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Sigh. Only on FSM!
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This whole thread reminds me of an anecdote Ford himself told about his early days under contract as a struggling actor at Universal. I wonder if it has any relevance.
He was meeting with one of the casting execs at Universal, who was trying to inform him what he'd been "doing wrong."
The guy told him that when he first saw Tony Curtis on the screen, he was playing a mere delivery boy. "I took one look at him and thought, THERE'S A STAR!!!"
"Oh," Ford responded. "See, I thought you were supposed to take one look at him and think 'There's a delivery boy.'"
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Thanks, Sigerson, for reminding us of that great story. Although I've not seen that particular movie, Curtis himself remembered that brief moment onscreen, and said that he got one of the best pieces of direction be'd ever gotten just before the cameras rolled. The director went up to Curtis and whispered, "All you care about is getting the tip."
Quite possibly, I'm thinking, the Universal exec saw in Curtis both a star and a delivery boy.
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Posted: |
Apr 16, 2013 - 6:59 AM
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By: |
Ralph
(Member)
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Ford’s first opportunity to act without any safety net is in Peter Weir’s neglected “The Mosquito Coast.” As the bespectacled, deglamorized Allie Fox, novelist Paul Theroux’s adventurer-inventor who departs an America he believes will be destroyed in an apocalyptic war to settle in Central America, Ford is a “Robinson Crusoe” wearing a “Lord of the Flies” cap. He pioneers his new world ingeniously, but soon the self-fulfilling doom generated by his festering paranoia overwhelms. That the story’s fable is one of the reasons Ford succeeds here: chronologically he had been out of the real world for so long as Lucas-Spielberg movie heroes, and an improbable love interest for that Amazon in Weir’s “Witness,” that it seems inevitable, if not natural, for him to eventually go mad. Allie’s not a pleasant character, and by end, he’s thoroughly dislikable; you wish Weir had used Theroux’s bloody finish — vultures feasting on the dead body. This may be why the public rejected the movie — it didn’t want to see their macho champion self-destruct. Ford’s wife is played by Helen Mirren.
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The best actors never look like they're acting. Ford becomes every character he plays, and he does so with honesty and skill. He's had some off performances when it was obvious he didn't care (Return of the Jedi, for example), but anyone who says he's not good at his job has no clue what acting entails. Have a nice day.
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I think to best appreaciate Ford - although I admit he was working with great scripts and directors at his height - compare him to the rubbish that pass as leading men these days!
Channing Tatum!!! Taylor Kitsch!!! Ryan Reynolds!!!
Ford was a TITAN by comparison.
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I was amazed at Ford's performance in Witness. Totally amazed.
I don't understand how anyone could watch that film and ever refer to him as untalented.
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I'd like to think Ford has some more good performances left in him (I've heard good things about his work in 42), but he's made enough money at this point that he really doesn't seem to give a shit anymore. He actually seemed fully-awake and engaged in Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, but the film let him down.
