I was watching an interview with Tony Randall and in it he says the critics accused him of “stealing” the movie Pillow Talk. And while I wouldn’t go that far, to a degree I would say it’s accurate.
Anyway, my question to you all is what actor/actress do you think “stole” a movie.
I realize this is all subjective so there is no correct answer. I’m not much of a movie person, so I can’t contribute much, but I thought your answers ought to make for an interesting read.
From the Geroge Burns and Gracie Allen Show on radio
Paul Bettany stole every single scene he was in in The Knight’s Tale. I like the movie a lot, but far and away the best parts are anytime he is on screen and talking. The other actors are (with the exception of Shannyn Sossamon) good too, but Bettany and his role still steals every scene.
I think Alan Rickman in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves is the definitive answer to this question. Although “stole” in this case also implies “saved from utter awfulness”
Elaine May in Small Time Crooks
Christoph Walz in Inglourious Basterds
Jay Tarses in Teen Wolf (not much to steal, really, but he’s the only reason to watch the film. I assume he wrote all his dialog (he was a former TV comedy writer.).
Lisa Kudrow in The Opposite of Sex
Zasu Pitts in just about any film she was in.
Supposedly, Buster Keaton in Limelight, though Chaplin cut much of it afterwards.
Alec had his lock pickin’ kit out and his cat burglar clothes on, but I don’t think he made a clean get-away. It is awfully hard to steal the whole movie when every scene is so cool.
I mean the scene when Pacino’s character let’s Spacey’s character have it for blowing the deal? And Lemmon had some scenes that were just gold. Gold. Hard to take the whole movie with a film like that. But of course Alec owned that scene.
I didn’t believe it when it first came out, but on subsequent rewatchings I absolutely have to agree that Heath Ledger totally stole the Dark Knight movie. The whole first third of the movie could have been chopped out, what with Emo angsty girl, etc.
I’ve read the remark that Maggie Smith has stolen every scene in every film she’s ever appeared in. A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but not much of one.
THE definitive award for stealing a movie goes to Peter Sellers. The leading man in The Pink Panther was supposed to be David Niven. During the filming, however, Blake Edwards, the cast and crew spent so much time laughing at Sellers’ performance that the film was reworked to make Inspector Clouseau the main character.