Today on TCM, the Blake Edwards remake of the German film, Viktor and Viktoria, this time as Victor/Victoria. The original has actually been remade a few times but the Blake Edwards version is the only one I know very well and that’s possibly because it contains one of my favorite actors ever, James Garner. Garner is an actor I’ve always liked, possibly owing to my love of his seventies television show, The Rockford Files, but mostly owing to his easy charm and casual coolness. I’ve just never been a big fan of his movies. It doesn’t mean there isn’t a favorite here or there, like The Great Escape, or that I think his movies aren’t good, just that, on the whole, I’m not a big fan of much he ever did even though he is, unmistakably, an all-time favorite himself.
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James Garner has made a number of good movies, including another movie with Julie Andrews, The Americanization of Emily, but I just don’t count them on my list of movies I’d like to watch again and again. Mister Buddwing? The Children’s Hour? Fine movies, just not favorites. Even the fun stuff, like the Support movies (Support Your Local Sheriff, Support Your Local Gunfighter) fall short for me. I’ll watch them, though. I’ll watch them just for him. And he’s not alone. It turns out, there are quite a few actors for whom their own personal charms and charisma are more than enough to lure me into watching their work even while none of it, on the whole, does much for me.
James Coburn (maybe it’s the name “James”) is another one. I love that guy. Love him! Now, he’s in plenty of movies I love, like the aforementioned The Great Escape, as well as The Magnificent Seven and Charade, but as far as movies starring him, well, the only one that is an absolute favorite is Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. I like the Flint movies okay and I enjoy The President’s Analyst but it’s not a favorite. Despite all that, this guy has always been a favorite actor of mine. A couple of years ago TCM assigned me a movie of his I was unfamiliar with, The Honkers. I watched it and wrote it up and didn’t really think it was that great but I had no problem at all sitting through it and watching every scene with full attention because of Coburn. He won an Oscar for a great performance in Affliction late in his career and I was glad to see he finally got some recognition. He may not have many starring roles that fill my favorites list, but he will always be a top choice as an actor.
Ever seen High Sierra? Of course you have, you’re reading a blog post at TCM. How about Artists and Models? Or They Drive by Night? All perfectly good movies. Hell, I think They Drive by Night is pretty damn good, actually. But none of those movies are movies I’ve ever been drawn back to time and time again and little else with Ida Lupino does much for me either. But, nonetheless, I think she’s incredible. I wrote up The Bigamist here a while back. It’s a movie she directed and starred in. It’s pretty good but my enthusiasm for it was mainly driven by how much I have always loved Ida Lupino and how underrated I think she is. A part of that underrating probably has to do with the fact that the movies she directed were lower budget vehicles done without a lot of fanfare as she competed in a male-centric Hollywood. Another part is simply that there aren’t many Ida Lupino movies that are big because she’s the star. Artists and Models? Jack Benny. High Sierra? Humphrey Bogart. They Drive by Night? Bogart again and George Raft. So she’s a favorite even if her movies will never be.
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Finally, a more modern actor, Judy Davis. Ever since I set eyes on her in My Brilliant Career, I loved her. I didn’t go crazy for the movie (yes, I thought it was excellent but not a return to movie for me). I loved her in Passage to India, but didn’t love the movie. Loved her in The New Age, but didn’t love the movie. Loved her as Judy Garland and Lillian Hellman, but didn’t love the movies. In fact, for an actress I regularly call up as an all time favorite when people ask me to name an actress I think is great, she has very few movies I ever care to rewatch. Husbands and Wives is probably my favorite and she’s absolutely superb in it. But even that doesn’t draw me back again and again. Nope, Judy Davis doesn’t really have a movie I can call a favorite, but she’s a favorite actor nevertheless.
I don’t imagine I’m alone in this. I’m sure everyone has actors they love despite the fact they don’t appear in many movies one would call a favorite. In each one of these cases, I always wanted them to have more movies I enjoyed watching again and again because I thought, and think, they were and are so very good. I might watch Victor/Victoria again today, I don’t know. It’s a good movie, enjoyable, and one that truly makes full use of the talents of Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, Leslie Ann Warren, and, of course, James Garner. It is, alas, not a favorite though. Still, it’s got Garner and for the most part, that’s good enough for me.