These are some of my all time favorite movie performances. They may not have been the lead roles, and most of them didn’t win Academy Awards for these roles, but when I watch them, I’m spellbound.
The Guys…
Martin Sheen as Captain Willard - Apocalypse Now
The role nearly killed him, but it was worth it. A government assassin struggling with the darkness that that requires.
Peter Lorre as Dr. Einstein - Arsenic and Old Lace
Great snivelling. A scared little man in over his head.
Peter Cook as George Spiggott - Bedazzled
Personification of the Devil that makes life really hellish.
Michael Palin as Jack Lint - Brazil
The friend you never want to have.
John Cassavettes as Victor Franco - The Dirty Dozen
The true face of 60’s rebellion.
Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi - Ed Wood
Pathos personified.
Eli Wallach as Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
As far as I’m concerned he was the real star of the movie.
Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink - Resevior Dogs
The only one who talked sense… they just never listened to him, dammit.
Ian McKellen as Richard III - Richard III
Evil never looked so enjoyable.
Humphrey Bogart as Fred C. Dobbs - Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Watching him disintigrate until he became little more than an insane troll was fascinating.
The Gals…
Lauren Bacall as Vivian Sternwood Rutledge - The Big Sleep
The classic film noir dame.
Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Vallens - Blue Velvet
The sexiest victim ever. You reeealy want to rescue her.
Betsy Blair as Clara Snyder - Marty
It’s pretty hard just coming across as a regular person.
Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin - The Manchurian Candidate
Scarier mom than Joan Crawford.
Louise Fletcher as Nurse Mildred Ratched - One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
One of the all time great film villians… this has been discussed in many other threads.
Christina Ricci as Dede Truitt - The Opposite of Sex
Bad teenaged girls… ya just gotta love 'em.
Myrna Loy as Nora Charles - The Thin Man
Man, who wouldn’t want a wife like this; smart, sexys, funloving and rich.
Faye Dunaway as Milady de Winter - The Three Musketeers
Evil has rarely seemed so beautiful.
Heather Matarazzo as Dawn Wiener - Welcome To The Dollhouse
Totally nailed the awfulness of being 14.
Elizabeth Taylor as Martha - Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The opposite of Nora Charles
What about you all???