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Kirk Douglas, 103 and out

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    Kirk Douglas, 103 and out

    Passed away yesterday.

    Have to admit, I've never watched Sparticus. I've said "I'm Sparticus!" though.

    #2
    "I'm dead." "No, I'm dead".

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      #3
      The Harvey Weinstein of his day? The Natalie Wood rumour would certainly suggest so

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        #4
        Whoah there, ad hoc. You're supposed to wait a day with that!

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          #5
          There’s a few memorable films he was in - Ace In The Hole & Paths To Glory standout alongside Spartacus for me - but when you look back over his career a hell of a lot of it was forgettable dross.

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            #6
            Isn't that the case with many "great" Hollywood stars? They were on a payroll, not just actors who could pick and choose their movies.

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              #7
              Yes, it is, to be fair. The old studio system often didn’t do actors many favours on their CV.

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                #8
                The tradeoff being that he was a Proper Movie Star of the kind you don't really get any more.

                I was far too early for Kirk, but I've always been a fan of Michael Douglas who I think is underrated as an actor, leading man and producer. I remember getting hooked on repeats of The Streets of San Francisco when they were running on one of the satellite channels about a decade back.

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                  #9
                  I loved a couple of his films, of course, who doesn't love Spartacus?

                  But his treatment of women sucked.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by G-Man View Post
                    Whoah there, ad hoc. You're supposed to wait a day with that!
                    No, no, man. If you're over 100 and didn't die tragically with your child, the embargo is waived.

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                      #11
                      Despite the legendary status, I think I only films I ever saw with him in were The Vikings and 20000 League Under The Sea.

                      Are there other claims about his treatment of women alongside the Natalie Wood one?

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                        #12
                        Yes. One of his "conquests" disappeared altogether. He admits in his autobiography he was a bit of a shit.

                        https://nypost.com/2016/12/08/how-ki...nest-beauties/

                        "Charming beauties" is one way of putting it, I guess.

                        The last paragraph

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                          #13
                          His starring role in Lust for Life inspired the name of a clothing store in Aachen. A fitting trbute

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                            #14
                            He had a good side (don't they all) in promoting people of colour and fighting McCarthyism.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by slackster View Post
                              There’s a few memorable films he was in - Ace In The Hole & Paths To Glory standout alongside Spartacus for me - but when you look back over his career a hell of a lot of it was forgettable dross.
                              He starred in a number of top-notch noir movies early in his career. Out of the Past and I Walk Alone are classics of the genre Detective Story is interesting too as, in a totally different way, is The Bad and the Beautiful. The latter, given what we now suspect about his treatment of women, is almost autobiographical. Like his contemporaries and co-stars Tony Curtis, and Burt Lancaster he became type-cast in the fifties. Good roles anywhere in Hollywood were hard to find, especially for contracted stars.

                              Originally posted by MsD View Post
                              He had a good side (don't they all) in promoting people of colour and fighting McCarthyism.
                              Also an early environmentalist. Can't remember its name but, in the early fifties, he starred in a film about a bunch of Puritans(?) trying to save the the redwoods

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                                #16
                                Blimey, that last paragraph was something indeed. Interesting to see that he was abused by a teacher when he was 14 too.

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                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                                  Also an early environmentalist. Can't remember its name but, in the early fifties, he starred in a film about a bunch of Puritans(?) trying to save the the redwoods

                                  The Big Trees, amusingly enough.

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                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by johnr View Post
                                    Blimey, that last paragraph was something indeed. Interesting to see that he was abused by a teacher when he was 14 too.
                                    Actually, thinking about the language used in that article, it's also interesting that abused is 'seduced'.

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by WOM View Post

                                      No, no, man. If you're over 100 and didn't die tragically with your child, the embargo is waived.
                                      Bloody Brussels and their rules. God save the Queen!

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                                        #20
                                        A great actor.

                                        His behaviour was, I suggest nothing out of the ordinary at the time, and you must remember that nearly all actors are dicks.

                                        Nice story in the obits:
                                        Kirk acquired the film rights to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest after originating the lead role on the stage. Several years of development hell follow, during which time he sells the rights to son Michael.
                                        Michael finally succeeds in getting it greenlit by a studio, but then has to tell Dad the bad news - he's now too old for the role, they're going with Jack Nicholson.

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                                          #21
                                          I'm not sure all men actors then were rapists. Hard to be sure, of course.

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                                            #22
                                            Two separate news reports called him "The last star of Hollywood's golden age ". Olivia De Haviland is still alive.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by MsD View Post
                                              I loved a couple of his films, of course, who doesn't love Spartacus?

                                              But his treatment of women sucked.
                                              I watched that finally last year. I can see why it's a classic, but the action bits seem very stagey and silly by modern standards. Of course, I was watching it on a four inch screen.

                                              I know his treatment of women was very poor, but if Trumbo is to be believed, he was squarely on the right side of the Blacklisting travesty. You know who is not on the right side of that? Fuckin' John Waye. FTG.

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                                                #24
                                                Seems an appropriate place to link to this:

                                                ​​​​​​https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03wq2p3

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                                                  #25
                                                  That looks an interesting listen. I think Spartacus is so stiff as Kubrick only came on board after the film started. It's probably his weakest film. Not that it's not a great watch, but no masterpiece.

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