He was always a force, both on screen and off. He exuded passion in everything he did. He could and did play many ethnic characters... it seemed he could pass for most anything. He was, however, Mexican and Irish, which accounts for all that passion.
Passion kept him working. Being Cecil B. DeMille's son-in-law for a few decades kept him visible. And having 12 children certainly gave some impetus to bringing in a paycheck. Luckily he didn't raise that brood all at once... it was stretched out over a number of years and with four women... but most of his life he was raising kids and the need to work was strong. There is little doubt that a great deal of his work was simply for the money.
I was a kid in the 50's and I saw all of the 20 films we're covering (he actually made 31 films in that decade) and they were great fun. I confess I saw many of them not so much because he was in them but because a slew of them were beloved adventure films which I caught on those double-bill Saturday afternoons. Let's get to it...
Viva Zapata (1952)
This is the film that provided Quinn with the break he'd been looking for for over 20 years. The biographical story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata had pedigree written all over it. It was scripted by John Steinbeck, directed by Elia Kazan, gorgeously photographed by Joe MacDonald and has Marlon Brando as the title star and Quinn as his brother and gorgeous Jean Peters as his wife. Quinn would win a supporting Oscar as the volcanic brother.
It seems odd after winning an Academy Award that Quinn would return to his colorful adventure films (although this little kid was glad he did). He spent nearly the entire decade as the second male lead. The next two took place on the high seas.
The World in His Arms (1952)
I've always remembered this film for its gorgeous Universal-International color and the exciting sailing sequences. It stars a favorite actor, Gregory Peck, and Ann Blyth who had turned into a raving beauty. She is a Russian countess who has run away from an arranged marriage and into the arms of an American sea captain who poaches seals in Russian waters.
Against All Flags (1952)
This seagoing romp focused on the pirates of Madagascar and stars Errol Flynn and Maureen O'Hara, both perfect casting. It has lots of bluster and was popular with the Saturday afternoon crowds. The fiery colleen was Quinn's costar in six movies.
City Beneath the Sea (1953)
Not as good as the similarly-themed The Deep (1977), this treasure-seeking opus is still fun escapist fare. Quinn and Robert Ryan are hardass partners who fuss and feud and get into more mayhem than one would find possible for an 87-minute film. Two beauties, Mala Powers and Suzan Ball, help make it steamy on land.
 |
| With sultry Suzan Ball |
Seminole (1953)
Quinn supported many Universal actors and here it is Rock Hudson although Quinn has the title role. They are childhood friends who become at odds in the Everglades when an evil army captain stirs up trouble. It certainly doesn't hold the appeal it did in 1953.
Ride, Vaquero (1953)
Here's a thinking man's western about two stepbrothers (Quinn and Robert Taylor) who come to blows over whether to allow settlers (Howard Keel and Ava Gardner) to move into their territory. The three actors take the film beyond escapist fare and Gardner always added fire to any film she was in.
East of Sumatra (1953)
An affair that started with Suzan Ball earlier in the year was raging hot as this silly South Seas epic got underway. Quinn supported hunky Jeff Chandler as a tin miner who attempts to open a new mine in forbidden territory. Absolutely silly.
Blowing Wild (1953)
My favorite of the bunch so far. Quinn and Barbara Stanwyck in an ill-matched marriage that goes even more wrong when Gary Cooper, an ex-flame of Stanwyck's and an old friend of Quinn's, comes back into their lives. It takes place in Mexico and concerns oil wildcatters. Poor Cooper with his low-key acting didn't stand a chance against his flamboyant costars.
 |
| Ruth Roman, Cooper, Stanwyck and Quinn |
La Strada (1954)
When Federico Fellini sought one's services, one dashed off to Italy posthaste. Quinn was summoned to star as a traveling entertainer who buys a young waif (Giuletta Masina, Mrs. Fellini) to help him in his shows and then mistreats her. It is a film revered by fans all over the world and would win the first Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. In any listing of Quinn's all-time best films, it would certainly appear.
Ulysses (1954)
Quinn elected to remain in Italy and join Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano and Rossana Podesta in filming Homer's classic about Ulysses' return to his home after fighting in a 10-year war. There were likely schoolchildren at the time who saw the film in lieu of having to read the novel. It was not wildly successful but certain groups held it near and dear. It was the first of three 50's films to costar Quinn and Douglas.
Attila (1954)
Still in Italy, the third time was not so charming. Quinn is thrilling as the leader of the Huns as they invade Rome but the film falls short. Actually cheesy is not too strong of a descriptive word. It is the film that costarred Quinn with Sophia Loren for the first of three times and the first of seven films for him with Irene Papas.
The Naked Street (1955)
Here was an opportunity for Quinn to appear in modern-day film for a change. Although it is listed as a film noir, it isn't a particularly good one. He plays a crime boss whose sister (Anne Bancroft) gets pregnant by a recently-jailed boyfriend (Farley Granger) and Quinn breaks him out so the pair can marry. The acting is far better than the pedestrian story.
Lust for Life (1956)
This is my favorite of Quinn's 1950's films and the one in which the actor won his second supporting Oscar for playing painter Paul Gauguin, the scrappy friend of Vincent Van Gogh. (It was only a 20-minute part and the Oscar should have gone to someone else. He's coming up soon.) Vincente Minnelli directed this beautifully filmed and gorgeously composed biography of the troubled artist, played by Kirk Douglas in the finest work he's ever done (and that's saying a mouthful). As a lover of biographies, this is one of the very best. Here's a link to a longer review.
 |
| Douglas and Quinn working to get it right |
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956)
This third version of Victor Hugo's classic story, because it's a French production, may be more faithful to that novel than the Lon Chaney or Charles Laughton versions. The focus here is more on the seductive gypsy Esmeralda rather than the tortured hunchback Quasimodo. That may explain why Gina Lollobrigida is top-billed over Quinn. All in all, it's a compelling work.
The River's Edge (1957)
Here's an entertaining B flick about a murderous bank robber on the run who forces a ranching couple to escort him across the desert to Mexico. Unknown to the husband is the fact that the wife used to be the crook's former girlfriend. An unusual twist here comes in reverse casting of the two leads... Quinn is the good guy while Ray Milland plays the thug. The wife is Debra Paget who didn't work nearly enough.
Wild Is the Wind (1957)
My second favorite of his 1950's films had Quinn as a Nevada rancher-widower who marries his Italian former sister-in-law (Anna Magnani) whom he has never met. When he ignores her she takes up with a ranch-hand (Tony Franciosa) with dramatic results. The acting is hot and so is everything else. Quinn and Magnani didn't get along so well and despite this, they would one day make another film together.
Hot Spell (1958)
A dowdy, somewhat delusional 50's housewife with three grown children and a brutish, cheating husband embarks on throwing him a birthday party which has all the markings of not going well. The film is known mainly as another of the few that Shirley Booth made that attracted much attention in the decade. Quinn shines as the mean husband and Shirley MacLaine and Earl Holliman are two of the offspring.
The Black Orchid (1958)
Quinn and Sophia Loren portray a widow and widower who come together in the hopes of making a relationship work while navigating rough waters with their children. Her son is in constant trouble with the law and his daughter doesn't want to share her father with another woman. It is perhaps a little too pat and simplistic for some but the two stars and Ina Balin as the daughter shine.
Warlock (1959)
Costarring with an impressive cast that includes Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda and Dorothy Malone, the western concerns a town that has brought two gunmen (Quinn and Fonda) in to rid the area of its bad element. The question then asked is who takes care of the gunmen when they become the bad element. A good western with a downplayed homoerotic touch surrounding Quinn's feelings for Fonda.
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
John Sturges, a great director in general and a favorite western director offers a tense outing that features Quinn as a cattle baron whose son has raped and killed the wife of a marshal (Kirk Douglas) who also happens to be an old friend of the father's. Both actors are at the top of their games and are well-suited to play adversaries.
Quinn's 50's films were a mixed bag but a quartet of superb films (and two Oscars) make his work from this decade memorable. No matter what kind of a film he made, irrespective of its financial success or critical acclaim, Quinn almost always hit a home run.
His work in later decades is equally outstanding. Consider The Guns of Navarone, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Lawrence of Arabia, Zorba the Greek, The Shoes of the Fisherman, The Secret of Santa Vittoria, A Dream of Kings, A Walk in the Spring Rain
and Only the Lonely.
Next posting:
A good 50's film
No comments:
Post a Comment