# Bad movies with one great performance **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2020, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846 "2020-07-30T16:48:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/21 "2020-08-02T22:43:59Z")
Martin Landau’s character in _Ed Wood_. Forrest Whittaker as a “meek” pool shark in _The Colour of Money_. How about bad movies with one great scene: Steve Martin’s mouth-challenged rant at an airport rent-a-car worker in _Trains, Planes and Automobiles_. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/22 "2020-08-02T22:44:14Z")
The title sequences: [The Pink Panther (1963) title sequence - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4amWTwO1GM) However, i didnt care for Sellers in those films. Oddly, the Pink Panther joins the Thin Man series as sequels who dont have the Object in them. The “Thin Man” being “Mr Boddy” 😝 who of course didnt show up in any of the sequels, and the Pink Panther being a jewel. Any others like this? ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/23 "2020-08-02T23:02:31Z")
Well, it’s like Frankenstein. The public confused the doctor with his creation, and sequel makers didn’t try to disabuse anyone of this notion; it just became the brand. (Incidentally, the monster’s full name was Frankenstein Smonster.) ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/24 "2020-08-03T19:04:14Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I haven’t seen them for a while, but I don’t remember much that was great about the Pink Panther movies apart from Peter Sellers. Herbert Lom was a good actor, and when he got to play the bad guy in _Pink Panther Strikes Again_ he was really funny. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/25 "2020-08-04T02:28:47Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > …there has to be a moment where the mask falls away… One of the best moments in that movie is about halfway through when Marguerite wanders into her husband’s study late at night, uneasy because he’s suddenly left without warning. She stands there, looking around, and her gaze falls on the ornamentation on the wall, and there are scarlet pimpernels everywhere, and as the light dawns on her about her husband’s double life the soundtrack swells into the main theme. And it’s utterly glorious, a magic movie moment if ever there was one. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/26 "2020-08-04T03:25:52Z")
A lot of people like it, but I thought **Murder by Death** was a pretty bad movie and almost entirely empty of laughs. Truman Capote is great and memorable in it, though. For the less than 10 minutes he’s on screen, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/27 "2020-08-04T18:48:24Z")
According to the author, the monsters name was Adam. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2020, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/28 "2020-08-05T01:50:36Z")
Wait, Frankenstein’s name is Adam? Now that’s just silly. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/29 "2020-08-11T12:38:17Z")
No, Frankenstein’s name was Victor. His creation’s name was Adam. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/30 "2020-08-11T13:00:58Z")
I’ve been trying to decide if Burt Kwouk is a comic genius. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/31 "2020-08-11T13:04:25Z")
I thought Maggie Smith stole the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/32 "2020-08-14T04:20:38Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > No, Frankenstein’s name was Victor. His creation’s name was Adam. You are confused here. The guy who created Adam was named God. And how could Frankenstein be named Victor if his name is Frankenstein? You might be thinking of the actor, Victor Price, lots of people make that mistake. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/33 "2020-08-14T19:06:46Z")
Mary Shelley never did name the creature. But I note that people were calling the monster “Frankenstein” from the time it was first dramatized in the 1820s. A lot of names were suggested for the creature – Prometheus (probably because of the book’s subtitle), Adam (since he was the first human created by a man), but I’ve read the book numerous times, and don’t recall the author giving him a name. He’s invariably referred to by epithet, one of the most common being “the wretch”. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/34 "2020-08-14T20:30:41Z")
Kenneth Brannagh _nearly_ singlehandedly saved Wild, Wild West. He actually succeeds in being _just_ campy and cartoony enough to be a proper villain. Well… his character and the fact that for a brief period of about 20 years Salma Hayek could be on screen reading the phonebook and I’d probably find it enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/35 "2020-08-14T21:05:20Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > a brief period of about 20 years Salma Hayek could be on screen reading the phonebook and I’d probably find it enjoyable. More like 25… and counting. (_Desperado_ was in 1995). ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/36 "2020-08-14T21:52:28Z")
I self-identify as 1995 not being 25 years ago. In my mind it’s like 12, 14 tops. If you disagree, I’m offended. (That’s how that works, isn’t it?) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/37 "2020-08-15T18:56:26Z")
Oh, no… wasn’t about you! I was more pointing out that Salma Hayek didn’t stop being gorgeous five years ago! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2020, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/38 "2020-08-15T19:23:54Z")
She did in the _play_ version she wrote. But not in the book. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/39 "2020-08-19T15:17:02Z")
From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Mary Shelley’s original novel never ascribes an actual name to the monster; although when speaking to his creator, [Victor Frankenstein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Frankenstein), the monster does say “I ought to be thy [Adam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam)” So that’s the closest we get. BTW, I did like _Wild Wild West_ more than it really deserved, in large part because of the chemistry between Smith and Branagh. I didn’t even mind the spider, although the flying sawblade thing was exceptionally stupid even for that film. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846/40 "2020-08-19T16:52:46Z")
Mary Shelley never wrote a dramatic version of **Frankenstein**. Lots of other people did, however, in the decade following its publication (and there were lots of bootleg and badly-written ripoffs) in the same time. Those plays suggested “Adam”, and other names for the creature. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-with-one-great-performance/916846.md?page=3)