What would you recommend watching for Lee Marvin’s 100th birthday?
You have questions. I have some answers.
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” (also ’67), “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,”
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. Individual replies are not guaranteed.