The last things I saw of his were a horror film from the 70s (Something is Crawling in the Dark?) and an episode of Murder She Wrote. It’s too bad that some actors slip through the cracks like this. I know he was in films as recent as the 2000s, but I remember him mostly from the Hitchcock films of course.
Oh yeah, and They Live By Night, too.
Incredible career….RIP
A truly lackluster career but a tremendous presence in Rope and Senso.
He was in They Call Me Trinity too, huh?
He appeared in several classics and a number of routine and or forgettabel films. His primary career was on the stage.
I thought he was lame in Senso and Rope and was part of what dragged those two films down for me. And he lived 86 years, that’s pretty good going…
EDIT: Sorry, hopelessly unsympathetic to people >.< Don’t mean to offend anyone, of course…
I thought he was lame in Senso and Rope. . . . And he lived 86 years, that’s pretty good going…
Hmmm. You imply a certain causality between his “lameness” and his longevity, Cecil. If we phone in enough performances, do we earn bonus years?
His bland passivity in Strangers on a Train was perfect for the role, that of being lunch for Robert Walker’s feline malevolence.
I thought he was somewhat forgettable in his Hitchcock films, but his performance in They Live By Night alone solidified him a great actor.
^
^To be honest Cecil, it was Stewart’s morality attitude which dragged Rope for me the most but Granger was part of the reasons that made Senso the masterpiece of today…
dp
Yeah, in Strangers on a Train he was sort of doomed to be overshadowed by Robert Walkers performance. His sort of meekness was perfect for the role though.
I’m pretty interested in seeing Senso now.
Senso is a tremendous film, and Granger seems suited to the character with good looks and some charm but lack of let’s say moral fibre. And above it was said how he suited passivity in Strangers on a Train. With Rope, not exactly a trio of most heroic figures in cinema, hardly Clint or John Wayne types.
Saw him in Rope and Strangers on a Train. Thought he was great in Strangers, trying to keep his sanity with Robert Walker screwing things up for him. I love the last scene of the film with the merry go round. He will be missed.
“You imply a certain causality between his “lameness” and his longevity, Cecil. If we phone in enough performances, do we earn bonus years?”
Completely unintentional, sorry >.< They were meant to be two separate statements. One saying I haven’t liked the performances I’ve seen of his, the other saying that 86 years is a damn good age to get to so unless he’s a family member, a friend or was on the verge of finding the cure for cancer or something then getting sad about his death seems a bit silly.
^^Pretend there are quotes around that. Teh Mubes won’t let me right now.
Used perfectly in both ROPE & STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. There was surely something off-kilter about him that was missing in some other pretty faces of the same generation (Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis)…
ROPE
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
OUR VERY OWN (Ann Blyth discovers she’s adopted and freaks out)
THEY LIVE BY NIGHT
SENSO
EDGE OF DOOM (a rare well-made Mark Robson film)
And don’t forget his Harry K. Thaw in “The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing.”
David Ehrenstein