Happy Birthday Kirk Douglas!

Happy Birthday Kirk Douglas!

The actor/director/producer/writer/force of nature/legend turns 95 years old today!

Kirks winds up just a hair behind James Cagney as my all time fave and as I have said here before, at times I feel he really is the greatest actor of them all.

My picks for "Essential Kirk"...

"The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" - 1946
Kirks first screen appearance was in this solid Lewis Milestone drama starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. Right from the beginning Kirk's screen presence was unmistakable!

"Out of the Past" - 1947
The Archetypal film noir and a must-see weather you're a Kirk fan or not!

"I Walk Alone" - 1948
The First film to pair Kirk with Burt Lancaster is a solid and fascinating look at 2 bootleggers and what happens when one of them crosses the other while he's doing time. Lancaster and Douglas are intense and their scenes are electric! This film also contains one of the most brutal beatings from any film of its era!

"Champion" - 1949
This is the film that made Kirk a star and he earned every acolade and then some for his incredible performance as an unscrupulous boxer punching his way to the top. One of THE great boxing dramas of all time!

"Ace in the Hole" - 1951
Billy Wilder's brutally uncompromising look at human behavior at its worst! In his autobiography Kirk said he kept asking Wilder if he was sure he wanted his character to be so unsympathetic...Wilder's response was "Go in with both knees!"...trust me he does! This film is even more relevant today than ever. Watch it and see if you dont agree!!

"Detective Story" - 1951
Kirk plays uncompromising detective Jim McLeod in William Wylers film adaptation of Sidney Kingsley's play. Kirk gives a performance of almost non-stop mind numbing intensity! At times it literally feels as if he is reaching out, grabbing you by your shirt and yanking you out of your seat! This one get my highest recommendation.

"The Bad and the Beautiful" - 1952
"One of the best movies about making movies, ever made!" - Steven Speilberg
He's right!

"Lust for Life" - 1956
The only thing about this film that's more astonishing than Kirks' performance as tormented artist Vincent Van Gogh is the fact that he did not win the Oscar for best actor! A beautifully realized production in every sense with oustanding supporting performances by Anthony Quinn and James Donald and incredible color cinematography by Russell Harlan and Freddie Young. My favorite Vincent Minnelli film.

"Paths of Glory" - 1957
Stanley Kubrick's searing anti-war masterpiece is simply one of the greatest films ever made. The fact that it ever got made at all is something we can all thank Kirk Douglas for!

"Last Train from Gun Hill" - 1959
Not as well-known as "Gunfight at O.K Corral", the other western that Kirk made with director John Sturges a few years earlier, but this is a solid, gritty and tense little film with a cat and mouse give and take between Kirk and Anthony Quinn that is really something to see!

"Spartacus" - 1960
Kirk is probably associated with this character more than any other he played in his career! Excellent film with a great cast, beautiful cinematography and an amazing score by Alex North, definitely NOT to be missed! Historically important as the film that smashed the blacklist by giving screenwriter Dalton Trumbo credit and also for being Stanley Kubrick's last Hollywood production.

"Lonely are the Brave" - 1962
This is one of those gems that didnt do much business on its initial release but has developed a following over the years. Kirk has long mentioned this as his own personal favorite of his films because "I got to play a nice guy for once!" but anyone who's seen it and knows a bit of Douglas' story will realize it goes WAY deeper than that! A small, intimate picture about a modern day cowboy coping with the onslaught of progress. Beautifully written by Dalton Trumbo with a heartfelt, understated performance from Kirk Douglas. The poignancy of this film grows only more intense for me as the years go by. And that final shot is a doozie!

"Seven Days in May" - 1964
My favorite of all the Douglas/Lancaster team ups and one of my fave films of the 60's, period! A tense, incredibly well-acted political drama with a brilliant screenplay by Rod Serling and masterful direction from John Frankenheimer. This one also gets my highest recommendation!

"The War Wagon" - 1967
Rip-roaring silly western fun with Kirk and the Duke! Sit back and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Kirk Douglas!

Second only to Cagney as my fave actor

Still a Champion!

Happy B-day Kirk Douglas!

Kirk Douglas... Actor, Writer, Legend, Force of Nature...turns 93 on December 9th...

Kirk is right up there, just a smidge under Cagney, as one of my favorite actors of all-time. His best work can be so forceful, compelling and unforgettable that I often think to myself, he might be the finest actor who's ever lived.

Rather than just my usual blatherings I thought I'd post some quotes from Kirk and others as well.

Judging by the hair cut I'd peg this shot to be from post-Spartacus 1959-60.

"The one thing in my life that I always knew, that was always constant, was that I wanted to be an actor. That in itself is an assett. I think half the success in life comes from first finding out what you really want to do. And then going ahead and doing it."

In 1949 Kirk turned down a supporting role in MGM's big-budget film "The Great Sinner" and instead went after the starring role in Stanley Kramer's up coming low-budget production of "Champion", his first film as a producer.

"Although they were trying to be delicate about it, they (the producers) were wondering weather I could play a boxer. I finally realized what they wanted. I thought, this is what the starlets do. I took off my jacket and shirt, bared my chest and flexed my muscles. They nodded approvingly, satisfied that I could play a boxer. I was probably the only man in Hollywood who's ever had to strip to get a part."

Stanley Kramer - "We made a peculiar chemistry together. I chose him for Champion - he chose me - when both of us had other choices open, but not too many. He was a star. He acted like a star when he was nobody. Nothing daunted - to learn a language, to be a prize fighter, to juggle, to paint, to dance, to do anything. Dimple akimbo... he came at you center stage, and there it was... talented, full of chutzpah - and class. In that early film he screamed at the fight manager: 'I can do it - I can do it!' He can. He can."

A vintage publicity still for Warner Bros 1951 production of "Along the Great Divide", co-starring Virginia Mayo, Walter Brennan and John Agar. The director was legendary Raoul Walsh.

"Critics talk about how Raoul Walsh movies have such great pace. They have great pace because he was always in a hurry to finish them. Along the great Divide was my first western. It was awful. I hated the whole picture, but I learned."

A publicity shot for William Wyler's outstanding 1951 production "Detective Story", co-starring Eleanor Parker, William Bendix (yo-ho!), Lee Grant, Joseph Wiseman, George MacCready, Cathy O'Donnell and many other fine character actors.

William Wyler - "My association with Kirk Douglas was limited to a single picture, Detective Story, but it was the best star-director relationship I ever had. We made the film in five weeks, the shortest schedule I ever had on a major motion picture, and it was thanks to Kirk and his professionalism that such a schedule was possible. He's a great fellow as an actor and as a man."

Kirk as Vincent Van Gogh in Vincent Minnelli's masterful 1956 production of "Lust for Life". His interpretation of the enormous talent and tortured soul of Van Gogh is one of the most compelling performances of his entire career. That he didnt win the Academy award for best actor that year is , to me, one of Oscars greatest boo-boos!!!

"I was getting close to getting lost in the character of Van Gogh. While we were shooting I wore heavy shoes like the ones Van Gogh wore. I always kept one untied, so that I would feel unkempt, off-balance, in danger of tripping. It was loose; it gave him - and me - a shuffling gait. My wife always said that it took me a long time to get out of that character. She would hear me still walking like Van Gogh every night when I came home from shooting and even after the picture ended."

Vincent Minnelli - "There is no more exciting thing for a director than the search with an actor for the meaning of an illusive and challenging character. Kirk is blessed with tireless energy, a willingness to try anything, and a complete disregard as to how he looks. He could not care less about being the handsome hero. His enthusiasm and devotion to the project is contagious and transmits itself to the crew, cast and everyone connected with the picture."

"The memory makes me whince. I could never play him again. For a long time after I finished the movie, I didnt see the picture. I had to get him out of my system. Maybe that was why I agreed to have my beard shaved off on the Perry Como Show; I needed a public ritual to help rid me of the character.

John Wayne - "Christ Kirk! How can you play a part like that? There's so goddamn few of us left. We got to play strong, tough characters. Not those weak queers"

"I dont think I'd be much of an actor without vanity. And I'm not interested in being a modest actor. The last time I heard a star described that way, I was reminded of the classic retort - He has a lot to be modest about."

Kirk as Doc Holliday in John Sturges' rousing "Gunfight at O.K. Corral"

"Hal Wallis (*the films producer*), who had dropped me years ago because I wouldnt sign a term contract, was now offering me ten times the salary he would have been paying me if he still had me under contract. I said I would play Doc Holliday if Burt Lancaster would play Wyatt Earp"

"My friendship with Burt really started on 'Gunfight at O.K. Corral', although we had made 'I walk Alone' ten years earlier. After the day's shooting in Tucson, and dinner at the hotel we would just sit around and talk. Almost every night. We would talk for hours"

Burt Lancaster - "Kirk would be the first person to tell you he's a very difficult man... and I would be the second."

Kirk, George MacCready and Richard Anderson in a scene from Stanley Kubrick's shattering anti-war masterpiece "Paths of Glory".

"Stanley, I dont think this picture will ever make a nickel, but we HAVE to make it."

"Stanley could be exasperating but what a talent. And a tremendous ego. Nothing wrong with that. Ego, not carried to excess, is healthy. I'm interested only in talent but wherever we went, Stanley made sure they stuck signs saying 'Harris-Kubrick' all around like 'For Rent' signs. I was tempted to say 'Get rid of those signs and put up a sign that says BRYNA!' It was the Bryna Company (*Kirk's production company*) that put the picture together and signed Kubrick to a three-picture contract. But I dismissed the petty thought. It amused me that he was so anxious about the 'Harris-Kubrick' signs. I'm surprised that he didnt want the signs to just say 'Kubrick'. It amused me less years later when Stanley told people that I was only an employee on 'Paths of Glory'."

Kirk made many westerns. One of my favorites is "Man Without a Star" because it's kinda off-beat, is very entertaining and also shows Kirk to truly be the all-time gun twirling champ!!

"In my favorite scene, I twirled a gun; flipped it into the air, from side to side, behind my back, and fired it. This was basically juggling, with some additions. We filmed it in one take, no cuts, so you could see that there was no magic, no special effects, to it."

Kirk and Burt in their last flm together, "Tough Guys".

"We shot a scene at a disco, slam dancing. A lot of people were surprised 'How'd you learn to dance that way?' I didnt know what they were talking about. I didnt rehearse anything. The music played, and I saw other people, and away I went. You know, arms swirling, bodies wiggling, punching and kicking."

Not bad for the Son of a Ragman....

Eleanor Parker...

One of my faves....

Eleanor Parker...I might call her the most underrated and underappreciated actress from Hollywood's Golden era and certainly one of the most beautiful of ANY era. In her day she was quite a big star and played opposite many of the top leading men in big-budget A-pictures but today it seems the only thing anyone remembers her from is her thankless role in "The Sound of Music". This pic was scanned from a Swedish postcard I have. I think this particular photo shoot was to promote "The Woman in White" but I'm not certain.

The first film I ever saw her in was William Wyler's 1951 masterpiece "Detective Story" playing opposite an extremely intense Kirk Douglas. Eleanor played the part of Kirk's plain, long-suffering wife with great sensitivity and restraint. I think anyone who's seen this film will agree, hanging with Kirk on this production was no easy task, but Eleanor and the top notch supporting cast headed by William Bendix (yo-ho!) did just that. She received her 2nd Oscar nomination as best actress for her work in that film.

I have to admit, I wasnt really taken by her looks much in that film. She was dressed way down and was made up plain and ordinary which was of course exactly how she was supposed to look! The next film I saw her in changed that attitude completely...

1945's "Pride of the Marines", directed by Delmer Daves and starring the immortal John Garfield was the film where I truly fell in love with Eleanor Parker! She is not only gorgeous beyond words in this film but she once again played her role with conviction and sensitivity. I vividly recall waching this and saying to myself "Holy shit, that's the woman from Detective Story!". I started to actively seek out more of her films at the video store.

A scan of an original 11"x14" Lobby Card I have from the film. I can only imagine how many red-blooded American males in 1945 wished they were the ones that came home to Eleanor Parker after the war was over! For those that have never seen this film I can not recommend it highly enough. On the merits of Garfield's performance alone I would call it a must-see but the whole picture is incredibly well-done and is a far cry from the flag-waving war films that Hollywood had been turning out in the years prior. The 2 stars also performed "Pride of the Marines" on Lux Radio Theater on Dec 31st 1945. This is the one and only radio show I have in my collection and it's quite good!

A beautiful vintage autographed 5"x7" photo that I picked up many years ago. It seems one time while at the MGM commissary in the early 1950's she was spied by Spencer Tracy who didnt recognize who she was and simply remarked "That simply HAS to have an accent!"

I wonder what Kate would've thought of a remark like that!

as always, to be continued...

Kirk Douglas

One of the most dynamic, forceful and talented actors to ever step before a camera, Spartacus himself turns 92 years old today! Born Dec 9th, 1916 to illiterate Russian immigrant parents in New York city. The only male of 7 siblings!!! yikes! Hard for me to pick a favorite actor but Kirk is certainly one of the top 4 or 5 on my list. His list of memorable films is substantial but he's always enjoyable to see even if the film he's in is not. I recall what Steven Spielberg said the night he presented the Lifetime Achievement Oscar to Kirk several years ago, it went something like: "Kirk Douglas never played 2-dimensional characters . . . he shaded his villians with conscience and his heroes with self doubt" . . . very well put and a big reason why a Kirk Douglas performance can be so compelling to watch! Anyone interested in reading a fascinating autobiography would do well to pick up a copy of Kirk's "Ragman's Son", it is quite an unflinching and fascinating look at the life of an incredibly intelligent and driven human being. Some pics from just a few of Kirk's memorable films . . .

Kirk made his screen debut in Lewis Milestone's "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" starring Barbara Stanwyck and Van Heflin. It was one of the few times Kirk would play a weakling.

In 1948 Kirk co-starred for the first time with Burt Lancaster in Byron Haskin's noir classic "I Walk Alone". The 2 men didnt really develop their close friendship until they starred together again in John Sturgess' "Gunfight at O.K. Coral" in 1957. Another memorable team-up with them was John Frankenheimer's 1964 political masterpiece "Seven Days in May". According to Burt, in the old days they were both conceited, wanted to do everything their way and everyone hated them! The public sure didnt hate them, they were both major box-office stars for many years.

After making a pretty good name for himself co-starring in several solid productions, Kirk turned down the chance to once again co-star, this time in "The Great Sinner" with Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, and instead chose to play the lead in Mark Robson's gritty 1949 noir-boxing drama,"Champion", which was Stanley Kramer's first independent production. Kirk himself stated he needed to know if he could carry a picture as the star. He received the first of his 3 oscar nominations for best actor, losing out to Broderick Carwford in "All the King's Men".

"Those Fat Bellies with the big cigars arent gonna make a monkey outta me, i can BEAT 'em!"

Kirk's unforgettable final scene in "Champion"

"I wanna strap 'em in the electric chair and pull the switch myself!"

Kirk and Eleanor Parker in William Wylers classic cop-drama "Detective Story". I would describe Kirk's performance in this film as one of swirling, almost non-stop, gut-wrenching intensity! For any actor to hold their own with Kirk in this film is a major testament to their own talent and Eleanor Parker, Willliam Bendix (yo ho!!!!) Lee Grant, George MacReady, Joseph Wiseman and a whole plethora of great character actors do just that, but it is Kirk's film from start to finish and to think he wasnt even nominated for an Oscar as best actor for this film was a really HUGE oversight by the Academy that year!

Kirk as Vincent Van Gogh in a publicity still for Vincent Minnelli's magnificent 1956 technicolor production "Lust for Life". Certainly one of Kirk's most courageous performances, apparently he had a hard time "shedding" Van Gogh after production wrapped! Kirk got his 3rd and final oscar nomination that year but lost once again, this time to Yul Brunner for the "King and I". It was a major Oscar upset as Kirk was pegged by all to be the clear cut winner, but . . . *sigh*

A great shot of Kirk as the thoughtful Colonel Dax in Stanley Kubrick's shattering anti-war masterpiece "Path's of Glory". An absolutely unforgettable film with a beautifully understated performance by Kirk Douglas who often described Kubrick as a"talented shit"

Kirk as Spartacus, probably the role he is best remembered for today. An important film for a number of reasons, most notably because Kirk, as producer of the film, decided that blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo would receive full screen credit for the first time in about a decade, thereby shattering the blacklist once and for all. Also important to note is that this was the last Hollywood production Stanley Kubrick would ever be involved in. The film has it flaws but is certainly a rousing epic entertainment with a fine cast, great action scenes and a magnificent Alex North score. And who can forget the classic "I am Spartacus" scene!!!

Kirk as modern-day Cowboy John W. Burns in David Miller's "Lonely are the Brave". This is always the film Kirk names as his personal favorite. A sensitive, understated and realistic performance in a film that has garnered a cult following over the years with its themes of the individual vs. society, authority and the onslaught of progress. The final scene is emotionally devastating, bring your hankies!!!!!!

Kirk with co-star Gena Rowlands in a touching farewell scene. The horse in the film was named "Whiskey" and several years later in "The Villain", Kirk walks into a bar and orders "Whiskey" and in walks a horse!

More Film Noir

Mugs, Thugs, Drifters and Psychotic killers... Molls, Dolls, Floozies and Feme Fatales... dimly lit smoke-filled rooms, cheap gin joints, graft, corruption, theft...and murder!

Good times, good times!

John Garfield, Lana Turner and Cecil Kellaway in "The Postman Always Rings Twice"

Jane Greer and Robert Mitchum in "The Big Steal"

Richard Widmark and Jean Peters in Sam Fuller's Noir masterpiece "Pickup on South Street"

Kirk Douglas in Billy Wilder's "Ace in the Hole" aka "The Big Carnival"