# Best scenery chewings in cinematic history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 18, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418 "2008-06-18T23:51:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/101 "2008-06-25T13:26:55Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Speaking of ad-libbing\* how about Gene Wilder realizing his grandfather was right in _Dr. Frankenstein_? He reads out of his grandfather’s notes and gets all excited… **It! Could! Work!** \*Marty Feldman reportedly ad-libbed the scene where Madeline Kahn arrives in the carriage, which is what made me think of the movie. [/QUOTE] I’ve always wanted to find an excuse to do Wilder’s speech before he reanimates the monster. That’s big scenery-chewing, especially from an actor who normally seems pretty mild-mannered: “From that fateful day when stinking bits of slime first crawled from the sea and shouted to the cold stars, “I am man!”, our greatest dread has always been the knowledge of our mortality. But tonight, we shall hurl the gauntlet of science into the frightful face of death itself. Tonight, we shall ascend into the heavens. We shall mock the earthquake. We shall command the thunders, and penetrate into the very womb of impervious nature! Herself!” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/102 "2008-06-25T13:30:36Z")
[QUOTE=Gail] Ok–this is a kind of obscure movie.._Hope and Glory_…John Boorman directed it–about a family living in London during the Blitz. I always thought Sammi Davis, who played the teenage daughter did some major scenery chewing…I thank God my teenage daughter doesn’t act like that. Has anybody seen this movie? It’s one of my all-time favorites. [/QUOTE] Oh, hell yes. I love when they go on a day to the beach and come back to find their house burned down and can’t comprehend that a bomb didn’t hit it. The fireman has to gently remind them that houses just burned down before the war, too. It’s been so long since “before the war” that they forgot what it was like. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/103 "2008-06-25T13:38:45Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] I don’t know. The whole “Batman” TV series was so over-the-top, it was almost a parody of the comic book genre. You had the scenery-chewing villians, too, such as Burgess Meredith/Penguin, Frank Gorshin/Riddler, and Cesar Romero/Joker. It was not grounded in any sense of reality and was a self-aware exaggeration of the costumed-hero genre. It was deliberately played for camp by West and all who participated in it. The show was almost a spoof of Batman, only made with the consent and cooperation of DC Comics. [/QUOTE] I thought I’d read somewhere that he made big demands about the camera being on him all the time (even when others were speaking their part). I suppose that doesn’t really count though, because it wasn’t limited to any specific scene. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/104 "2008-06-25T14:50:39Z")
Would all the Carry On… films count? ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/105 "2008-06-25T15:16:43Z")
I’m going to have to disagree about Duval as Lt. Col. Kilgore in Apocalypse Now - I’ve known quite a few Army officers and they’re just like that performance - BIG, loud and proud. I don’t think he was chewing scenerly so much as really portraying the character. Besides, at the end of the tirade he gets very quiet and says something along the lines of “One day this war’s gonna be over,” and the way he says it and look in his face is a mixture of resignation and “…and then I don’t know what I’m going to do.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/106 "2008-06-25T21:54:32Z")
Peter O’Toole had one or two as Henry II in “Becket”. But Henry’s rages were legendary, and at their height it’s said he frothed at the mouth and literally chewed the straw on the floor. So can you call a portrayal “chewing the scenery” when it’s almost literally accurate? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/107 "2008-06-25T22:30:49Z")
Here’s my husband’s [favorite rant ever](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnE2nw2mi7E). “Nipples for men!” ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/108 "2008-06-25T22:35:43Z")
[QUOTE=Gail] Ok–this is a kind of obscure movie.._Hope and Glory_…John Boorman directed it–about a family living in London during the Blitz. I always thought Sammi Davis, who played the teenage daughter did some major scenery chewing…I thank God my teenage daughter doesn’t act like that. Has anybody seen this movie? It’s one of my all-time favorites. [/QUOTE] Love, love, love this movie. The best scene is when the boy, after having spent a glorious summer in the countryside, miserably returns to school for the new year…only to find out that it had been bombed to ruins. The chaotic scene of madly cheering schoolboys thanking Hitler while their parents look on in disapproval is one of my all-time favourite movie moments. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/109 "2008-06-25T23:55:36Z")
I’ve read the thread and I don’t think he has been mentioned yet: Zero Mostel. He was larger than life, and when he took on a role, he Took. On. The. Role. He ate up _The Producers_ for lunch, and without him, there would be no _A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum_. Granted, these are broad schtick movies, but how well would any other performer have supported them? We would have seen him in more movies, but ISTR he was blackballed during the commie witch hunts in the 50’s, and this prevented him from getting a lot of film work. Wouldn’t I have loved to have seen him in one of his many Broadway plays - that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/110 "2008-06-26T00:20:52Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] TWOK is reputedly the film where the director made Shatner go through the scenes a couple of times, to wear him down to the point where he could no longer ham things up. [/QUOTE] More than a couple, if I’m remembering the director’s DVD commentary correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/111 "2008-06-26T01:11:35Z")
[QUOTE=Hodge] Love, love, love this movie. The best scene is when the boy, after having spent a glorious summer in the countryside, miserably returns to school for the new year…only to find out that it had been bombed to ruins. The chaotic scene of madly cheering schoolboys thanking Hitler while their parents look on in disapproval is one of my all-time favourite movie moments. [/QUOTE] You mean the best scene isn’t when they blow fish out of the water? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/112 "2008-06-26T04:47:10Z")
My personal choice: the moment near the end in _Dangerous Liaisons_, when Glenn Close tears around her room shrieking and howling like a madwoman, pulling at her hair. (Mostly because we were watching this way back in history class, and my history teacher leaned over and deadpanned: “They’ve just told Glenn Close she has to do another movie with Keanu Reeves.”) ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2008, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/113 "2008-06-26T11:29:13Z")
[QUOTE=Kythereia] My personal choice: the moment near the end in _Dangerous Liaisons_, when Glenn Close tears around her room shrieking and howling like a madwoman, pulling at her hair. (Mostly because we were watching this way back in history class, and my history teacher leaned over and deadpanned: “They’ve just told Glenn Close she has to do another movie with Keanu Reeves.”) [/QUOTE] _applause_ ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/114 "2008-08-16T18:21:51Z")
Okay, I know this topic is a month or so old but I just read it all over (and quite enjoyed some of the links) and kept on expecting to see this mentioned…only it wasn’t. WHY this one wasn’t the very first one in the topic, I have no idea. : D Clark Griswold wishes to tell you what he wants for Christmas: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wGxyIhsSAow/hqdefault.jpg "Christmas vacation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGxyIhsSAow) ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/115 "2008-08-16T20:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] Katharine Hepburn’s “Did your father sleep with me or didn’t he?” scene with her husband (Peter O’Toole) in _The Lion in Winter_ was but one of several great scenery chews in that movie. (Highlights of that scene begin at 8:10 in [this clip](http://youtube.com/watch?v=R6gfd6Npe98).) [/QUOTE] Are you kidding? The entire film is a meal! But not due to overacting. THe script and the acting are just so big. But then, in any film between ,say, 1965 or so and ,say, 1985 with Peter O’Toole, he’s just plain larger than life. Unlike Gary Oldman, he is not a person who is capable of disappearing into a role. Your eyes, your ears are always drawn to him. He’s a great actor, but he was huge. He’s shrunken now as he has gotten older, but The Voice is still there, and he still manages to steal movies with bit roles even now. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/116 "2008-08-16T20:43:29Z")
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned Bette Davis in EVERY SINGLE SCENE of _Mr. Skeffington_. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/117 "2008-08-16T20:56:08Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Unlike Gary Oldman, he is not a person who is capable of disappearing into a role. Your eyes, your ears are always drawn to him. He’s a great actor, but he was huge. He’s shrunken now as he has gotten older, but The Voice is still there, and he still manages to steal movies with bit roles even now. [/QUOTE] “I’m not an actor! I’m a _ **movie star!** _” ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/118 "2008-08-16T20:57:41Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] “I’m not an actor! I’m a _ **movie star!** _” [/QUOTE] Exactly! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/119 "2008-08-18T03:43:49Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] While Pacino is a true master of scene mastication, my true favorite is Alec Baldwin’s famous monologue in _Malice_. [Do I have a God complex?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqeC3BPYTmE) [/QUOTE] No mention of Baldwin’s ["Coffee is for Closers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AXTx4PcKI&feature=related)" speach from Glenngarry Glenn Ross? Boiler Room has some great ones: Affleck’s [group interview](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvICN8DNMpY&feature=related) [The sales speech](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lofNPLZvTOs&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418/120 "2008-08-18T19:05:05Z")
Here’s an obscure one for you–Rod Steiger in [“Happy Birthday, Wanda June.”](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0067180/) Now I’ll grant you the character is supposed to be larger than life, but old Rod looked and sounded like he was channeling Ernest Hemingway in that movie and it was grand! Unfortunately, it’s not released on DVD and that’s a crying shame. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-scenery-chewings-in-cinematic-history/453418.md?page=5)