The Silver Screen Oasis

Pat Buttram !

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No argument there, but so funny when Gene gets mad at him and basically makes him sit in a corner (hypothetically).
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That's interesting to me, 'cause I like Buttram, but I can't stand Autry.

I do think though that in many cases in classic film the sidekick is far more interesting (and talented) than the star. His/her job is to make the star look good.

jdb1 wrote:That's interesting to me, 'cause I like Buttram, but I can't stand Autry.

Whatever actings sins Pat might have commited, or marks he might have missed, while languishing in the bloated shadow of Cowboy Czar Autry, I feel he more than compensated for in his recurring role on the immortal "Green Acres"; as far as I am concerned, the character of rural finagler supreme Eustace Haney is on a par with Art Carney as Ed Norton, Patrick Warburton as David Putty, Christopher Lloyd as Jim Ignatowsky, or Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur.

jdb1 wrote: I do think though that in many cases in classic film the sidekick is far more interesting (and talented) than the star. His/her job is to make the star look good.

Yup, and sidekicks like Jay Silverheels, Bruce Lee & Yukon King sure earnt their paychecks, now, didn't they?

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It was late and I wanted to agree about Pat, but as usual I also wanted to quantify my remark. Pat was exceedingly annoying, mainly because he did such dumb things, and that is one of my pet peeves - stupidity, like lighting his cigar with the lit fuse of a stick of dynamite. As of late, I've rediscovered Gene Autry, I always preferred Roy Rogers and I still do, but for the time, Gene had a pretty good show, especially when he started blending the old west with the new. But the fun, for me, came when Gene would be so aggravated with Pat that often he was speechless and literally sputtered. I don't believe I ever saw more than one episode of Green Acres, so I have nothing to compare him with later in life, like Walter Brennan as Grandpa in The Real McCoys.

You are probably right when you say the side kicks were there to make the star look good. And again sometimes the sidekick was more interesting than the star, like in the case of Tonto, I sure would have liked to know more about him.
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