I like all kinds of acting. I’m not a purist in terms of style. If it’s good, if it makes me laugh/cry/shout “Oooh”/think – then I’m all for it. I don’t care how you get there. I love Errol Flynn and I love Meryl Streep. Anyone who can come to life under imaginary circumsances – and who shares that imaginative side of themselves freely with us in the audience – has my undying love.
There are those who must do gads of research in order to feel they have the right to play a part. I love them.
There are those who believe in going moment to moment and that’s enough. I love them too.
There are those who are comedically minded, and whose sensibility always steers them towards the funny potential in any scene. I love them.
There are those who have a more sentimental mindset, and who are more at home in weepy melodramas. I adore those people.
I’m talking about good actors now.
And I also love an actor who freely, openly, with no shame (that’s key: NO SHAME) goes for the camp. Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby is the best example I can think of. He has no self-protection as an actor. It is riotous. Like my acting teacher Sam once said, “When you get to be my age, you have no shame left, and you feel lucky to just be standing up there.” I love the actor who knows a ba-dum-ching when he sees one and plays it with no selfconsciousness. Someone who, even in closeup, even in deep deep closeup – allows themselves to be seen as ridiculous.
Ahem.
And let’s just take a look at that first one again, shall we? It’s a perfect example of what I am talking about. Uhm ….
All I can think of after this post is that image of Cary Grant in the fluffy woman’s bathrobe, jumping up and proclaiming “I just decided to turn gay all of the sudden!”
And him running around in that negligee being chased by the dog – and he’s muttering to himself, “How can so many things happen to one person?”
ah, joy!!
If ever I were unfortunate enough to meet someone who did not like Cary Grant I would make a point to never speak to that person and to cross to the other side of the street. Now I want to watch Monkey Business again.
Jessica – hahahaha!!!
I was just thinking about that movie last night – I was reading an interview with Howard Hawks and he was talking about it. What a hoot!!!
I love the beginning – where they do fakes over the credits – do you remember that? Cary Grant keeps trying to enter – and you hear a soft voice, as though it is the director, saying, “Not yet, Cary …”
Like: Cary Grant truly IS that bumbling nerdy guy … it’s hysterical – do you remember that??
Oh yes one of the first times I saw a film break the “fourth wall”. I love how great he was at playing a child in a man’s body, not sappy or obvious but like a genuine petulant child. And when he rounds up the kids to play Indians with poor Ralph Bellamy. And Ralph’s poor baldcap when he gets a mohawk aw man I’m laughing and I really want to watch it now. Off to Netflix.