Lee Marvin, Clint, the Duke and ...

Back when I was in high school, Robby Vega and I used to talk
about movies and actors. One thing we used to talk about was
what made a great movie and what made a great movie of a
specific type such as a great western or a great war movie. And
if it was not a great movie, is it a real western or a
real war movie. Over the years, I have thought about
this, and one thing I have centered on are the individual
actors. If you have Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire or Cyd Charisse
in a musical, it is clearly a real musical. If, on the other
hand, you have Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, as in "Paint Your
Wagon" it probably isn't a real musical in some sense. It
lacks the street cred that, for example, Julie Andrews would
give it, had they hired her instead of Jean Seberg. (Ray
Walston was on the exact same set, and they still used Lee
Marvin.)

"Paint Your Wagon" is actually a classic Broadway musical, but
the movie version lacks street cred the way Dracula lacks a sun
tan. The movie was written by the great Paddy Chayevsky, who is
a brilliant writer and even a great Broadway writer, but not a
musical guy. Joshua Logan was a good director, probably his
best movie was "Picnic, and he actually directed "South
Pacific" and "Camelot," which are famous musicals, but only
okay to good in their movie versions.

In any event, Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin are big stars, but
they also give street cred to certain kinds of movies. Those
kinds are war movies and westerns. You put Lee Marvin in a war
movie, like "The Big Red One" or "The Dirty Dozen," and you
have yourself a war movie. Westerns used to be more popular
than they are now, but if Clint Eastwood made one tomorrow, it
would have instant street cred.

Or take a sci-fi movie, for example. In the 1970's, if you stuck
Charlton Heston in a science fiction movie or a disaster flick --
pre-"Star Wars," of course -- you would have immediate credibility
with sci-fi fans.

Now, if you know anything about movies, you might be thinking,
"Why use Charlton Heston as an example of science fiction
street cred? I know he was in a bunch of s.f., but surely he's
more of a Biblical epic or period drama guy?" I used him so I
could bring up Donald Sutherland, the first guy to play Homer
Simpson (in "The Day of the Locust.") Most people think of
Donald Sutherland, if they associate him with a specific type
of movie, as a comedic actor, I suspect, on account of
"M*A*S*H" and "Animal House" among others. I don't know this,
but most conversations about Sutherland I have had involve me
arguing that he is just a great actor, not that he is a great
comedic actor, but the responses I get tend to be dismissive on
account of his comedic background.

I would suggest, however, that Donald Sutherland also brings
war movie credibility to his oeuvre. He has been in some great
war movies, "M*A*S*H," "The Dirty Dozen," and "Johnny Got His
Gun." He has been in some war movies which are not great, but
have street cred partially because of his presence such as "The
Eagle has Landed" and "The Eye of the Needle." In fact, two of
his comedies are also war movies: "Kelly's Heroes" and "Start
the Revolution without Me." Now, clearly, Sutherland has been
in a bunch of movies, spread over many genres, and suggesting
that he is identified with war movies in the way, for example,
that John Wayne is identified with westerns (or war movies, for
that matter) would be clearly wrong. However, I submit that the
question for street cred purposes is "Can this actor put me in
the mood to enjoy this movie just by his presence?" I can watch
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame" simply because Gene Kelly is in
it. The music and dancing are not that great, but Gene says to
me, "Hey, I'm here, this is a musical." If the Duke or Clint
show up in a western, I know immediately what to expect.

I suggest that even if people don't associate Donald Sutherland
with war movies, they should. His presence indicates that if
you like war movies, you'll like the war movie he is in.
Obviously I can't make the zeitgeist change, but if you like
war movies, I suggest you pick up a few of Sutherland's, but
then, if you like war movies, there's a good chance you've seen
a few of them already.

Next time, Yul Brynner and westerns.