Brando would've been too old for that role. The character in both the book and the film is 29. Brando was 47. Stacy Keach was the same age as the character.
― Josefa, Thursday, 5 August 2021 22:24 (two years ago) link
I don't suppose I will be the first one who thinks Richard Basehart's Ishmael in Moby Dick looks so uncannily like Ewen McGregor that a DNA test shouldn't be out of the question.
― calzino, Thursday, 5 August 2021 22:35 (two years ago) link
Looking through my books old film reviews it's interesting that neither Pauline Kael, John Simon, nor Stanley Kauffman were much impressed by Stacy Keach's performance. Kael thought Susan Tyrell should have won the Oscar, but her review of the film was mixed - she wondered why she was watching these loser characters. Simon didn't like the film at all and felt that Tyrell's performance was artless and out of control.
― Josefa,
I thought Kael said in a later but contemporaneous review that a performance comes around once in a while so bad it's a wonder it doesn't win an Oscar.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 5 August 2021 22:40 (two years ago) link
^You're right! That was the passage I was referring to, but rereading it now it's clear Kael was being ironic, comparing Tyrrell's performance to previous bad performances that did win Oscars. Kael's phrase, "a performance of that caliber" threw me.
― Josefa, Thursday, 5 August 2021 22:53 (two years ago) link
and she's wrong! I had this conversation pre-COVID a couple years ago over drinks about the best drunk performances in film. I mentioned Susan Tyrell, particularly her second bar scene where Keach picks her up. She creates an alternate reality like I've seen other deep alcoholics do.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 5 August 2021 23:05 (two years ago) link
Still haven't seen Fat City, but anyone looking for a true monster of a Susan Tyrell performance is encouraged to check out the 80s queer horror should-be classic Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker.
― edited for dog profanity (cryptosicko), Thursday, 5 August 2021 23:28 (two years ago) link
Kael thought Susan Tyrell should have won the Oscar, but her review of the film was mixed - she wondered why she was watching these loser characters.
lol I know no one is consistent about stuff like this but "don't want to watch losers" would be a tough standard for a cinemagoer in the 1970's
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 6 August 2021 09:14 (two years ago) link
Man Fat City! Help me make it through the night is used so well. Love how it ends with the second verse, “yesterday is dead and gone.” Nice gut punch
― Heez, Thursday, 10 February 2022 05:02 (two years ago) link