What a voice! What eyes! What an arm!

It's no secret--the contempt Frank Sinatra had for: 1. doing scene rehearsals and 2. Marlon Brando, but when Ol' Blue Eyes discovered that Brando had been tapped for the lead role in Warner Bros. groundbreaking drama, The Man with the Golden Arm, his desire for the chance to play him was unbearable. The work Frank put into it, after winning the part, is reflected in every way, every second he is on screen. The result: Frank's only Best Actor Oscar Nomination and inarguably, the most powerful performance of his career.
For 1955, a mention of drug addiction in film was non-existent, but Director Otto Preminger turned the tumultuous effects of heroin into anything but discreet. Frank Sinatra plays Frankie Machine, an ex-convict card dealer who returns from prison back to his old neighborhood and habit. His wife Zosch, played brilliantly by Eleanor Parker, is bound to a wheelchair after a disasterous car crash at the hands of Frankie. Her main goal in life is to forever keep him by her side and at any cost, that drives him to get those fixes. As one witnessed Frankie fall faster and further down into the dark well past recovery, nothing could warn nor prepare you for the harrowing realism of addiction this film portrays. But the true shining light that comes out of this picture is redemption and the performance from it's star.
Frank as Frankie Machine is an example of acting at it's finest. As with any picture with Frank in it, the main thing noticed, apart from his trademark Jersey accent, is his realism. For this film, anything short of complete believability would cause it to fall, fast and hard, right on it's face. But Preminger and his illustrious cast, to the score of Elmer Bernstein, come as close to real life as Hollywood could.
Adding to The Man with the Golden Arm, in her best peerformance as an actress, Kim Novak brings such beauty and grace to one of the finest female leads ever written for the screen. She plays Molly, Frankie's lover who, despite her occupation and relationship standing is a beautiful, moral and kind woman. Kim's chemistry with Frank sizzles and one cannot help but love her and her charm.
Although The Voice overall is not considered on the same caliber as an actor as Marlon Brando, imagining anyone else playing Frankie Machine is excruciating. The Man with the Golden Arm may have been filmed in black & white but even through the grayscale, Frank's pain and passion behind his blue eyes comes through in true Hollywood gold.

FILM TO WATCH--Frank Sinatra: The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) Dir. Otto Preminger. *for more Frank---From Here to Eternity (1943).

The Absent Minded Murder--The Ageless Performance

An actor's most important asset, above all, is his fans. Modern and Classic actors alike. Especially in the Golden Age of Hollywood, a following a particular performer would garner was among the most important figures to the Studio who employed him. As almost everything was either directly or indirectly controlled by the main Hollywood film Studios (M-G-M, Paramount, Warner Bros. etc...) and stars had numerous opinions as to the direction of their careers from their top Execs. When it came to choosing film roles big stars, like Fred MacMurray, almost always considered what his fans would think of them. Fred was, until his self-proclaimed two greatest performances, typecast as the "nice guy" of Hollywood, and when Billy Wilder came to him with visions of him as Walter Neff, MacMurray was hesitant. Previous actors, like George Raft and Dick Powell, weren't able to take the role leaving Wilder leading man-less until he successfully persuaded Fred to take on, inarguably, what became his most recognized and illustriast performance of his long career.
Double Indemnity (1944), among one of Billy Wilder's greatest masterpieces, is a Film-Noir about an insurance man (MacMurray) who is persuaded by an unhappy wife (Barbara Stanwyck) to kill her husband and collect on it. Fred played Walter Neff, a very complicated character, who is horrific in all aspects of his personality except for his talent to charm, which comes in handy in his work. Walter had redemptive qualities but only after he realized his feelings and actions were in vain. He did not possess any remorse or good intentions, thus making him the complete opposite of the Fred MacMurray the public knew.
Now when one watches Fred as Walter Neff onscreen without any previous knowledge of his persona, it is practically impossible to imagine any other type of role that suits him. And still, even after viewing "nice guy" performances, the memorable looks, lines and smiles come from him pretending to be a very bad man. The acting required is not completely simple or over-the-top, but, as with any picture directed produced and written by Billy Wilder, the characters are not complicated in situation but their motives, feelings, and reactions to experiances make them all among the realist men and women to ever be portrayed.
What makes Fred MacMurray's performance one of the greatest of all time, is his understated way throughout the whole of the film. Even when Walter is faced with overwhelming passion, anger, pain and fear, Fred plays him as minimally as possible. That medium he reached between emotion and restraint makes it fantastic, and gives Walter Neff the power required to both play off Barbara Stanwyck's equally astounding portrayal of his achilles heal and despite his awful qualities, a believable, sexy and haunting man.
Fred once said that the only two roles he ever took on that required acting were those given to him by Billy Wilder (the other being Jeff Sheldrake in The Apartment (1960)), and as much as I believe that he did capture every person he played perfectly, everything bows down to Walter Neff. Nothing from a single line or action gets me like the way Fred says "anklet" or strikes a match with his thumbnail in Double Indemnity, and it will always be as poignant and ageless upon every viewing.

FILM TO WATCH---FRED MACMURRAY: Double Indemnity (1944) Dir. Billy Wilder

It's Raining Claude!

Claude Rains came from across the pond--where most classically trained actors originate from--yet despite his English accent, he had the ability to twist and turn any look or action to fit the person he was portraying. Claude was a textbook supporting character actor and in addition to his talent, unlike any other from his time, I believe he had one of the most impressive resumes to ever come out of Hollywood. The people he worked with! Directors Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, Micheal Curtiz and David Lean; and actors Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn. But of course what would an actor be without his leading and supporting ladies? Well, Claude's were spectacular. Ingrid Bergman, Bette Davis, Jean Arthur, Vivien Leigh and Olivia de'Haviland--just to name a few. Even throughout his entire career of countless classics, the one role that defines Claude's work is without a doubt his portrayal of Alexander Sebastian in Alfred Hitchcock's 1946 suspense thriller masterpiece, Notorious.
Alexander was not over-the-top in hysterics or blatantly psychotic in any way. He was just a run of the mill Nazi trying to poison his wife. Yes, the character sounds outrageous, but what makes Claude's performance memorable is the sheer humanity he brought to the picture. Amidst all of the sympathy and empathy showered onto Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, the heroes, upon viewing Notorious, one finds himself giving their heart to Claude. The talent to make a very bad man who does very bad things seem not so bad at all is complicated, but Claude is effortless, and he gives most, if not all, along with the uncomprable script by Ben Hecht and theme of love, Notorious' power as one of the greatest films ever made.
I laugh with Claude as the ridiculously eccentric Prince John from The Adventures of Robin Hood (1936), I am terrified of him as Don Louis in Anthony Adverse (1936), I have contempt for him as Senator Joe Paine from Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939), I want to be best friends with him as Captain Renault in Casablanca (1942) and I am, even with Cary Grant filling the frame, head over heels in love with him as Alex in Notorious. He was only 5'6'' but Claude Rains was perhaps the biggest talent to ever grace the silver screen.

FILM TO WATCH---CLAUDE RAINS: Notorious (1946) Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.

*The Nitty Gritty*

My first post was not much of anything except for an uninspired explanation of my favorite actress and actor from classic cinema. I barely touched upon any performances from either Hepburn or Holden, the great films they helped make, or their lives offscreen, but trust me it won't happen again.
Now that I have gotten expressing my love for William and Audrey out of the way, I can now talk about the things I think forever important: the greatest acting performances, films and directors from the Hollywood Golden Age.
I undoubtedly believe the greatest acting and directing seen on screen has come from the 1930's oto 1950's. To spotlight unparalleled character actors like Lee J. Cobb and Claude Rains, to more famous players like Fred MacMurray and Jack Lemmon, their leading ladies like Jean Arthur, Norma Shearer and Barbara Stanwyck and the men who directed the finest pictures ever made, is damned good fun. My only obstacle is deciding what to write; but I would take that issue over any problem any day.

"Golden Boy" Holden

From the first moment I saw her in her dark glasses and dark dress, eating breakfast outside of Tiffany’s, I knew that Audrey Hepburn would forever be the classic actress I held dearest to my heart. Her presence and poise, voice and humanity, that could not wane, would and will never cease to astound me. I always thought it strange, though, as I constantly replied “Audrey” when questioned about my favorite actress, I perpetually failed to say the same name more than twice when it came to an actor. How can I choose only one, or, for that matter, keep the same one, when innumerable amounts of gifted men constantly came across the silver screen. I would jump from Cary to Jimmy to Gregory to Errol and back to Cary before moving onto Marlon. Extremely content with this situation, I sat down to finally watch a staple Hepburn, Sabrina. Expecting nothing short of delight from director Billy Wilder and of course, an enjoyable time with Humphrey Bogart, I never expected to be completely floored by the Golden Boy, William Holden.
It would be much easier to describe the reasons why I find Cary Grant so charming or why I think Marlon Brando is the epitome of greatness. When it comes to Bill, he is an actor with immeasurable talent for convincing the audience he is the character he plays, but simultaneously, never letting them forget that he’s on screen. William, as the playboy David Larrabee, in Sabrina(1954), could not have differed more from his only Oscar winning role as the smug, conflicted Sgt. J.J. Sefton in Stalag 17(1953). But even through both Wilder’s, the epitome of Drama and Romantic Comedy, Bill’s effervescent charm and vulnerability shine through, and stay with me more than anyone else I have ever seen. It could be his dimples, or his strong voice, but it’s that something you cannot name that draws me. The Golden Boy had “It”, and it is incredible to watch.