The Silver Screen Oasis

Cinemalover's review of "The Cowboys" and mention of Bruce Dern made me wonder who are your favorite nasty characters/actors.

My favorite "bad guy" actors are Dan Duryea and Jack Elam. I liked Richard Boone's character in "Big Jake."

Please share yours.

For someone who is such a lovable and enjoyable character in the majority of his films, I found my favorite bad guy to be Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean in The Westerner and as Pa Clanton in My Darling Clementine. They were so out of character, and yet, he made them totally believable.

Ultimate evil-doers from my early childhood list are Lionel Barrymore as Mr. Potter and Margaret Hamilton as you-know-who in TWOO. ( I'm still too afraid to say her name. )

Peter Graves as the double agent in Stalag 17 is a slick one.
Sir Ralph Richardson as Dr. Sloper in The Heiress was harsh and cruel as the controlling patriarch.

And Robert Barrat as Nick Powers in Baby Face. (The part of Stanwyck's father.) The ultimate slimeball....

But my most enjoyable "Bad Guy" had to go to Charles Lane. How many pieces of real estate did this fellow almost foreclose on in his decades long career as the ultimate curmudgeon and dastardly bean-counter? He usually softened by the time the final credits would roll, but this actor supplied such grist for script mills that he should have received a special Oscar for longevity and absence of levity in the face of foreclosure.

I like the sleek and stylish villains in many Classic Hollywood movies. How about Conrad Veidt, Henry Daniell and Basil Rathbone, and an American counterpart, George Macready? George Sanders was a dandy villain too.

Brennan's Pa Clanton was something to see, in My Darling Clementine.

Jack Palance in Shane is also one of the most memorable.

I can't believe no one has mentioned Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance.

Jack Palance is great in "Shane." Marvin very good in "seven Men from Now." Richard Widmark in "Yellow Sky." Dan Duryea in "Winchester '73." John McIntyre in "Far Country."

I am surprised I forgot about old Liberty V...surely he belongs in the western villain hall of fame.

John McIntyre in The Far Country was a good call; he is one of my favorites because he's so charming I just hate to see him turn all bad.

Henry Fonda as Frank in "Once Upon a Time In the West"

Eli Wallach as Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven "

Gene Hackman as John Herod in "The Quick and the Dead"



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And all those wonderful, evil bad guys on "Wild Wild West." Those colorful villains are what made that show eminently watchable.

For my money, Lee Marvin nailed the most despicable western villain ever as Liberty Valance.

An interesting different choice for me is Yul Brynner as a western robot gone awry in Westworld. It's a nice contrast to the classic western hero he played in The Magnificent Seven.

I have to agree, cinemalover. Lee Marvin was the ultimate evil-doer in
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Henry Fonda comes a close-up second in the domain of the Old West in Once Upon a Time....

Hi Chris

As a newcomer to this site I have only just come across your thread - as a youngster in the cinema western era I saw many cowboy films - probably too many to now recall - but my favourite "baddies" over the years have been - Lyle Bettger - Jack Palance and Lee Van Cleef - but top of the shop goes to a name you first mentioned - Jack Elam.

I never tire of watching him - an under-rated actor with a very expressive face - although I greatly admired his acting I never hated him as a baddie - like say Lyle - or anyone who hit Randolph Scott.

Hope this thread gets resurrected as it still has great potential

Bilbo

One to love and one to hate:

Robert Ryan in The Naked Spur and Louis Calhern in Devil's Doorway.

Of course, I can't go without mentioning my favorite bad guy - Joseph Calleia.

Brian Donlevy in "Union Pacific" is pretty memorable, sticking the foot of his cigar in whiskey.

I always liked Christopher George in "El Dorado." John Wayne tells him: "You're too good to give a chance to!"

Lee Marvin in SEVEN MEN FROM NOW is probably my favorite, but Klaus Kinski in THE GREAT SILENCE also brings a smile to my face.