The Sheila Variations

The Norm poll ...

List your favorite "movie stars". I get 10 votes.

1. Cary Grant
2. Katherine Hepburn
3. Marilyn Monroe
4. Humphrey Bogart
5. Ingrid Bergman
6. Jeff Bridges
7. Marlon Brando
8. Gary Cooper
9. Clark Gable
10. John Travolta

Okay, that's a pretty typical list - except for maybe Travolta and Bridges. But what the hey, I'm not re-inventing the wheel here. Now what was my criteria? I think there is a difference between a "movie star" and an "actor" - and sometimes, blessedly, the two overlap. In the case of the 10 people I chose, they did overlap. These people all were (and are) definitive movie stars, but they all had a great gift for acting as well.

But like I've said here before, there is a magic that happens between certain people and the CAMERA ... which cannot be taught, bottled, imitated, or even explained. For example: Marilyn Monroe, who always seemed to carry around her own keylight. How did that happen? What WAS her magic? Now some people are immune to her magic, but they are so much in the minority that I can pretty much comfortably ignore them. Contemplating Marilyn Monroe has been something I've enjoyed for ... damn ... 25 years? Some people speculate that the reason she looked so luminous on screen is that she had a very light layer of blonde fuzz over her skin - I mean, we all have hair like that on our arms, and our cheeks - it's everywhere - but some people thought that maybe Monroe's was a bit longer or thicker than other people's, and that is why she seemed so reflective of light - she actually WAS reflecting light. Who knows if that is true ... but I do think there is a certain relationship between certain actors and the camera - which sometimes has to do with acting, but other times has to do with something else, something indefinable. I would say it has to do with the soul. Someone like Gary Cooper doesn't even have to 'act' - he never appears to do ANYthing - and we see into his soul.

But again - there are plenty of actors who can do that. Who can let us see what is going on in their hearts ... wonderful actors - but I still wouldn't call them "movie stars".

For example: I love Russell Crowe, and I think when he's good?? Nobody can touch him. If you disagree, then I have to believe that you haven't seen Romper Stomper. BUT: he doesn't have that thing with the camera that, say, Gary Cooper does. He's always good, he's always committed to his work, and he is quite often very powerful and very moving. The only time I would say he comes close to that kind of movie-star-magic is in LA Confidential. Now THAT is the performance of a "movie star". It sizzles with charisma, with what is NOT said, it smolders with unexpressed feeling ... I think that might be the most vulnerable Crowe has ever been with us - and interestingly enough, he was playing a big tough-guy. That was the thing with those actors in the 30s and 40s ... they played tough-guys, but not HARD guys. They were tough because life threw you for a loop and there were things in life that needed protecting, but they also fell in love with the dame. They weren't HARD, or immune. It's a hugely attractive mix, and we've almost lost that dynamic completely in movies today. That's why Crowe's performance in LA Confidential made an entire nation of movie-going women turn into puddles on the floor. It was a throwback, yes ... but not in a kitschy way, not even in a nostalgic way. He WAS that guy.

Other examples: Sean Penn is probably, along with Daniel Day Lewis, one of the best actors practicing the craft today. But he doesn't have that thing ... that openness-of-soul that the movie stars I listed have.

I'm probably digging myself into a hole here - because I am coming up with exceptions to every rule. If I contemplate Cary Grant (and believe me - I DO!!) - I would say that one of the things which totally appeals about him is the sense of mystery there. He never gives it all away. He never lets us have all of him. The camera loves him, I don't know of an actor more beloved by the camera ... but still: he never lets us all the way in. The face is so handsome, so photogenic ... but he dodges us, keeps us guessing. Nobody like him, man. Just nobody like him. That's why he's # 1 on my list.

Come to think of it: all of the movie stars on my list have that don't-give-it-all-away thing in common.

You never EVER catch Jeff Bridges pandering to us, or turning himself inside-out in an effort to get us on his side. No. He holds back, he disappears into the character - you cannot take your eyes off him. Jeff Bridges, in my humble opinion, is a MASTER at the art of film-acting. He is probably the best there is. He understands the camera, he uses it, so much of his work is so subtle that it never ever seems like work - but it packs this huge punch. The guy is a genius. Hands down.

Marilyn Monroe is, as always, in a league of her own. I have no idea WHAT was going on with that woman ... if she had fuzz on her skin, or a good makeup artist, or WHAT. But she had "it". She glows. Everyone has magic in them, we all do - but she had "movie magic".

John Travolta is on there because, to me, he has the magnetism of those old-time iconic movie stars. Like nobody else working today. You can't take your eyes off him when he's on the screen. It's almost like Travolta (or his face, or his soul - however you want to say it) is letting us, the audience, in on a secret or something. Or at least he's trying to. It's a secret between HIM and US. We feel honored that he would want to open up to us in that way. He has no barriers between him and the camera. And THAT is the mark of a great movie star.