Kirk Douglas' best movies
- Thread starter ThamesHawk
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I have always felt that his performance as Chester J. Lampwick was one of his strongest roles.
I loved 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea when I was a kid. Still do, actually.
Among many others, I always liked him in the movie In Harm's Way.
I'm not sure, but that may have been his only WWII movie, unless one counts The Final Countdown.
I'm not sure, but that may have been his only WWII movie, unless one counts The Final Countdown.
Out of the Past is more so a Robert Mitchum showcase, but Douglas has a key part in one of the greatest film noirs ever.
He banged the aerobics instructor and went to Red Hot Chili Peppers shows. Showed me old people can have fulfilling lives
Really liked him best in "The Big Sky" and "In Harm's Way", but my favorite of his is "Cast A Giant Shadow".
In Harm's Way isn't considered to be a very good movie. More soap opera than war movie, and seemingly out of place being in B&W considering it was made in 1965 I believe. But he is excellent in it (as is Burgess Meredith). Of course, having Paula Prentiss and Jill Haworth in it doesn't hurt the scenery either
The Big Sky isn't considered a great movie either (and the TCM copy they use to broadcast it appears to be a patched together mess of the only film stock they could find left of it), but I think it is a classic example of Kirk's rough and tumble persona on-screen at an early stage of his career (as well as having a few good supporting cast members).
Cast A Giant Shadow is a largely unknown movie about Mickey Marcus, a US colonel in/after WWII who is generally regarded as the military man who built the Israeli Defense Force (he was their first General) in the late 40's when they declared their independence. Again, not considered a great movie by any means - but I think it took a whole lot of guts for Douglas to take on that role both personally and professionally. He was Jewish - and the character was conflicted about how how being Jewish affected him - much like in Douglas' personal life. It is a movie with an all star supporting cast who all give damn good performances - but something in its production didn't seem to click compared to a movie with a similar subject such as "Exodus".
Just looked at his filmography...I own 8 of his movies. Damn good actor, big time movie star back in the day. Definitely a maverick of sorts too. A very driven person overall (which made him very tough to work with)...never forgot his terribly poor upbringing and busted his ass always.
If there is one word to describe his career and style, it would be "intensity".
In Harm's Way isn't considered to be a very good movie. More soap opera than war movie, and seemingly out of place being in B&W considering it was made in 1965 I believe. But he is excellent in it (as is Burgess Meredith). Of course, having Paula Prentiss and Jill Haworth in it doesn't hurt the scenery either
The Big Sky isn't considered a great movie either (and the TCM copy they use to broadcast it appears to be a patched together mess of the only film stock they could find left of it), but I think it is a classic example of Kirk's rough and tumble persona on-screen at an early stage of his career (as well as having a few good supporting cast members).
Cast A Giant Shadow is a largely unknown movie about Mickey Marcus, a US colonel in/after WWII who is generally regarded as the military man who built the Israeli Defense Force (he was their first General) in the late 40's when they declared their independence. Again, not considered a great movie by any means - but I think it took a whole lot of guts for Douglas to take on that role both personally and professionally. He was Jewish - and the character was conflicted about how how being Jewish affected him - much like in Douglas' personal life. It is a movie with an all star supporting cast who all give damn good performances - but something in its production didn't seem to click compared to a movie with a similar subject such as "Exodus".
Just looked at his filmography...I own 8 of his movies. Damn good actor, big time movie star back in the day. Definitely a maverick of sorts too. A very driven person overall (which made him very tough to work with)...never forgot his terribly poor upbringing and busted his ass always.
If there is one word to describe his career and style, it would be "intensity".
I had no idea what you were talking about...then I saw your OP.
Anyway, Paths of Glory is my 2nd favorite war movie. And while it's kind of silly, I love Final Countdown.
Yep. I saw it in the theater when I was young. Was cool then, but looking back on it, quite silly story. I seem to recall, it had a decent supporting cast - but the bit players in it were worse than terrible. Like "we've already blown the budget for actors, so hire guys off the street for the bit parts" kinda deal.
The dogfight between an F-14 and a Zero was hilarious - especially when the Zero got a couple hits on one of the Tomcats. Been a while since I've seen it (might have to watch it tonight)...I think the pilot was simply trying to force the fighter down without actually shooting him down, and the Zero pilot actually got into a firing position and got a few hits in.
Then the F-14 pilot says (paraphrasing), "OK, let's stop screwing around here". IIRC, the wings spread out on his fighter (for better maneuverability) - then he goes to his guns and saws a wing off the Zero like a hot knife through butter.
I collect movies, especially war movies and sci-fi - and I built a rig in the early-mid 00's to record movies in HD with a computer. I waited a good decade before this movie came on any TV channel - and before that it was a very rare sighting on stuff like HBO, Cinemax, Showtime etc.
Damn movie was NEVER on TV.
“Paths of Glory” is a really well done film and he is great in it!
I thought he was persuasive as a star in “Spartacus” as well as “The Vikings”... he was a great supporting actor “In Harm’s Way”...His portrayal of Van Gogh was very well done...he has done a lot of really good stuff!
I thought he was persuasive as a star in “Spartacus” as well as “The Vikings”... he was a great supporting actor “In Harm’s Way”...His portrayal of Van Gogh was very well done...he has done a lot of really good stuff!
In Harm’s Way was good because it showed flawed humans. Too many war movies only show us heroes. Douglas played a man with flaws who although brave, succumbed to demons.
I was watching the episode of the Simpsons where Douglas provides the voice of Lampwick.
Whew..,I thought you were gonna say The Duke was a flawed human!
Welp...the movie isn't exactly all rainbows and teddy bears for most every major character.
Wayne loses a leg, two best friends and his son towards the end.
Douglas' wife dies in a car crash at Peal Harbor - she was out all night screwing an air force officer on a beach - which sours him on women in general. Later on, Douglas rapes Wayne's son's girlfriend, then steals a plane and goes on a one way recon flight to avoid prosecution once he finds out the raped girl killed herself.
Burgess Meredith's character (other best friend) dies in the same naval battle that Wayne loses his leg.
Said raped girlfriend commits suicide cause she got knocked up via the rape and Wayne's son didn't believe her story.
Son dies in a PT boat skirmish during the same battle Wayne loses his leg.
Not your normal formulaic Wayne vehicle. Very much a drama/soap opera movie more than a war movie.
Seven Days was relevant when it was released, too....Right wing looks have been part of the American political scene for decades.
I can't think of many movies from that era so explicitly laid out what Douglas' character did, there was no sugar-coating it.
It's probably my favorite John Wayne war movie.
It was on tv, but not in prime time. One of those late night, weekend movies in the early 2000's. Watched it on Mom & Dad's tv. They did not have cable. Dad was totally into it. He was a signalman on a small aircraft carrier that had left training/fitting in San Diego and was headed for Japan in August 1945 when the Japanese surrendered.
The movie gave my Dad some evil pleasure thinking about what F-14's coming from a modern nuclear carrier, like the USS Nimitz, could do to stop the invasion of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 in a time warp situation.
I hesitate to label it a "typical Otto Preminger movie"...but it kinda is.
I enjoy it because of how different a Wayne movie it is. Definitely not really a cookie cutter John Wayne film for certain.
And of course, Paula Prentiss...yummy.
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