Why I love Dean Stockwell: #3

Because in Married to the Mob, he is called away from his wife’s birthday party (his wife is played by the manically insane and gaudily dressed Mercedes Ruehl) to have a meeting in the hallway with his goons. During the pow-wow, Tony chomps on a cigar, barks orders and questions, he rules the roost, he’s king of the walk, he’s “the Boss”.

But he’s wearing this.

The entire serious scene takes place and no one ever mentions the hat, he’s macho enough to wear a hat like that and have nobody say a PEEP, but the scene gets funnier every second you watch it.

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10 Responses to Why I love Dean Stockwell: #3

  1. I love this movie SO much. It’s in my top 10 favorites of all time. I actually sold the soundtrack on eBay a few years ago and was shocked at how much money a used cassette tape earned me. David Byrne created the soundtrack so it was brilliant and eclectic, just like the film itself.

    I’m relishing these posts, Sheila.

    • Mystery Achiever says:

      I realize this blog post is YEARS old, but I just found it and am thrilled to find someone else who recognizes the brilliance of the Burger World scene, and Stockwell himself. And yes, yes, yes — the way he delivers “I could use a snack,” (I watch it over and over,) then the goofy song, then as he pops out of the car with handguns in both hands, steel in his eyes… nothing short of magnificence. Thanks for confirming what I have always thought.

      • sheila says:

        Hey!! It may be a years old post but love of Dean Stockwell – and this movie – is evergreen.

        “I could use a snack.” lol!!!

  2. red says:

    Curly – yes! David Byrne!

    There’s just so much about this movie – how about Mercedes Ruehl crushing the carton of eggs with her bare hands? hahahahaha

  3. “I’ll pick you up a flea collah while I’m they-uh!” Ha ha ha.

    So many awesome people in the movie too — Matthew Modine, Oliver Platt, Joan Cusack. And of course, Michelle Pfeiffer. I adore her. Such a great, great film.

    “Goodbye Horses” by Q. Lazarus was on the soundtrack. Jonathan Demme used that song again in “The Silence of the Lambs” when Buffalo Bill put on his woman suit and did that creepy dance in front of the mirror. CHILLING!

  4. red says:

    It’s a gold party hat attached under his chin with an elastic – and it’s basically shaped like a tall two-tiered crown.

  5. Nick says:

    Yeah, several years late again, but I love Dean Stockwell…You’ve done a good job of explaining why he merits a look from anyone who loves movies. He’s never been anything but first-rate.

    As you mentioned in another thread, he was a terrific child-actor, in my opinion the best boy actor of all, and the equal of Margaret O’Brien, his contemporary (who starred with him in The Secret Garden). My Mom was in love with him when she was a little girl, so when I was a kid, she told me about all of his films, and we watched them whenever we could. The Boy with Green Hair is probably my favorite, along with The Green Years, his first starring role, in which he affected a Scottish accent (to remarkable effect, considering he was a nine year-old Californian), although he was excellent in Kim, The Secret Garden, Down to the Sea in Ships, and any number of others. One favorite of mine that I last saw when I was 12 or so was a comparatively minor programmer, but I liked it so much then that I would love to see it again—that is Home Sweet Homicide, which is pretty hard to find these days.

    Each of the performances you’ve mentioned were superb, but I think of his mature work, my favorite would be as the Nathan Leopold character in Compulsion. I’d read several books about the trial before I saw the movie, and I thought he perfectly realized the role, and was, in fact, the best part of the film—better than Welles, who I thought really just incorporated Darrow as Wellesian gesture. Curious that both movie treatments of his two most famous trials are fictionalized, and Darrow is in both instances renamed (although in Inherit the Wind, they did at least use many of his actual words at trial).

  6. Andrea says:

    I was so thrilled to find this little homage to Dean Stockwell– and especially to Married to the Mob! I have always enjoyed his work, and am thrilled to find someone else who relishes the nuances of his performances. Just so happens I watched MTTM again for the bazillionth time just last week– I actually can’t STAND Matthew Modine in this movie, but I can watch the Dean Stockwell scenes over and over. I absolutely love the line you mentioned, “I could use a little snack”, it makes him human in that way we love to find in gangsters. My very favorite line of the whole film though, is a short one at the end. When his guys bring in Matthew Modine, Tony rips off the false mustache and says with a twitch of his head, “Who the FUCK are you??!” I rewind it and watch it three or four times every time I watch the movie. Thank you for this piece, and for a great tribute to an underappreciated talent. Any idea what he’s up to these days?

  7. Lesley J Wentzell says:

    Talk about being tardy to the party! Where the fuck was I when this article was so masterfully written? Dean Stockwell was, is and EVER SHALL BE the Greatest Actor of ALL TIME! It’s a joy to witness him embody everything this passage describes perfectly… and so much more.

    I was watching “COMBAT: High Named Today” earlier this week and, though I’ve seen it many times, Dean’s performance as PVT Rob Lawson never ceases to captivate me. Dean is wonderful!! He brings a melancholy, distant, fidgety quality to his character and it is 100% believable. His bravery and futility is easily mistaken for obstinate defiance and insubordination until the soldiers in K-Company take a moment to understand what motivates him.

    I could spend hours listing hundreds of his mesmerizing portrayals from the past seven decades and cite a different, unforgettable, unique quality to each and every one of them. What I’ll never understand is how a man this immensely talented can, at times, be so self-deprecating. When Dean was given a Star– that he, of course, so richly deserves– on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, it was obvious how appreciative he was: Appreciative of the fans who spent nearly two years raising half of the funds through a cause so near and dear to his heart. Appreciative towards his mother, brother Guy, Scott Bakula, Roddy McDowall and Dennis Hopper for being there with him. But if you look closely at some of the photos of that momentous “Leap Day,” you can also see an expression of awe and bewilderment. An almost imperceptible, “What on Earth did I do to deserve this?” look on his sweet face.

    That, Ladies and Gentleman, is my mere attempt at describing what makes Dean Stockwell the Legendary Phenomenon that he always will be. And yet I feel inadequate to describe even a fraction of what he means to me.

    “I couldn’t touch what I was trying to tell you just now. I only stammered.”

    • Lesley J Wentzell says:

      Of course, my reply would have been so much more meaningful had I actually typed: “That, Ladies and Gentlemen…” I apologize for my anal-retention, but Dean Stockwell deserves nothing but the highest (and most accurate) accolades!

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