The Silver Screen Oasis

And his great contribution to the Motion Pictures of the 1940 - 50's ! That should be Tufts.

This was meant as a " joke " thread. An Irish lass PM'ed about having a day at TCM honoring Maureen O' Hara, I replied that a thought that Sonny Tufts woud be a better subject.I guess my " quirky " humor is something I should put in retirement ! IMHO Mr. Tufts is a very minor figure in the History of Hollywood in the Classic Era.

Sonny Tufts was one of those unfortunate "B" actors who rarely overcame the burdensome nature of the threadbare productions he appeared in. His best role was in the 1949 Jacques Tourneur football comedy-drama starring Victor Mature, Lizbeth Scott and Lucille Ball. Tufts played one of Mature's football buddies and did quite nicely in a small but critical role. The absolute nadir of his career came in 1953 with CATWOMEN OF THE MOON, one of the most dreadful science fiction films ever made. Unfortunately, this is the film most people associate with Sonny Tufts. His name suddenly became synonymous with ineptitude. Virtually all of his other pictures were routine and forgettable (save a small part in Wilder's THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH). His personal life held much more interest: in 1951 two different women sued Sonny for allegedly attacking and biting them. He was arrested numerous times for public drunkeness. It was pretty much down hill from there.
He can be seen in a pretty good 1953 film noir later today (Wed May 9) called NO ESCAPE co-starring Lew Ayers. It's a pretty good picture, a cut above his usual efforts. For one brief moment let us think kindly of poor Sonny Tufts. He deserves better than he got.
-Dewey

Sorry, I made the Sonny Tufts post late at night, and while in the middle of a heated debate in regard to the current President, The debate was with my cousin, and later I went at it at " the other site ", on the same subject .

Hi Ken - Personally I'm glad you brought up Sonny Tufts. Even though he's hardly in a class with the giants, he's certainly an interesting figure looming in the shadowy corners of Hollywood's netherworld. Part of what makes it all so fascinating.

I know this thread was meant as a joke, but how about his role as Steve in The Virginian? He was (to me) perfect as the shambling, devil take the hindmost, out for fun and an easy life cowboy.

knitwit45 wrote:I know this thread was meant as a joke, but how about his role as Steve in The Virginian? He was (to me) perfect as the shambling, devil take the hindmost, out for fun and an easy life cowboy.

An ecellent point.

Sonny Tufts had a good role in "So Proudly We Hail!" as Paulette Goddard's love interest. He played Kansas, a happy go lucky haphazzard fellow.

Hi Joe,

Actually, Paulette Goddard always spoke very well of Sonny Tufts. He was quite a good dancer and escorted her and several others around town.
I always had the impression that he was a good egg!!

Larry