The Under-rated Actors Hall of Fame
Note: This is a new feature of the Crack Pot Critic page. As I think
of more underrated actors, I'll put them up. I'm open for suggestions.
In the meantime, enjoy these underrated entertainers. Last update 4/17/97.
Albert Brooks hashes it out with his "mother" (Debbie
Reynolds) in the cereal aisle.
Although Johnny Carson once called him "funniest man alive," Albert
Brooks is still relatively unknown and certainly under-appreciated by the
vast majority of the movie going public. He started his career as a stand-up
comic, but graduated to directing, writing and acting in films. His great
Trilogy: Real Life (with Charles Grodin), Modern Romance and
Lost in America was critically well-received, but copies are hard
to come by in most video stores. He received a Best Supporting Actor Academy
Award nomination in 1986 for his role in Broadcast News and since
then the West Coast Woody Allen has gone on to act, direct and star in more
of his own movies. His latest film, Mother opened earlier this year
to charactistically good reviews and modest box-office. Unfortunately it
was snubbed by the Academy Awards, prompting one Albert Brooks Discussion
List wag to declare, "Show me the mommy!!!" So why hasn't the
world quite caught on to this low-key cinematic genius?
A few theories:
1) He has no ex-wife to publish a devastating tell-all book about him.
2) His name is too similar to that of James L. Brooks of The Simpsons fame.
3) Lives in a city whose only cultural advantage
is a right turn on a red light.
4) Has yet to open a movie with a Gershwin tune.
5) His brother, Super Dave Osborn, is the extrovert in the family.
If you do go to an Albert Brooks movie, you may have an experience similar
to Tom's (of the AB Discussion List)
"...We saw Real Life opening week at some theater in Memphis Tennessee.
I think there were 2 other people in the theater and one of them was a drunk
guy who kep shouting out things like "give 'em hell Albert" and
"you tell 'em Al!" ..."
Some sounds from Albert's guest appearance on the Simpsons as Mr. Scorpio,
Homer's new boss.
Moccasins.AIFF
Scorpio: Look at my feet. Like those moccasins? There's a pair just
like em in your closet upstairs. Don't like em? Then neither do I. Get the
hell outta here. Ever see a guy say goodbye to a shoe?
Homer: Heh, Heh, once.
Bumsrush.AIFF
Marge: This house is almost too good for us. I keep expecting to get the
Bum's rush.
Scorpio: We don't have bum's in this town Marge, and if we did they wouldn't
rush. They'd be allowed to go at their own pace. Well, if you'll excuse
me I'm right in the middle of a fun run!! See you at work tommorow, although
I don't really like to call it work.
Jeans.AIFF
Scorpio: They laughed at me when I wore jeans with a sportcoat. I was the
first wealthy man in America to do that. Now they all do it!!
trust.AIFF
Scorpio: Homer, I want you to close your eyes and fall backwards into my
arms. That's gonna show you what trust is all about. You ready?
Homer: O.K.
Scorpio: Three, two (phone rings) Hold on.
Homer: D'oh. (Sound of him hitting the floor)
Scorpio: Hello, yeah, Oh my God the guy's on the floor. Homer, that was
a phonecall, I don't want you to chalk that up to mistrust. What? How much?
Hold on I'll be right up. Homer, I have to go there's a problem, somebody
ate part of my lunch.
Want more?
Then click here to go to Another
Kooky Krazy Page and start appreciating Albert.
Charles Grodin: Underrated as an actor. Overrated as a talk
show host.
You might remember him as the dad in Beethoven, but Charles Grodin's dead
pan delivery and ascerbic wit have won him some terrific roles over the
years. I first discovered Charles Grodin as Goldie Hawn's long-suffering
husband in Seems Like Old Times. For years he showed up to verbally abuse
Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show with hilarious results. His high water
mark as a romantic leading man came as Miss Piggy's golddigger boyfriend
in The Great Muppet Caper. Other highlights include Midnight Run with
Robert Deniro, and the nasty CIA agent in Ishtar.
Grodin can currently be seen on his CNBC talkshow, usually ranting and
raving about O.J. Occasionally the old Chuck will shine through, such as
when he interviewed Don Rickles last year.
Irene Dunne keeps Cary in line
She sang, she danced, and she could make em laugh and cry. Irene Dunne had
it all. So why doesn't rank as one of the premiere goddesses of the Silver
Screen? An accident of history, I suppose. Dunne started out in Hollywood
as a dramatic actress. She got her first crack at screwball comedy and stardom
in Theodora Goes Wild which was so successful she was soon paired
up with Cary Grant in the screwball classic, The
Awful Truth and later My Favorite Wife.
She could be as breezy and sophisticated in her wit as Myrna Loy, a trait
which stuck her with a number of scripts Loy had already passed on. But
she persisted and eventually devloped her own comic style, in which she
used her wonderfully trained vocal dynamics to give each line a special
ZING. (Click here for examples from the Awful Truth and My Favorite Wife).
Her pairing with Cary Grant went especially well, with the two stars taking
turns playing straight-man to the other's antics. She also sang in Showboat
and jerked tears in I Remember Mama and Penny Seranade
(the latter flick also co-starred Cary Grant).
Click here to see some more photos on Tricia Richter's page and start appreciating
Irene.
Skippy in his star-making role as
Asta
Best known as Asta from the Thin Man movies, Skippy the wire-haired terrier
had quite a career as Hollywood's leading dog. To my mind he outranks Lassie
and Rin Tin Tin as the greatest canine actor of all time. Where most animal
actors tend to be pretty one-dimensional, Skippy was a regular Olivier,
playing fear, anger, duplicity, affection, loyalty and bravery with ease.
Working with Hollywood's great directors like Hawks and McCarey, he usually
stole the screen out from under the likes of William Powell, Myrna Loy,
Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, and Katharine Hepburn. Grant's repore with skippy
was so great that he picked a wire-haired terrier to be his pet, naming
him Archie Leach. Apart from Asta, he also played George, the perfect little
fiend in Bringing Up Baby and Mr. Smith the object of a custody battle
in the Awful Truth. More than just a novelty, Skippy frequently carried
the main plot action in his tenacious little jaws and did so with all the
grace and persona of a true Hollywood legend.
Hear skippy sing his famous duet with Cary Grant in the Awful Truth.
Back to The Crack Pot Critic Page