Comments on: Brian Donlevy: A Tough Guy, Not a Wrong Guy

By: TCM's Classic Movie Blog

TCM's Classic Movie Blog — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 17:28:11 +0000

[...] a chance to play mischievously in a noirish film that gave her a fascinating role as business giant Brian Donlevy’s cosseted, duplicitous wife. This independently made movie featured several interesting plot [...]

By: TCM's Classic Movie Blog

TCM's Classic Movie Blog — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:58:04 +0000

[...] Love that guy, though he gave some awfully good imitations of wood in his day, as I’ve described at length previously here. [...]

By: Stackie

Stackie — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:30:40 +0000

Is there a way to locate someone locally to try this?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:38:49 +0000

I like Donlevy in most of his gangster movies, as well as Westerns. One of his more interesting roles was as the former head of the mob in “The Big Combo”. His character’s deafness is key to his unique downfall. Wish someone would write more about Joseph Lewis’ movies.

By: Joe aka Mongo

Joe aka Mongo — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:10:01 +0000

Moira, another grade A profile. Always enjoyed watching Brian Donlevy whether he was good or evil. Recently saw him in “The Great McGinty” (couldn’t believe the plaid suit) and “Kiss of Death”. I recall his usual bad guy role in “In Old Chicago” which I watched many times. Of course he excelled in “Beau Geste”.
I too feel that William Bendix should have at least gotten an Oscar nomination for “Lifeboat”.

By: moirafinnie

moirafinnie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:05:30 +0000

Hi Yancey, Thanks for the clarification on William Bendix's Oscar nomination. I've corrected that error and I apologize for my wishful thinking regarding Lifeboat. To be truthful, I think that Bendix may have given his very best "average Joe in uniform" characterization in Guadalcanal Diary (1943), not the broader character sketch that did in Wake Island, as the "civilian-minded" guy who re-enlists in solidarity with his besieged buddies (particularly Robert Preston). Btw, I found a decent dvd transfer of Impact (1949) cheaply in a Dollar Store recently, so perhaps you can scarf it up as a bargain. Suzi, I'm happy to report that the depressing sounding The Fat Spy is one movie I've gladly missed among Brian Donlevy's late career "choices".

By: YancySkancy

YancySkancy — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:14:57 +0000

Super article as usual. I’m a fan of Impact, too. I saw a few minutes of it again recently on some cable station, but it was too far along to record. Hope to see it again in its entirety some day.

A correction: William Bendix may have deserved an Oscar nomination for Lifeboat, but he didn’t get one. His only nomination came for his supporting role opposite Donlevy in Wake Island.

By: Suzi Doll

Suzi Doll — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:25:26 +0000

Nice post on an actor who rarely gets any attention. Sadly, Donlevy stars in one of the worst movies ever made — THE FAT SPY with Jayne Mansfield. It is a ridiculous concoction that is a sad commentary on the tail end of both of the stars’ careers. It is a spoof of the Frankie and Annette beach movies, which were ridiculous enough without spoofing. FAT SPY is one of those movies that is so bad that its’ 70-minute running time seems like 4 hours. I always felt bad that these gifted performers felt driven by circumstance to be in this movie. They deserved better.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:22:47 +0000

I have always been a fan of Brian’s and love his work in Big Combo, Glass Key, Quatermas Xperiment and Quatermass 2 best of all.

By: Alison

Alison — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:56:29 +0000

“Real women viewers” who like Brian Donlevy’s work in The Great McGinty, Hangmen Also Die and the Quatermass Xperiment are more numerous than is acknowledged. He might seem an odd choice since he was usually a bad guy or a second lead, but there was something about Brian. Good profile of a neglected actor.