Thursday, August 22, 2019

Thursday Movie Picks #267: Actors in Multiple Roles



This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. This week, the theme is "actors in multiple roles", which is something I thought had been done before. But when I searched the blog for some of the movies I wanted to use, it turns out that my selections hadn't been in the Thursday Movie Picks before. Perhaps I'm thinking of the Doppelgangers theme from quite some time back. So with that in mind, here are my three selections:

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949). Dennis Price plays Louis, a distant heir to the D'Ascoyne family whose line was kicked out by an ancestor's indiscretions. So he decides that the way to become the Duke of D'Ascoyne is to kill off all the heirs ahead of them, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness. Including the heir who is a woman. A great black comedy.

The Whole Town's Talking (1935). Edward G. Robinson plays a meek clerk in a small town whose life is turned upside down when a notorious gangster who looks amazingly like him (because the gangster is also played by Robinson) makes the news. Eventually the gangster shows up and tries to take the clerk's ID at night, with all sorts of complications ensuing. Frank Capra was as I understand it supposed to direct but he was in a dispute with the studio, so they turned it over to John Ford who cranked out what sure looks like a Capra film.

Plaza Suite (1971). A series of three one-act plays, all set in the same suite of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Walter Matthau plays the lead in all three stories, first opposite Maureen Stapleton as a couple whose marriage is in a rut; then opposite Barbara Harris with him looking for an old flame; finally opposite Lee Grant as their daughter locks herself in the suite's bathroom on what is supposed to be her wedding day.

2 comments:

joel65913 said...

Good choices.

Kind Hearts is VERY British but I enjoy it when I'm in the mood for that type of picture and Alec Guinness is a marvel in all his various guises.

There can never be too much Edward G. Robinson in a film which makes Whole Town's Talking especially entertaining. The man was just so agile at being able to shift his established persona toward either menace or kindness.

I know Plaza Suite is performed by the same two actors in all three vignettes on stage but I suppose the film makers thought that would be too distracting for film audiences and since they had Matthau they took advantage of three great actresses. I'm not too crazy about the middle story with Barbara Harris, though she's very good, but love the other two.

Birgit said...

I have yet to see Kind Hearts and Coronets but i am glad it showed up in this week's theme. I haven't seen The Whole town's Talking but I would like to as I like this actor. Plaza Suite is a fun one and a good pick for this week