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| Kirk Douglas |
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| William Holden |
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| Burt Lancaster |
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| Robert Mitchum |
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| Gregory Peck |
Several of my favorite movie actors come from a generation
of leading men who got their start during the 1940’s. I’ve always grouped five
of them together in my mind: Kirk Douglas, William Holden, Burt Lancaster,
Robert Mitchum, and Gregory Peck. Of course there were many other excellent
actors from that same generation as well, like Robert Ryan, Glenn Ford, Richard
Widmark, Alan Ladd, and Dana Andrews. But Douglas, Holden, Lancaster, Mitchum,
and Peck have always been my favorite actors of that period. I watched a lot of
their movies during the late 1990’s, when I was in high school, and to me they
were sort of masculine ideals. I wanted to grow up to be as charming as William
Holden, as confident as Kirk Douglas, as dignified as Gregory Peck, as
insouciant as Robert Mitchum, and as graceful as Burt Lancaster.
Douglas, Holden, Lancaster, Mitchum and Peck were all part
of the same generation, born between 1913 and 1918. All of them burned brightly
on the silver screen, bringing us many memorable characters, from Elmer Gantry
to Atticus Finch. They were all unique actors, but one thing they had in common
was that they all shared the same star quality, the magnetism that truly makes
a movie star. And they were all supremely talented actors as well as movie
stars who made high-grossing films.
All of them bloomed very quickly as actors. William Holden
had appeared in just a few stage productions when he was picked to star in
“Golden Boy.” Burt Lancaster appeared in one off-Broadway show when he was
spotted by a talent scout and signed for his film debut in “The Killers.” Robert
Mitchum got his start in bit appearances in westerns and war films, making his
first movie in 1943, but within two years he was playing leading roles. Gregory
Peck made his first film in 1944, and was nominated for an Oscar just a year
later. Kirk Douglas made his film debut in 1946, and scored an Oscar nomination
for “Champion” in 1949.
Ironically enough it was William Holden, who perhaps made
the biggest splash with his first movie, “Golden Boy,” who then had the most
difficulty following it up with another hit. Holden had started in movies
earlier than all the others, making “Golden Boy” in 1939, and yet by January of
1950 the other four actors were all very successful while Holden’s career was
languishing. Holden, who was just 21 when he made “Golden Boy,” quickly found
himself typecast in boring juvenile roles. Holden said in a 1962 interview, “I
was always that damned boy next door. I went to college in ‘Those Were the
Days,’ grew up in ‘Our Town,’ was an air cadet in ‘I Wanted Wings.’ The name of
my character was Smilin’ Jim. I hated his guts.” (William Holden: A Pyramid Illustrated History of the Movies, by
Will Holtzman, 1976, p.54) Blessed with handsome All-American looks, Holden was
stuck with bland and boring parts in movies like “Apartment for Peggy” and
“Father is a Bachelor.” But thankfully, in 1950, along came Billy Wilder and
“Sunset Boulevard,” the part that firmly established Holden as a great actor.
Holden was finally able to play a character with some depth, and showed that he
was up to the challenge.
What made each of these actors special?
For Gregory Peck, it was his nobility, his inner goodness
that comes through so strongly in his most famous role, Atticus Finch in “To
Kill a Mockingbird.” Of course, Peck had the range to play villains as well,
and he did so memorably in “The Gunfighter” and “The Boys From Brazil.” But
moviegoers liked Peck the most when he played someone we could look up to.
Tall, dark, and handsome in the Cary Grant/Rock Hudson manner of leading men,
Peck actually had an early screen test rejected by one studio because his ears
were different sizes! (His right ear was smaller than his left. Or, if you
prefer, his left ear was larger than his right.) But female fans didn’t care
about Peck’s ears, especially when they were attached to such a finely chiseled
face.
Even though Robert Mitchum played mainly good guys
throughout his career, he was so electric when he played villains in “The Night
of the Hunter” and “Cape Fear” that those have become two of his most famous
performances. Mitchum brought a sexy, devil-may-care attitude to both his films
and his personal life, as he was famously busted for possession of marijuana in
1948. Mitchum was probably the least conventionally handsome of the five
actors, with his cleft chin, extremely sleepy eyes, and broken nose, but when
he was on screen you couldn’t look away from him. With a very distinctive walk
and voice, Mitchum was someone who made a big impression on the screen.
Kirk Douglas summed up his own career very well when he said
“I’ve made a career out of playing sons of bitches.” Douglas had a confidence
on screen that lent itself very well to playing arrogant, head-strong
characters. With a strong dimpled chin and the dynamic intensity of a coiled
spring, Douglas was the most intense performer of the five actors. Who else
could have played the tortured painter Vincent Van Gogh? But Douglas could also
keep it in check when he needed to, like his excellent turn in “Seven Days in
May,” opposite his frequent co-star Burt Lancaster. Douglas’s own favorite
among all of his movies was “Lonely Are the Brave,” in which he gives an
outstanding performance as a loner trying to do his own thing in the world.
Burt Lancaster was sheer grace, pure poetry in motion. The
director John Frankenheimer once said “Just Burt walking across a room was a
thing of beauty.” Lancaster’s charm, his charisma, and his athletic physique all
made him a magnetic actor. All of his gifts were showcased very well in “Elmer
Gantry,” which he deservedly won an Oscar for. I think Lancaster was the most
versatile of the five actors, as he constantly strove to play different parts
and resist any kind of typecasting. He had charm in spades, but he could turn
it off and be cold as ice water when the part demanded it-like playing unsympathetic
roles in “Sweet Smell of Success” and “Seven Days in May.” One of his best
performances is in “The Swimmer.” Lancaster was in his mid-50’s when the movie
was made, but he looks like a Greek statue come to life.
William Holden blended all-American handsomeness and charm
to become an immensely likeable performer. Like Lancaster, Holden was graceful
and athletic on the screen. I can still remember the insipid wording of a Premiere magazine article from 1996 or
so about the 100 Greatest Movie Stars, which said about Holden that he was
“neither dashing nor movie star handsome.” What?? Have you ever SEEN William
Holden? Watch “Sabrina” and “Picnic,” to name just two movies, and then tell me
he wasn’t dashing or handsome. Holden almost always played sympathetic
characters, and he was always likable, even when playing cynical characters.
These five actors were all extremely gifted men who became
great film actors, even if they entered the profession with little or no acting
experience. They all brought intelligence and dedication to their craft as
actors, and they left us with some of the greatest movie performances ever.
