The Shooting Gallery: The 100 Best (Most Fortunate?) Actors: Now Disc. Orson Welles

Robert De Niro

Leading Player

(1943- ) Born August 17, New York, New York, USA

"Considered the best actor of his generation, Robert De Niro has built a durable star career out of his formidable ability to disappear into a character, whether tempering his charisma to become a believable everyman or imbuing his renowned gallery of mobsters and psychopaths with a compelling, frightening authority." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography
Key Films The Godfather Part II (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), GoodFellas (1990) Key Directors Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma, Ulu Grosbard Links Amazon IMDB

? Appears in 14 of the 1,000 Greatest Films

 

He's definitely a great actor. Did you know another Meet the Parents sequel is out this year? God.

 

Great actor, the only unfortunate thing IMHO is that pretty much all this most memorable/stand-out roles are from his early career. I struggle to think of him in anything noteworthy this last decade or so outside of Meet The Parents and it's sequel(s) (Rogue1.5 is correct - Little Fockers is due out in late December).

 

Pacino hasn't made the best decisions either, but at least he had Insomnia, which was a truly great performance. Now, Meet the Parents was a great movie and De Niro was good in it. But the sequels have gotten progressively worse. The trailer for Little Fockers assured me that a big portion of the movie was going to revolve around De Niro taking a virility drug and having a prolonged erection. Seriously, folks.

 

Since he and Scorsese parted company, the ground has been stony, indeed.

 

Alain Delon

Leading Player

(1935- ) Born November 8, Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France

"The magnetic Alain Delon was among the most prominent French actors of the postwar era; an exotically handsome performer, he sprung from offscreen rumor and scandal to emerge as a uniquely enigmatic and sinister talent... Despite mixed critical regard for his work, Delon was a favorite among many of the era's most prominent filmmakers, and in 1962 he starred in Michelangelo Antonioni's brilliant L'Eclisse followed by a turn in Visconti's 1963 masterpiece Il Gattopardo." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography

Key Films Rocco and His Brothers (1960), L'Eclisse (1962), The Leopard (1963), Le Samouraï (1967), The Red Circle (1970) Key Directors Jean-Pierre Melville, Luchino Visconti Links Amazon IMDB
? Appears in 6 of the 1,000 Greatest Films

I've seen "Il Gattapardo" but nothing else, and I really don't remember him in it. I would love to see "Le Samourai" which I hear is very influential.

 

Catherine Deneuve

Leading Player

(1943- ) Born October 22, Paris, France

"A model of Gallic elegance, cultivated lust object for art house filmgoers everywhere, and one of the best-respected actresses in the French film industry, Catherine Deneuve made her reputation playing a series of beautiful ice maidens for directors such as Luis Buñuel and Roman Polanski." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography
Key Films The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Repulsion (1965), Belle de jour (1967), The Young Girls of Rochefort (1968), Tristana (1970) Key Directors Luis Buñuel, Jacques Demy, Arnaud Desplechin Links Amazon IMDB

? Appears in 5 of the 1,000 Greatest Films
? Appears in 4 of the 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films

Very beautiful, but not very expressive (a comedian once called her 'Catherine Dead Nerve'), a series of directors used both qualities very effectively.

 

Delon is astonishing in Le Samourai, but I think his second collaboration with Melville, Le Cercle Rouge, is the best thing he's done. It's a near perfect peace of heist cinema from a director who doesn't get the attention he deserves.

 

I'd like to see it.

Next:

Gérard Depardieu

Leading Player

(1948- ) Born December 27, Châteauroux, Indre, France

"Despite his unorthodox visage, Gérard Depardieu has made a profound mark on the acting world, earning a recognition as one of Europe's most accomplished performers and appealing leading men. Perhaps a contributor to his consistently intense performances, Depardieu's childhood was one of extreme poverty." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography
Key Films 1900 (1976), Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980), The Woman Next Door (1981), Danton (1982), Jean de Florette (1986) Key Directors Bertrand Blier, Maurice Pialat, François Truffaut Links Amazon IMDB

? Appears in 3 of the 1,000 Greatest Films

 

I saw Lés Miserables a couple of years ago - it's really good, and the fact that it's in the proper language (French) makes it even better.

 

Marlene Dietrich

Leading Player

(1901-1992) Born December 27, Schoneberg, Germany

"At the peak of her career in the 1930s, Marlene Dietrich was the screen's highest-paid actress; moreover, she was also the very essence of cinematic eroticism, a beguiling creature whose almost supernatural allure established her among film's most enduring icons. While immensely sensual, Dietrich's persona was also strangely androgynous; her fondness for masculine attire not only spawned a fashion craze, it also created an added dimension of sexual ambiguity which served to make her even more magnetic." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography
Key Films The Blue Angel (1930), The Scarlet Empress (1934), The Devil is a Woman (1935), Angel (1937), Touch of Evil (1958) Key Directors Josef von Sternberg, Billy Wilder Links Amazon IMDB
? Appears in 7 of the 1,000 Greatest Films

She couldn't act for toffee, not that it was ever about that (see her exit, stage right, entranced GIs in tow, in "A Foreign Affair"). She couldn't sing, either. It wasn't about that. She could barely say lines. Not that. Beautiful and charismatic, it was about that.

 

You say it exactly: couldn't act, couldn't sing, couldn't do a line reading to save her life. But her style of charisma has dated somewhat. She appears somewhat camp to modern eyes.

 

Kirk Douglas

Leading Player

(1916- ) Born December 9, Amsterdam, New York, USA

"Once quoted as saying "I've made a career of playing SOBs," Kirk Douglas is considered by many to be the epitome of the Hollywood hard man. In addition to acting in countless films over the course of his long career, Douglas has served as a director and producer, and will forever be associated with his role in helping to put an end to the infamous Hollywood black list." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography

Key Films Out of the Past (1947), Ace in the Hole (1951), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Paths of Glory (1957), Spartacus (1960) Key Directors Vincente Minnelli, Stanley Kubrick, Richard Fleischer Links Amazon IMDB

? Appears in 7 of the 1,000 Greatest Films

His viable career didn't last as long as his long-time rival Burt Lancaster, but he lived longer, his family have been visibly successful, and he worked with some good directors. So he's better known.

 

Robert Duvall

Leading & Character Player

(1931- ) Born January 5, San Diego, California, USA

"One of Hollywood's most distinguished, popular, and versatile actors, Robert Duvall possesses a rare gift for totally immersing himself in his roles... He worked with some of the greatest directors over the years. This included a long association with Francis Ford Coppola, for whom he worked in two Godfather movies (in 1972 and 1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979)." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography

Key Films The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1972), The Conversation (1974), Network (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979) Key Directors Francis Ford Coppola Links Amazon IMDB
? Appears in 7 of the 1,000 Greatest Films

The book on the original Bo Radley (his first role) and Lucky Ned Pepper was that he was too short, too self-effacing and too bald for stardom. But check out his leading role in the marvelous "Lonesome Dove", where he romances two tall powerhouse actresses: Anjelica Huston and Diane Lane, and does a great job. They may well have been wrong.

 

Duvall is fantastic. An actor who just makes everything he's in better.

 

Amazing actor; his role in Lonesome Dove is just superb.

 

Only seen one completely wrongheaded performance from him - his Watson in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Just... a bad idea all-round. Otherwise, he pretty much knocks every role out of the park, even if the film is rubbish.

Tom Hagen is the obvious answer for "favourite performance", and that's what I'd go for, but as a runner up, it's gotta be Frank Hackett.

 

I'll have to disagree; I love his performance as Watson in "The Seven Per Cent Solution", which is a terrific Holmes movie. Especially the inflection he gives "We followed a trail of...lilies" which had me rolling on the floor laughing. Nicol Williamson and Alan Arkin are also excellent as Holmes and Sigmund Freud, respectively.

 

Clint Eastwood

Leading Player

(1930- ) Born May 31, San Francisco, California, USA

"With his rugged good looks and icon status, Clint Eastwood was long one of the few actors whose name on a movie marquee could guarantee a hit. Less well-known for a long time (at least until he won the Academy Award as Best Director for Unforgiven), was the fact that Eastwood was also a producer/director, with an enviable record of successes." - Excerpt from Allmovie biography

Key Films The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), Dirty Harry (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Unforgiven (1992), Million Dollar Baby (2004) Key Directors Himself, Don Siegel, Sergio Leone Links Amazon IMDB

? Appears in 6 of the 1,000 Greatest Films
? Appears in 1 of the 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films

The only one of the star actor/directors worth a candle. Not expressive, but he is charismatic.

 

My second-favorite actor; just an amazing star. Holy crap can he ever just dominate the screen.

 

Oh, I loved the film. I just couldn't get around Duvall.

On the topic of Eastwood - not necessarily a great actor, but a great presence. Best performance is undoubtedly Unforgiven. His final line is both heartbreaking and badass. No mean feat.

 

One of my favorite scenes in all of cinema comes from White Hunter Black Heart. Not a favorite movie of mine, but that scene. . .

 

Eastwood has more range than you might at first think. You instantly know how much charm he has: a hell of a lot.

Also, a word for Kirk Douglas, who no one really commented on. Another actor much better than his stardom might lead you to believe. The Bad and the Beautiful is probably his best performance. But check him in Out of the Past; it's his second movie and he's already got the character down pat: cancerous arrogance, intense masculinity, complete amorality, deadly charm. Brilliant actor.

 

Oh, yes. Far more interesting (and ambiguous) than Michael.