Wednesday 9 September 2015

Alternate Best Supporting Actor 1976: Marty Feldman in Silent Movie

Marty Feldman did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Marty Eggs in Silent Movie.

Silent Movie is an enjoyable enough Mel Brooks gag fest filtered down even more than usual through that the film is indeed completely silent, well almost completely.

The film itself tells the simple story of a filmmaker Mel Funn (Brooks) and his two cohorts Dom (Dom DeLuise) and Marty Eggs. I suppose it is fitting that they share the same first names as the characters are not developed past the performer personalities of the actors, though I would say this is entirely purposeful. It basically is a chance for the three of them to test out their skills as a silent performer. Feldman perhaps is a bit tailored made for all show no speaking thanks to his well rather unorthodox appearance. I suppose Feldman does not seem like he needs to do anything more to stand out, but to his credit Feldman ensures that he does just a bit more as he is most expressive as a good silent comic performer should be. That grin of his alone of his is worth a few laughs all in itself, as he certainly is a fit for the concept of the film. If he's on screen Feldman does brighten in some way or another, even just the way he's sitting in a car between Dom and Mel comes off as rather funny for some reason.

The majority of the film is made up of various physical hi-jinks involving the boys either trying to get a Hollywood star to appear in the film, or simply avoid the dark corporate forces who want to see their film fail at any cost. Feldman is quit skilled at this and fits right into any given scene with his wild energy of sorts that he makes feel particularly natural, and not overdone in the least. Whether it is dealing with competing dogs who look the same, or tearing up the dance floor with Anne Bancroft Feldman throws himself into a scene rather head first. Now Feldman gets a bit more character, just a bit more, in that throughout the film he attempts to come on to women in the creepiest ways possible, even once announcing himself as a pervert as his line, in a title card though. Feldman is rather hilarious in every one of these quick side shows as he his lusty creep face is consistently entertaining. Now I suppose there's not much more than what he also brings just in the scenes where he's not necessarily the focus. Again Feldman's expressiveness brings a lot to the proceedings as his reactions say more than enough. Now even for a comedy of this sort this is a rather limited role, but Feldman is the best performer in the film. As he really knows how to work without sound. I won't say he's Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, or Charlie Chaplin in this regard, but I will say this is a fun performance.

48 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ratings and thoughts on DeLuise and Bancroft.

moviefilm said...

Ratings and thoughts on Brooks and Peters.
I liked him in this quite a lot. His presence was just wonderful. My rating would be 4, verging on a 4.5.

Calvin Law said...

Who's your favourite out of Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and Keaton, Louis? And anyone else.

Anonymous said...

I think Laurel and Hardy is his favorite.
Personally, I like them all equally, but I would say Keaton was the bravest of them all for doing all those stunts.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous & Calvin: I'll throw in my two cents, in regards to Bullock. I personally think she's a fine actress, who's capable of greatness, as seen in Gravity.

Lastly, which performance were you most gratified by getting a 5 star rating. Mine's a tie between Bruno Ganz in Downfall and Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

Calvin Law said...

John Hurt in The Elephant Man
Christian Bale in The Prestige
James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces

Anonymous said...

Luke: Bruno Ganz in Downfall.
Calvin: Since you asked Louis who is his favorite out of those four, then who is your favorite of those four comedians?

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: Mine's Chaplin, very closely followed by Laurel And Hardy.

Calvin Law said...

Chaplin by far. He's very close to being in my top 10 actor; I give him a 5 for The Great Dictator, and Modern Times, and he's basically a 4.5 in everything else I've seen him in.

Calvin Law said...

Haven't seen enough of Laurel and Hardy outside of Babes in Toyland although I liked them well enough in that. Buster Keaton was great in The General but I haven't been that impressed by anything else. Harold Lloyd is another great silent comic actor.

Calvin Law said...

In terms of silent actors, Chaplin, and Veidt, are my favourites.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: My favourite silent actors are the same as yours, as well as Lon Chaney.

Anonymous said...

Luke & Calvin: I guess that my favorite silent actors are Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd and Chaney.

Calvin Law said...

Luke, Anonymous: Are any of you planning to see Legend soon, by all accounts it's that sort of film where the lead performance exceeds the film itself.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I want to see it as soon as possible, but it's not advertised, at my local cinema, so I'm gonna have to wait until it's up online.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: If there's an performance that overshadows a film completely, that's good enough for me anyway. :)

Anonymous said...

Luke: I'll see it as soon as possible. Hardy's dual performance isn't in the same level as Irons' dual performance in Dead Ringers, I'm sure, but I think he'll be very good.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I hear a lot of people saying that his work as Reggie is career best and of course, his work as Ronnie is divisive. Despite the apparent flaws of the film, this might be an Ian McKellen/Apt Pupil situation, where Louis found it 'Meh' and gave a five to that particular performance.

At this moment in time, I'm still not giving up on him getting a five, though I agree that chances of him surpassing Irons are slim to none.

Anonymous said...

Luke: You know, it's quite a shame that great talent like Hurt, Woods and Irons are poorly used these days.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I usually enjoy Irons', no matter what he does, though it's a shame he hasn't really been given a very challenging lead role since Reversal Of Fortune.

Anonymous said...

Luke: What about Woods and Hurt?

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: William or John!.

Anonymous said...

Luke: I'm talking about William, of course! John has remained a consistent actor no matter everything!

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: I've always liked Woods and when I was younger, I thought his Hades was the most entertaining Disney villain I'd seen, though my favourite's Tony Jay's Frollo. The most recent film, I remember seeing him in was Jobs and he was Woefully underused.

Anonymous said...

Luke: It seems like Kutcher was trying to get an Oscar by playing Steve Jobs.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: Hurt's great too and his performance in KOTSW (Alongside Julia) is two of the best of all-time. I don't think he's had a significant role since A History Of Violence, which does annoy me a bit, as he was one of my favourites from the 80s.

Luke Higham said...

Anonymous: Had the look down to a tee, unfortunately, he just didn't have the talent.

Anonymous said...

Luke: Sadly yes. Once Tracy and Cooper's bonus reviews are completed, I would love to show to the pretentious critics the respective ratings. They would put headlines such as: Louis Morgan, the film critic who commited cinematic blasphemy. Just kidding. :)

ruthiehenshallfan99 said...

Hello everyone. I just thought I would give you an update on the movies I have seen from late July to now. (I have seen a couple short films from the 1890s 9n film class, but there is not much to talk about). You guys are welcome to ask me anything.

I Love You Again (1940), Party Girl (1958), Plymouth Adventure (1952), The Razor's Edge ( 1946), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), East of Eden (1955), The Lego Movie (2014), Hud (1963), A Yank at Oxford (1938), The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind (1988), 21 Days Together (1940), Frankenstein (1931), Shanghai Express (1932), Hit the Deck (1955), Romance (1930), Three Comrades (1938), Dancing Co-Ed (1939), Penny Serenade (1941).

Anonymous said...

Louis: Here's Marlon Brando's 1947 screentest for Rebel Without A Cause (not related to the 1955 film): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2lRdkNGDcY
Thoughts on it?

Calvin Law said...

Ruthiehenshallfan99: what are your thoughts on East of Eden, Gone with the Wind, and A Yank at Oxford?

ruthiehenshallfan99 said...

Calvin: I have actually already seen Gone with the Wind. 9 times to be exact. What I have recently seen is a documentary (Though I did see Gone with the Wind that night as well (It was Vivien Leigh's day on TCM, and it was my 9th viewing). Speaking of which.

The Making od a Legend: Gone with the Wind: I actually knew a lot of what was already in the film, but there were certain things I never knew. It had some clips from the night of the premiere and some rare footage and screen tests of many people trying out for parts. A must for Gone with the Wind fans.

East of Eden: An excellent film overall, it's now a part of my many favorite movies. Dean, Massey, and Harris are excellent, and Van Fleet is great as well.

A Yank at Oxford: I have always wanted to see this, as I am a huge fan of Vivien Leigh. Now, that I have, I was not disappointed. It was harmless fun, but it is also one of my favorites. Fun fact: At one point in the movie, Robert Taylor's character mentioned that he was reading Gone with the Wind, which Vivien would lead the following year. Speaking of her, she was wonderful in her role!

Bonus: Gone with the Wind: My all time favorite movie. Ever since I saw it in February of 2013, I have been in love, and I love it more each time. It is gorgeously shot, with beautiful costumes, a sweeping score, and excellent acting. Vivien Leigh gives what I believe to be the greatest performance ever put on film. It is thanks to her that this is my favorite movie, and thanks to GWTW that Vivien is my favorite actress.

Sorry, I tried not to sound biased, but that does not end up happening when I talk about Gone with the Wind.

Robert MacFarlane said...

The reviews for Demolition are in from Toronto. Gyllenhaal's great, the film sucks.

ruthiehenshallfan99 said...

Calvin: Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the films you asked me to give my own thought on? You are welcome to do the others if you wish.

Anonymous said...

Robert: That's bad.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Actually I spoke too soon. It has its fans, but Gyllenhaal is getting better reviews than the film itself.

Luke Higham said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Luke Higham said...

Robert: As I've said before, it's hardly a bad thing. It may bother some, but not me, I'm just pleased that Jake received some very positive notices. :)

Michael McCarthy said...

Eh, films that have nothing going for them other than showcasing one actor's talent get tiresome after a while.

Luke Higham said...

Michael: Well, I usually have a lot of patience, when it comes to my viewing experiences, so I might be alone in that regard, though if there's a great performance from said average film, I'd still be willing to go back to it time and time again.

Calvin Law said...

I would agree with Michael. Take for example, Save the Tiger, which despite Jack Lemmon's fantastic performance I am never compelled to revisit on account of just, how, bland it all is.

Good examples of films built around 'showing off' an actor: Yojimbo, Mr Holmes, Locke, Holy Motors.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: I'm not disagreeing with Michael, I completely understand his viewpoint, what I said, was that I'm willing to go through, for example, Apt Pupil or Street Fighter again, just to watch McKellen and Julia.

Robert MacFarlane said...

Actually I consider Nightcrawler a good example of a project made for the reason of letting the lead strut his stuff. When people tell me they view Gyllenhaal in it as more of a fascinating exercise instead of capital-G great acting, it's a justifiable view.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin: When I said 'It's hardly a bad thing', I was actually referring to myself. Plus, I said that it would bother some people, but not myself.

Anonymous said...

A great performance makes an average movie watchable.

Luke Higham said...

Calvin & Anonymous: Goodnight. :)

Anonymous said...

Luke: Goodnight, my friend. :)

Louis Morgan said...

Anonymous:

DeLuise - 3.5(Second favorite of my cast as well as even though I don't always love his more verbal work, he is a very good physical performer, and works well alongside Feldman)

Bancroft - 3.5(Fighting for best cameo, I might give the slight edge to Burt Reynolds for just how perfectly hammy he is with that grin of his. Bancroft though is an absolute hoot, and it's so much fun to see her be so ridiculously silly)

Brooks - 3(I actually think he gets somewhat overshadowed by Feldman and DeLuise in this case. He's still enjoyable enough, but I preferred the rest)

Peters - 3(I liked her just fine but I don't think there was anything too memorable about her work)

Calvin:

As performers Laurel & Hardy.