The Late Walter Brennan

[Quasimodem]

Wonderful character actor!

Loved him as Amos McCoy in The Real McCoys (Where'd we get that phrase from anyway?) and many many other roles , but did he ever play anything other than a wizened, wise old man???

Surely he didn't come out of the womb lookin' like that????

That was meant to be funny, BTW. I know there are many great actors who got their start late in life.

Thanks

Q

[kunilou]

Brennan had played bit parts in movies and worked as a stuntman. When he was in his mid-30s, he was in an accident (legend has it he was kicked in the face by a horse/mule) that cost him most of his teeth, which, combined with his early balding, made him perfect for old man roles.

[choie]

I have to admit I often get him confused with the fabulous Walter Huston. Who's a terrific actor and hardly interchangeable with Brennan's typical performance of the standard old prospecting dude. And yet there's always a moment when watching TCM that, when I see there's a movie with Walter Huston on, I think Brennan, not Huston.

[Wendell Wagner]

Here's a link to a download of Affairs of Cappy Ricks:

http://www.archive.org/details/affairs_of_cappy_ricks

Brennan would have been 42 when it was filmed, which makes it the earliest picture of him I can find offhand.

[Sampiro]

One of my favorite performances was late in his career- the remorseless old river pirate who pimps his daughter and robs and kills pioneers and traders going to/coming from the frontier in HOW THE WEST WAS WON. On the commentary they said that after several good guy/wacky grandpa roles in a row he loved the chance to play someone evil.

In addition to having the record for most Oscars he was one of the richest men in show business. His ranch in Oregon alone was more than 30,000 acres. No brag, just fact.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

Wonderful character actor!

Loved him as Amos McCoy in The Real McCoys (Where'd we get that phrase from anyway?)

Q

Almost certainly it goes back to "The Real McKay," which was a famous Scots whiskey from the mid-1800s. To the uninitiated, "McKay" in Scots sounds like "Makai" in an outlander's ears. So, it's kinda "McCoy." The phrase "real McCoy" starts showing up around the 1890s. Has nothing whatsoever to do with the boxer, an early Afro-American inventor of self-lubricating locomotive parts, or anything else that you can invent. It all goes back to the Scots whiskey distillers. Period.

[Chefguy]

Brennan was playing codger roles early on. Most movies I've seen him in are in that vein. Old before his time, I guess.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

In Stanley and Livingston (1939), he played more or less his own age (mid 40s), but, yeah, mostly he started playing old coots and codgers in his 30s.

[AuntiePam]

I loved The Real McCoys. Richard Crenna was hot, and he stayed hot.

My favorite Walter Brennan western is the one with Gary Cooper. Too lazy to look up the title. Brennan played Judge Roy Bean, Cooper was in front of him, in trouble, but he got out of it by telling Brennan that he knew Lily Langtry, whom the Judge had a huge crush on. Maybe it's Walter Brennan with a crush that makes that movie stand out for me.

[kitemaker_chuck]

I know that Walter Brennan played a U.S. Navy admiral in a movie he was in with Gary Cooper, (I can't recall the title), and in another movie with Gary Cooper, (Sergeant York), Brennan played the local preacher (and owner/operator of the local general store), and he didn't seem "grizzled" there.

I think he was also in a television show from the 1960's called "The Tycoon", where he played the title role.

[RealityChuck]

One nice early role was opposite W.C. Fields in The Man on the Flying Trapeze in 1935. He plays a burglar who gets drunk from Fields's still. From the photo, he doesn't look particularly old or grizzled, though he clearly did not have leading man looks.

My favorite Brennan line: "No brag. Just fact." from The Guns of Will Sonnett

[aceplace57]

Brennan was in one of John Wayne's greatest films Red River.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sybendn624

[Fear Itself]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

My favorite Brennan line: "No brag. Just fact."

"Was you ever stung by a dead bee?"

[Johnny L.A.]

I can't think of Walter Brennan without thinking of the nightclub owner in Good Morning, Vietnam who was desperately looking for pictures of Walter Brennan naked.

[Kolak of Twilo]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

I can't think of Walter Brennan without thinking of the nightclub owner in Good Morning, Vietnam who was desperately looking for pictures of Walter Brennan naked.

This.

And I will always remember him as Old Man Clanton in My Darling Clementine and Doc in Bad Day at Black Rock. He really was an amazing character actor.

[kelly5078]

He won Oscars because he was popular with extras, and extras could vote at the time. After his third win the Academy put a stop to that. This is nothing to hold against him, just the way it was.

What I do hold against him is that was a right-wing supporter of Wallace and others. He opposed the civil rights movement. He thought foreign commies were behind the Vietnam protests.

He was a versatile character actor, I'll give him that. But I can't stand the guy.

[CalMeacham]

One bit of trivia I recall is that Brennan played a bicyclist attacked by The Invisible Man in the Universal picture of that name. Too far away to recognize, though.


Brennan always did seem to be old, though. Unlike Jimmy Durante, who also always seemed to be old, but you could actually find pictures and film clips of a young Durante with hair. I can't recall ever seeing a young Brennan.

I have a recording of Brennan reading works by Mark Twain. It's on a collection of Twain stories, read by various actors, and in the older ones Twain is definitely expected to be old -- he's invariably voiced as an old man, by older actors -- which is undoubtedly why Brennan is reading the part. (People seem to forget or ignore that he started lecturing while still in his thirties. The modern trend is to present a younger Twain.)

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

"Was you ever stung by a dead bee?"

Forgot about that one. Only it's, "Ever been bit by a dead bee?"

[Sigmagirl]

Helots.

[C K Dexter Haven]

On history of "The Real McCoy": http://www.word-detective.com/051600.html#realmccoy

Originally Posted by Sampiro

On the commentary they said that after several good guy/wacky grandpa roles in a row he loved the chance to play someone evil.

His role in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) as the main bad guy is amazing -- he's totally convincing, and radiates evil. There's a shot where his (black) hat shades his face, with his eyes shining out of the darkness, that's absolutely bone-chilling.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

A bigger mystery to me than the origin of the phrase "The real McCoy," is the "plot' of the TV series "The Real McCoys." Don't recall a single plot line. And the only thing I do remember is the opening them song singing about "Grandpappy-A." I didn't know the line was actually "Grandpappy Amos," just thought he was called "Grandpappy-A" to rhyme with "Ca-Li-For-Ni-A."

[zamboniracer]

Brennan was great as Pa Danby in "Support Your Local Sheriff", the James Garner cowboy spoof.

Pa Danby: There's always some tramp that's good with a gun that can be hired.
Luke Danby: Yeah, but you always said that the Danbys fight their own battles.
Pa Danby: Well, maybe I was talkin' 'bout another branch of the family.

Pa Danby: Now I'm gonna take a little trip tomorrow and I want you two to behave yourselves while I'm gone. I don't want nobody to make no martyr out of this here sheriff.
Tom Danby: What's a martyr?
Pa Danby: Oh, I'm sorry. They didn't use words like that in the third grade, did they?
Tom Danby: Well, how would I know? I didn't get that far.

[UncaStuart]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

My favorite Walter Brennan western is the one with Gary Cooper. Too lazy to look up the title. Brennan played Judge Roy Bean, Cooper was in front of him, in trouble, but he got out of it by telling Brennan that he knew Lily Langtry, whom the Judge had a huge crush on. Maybe it's Walter Brennan with a crush that makes that movie stand out for me.

The Westerner, directed by William Wyler. Pic.

[ArchiveGuy]

All this talk of Brennan and no love for the immortal Stumpy in Rio Bravo? Most of my other faves (To Have, Sheriff, Clementine, Westerner, River) have already been named, but had to stick up for my fave role of his.

[Sampiro]

Originally Posted by C K Dexter Haven

His role in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) as the main bad guy is amazing -- he's totally convincing, and radiates evil. There's a shot where his (black) hat shades his face, with his eyes shining out of the darkness, that's absolutely bone-chilling.

In HTWWW it's the opposite: he's bald with a long white mane and the soul of joy and hospitality, even smiling and laughing as he robs and kills his guests. I love the scene where his daughter tells him she's not sure if she mortally wounded Jimmy Stewart (which of course she hasn't) because she didn't feel the knife go in far: "You just need more practice darlin', that's all... pity you ain't got the knack for it your ma did, God rest her soul".

[Labdad]

Originally Posted by UncaStuart

The Westerner, directed by William Wyler. Pic.

In addition to Sergeant York and The Westerner, Brennan made a couple of other splendid films with Gary Cooper: Pride of the Yankees and Meet John Doe. I think Brennan and Cooper were good friends in real life.

[handsomeharry]

Originally Posted by zamboniracer

Brennan was great as Pa Danby in "Support Your Local Sheriff", the James Garner cowboy spoof.

Pa Danby: There's always some tramp that's good with a gun that can be hired.
Luke Danby: Yeah, but you always said that the Danbys fight their own battles.
Pa Danby: Well, maybe I was talkin' 'bout another branch of the family.

Pa Danby: Now I'm gonna take a little trip tomorrow and I want you two to behave yourselves while I'm gone. I don't want nobody to make no martyr out of this here sheriff.
Tom Danby: What's a martyr?
Pa Danby: Oh, I'm sorry. They didn't use words like that in the third grade, did they?
Tom Danby: Well, how would I know? I didn't get that far.

That has to be one of, if not THE funniest western comedy ever made. (Yes, I've seen Blazing saddles).

From the film:
Pa Danby had his son hold Pa's dentures in son's pocket for the big gun battle.
Son: Look, Pa, (the bullet hit his son in the pocket, hitting the dentures) your teeth saved my life!
Pa: Always thinking of your own self! Now, what am I gonna chew with!!

hh

[RealityChuck]

Not to mention his reaction when Garner plugs up his gun with his finger.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

A segment from 'The Real McCoys'. See if you can recognize the lawyer without cheating!

[Fear Itself]

Originally Posted by Earl Snake-Hips Tucker

See if you can recognize the lawyer without cheating!

That's Mr. Drysdale!

[dropzone]

Originally Posted by kelly5078

What I do hold against him is that was a right-wing supporter of Wallace and others. He opposed the civil rights movement. He thought foreign commies were behind the Vietnam protests.

He was a versatile character actor, I'll give him that. But I can't stand the guy.

(shrug) I have lived immersed in a local culture that is overwhelmingly conservative. I long ago learned to ignore any other person's politics and redirect the conversation. Brennan was a white person born in 1894. At the turn of the century you pretty much had cranky anarchists and cranky right-wingers. I didn't have the highest expectations of them when they were alive, and I've mellowed since then.

[dropzone]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

That's Mr. Drysdale!

Yeah, the "Well now" clinched it.

[outlierrn]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

but did he ever play anything other than a wizened, wise old man???

Q

I dunno, would you call his drunk warf rat character in To Have and Have Not wise?

[NDP]

Originally Posted by dropzone

(shrug) I have lived immersed in a local culture that is overwhelmingly conservative. I long ago learned to ignore any other person's politics and redirect the conversation. Brennan was a white person born in 1894. At the turn of the century you pretty much had cranky anarchists and cranky right-wingers. I didn't have the highest expectations of them when they were alive, and I've mellowed since then.

Also, does it make much sense at this point to care about the off-screen political opinions of a long-deceased performer? Why should it affect what you think of his performance in an old movie?

(I know this is a potential threadjack of this topic.)

[TWDuke]

It seems a little late to call someone who died in 1974 "late."

Originally Posted by outlierrn

I dunno, would you call his drunk warf rat character in To Have and Have Not wise?

Wise and wizened are not related in meaning or derivation.

[Walloon]

Walter Brennan, 41 or 42, in Come and Get It (1936), his first Oscar-winning role. With Edward Arnold and Frances Farmer.

[kelly5078]

Originally Posted by dropzone

(shrug) I have lived immersed in a local culture that is overwhelmingly conservative. I long ago learned to ignore any other person's politics and redirect the conversation. Brennan was a white person born in 1894. At the turn of the century you pretty much had cranky anarchists and cranky right-wingers. I didn't have the highest expectations of them when they were alive, and I've mellowed since then.

Your attitude is probably more valid than mine.

[Slithy Tove]

Yeah, born in 1894, so as a little boy he experienced the President McKinley's assasinationby an anarchist; grew up in a much more polarized era of Opportunism ("Social Darwinism") vs radical reform; served in the First World War, during which the government exercised a level of authortarian power of which Lincoln and Bush could only dream (what Bush did to dangerous al qaeda in Gitmo, Wilson did to harmless Mennonites in Leavenworth); had been a child during the Depression of the 1890's and was ruined by the next one in 1929, but perservered on his own and thereby made more money than he could live to spend. It would be amazing if he'd been anything but a conservative.

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by Walloon

Walter Brennan, 41 or 42, in Come and Get It (1936), his first Oscar-winning role. With Edward Arnold and Frances Farmer.

Thread drift: wasn't Frances Farmer a knock out in that movie?

[Satchmo]

Originally Posted by outlierrn

I dunno, would you call his drunk warf rat character in To Have and Have Not wise?

"Eddie was a pretty good man on a boat, before he became a rummy."

"Why do you take care of him?"

"He thinks he's taking care of me."

It's one of my favorite movies.

[BrotherCadfael]

Originally Posted by Johnny L.A.

I can't think of Walter Brennan without thinking of the nightclub owner in Good Morning, Vietnam who was desperately looking for pictures of Walter Brennan naked.

Clearly, this was a pre-Internet era.

[Johnny L.A.]

Originally Posted by BrotherCadfael

Clearly, this was a pre-Internet era.

Well if you find any, don't post them! It was a funny gag in the movie, but it's best not to think about too much.

[Walloon]

Walter Brennan as himself, without character makeup.

BTW, he does have a bath tub scene in Come and Get It.

[TWDuke]

Originally Posted by Walloon

Walter Brennan as himself, without character makeup.

At the age of 22!

(Not really, but it would be interesting to know the age.)

[Kolak of Twilo]

Originally Posted by Walloon

BTW, he does have a bath tub scene in Come and Get It.

Thanks for the heads up Walloon!

[outlierrn]

Originally Posted by Satchmo

"Eddie was a pretty good man on a boat, before he became a rummy."

"Why do you take care of him?"

"He thinks he's taking care of me."

It's one of my favorite movies.

Don't get me wrong, I like that movie too! But the OP did ask if he ever played someone who wasn't wizened and wise

[thirdwarning]

Originally Posted by AuntiePam

I loved The Real McCoys. Richard Crenna was hot, and he stayed hot.

Oooh, yes, he did.