Robert Ryan: The Man and His Films

[moira finnie]

To celebrate Robert Ryan's 100th birthday, TCM will be broadcasting two days of this great actor's movies, which are posted below. There is also an ongoing blogathon on TCM Movie Morlocks blog through Wednesday honoring Ryan's contributions to film. You can see the various blogs here.

For those of you who are in the Los Angeles area, on Wednesday, November 11th (Robert Ryan's Birthday), a Centennial Birthday Tribute to the actor will be hosted by our pal Alan K. Rode (Moxie) at the American Cinematheque. There will be screenings of two of Ryan's best films, The Set-Up (1949) and The Naked Spur (1952). Alan Rode will introduce the screenings with Ryan's daughter, Lisa (Mookryan) and the one and only... actress Marsha Hunt in attendance.

For information on ticket prices and other details on the screening, please open this link: http://tinyurl.com/ykggs4v
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Below is a list of this underrated actor's films on the schedule.

Tuesday, Nov. 10th

6:00 AM
Her Twelve Men (1954)
A dedicated teacher turns around the troublesome students at a boys' school. Cast: Greer Garson, Robert Ryan, Richard Haydn. Dir: Robert Z. Leonard. BW-91 mins, TV-G, CC

8:00 AM
Born To Be Bad (1950)
An ambitious girl steals a rich husband but keeps her lover on the side. Cast: Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Mel Ferrer. Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-90 mins, TV-PG, CC

10:00 AM
Best Of The Badmen (1951)
A band of notorious outlaws help a friend against a corrupt federal agent. Cast: Robert Ryan, Claire Trevor, Robert Preston. Dir: William D. Russell. C-84 mins, TV-PG, CC

11:30 AM
Back From Eternity (1956)
When an airliner crashes in the jungle, the repaired plane can only hold five of the survivors. Cast: Robert Ryan, Anita Ekberg, Rod Steiger. Dir: John Farrow. BW-97 mins, TV-PG, CC

1:30 PM
The Racket(1951)
A tough cop has to fight his superiors in order to battle the mob. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan. Dir: John Cromwell. BW-89 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:00 PM
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry's blind sister. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond. Dir: Nicholas Ray. BW-82 mins, TV-PG, CC

4:30 PM
Beware, My Lovely (1952)
A widow discovers her handyman is an escaped mental patient. Cast: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes. Dir: Harry Horner. BW-77 mins, TV-PG, CC

6:00 PM
Clash By Night (1952)
An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband's best friend. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe. Dir: Fritz Lang.W-105 mins, TV-PG, CC, DVS

Wednesday, Nov. 11th

7:00 AM
Bombardier (1943)
Military officers compete for the same woman while training pilots for war. Cast: Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley. Dir: Richard Wallace. BW-99 mins, TV-G, CC

9:00 AM
Gangway for Tomorrow (1943)
Five people thrown together by World War II review their pasts. Cast: Robert Ryan, Margo, John Carradine. Dir: John H. Auer. BW-69 mins, TV-PG

10:15 AM
Marine Raiders (1944)
Marine buddies training in Australia battle over love. Cast: Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey. Dir: Harold Schuster. BW-91 mins, TV-G

12:00 PM
The Iron Major (1943)
In this true story, Frank Cavanaugh proves himself as a football coach and a World War I hero. Cast: Pat O'Brien, Ruth Warrick, Robert Ryan. Dir: Ray Enright. BW-85 mins, TV-G

1:30 PM
Tender Comrade (1943)
Lady welders pool their resources to share a house during World War II. Cast: Ginger Rogers, Robert Ryan, Ruth Hussey. Dir: Edward Dmytryk. BW-102 mins, TV-PG, CC

3:15 PM
Berlin Express (1948)
Allied agents fight an underground Nazi group in post-war Europe. Cast: Merle Oberon, Robert Ryan, Paul Lukas. Dir: Jacques Tourneur. BW-87 mins, TV-PG, CC

4:45 PM
Act Of Violence (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer. Cast: Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh. Dir: Fred Zinnemann. BW-82 mins, TV-PG, CC

6:30 PM
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
A one-armed veteran uncovers small-town secrets when he tries to visit an Asian-American war hero's family. Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis. Dir: John Sturges. C-82 mins, TV-PG, CC, Letterbox Format, DVS

Nov. 21st
12:00 PM
The Naked Spur (1953)
A captive outlaw uses psychological tactics to prey on a bounty hunter. Cast: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Ralph Meeker. Dir: Anthony Mann. C-92 mins, TV-PG, CC

Nov. 26th 3:00 AM
The Sky's The Limit (1943)
A pilot on leave falls for a pretty news photographer. Cast: Fred Astaire, Joan Leslie, Robert Benchley. Dir: Edward H. Griffith. BW-89 mins, TV-G, CC

[MikeBSG]

It's good to see that so many people are remembering him. He added a lot to the films he was in.

[mrsl]

.
What a pleasure to wake up to Robert Ryan and Greer Garson in Her Twelve Men. A gentle little comedy about a lady teacher out of her element in her first teaching job at a boys prep school. At first Ryan is against her, but warms up in more ways than one and ends up backing her all the way. I specially love Greer's costuming in this one. The schools colors are two shades of green, so she spends most of the movie in various dresses, suits, and slack outfits in green which makes her hair look like spun copper. Oddly, Ryan and Garson have a little chemistry there; not a lot, but enough to make the film enjoyable to watch.

The movie that followed after he was so nicely paired with Greer was Born to be Bad with Joan Fontaine - blah, blah, blah. For some reason this lady has never given me cause to care what happened to any of her characters, especially in Rebecca, or Suspicion. In both I hoped the hubby DID do her in. Odd, how I can adore her sister and can't stand her. After that I had to get busy on the phone and get myself irritated but I'll be back later tonight and tomorrow.
.

[JackFavell]

I enjoyed Robert Ryan yesterday in the bits and pieces I was able to watch - Best of the Badmen looked quite good, but I have to admit that all I saw was Ryan's ripped pants and how gorgeous his body was in this movie.

The Racket was the film that interested me the most - Ryan was all over the place in this one, and it was a perfectly fascinating performance - one minute menacing and cold, the next desperate and almost sympathetic. There was one scene that just blew me away, in which Ryan was actually funny, I'll have to go back and watch again to remember the details. His character was so street, and yet, he kept hoping that with money and power he would somehow "get culture". I just loved him in this one.

Ryan could throw a punch like no one else, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that fist.

[Ollie]

THE RACKET probably gets my vote as one of my favorite tough-guy films. I knew the Roberts - Mitchum and Ryan - would deliver powerful, maybe even hate-filling characters, but I had NO IDEA that it would be slimy-slick William Cannon that would take the Most Sinister Of All crown. And Mitchum is great as this incredibly powerful Good Guy in this film, easily matching all the villainy. William Talman and Ray Collins seem to turn any of their films into My Favorites.

[JackFavell]

Gotta agree with you on this one - Conrad was the slimiest, Ollie! My mouth was hanging open by the end of the film at how roundabout things got. And it was nice to see Ray Collins sniveling, instead of making others snivel.

[moira finnie]

I thought that some might be interested in reading the transcript of the remarks made at the Robert Ryan Centennial Event that SSO member Alan K. Rode (moxie) conducted with our site's other friend, Lisa Ryan (mookryan) and actress Marsha Hunt at the Egyptian Theatre back in November. It has been posted on Facebook and you can see it by clicking on the link below:

The Robert Ryan Centennial: A Conversation with Lisa Ryan & Marsha Hunt conducted by Alan K. Rode

[MichiganJ]

New York Times article on Robert Ryan:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/movie ... d=fb-share

[JackFavell]

Thanks for the article. A very heartfelt one from a writer who generally makes a lot of mistakes... she wins points for me with this one.

[RedRiver]

This is an actor whose dark and moody presence brings a movie to life. Sometimes in disturbing ways, but that's life! THE SET-UP is so good it's hard to describe. One of the best claustrophobic films around, you have to see it to believe it. Can a movie with virtually no trappings be this good? YES!

ON DANGEROUS GROUND benefits as much from Ryan's interpretation as from Nicholas Ray's fine direction. The actor simply climbs into a character and gives birth to it.

His work in CLASH BY NIGHT, CROSSFIRE and the rugged INFERNO will stay with you for life. A good fit in westerns, crime stories, even the occasional melodrama. Was the man ever happy? My brother's second favorite actor (nobody beats John Wayne) has given classic movie fans much to treasure.

[JackFavell]

This is an actor whose dark and moody presence brings a movie to life. Sometimes in disturbing ways

That is SO true, Red. He's not easy to watch, and I think maybe this is why he wasn't a bigger star? He seems to find a nugget of discontent, close to evil in decent characters, and makes you feel an uncomfortable empathy with the reprehensible ones. He's not afraid to take the audience to a place where it's the most scary for them.... you see things you might not want to in your own character.

It took me till just a couple years ago to really be able to watch Ryan. He disturbed me so much that I literally would walk away from a movie or turn off the set if I saw his face.... that is, until I saw The Wild Bunch. He moved and impressed me SO much, in such a limited role, I decided he was worth combatting my fears for.

The Set Up is probably my favorite Ryan movie. Again, I find myself squirming watching Ryan, especially in the scene after the fight, when he's being stalked by Little Boy...looking like the Frankenstein monster, backed up against that metal door. It really is agony to watch him sometimes, but so worth it.

Other favorites for me are

Odds Against Tomorrow
The Naked Spur
Act of Violence
On Dangerous Ground
Beware My Lovely = I really, really love his performance here. It may be my favorite. The movie is fairly simple, not one of the greats, but boy, Ryan is just superb, as is Ida Lupino as the woman he terrorizes. I find him tremendously sympathetic, in a role anyone else would have made a cartoon villain out of. His sweetness and confusion blows my mind.
Inferno
Clash By Night

I've listed so many as favorites and I could keep going, I might as well have listed all the Ryan films I've seen so far.

[knitwit45]

After reading the article, and the follow up comments here ( and other postings about RR) I watched Crossfire for the first time tonight. It is so compact, fast, and as RR was quoted, Simplification at its best. No backstory to tell us why Monty is so damaged. Just a fast ride on a tilt-a-wheel. Red, he is hard to watch, but it's like driving past a trainwreck..you can't help but look.

[ChiO]

Always good to see the resurgence of a Robert Ryan thread. Being one who finds it next-to-impossible to judge performances across movies, and not recalling any Ryan performance that was less than wonderful, here's my 15 Favorite Movies with Robert Ryan:

1. On Dangerous Ground (Ray 1951)
2. The Naked Spur (Mann 1953)
3. Day of the Outlaw (De Toth 1959)
4. Caught (Ophuls 1947)
5. The Wild Bunch (Peckinpah 1969)
6. Bad Day at Black Rock (J. Sturges 1954)
7. Act of Violence (Zinnemann 1948)
8. The Set-Up (Wise 1949)
9. Crossfire (Dmytryk 1947)
10. Clash by Night (Lang 1952)
11. Lonelyhearts (Donehue 1958)
12. House of Bamboo (Fuller 1955)
13. And Hope to Die (Clement 1972)
14. The Woman on the Beach (Renoir 1947)
15. Men in War (Mann 1957)