by orangefatcat 8 Replies latest jw friends
one time movie legend and oscar winner who played in fantastic pictures pasted away today at age 78, can you remember one of your favorite movies with him in it.
Mine was .
The Neighbour, a real psyco doctor, and crazy neighbour.
Edited by - orangefatcat on 9 July 2002 16:12:36
Edited by - orangefatcat on 9 July 2002 16:46:37
The Pawnbroker, in which he plays a pawnbroker in New York after WWII. Filmed in B&W, the movie's only color scenes are shot in pre-war Germany when he and his beautiful family are on picnic. Hearing a noise they rise to look over the brow of the hill on which their blanket is spread to see the gestapo picking up Jews, which would include he and his family.
The movie is the psychological study of this man's emotional numbness, which is explained throughout the movie via flashbacks to the concentration camps. In one of these flashbacks, he sees his wife on a bed in Bergen-Belsen as the door opens to admit a German officer.
The denouement of the movie has a black customer of his pawnshop murdered during a robbery and for the first time in forty years, the Pawnbroker feels pain - or anything else - again. This review is the short version. Music by Quincy Jones.
I saw it on its first run in 1963 I think it was. It's well worth the rental.
Enjoy.
Francois
The Loved One is on of my all time faves...RIP Joy Boy...
Steiger was great in CRAZY IN ALABAMA with Melanie Griffith. She'd killed her husband & carried his head around in her hatbox. I'm not giving much away, btw. Steiger played the Alabama judge and was terrific. The movie was about wife abuse, rampant racism, and insanity........with a lot of humor thrown in. Loved it.
Steiger also was in the original movie "In the Heat of the Night" with Sidney Poiter - and both were great. Steiger played the hardnosed Sheriff.
He was also good in an old movie about a man who wakes up and is literally covered with tattoos.......
Steiger was also suffering from bipolar disorder for decades - at least that's what I read. Interesting man.
waiting
Two come to mind for me, although I cannot remember the title of one. I think he played a fantastic role in "In The Heat of the Night" opposite Sidney Portier. The one I can't remember the title to, he played an Army Sergeant who was a closet gay. I only saw it once and it wasn't a movie depicting him as a sleeze. If I can think of the title, I'll post it, unless someone beats me to it.
Okay, I found it. It was called "The Sergeant." 1968.
Lew W
Edited by - DakotaRed on 9 July 2002 20:31:51
I am a massive fan. What a shame, I felt he was always underrated. Who can forget him in On the Waterfront! He was a total original.
I think he was always at his most moving not just when acting, but when he was talking about himself and his life, particularly the mental illness he had suffered. His honesty was heart-rending.
My favorite Rod Steiger movie is "No Way To Treat A Lady" with George Segal. Love that movie!
My favorites are, in this order: In The Heat Of The Night and The Sargeant.
One Hell of an actor.
He even had a guest spot on a Joni Mitchell album as a rabid evangelist if I remember correctly.
He related recently that four or five years ago he went to WB studio to audition. He was confronted by the usual 25 year old ignoramus that you find running these film and music corporations these days, who looked at him and asked, "Ehh. Mr...Steiger, is that how you pronounce it?....Have you acted before?" He replied, "actually I received an Oscar for 'In The Heat Of The Night'". The young man replied, "Ehh. I haven't heard of that one".
God help us all, as quality dies and shallowness rules.
HS
