A chronology of some lesser known Robert Ryan films

Leading up to the 100th 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)


Ryan seemed to specialize in playing angry white men whose racism or other hidden demons cultivated a hatred that was always simmering just below the surface such that they were always ready to explode if it was stirred even slightly, or their passions were otherwise provoked.  His portrayal of Captain Vere’s Master at Arms John Claggart in actor-director Peter Ustinov’s screen version of Herman Melville’s Billy Budd (1962) – in which Terence Stamp earned his only Oscar nomination (in the ill-fated title role) – is a quintessential example of these roles on the actor’s resume.  Ryan’s Claggart is a particularly sadistic and cruel individual who seems to enjoy exercising his authority, having men flogged (ostensibly to enforce discipline, but) for no apparent reason.

Late in his career, when the threat of any physical action (and its inherent consequences) by the actor’s characters were no longer as ominously apparent, Ryan still clashed with some of the big names on the screen in supporting roles:

  • As one of The Professionals (1966) – along with Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin and Woody Strode – hired (by Ralph Bellamy) to retrieve a woman (Claudia Cardinale) from Jack Palance’s character
  • A by-the-book colonel that’s not too happy with the radical major’s (played by Marvin) methods employed while assembling and training The Dirty Dozen (1967) for an ‘impossible’ mission
  • As the aged patriarch Ike Clanton in director John Sturges’s second (and more accurate?) version of the Wyatt Earp (James Garner) – Gunfight at the O.K. Corral – legend:  Hour of the Gun (1967)
  • And charged with reining in William Holden’s The Wild Bunch (1969), directed by Sam Peckinpah

But what you may not know (or remember) about Robert Ryan is that he also played some less intense parts on film.  Fortunately, even though I’ve only seen a third of his 75 movies, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing some of his more nuanced character roles.  Early in his career, he actually played “good guys”:  helping Pat O’Brien catch a spy in Bombardier (1943) and as Ginger Rogers’s nice soldier husband in Tender Comrade (1943).  However, in another RKO movie that same year – The Sky’s the Limit (1943) – Ryan revealed a more devious side:  his character exploits Fred Astaire’s, ‘forcing’ him to perform a snake dance by threatening to reveal his identity and possibly ruin his chances with Joan Leslie’s.

But after World War II, another Ryan character assisted Merle Oberon’s by helping Paul Lukas’s German diplomat escape assassination in Jacques Tourneur’s Berlin Express (1948).  Ryan also played more sympathetic (if sometimes misunderstood) characters in Fred Zinnemann’s Act of Violence (1948) – as a cripple that pursues Van Heflin for past deeds – and in Robert Wise’s The Set-Up (1949) – as an over-the-hill boxer who resists taking a dive in his last fight – before playing Claudette Colbert’s confused fiancé in the rarely aired The Secret Fury (1950), directed by actor Mel Ferrer.  When his character’s wedding to Colbert’s is interrupted by a man claiming that the bride-to-be is already married, Ryan is relentless during his pursuit of the truth.  But later that year, in a curiously miscast Nicholas Ray drama Born to Be Bad (1950) – thirty-three year old Joan Fontaine plays a college student while Ryan plays a writer that she has an affair with – he gets to deliver some audacious one-liners with absolutely no subtly; Ferrer, Leslie and Zachary Scott also have featured roles.

Although most of Ryan’s more iconic roles can be found in the 1950’s portion of his filmography (listed at the beginning of this article), there were also three fairly atypical ones in the latter half of the decade that many may not have seen.  One is the B-movie remake of director John Farrow’s minor classic Five Came Back (1939); as its producer, Farrow remade his earlier RKO film as Back From Eternity (1956), in which Ryan played a near retirement “alcoholic” pilot whose plane crashes in the jungle.  The plot may have inspired the reality TV series Survivor, which was among the first of its kind on network television.  Another subdued role was the cynical newspaperman Ryan played opposite a somewhat idealist Monty Clift in the infrequently shown Lonelyhearts (1958).  Myrna Loy plays Ryan’s wife, who provides the path that the unemployed writer uses to get a job at her husband’s paper.  There are several ‘confrontations’ between Ryan’s and Clift’s characters, which feature the movie’s best dialogue; the newspaper veteran manipulates the younger man, trying to corrupt him.  Clift’s eventually falls prey to Maureen Stapleton’s character (the actress earning the first of her four supporting nominations in her debut) in the film’s title role of “Miss Lonelyheart”, who’d written about the problem of her husband’s impotence to the paper’s “Dear Abby”-like column (which Ryan had assigned to Clift).  Finally, there’s Robert Wise’s Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), which he co-produced with Harry Belafonte.  Belafonte’s character teams with Ryan’s and Ed Begley’s as would-be bank robbers, but they fight among themselves so much that a successful heist is unlikely.  Ryan’s character, a two-time loser who served time for manslaughter, is a racist, which obviously adds tension to the drama, as does the fact that he’s a kept man – by Shelley Winters – and that their sexy neighbor (Gloria Grahame, naturally) is turned on by the ex-con’s past.

As you can see, Robert Ryan didn’t only play Cro-Magnon oddball hotheads during his career; the actor had the opportunity to show us more from his earliest movies to his last, and even during the decade that marked his most notable work products.

12 Responses A chronology of some lesser known Robert Ryan films
Posted By Patricia : November 5, 2009 2:29 pm

Robert Ryan and his “Mr. President” co-star Nanette Fabray were mystery guests on “What’s My Line?” when his friend Harry Belafonte was on the panel. The looks they exchange at the reveal is priceless. I think the clip can be found on YouTube. It’s comforting to see those enemies from “Odds Against Tomorrow” in their natural state.

Posted By smitty1931 : November 5, 2009 5:10 pm

I saw Mr President at the National Theatre in Wash. D.C. preBroadway and felt the Irving Berlin songs were 2nd rate and of course it flopped. Nanette Fabray was deaf and it was amazing she could carry a tune.

Posted By Dan Lalande : November 6, 2009 10:17 am

Hello,

A few short years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Ernest Borgnine on a film shot here in Ottawa, Canada called, “The Kiss of Debt.”

During a break in shooting, a devoted fan approached Ernie with a bag of stills for him to sign. As I stood and watched, Ernie stopped over a group photo from ‘The Wild Bunch.’ “Robert Ryan…,” he started slowly, “…what a wondefful actor. He was going blind, y’know…” It was then that I noticed the tear falling from tough-guy Borgnine’s eye. erbie wiped it away, signed the photo, and then went back to work.

It was obvious that he, like many of us, carried a special spot in his heart for Ryan, even after all these years.

Posted By spidermike : November 6, 2009 12:54 pm

I think my earliest memory of Ryan is when I was around 10 in the late 70′s and watching The Dirty Dozen with my father. Dad’s quote upon seeing Ryan in the film was “I never liked that bas-ard”.
What Dad didn’t realize is just how great Ryan was in film generally.
As I got older and watched more and more films I realized that there was more to this guy than just a sour character.
I think I realized watching The Wild Bunch that he could be so much more than what my father thought of him.
Then of course I would look for his films on late night T.V. and now have seen over half and thanks to channels like TCM it has become much more easier to find them.
I’d like to make mention of House of Bamboo as perhaps my favorite bad guy role that he did. Since that is what he is generally remembered for. I think it rates right up alongside his role in the much more famous Bad Day at Black Rock which admittedly is a must see for those that haven’t taken the time. But try to see Bamboo as well.

Thanks for the films Mr. Ryan…….and finally my Dad has come around a little as I’ve pushed a few DVD’s in his hands over the past few years.

Mike Perry

Posted By suzidoll : November 6, 2009 8:13 pm

Great story Dan: Thanks for sharing.

Posted By Stan Prentice : November 8, 2009 6:50 am

The first time I noticed Robert Ryan was in Billy Budd. I thought that was a wonderful movie, and Ryan’s portrayal of Claggart was spot on. The master-at-arms was a purely hateful man, and Ryan didn’t attempt to give him some redeeming quality, nor to explain his nastiness. You knew that there was some reason for it, but Ryan kept it under the surface, where it belonged. I loved him in that role, and have enjoyed him in others since then. — Stan

Posted By Juana Maria : November 9, 2009 3:18 pm

My Favorite Robert Ryan film is “Inferno”. I’ve seen it only on
AMC tv channel. It’s not the best movie ever, but Ryan gives a great performance.

Posted By Mike : November 10, 2009 11:58 am

The Naked Spur shows Ryan’s more vulnerable and liberated side.

Posted By Darryl : November 11, 2009 10:55 pm

Robert Ryan is to me a “class A” actor in all respects. His delivery is full of emotion that never looks forced or fake. And as a youngster watching “The Naked Spur” I remember his sneak filled laugh. It’s a small thing, but this tells me, he’s got what it takes. Many people I talk to do not even know who this great actor was. I wish more people would watch TCM and see not only the talents of Robert Ryan but the wonderful talent of the actors and actresses of years past. They do not know what they are missing.

Posted By Robert Kawasaki : November 15, 2009 9:12 am

Robert Ryan appeared in many artistic films which dealt with deep human emotions and one’s realization about himself. He was very good in this kind of films. Fortunately, he has left several classics in such genre.

THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH
ACT OF VIOLENCE
THE SET-UP
ON DANGEROUS GROUND
INFERNO
ABOUT MRS. LESLIE
MEN IN WAR
GOD’S LITTLE ACRE
LONELYHEARTS
DAY OF THE OUTLAW
ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW
THE LAWMAN
THE ICEMAN COMETH

I have recently watched INFERNO directed by underrated but talented Roy Ward Baker(THE SINGER NOT THE SONG was also great). Sure, it is a modest and small scaled film but its surely well made, and siginificantly thought provoking. An innovative direction, a thoughtful script, an effective editing, a beautiful carerawork, and Ryan’s great acting made this film one of the minor masterpieces of 50′s cinema.

Posted By Robert Kawasaki : November 17, 2009 5:22 am

Also, I must mention GOD’S LITTLE ACRE as a lesser known Robert Ryan film. Needless to say this does not mean the film is worthless. It is actually a wonderful film. It is quite strange, that the film received high critical recognitions on the first run in 1958, however, its popularity was increasingly diminished through the years. Maybe, because some people felt the film did not look like an Anthony Mann film. It was not a western or a film noir. It is a folk tragicomedy which might belongs to hands of John Ford, nevertheless, its style definitely belongs to Anthony Mann. Relationship between land scape and the men, one’s self realization through critical struggle, vivid moment of violence, and sophisticated intelligence, which are all components of GOD’S LITTLE ACRE, are typcal Anthony Mann motifs. They are actually presented superbly and quite beautifully in this film. Robert Ryan’s performance as Ty Ty is one of the main contributors to the film. He is multi-faced. He is crazy, selfish, and greedy, of course. Yet, he also is loving, intelligent, and compassionate. This role was difinitely Ryan’s. Who else could play such a complexed character with full conviction. Along with WINCHESTER ’73, EL CID, MEN IN WAR, you must remember that GOD’S LITTLE ACRE was one of the personal favorites for its director, Anthony Mann.

Posted By BRIAN : June 13, 2010 7:19 pm

Woman On Pier 13(1949)Film Noir as good as it gets.
Behind The Rising Sun(1943)Robert Ryan has a great fight scene with Mike Mazurki.Not a bad WW2 Film.

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