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Post by timshelboy on Jun 22, 2022 21:32:43 GMT
" IT's a long way down from CITY FOR CONQUEST and HIGH SIERRA to EMANUELLE ON TABOO ISLAND but poor Arthur Kennedy travelled every step of the way" Says David Quinlan. David Shipman pegs him with Robert Ryan and Van Heflin - as "second billed leading men". Neither appraisal really does him justice - at his peak he clocked up 5 Oscar Noms in the 50s. I've always liked him. Here;s (mostly) the ones I recommend. In the interests of full disclosure I have yet to see EMANUELLE on TABOO ISLAND - source welcome! CITY FOR CONQUEST his debut as Bogie's sidekick, right,in HIGH SIERRA Supporting Errol in Still in support - a less feted but fun 1947 effort His breakthrough and first Oscar Nom - supporting Kirk Douglas as loyal brother from (long ago) memory Noir classic THE WINDOW More noir - Lizabeth Scott in the clinch My favourite of his - the neglected first THE GLASS MENAGERIE as the son, with Gertrude Lawrence His only leading Oscar nom for blind serviceman Outclassed by THE MEN imo. Exceptional B prison break movie In PEYTON PLACE he got to rape his daughter and be killed by her He got another Oscar Nom for his troble. Superb in the florid SOME CAME RUNNING as Sinatra's adulterous brother, here with Nancy Gates. final Oscar Nom. in the heavy going award magnet ELMER GANTRY with Jean Simmons I've always thought he walked off with LAWRENCE OF ARABIA as the hack as Nick/Hemingway's dad in lush, neglected potboiler - a sort of portmanteau Hemingway filmed. THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO did it better though Probably his last decent film Of the indecent ones boasts an astonishing cast Ava Gardner. Burgess Meredith. Jose Ferrer, Sylvia Miles, Eli Wallach, Marin Balsam, Christopher Walken, Beverly D'ahgelo, Cristina Raines, Tom Berenger, Jeff Goldblum, Chris Sarandon, John Carradine, Jerry Orbach, Deborah Raffin and William Hickey This one has a plane crash at sea, cannibalism on the rescue boat and sharks circling the sinking ship at the finale. Aside from EMANUELLE ON TABOO ISLAND (original poster below) what have I missed???. And/Or what are your favourite Arthur Kennedy Films/performances
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Post by mattgarth on Jun 22, 2022 22:30:11 GMT
The New York Film Critics selected him as best actor for BRIGHT VICTORY in 1951 -- beating out Brando (STREETCAR) and Bogart (QUEEN) and Clift (PLACE).
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jun 22, 2022 22:44:57 GMT
I liked him in a lead role playing the the drifter Santiago, filmed in Mexico with a slightly bigger budget than previous films by Edgar G. Ulmer. The Naked Dawn (1955)
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 22, 2022 22:52:18 GMT
I liked him in a lead role playing the the drifter Santiago, filmed in Mexico with a slightly bigger budget than previous films by Edgar G. Ulmer. The Naked Dawn (1955) Free on youtube and never seen by me
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Post by london777 on Jun 23, 2022 1:26:25 GMT
I liked him in a lead role playing the the drifter Santiago, filmed in Mexico ... The Naked Dawn (1955) Outshines even Charlton Heston in Touch of Evil as a shoe-polish dago. And the laughing miscreant with flashing white teeth is surely borrowed from Burt Lancaster? Based on a story by Maxim Gorky? An inspiration for Jules and Jim? I gotta see this one. Was it Kennedy's first unshared leading role?
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Post by london777 on Jun 23, 2022 2:23:58 GMT
I am deducting a star, timshelboy, for neglecting to cite one of his best performances. Trial (1955) dir: Mark Robson. The only McCarthyite movie I like.
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Post by mikef6 on Jun 23, 2022 2:47:20 GMT
As I see from his filmography, from 1967 to 1979, just about the end of his film career, almost all of the movies he was in have Italian titles. Not an uncommon thing, I think, for former classic actors of that era. When I was trying to think of movies I had seen him in, I kept coming up with films starring Kevin McCarthy instead. He was in "Chicago Dateline" (1949). Alan Ladd played an intrepid reporter looking into the life of Rosita (Donna Reed), a young woman who is found dead in a cheap hotel room. Kennedy is Rosita's brother. Reed is seen throughout the movie in flashback. This was a hit when released (Wiki says it was the 37th most popular movie in the U.S. and Canada that year), but it is almost forgotten now. I just happened to see it on YouTube when I went on a brief Alan Ladd kick.
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Post by teleadm on Jun 24, 2022 18:58:55 GMT
Thanks for tribute, lot's of movies to catch up with. great villain, but greater when his not.
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Post by Captain Spencer on Jun 24, 2022 19:28:05 GMT
Anybody remember a 1972 made-for-TV thriller he was in called Crawlspace? It's pretty good.
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 24, 2022 19:36:48 GMT
Anybody remember a 1972 made-for-TV thriller he was in called Crawlspace? It's pretty good. Yes I saw it - Teresa Wright costarred. in CRAWLSPACE He was also in A DEATH OF INNOCENCE for TV with Shelley Winters the next year which was well received at time.
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Post by teleadm on Jun 24, 2022 19:54:46 GMT
He was a regular in short loved TV-series Nakia 1974, highly regarded bu the few who remembers it.
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 24, 2022 20:39:32 GMT
Was it Kennedy's first unshared leading role? He had leads in a couple of early 40s B flics KNOCKOUT and STRANGE ALIBI (in which you also get Florence Bates packing heat) BRIGHT VICTORY was probably his highest profile lead (1951)
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 24, 2022 22:19:20 GMT
This one has a plane crash at sea, cannibalism on the rescue boat and sharks circling the sinking ship at the finale. Just discovered he was in a hat trick of Shark movies. In addition to the above there is CAVE OF THE SHARKS from 78 with his CYCLONE chum Andres Garcia (on youtube) , and SHARK! from 1969 with Burt Reynolds (on ok.ru} and here is CYCLONE sharks being just one of the delights on offer (cyclone, plane crash, cannibalism). and this nice youtube tribute Enjoy
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Post by mattgarth on Jun 24, 2022 22:51:18 GMT
He played the charismatic villain in two well-received Jimmy Stewart / Anthony Mann adult 1950s Westerns -- BEND OF THE RIVER and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE.
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Post by Stammerhead on Jun 25, 2022 0:01:35 GMT
He was a terrific actor who deserved a better end of career but he did appear in one of my favourite guilty pleasures.
The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue which features him delivering this classic line…
The Inspector: I wish the dead could come back to life, you bastard, so then I could kill you again.
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Post by london777 on Jun 25, 2022 0:16:16 GMT
I liked him in a lead role playing the the drifter Santiago, filmed in Mexico ... The Naked Dawn (1955)
I gotta see this one. I gave up on this one today for a banal reason. Kennedy, whose New England accent I love, speaks English with a Mexican accent. Why? If he were playing a Mexican in the US speaking English, then a Mexican accent would be necessary. But here he is obviously supposed to be speaking Spanish, translated for our benefit. We already know he is Mexican, from the boot-polish on his face, his dress, and every racial cliche in the book. So we accept the film convention of translated speech. Big topic for another thread, perhaps? Needs lune7000's relentlessly forensic approach.
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 25, 2022 0:33:07 GMT
I gotta see this one. Was it Kennedy's first unshared leading role? I gave up on this one today for a banal reason. Kennedy, whose New England accent I love, speaks English with a Mexican accent. Why? If he were playing a Mexican in the US speaking English, then a Mexican accent would be necessary. But here he is obviously supposed to be speaking Spanish, translated for our benefit. We already know he is Mexican, from the boot-polish on his face, his dress, and every racial cliche in the book. So we accept the film convention of translated speech. Big topic for another thread, perhaps? Needs lune7000's relentlessly forensic approach. I gave up on it too because it was banal,,,, nice to tick it off list though - but I enjoyed CAVE OF SHARKS more
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 25, 2022 0:41:00 GMT
He was a terrific actor who deserved a better end of career but he did appear in one of my favourite guilty pleasures. The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue which features him delivering this classic line… The Inspector: I wish the dead could come back to life, you bastard, so then I could kill you again. I have seen it Very fond of THE SENTINEL myself - as well as giving Ava Gardner et al employment it controversially used genuine disabled people in the climax to portray the denizens of Hell. with John Carradine in THE SENTINEL Burgess Meredith and some folk from Hell
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Post by london777 on Jun 25, 2022 6:25:00 GMT
Very fond of THE SENTINEL myself ... it controversially used genuine disabled people in the climax to portray the denizens of Hell. Talented England soccer managers have been sacked for less.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 26, 2022 16:16:29 GMT
Reliable actor whether as a villain or in something more sympathetic.
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