Thoughts on Lee
Never had I considered seeing a Ronald Reagan film until I discovered Lee Marvin was in one. The first time I saw Lee in Paint Your Wagon*, I thought, "Now here's an interesting actor".... Paternal, rangy in physique, prematurely white-haired, gravely voiced, oddly charming. To see him and Clint and Jean Seberg on film together, in a movie that is so maligned but that is actually pretty funny and amusing, was a joy to discover.
As a kid in the 80's and 90's I never heard of Lee Marvin, even though he used to be a big action star. I'm still getting through his catalog, I've seen ten of his movies so far, including The Wild One, in which he outshined Marlon Brando (IMO). When Lee's character, Chino, was in the frame that's all I could focus on. He has a commanding swagger, and he's graceful, despite his height and proportions. He's a very physical actor, evident in all the roles of his I've seen. John Borman I guess took advantage of this quality of Lee's and cast him in parts where he had little to no dialog.
He's a comedian as well, especially when he plays a drunk, like in Cat Ballou which he won an Oscar for. He had dual roles in that, as a drunk gunshooter and as a villain. Oddly enough, it was a comedy that he won his Oscar for, and how often is it that the Oscars recognize comedies? Unlike his tough guy roles, Lee's comedic performances were more flashy. His tough guy roles were stoic, appropriately, so wouldn't have stood out as much as a "performance" to the award givers.
Overall, he's a classic movie star, although very few people my age know who he is. I was surprised when I watched the movie 'Go' again recently when one of the teenage character's said Lee in a 'name dead celebrities' drinking game. Of course this dialog was written by someone much older, but I thought it was funny nonetheless, to be included in a movie marketed to a young demographic.
Lee's later movies, close to his death are tough to watch. One, because you can tell he's unhealthy and two, because he was sort of turning into a cheesy B-movie action star, which is also what happened to his Dirty Dozen compadre Charles Bronson. It just didn't seem like the right path for Lee. But he was still a bad-ass, undeniably, til the end.
*a musical, which was spoofed on The Simpsons--Homer thought he was seeing a typical Clint Eastwood movie, but got a sensitive crooning Clint instead.
As a kid in the 80's and 90's I never heard of Lee Marvin, even though he used to be a big action star. I'm still getting through his catalog, I've seen ten of his movies so far, including The Wild One, in which he outshined Marlon Brando (IMO). When Lee's character, Chino, was in the frame that's all I could focus on. He has a commanding swagger, and he's graceful, despite his height and proportions. He's a very physical actor, evident in all the roles of his I've seen. John Borman I guess took advantage of this quality of Lee's and cast him in parts where he had little to no dialog.
He's a comedian as well, especially when he plays a drunk, like in Cat Ballou which he won an Oscar for. He had dual roles in that, as a drunk gunshooter and as a villain. Oddly enough, it was a comedy that he won his Oscar for, and how often is it that the Oscars recognize comedies? Unlike his tough guy roles, Lee's comedic performances were more flashy. His tough guy roles were stoic, appropriately, so wouldn't have stood out as much as a "performance" to the award givers.
Overall, he's a classic movie star, although very few people my age know who he is. I was surprised when I watched the movie 'Go' again recently when one of the teenage character's said Lee in a 'name dead celebrities' drinking game. Of course this dialog was written by someone much older, but I thought it was funny nonetheless, to be included in a movie marketed to a young demographic.
Lee's later movies, close to his death are tough to watch. One, because you can tell he's unhealthy and two, because he was sort of turning into a cheesy B-movie action star, which is also what happened to his Dirty Dozen compadre Charles Bronson. It just didn't seem like the right path for Lee. But he was still a bad-ass, undeniably, til the end.
*a musical, which was spoofed on The Simpsons--Homer thought he was seeing a typical Clint Eastwood movie, but got a sensitive crooning Clint instead.