The Morlocks’ tribute to Robert Ryan, which leads up to Turner’s multi-film celebration of the actor on November 10-11, has not only offered insightful comments on some of his most famous performances but also shed light on his lesser known films. Interestingly, there has been a notable preference for Ryan’s dark characters—the bigots, the villains, and the self-centered predators, probably because his antagonists were never two-dimensional bad guys with the black hats and two-day beards but all-too-real humans with hidden demons. However, Ryan’s choice of film roles was too eclectic not to recognize the diversity, so I selected a less-acknowledged film in his filmography to write about—God’s Little Acre.

God’s Little Acre was a box-office success when it was released in 1958, making it one of Ryan’s most popular films with movie-going audiences of his day, though it is virtually unknown now. The movie was based on the 1933 novel by Erskine Caldwell, which was controversial during the Depression for its explicit sexual scenes. When the novel was first published, the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice took Caldwell and Viking Press to court for disseminating pornography. Many writers, editors, and critics of the day rallied to support Caldwell, and the judge in charge of the case ruled in the book’s favor. The case was a famous First-Amendment-rights battle, which undoubtedly helped make the novel a best-seller. However, it took 20 years and the relaxation of the Hollywood’s Motion Picture Production Code for the novel to come to the big screen.

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It was Robert Ryan’s last role, and also one of his best performances. Ryan had long idolized Eugene O’Neill, and The Iceman Cometh, which was written in 1939, is a work by a famous American playwright working at the peak of his powers. The 1973 performance was part of a short-lived experiment by the American Film Theatre wherein select plays were filmed by notable directors and given a short run in a few cinemas. Directing The Iceman Cometh was John Frankenheimer, whom I shall always revere for Seconds but who mainstream audiences will remember for thrillers like The Manchurian Candidate and Ronin. READ MORE

If you have been following our Robert Ryan blogathon, which began on Thursday and leads up to TCM’s 100^th Birthday Tribute to him on November 11^th, you’ll notice that the Morlocks tend to favor his more intense performances in such films as Nicholas Ray’s ON DANGEROUS GROUND, Edward Dmytryk’s CROSSFIRE, and Fritz Lang’s CLASH BY NIGHT. And I’m no exception, favoring his hateful and pathetic portrayal of Earle Slater in ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, directed by Robert Wise.

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I could never imagine actually being beaten up by Robert Ryan and yet I’ve always been a little afraid of him – and never more so than when he smiles.  READ MORE

Leading up to the 100^th anniversary of his birth date (and an unadvertised tribute by TCM), the movie morlocks are writing a week’s worth of articles about the iconic actor Robert Ryan, who is best known for intense performances in films such as these:

• Crossfire (1947) – for which he earned his only Academy Award nomination (Supporting Actor) – with two other esteemed Roberts (Mitchum and Young) and Gloria Grahame, who earned her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination; director Edward Dmytryk earned his only nom.
• Nicholas Ray’s On Dangerous Ground (1952) with Ida Lupino, and
• Fritz Lang’s Clash by Night (1952) opposite Barbara Stanwyck; also with Paul Douglas, and
• Anthony Mann’s The Naked Spur (1953) as a thorn in bounty hunter James Stewart’s saddle, or
• as the leader of the thugs responsible for Spencer Tracy’s Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

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In celebration of the 100th anniversary of actor Robert Ryan’s birth on November 11th, 1909, the Movie Morlocks are initiating a blogathon devoted to the masterful actor, beginning today. This tribute will last through the coming week with contributions from each of the regular contributors to this blog. In addition to our words, TCM will be offering cinematic proof of the reasons for this event with two days of Robert Ryan movies on November 10th and 11th (a link to the complete rundown of upcoming movies is at the end of this blog).

From what the actor’s generous only daughter, Lisa Ryan, tells me, he might have been surprised and, in his rather shy way, perhaps a bit embarrassed by all the attention. Believing that her father probably didn’t know what this “Film Noir” thing was, Lisa once mentioned that her “mother told a hilarious story about being in Paris with my Dad in the early 70’s [after] being approached by a group of kids who turned out to be film students. They got down on their knees, on the sidewalk, in front of my Dad, bowing down to him as if he were some religious figure. My Dad’s comment reportedly was: “What the f—- is WRONG with these French people? Are they all INSANE?”

While I would have loved to see the expressions on the faces of those French cinephiles if they heard this outburst from their icon, maybe it’s a good thing Mr. Ryan isn’t around today to read the paeans his still fresh film performances are earning for him these days.

As the years lengthen between his life and our own time, the long shadow of this singular actor’s body of work has only deepened. The popularity of film noir, which provided Ryan with some of his most memorable roles in Crossfire (1947-Edward Dmytryk), Act of Violence (1948-Fred Zinnemann), and On Dangerous Ground (1952-Nicholas Ray), among others, is partly responsible for the lasting interest in his work, but his career encompassed much more. Appearing in everything from gritty urban dramas, heist films, psychological tales, westerns, war films, some pretty strange potboilers like The Love Machine and even, by a some all too rare fluke of casting, a few stories with a romantic touch. Perceptive viewers can sense something more in his work.

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As I sit on my mysteriously stained couch watching Game 5 of the World Series, my mind wanders to the decision-making process of the game’s director, Bill Webb. He’s orchestrated 13 of these Fall Classics, with new technologies opening up more vistas of sweat and crotch grabs each time.  Webb, alongside producer Pete Macheska, makes decisions on shot selection and duration every second of the game, all of which subtly shape the viewing experience. Baseball is a game of lulling rhythms that occasionally spike into frenzied bouts of athleticism. How Webb handles the former, the batting-glove adjustments, talks at the mound, and endless foul balls, is the most fascinating aspect to his anonymous craft.

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Prior to watching the silent thriller The Bat (1926) a couple of weeks ago at Chicago’s Portage Theater, my only knowledge of the film’s director, Roland West, was his connection to the mysterious death of actress Thelma Todd. West’s involvement with Todd and the link to her death resulted in his withdrawal from Hollywood, meaning his best work was done during the silent era. This factor guarantees his obscurity, at least to contemporary audiences who are loathe to watch black and white films, let alone silent ones. West’s involvement with Todd and her strange, tragic death offer another example of the sad truth that scandal endures longer than accomplishment.

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Ever wonder if the universe might be sending you a secret message? I’m not one to read tea-leaves or Tarot cards, but sometimes think numerology can be fun. So today I woke up wondering if there could be any significance to it being the first day of the eleventh month of the year. Taking a cue from the popular internet meme that asks people to turn to a specific page in the book nearest them to share an excerpt, I decided to see what films the cosmos might be suggesting I add to my Netflix account by pulling down from my bookshelf all the film books I had that I figured would have plenty of poster art. Then I counted the stack. I’m not making this up: there were exactly eleven books! I was off to a good start. How to proceed? Since it’s the first day of the eleventh month of the year I went to page 11, and from there let my finger fall on the very first film image that followed. With that in mind, I now dedicate the following eleven films to the month of November: READ MORE