Joseph Cotten

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CineMaven
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by CineMaven »

When you do your job, nobody notices you:

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rerun
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by rerun »

I agree. That is why so many don't know who Eleanor Parker is/was. She so became the part no one thought of HER.
I think JC was in that class. I am a fan both on and off the screen.
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RedRiver
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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That's the highest compliment you can pay an actor. There are so many great ones whose names almost nobody knows!
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JackFavell
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by JackFavell »

I like Joseph Cotten very, very, VERY much. I think he's one of our best film actors. I don't know too many actors who don't try to use their looks, or try to LOOK GOOD on screen or on stage. It's so hard to let yourself go, play the idiot, the weakling, the flawed. Actors straighten themselves, make sure they have the best angle. Cotten's main achievement, to my way of thinking is that he didn't mind playing the fool or the loser, didn't pull at his cuffs or smooth down his suit. Someone replying to the blog post you linked, Moira, said he was so good at playing bland that it took them years to realize he was good looking. I find that true myself. Except that I think he was so good at playing bland that it took me years to realize he was a great actor.

Cotten has some bit of quiet southern charm that I find very appealing. Granted, I AM partial to wavy hair as well, but Cotten is attractive not so much in appearance as in a gentle but rollicking good naturedness that I find rather nice (as exhibited best in Since You Went Away). I find his good guys flawed, and his bad guys closer to truth than I would like.

They have a lost quality, most notably Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt, who I feel makes some little bit of sense in his hatreds and psychoses. There was another Charlie in there, at one time - lost perhaps around the era that The Merry Widow Waltz was made famous, or maybe later on in his travels he was hardened into what we see in the film. He broke somewhere along the way, and I think on some level he knows he's broken but can't admit it is him and not the world.

Cotten takes those natural complaints we all have and makes them so sinister, so malevolent that we are shocked by them. He can't stop himself. The scene at the dinner table where his small talk indicates his irrational distaste of women, his loathing of them, is an indicator of Cotten's strength as an actor - that hate falls naturally back into small talk. His talent is for just that, the small the normal. I think it's not a coincidence that this film came out when it did...Uncle Charlie is a like Nazi, hating beyond reason, threatening our values, and justifying his actions in a naturalness, humor and nonchalance that is appallingly normal. He makes killing a human being seem like stepping on an annoying bug, and this is what keeps him in our minds long after the film is over. His overall demeanor about it is lackadaisical, just as we are lackadaisical. This is what is unforgivable about him, why he must be gotten rid of, because that nonchalance about human life is catching.

Cotten's greatest achievements may be in his ability to support well, as in the Welles' films. He's just about the only guy I would want to step in and be a good friend, either to a rash and boyish lead, or to a woman at home during the war who needs a shoulder to lean on without it becoming overly romantic. In Gaslight, he's the only person who I can see making Ingrid Bergman trust him. Of course, he can also take that gentleness further, as in Niagara, where his husband to Marilyn Monroe is pretty much impotent. Imagine Cotten's fearlessness in real life, taking this role. A man who basically can't make love to Marilyn Monroe? I think he was a brave actor.

What some have said they DON'T like about Cotten are the reasons I ESPECIALLY like him. In The Third Man, his Holly Martins performance is BRILLIANT - rueful, desperate, deluded, foolish, hypocritical, emotional to the point of silliness. I can't think of an actor who could step out of himself enough to NOT wipe the sweat off his brow, or think twice about taking the comical grin off his face. He's so NOT self aware that I have to applaud him. Cotten is anything but vain, he seems to actually relish making a fool of himself. What I like best about Holly is everything. Every stupid move, every unrequited glance, every doggedly determined mistake. Every fall, every trip over his own shoelaces. For me, it's a towering performance, so human, so full of foibles and imperfection. We see every blemish, every shortcoming of our hero. Again, I can't think of another soul who could make this work. Maybe Jimmy Stewart, but isn't that praise in a backward way? to compare him with Stewart? If Stewart gets praise for adding darkness and flaws to his good boy heroes, shouldn't Cotten get some praise as well for adding just that to his roles from the start?

Cotten's characters continue to make mistakes throughout his screen career.

In I'll Be Seeing You, Cotten gives a sterling performance of a shell shocked WWII veteran trying desperately to hide and eventually overcome his mental illness. This may be his only real leading man appearance, and it's a great one, but again, because of his flaws. The scene where he breaks down in his little room in front of the mirror is not to be missed. And Cotten retains your sympathy, even after this scary moment. It's excellent work.

In The Magnificent Ambersons, the movie only works because of Cotten's warm-hearted, gentlemanly, smitten and ultimately weak character. Had his character not been such a gentleman, so willing to back off because of an earlier mistake, then George Minafer would not have been able to rule his mother so. It's a man very sure of himself who plays these roles, no one who wasn't awfully sure of his masculinity could play it in just this way.

I am quite sure that Cotten himself knew what he was doing in these roles. His purposeful playing of the FOOL is cosmic to me. I think Cotten was exploring what it is to be a man, questioning the natural strength and brawn that was so prevalent in movies at that time, but also questioning the gentlemanly values that came before the he-men. He's literally changing our idea of what strength really was, of how a man should behave, what is good and what is bad? What works and what doesn't. Welles knew he could count on Cotten for this. There is a conflict in Cotten, something I find so very modern... an almost enigmatic exploration of soul. He's going to take the leading man part and stand it on it's ear, make it funny - the actions of this so-called gentleman actually appear for what they really are... weak, silly and yes, rather charming, but ultimately heartbreaking and leading to naught. One can almost see the downfall of civilization in Cotten's performances, or at least the downfall of the olden ways and dreams. He at once encompasses the new and idealized and the old and idealized. Somewhere in between lies reality, and this is what we get from Joseph Cotten.
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knitwit45
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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oh, lovely, Jacks! I have had a crush on him since the first time I saw Since You Went Away, when I was just a pup. :lol:

Then, Love Letters, Portrait of Jenny, and just last month, I'll Be Seeing You. I even love his sadly misguided characters in The Third Man, Citizen Kane... embarrassed to say, I've never watched Shadow of a Doubt... :oops: :oops:

What a lovely read!!!! Thanks for putting into words what I've always felt.
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The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
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JackFavell
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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I think probably every woman in America fell in love with him when Since You Went Away came out! He's such a perfect, perfect man in that movie - part friend, part co-conspirator with the family, part romantic lead, part silly comic foil who just wants to make you laugh. Imagine being the representative guy in that film... he's got to stand in for the husband a little bit, doesn't he? It's a tough job, but he's just got the right amount of gentility, and the right amount of manliness.
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knitwit45
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by knitwit45 »

And as Claudette Colbert tells him, if she WAS available...he'd run for the hills! The sweetness of that relationship was the gentle longing..on both their parts.
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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moira finnie
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by moira finnie »

Can't wait to see Love Letters tomorrow night and Portrait of Jennie later this month. These are my favorite Cotten-pickin' movies, next to September Affair and The Third Man, though I'll Be Seeing You is now up there too. As much as I like Since You Went Away, I don't find Cotten's role as enthralling as you ladies do, but the film as a whole is very moving (even more so these days).

Knitty, I don't think that Shadow of a Doubt would make you dislike Cotten, but might deepen your appreciation for his work. I hope that you both have a chance to see a relatively young Joseph Cotten in Orson Welles' early unfinished film, Too Much Johnson (1938) someday on DVD or in a theatre. I don't think you will be disappointed, but it made me see Cotten as a potentially great silent comedian!
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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I didn't even mention Portrait of Jennie, which is one of my all time favorite movies - it almost ties with The Ghost and Mrs. Muir for favorite 40's ghostly romance. Love Letters is another of that same disquieting post war type, beautifully done. You guys are getting me in the mood for a little film festival!

Cotten in Portrait of Jennie once again plays a man forced to look at his own shortcomings. I love the gentle derisive humor his paintings evoke in everyone, from Ethel Barrymore and Cecil Kellaway to David Wayne as his Irish buddy who wants to like his paintings but just can't. :D

I haven't seen September Affair yet sadly. I don't think it's ever going to be on.

Another film I find Cotten very good in is The Steel Trap. It's very suspenseful though and had me yelling at the TV!
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by feaito »

WEN, You must see September Affair!! I have a copy recorded off Chilean TV with subs in Spanish If you are interested.

If you enjoy stories of doomed romantic relationships I recommend it to you; a rather beautiful love story.
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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JackFavell wrote: I haven't seen September Affair yet sadly. I don't think it's ever going to be on.
I gave up TCM last year for financial reasons, and find I only miss it now and then. In contrast, I could not live without Youtube - I've seen so many rare titles this way:

[youtube][/youtube]
feaito

Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by feaito »

So it´s available on youtube?? Gutt! Jez, you are a treasure trove!
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knitwit45
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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Thank you, thank you! Wish it had ended differently...sniff.....
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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CineMaven
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Re: Joseph Cotten

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[u]JACK[/u] [u]FAVELL[/u] wrote:I like Joseph Cotten very, very, VERY much. I think he's one of our best film actors. I don't know too many actors who don't try to use their looks, or try to LOOK GOOD on screen or on stage. It's so hard to let yourself go, play the idiot, the weakling, the flawed. Actors straighten themselves, make sure they have the best angle. Cotten's main achievement, to my way of thinking is that he didn't mind playing the fool or the loser, didn't pull at his cuffs or smooth down his suit. Someone replying to the blog post you linked, Moira, said he was so good at playing bland that it took them years to realize he was good looking. I find that true myself. Except that I think he was so good at playing bland that it took me years to realize he was a great actor...
I like your writing very much. ( It's not just that I'm an easy mark and a susceptible cluck. ) You really make me see Cotten and his persona. You've given me the hook to really get into him just like you did with Melvyn Douglas ( or, at the very least, point me in the right direction, as you did here. ) Can you be my "go to" gal? When I'm having a problem liking an actor...or when I wonder why everyone is ga-ga over some one from the 40's...the 30's...can I go to you and get you to tell me about him? What a great read.

Tonite "The Third Man" and later, later...waaaay later, my very favorite "Love Letters" will be on. ( Set your dvr, JaxXxon...you know how you are. )

And thank you Jezebel for that YouTube link to "September Affair." I'd better hop on that quick, fast and in a hurry!
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JackFavell
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Re: Joseph Cotten

Post by JackFavell »

Oh my gosh, THANK YOU Jezebel! You are fantastic to find that. And if Fernando likes it, I am sure I will too. Doomed romance is my middle name... :D

Maven, you are too kind. I will be happy to be your go-to gal, if I can. Maybe you can be mine too? I want to tell you, I watched Out of the Past a week or two ago and was completely bowled over by it. It's about my tenth watching, and I don't know why I didn't get how great it was before. Somehow it all clicked. So I DO try over again and again, especially if it's a movie you like, or folks here are talking about.

Anyway, Cotten just appeals to me on some deep warm level. He should never have been a leading man, he's more of a good-natured second lead, the guy who loses the girl. He does it so well. :lol: I just find him comforting and real, friendly and compassionate. There's a sympathetic ear, an affectionate person when he's playing that foolish fellow. He's cordial in a most old fashioned way, I think he'd be great to have to dinner some night. I'm quite sure he'd have some funny, self-deprecating story to regale the company with in that nice southern voice of his.

I WILL set my recorder, I promise (I hope). Though wait a minute, I have a copy of Love Letters already, and The Third Man is one of the few movies I bought a legit copy of. Maybe I'll pop in Love Letters today, and see if I can get these youtube videos I've got stacked up watched as well. Haven't had much time for watching during the last few weeks with vacation and all. I think that a little Cotten film festival is in order.
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