Suggestions of Classic Male Actors (1 Viewer)

[ScottHM]

Warren William
Robert Montgomery
Clark Gable
Ronald Colman

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[DBF]

Harold Lloyd
James Mason
Claude Rains
Basil Rathbone

 

[Emcee]

Let me give some of my two cents on the more modern guys you all have mentioned here.

I'm a fairly consistent Adam Sandler fan. He was really good back in the nineties, especially in BILLY MADISON and HAPPY GILMORE, two popular successes that led to him naming his company Happy Madison Productions. Nothing he's ever done has topped THE WEDDING SINGER to me. He and Drew Barrymore have such good chemistry, although I don't share the same fondness for FIFTY FIRST DATES, and I've never seen BLENDED. His GROWN UPS movies are surprisingly funny as well. Not high art by any standard, but entertaining and funny time-fillers.

Ben Stiller is pretty funny. I actually like him in HAPPY GILMORE, where he plays the jerky care home attendant that bullies the old people in his care. He was hilarious in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, although that movie is really all about Cameron Diaz. He and Luke Wilson share good chemistry together in STARSKY & HUTCH, the big screen reboot of the seventies cop show. In all fairness, I've never seen the original series, so I cannot get too technical on how well it holds up in comparison.

And that brings us to Will Ferrell. I think the only thing I actually liked him in was A NIGHT AT THE ROXBURY, which, after reviewing again not all that long ago, I didn't find funny anymore. I don't care for ELF or TALLEDEGA NIGHTS. Ferrell's just not my cup of tea. Just lame really and not funny. My preference anyway.

 

[sfyalek]

I know the title of this thread might sound a little silly, especially if you've followed my posts in any capacity on this website. I'm quite fond of classic Hollywood films. A lot of classic movie fans might have a specific way they relate to the films themselves. I, for one, always look from the viewpoint of the leading actress in them. You see, my entire fascination with old Hollywood started with a picture I swiped off my brother's door of Marilyn Monroe.

Monroe opened the door to my vast collection and admiration of classic cinema. So many other ladies have been added to my list over the years, such as Garbo, Harlow, Dietrich, Crawford, Davis, both Hepburns, Taylor, and so many more.

But I've come to realize that I neglect the men in these movies. I don't believe I've ever went into a classic movie because of the leading man. Sure, there's been some I liked, but I don't necessarily collect their films. I do like actors like John Wayne (he's a staple of my father's old movie watching), Elvis Presley (despite his being in a bucket load of bad movies), James Dean (despite a relatively short career), Marlon Brando (despite not seeing much of his work) among a few others. I want to get more into Audie Murphy, perhaps mostly because he was the most decorated soldier of WWII, he fought bravely for this country, and then had an extensive and rewarding movie career. He starred as himself in his own biopic called TO HELL AND BACK.

What I'm wanting you all to do is suggest some actors to me that I can dive into. I'm especially looking for recommendations of actors before 1965, and nothing really newer than 1970. I'm picky about what I watch, and I want some good, old movies starring some good actors.

Let the suggestions roll on in.

Before the Codes came in the system, most of the movies were headlined by female actresses. That is why you can find Garbo, Crawford, Davis, Mae West and etc.but cannot remember the male names. If you want to find classic male leads, you have to go to movies after 40s. Fonda, Jamie Stewart, Cary Grant and Wayne.
If you are interested in the male leads prior 40s, most of them will be Europeans, such as Erich von Stroheim, Jean Garbin and Peter Lorre. From the US, Bogart and Cagney are a few leading from silent movies to talkies.

 

[ScottHM]

If you want to find classic male leads, you have to go to movies after 40s.

If you are interested in the male leads prior 40s, most of them will be Europeans, such as Erich von Stroheim, Jean Garbin and Peter Lorre.

Incorrect.
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[sleroi]

I see no one has mentioned Ernest Borgnine.

He only shows up towards the end of Violent Saturday but steals the whole movie. He was great as the lead in Marty. And then even better in Jubal.

Then he became quite the character actor. The Dirty Dozen, the Wild Bunch, a wonderfully sadistic turn in Emperor of the North, the Poseidon Adventure.

Hes one of my favorites.

 

[Emcee]

I see no one has mentioned Ernest Borgnine.

He only shows up towards the end of Violent Saturday but steals the whole movie. He was great as the lead in Marty. And then even better in Jubal.

Then he became quite the character actor. The Dirty Dozen, the Wild Bunch, a wonderfully sadistic turn in Emperor of the North, the Poseidon Adventure.

Hes one of my favorites.

I've seen Ernest Borgnine in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, which just happens to be one of my favorites of the disaster genre. He's also in THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE, the late fifties musical, that I've always wanted to see, but I've never gotten around to watching. All that exists apparently are washed out prints from those archives releases, and generic bootleg junk.

 

[ScottHM]

I see no one has mentioned Ernest Borgnine.

He only shows up towards the end of Violent Saturday but steals the whole movie. He was great as the lead in Marty. And then even better in Jubal.

I loved his fight scene in Bad Day at Black Rock.

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[Nick*Z]

Clark Gable in practically anything.
Ronald Colman - The Prisoner of Zenda, Lost Horizon, The Talk of the Town, Random Harvest
Mickey Rooney - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Andy Hardy, Babes in Arms...on Broadway.
William Holden - Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Executive Suite, Sunset Blvd., Golden Boy
Bing Crosby - The Country Girl, Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Road to anywhere with Bob Hope
Robert Donat - Goodbye, Mr. Chips (a master class in acting), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
Robert Taylor - Camille, Personal Property, A Yank at Oxford, Broadway Melody of 1936
Spencer Tracy - Bad Day at Black Rock, Woman of the Year, Fury, Boy's Town, Boom Town, State of the Union, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
Robert Mitchum - Out of the Past, Baby Face, His Kind of Woman
Lon Chaney Jr. - the Inner Sanctum franchise
Charlton Heston - The Big Country, Ben-Hur, The Agony and the Ecstasy
Rex Harrison - My Fair Lady, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Reluctant Debutante, Major Barbara
Ray Milland - Ministry of Fear, The Lost Weekend, Dial M for Murder, X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes
John Mills - Swiss Family Robinson, Great Expectations, Ryan's Daughter, In Which We Serve
David Niven - The Pink Panther, Separate Tables, The Bishop's Wife, Bachelor Mother, A Matter of Life and Death.
Alec Guinness - Tunes of Glory, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia
Peter Ustinov - Quo Vadis, Death on the Nile, Billy Budd, We're No Angels
Peter O'Toole - My Favorite Year, The Ruling Class, Becket, How to Steal a Million, The Lion in Winter
Richard Burton - Night of the Iguana, The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, The VIP's, My Cousin Rachel.
Errol Flynn - Captain Blood, Sea Hawk, Adventures of Robin Hood, Gentleman Jim, They Died With Their Boots On, Charge of the Light Brigade
Cary Grant - Bringing Up Baby, Gunga Din, And Affair to Remember, The Awful Truth, Penny Serenade.
Claude Rains - Now Voyager, Notorious, King's Row, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Skeffington
Donald Crisp - How Green Was My Valley, National Velvet, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Valley of Decision.
Gary Cooper - Meet John Doe, High Noon, The Pride of the Yankees, Love in the Afternoon, Ball of Fire.
Maurice Chevalier - The Merry Widow, Gigi, One Night With You, Fanny, Follies Bergere, The Smiling Lieutenant.
Rock Hudson - Giant, All That Heaven Allows, Magnificent Obsession, Written on the Wind, Pillow Talk

 

[Emcee]

I was at work yesterday (yeah, my job has decided to add in that Saturday half-day schedule) and I got to thinking about this one actor in particular that no one on here has mentioned. His name is Tom Ewell. He was an actor that found success on stage, film, and television in a career that spanned almost sixty years. ​

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One of Ewell's most notable roles was as Richard Sherman in The Seven Year Itch, which he played on Broadway from 1952 to 1955. When the play was nearing the end of its run, 20th Century-Fox purchased its rights to turn the story into a film. Marilyn Monroe was brought in as the leading lady, while newcomer Walter Matthau was originally slated for Ewell's stage role. Someone in the projection room suggested Ewell, who gladly agreed to a screen test. He got the part. ​

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The Seven Year Itch was an adult-aimed farce on the stage, but a lot of its adult humor, situations, and language got erased by the censors during the production of the film. The story concerns Richard Sherman (Ewell), a nerdy and faithful husband, who sends his wife (Evelyn Keyes) and son (Butch Bernard), away for the summer while he stays in New York on business. After he sends them off, he returns to their apartment building to find that a young woman (Marilyn Monroe) has taken the vacant apartment upstairs. They embark on a flirtatious few days before Richard eventually bails on the young lady to be with his wife and son in Maine. ​

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The Seven Year Itch premiered on June 1, 1955, Monroe's twenty-ninth birthday, and was a "critical and box office smash". Its success established Tom Ewell as an every man comedian that 20th Century-Fox was eager to cast in more pictures. Around this same time, Monroe had walked out on her own contract with Fox to study at the Actors Studio in Manhattan, and the studio had ushered in actress Sheree North as a alternative to Monroe to use in their films. In an attempt to promote their Monroe stand-in, Fox cast Tom Ewell and Sheree North in The Lieutenant Wore Skirts. ​

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The story concerned an aging military serviceman Greg (Ewell) who attempts to reenlist. He is rejected because of his age, but to his surprise he learns that his attractive young bride Katy (Sheree North) has also enlisted and stationed in Hawaii. Greg goes to Hawaii to keep an eye on Katy and the army men he knows will be there, and the comedy is drawn from Greg's continuous attempts to have Katy discharged. The film also features a young Rita Moreno as a sexy upstairs neighbor, a tongue-in-cheek role that mirrors Monroe's character in The Seven Year Itch. The part had been intended for African-American actress Dorothy Dandridge, who rejected it. ​

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The Lieutenant Wore Skirts opened in January 1956. It received favorable reviews from critics and was a popular box office success. It is a very delightful old-fashioned comedy. Give it a gander. ​

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The year 1956 was also the year 20th Century-Fox signed Broadway blonde Jayne Mansfield to an exclusive contract. The studio also had hopes of molding her as a "threat" to the increasingly temperamental Monroe. It was not long before Fox signed Tom Ewell and Jayne Mansfield to headline The Girl Can't Help It, a beautifully photographed musical comedy. It ushered in a host of early rock-n-rollers in cameo roles, such as Little Richard, Julie London, Ray Anthony, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, and a young Barry Gordon. ​

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This time the story concerned Tom Miller (Tom Ewell), a down-on-his-luck talent agent, who an ex-mobster Fats Murdock (Edmond O'Brien) hires to promote his girlfriend named Jerri Jordan (Jayne Mansfield) into a singing sensation. As luck would have it, Tom and Jerri eventually start to have feelings for each other, and they both try their best to stir Jerri away from a show biz career that she doesn't seem to want. In the end, all things end happy and Jerri and Tom are permitted to marry. ​

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The Girl Can't Help It splashed into American movie theaters in December 1956, receiving positive reviews and financial success. It was eventually one of the highest-grossing films of the year, and has since had a profound impression on popular rock-n-roll music. ​

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On the face of it, I suppose it may not really be Tom Ewell that I'm wild about, but instead these three pictures he starred in and the beauties draped beside him. He was eclipsed in a "man's story" by Marilyn Monroe, the most famous woman in the world at the time, but then was touted to make similar "itching" comedies with Monroe's own knock-offs, Sheree North and Jayne Mansfield.

Tom Ewell was perfect as the every man comedian.

What man wouldn't want to play a love scene with any of these three ladies?

 

[Emcee]

I am going to get my hands on this one of these days. It isn't running a whole lot, but Christmas has got me counting pennies.

 

[PMF]

Alan Bates
Michael Caine
Kirk Douglas
Peter Finch
Albert Finney
James Fox
Jack Hawkins
Jack Lemmon
Karl Malden
Fredric March
Marcello Mastroianni
Steve McQueen
Paul Newman
Laurence Olivier
Christopher Plummer
Anthony Quinn
Ralph Richardson
Jason Robards
Rod Steiger
Jacques Tati
Franchot Tone

 

[David_B_K]

I have seen Ronald Colman on several people's lists, but (unless I missed it) none of them mention my personal favorite performance by him - Sidney Carton in the 1935 version of A Tale of Two Cities. This film features several great performances in addition to Colman's