Posted by WisconsinMark
on 10/30/2009, 12:37 pm, in reply to "List of Robert Ryan's best film performances"
75.141.208.135 | Message modified by user WisconsinMark 10/30/2009, 12:44 pm
That article underlines an important fact: Ryan was a superb chooser of roles and manager of his artistic career, as so many Hollywood stars are not. (Burt Lancaster is another actor of Ryan's generation who excelled in this way.)
I am glad the article included a mention of Ryan's wonderful Claggart in Billy Budd -- no one could have been better in that role. Melville's novel is a work that seems to inspire other artists to tremendous achievement. Ustinov's film overall is a beauty that shows off Ryan, and Terence Stamp as Billy, to great effect; and is, along with Peter Weir's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Pierre Schoendoerffer's Le Crabe-Tambour, one of the greatest of sea movies. Benjamin Britten's operatic version of Billy Budd is one of the masterpieces of 20th century music and stage. The plot-line of the story itself could certainly be described as nautical noir.
Patrick Murtha's Diary
http://patrickmurthasdiary.blogspot.com/
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