Here's the thing. AMC played "Billy Budd" last night. I don't think I'd ever seen Robert RYAN anywhere before. I don't even watch movies. But I remember Terence STAMP. Yet, the AMC host/introducer whasssisnae, who appears to be losing his dentures, almost indistinguishable, said this RYAN fellow never won an Oscar (like my fave O'TOOLE) yet absolutely never gave a less-Oscar performance EVER. And there he was, EVIL in this movie.
I'd always had an image of Robert RYAN as a John WAYNE nobody. Never again.
Also, I've never liked whassisname, Senor USTINOV, yet he co-wrote/produced/directed this thing because it meant so much to him. And it's brilliant. Mr Whassisname-AMC said this brilliant film should have gotten more attention but it was overshadowed by the poorer Bounty film with BRANDO. Also, Mr-AMC now looks like his age has caught up with him and can barely be understood because of slipping false teeth. I'm sorry, I love him.
Anyway, this thing was GRIPPING. The scene with RYAN/STAMP was gripping.
This thread is about people we thought were jerks but aren't. I never liked USTINOV before, my image of him as smarmy. But he was commanding in this movie.
As for Mel, he's always had (way before) had a likeable presence, plus in Vietnam I have fond impressions of AUSSIES (I know he was BORN in the U.S.A., O-TAY?!1) BUT I ramble: "Apocalypto" is running right now, and it is BRILLIANT. So I hate his Fundie self but somehow love him, o-tay?!1
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0752813/Peter USTINOV:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055796/Robert RYAN:
http://imdb.com/find?s=all&=Robert+RYANMel GIBSON: Look him up yourself
Peter USTINOV:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055796/Robert RYAN:
http://imdb.com/find?s=all&=Robert+RYANChicago born, distinguished US actor and long time civil rights campaigner, Robert Ryan served in the United States Marines as a drill instructor (winning a boxing championship) and went on to become a key figure in post WWII American film noir and western productions.
Ryan grabbed critical attention for his dynamic performances as an anti-Semitic bully in the superb Crossfire (1947), as an over-the-hill boxer who refuses to take a fall in The Set-Up (1949) and as a hostile & jaded cop in On Dangerous Ground (1952). Ryan's athletic physique, intense gaze and sharply delivered, authoritarian tones made him an ideal actor for the oily world of the film noir genre, and he contributed solid performances to many noir features, usually as a vile villain. Ryan played a worthy opponent for bounty hunter James Stewart in the Anthony Mann directed western The Naked Spur (1953), he locked horns with an intrepid investigator Spencer Tracy in the suspenseful Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) and starred alongside Harry Belafonte in the grimy, gangster flick Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Plus, the inventive Ryan excelled as the ruthless "John Claggart" in Billy Budd (1962), and two different WWII US generals - firstly in the star filled The Longest Day (1962) and secondly in Battle of the Bulge (1965).
For the next eight years prior to his untimely death in 1973, Ryan landed some tremendous roles in a mixture of productions each aided by his high calibre acting skills leaving strong impressions on movie audiences. He was one of the hard men hired to pursue kidnapped Claudia Cardinale in the hard boiled action of The Professionals (1966), a by-the-book army colonel clashing with highly unorthodox army major Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen (1967), and an embittered bounty hunter forced to hunt down old friend William Holden in the violent Sam Peckinpah western classic The Wild Bunch (1969). Ryan's final onscreen performance was in the terrific production of The Iceman Cometh (1973) based on the Eugene O'Neill play and also starring Lee Marvin and Fredric March.
Legend has it that Sam Peckinpah clashed very heatedly with Ryan during the making of The Wild Bunch (1969), however Peckinpah eventually backed down when a crew member reminded Sam of Robert Ryan's proficiency with his fists !
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