A Tribute to Peter Lorre: A Fine Actor

In the days of Classical Hollywood, we got a number of great actors: Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, and Henry Fonda to name a few. We saw lots of great men in those old days, but I'm not sure how many left quite as much of an impression as a certain Austrian-born actor. Peter Lorre was the unfortunate victim of typecasting. There is no doubt about that, but he is still a fascinating character in every way possible who always managed to find something useful to bring to his roles (okay, maybe with the exception of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea).

Though he is remembered for his role in classical Hollywood, Peter Lorre was born an Astro-Hunagarian of Jewish descent. His first big breakout movie was a German film called M, directed by Fritz Lang of Metropolis fame (who would also go on to work for for Hollywood in the Studio Era) but thanks to some bad ideas proposed by one Adolph Hitler, he had to get out of their as fast as possible and eventually settled in Hollywood, where with the success of M he managed to find various acting roles in Hollywood.

M was unfortunately the beginning of Peter Lorre's experience in typecasting. In that film, he played a serial killer who preyed on children. By the time he started making his name in Hollywood, he became the go-to guy for sidekicks, villains, or (more often) sidekicks to villains. It certainly didn't help that the Nazis made an anti-semetic propaganda film called The Eternal Jew which took a single scene from M out of context and tried to use that as proof that Peter Lorre was a "typical" Jew that needed to be annihilated.

The funny thing is that by most accounts, like many great actors he was precisely the opposite of his on-screen persona. While on film Peter Lorre was often cast as thieves and murderers or characters who at the very least had something sleazy about them (his single scene in Casablanca, for instance). The real Peter Lorre was said to be a nice guy with a sense of humor that rarely (if ever) showed up on camera (supposedly, while attending Bela Lugosi's funeral, he asked "Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart, just case?")

One story I've heard (though I can't validate it's authenticity) goes that Lorre was in a restaurant and found a whole bunch of people being kept behind a bar. The waiter came up to him and Lorre asked why all the people were being kept back, to which the waiter replied that they were just tourists and they wanted to seat "important people like yourself" first. Lorre responded to this by removing the barrier and immediately seating every single one of the tourists himself. When asked why, he said "I know what it feels like to be kept out", referring to his experiences with the Nazis early in his career.

Now Peter Lorre didn't always play villains. While his character may have had a sleazy vibe he technically had a heroic role in Casablanca (since he provided Rick with the tickets that eventually allowed Ilsa Lund and Victor Lazlo to get to America). In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he got to play one of his few truly sympathetic roles as Conseil, whose conflicting morals made him a perfect surrogate for the audience. In yet another amusing example of Peter Lorre's sense of humor, he allegedly went on to claim (at least according to Walt Disney) "the squid got the part that's usually reserved for him".

Peter Lorre really was an amazing individual, not just as an actor but as a person too. This was a man who was a role model in every way you could imagine. As an actor he could usually be expected to deliver an excellent performance no matter what was expected of him, and as a person he seems like he was a really great guy to be around. As far as stars of classical Hollywood go, Peter Lorre might be one of the greatest and most admirable you can find.

The Role Of Laura Dern in David Lynch's Filmography

Laura Dern is a talented and versatile actress, there's no doubting that. From October Sky to The Fault in Our Stars, she has played a wide range of effective roles. For a more in-depth look at her filmography in general you can check Alex Withrow's discussion at And So it Begins. What interests me is to look at a very specific aspect of her work. Laura Dern may be a versatile actress, but to see that you really don't need to go through her entire career.

All you really need to do is look at her collaborations with one particular director, and that is David Lynch. He was the one that really got her career going in the 1986 thriller Blue Velvet when she was only 19, and since then she's done two other collaborations with a few hints at the possibility of a fourth thanks to an interview she did for The Fault in Our Stars. Across those three movies she has never played the same character twice.

Blue Velvet saw Dern play a very sweet and innocent young girl. She is the shy girl next door, who remains friendly and optimistic, which fits nicely into the whole theme of the movie seeing as her image of the "ideal" girlfriend provides a clear contrast to the film's other female lead: Isabella Rosselini as the emotionally disturbed neighbor caught up in the activities of one Frank Booth. As the story goes on Laura Dern becomes increasingly entangled in the web of mystery lurking beneath her hometown, and her innocence is brought into question.

Laura Dern is charming enough as Sandy, but then we get to Lynch's later film Wild At Heart, and guess who else is back? Laura Dern is now, if anything, exactly the opposite of her role in Blue Velvet. Whereas the first collaboration between Lynch and Dern featured her as a very innocent, quiet, and innocent young woman. In Wild At Heart, Dern is every bit as much in love with Sailor Ripley as Sandy was with Jeffrey Beaumont, but this time around her character is a bit dirtier. 

Lula Fortune becomes much more outspoken in this film, being driven and at times blinded by her love. This is the sort of character who gets so caught up in her relationship that she will stop at nothing to be with her one true love, even if it means hitting the road with an army of weird psychos in hot pursuit.

Finally, we move into their third (and so far, final) collaboration: Inland Empire. The whole movie is a bit weird and with its extremely subjective nature it would be hard to make a solid profile of anybody, but Laura Dern captures her role well. This time around there is no obvious romantic sub-plot, and her role becomes a much more cynical one. Whereas her good nature ultimately won out in Blue Velvet and she remained devoted to Sailor Ripley in Wild At Heart, the outcome in the end isn't as clear or optimistic (although it does depend on how you interpret the ending).

Instead she plays a aspiring actress Nikki Grace. This is a character who finds herself taking on an extremely demanding role and gradually breaks down over the course of the film due to the resulting stress. Over time she begins to confuse the identities of herself and her character, failing to distinguish when she is acting and when she is not (as demonstrated in several well-executed scenes that appear to be real only to be revealed as scenes from the movie). In the end she does somewhat manage to overcome her personal problems and finish the movie, but the damage is still done.

So we have three very different performances across three different films. There do seem to be patterns that emerge with each, however. In every case, Dern seems to be cast as an idealist whose confidence is brought into question. Blue Velvet questions her good nature as she becomes entangled in a web of messed-up craziness courtesy of Frank Booth, Wild At Heart tests just how far Lula will go for love, and Inland Empire sees a confident actress gradually starting to lose herself.

If indeed Lynch is planning something new, and he really does plan to cast Laura Dern, it does make me curious what role he'll have in store for her in what would be their fourth collaboration. The one thing that seems likely is that her character would be a drastic departure from everything she has done with Lynch in the past.

The Many Characters of Gregory Peck

I've been thinking about writing something on Gregory Peck. He was one of the finest actors of classical Hollywood, a man of many talents who could play many different roles, so I thought it might be worthwhile to discuss some of the characters of his I have come to admire.

And yes, I am in part ripping off Alex Withrow of And So It Begins. He does sheets like this all the time. I just hope he doesn't mind me borrowing his style for the moment.

James "Stretch" Dawson in Yellow Sky (1948)

Blimey, I really need to see this wonderful western again. You've probably never heard of Yellow Sky, but it is a surprisingly enjoyable little film loosely drawing off of Shakespeare's The Tempest (also features a woman wearing pants and wielding a shotgun). Peck plays the leader of a ruthless gang of outlaws who after spending time in a ghost town manages to find redemption.

Joe Bradley in Roman Holiday (1953)

We've got some dramatic roles here, so why not balance it out with Peck doing comedy. Here was quite the character, a man who spends a whole day in conflict between his personal feelings and his professional work. On the one hand, he has the opportunity to get a first-hand one-on-one story interviewing a princess and her certainly takes it. On the other, he becomes closely acquainted with the princess and starts to understand the pressure upon her. He can choose to take on the greatest assignment of his career or do the right thing giving the princess her day of freedom from the press.

Captain Ahab in Moby Dick (1956)

This is going to be one of the more obscure choices, but according to IMDB Peck was unsure if he was right for the role (he felt he was too young). However, I personally don't know that a better choice could have been found for a literary character as iconic as Ahab. The character doesn't even look much like Peck (though he still has the distinct voice), and here we see him going against his usual type.

Peck was usually known to play the good guy, but here we see an anti-hero. More specifically, a man who never seems to be all there (literally in this case, on account of his missing leg) and has a very clear goal right from the start: to find and ultimately kill the white whale responsible for crippling him.  Peck gets plenty of soliloquys to himself, but he always manages to capture the essence of the bitter, (literally) broken man who is gradually consumed by his obsession with revenge.

James McKay in The Big Country (1958)

Another great western role from Peck, but a very different one. In contrast to his outlaw personality in Yellow Sky, here he works more in a fish-out-of-water sense, as a sea captain who moves out west unaccustomed to life in the desert and caught in a violent feud between two farming families. Peck's role is very much a link between the audience and the world of the film, as it is through his eyes we see events unfold, and it is ultimately his experience as a sea captain that gives him the out of the box thinking to help bring an end to the long-standing rivalry.

Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Oh boy, Atticus Finch is just such a great character in general, but there is something about Peck's performance that nails it. In fact, according to IMDB, Peck did such a good job that when Harper Lee (the author of the original book) visited the set during production she started crying because he reminded her of her father who she based the character on.

Right from the moment we see him, we know Finch is such a great guy. There is something to be admired about a man who is able to by himself resist the pressures of a bigoted society and stand up for what he believes is right. This is a man who takes on a legal case that he knows full well he has no chance of solving, but that doesn't stop him from trying and honestly making an effort.

A Tribute to Mickey Rooney

I found out this morning that legendary actor Mickey Rooney died at the age of 93. I'll confess that I mainly knew him by name, and had only seen the man himself in a handful of movies, but I respected his talent. There was no doubt he could act, and he did have a variety of characters.

The film I've often found myself identifying him with is Breakfast at Tiffany's, where he plays a character that would probably be considered a racist stereotype by modern standards. Even with the glasses and buck teeth, however, I always find that every time I see the film I still enjoy his performance and can't help but laugh at his slapstick antics, not to mention he plays really well off of Audrey Hepburn.

There is no doubt Mickey Rooney was good at humor. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World saw him play a very different sort of character who gets into equally hilarious situations, especially after he gets stuck at the controls of the plane while the pilot is passed out drunk in the back.

I can't find much to say about Mickey Rooney as an actor or as a person. What I can say is he was a great actor with a lot of talent that was put to excellent use. According to IMDB he was even still acting before he died, playing a part in a still-upcoming adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is quite impressive given the span of his career.