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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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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