Lee Marvin: That Glorious Bastard
by Kurt SchlichterOnly a tiresome poseur like Quentin Tarantino could think that the Hollywood pretty boys he cast in his soon-to-be released opus The Inglorious Basterds are convincing movie tough guys. Where is Lee Marvin when we need him?
You’ve probably experienced the Basterds publicity blitz. Brad Pitt looks like he stepped out of a Calvin Klein underwear ad. Folks I know who have been around him say he really is a pleasant and laid-back guy, and these are hardly the characteristics of a beady-eyed killer. Creepy Eli Roth, taking some time off from directing his degenerate torture movies, is just a leering clown – he looks like he should be squatting in the back of his Ford panel van offering Tootsie Rolls to passing tweens. And B.J. Novak? The guy is a hilarious writer and is really funny in The Office , but I’m not buying this cat as the scourge of the Third Reich.
In contrast, Lee Marvin’s tough guy legacy lives on despite the fact that his body rests with thousands of other heroes in Arlington National Cemetery. He earned that right when he was wounded fighting the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific as a Marine private. His Purple Heart is 100% USDA certified proof positive of his prime badassary. Who is the Hollywood tough guy of today who can dare step up to the Lee Marvin plate and take a swing?
Nobody.
Marvin got discharged from the Corps, came home and started doing crummy odd jobs to support himself – his willingness to work instead of freeloading off of others is itself an anachronism in today’s entitlement culture. He found acting and appeared in various supporting roles until he starred in a hit television series (M Squad) and moved on to bigger roles. He even won an Oscar for Cat Ballou. Serving his country, working hard, honing his craft and winning the recognition of his peers – Lee Marvin’s career had a lot in common with that of fellow all-American badass Ernest Borgnine.
How tough was the on-screen Marvin? He brawled with the Duke in Donovan’s Reef and stalked Chuck Bronson as a Mountie (!) in Death Hunt. His classic performance as the grizzled First Infantry Division squad leader in The Big Red One has inspired legions of American sergeants.
–
Check him out in 1967’s Point Blank. As Walker, a single-minded human tsunami of violence, he smashes through the psychedelic Sixties’ Summer of Love with his .357 and mantra of “I want my money!” This flick works for me on several levels. As a soldier, I respect his character’s fearsome firepower choices; as an attorney, I find his character’s single-minded focus on getting paid inspiring.
Remade in 1999 as the tepid Payback, Point Blank was harder-core than any of the watered-down, focus-tested, suit-neutered, glorified filmstrips that limp out of the studios today and pretend to be edgy.
For sheer cinematic awesomeness, his performance in The Dirty Dozen as Major Reisman, leader of the cutthroat band of condemned convicts on a mission to solve the Nazi overpopulation crisis, is never going to be matched. It’s actually unfair to even use it as a standard against which to measure subsequent action films. In the teachable moment regarding action movies that accompanies the release of The Inglorious Basterds, The Dirty Dozen would be Sgt. Crowley’s Full Moon beer while Little Quentin’s movie would be the President’s Bud Light.
Marvin was totally fearless, including when he should have been afraid. He did a terrifying musical, Paint Your Wagon, and even had something of a hit song – Wanderin’ Star. Sadly, that little ditty sounds like a duet between Tom Waits and a drunken leaf blower, but it did lead to Marvin being paid homage to by The Simpsons – another great honor he shares with Ernest Borgnine.
In his personal life, his shacking up with his girlfriend led to a lawsuit that led to the creation of the legal concept of “palimony,” empowering a new generation of golddiggers. And politically, according to the always accurate Wikipedia, he was a liberal Democrat – hey, nobody’s perfect. But if you get shot fighting for this country, dude, for all I care you can vote for a transsexual Marxist cocker spaniel that buys into global warming.
Hollywood needs to look harder for its tough guys because the new ones just can’t cut it. All the fake blood and stylized mayhem in the world are no substitute for the hard edge of real life experience that WWII vets like Lee Marvin and Jimmy Stewart – I should say, Brigadier General James Stewart – brought to their roles. Today, the critics’ favorite director sends boy toys, torture pornographers and comedians to battle the SS. Yawn.
If Tarantino really wanted to kill Nazis, he could just bore them to death with his endless, pseudo-academic dissertations on so-bad-they-are-just-plain-bad B-movies. Too bad Eisenhower didn’t have a videotape of QT sounding off at Cannes about his personal artistic vision to use to soften up Omaha Beach. But fortunately for us, he had men like Lee Marvin.
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154 Comments
I have to admit, I'm a fan of Brad Pitt. The guy can't carry a movie all by himself like others can, but when he's given a supporting role he steals every scene he's in. He's also willing to cover his pretty boy looks with a real scumbag facade. Just watch Snatch and you'll see. He's not in the movie all that much but he owns every scene he's in.
That being said, I probably won't see this because I'm pretty sure I could beat Eli Roth to death with BJ Novack….not very convincing tough guys at all….
Jason Statham?
Here is the Playboy article where Lee discusses his views on gay rights, guns, etc.:
http://www.tedstrong.com/lee-marvin-pb.shtml
While, President George H. W. Bush never was accused of rivaling Lee Marvin in the macho department, your rhetorical question of what Hollywood "toughguy" of today could step up to the Lee Marvin plate prompted me to think "what he did in W.W.II was pretty "effen" special too so I included it in my comments. As far as Hollywood toughguys, I totally agree.
One thing I go by when judging Hollywood celebrities: if they weren't rich and famous, what kind of chicks would they be dating?
Brad Pitt would probably do just fine. Quentin Tarantino? Uhhh…see my point? I don't personally know a woman who would date that guy.
That's the kind of thing that really shapes a man's worldview. We really are that simple when you come down to it. Now, as to the above movie? For some serious nazi-killin' action, I don't see it either.
Whatever you do, don't watch "Paint Your Wagon". You'll be scarred for life. You've been warned.
Don't forget Lee Marvin in "The Killers".
Bonus badass points: last movie Ronald Reagan made.
Amen to that, I had the same reaction as Homer Simpson when he saw it…..
Lee Marvin played a pretty good crazy a-hole too. He was just that in The Comancheros with John Wayne.
It's worse than just old Lee: Clint F'n Eastwood "sings" a romantic tune in that film!
Although I have to say, Tarantino has a great line in 'Reservoir Dogs' when Madsen (Mr.Blonde) says to Keitel (Mr. White) in a pure testosterone driven moment:
"I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan?"
F_ckin' A. Who isn't? One of the all time greatest mugs to ever grace the silver screen. And while 'Dirty Dozen' is a true classic let's not forget him as 'Liberty Valance'. Man, he was good. I miss him.
As for QT's latest, I'll pass. Since I first saw the trailer and heard Brad Pitt all I can think of is Gabby Hayes.
i.e. Floyd in True Romance.
"I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan"
Statement not a question.
Carry on…
I just saw him recently in "Hell in the Pacific" with Toshiro Mifune (good movie, worst ending ever!). I must admit that I didn't realize he was a veteran.
I've known for a long time that he was a tough guy.
Tyler freakin Durden…..
Yes. Also in "Cat Ballou". But you have to put up with Jane Fonda to watch that one. Young, hot Jane Fonda, but still…
Forgive me if I've mentioned this before, but Lee Marvin was the sexiest thing that ever happened anywhere on planet earth. When my now husband knocked me up and drug me up in the woods I had nothing to entertain me except his very male movie collection. Now I'll watch The Big Red One before Love Actually anytime.
And yes, Point Black leaves Payback in its dust.
If I'm correct, Lee Marvin made a point of pointing out that Bob Kesey (I think that's his name, Captain Kangaroo) was a decorated war hero too. A lot of these guys were. Unlike today, where we get Jack Gyllenhall or Ryan Phillipe effectively playing house. I'm not interested.
So yeah. I "effen" love Lee Marvin.
Lee Marvin had More Menace in His Stare than All these Feather Merchant would be Pretty Boy actors will ever have and that's if their Armed to the Teeth. Watch Marvin in The Big Heat or Bad Day at Black Rock or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. You Loved to Hate Him and You Loved To Love Him. The Guy Had It. Plus He Was a Former Marine. He's Golden In My Book. Quentin Tarantino could hit himself in A$$ with a Shovel. That's All.
Yes, Paint Your Wagon was very unfortunate.
I'm old enough to have had a real teen crush on Lee Marvin. Now there was a man!
Bed Time for Bonzo?
I can't bring myself to do it…..
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
You want a macho Lee Marvin movie? Then rent Hell in the Pacific where he and and actor Toshirô Mifune are the only two in the film, sworn enemies playing cat and mouse during World War II while stranded on an island.
Modern macho guys? They are few and far between. I watched "Taken" with Liam Neeson and he was pretty believable, but he's already 57 years old. Hollywood would have us believe guys like Clooney, Pitt, Affleck and Damon are macho but no one is buying it. I can't think of one young guy like a Marvin or Borgnine in the movies today that would draw me to see a film. By the way, when I see Tarantino, I see a nerdy kid who got daily wedgies in school and now gets to pretend he's a tough guy by using a lot blood and vulgarity in his films.
The Big Red One is one of my favorite movies of all time. Lee Marvin was perfect in that role.
Never saw it, didn't know Pitt was in that. Was it any good?
you may be "old" but you are still "all Tom" . . . .point seen and taken!
It's bad enough that QT had to cast Brad Pitt for the role, did he actually have to make him speak in a terrible southern accent? Sorry, but QT can still come out with a good movie every now and again, but it's as much garbage as it is gold.
Hollywood now chooses Australian men when it casts tough guy roles, because American actors are unconvining as such…you can tell they have all lead soft lives, and have done nothing.
How many Americans were in the cast of Blackhawk Down? Heh.
I have always been a John Wayne fan – cried the afternoon I heard he died. However, I was never seriously afraid of him. Now, I'd do whatever he told me to do – and quick! He did not make me afraid though.
Lee Marvin on the other hand seriously scared me. I liked the guy. He was even fantastic as Liberty Valance. He was not a guy I'd want to have upset with me – on cameral or off.
Lee Marvin, one of the few actors that I'll always watch, along with the Duke, Bogie and Mifune. Real men, a dying breed.
My favorite Lee Marvin joke:
Did you hear that they had to take that Lee Marvin brand toilet paper off the market? It was too rough, too tough, and wouldn't take s**t off anyone.
I have to say that I agree with everything the OP stated. Lee Marvin was great even in Delta Force when it was cool to kill muslim terrorist.
Ingolrious Bastards is going to fail on the simple fact that most of the people in it don't look like they could kill themselves let along "Natzies" (Pitts bad twang).
No it wasn't. I couldn't even finish it, and I"m a fan of Sam Shepard and Casey Affleck.
Look up his interview with David Letterman from sometime in the 90's. He states that he learned acting in the Marines and than shot David a Stare that just about melted him. Ha Ha.
THX 4 art. of when Men were Men. I do not patronize crap from hollywood or media. Can't remember last pik pd 2 C…Backdraft, BayBay'sKids (sp)…?
I enjoyed Paint your Wagon & hated catB w/ that insipid Jfonda. (Also revised assessment: The 2Kids R *holes & the OldManOkay. No, Hfonda only good @ playing *holes. How can U * up playing next 2 LucilleBall?)
I'll stick w/ piks from 1972 and below, with a few exceptions, thank you (pantsloads) very much sissywood. Oh, yeah. JasonStatham & the rest I can count on ONE HAND. & THX Dude 4 Playboy art.
I agree. I think that's what made me like a guy like John Wayne even more in the scene where he stared down Liberty Valance in the restaurant. You knew Valance was a bit insane and scary but even he knew that it would have been a mistake to go up against Wayne's character.
BJ Novak's hilarious bit on those '72 virgins': http://www.metacafe.com/watch/112446/terrorists_v...
…
There is no bigger Lee Marvin than me, but Brad Pitt has been great in many roles, most notably Fight Club and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Good one. Coolest part about Reagan's last acting role is that he was the heavy.
Timeless Media has the complete run of M Squad. They are great. I've excerpted a couple of spots from the DVD son my youtube…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPeUtFn7_m8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8gSdPS6p-U
Good to know
====Only a tiresome poseur like Quentin Tarantino could think that the Hollywood pretty boys he cast in his soon-to-be released opus The Inglorious Basterds are convincing movie tough guys. Where is Lee Marvin when we need him?====
Inglorious Basterds is not about "tough guys" per se, it's about your average Jew ready to inflict a bloodlust vengeance on the nazi scum. The fact that these Jews don't look like the Spartan cast of 300 makes it believable. So far what I've seen of Inglorious Basterds looks phenomenal. Brad Pitt seems out of place in this movie, seems to me he'd be better suited for a movie like Steel Magnolias.
The trailer for inglorious basterds is very misleading. It's not trying to be like the 70's movie, a dirtier dirty dozen. It is quite story driven and Pitt is only in it for about 30% of the movie. It's a triumph. Best movie this year, so far, in my opinion.
For the record, Full Moon beer is a girl drink sort of beer.
"Cat Ballou" demonstrates that Lee Marvin could do comedy. I always give actors extra points if they can do that. _and_ he won an Oscar for the performance.
Marvin and Borgnine actually did a picture back in 1973 called Emperor of the Norh.
It's really good. Don't forget Liberty Valance, too.
Or as Libety Valance!
Or as Liberty Valance!
Lee Marvin was never less than great particularly when he was on his way up playing film heavies in the 1950's. Is there a tougher ensemble of guys than in 1955's "Bad Day at Black Rock?" We have Lee Marvin (decorated Marine), Robert Ryan (Marine drill instructor), Ernest Borgnine (ten-year Navy) and Walter Brennan (World War I Army veteran) all directed by John Sturges who directed training films for the Army Air Corps. My favorite Lee Marvin moment is from "The Dirty Dozen" when he takes sneering wise-ass John Cassavetes aside and tells him in a menacing undertone "Listen you little bastard. You either drill or I'll beat your brains in." Somehow I just can't see Quentin Tarantino working with a guy like that.
No worries. I've seen the aforementioned Simpsons parody of Paint Your Wagon (it's even on one of the Simpsons soundtracks I own) so I'm not exactly in a rush to see it.
Point Blank on the other hand…
I was waiting for that. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" is one of my favorites, and I think Marvin makes an essential contribution to the picture. (As opposed to "The Comancheros", where his role is dispensable).
Marvin's role in Ship of Fools as a drunken texan showed a broody, comedic side, yet so in Paint your wagon. between Clint's and his singing, was pretty awful, but as he sang wandering star, he showed a genuine vulnerability. In Donovan's reef, he was perfectly casted as Gilhooley. Indeed, maybe he was a lib, but the difference from today is that you never knew it. He would never embarrass himself with foolish platitudes or mock the USA. Great actor and he lit up the screen with his presence.
Check out "The Professionals." Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Woody Strode , Robert Ryan and Jack Palance. Excellent, but underrated Western from 1966. Amen to previous posts re: Hollywood's lack of manly leading men.
Tarantino movies may have sissy men but The Bride kicked butt.
Perfect description of Tarantino OtherStories.
I read an interview with Marvin some years back that what little dialog there was in HELL IN THE PACIFIC was adlibbed.
Yes. We have to import our badasses these days.
I love Lee Marvin movies becuase of his credibility. I am hopeful that Rudy Reyes (from Generation Kill) is going to make it as an actor. He's definitely got his ass kicking bonafides as a Recon Marine, and seems like a really cool dude to boot.
I gotta be honest with you… I saw the trailer for Inglorious Basterds and I think that was the first time I have ever thought about wanting the Nazi's to be the good guys in a World War II movie. Didn't want that in Saving Private Ryan. Didn't want it in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Didn't want it The Dirty Dozen. I want it in Inglorious Basterds.
Quentin Tarantino is such a pig.
It's like he tries to be unconventional for the sake of being unconventional. You know when I thought Tarantino was a "genius"? In high school. He's a big budget teenager.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This has been a tropic of discussion among my film fan friends and Lee Marvin is always bought up. I believe the "soil" in which a great actor grows is the real world. Not film or acting school. I am going to link some of my 20 something friends your fine article. Don't forget The Professionals another Marvin favorite of mine. Paint Your Wagon I have grown fond of just for the fact that Marvin and Eastwood had the brass ones enough to get and SING!
Kurt, I think you're missing the point. I don't think inglorious basterds is going to be a realistic portrait of the war. But then neither was the dirty dozen. A handful of misfits infiltrate enemy lines and beat dozens and dozens of German soldiers. Not likely. Good movie though. I saw it at the drive-in as a kid.
He played the heck out of that small part. You could tell in their roles together that Wayne and Marvin had a respect for each other.
Something else about Lee Marvin. He was such an iconic guy that we forget what a terriffic actor he was. If you want to experience one of the best pieces of film acting you are ever likely to see then get the American Film Theater production of "The Iceman Cometh" from 1975. On the surface Lee Marvin does not strike one as a Eugene O'Neill guy but he nails the part of Hickey with intelligence, clarity and insight. I watched this after viewing the acclaimed 1957 version with Jason Robard Jr. and, as good as Robards was, Marvin was simply better. Not only is the 1975 "iceman" a triumph for Lee Marvin but it is also gives us Fredric March and Robert Ryan in their last public roles. A great, harrowing and deeply moving drama performed by some of our greatest actors.
The ultimate role for Marvin was in "Cat Ballou." As both Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn, Marvin showed a depth of skills that rightfully earned him an Academy Award. Ironically, it was the only Oscar he won.
Yet the roles in Cat Ballou demonstrate what we liked about Marvin. He was tough, willing to take on the "bad guys," willing to do what was needed to take on the bad guys, and at the same time, have a sense of humor about himself. In Cat Ballou he displays all the looks, stances, moxie, and courage that he had in other roles. Only this one was a comedy.
A brilliant performance from a very "tough guy" actor.
There may be no better single shot in a comedy movie than at the end of Cat Ballou where Marvin, drunk once again, is on a horse leaning up against a building, oblivious to the world. The horse's crossed legs and drunken stance are a hilarious compliment to Marvin's entire performance in the movie.
One of the things I forgot to mention in my earlier comment on Lee Marvin and no one seems to have picked up on it at this point…his voice. The man had a great sounding voice. Everything from cigarettes, to whiskey just seemed to ooze out as he spoke so many of those wonderful lines.
Put that voice with that face and you've got movie magic which thank God will live forever.
While I agree that one of Lee Marvin's best roles was "The Dirty Dozen". For me, His best role was "The Professionals". In that film, Marvin showed all the qualities that a "smart" tough guy needs. Showing Leadership, Taking charge and when the time comes,Killing every bad guy in site!
There NO men in films any more.(in front or behind the camera) If you want men on film, you have to watch TCM.
Sorry, those are the facts.
I'd have gone to the east Europeans – a Czech or a Romanian, maybe. Plenty of bona-fide bad-asses hanging around over there, and they filmed there anyway, didn't they? Plus, authentic accents. It's all good.
Quentin casts Harvey Keitel a lot. He's pretty bad ass.
Since Mojo mentioned it, the actual stars are foreign. about 70% of the movie is in french or german with subtitles. I won't spoil it but there are a couple of parts of the movie, turning points if you will, that have to do with the inability to do a foreign accent. Quentin knows what he's doing.
Definitely, from the moment Marvin burst into the hotel room he sort of took over the scene. And then later at the poker table he went from level 3 nutburger to level 9 maniac without missing a beat. Gotta respect an actor that can turn on the crazy switch like that and be completely believable.
Liberal Democrat back then meant something far different than it does now. In fact Marvin wouldn't recognize the party now. Lee Marvin was one bad ass dude. Never forget him and John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Great flick, way too many real men.
As far as where are the real men in Hollywood? The powers that be want cute, teeny bopper looking metrosexual panzys. Thats who gets hired. Or soft paunchy bros who give you no doubt their lack of physical capabilities beyond really good thumbs for playing their PS3's.
I'm unmotivated today. so I will just mention Lee Marvin vs Ernest Borgnine in VIOLENT SATURDAY – check out the ending.
You always know that Cagney will kill Bogart in their 1930s fims. So be it. But you are never sure if Marvin will kill Borgnine or Borgnine will kill Marvin in any film…or even if Marvin will die at all. (This sounds good, but proves absolutely nothing, so just skip it and watch the clip instead……aaarrgghhhh….mid-summer blahs here….)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtzcBeye12M
Just a thought: We have 8 years of battle-hardened veterans back in country. I'm sure more than a few of them can act. How hard iis it, I wonder, for any of those guys to get into acting/Hollywood? Anyone know of anybody on the fringes? Either in an indy, TV, or such? Is Hollywood in a position to develop a Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine or the like?
Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel, Ving Rhames, David Carradine, Robert Deniro, Robert Forster, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Bruce Willis, Tiny Lister, …all have had starring roles in Tarantino's films and I'm supposed to believe those guys are a bunch of typical panty-waisted girlymen that Quentin fobs off on our screens in a misguided attempt at being a "tiresome poseur"….really?…REALLY?
True. Libs then aren't the libs of today. Today, libs are sociopathic marxists and we'd probably be calling Marvin a libertarian.
"Violent Saturday" is an interesting soap operaish film of its day. Whodathunk it? Ernest Borgnine as an Amish man! And Marvin plays the hood as only Marvin could play them.
Lee Marvin in The Big Heat. He threw hot coffee in Gloria Graham's face, scarring her. Then in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, he was one of the baddest of the bad.
Most actors today could not touch him in the badness department.
Recently viewed from Netflix a film, "Attack", with Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Buddy Ebsen and directed by Robert Aldrich. Lee Marvin was in a supporting role. He is a battalion commander in a National Guard division during the battles at Aachen and the Battle of the Bulge.
Marvin plays a leader who puts on a convincingly tough face but is corrupted by the politics of the situation. Eddie Albert is a coward of a company commander who is from the same hometown as Marvin and both have their eyes on post-war political careers. LM realizes that EA is getting men killed and needs to be relieved but won't do anything about it because of the problems it will cause within the army and in their post-war lives. It's fascinating to see LM doing the tough-guy thing in a corrupt way where he shows the hypocrisy etc.
When you watch the next episode of "The Rockford Files" note in the opening credits montage there is a quick shot of a theater marquee which is showing "Point Blank" as the movie. I think this a sly reference to Rockford always wanting his money.
SPOILER ALERT – I feel compelled to let people know what the movie is actually about. A jewish french girl escapes as her family is machine gunned down while in hiding. a few years later, she is running a movie theatre in occupied france. a german war hero and star of a new propaganda movie is smitten with her. He convinces german leadership to have the premiere at her theater.
She finally agrees because she has a brilliant idea. set the highly flammable film cans on fire and lock the germans inside. (including all the major nazi leadership) The "inglorious basterds" who are basically a side note, have a similar idea and their paths cross in the last 20 minutes to half hour of the movie.
Other than that the inglorious basterds have a single chapter dedicated to them which doesn't last very long and there isn't too much gore at all. I disagree with the way the film is being marketed but i guess they want to attract his usual audience. It is so much more than anything he has ever done.
Superbly written, directed and acted by everyone. A must see.
The story line was slow, but the imagery and score were beautiful. I listed it b/c Pitt was Jesse James who was actually a supporting cast member to Casey Affleck's Robert Ford. He just had this stillness about him that I found impressive and captivating, which probably wouldn't have been the case if he were actually the lead and had more lines.
Ya – if they had cut some of the back story and kept to the "Violent" part, they would have had a tighter and better film. Bet someone fought for that and lost. Be interesting to see if you can edit out the soap and still have a cohesive 60 – 70 minute film. The stalker dude is interesting, though. Nice and perverse….in a genial manner.
No Toothy Title love?
Brad Pitt has kicked some butt in a few movies. I thought he was watchable as "Achilles" in that otherwise not so good adaptation of the Illiad.
I remember that one. Don't they kill each other with firemen's axes at the end?
Sorry for the spoiler. But that's pretty macho…
Blackhawk Down was good but does irk me the actors are not American and have such bad accents. I guess I wont like the new and improved, public education approved G.I. Joe movie.
God I feel the same way. I can't even sit through one of his movies without getting irritated.
"Why no empathy?" — Sonia Sotomayor
let's not forget Gene Pitney who sang the theme song. Well, maybe we should come to think of it. I liked some of Pitney's stuff, but this never seemed to measure up to the film itself
It's true. I can't decide if I am insulted by his product more or the product that got me to watch it.
When you say "tough guys," do you mean older or younger actors?
Because, I'm not kidding when I repeat my mantra: Russell Crowe.
All around Bad A. And still hott! (Of course, he's over 40, so…..not sure where you wanted to go with this….)
NO! See Paint Your Wagon for the last scene, when the tunnels collapse. It's worth it just for that scene.
By the very nature of Mr. Marvin being such a strong man, I would like to have a beer with him. And for the record, Blue Moon beer is very good. Give it a try.
Yes, the "Stalker Dude" added a little interesting diversion to the main plot. IIRC, that actor comedian and Peter Marshall (Of Hollywood Squares fame) tried to do an act in the vein of "Martin and Lewis" after Dean Martin went on his solo way. Needless to say, it didn't work out that well.
My apologies if someone mentioned it already (at work, no time to read though the posts thoroughly), but another great Lee Marvin flick is 1966's 'The Professionals'
I also wanted to mention a quote of his that I saw in a gun magazine bio of him a few years ago:
"For me, pretending to be someone else is strictly a matter of business; but it is a business that I love and respect."
Because we doan' need no stinkin' empathy- we got guns! íVamanos!
If you're gonna play a bada$$, you can't be pretty. I laughed during the epic "Troy" fight scene between Achilles (Pitt) and Hector (Bana). I thought I was watching Swan Lake.
Marvin had a gruff and gravelly voice that sounded like he was talking through a mouth full of stones. He had a face that looked like he could chew up those stones and spit concrete.
Oh, yeah – it was Tommy Noonan! I forgot. So great with MM in GPB when she sings "Bye Bye Baby" to his face while sitting on his lap – hilarious!! Hahahahaha!!
I guess that the best M&L clones were Mitchell and Petrillo.
I think there's a difference between some of the above mentioned and guys like Marvin, Wayne, Borgnine and Bogart and the roles they played and the films they were in. When I see the names above, I don’t necessarily think macho, I think of violent and profane. Actors like Marvin, John Wayne and the like could intimidate with a stare, a stance, or just their voice. They didn't need to disembowel someone or show everyone they could swear like a junior high school poser to show they weren't someone to mess with.
And while we are on the topic of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence", Do you remember who backed up John Wayne in the cafe? Who do you think was the prototype Ving Rames, Tiny lister, Samuel L. Jackson?
Woody Strode………I guess the question should have been. "Do I mind working with white proplr?"
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My favorite Marvin role: Henry 'Rico' Fardan in "The Professionals," an action-filled western set in the early 20th century, with Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Woody Strode, Jack Palance, Claudia Cardinale and Ralph Bellamy. Now, THAT'S a cast…
Thanks for the Back up Doctor!
ScottDS
Try "Cat Ballou". It's good…………and if you want to see something odd, rent "Donovan's Reef" with John Wayne and Marvin. While it's not a masterpiece of movie making, it is watchable and Marvin does a pretty nice job in a comic role.
Lee Marvin was a real Marine hero and a sniper. We had real men that came out of the depression so at 24 they looked ten years older, they never looked like babies who think they are tough. Jimmy Cagney grew up on the east side of NY in a tough Irish neighborhood and he was never afraid to use his fist. Robert Mitchum was riding the rails as a hobo at 14 traveling all over America until he was pick up for being a vagrant in Georgia. He was sent to a chain gang. He escaped and caught gangrene in his leg and walked all the way back home to Delaware. It was his mother that saves his leg. You had John Wayne, Ward Bond these guys would go to Mexico get drunk and tear up the bars down there. Errol Flynn was a roustabout in Australia and he would go into bars to make money to eat and bet money he could beat the toughest guy in the bar. He always won, Flynn would fight anyone at the drop of a hat. He worked in the Eddy Gold fields in New Guinea, he got hired to 'recruit' natives to work on the copra plantations. He lived by the skin of his teeth in the south pacific which was like the wild west of the 1870s. He made his way to England and then Hollywood. By the time he had made Captain Blood at 24 he had already lived a lifetime. Not one of these so called tough guys today can match the older generations love of life and adventure. Getting stone in some college dorm and banging a few college chicks doesn't cut it. I do believe there are Lee Marvins out there and they are Americans. They just don't get cast in films. We need filmmakers to cast these guys who are really tough but are not A-holes. A lot of tough guys in films today are real SOB's off camera, they believe they are what their image is. All the old guys were tough on film, tough off camera when the had to be. But most of the time they were fun guys to hang out and tell some great stories. Today all we have is GQ looking punks with an attitude that they can't back up
Excellent.
Thanks for that interview.
I've always remembered his comment about being on the hospital ship and hearing "Moonlight Serenade" on the PA system and also hearing shooting going on back on the beach at the same time.
What you say is true and I'll even toss in a plug for the vintage Hollywood pretty boys who got tough when they had to IRL with service to their country in WWII
Tyrone Power
Robert Taylor
James Stewart (not a pretty boy, but not a real life tough guy until he had to be)
There's more, of course, I just can't remember who they are.
Hell – even the musicians were enlisting-
Glenn Miller – he died.
Artie Shaw – almost killed him with malaria
Tex Beneke – seems to have done OK
Eddy Duchin – glamorous pianist doing submarine service!
and hundreds more.
I loved the Killers, both versions but I get a kick out of Reagan playing a tough guy, punching women and getting thrown out of cars. It's not his actions I am a fan of but the systematic deconstruction of the Regan Movie Self Image. Much like Eastwood in Unforgiven, Denzel in Training Day or Stallone in CopLand. There is something awesome in a film where a established star destroys their previous screen image. 9 out of 10 times it is usually that actors best role.
I agree with Hank_Scorpio re: Brad Pitt.
As for Lee Marvin, as a young person (26) I haven't had much experience with his films. I Netflixed The Dirty Dozen on Blu-Ray last year and I enjoyed it very much. I don't even think I knew what Marvin's voice sounded like but, from the second he appeared on-screen and spoke, I knew I'd like him.
I obviously have some catching up to do.
I also owe it to myself to watch some M Squad episodes. I'm a big Naked Gun/Police Squad! fan and M Squad is where Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker got the title, the title sequence, the narration, and the name Frank.
Only if you drink it with the orange slice. Drinking a wheat beer is like drinking a loaf of bread. Of course, real German Hefeweizen can't be beat.
I love Gene Pitney!
I don't know Jed, I disagree. As a matter of fact, I'm gonna give it a blast right now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDN4L7cAQf0
Everybody!
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,
He Shot,
Liberty Valance,
He was the greatest of them all…
I know of a better scene when he buys Jean Seberg.
Yes, the enchanting baritone vocal stylings of "Dirty Harry"…
Of course, Lee gives it a vocal turn of his own.
"I was born under a wandering star…wanta make something out of it, punk?"
Now I'll bet Scott runs out and rents this. See what you've done?
In 1980(election year) the media down played the fact that he was a heavy in that movie and actually pointed out that it was the only one where he was the bad guy. Times change
Sorry but that is a urban legend.
http://www.snopes.com/military/celebrities/leemar...
This is a better video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJMLbyEaPWs&fe...
He was the bravest of the all…
(I seem to be a little off today)
Carry on…
of them all…
The next thing I'll probably say is, "I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan"
Some people seem to make a career out of slamming Brad Pitt, but against my expectations I liked Benjamin Button and I know I'll see Basterds as well. Even when Tarantino makes a train wreck it's interesting to watch, and from everything I've read/seen it looks pretty great. Nothing against he-men of old…but no need to slam Mr. Pitt in order to praise Mr. Marvin.
Lee Marvin had More Menace in His Stare than All these Feather Merchant Would Be Pretty Boy actors Will Ever Have and that's if their Armed to the Teeth. Watch Marvin in The Big Heat or Bad Day at Black Rock or The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. You Loved to Hate Him and You Loved To Love Him. The Guy Had It. Plus He Was a Former Marine. He's Golden In My Book. Quentin Tarantino couldn't hit himself in A$$ with a Shovel. That's All.
'Kay. That's why I added the "I think" part.
My guess is we'll get to see some true silver screen heroes soon enough. There's gonna be plenty of young men who are serving overseas at the moment who are gonna find their way to Hollywood. Maybe that's why the industry hates them so much. They are the future competition.
"Gonna paint a wagon, gonna paint it good! We ain't raggin', we're gonna coat that wood!"
Yes, his response to the Cassavetes character was a great moment, but, actually, I'm pretty sure what he really said was "Listen stupid …" which (with his delivery) so perfectly conveyed that very cool, ultra relaxed, weary contempt which Lee Marvin could exude so effectively…
Yup, Lee Marvin was GREAT. What a bad ass.
Love what he did in The Big Red One.
Also one of his great performances was as a villain in Gorky Park.
Maybe it tends to go overlooked/forgotten by fans, because it was just a supporting role in a 1983 film.
Check it out sometime.
with all of the Lee Marvin work, I always wondered if winning oscar with cat ballou was kind of an embarrassment
but, I never had the guts to ask him during the very few times that I was around him
the guy was a tough nut and he liked the bottle, but hell, most of the best did and I sure had fun with them.
But the point of making it in Hollywood as a producer or a director is, in fact, to allow the non-Brad Pitts of the world ie most of us to be exposed to and couple with women we'd never have a chance with otherwise. QT made it on the merit of his work, and 15 years later, nothing has electrified audiences like the relatively low budget Pulp Fiction.
btw – paint your wagon can be kind of enjoyed if watched with some margaritas and senoritas.
I personally liked it better than cat ballou
but, then I liked Duke in some of his very early singing movies – so what do I know and how bad is my taste?
But, I do miss Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, Duke Wayne, Randy Scott, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Bob Mitchum, Jim Garner and a couple of other oldtimers
Lotta QT hate in here, too bad, as it distracted from an otherwise excellent overview of Marvin's wonderful career.
Why the hate for QT? I don't get it. I love all of his movies, and look forward to this one as well. The man loves movies, and for many of us who love old, obscure, B-grade, foreign genre films, his work is a treasure trove. Taste is relative, I just don't get the hate for his work on display in the piece and in this thread. For giving us Pulp Fiction alone, I will always admire the man's work, but the only film of his I didn't enjoy was the effort that put him on the map, RD. I think Inglorious will tank, but not because QT has made a bad film. And Death Proof, if left to its own devices instead of being linked to Planet Terror, would have been a success.
Like many of his generation, Marvin had a couple of memorable roles in the Twilight Zone. I especially enjoyed the episode where he had to stand in for his robot boxer (Battlin' Maxo) and got pummeled. He also played a western gunman who is dared to plunge a knife into the grave of another gunman on boot hill. That episode featured another true American bad a$$–Lee Van Cleef.
I remember reading a Tom Waits interview a few years back. Tom and a group of like-minded hell-raisers formed an informal club called "The Sons of Lee Marvin."
I think Lee Marvin can be thought of as a "bad ass" because he didn't seem to try to be a bad ass – like sex appeal and Sophia Loren it was just there in his persona. I remember him mostly for his speech to the condemned in the Dirty Dozen – I thought whoever wrote that script – or did he ad lib? – it was military crisp and to the point about their fates.
I didn't care too much for the Big Red One – I think the Dirty Dozen is my favorite Lee Marvin movie. And who can forget him in M Squad?
Man who can forget his role as Ben Rumson in Paint Your Wagon? Took some big ones for both of he and Eastwood to sing didn't it?
which indicates perhaps Tarentino peaked too soon, no? As for the comment about "i.e. most of us being exposed to chicks we would never otherwise have a chance with," I say "speak for yourself CBK! (ha; just kidding, but it does prompt me to ask if you are, in fact, making yet as a Hollywood producer or director.
o.k. Jimmy, you win, I did get to tapping my toes, but here is coming back at you (couldn't resist what with my online name and all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4XJF7I4dq8&fe...
Ha! Remember, it was Truffaut (or was it Godard?) who said that cinema is the history of boys taking pictures of girls, and ugly men, for more than a century, have moved behind the cameras to bag the great dames (or in Russ Meyer's case, photograph them in all their glory). As I'm a non-Hollywood writer, I do what most men do – run game, and run it happily. Works as well as a red carpet but doesn't make news when I drunkenly do … anything. Happy trails to me!
I understand what your saying about the accents. I watch older war movies and every single time they would get a pommy actor to play the Australian or Kiwi soldiers and they cannot do our accent to save their lives.
I dont have a problem with Brad Pitt – dont think I ever have. Practically every role Ive seen him in has been well developed (as far as his character goes) and I think hes highly talented. Both my husband and I really like Meet Joe Black and 12 Monkeys…
I remember The Big Red One – the scene of Lee Marvin carrying the death camp survivor (a child) around on his shoulders has to be one of the most poignant scenes I have ever seen. Broke my heart and it was all so understated. No big theatrics, but the meaning was BIG. Loved it.
And speaking of back up… Woody Strode co-starred with Marvin in 'The Professionals' , along with Robert Ryan and Burt Lancaster.
And, as long as we are at it, we also have Jack Palance, Claudia Cardinale, and, finally, Ralph Bellamy.
Y'know, the more I think about it, the more I think it is time to put that flick in my Netflix q….
"When my now husband knocked me up and drug me up in the woods"…
Also known as an "Arkansas Romance".
Hey, Captain Kangaroo could kick some butt. How do you think he made Captain?
Yeah baby!
I have a problem with Brad Pitt.
He got to sleep with Jennifer Aniston….. like so many others have since
Lee Marvin always looked much older then he was
http://www.cinemaretro.com/uploads/dirty-dozen-le...
http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/7108...
yet another story from the archives…A dear departed relative worked for the Palmer House in Chicago doing publicity when Marvin and crew showed up to do exteriors for the MCA series 'M Squad'. We accompanied said relative to a luncheon with Mr Marvin. We were maybe six years old. Like all little guys we were served the Hamburger plate, which was basically a meatball with peas and carrots. As the adults talked we pushed our food around the plate. To which Marvin stopped dead in his tracks, stared us in the eye and said: "Young man, if you don't eat everything on your plate (sternly) I'M GOING TO THROW YOU IN JAIL!… Of course we thought TV cops to be real cops and obeyed instantly. To this day we still have problem leaving any food on our plate, much to the chagrin of our dietician.
What a guy!
"The Professionals" was the second movie I ever saw Lee Marvin in, and I agree with you, it's a very cool movie.
I've always liked Lee Marvin. Maybe it's because he reminds me a bit of my dad.
Anybody got a link to that scene (anywhere on YouTube?) in 'Valance': When Wayne kicked one of his flunkies(was it Strother Martin) in the face & then said: "YOU pick it up Liberty…"
I'll never forget the punch to the nuts.
I caught an interview with Lee Marvin many years ago, IIRC, he did joke about being shot, the Purple Heart is the medal you don't want to win and that he been "shot in the a**" What he didn't mention in the interview was that he'd come close to bleeding to death from the wound; I recall reading that he required nine pints of blood in transfusions.
He said he became an actor because being a Scout/Sniper qualified him for that or for digging ditches. (His words, agin IIRC.)
He was great actor, very iconic and not afraid of playing villians. He was a really nasty peice of work in "The Man who Shot Liberty Vallance." IMHO his performance gave a real focus to the conflict between the pragmatic John Wayne and the idealistic James Stewart.
Don't make 'em like that anymore.
I believed it for a long time too.
Actually "Big Red One" is one of the best war movies ever made in the States without the Hollywood BS. The scene on Omaha Beach where Marvin is yelling for #1 to set the bangalore torpedo. Then #2. Then #3. Then #4. And every one gets shot down. THAT is what real war was like.
And I want to see this movie, even if it is not Award worthy it is always nice to see Nazis getting killed. In this age of the O-Won, seeing bad guys trounced is nice.
If i remember the story right, Marvin saved a man who has been shot up, carried him right off the field and that man we would all know later as Mr. Rogers. The reason Rogers didnt wear short sleeves on the show was because of his battle scars. His was a quiet macho, Marvins was very macho visually.
"Yep, he missed the barn!"
You just can't beat the scene of him on the horse drunk up against the wall.
Don't forget Charles Bronson, as mentioned in the article.
Never better than in The Dirty Dozen and Once Upon A Time In The West.
And don't forget Claudia Cardinale. Rawr.
It's good for insomniac people to finally get a solid nights worth of sleep. Ten minutes (or more, I dozed for a bit so I don't really know how much longer past ten) worth of film to show you how "real" it was to wait for a train to be robbed. Ten minutes of people sitting by a tree….. Getting up and walking to another tree and sitting…. Glaring….. Gabbing stupid junk….. Getting up and walking to another tree and sitting…. Glaring…..
………..
That's the beginning of this snore fest! It only gets more listless as the minutes crawl by to a worthless ending.
Check out Lee Marvin In "Prime Cut." He plays a Chicago enforcer sent to Kansas City to collect money from Gene Hackman. True badass. (Except for the white shoes) Marvin has a great scene at a county fair where he bitch slaps Hackman over the money that is owed. Also the ending seems to be the inspiration for the ending of "Unforgiven" with Hackman and Clint Eastwood.
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