# Who's the worst actor in a truly great movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945 "2016-08-15T19:44:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/21 "2016-08-16T00:33:24Z")
Matthew Broderick in **Glory**. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/22 "2016-08-16T00:35:21Z")
Don Rickles stood out like a sore thumb in “Casino.” He didn’t have many lines. All he had to do was try to look like a tough guy. And he was pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/23 "2016-08-16T00:53:11Z")
The Maltese Falcon was probably not expected to be a great movie, but it turned out that way: it had a great cast and excellent acting, great direction, and the script followed the book pretty closely. And it was a breakout movie for Bogart where he gets to play a hero, as a prelude to Casablanca. But Gladys George? First, she got third billing, for two speaking scenes and one quick shot of her face. Second, the two scenes she does have were awful with a capital A. She stank like fish off the ice. My theory is she got the part and the billing on the strength of a few films just before, but when Huston saw how bad she was, they quickly cut her part to the bone, but they were contractually stuck with the billing. Anyway, whenever I see the movie I dread those few minutes when she’s on the screen. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/24 "2016-08-16T01:25:08Z")
I’d like to shake things up and say that Rodney Dangerfield was brilliantly menacing in Natural Born Killers. Wish he could have done more drama. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/25 "2016-08-16T01:27:05Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > Welles’s _Touch of Evil_ - one of my faves, with one of the greatest openings in cinema history - but Dennis Weaver’s spasmodic milksop character was in need of soaking in lye for 24 hours. I actually thought he was brilliant in that. The weirdness of the performance made him seem even more threatening. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Burstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Steve\_Burstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Burstein)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/26 "2016-08-16T01:27:33Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > The Maltese Falcon was probably not expected to be a great movie, but it turned out that way: it had a great cast and excellent acting, great direction, and the script followed the book pretty closely. And it was a breakout movie for Bogart where he gets to play a hero, as a prelude to Casablanca. > > But Gladys George? First, she got third billing, for two speaking scenes and one quick shot of her face. Second, the two scenes she does have were awful with a capital A. She stank like fish off the ice. My theory is she got the part and the billing on the strength of a few films just before, but when Huston saw how bad she was, they quickly cut her part to the bone, but they were contractually stuck with the billing. Anyway, whenever I see the movie I dread those few minutes when she’s on the screen. Gladys George had a great reputation as a stage actress, and Leonard Maltin lamented that she never got a good chance in films. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/27 "2016-08-16T02:57:39Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Brad Pitt’s acting talent went from passable to pretty good sometime around 2000. Before that, he basically had two acting modes, big cheesy grin or rubbing his hands over his head in craziness/anger/distraughtness. He did those two well enough and his roles allowed him to largely coast on them, but you could see the occasional place where neither was called for and he seemed a bit out of his depth. After 2000, he’s been a solid and sometimes even very good actor. But pre-2000, he was probably the weakest lead part in: > > Seven > 12 Monkeys > Meet Joe Black > > He was sufficient. His presence didn’t crap all over the movies he was in (unlike Keanu Reeves in some of the movies he’s been mentioned for - but which I don’t find to be great), but you definitely wouldn’t miss him if he’d been swapped out with someone else. > > (I can’t say whether he was good/mediocre by the time of Fight Club. I feel like it was still his mediocre period, but that the role only needed him to be happy and loud - one of his early specialties.) I have to say I liked Pitt in _12 Monkeys_ (which is one of may favorite movies). His character was supposed to be over-the-top crazy so there wasn’t a need for subtlety and Pitt delivered. But what I admire is that I feel he avoided the opposite temptation; a lot of actors would have pulled back on the craziness in an attempt to make their character more sympathetic. Pitt was willing to make the character unlikeable. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ioBueVTZ0RM/hqdefault.jpg "Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioBueVTZ0RM) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/28 "2016-08-16T03:06:38Z")
Glenn Campbell in **True Grit**. He just wasn’t able to go toe-to-toe with John Wayne (not many people could), but he also lacked the gravitas of Kim Darby. Just a bad casting call. As for Tom Hulce: I thought he was fine in **Animal House** and **Amadeus**. His shortcomings as a screen presence were precisely the shortcomings of the characters. And he stole the show in **Parenthood**. One movie he was expected to carry (and couldn’t) was **Slam Dance** , and I’m not entirely convinced he was the weak link there. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/29 "2016-08-16T03:26:04Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > PULP FICTION was robbed at the Oscars – but as good as Quentin Tarantino is at making a masterpiece, he’s jarringly bad at fielding the Steve Buscemi role. The role practically screams that it was written for Buscemi. What, he didn’t have two days to knock out the part? ---
**Author:** ![montag01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@montag01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/montag01)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/30 "2016-08-16T03:42:34Z")
John Dall in Spartacus. I remember my entire classroom laughed when we watched the movie and you get to the scene where Crassus, his wife, and brother-in-law, Glabrus. (Dall) are watching gladiators fight. During the fight, Crassus reveals his scheme to make Glabrus commander of the garrison of Rome. Dall looks up and in the most wooden, awkward voice intones: “I don’t know how I shall ever be able to repay you.” And it just sounded . . . odd. Really odd, sort of robotic, almost like someone else dubbed his lines. Dall of course played Brandon in Rope, and I thought his performance was about the same there. I don’t think critics would call him a bad actor, but I’m just not a fan of his style, and his scenes interrupted my enjoyment of Spartacus. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/31 "2016-08-16T04:03:53Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > **Sex, Lies and Videotape** and **Groundhog Day** are truly great movies, and **Andie MacDowell** was awful in each. Her woodenness played to her role in SL&V, and Bill Murray just acted past her in GD. I will NOT stand for this! She was\* far far\* worse in **Four Weddings and a Funeral** and **Green Card**. I’ve said this here before, but if I ever win a billion dollars, I’m remaking those movies with the right true proper actress for these roles CGIed into her place, Julia Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/32 "2016-08-16T04:15:40Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > I will NOT stand for this! > > She was\* far far\* worse in **Four Weddings and a Funeral** and **Green Card**. > > I’ve said this here before, but if I ever win a billion dollars, I’m remaking those movies with the right true proper actress for these roles CGIed into her place, Julia Roberts. You are wrong. It’s a scientific fact that her worst performance was in _Greystroke_, where they had to bring in Glenn Close in post-production to dub in MacDowell’s dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/33 "2016-08-16T04:20:12Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Glenn Campbell in **True Grit**. He just wasn’t able to go toe-to-toe with John Wayne (not many people could), but he also lacked the gravitas of Kim Darby. Just a bad casting call. But if they hadn’t cast Campbell, who would have sung the [theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qyxA38zsZU)? ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/34 "2016-08-16T04:53:01Z")
I agree with all of the Andie McDowell references, I remember seeing her in commercials a few years ago for a makeup line, and thinking “you know, I haven’t seen her in a movie in years–and yeah, she really is an actress made for commercials.” It’s questionable how she was in as many relatively good and major films as she was in the 80s/90s, because she really just was not a good actor. _Gran Torino_, while controversial in many ways, I think, was a pretty good film. It’s notable because _the entire cast_ other than Eastwood in the lead and his buddy the barber (who is in like 2 scenes–and is John Carroll Lynch and has had a few memorable but small roles like Norm Gunderson in Fargo and a lot of TV guest spots) are _mediocre_ at best, and downright atrocious at worst. Part of this is because Eastwood chose to cast local members of the Hmong community for many of the Hmong parts, and frankly, they clearly show through as not being actors of any sort, but even some of the non-Hmong roles like the Priest or the lead’s family/extended family just aren’t good. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/35 "2016-08-16T04:57:02Z")
> [@Steve\_Burstein](#): > > Gladys George had a great reputation as a stage actress, and Leonard Maltin lamented that she never got a good chance in films. She had a chance in Maltese Falcon, and hammed her way through it. Before that she had had a few apparently starring roles in films (Hit The Road, top billed; The Way of All Flesh, 2nd billed; A Child Is Born, 3rd billed; The Roaring Twenties, 4th billed; I’m From Missouri, 2nd billed; plus about an equal number of supporting roles, all in the three years 1939-1941). If she couldn’t make herself a good chance in all those films, I think she may have just had a problem transitioning from stage to film. The main problem with her acting in Maltese Falcon was that it was too broad for film. So pbbbbt\* to Leonard Maltin. Forgot to mention 1937 where she had the lead in Madame X. That probably suited her florid style a bit more. - (raspberries) ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/36 "2016-08-16T05:00:15Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > What was so bad about [_Animal House_]'s Hulce? He did what was required of the role, didn’t ham it up or try to steal scenes, and was pretty convincing as a dim bulb frat boy. That. > [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Paul Le Mat in _American Graffiti_ never really impressed me either…he just seemed kind of wooden. Also doing what was required of the role, I thought there was a plausible naturalness (peppered with his comical weariness of Mackenzie Philips) in Le Mat’s portrayal of a bored young hot rodder. Not rrrrrrreally a huge fan of _Kids_. The lead little fucker with the big nose, though, needed, really, to perish in a tragic grain silo accident. I can’t quite put my finger on why Matthew Modine in _Full Metal Jacket_ didn’t quite work for me. I can seen his wet-behind-the-years youthful look working for him, but… Another can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on: Adam Sandler’s character in _Punch Drunk Love_. While I realise he had to be a nervous dork, there was still, something… stilted? forced? too quirky to be convincing? Adam Sandlery? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/37 "2016-08-16T05:07:31Z")
Shit, Andie McDowell couldn’t even convincingly play herself in “The Player.” Her acting “ability” is best summed up in her last name–the part after Mc. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/38 "2016-08-16T05:44:33Z")
Mickey Rooney in **Breakfast at Tiffany’s**. I don’t know which was worse, the character or the actor. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/39 "2016-08-16T06:14:23Z")
> [@Eddie The Horrible](#): > > I can’t quite put my finger on why Matthew Modine in _Full Metal Jacket_ didn’t quite work for me. I can seen his wet-behind-the-years youthful look working for him, but… For me, it was the smugness. Maybe it was appropriate for the character but that kind of smugness is always annoying. It’s not like Modine’s character ever did anything in the movie to demonstrate he was better than anybody else; he just seemed to assume he was and everyone else could see it. ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945/40 "2016-08-16T07:28:11Z")
> [@Steve\_Burstein](#): > > Gladys George had a great reputation as a stage actress, and Leonard Maltin lamented that she never got a good chance in films. For me, if for no one else, Gladys George in [The Maltese Falcon](http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s3318malt.html) competently plays Iva Archer. It may have helped George’s performance more if the movie had also included the last bit from the book. But still she is a very small part of the movie, providing some breathing room before the tenser scenes. (As Stooges fans know, she starred in [Valiant is the Word for Carrie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028455/fullcredits), one year before [Violent Is the Word for Curly](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030942/fullcredits), which includes [Septimus Winner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimus_Winner)’s 1875 version of an [older song](http://esnpc.blogspot.com/2015/07/ben-franklin-three-stooges-and-ancient.html) that he called “The Spelling Bee”, re-titled and re-arranged as [Swingin’ The Alphabet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usQem53fDH8).) > [@panache45](#): > > Mickey Rooney in **Breakfast at Tiffany’s**. I don’t know which was worse, the character or the actor. Yes. Similarly, Jules Cowles as The Hired Hand in [Seven Chances](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Chances). (Another regret is that the receptionist at the country club is married. I prefer her to Mary Jones.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-the-worst-actor-in-a-truly-great-movie/762945.md?page=3)