best film: Once Upon a Time in the West. Fonda was in three masterpieces but only one made the top 100 of all-time (#52). Most critics think it’s Leone’s masterpiece (I still have The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly a few slots ahead of it). Leone is the genius behind the film that makes all the right movies- but his two most important collaborators in this film are Ennio Morricone and Henry Fonda. Fonda’s “Frank” is one of the great screen villains. Fonda almost always played a man of virtue, so to see him here, with his steely glare— jaw-dropping– and he’s spectacular. The two other masterpieces from Fonda (and the guy seemed to do nothing but make great films) are The Grapes of Wrath and My Darling Clementine- both with Ford. They’re excellent films themselves (obviously there are only about 300 total Masterpieces in film history)—but they can’t touch the heights of Leone’s film.
best performance: Fonda’s Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath is far and away the best performance of 1940 and right there with the best performances of the decade (many have it there all-time—Premiere Magazine had it #51 all-time). Fonda’s moral virtue has never better been put on display and it absolutely never feels like a rich Hollywood actor portraying a poor farmer during the dust-bowl set depression. It’s absolutely an authentic performance. His monologue to his mother (Jane Darwell) at the end speaking directly from Steinbeck is revelatory filmmaking and screen acting.
stylistic innovations/traits: Fonda is in three masterpieces (excellent in all of them), 29 total archivable films (only 3 of them are supporting roles (Fedora, The Longest Day, How the West Was Won) and is truly terrific in 11 films that deserve to be in the top 10 of their respective years (going over a 31-year-span starting with Fritz Lang in a gangster film and ending with Sergio Leone in a western). Fonda was excellent at playing a man of moral high-standards and high stature (one of fiction’s great characters Tom Joad, presidents (including Linoln), the juror in !2 Angry Men). He takes that persona though that he’d built up over 30 years and completely flips it on its head to play the sadistic “Frank” in one of the great screen performances in Once Upon a Time in the West. It is masterful casting and acting. He’s like Cary Grant in that he’s nearly genre-less- he does screwball comedy (Lady Eve). He didn’t quite have Grant’s suaveness but Grant couldn’t do a western like Fonda could either. It’s a testament to his depth of filmography that great performances in top-10 level films like Jezebel and You Only Live Once aren’t qite good enough to make his top 10 performances of all-time.
directors worked with: Ford (7) and although this wasn’t as many as Wayne – 12—and their collaboration isn’t quite as important- it’s closer than many film critics and historians think. Preminger (3), Lumet (2), and then once a piece with Hitchcock, Lane, Wyler, Anthony Mann, Preston Sturges, Leone and Wilder
Top 10 Performances:
- The Grapes of Wrath
- Once Upon a Time in the West
- My Darlene Clementine
- 12 Angry Men
- The Lady Eve
- Young Mr. Lincoln
- Fort Apache
- The Ox-Box Incident
- The Tin Star
- The Wrong Man
Archiveable films
| 1937- You Only Live Once |
| 1938- Jeezebel |
| 1939- Drums Along the Mohawk |
| 1939- Jesse James |
| 1939- Young Mr. Lincoln |
| 1940- The Grapes of Wrath |
| 1941- The Lady Eve |
| 1943- The Ox-Box Incident |
| 1946- My Darlene Clementine |
| 1947- Daisy Kenyon |
| 1947- The Fugitive |
| 1948- Fort Apache |
| 1955- Mister Roberts |
| 1956- The Wrong Man |
| 1956- War and Peace |
| 1957- 12 Angry Men |
| 1957- Tin Star |
| 1959- Warlock |
| 1962- Advise and Consent |
| 1962- How the West Was Won |
| 1962- The Longest Day |
| 1964- Fail Safe |
| 1964- The Best Man |
| 1965- In Harm’s Way |
| 1968- Firecreek |
| 1968- Once Upon a Time in the West |
| 1968- The Boston Strangler |
| 1978- Fedora |
| 1981- On Golden Pond |
a true talent. his performance in 12 angry men is genius. it is straightforward, strong, not subtle but played near perfection. one of the best performances ever.
What are some of the greatest examples of casting against type in cinema? Henry Fonda, known for his protagonistic sensibilities, transitioning to villainy in Once Upon a Time in the West is surely one of the first that comes to mind for cinephiles. Ralph Fiennes, ever versatile but originally known for dramatic performances in films such as Schindler’s List and The English Game, succeeding brilliantly in the comedic The Grand Budapest Hotel is a modern example. Jim Carrey did the opposite, turning his comedy past on his heels with introverted “common man” acting in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. James Stewart’s obsessive performance as Scottie Ferguson in Vertigo was not his first to include dark elements, but it certainly turned away from his reputation as a goodhearted everyman. On the directorial side, Innaritu took the helm in Birdman, an energetic comedy-drama, which contrasts his earlier, heavier, more serious ventures. I think one can make a case for The Social Network being a career switch for David Fincher, who, at that point, was known for crime-related thrillers. These are only a few in the expansive landscape of cinema history. Any other favorites?
@Graham- love the topic. I did find this https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/25_brilliant_times_actors_played_against_the_type/s1__27472799 . Went through it quickly and caught some I thought of and some that I should’ve but didn’t. I’m doing 1953 in my year by year archives so Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar comes to mind—Nicholson plays the quieter of the two (opposite Bruce Dern) in The King of Marvin Gardens… Jack Lemmon played against type to do a heavy part playing an alcoholic in The Days of Wine and Roses… I love Bruce Willis in Moonrise Kingdom… I’m sure I’m missing many– but some of these actors there just is no “type”- i mean even Ben Kingsley is on a lot of these lists for his work in Sexy Beast– but Kingsley can do anything- right? What’s his type? Probably like why I like your Fonda example the best.
That list you found is wonderful. Thanks.
Again on the directorial side of the camera lens, I would mention Sergio Leone, who made only Westerns from A Fistful of Dollars to Duck, You Sucker but reset his next epic in the New York crime scene. The Coen brothers have hopped around genres repeatedly, but I think one can say that No Country for Old Men was a major new facet for their career. Their earlier films, however dark the comedy, did not contain the uncompromising violence of No Country.
I’m trying to think of some for actresses, but I can’t seem to find any cinematically notable exmaples. Can you?
@Graham— I looked and tried on the actress side– again someone like Charlize, Kidman— I mean they don’t have a “type”- for example I don’t think Kingsley works when he plays a villains — but I like the Albert Brooks in Drive one because he’s playing against type. Maybe Liz Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She put on weight, unbelievablly crass and crude…
On the directorial side, Cronenberg becoming somewhat of a crime director after having been a king of horror for decades was something.
@Zane- good one for sure- I feel like people have forgotten about Cronenberg’s run with Viggo