Nice post John. Its interesting how some actors do great work but ultimately fade into obscurity, and others like Lorre, become iconic and live on forever on the strength of their personality, image and talent. He's etched in stone.
What a face. What a voice. He always seemed somewhat weary and laconic, til the moment he snapped and became instantly dangerous.
I can't think of any contemporary actor who fits that same bill. Can anyone else?
Y'know, i honestly don't see the resemblence between the caricatures of Lorre and his real life self. His caricatures always look like something out of freak science lab.
This scene, or even the whole movie, would illustrate another point you've made before: the difference between memorable voices and forgettable next-door neighbor voices. Bogart, Lorre, Greenstreet, Cook, and Astor are all like different instruments in a piece of music.
Notice how Greenstreet just steps back and gives Lorre the scene. A consummate, stage-trained actor himself, he doesn't do anything to "steal" from Lorre's performance in any way. He was probably directed by Huston to remain perfectly still - but even so, Greenstreet's generous instincts as an ensemble actor are apparent here. Just one of many reasons why he always worked beautifully with Lorre.
So what contemporary actor, if any, offers an equivalent wealth of acting capabilities?
And what do folks here think of Andy Serkis, the actor behind Gollum ( P. Jackson's version, not R. Bakshi's version (though the latter was pretty expressive at times)?
What a great segment of this blog. John K. is one of the best teacher's I've ever encountered. And even though I'm not a graphics artist, there's so much here that influences how I put my prose together.
The man is a genius.
23 comments:
Oh good god, post this video clip.
This is awesome.
Seeing PL's expressions in individual frames like this, it's even more obvious how Ren was born.
That's why Peter Lorre was always my favorite in those Warner Brother's celebrity cartoons.
Lorre is also used brilliantly in M. Both while hidden, for much of the film's first half, and then for it's grotesque simplicity in the second.
Maltese Falcon is always great.
What did you think of M? There is a great part where he makes cartoonish faces in the mirror.
Also, he was great in Casablanca.
Nice post John. Its interesting how some actors do great work but ultimately fade into obscurity, and others like Lorre, become iconic and live on forever on the strength of their personality, image and talent. He's etched in stone.
What a face. What a voice. He always seemed somewhat weary and laconic, til the moment he snapped and became instantly dangerous.
I can't think of any contemporary actor who fits that same bill. Can anyone else?
Nice post!
"you imbecile! You bloated idiot! You stupid fat-head!!!"
STILL the best blog on the Net!!!
Thanks John!
Y'know, i honestly don't see the resemblence between the caricatures of Lorre and his real life self. His caricatures always look like something out of freak science lab.
This scene, or even the whole movie, would illustrate another point you've made before: the difference between memorable voices and forgettable next-door neighbor voices. Bogart, Lorre, Greenstreet, Cook, and Astor are all like different instruments in a piece of music.
Awesome meltdown scene. Cairo would happily beat Gutman to death right there if he could just stop being so shook up about how unfair life is.
Can we all agree that Steve Buscemi is the modern Peter Lorre? If they remake any film Lorre was in, Steve should get that role.
Notice how Greenstreet just steps back and gives Lorre the scene. A consummate, stage-trained actor himself, he doesn't do anything to "steal" from Lorre's performance in any way. He was probably directed by Huston to remain perfectly still - but even so, Greenstreet's generous instincts as an ensemble actor are apparent here. Just one of many reasons why he always worked beautifully with Lorre.
What an array of expressions.
Nice post of a unique actor.
So what contemporary actor, if any, offers an equivalent wealth of acting capabilities?
And what do folks here think of Andy Serkis, the actor behind Gollum ( P. Jackson's version, not R. Bakshi's version (though the latter was pretty expressive at times)?
What a great segment of this blog. John K. is one of the best teacher's I've ever encountered. And even though I'm not a graphics artist, there's so much here that influences how I put my prose together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeyVs6u_FG8&feature=related
Awesome! I can see where Ren came from
Hee John, I was reading your latest posts and was reading you're article about inking. You said you can't ink without anti-alias in photoshop.
You actually can paint in ps without anti-alias. You should use the pencil tool and then you need to put the pressure on. See the pic link.
Hope it's any help!
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/6708/antialias.jpg
what amazes me the most is the contrast...
Those expressions are incredible but would of been lost if that big man wasn't so dead pan.
Thanks for posting!
I can't think of any contemporary actor who fits that same bill. Can anyone else?
Pacquiao vs Marquez
'M' a film of great inspiration. Beautifully shot and a great example of shadows and lighting.
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