# Alan Arkin, where have you been all my life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446 "2007-03-11T04:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/1 "2007-03-11T04:00:55Z")
I won’t go so far as to say I have a crush on him… But now I’ve recently seen him in two movies. Last week I watched _Slums of Beverly Hills_. It’s a mediocre movie completely saved by his acting. Last night I watched _Little Miss Sunshine_. I think that’s a wonderful movie on its own merits; it’s enhanced by Arkin. He is, in my opinion, a great actor. I’m old, but not that old, so I looked him up on [Alan Arkin - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000273/) . I was very surprised to see how many things he’s been in that I haven’t heard of. I totally know his name…but so many of his movies are…well, I can’t say shitty, but I sure as hell haven’t heard of 90% of what he has appeared in. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/2 "2007-03-11T04:06:09Z")
Watch _The In-Laws._ ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/3 "2007-03-11T04:09:26Z")
He was extraordinary in _Catch-22_. And I was just watching _Edward Scissorhands_ yesterday on tv, and I completely forgot he was in it. He does a great job with ensemble casting in that one, as well. Apparently I’ve missed a lot of his repertoire too. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/4 "2007-03-11T04:11:33Z")
If you can track it down anywhere, he did movie in the late 70’s or early 80’s called _Simon_. It’s kind of a Woody Allen-esque, sci-fi, social satire thing, very funny. He’s good in _Glengarry Glen Ross_ as well, but that’s not exactly a rib tickler. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/5 "2007-03-11T04:14:29Z")
I forgot to mention _The In-Laws_ (the original with Peter Falk, not the remake that was done a couple of years ago). Outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![2pelo\_honey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@2pelo\_honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2pelo_honey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/6 "2007-03-11T04:14:32Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Watch _The In-Laws._ [/QUOTE] Argh, I couldn’t WAIT to type that one in…beat me to it…dayum… :smack: “Serpentine, Shelly, Serpentine” God, I love that movie, and the recent remake just doesn’t cut it in my eyes. ---
**Author:** ![2pelo\_honey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/ecb155/32.png) [@2pelo\_honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2pelo_honey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/7 "2007-03-11T04:19:14Z")
[QUOTE=2pelo honey] Argh, I couldn’t WAIT to type that one in…beat me to it…dayum… :smack: “Serpentine, Shelly, Serpentine” God, I love that movie, and the recent remake just doesn’t cut it in my eyes. [/QUOTE] Sorry, me again…in checking that link, then remembered “Last of the Red Hot Lovers”, and the Police Cpt in “So I Married an Axe Murderer” - extremely entertaining!!! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/8 "2007-03-11T04:35:10Z")
A fantastic actor, deserving of an Oscar in general. (We’ve not seen “Little Miss Sunshine” yet.) We’re just now watching the Oscarcast – a friend taped it for us; you have to have cable to watch it here, and we’re too busy to waste time watching television, so we don’t subscribe – and when Arkin won, the voice-over narrator pointed out that he’d been rejected for the part initially, because he seemed “too virile.” Arkin reportedly called that the nicest rejection he’d ever received. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/9 "2007-03-11T05:14:55Z")
His best performance? As a deaf-mute in _The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter_ (1968). Also recommended: The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966) Wait Until Dark (1967) Catch-22 (1970) Little Murders (1971) The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) The Defection of Simas Kudirka (1978) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/10 "2007-03-11T05:37:09Z")
I’ve long thought that one of his best roles was in a Canadian film, [Joshua Then and Now](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089383/), where he plays James Woods’ father. Arkin is a shady Montreal Jewish guy - not quite a gangster, but on the edge. It’s supposedly a semi-autobiography by the author, Mordecai Richler. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/11 "2007-03-11T05:48:42Z")
Chillingly creepy evil dude in _Wait Until Dark_, the most sadistic movie this side of _Dancer in the Dark._ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/12 "2007-03-11T06:10:00Z")
I’ll second “Wait Until Dark,” a film I haven’t seen since its first release and, because of Arkin’s performance, I can wait another forty years until I see it again, thankyouverymuch. OTOH, I never found him very funny. He seems to find frantic shouting funny but I don’t. Note that he also gave us “The Banana Boat Song,” which could keep anybody from being up against the wall WTRC. (Note to self: People younger than you would not see the need for a chat abbreviation for “When The Revolution Comes.”) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/13 "2007-03-11T06:22:31Z")
Not looking it up here, but isn’t Harry Belafonte to blame for that? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/14 "2007-03-11T06:25:17Z")
Ok, now I [looked it up:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_Boat_Song) > [@](#): > > The Tarriers, or some subset of the three members of the group (Erik Darling, Bob Carey and Alan Arkin) are sometimes credited as the writers of the song [which is a traditional Jamaican folk song], perhaps because their version of the song, which mixed in another song, was an original creation. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/15 "2007-03-11T06:30:36Z")
Let me also suggest checking Arkin’s performance in the Nick Nolte-Sherilyn Fenn movie of Kurt Vonnegut’s MOTHER NIGHT. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/16 "2007-03-11T07:35:01Z")
How about “Freebie and The Bean”. His tirade about the neighbor’s dogs still has me laughing after thirty years or so. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/17 "2007-03-11T11:59:52Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Watch _The In-Laws._ [/QUOTE] I second this. You’ll then be able to find many instances where “Serpentine, Shelly - serpentine!” will be just the thing to say. 😛 VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/18 "2007-03-11T13:09:03Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] If you can track it down anywhere, he did movie in the late 70’s or early 80’s called _Simon_. It’s kind of a Woody Allen-esque, sci-fi, social satire thing, very funny. [/QUOTE] Great little movie. Not available on DVD, but you can get one cheap in [VHS](http://www.amazon.com/Simon-Alan-Arkin/dp/6300271684/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7593117-2374348?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1173618317&sr=1-1) format. He is led to believe he is an alien, and his wife keeps referring to his being “from out of space.” It’s OUTER space! OUTER space! ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2007, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/19 "2007-03-11T16:59:22Z")
Watch him _Popi_, a little-known movie that came out in 1969. Arkin, playing the father of two little boys, gives a heart-wrenching, unforgettable performance. He’s extraordinary in this film. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446/20 "2007-03-12T17:28:30Z")
**The In-Laws** is his best film, but a number of his great performances, small & large, have already been mentioned: _Scissorhands, Joshua, Hunter, Glengarry_. Let me add his very funny turn as the unwitting psychologist in **Grosse Pointe Blank** and though it’s been ages since I’ve seen it, I remember really liking the concentration camp TV movie **Escape from Sobibor**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alan-arkin-where-have-you-been-all-my-life/395446.md?page=2)