![]() Mitchum fits the descriptions of Parker that lean towards big, blocky, shaggy. (Or getting himself arrested–never had much use for authority.) Most of the time he’s hiding beneath a ceremonial mask of skin. But most of the time, he just doesn’t give a damn. He’ll put in the work, reveal himself, if he thinks the role is worth it. Mitchum underplays almost everything, because he doesn’t need to try that hard to draw us in. When you’ve got that kind of personal magnetism, doesn’t make sense to exert yourself. Not anything hardboiled.īut he never needed to play the toughest man in town. And who ever believed Gregory Peck could take him? In a courtroom scene, sure. The Mitchum we want is the Cape Fear Mitchum–early 60’s vintage. With Mitchum, I don’t feel like he could have played Parker until he was well into his forties. With Ryan, I’d like to somehow transport the younger man forward in time a bit. Height: 6’1 Eyes: dark blue (I think), heavy-lidded. Only trouble with him is that he’s too damn good-looking. Next up is another Robert–the guy you’d want to see in almost any hardboiled role in crime fiction. But I’d like him even better in something by David Goodis or Peter Rabe. He’d have been brilliant in those stories where Parker is on a rampage, all his buttons pushed. Much as I think Ryan could restrain himself as needed, his work in crime movies leans more towards the histrionic side (partly because that’s what the movies of his era called for). My reservation is the one I have for all truly great actors–with Parker, you have to know when not to act. So if you could figure out how to do a series of Parker movies in the 1950’s, he’d be hard to beat. More of an ensemble player, but he had the charisma of a star–and people knew him the moment he walked onscreen. He could project murderous intensity, and he could be sexy, without being conventionally handsome. As a younger man, he was in splendid physical shape, knew how to box, could move like lightning. More than tall enough for Parker, built towards the lean and ropy side. If he ever gave a bad performance, I haven’t seen it. His last role was Larry Slade, in John Frankenheimer’s boiled down adaptation of The Iceman Cometh. The year The Hunter came out, he played John Claggart in Ustinov’s Billy Budd. He could play the hell out of just about anything. He could play cowards, pedants, bullies and blusterers. He often played characters who were on the verge of losing control, fighting a losing war of self-containment.īut he could play calm well-balanced men as well, as he did in The Wild Bunch. He could be almost impossibly cool–but you could still feel the rage seething beneath, barely held in check. But he was never the kind of actor who put on airs–who was afraid to underplay, when that’s what the role called for. Not much doubt he was the best actor on this list of mine. In the history of noir on film, there is no grander name to conjure with. But I don’t feel like any list of actors who might have had the potential to play this role is complete without him. ![]() ![]() By the mid-60’s, when Hollywood began to pay attention to Parker, Robert Ryan was pushing sixty hard. (The rest, being deceased, are all the same age.) I’m going to consider them roughly in order of generation. ![]() It’s all moot, but does that make for any less enjoyable an exercise? These days, I’m grateful for distractions, triter the better, so let’s survey the competitors, the youngest of whom is eighty-four. Or to actors who, though much appreciated in supporting roles, often villainous ones, never quite made it as leading men, and thus would never have been considered in the first place, unless it was some lowly B picture from Poverty Row (which might have been the best option). To actors perhaps too iconic and sought-after to play him by the time it became an option. To that end, I find myself casting an eye backwards in time–to actors born a mite too soon to play Parker (but may have had some influence on his creation). So what are we doing here? I won’t speak for you, but I’m trying to convince myself it’s even theoretically possible to cast an actor who is spot-on right for this role. By the time it happens, if it happens, almost anyone we might think of who is the right age now could be out of the running. To be honest, I don’t believe there are going to be any more attempts to adapt any of the Parker novels for a long time to come.
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