Underrated Actors

[pktrekgirl]

As I was posting a response to another thread, I was thinking about some of my favorite underrated (or at least under-talked about) actors. These are actors who are NOT the 'usual suspects' on my list (people like Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Humphrey Bogart, Myrna Loy, William Powell, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Cary Grant and the like). These are people who I just think are supremely talented at what they do. They might be 'second tier' lead actors/actresses...or they might be supporting players or character actors. But in all cases, they are people who I really enjoy watching...even if they never had any GONE WITH THE WIND or CASABLANCA-level successes that launched them into major star status.

Who are some of your favorites in this category?


Some of mine, and why I love them:

Basil Rathbone - a tremendously versatile actor who could play a multitude of different roles, from Sherlock Holmes to bad-boy pirate Levasseur, each with equal finesse.

Franchot Tone - when the role calls for 'cute', this is the man for the job. He hardly EVER gets the girl. But frankly, most of the time I am mystified as to why!

Eric Blore - my favorite butler! I watched the Lone Wolf films just as much for him as for Warren William. Eric Blore is HILARIOUS!!!!

Walter Brennan - about stole THE WESTERNER right out from under Gary Cooper, and he is in a TON of other Gary Cooper films, always doing an excellent job. And let's not forget about him as Bogie's sidekick in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT.

Eugene Palette - in MY MAN GODFREY, this guy came perilously close to stealing a few scenes. And given that we are talking about William Powell and Carole Lombard in a comedy, that's a pretty impressive feat!

Van Heflin - was great in THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS and GRAND CENTRAL MURDER...and was a great nemesis to Errol Flynn in SANTA FE TRAIL. Also was good at getting the crap scared out of him by wack-job Joan Crawford in POSSESSED.

Melvyn Douglas - I absolutely ADORE Melvyn Douglas. And I can't even really figure out why, other than that he seems like such a likable person. I love alot of the romantic and romantic comedy sorts of films he made. But then he comes along late in his career and does a gritty film like HUD. Very versatile!

[MissGoddess]

Richard Basehart - He never really set the Thames on fire in spite of taking the lead in some very good films: 14 Hours, He Walked By Night, The House on Telegraph Hill and he played Ishmael to Gregory Peck's Ahab in Moby Dick. I've always been partial to him and will watch anything just because he's in it. He went on to do tons of tv work in the 60s and 70s.

Robert Ryan - One of my favorite "tough guys", I like Robert best when he got the rare opportunity to play a good guy, or a bad guy who turns good, as in On Dangerous Ground, Woman on the Beach, Clash by Night. About Mrs Leslie was probably his most romantic movie, but it's almost never shown anywhere---except once upon a time on the AMC-that-was.

Robert Benchley - Sometimes, as in Bed Time Story, he's the best thing in the whole movie, and he always provides welcome relief, comically but knowingly, in roughly the same fashion as another witty favorite, Oscar Levant. As for Oscar, I wonder sometimes if I would like Humoresque or An American in Paris as much as I do if he hadn't appeared in them....I think not.

[pktrekgirl]

Now here are a couple of actresses who fall into this category:

Billie Burke - I really enjoy this actress. Probably known best for the Topper films, she played alot of good roles, I thought. A Bill of Divorcement, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Dinner at Eight, After Office Hours, Forsaking All Others and Father of the Bride/Father's Little Dividend are other excellent films where she made a contribution.

Alice Brady - when it comes to dizzy society ladies, Alice is the best! She was another one who gave an excellent performance in My Man Godfrey.

Gladys Cooper - I was thinking about how good she was the other day while watching part of The Bishop's Wife. But she was in a ton of great films also, such as The Valley of Decision and Now, Voyager

[mrsl]

I have a few, both men and women.

Most underrated of them all, Angela Lansbury. They continually tried to make her older than she was and ignored the few times her youth and beauty was given a chance.

Eve Arden: Beautiful, funny, filled with acting talent, she could play anything they threw at her, yet she was never offered those starring parts she could have done so well.

Frank Faylen: Dobie Gillis' Dad. We see him in countless movies, rarely credited and always in bit parts, but he also always stood out in those bit parts. How often have you spotted him and said, "That's Ernie from It's a Wonderful Life", or "That's that creep from Whispering Smith", or even "That's Dobie Gillis' Dad". I have. Maybe all he wanted were supporting roles like Rance Howard, another underrated, it's too bad Franks' gone now and there's no way to find out.

Finally all those wonderful cowboy and detective stars from TV who never made it in the movies simply because they DID come from TV, just as movie people weren't at first accepted back on Broadway. What a vicious circle can be woven.

Anne

[nightwalker]

Here are some. I'll probably think of others long after this thread sinks to the bottom:

Lon Chaney Jr. is often held up today, even among horror fans, as an actor of extremely limited range, but as I've noted here before, if you check out his work in OF MICE AND MEN, HIGH NOON, THE DEFIANT ONES and others, you'll see otherwise.

Robert Mitchum just didn't get no respect from the critics, but his fans and his peers would disagree. In addition to his many noir and western appearances, check him out sometime in THE SUNDOWNERS.
He was also excellent as the soul of honor and integrity, Pug Henry, in THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE.

John Wayne is also criticized for being more of a film star than an actor, but see his touching performance as the not-ready-to-be-retired cavalry captain Nathan Brittles in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON. That performance alone should put the lie to this claim. His portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in TRUE GRIT wasn't bad either.

Gary Cooper. I've heard more times than I can count that "he can't act." Well, Coop might not be Olivier, but the power of his screen presence is undeniable, and his range is broader than he's usually given credit for. Check him out in DESIGN FOR LIVING sometime, one of Lubitsch's el primo sophisticated comedies. Aside from pictures such as HIGH NOON and SERGEANT YORK, where he's quite likeable, check out his performance in such hard-bitten roles as the ones he played in MAN OF THE WEST and THE HANGING TREE's Dr. Joe Frail, where he's anything but.

[movieman1957]

Here are some. I'll probably think of others long after this thread sinks to the bottom: .

Then you can always bring it back up.

As far as as Mitchum, Wayne and Cooper were concerned I think people saw people saw them as "one note" actors. Clearly, they weren't.

[jdb1]

You know, Chris, appropos of "actors who can't act" in Classic Hollywood, many times those criticisms fall by the wayside after a remake of one of their films is made, and you see the difference between leading actors. We've already had a discussion here or at TCM about whether Kevin Costner is really the "New Gary Cooper." I think not.

There are plenty of contemporary actors/actresses who are fine in their own right, but who will always suffer in comparison to Classic stars. And I don't think it's just their acting, but the content of the films, and the way they were presented. Very few leading players today get the "star treatment" in their work.

By the way, did anyone see a WWII film shown recently on either TCM or Fox - I think it was Task Force. Speaking of underrated -- Walter Brennan (co-starring with Cooper) played a Navy captain or something. Not an old coot, not an irrasciable oldster, but a real, everyday man - something we didn't see very often from Brennan. He was wonderful. He made me feel safe. I wanted to sit in his lap.

[nightwalker]

Yeah, I've seen Brennan in that. It's a Warner Brothers picture, so you probably saw it on TCM. I liked him, but I can't say I wanted to sit in his lap!

Other pictures where he plays normal, regular guys (actually officers) in the service are SEA OF LOST SHIPS and WILD BLUE YONDER.

And he was was really memorable as "Pop" Gruber in the noir classic NOBODY LIVES FOREVER. "Pop" is an ordinary guy who happens to be an aging small-time criminal that's recruited into a plan to fleece widowed Geraldine Fitzgerald by John Garfield. He's tired, he's world-weary, he's seen it all before, but he's also a loyal friend to Garfield, so he's also in it to the end, even when Garfield falls in love with the "mark" for real and wants to forget the whole thing.

[feaito]

Walter Brennan is great and I don't feel he's been underrated. After all, he won three Academy Awards for best supporting actor, almost in a row. I think he was highly regarded by his peers, critics and moviegoers alike.

[jdb1]

Walter Brennan is great and I don't feel he's been underrated. After all, he won three Academy Awards for best supporting actor, almost in a row. I think he was highly regarded by his peers, critics and moviegoers alike.

Nando, we've had this discussion before about Brennan and how he was perceived, and I think one of the conclusions was that although he may have been highly regarded by his peers, but he may not have been taken as seriously by the public as his abilities warranted because of the roles he played. I think here in the US he is forever embedded in the minds of the public as the colorful hillbilly Grandpappy Amos McCoy in the TV show "The Real McCoys." Brennan also had a short-lived series called "The Tycoon" where he was a successful businessman who didn't enjoy his retirement, but the public just couldn't accept him in a suit and tie.

I am no fan of Brennan's ultra-right-wing politics, but I adore him as an actor. He was one of the screen's greats. I would have been proud to sit in his lap.

[feaito]

Sorry Judith, I missed that discussion.

So then Walter Brennan was a kind of victim of "typecasting". You have a point there. When I come to think of it, the roles I've seen him playing in most films are indeed similar in a way and that happened to many first magnitude stars too.

I haven't seen those TV Shows you mention. And yes, it's difficult to picture him shaved and wearing a suit. His screen persona was very definite.

I like this Nando stuff! Nobody had called me that ever and thanks to this wonderful comedy ("It Started in Naples") I have a new nickname. I'm pleased!

[jdb1]

I like this Nando stuff! Nobody had called me that ever and thanks to this wonderful comedy ("It Started in Naples") I have a new nickname. I'm pleased!

Cheeze-boorgor? Sure. Is OK.
Viva Nando!

[moira finnie]

How about Joseph Wiseman?

Joseph Wiseman's brilliant portrayal of the edgy, dangerous thief in William Wyler's Detective Story is still riveting today. With his burning contempt for those around him (including his accomplice), it gradually becomes clear that he's apparently an addict as well, but you can't help watching his smoldering eyes and his reptilian body language, even when he's handcuffed to a radiator. He's repellent, yet we can't help but be interested in him, and wishing that we were told more about his character, the three time loser, who, at one point, exclaims that he's "already a dead man, so what does he have to lose"?

Though he avoided complete typecasting after this powerful role, (I've seen him playing everything from devout rabbis to James Bond villains in Dr. No), some of his best roles in movies were in the '50s, especially his sly political agitator/journalist in Viva Zapata (1951), who's dead to every emotion except his love of power. The way that Wiseman plays this part it kept reminding me of a villain of Shakerspearean proportions. John Steinbeck's script allows the character to be one of the few individuals who understands all the emotional, social, political and moral implications of the life of Mexican rebel leader Emiliano Zapata (Marlon Brando). Wiseman was again brilliant and pitiless in acting this part in its full humanity, outshining the sometimes indulgent Brando and Anthony Quinn in both of their showy roles. and it puzzles me that he didn't receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I also liked his "snake in the garden" character in The Unforgiven (1960) in which his character is a primary catalyst for the destruction that befalls the family of Lillian Gish in the story.

From what little I know about the actor, he seems to have been more of a stage actor than one committed to a film career, though every time I see him (and he is still living, (at 89 years of age), he is never less than compelling. An attractive figure, though not in a movie star way, perhaps, though his erect carriage, height, good speaking voice and dark looks made him watchable and he could adapt himself to almost any part. Off camera, he has a reputation for gentleness and generosity, particularly toward those in his profession who have not had his luck (or his highly developed gifts). I believe that one of the few parts that he could not play, would be that of a stupid character. That just might be a stretch for Mr. Wiseman.

[pktrekgirl]

By the way, did anyone see a WWII film shown recently on either TCM or Fox - I think it was Task Force. Speaking of underrated -- Walter Brennan (co-starring with Cooper) played a Navy captain or something. Not an old coot, not an irrasciable oldster, but a real, everyday man - something we didn't see very often from Brennan. He was wonderful. He made me feel safe. I wanted to sit in his lap.

TASK FORCE is a Gary Cooper film that has been on TCM maybe twice in the past year. I think once back during last December, when Coop was SOTM, and again during the late summer, I believe.

It's a great film about the beginnings of the Air Force.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Reading through this wonderful thread, I find one of the most interesting comments came from Judith concerning the "new appreciation" we have for classic film stars whose vehicles are refurbished or remade. Once the "newer" versions arrive, old "respect" returns to revive interest.

I enjoyed reading and agreeing with everyone's suggestions. I especially feel Mitchum was underrated and underappreciated in The Winds of War, and Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. His role in The Sundowners, as well as Deborah Kerr's, should be heralded more.

Van Heflin, pktrekgirl, is a wonderful actor, and definitely one of the underrated ones, and Rathbone is often pigeonholed as Sherlock, but folks often forget his versatility as well as his ability to fence.

And I want to add Florence Bates to the likely list of candidates. She was the unappreciated sand that made pearls like Saratoga Trunk, Rebecca, and A Letter to Three Wives, amongst others. Without her agitation, Maxim de Winter might not have had a new wife, Cleo Dulaine might have had nothing but smooth sailing at the swank watering hole, and the likes of Mrs. Manley might not have prompted that endearing tirade about the effects of the media made by Kirk Douglas as a poor but principled English teacher.

And Mrsl, Eve Arden is my candidate for more glorification if I had to pick just one. No one could crack wise as well as Eve Arden except Thelma
Ritter and Rosalind Russell.