But as Archie Goodwin says in Some Buried Caesar: “I’ve never seen a man get put on a train to hell by a woman who didn’t already have a ticket in his pocket, or was at least fiddling with the timetables.”
Nice way to bring in a Archie quote.
And the movie he starred in, “The Way of All Flesh”, is the only lost Oscar-winning movie, except for a few known extant minutes.
And then, there’s this guy.
Washizu in Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood went from successful general to (king? emperor?), and due to his own scheming and crimes, was murdered by his own soldiers. This movie and any other filmed versions of Macbeth will of course follow the same tragedy arc.
Isn’t that a strong part of the plot of A Star is Born? The one character descends from movie (or music) star to suicide while his wife becomes a major star.
Ray Liotta in Goodfellas might qualify.
Kongo (1932) – “Dead Legs” Flint (Walter Huston) rules like a god over an African territory, plotting a years-in-the-making revenge on the dude who crippled him. Things do not work out well for him.
Heroes for Sale (1933) – Depending how one interprets the story, this may be an exceptional case where the protagonist’s self-infliction of humiliation and poverty (and child abandonment) comes more as a willful choice than a consequence of his actions.
Detour (1945) – Pianist in a dive club – perhaps not exactly “prosperous,” but hey, it’s a living - hitchhikes cross country and makes some incredibly poor choices leading to his humiliating and convoluted doom.
Inside Straight (1951) – Ruthless businessman makes and loses a fortune several times by being a prick, but he winds up broke and a total chump.
Blackbeard the Pirate (1952) - Robert Newton (“Arrg, Larceny above all!”) is awesomely piratical as he drinks, quips, rolls his big eyes and repeatedly bests his foes only to wind up shot, stabbed and buried up to his neck on a beach facing an incoming tide. If only he’d been a nicer pirate….
Elevator to the Gallows (1958) – Maurice Ronet clips his boss so he can be with the boss’ wife Jeanne Moreau, but he forgets his grappling hook at the scene of the crime. He goes back for it, but gets trapped in an elevator. Needless to say, he’s later busted.
The Graceful Brute (1962) – Japanese black comedy about a family of grifters scammed by the title character (gorgeous Ayako Wakao), who’s also grifting. Need I add, all are pwned at the end?
Space Amoeba, a.k.a. Yog, Monster from Space (1970) – Space amoeba come to conquer earth, taking the forms of a giant turtle, giant crab and giant cephalopod which terrorize a remote island in the Pacific. How much humiliation common planet-conquering space amoeba “feel” after failing is open to debate.
The Counselor (2013) - Lawyer Michael Fassbender involves himself in a Mexican cartel drug deal and lives to regret it (unlike most of the rest of the cast).
There was that guy who gave up a steady job in building demolition so he could stake his entire life savings on a singing frog…
Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, in which Cate Blanchett plays a Manhattan socialite who winds up on a public park bench after her pyrrhic victory against her philandering husband, played by Alec Baldwin.
Been too long since I’ve seen Throne of Blood to comment on that specific film, but I wouldn’t say that Macbeth, generally, fits this thread. Macbeth dies, but he dies a king, and he dies in single combat with a worthy foe, refusing to flee or attempt surrender. He’s neither humiliated, nor demoted in station.
(Although, I did see one version where, as soon as Macduff’s “from his mother’s womb
Untimely ripp’d,” line, Macbeth just turned and bolted off stage. Funny, but also a betrayal of the character.)
Cruel Intentions and Dangerous Liaisons, which are based on the book Les Liaisons dangereuses , show Sarah Michelle Geller and Glenn Close go from queen bees to utter humiliation.
Will Smith in The Oscars. ![]()
King Lear would be a better example. He goes from being King, to being a retired King living the good life supported by his daughters, to his daughters gradually taking everything away from him, so he ends up destitute and insane, and eventually dies.