Cinema Revelry: Seeing the Good in the So-Called Bad

In the commentary “They’ve All Got Clunkers” (Jan. 9), Stephen Farber tells us that most famous actors have, as the sub-headline states, “at least one role that misses the mark--badly.”

Farber tries to make his point largely by ripping into Gene Hackman and the classic disaster film “The Poseidon Adventure.” Perhaps Farber’s strong dislike of disaster movies has kept him from remembering the finer points of “Poseidon,” which he considers “schlocky.”

In 1973, Hackman won the British equivalent of the Oscar for his performances in “The French Connection” and “The Poseidon Adventure.” Shelley Winters won a Golden Globe for best supporting actress and was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar. “Poseidon” was made combining the talents of 15 Academy Award winners and was nominated for eight Oscars, winning for best song, and receiving an honorary award for special effects. The film was made for $5 million and grossed more than $165 million worldwide.

Schlocky, Mr. Farber? You missed the mark--badly.

JAMES RADFORD

Los Angeles

*

Hackman’s Rev. Scott is a finger-pointing, shouting buffoon (keep in mind that he was also the original casting choice to be TV’s Mr. Brady). If Farber recalls Hackman’s “Poseidon” performance as having such merit, it would be almost entirely due to the special effects, exciting story and “dubious, hammy” supporting players. Those are the elements that spawned a genre . . . and a generation of devoted fans.

Actually, why fault today’s leading actors for wanting to do disaster films? They were gleefully raised on a steady diet of them! Success can still be measured by not only box-office receipts and award nominations, but also by the entertainment a film provides.

NELSON ASPEN

Los Angeles

*

Calling “The Boys From Brazil” “hopeless” is not only inaccurate but hyperbolic in the extreme. To charge that Laurence Olivier only took “high-paying parts in a series of stupefying stinkers” to provide “a nest egg for his family” is the grossest kind of speculation, unsupported by even a hint of attribution.

Not only did it provide Olivier with his final best actor Oscar nomination (and, incidentally, a lifetime achievement Oscar the same year), but the film, a faithful adaptation of Ira Levin’s popular novel, also received Oscar nominations for music score and editing.

JIM PINKSTON

Los Angeles

*

Farber overlooked the worst performance ever committed on film: Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur in the 1982 Rev. Moon/Unification Church production of “Inchon.”

Sporting mascara, shrimp orange makeup from Forest Lawn and what looked like shoe-polish-blacked hair, Olivier delivered all of his lines in an indecipherable British-Yiddish-Nebraska accent and shuffled through the film with an air that suggested he had already died and resigned himself to serving eternity in hell for this performance.

As to why he even accepted the assignment, someone who worked on the film told me that Sir Larry not only got the biggest salary of his career, but worked out a unique arrangement for payment: Rather than accept a single check for his fees, Olivier insisted one of Moon’s minions arrive by helicopter on location once a week, delivering his “paycheck” in the form of a briefcase stuffed with cash. Talk about motivation!

JOHN WILSON

Founder/Head RAZZberry,

the Golden Raspberry

Award Foundation, Artesia

*

Sometimes a great actor makes a stinker worthwhile. Robert Duvall turned the schlock movie “Deep Impact” into a memorable one with his sensitive portrayal of Spurgeon “Fish” Tanner. Only a true artist can turn lead into gold.

LEAH CHARITON

Santa Monica

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Farber thinks “The Towering Inferno” is “perhaps the dumbest movie ever to be nominated for a best picture Oscar.”

The dumbest movie ever nominated actually won: “Platoon.”

MICHAEL GONZALEZ

Santa Monica