one, and an important one. The native peoples in America do not get their share of attention in the arts (or much of anything) here, so I'm glad this story, at least, got told - even if it was played by the the very talented Jewish Hungarian actor, Bernard Schwartz, whom we know as Tony Curtis. I've not seen 'The Outsider' before but I'm a fan of the director Delbert Mann's delicate dramas. Thanks very much for the recommendation. |
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