Is there list of movies to honor 100th birthday of actor Marvin?
Q: Feb. 19 is Lee Marvin’s 100th birthday. How about a list of a few outstanding movies? A: Lee Marvin (1924-87) was one of the great screen presences, especially when it came to conveying menace, as he often did. One close observer thought Marvin’s combat experience in World War II showed him “the depth of our capacity for cruelty and evil ... and (he) was prepared to recount what he had seen down there.”
He won his Oscar for a combination of scariness and humor in a dual role in “Cat Ballou” (1965), but I wouldn’t rank that ahead of such movies as “The Killers” (1964), “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), “Point Blank” (1967), “The Big Red One” (1980) or “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (1962).
In that last film, the stars are James Stewart and John Wayne, but Marvin drives the story as the title character, with a portrait of unredeemable evil. “Point Blank” is another key role, the embodiment of what critic David Thomson called “a central, necessary, inescapable man of violence.” Years later, the same book that inspired “Point Blank” was adapted into a Mel Gibson movie called “Payback”; it does not measure up to Marvin’s version.
There are also TV jobs, notably the series “M Squad” (1957-60). He made a lot of bad films, or puzzling ones (such as “Paint Your Wagon,” from 1969, a musical starring Marvin and Clint Eastwood). But he still has a foundation of good to great work.
Q: I was wondering if Walton Goggins has ever been offered his own show. He is a great actor and he definitely deserves more.
A: Goggins is indeed an impressive actor in movies and on TV, often as part of ensemble series, such as “The Shield” and “Justified,” and he received an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in a drama for the latter show. He did have his own show — “The Unicorn,” an endearing comedy about a widowed father trying to restart his romantic life. The series ran for two seasons in 2019-21, and I wish it had lasted longer. The two seasons of “The Unicorn” are available as downloads, including from Vudu and Amazon Prime Video.
Q: Why hasn’t the film “Porgy and Bess” starring Sidney Poitier and Dorothy Dandridge been shown on TV? I thought it was a great performance by both of them and would love to see it again.
A: The 1959 screen adaptation of the 1935 opera by George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward has had relatively few showings in theaters in recent years, and it reportedly aired in its entirety on TV only in 1967. Controversies about the racial content of the opera and the movie continue to this day, and the rights holders have for the most part prevented showings of the movie.
Q: A few years ago, I watched a weekly program called “Station Eleven.” It was about the near future after a deadly pandemic. Do you know if this is available on DVD? I would love to see it again.
A: Based on the novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel, the 10-episode miniseries originally aired on HBO Max (now just Max) in 2021-22 and is still on Max at this writing. It was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K about a year ago. If your local retailer cannot get it, I have seen the disc formats for sale on Amazon, or you could check your area’s libraries.
Do you have a question or comment about entertainment past, present and future? Write to Rich Heldenfels, P.O. Box 417, Mogadore, OH 44260, or brenfels@gmail.com. Letters may be edited.