Posted by Don Malcolm
on 10/30/2009, 1:00 pm, in reply to "Re: List of Robert Ryan's best film performances"
96.251.89.110
Mark,
Thanks for reminding us about BILLY BUDD--definitely a tremendous achievement by all involved. Not only reminding us of the superb talents of Bob Ryan, but also of the mostly unsung directorial skills of Peter Ustinov.
I remember getting a bit of flak sometime back for suggesting that Ryan was one of the five greatest American actors in film history. There may have been sexier actors back then, but (as you note) few if any of them were as committed to their craft the way Ryan was.
Another top-notch Ryan performance, in the chilly vein of his work, can be found in LONELYHEARTS. J. R. Jones does a fine job of identifying the core of Ryan's best work; I think this is one that often gets overlooked.
BTW, Alan Rode is doing a centennial tribute evening at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for Ryan on November 11. He'll be showing THE SET-UP and THE NAKED SPUR.
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