What are some B movies that mega stars have had to resort to act in? Either because they no longer had box office draw or just needed the money to make a house payment or whatever.
I watched part of the sci-fi ( I am assuming spoof) of “Lobster Man From Mars” the other night…it starred Tony Curtis as Shelldrake. After Spartacus et el. I was quite suprised to see him in this pityful movie.
Another that comes to mind and I am not sure if this is the title…but I think it was called “Frogs” starring Ray Miland.
After seeing him in hitchcock’s Dial M For Murder among other great movies , it seemed pretty funny and sad to see an aging bald Miland in this ridiculous movie.
Anyone else got any of these??
“I’m the best there is Fats. Even if you beat me, I’m still the best.”
(Paul Newman in The Hustler)
What a rich vein of Hollywood history! A short list would be, “Who HASN’T appeared in a B-movie?” I’ve got lots of examples:
“Flesh Feast” (1970)–it was supposed to be Veronica Lake’s comeback. Not even Leonard Maltin liked it.
“Trog” (1970-a bad year for actresses)–Joan Crawford’s lost role, as an anthropologist uncovering the missing link.
“Myra Breckinridge” (1970–sensing a pattern?)–a who’s who of has-beens, never was, and soon to be: Mae West, Racquel Welch, Rex Reed (!), Farrah Fawcett, Jim Backus, and introducing Tom Selleck.
“Solar Crisis” (1993)–a crappy Japanese sci-fi flick, that somehow attracted the talents of Tim Matheson, Charlton Heston and Peter Boyle.
"He Knows You’re Alone (1980)–Tom Hanks debuted in this low-budget slasher pic.
“The Terror” (1963)–Jack Nicholson co-stars in a film with 5 directors (one of them Francis Ford Coppola!); starring Borris Karloff.
“Super Mario Brothers” (1993)–barely released in theatres, starred Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Fisher Stevens, and a deranged Mojo Nixon.
I’ve noticed that Sam Neill started out doing hi-brow respectable stuff and lately has done nothing but horror and sci-fi schlock (Mouth of Madness, Event Horizon, Lost World etc.)
We struck down evil with the mighty sword of “teamwork” and the hammer of “not bickering.”
I dunno if this quite qualifies, but after she left, Martha Quinn of early MTV fame (that’s before Yo! MTV Raps!, kids) has made a couple or three stinker B-movies. — Martha was and still is cute as a button, and did make the name “Martha” cool. - MC
Guy – it’s different when a star makes a bad movie on his way up. I wouldn’t count your last two, nor something like THE DEVIL’S RAIN, with John Travolta. Actors have to hustle in the beginning and often take any role they can get.
Once you make a name for yourself, however, appearing in certain movies is embarassing.
Then again, you never know how you end up. Raymond Burr took a role in GODZILLA when his career was at a low point. Later he became a star with Perry Mason.
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
Remember, Raymond Burr wasn’t in the REAL GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS. He was only in the American release, not the Japanese original.
It was determined that U.S. audiences wouldn’t react positively to the Big Guy (I mean Godzilla here, not Burr) unless there was a token round-eye on hand. So scenes including Burr were shot in Hollywood and pasted into the film.
Was Ray’s career really at a low ebb in 1956?
Checking him out on the IMdB, it looks like he was zinging wildly all over the place…he did four movies in 1954 alone, ranging from the classic REAR WINDOW (in the minor but pivotal role of the wife-murderer) to GORILLA AT LARGE. The PERRY MASON TV show debuted in 1957.
Fun fact: Burr’s character in GODZILLA was called Steve Martin.
Back in the Golden Age of movies, studios had their big stars under contract. While the bigger stars had a certain amount of leverage over what movies they got assigned to, it wasn’t unusual to see someone in a sarring role in one film and a supporting role in the next. When an actor or actress ran afoul of the studio exec, he/she might be deliberately assigned to a stinker – partly as punishment, partly in hopes of saving it.
The contract system later gave way to the multi-picture deal. Often the first movie in the contract was a good one, designed to hook the star, and the ones that followed stunk. Check the film careers of TV stars like James Garner, Dick VanDyke and Mary Tyler Moore, for example.
Some stars take chances, and half of what they try goes badly wrong – Jack Nicholson and Charlton Heston come to mind. And finally there are actors like Walter Matthau and Michael Caine who are just as likely to wind up in a stinker as a great movie.
I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that.
A few big-name actors have actually appeared in honest-to-god porn movies after they made it big on the screen. Rip Torn was in one of them, as I recall. Then there was “Caligula”, which managed to get people like sir John Gielgud.
Has anyone ever seen “The Fan” with Lauren Bacall and Jame Garner? I think it came out in about 1981. It was HORRIBLE! A complete pile of utter trash. I can’t believe that two actors with such a great past (OK, maybe not Garner, but Bacall was a super-star) would willingly participate in such a celluloid travesty. I hope the money was good for them, 'cause there’s no excuse otherwise.
At the time of GODZILLA (and, yes, I knew his scenes were dubbed in), Burr was an occasional film heavy without a particularly distinguished list of films (other than REAR WINDOW). Perry Mason made him a star.
There are others who took a bad role for the money but who came back later.
“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.
This may not pass muster, but I really thought The Boys From Brazil was right on the b-movie bubble. I mean, this dude was cloning little HITLERS, for chrissake! And it starred, in no particular order:
Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck and James Mason.
“ou’re not really supposed to buy champagne at the gas station.”
