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How Actors Reflect Their Era

 
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 10:48 pm    Post subject: How Actors Reflect Their Era Reply with quote

Interesting on how the performers of different times approached doing SF films.

You'll be hard pressed to look at the resume of lead actors from the 30s, 40s, and 50s going near SF in their heyday.

I get it. SF was considered entertainment for kids; juvenile.

It was the Rodney Dangerfield of genres back then: No respect, no respect at all.

Clark Gable, Gary Grant, John Wayne, Errol Flynn, James Cagney, to name a few, never went near SF in their careers. Understandable for the time.

However, on occasion some top actors ventured into SF or fantasy...at least once.

Fredrick March won an Oscar for his role in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Almost ten years later, the fabulous Spencer Tracy would portray Jekyll/Hyde in another version.

Tyrone Power would play a time traveling scientist in the 1951 film I'll Never Forget You.
1948 saw him in the Irish fantasy film The Luck of the Irish.

Kirk Douglas would be in the terrific 20,000 League Under the Sea. He was Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde in a tv-movie musical.
Saturn 5, The Final Countdown, The Fury saw him tackle SF.

His longtime buddy, Burt Lancaster, would also do some SF.

The Crimson Pirate (steampunk), The Island of Dr. Moreau, Field of Dreams.

Nowadays you are hard pressed NOT to find lead actors who haven't done any SF or fantasy movies. Some have done quite a few SF projects.

Somewhere along the way, SF & fantasy evolved into a legitimate & respected genre that could be taken seriously and done in a sophisticated manner in film and television.

A great victory for we fans.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 10:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

A fine comment, Mike. One we all agree with.

Equally surprising is the way superheroes have gone from shows for kids (such as Adventures of Superman), to blockbuster movies and popular TV series.

They've become sort what Westerns were in the 1950s. Westerns are now rare. But these days you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a superhero movie or show! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So true, Bud.

I am as big a Western fan as I am a SF fan.

I read once that at one point back in the 1950s there was something like 30 Western TV shows during one season.
And we're talking about a time when there were only 3 networks.

The westerns were still popular in the 60s, but by the 70s the sun was setting on their frequency in both films and TV.

A Western pops up now and then, still, in film or TV.

Tom Hanks newest film is a western and seems to be receiving good reviews.

Currently, I'm watching on Youtube the recently downloaded complete seasons of "Young Riders" which ran for 3 seasons on ABC from 1989~1992.

I watched it when it originally aired. Liked it a lot back then; still holds up very well today.

Part of the attraction of the series is that they did not shoot it in Hollywood, as about 99% of all the TV westerns were.

So the same scenery we'd see on Laredo, we'd see on The Wild Wild West, and then again on The Big Valley and so forth and so on.

Young Riders was filmed entirely on location in Mescal, Arizona. So it had a nice fresh look in all their outdoor scenes that enhanced the show.

Heck, I've even spotted the ole Cannon Ranchero from "The High Chaparral" (1967~1971) on some YR episodes.

THC was mainly...but not entirely...also filmed in AZ.

Sunday mornings the Inspiration Channel is rerunning the epic 26-hour NBC TV miniseries "Centennial" adapted from the James A. Michner novel of the same name.

Saw it back when it first aired from October 1978 to February 1979.

It was awesome then and still is today.

I dearly miss the lack of westerns these days.

But I kinda understand it. At a western film & TV award ceremony from years ago, a reporter asked the great Roy Rogers himself why were so few westerns being produced for movies or TV?

Roy laughed and said "Well, westerns were a staple of films and television for decades. There are a ton of western movies and old TV series. They kinda exhausted the genre. After all," said Roy, "just how many different ways can you do a western?"
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 3:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I have box sets of The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, and Bat Masterson, along with DVDs of Rio Bravo, The Magnificent Seven, and a dozen others.

Ironically, in the six years I spent sharing movies and TV shows with the late Tim Edward (Bulldogtrekker) while we chatted online almost every day of the week, I never once talked him into watching a Western with me! Sad

He had absolutely no interest in watching Westerns . . . or swashbucklers either, like The Sea Hawk and The Adventures or Robin Hood!

And yet we enjoyed watching just about every Doris Day movie we could download, along with many other classic musicals! Laughing

The moral of the story is that even though two guys can have a wealth of common interests . . . it doesn't preclude the possibility that there will be subjects which one loves and the other hates! Shocked

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So true, Bruce. Friends can share similar interests and opinions, but not on everything.

And that's normal, we all have out likes and dislikes.

I remember after seeing the premiere of the Sci~Fi Channels "Farscape" back in 1999, I was awed at how wonderful the show was. From the superb writing, stunning visuals and a fantastic cast.

Thought to myself that this series hit the ground running and was firing on all cylinders.

Next day I was on the phone with a buddy who was also a big SF fan as I was.

I recall I said to him that this brand new series proves that the Sci~Fi Channel can now produce a SF TV show the equal in top quality as any of the other networks. Including the big three.

He came back with an astonished "Are you kidding?" He absolutely had no use for FS at all.

Meanwhile he remained a huge fan of the latest Star Wars films (Chapters 1,2,3). I was not.

Oh sure, they were dazzling on a visual level; and the stories were entertaining on a superficial level which I always thought was Lucas' intent.

But I never got the adoration of the SW films that my pal had for 'em.

Different strokes for different folks as they say.
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