If I had to make a short list of supporting parts that entertain me more than everything else in the movie combined (so it's got to be really entertaining) I just may have to put Raymond Walburn at the top for Riding High. If you've never seen it, it's a Bing Crosby vehicle directed by Frank Capra on his way down Hollywood's "What have you done for me, lately" ladder. Bing's got a horse but not the money to get it into the proper races and Ray Walburn is Professor Pettigrew, a bumbling half-wit con man who's trying to help out with the cause. Problem is, he's inept. So inept he literally cons himself out of money at one point in the movie ("Bilked! By my own chicanery!"). He's amazing and should've been nominated for Best Supporting Actor but wasn't. Of course, another short-lister, George Sanders won that very year for All About Eve so no real complaints here.Or how about Elsa Lanchester in The Big Clock? With but a few minutes of screen time she steals the whole show as the flighty, judgemental and needy painter, enlisted to identify the killer (falsely accused Ray Milland while really it's her real-life hubby, Charles Laughton).
Or Noel Coward in Bunny Lake is Missing?
Or Barry Fitzgerald in The Catered Affair?
Or Thelma Ritter in anything?
Or Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz?
Or Melvyn Douglas in Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House?
Or Nina Foch in An American in Paris?
Or Glenda Farrell in Mystery of the Wax Museum?
Or Ernest Thesiger in Bride of Frankenstein?
Or Madeline Kahn in Paper Moon? Or Young Frankenstein?
And speaking of Young Frankenstein, how about Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman and Kenneth Mars? Or, hell, Gene Hackman?
Or Gene Wilder in Bonnie and Clyde?
Or Richard Pryor in Silver Streak?
Or Dudley Moore in Foul Play?
Or Jeffrey Jones in Amadeus?
Or Elaine May in Small Time Crooks?
Oh hell, there's so many to list and so little time. Give me some more time and I could knock off the drama list just as easily. One spoiler for that one: Agnes Moorehead in The Magnificent Ambersons? Probably at the top.
14 comments:
Not only did Capra recycle the story of Broadway Bill, but the footage as well. But he did have a way with supporting players. One of my favorites is Sterling Holloway in American Madness.
By the way, Peter, Raymond Walburn plays the same role in both, but being 16 years older makes his Pettigrew even better in the second one.
Might I also suggest Walter Hampden in Sabrina? Walter Connolly in It Happened One Night? Clifton Webb in Laura? Wilfrid Brambell in A Hard Day's Night? Lotte Lenya in From Russia With Love? Margaret Rutherford in A Countess From Hong Kong? Sandra Bernhard in The King of Comedy? Anjelica Huston in Manhattan Murder Mystery? Dianne Wiest in any of her Woody Allen films?
Michael Kidd in "Smile".
MrW, I could've included all of those myself. And there's still more I could think of. BTW, I love Margaret Rutherford in anything but another specific one that comes to mind is Blithe Spirit. She's wonderful in that.
Robert, I must see that again, now! I haven't seen it since I was a young moviegoer in the seventies and remember nothing about it but now I want to see it for the Michael Kidd performance. Unfortunately, it's not on DVD with Netflix but I see some used ones for sale at Amazon for only a couple of bucks though so I think I'll buy one.
Nigel Bruce as, ahem, Beaky, having something of a bromance with Cary Grant's Johnnie in Suspicion.
If he could just get her out of the way, he and Beaky could be happy.
Speaking of Hitchcock, for my short list of dramatic parts that steal the movie, I'd have to put Judith Anderson from Rebecca right near the top too.
And now the odd thing is: Blithe Spirit is actually my favorite supporting performance by Margaret Rutherford. Can't really tell why I thought of Countess first...
tdraicer:
Claude Raines and Basil Rathbone in anything that didn't star Claude Raines or Basil Rathbone. James Mason in The Last of Sheila and Murder By Decree. Andre Morell in The Hound of the Baskervilles. No longer the leading man, James Stewart in The Shootist ("I'd have to gut you like a fish.") Well, this game is obviously endless, so I'll stop there.
MrW, maybe it's because everyone else is so good in Blithe Spirit too. I mean, I love Kay Hammond in that movie so much I could easily put her on this list too.
tdraicer, Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone definitely qualify. As great as the whole cast is in Casablanca, for me, Rains pulls off the remarkable feat of standing out, with that cast, in that movie! It's pretty amazing.
And in The Adventures of Robin Hood you've got Claude and Basil together, forming the most perfect villainous duo the story of Robin Hood has ever had.
This is an awesome list, and makes me want to see Riding High - especially with that "bilked!" line, which is funny even out of context.
I recently caught Walburn being similarly hilarious opposite Franklin Pangborn in Sturges's Christmas in July, and I'd put Pangborn in anything (especially Vivacious Lady) on this list.
And speaking of great Capra uses of character actors, what about Harry Carey in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, as the president pro tempore? Or Guy Kibbee in that same movie (or Kibbee in any Busby Berkeley musical), or for dramatic, Claude Rains in Mr. Smith? For me, he invariably trumps Stewart's performance.
Thanks for the reminder of all these great character actors! Lists like this are so fun.
Andreas, he really is an incredible joy to watch in Riding High. It's a performance more people should know about.
And everything you said about Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and Claude Rains in particular, is true. I think Claude Rains almost always outshines everyone in every movie he's in. Just a phenomenal actor.
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