The rebel must accept the mission for the greater common good. The film exhibited the rebel/leader qualities in Marvin's character to the fullest and these qualities attracted moviegoers to him. Likewise, Marvin disdained the brass, which included the formidable presences of Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, George Kennedy, and Robert Webber. Marvin, again, was called upon to lead a powerful cast: John Cassavetes, Jim Brown, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, and Clint Walker among them. Marvin was a rebel officer assigned against his will to train and lead the crew that the army group psychiatrist (Ralph Meeker) warned him were "just about the most twisted, anti-social bunch of psychopathic deformities I have ever run into." Army stockade miscreants given a second lease on life and freedom if they volunteered to drop behind German lines before D-Day and wipe out a chateau full of German officers. Robert Aldrich, who had first worked with Marvin in Attack! (1956), directed this story of U.S. ![]() The Dirty Dozen (1967) was Marvin's biggest hit and most enduring favorite among fans. ![]() Marvin pulled off the role neatly, as his biographer put it: “without showing much muscle, relying on cerebral power via voice intonations, a threatening smile, and those dominating eyes.” In the midst of the rescue in The Professionals, he and his cohorts discover that Ralph Bellamy’s wife (Claudia Cardinale) is really in love with the revolutionary, and Marvin resolved, finally, to turn the tables on the husband. Richard Brooks wanted the now "hot" actor to lead Woody Strode, Burt Lancaster, and Robert Ryan in The Professionals (1966), which dealt with a group of men rescuing a millionaire's wife from a Mexican revolutionary (Jack Palance).Īs in The Killers (1964) and, next, The Dirty Dozen, Marvin played the moral superior to his boss(es). This meant both choosing the right roles for his talents and taking risks. Winning the Best Actor Oscar gave Marvin greater freedom to choose scripts, demand higher salaries, and, ultimately, take his career into his own hands. Although, having won the other awards should have alerted the public that his performance was not going unnoticed. Amazingly, he beat out Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, Rod Steiger, and Ship of Fools co-star Oskar Werner. Marvin won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actor award, Britain's Best Foreign Actor award, and to top it off, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actor Academy Award. The most commented upon shot, however, featured Shelleen, drunk again, asleep on a horse, both leaning against a wall. He stopped drinking and, in a scene reminiscent of a bullfighter's dressing, was outfitted for the shootout. Hired by Catherine Ballou (Jane Fonda) to protect her father, and later to avenge the father's death, he was whipped into shape for a confrontation with Strawn. Shelleen was a once famous gunslinger turned drunk. Marvin played the dual role of Kid Shelleen and his villainous half-brother, Tim Strawn (aka Silvernose). Yet, from 1965 to 1973, if he did not dominate the box office, Marvin commanded attention on and off screen, starring in many major films and receiving one of Hollywood's highest honors.Ĭat Ballou (1965) played facilely with the traditional western and inspired later comedy-westerns including Texas Across the River, Waterhole #3, and Support Your Local Sheriff. ![]() This sample of superstars had either ascended from stardom to superstardom or who were catapulted immediately into superstardom in the mid-sixties.Īnother to add to the list was Lee Marvin, almost without warning, because he had been around so long. Paul Newman, John Wayne, Barbra Streisand, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Dustin Hoffman, Clint Eastwood, Julie Andrews. In a world increasingly managed by public relations people, a star was anyone with a starring role the “Superstar” had to be created as a sort of star of stars. Starting in the late fifties, stars had to fend for themselves. Formerly, the stars had large studios – Paramount, MGM, RKO, Columbia, Universal, Fox, and Warner Brothers – to support them with a steady stream of solid film vehicles to display their stardom. With the studio system dead by the end of the Sixties, being a movie star could not guarantee an actor the best or most lucrative roles. The "superstar" phenomenon of the last forty years has not been restricted to the film world, but can be found in sports, politics, religion, and writing, when mere fame has not been enough to distinguish one star from another.
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