Thursday, August 31, 2006

Glenn Ford died

The best way to describe Ford's career is to look at the 1978 version of Superman. The attention Marlon Brando received from the press for getting an excessively large sum of money for a flavorless bit part detracted from the overall movie. Meanwhile, Glenn Ford quietly turned in a solid performance as Superman's stepdad - without all the distraction of Brando - that added an honesty to the story of Superman's childhood. That's not to pick on Brando other than to contrast the difference between an overrated actor and an underrated one. Pound for pound, I'd take Ford's unassuming everyman to Brando's big star any day. He was fun to watch as a youth in such unsung western gems like Texas and Man From Colorado. He was brilliant and psychologically seductive in 3:10 To Yuma. He was believable as a teacher in Blackboard Jungle (such believability being outside the range of more glittery stars). Awesome as the revenge seeking cop in The Big Heat. In short, he was a stellar actor. May he rest in peace.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What can you say.... we're loosing the great ones. Glen Ford was one of my favorites. I always wondered why he seemed underrated or often overlooked by so many.