In Baby Doll, 1956
You want to talk about actors with no vanity? This guy is where you start.
Vanity, of course, is not the same thing as family and/or ethnic pride. Whenever he was in a film, Malden would push for his own family name, Sekulovich, to be somehow included in is. See, for instance, Fred Gwynne's character in On The Waterfront. I always liked that about the guy.
Was Malden great in everything? No. In fact, there are quite a few who will argue that he's too broad in Waterfront.
But Lord knows he was pretty great in enough, no?
Any man who dies at the ripe old age of 97—there's not much you can say besides "God bless him." In the case of Mr. Malden, it would be fitting to say "God bless him" one or two times over.
Happy to see you cited Baby Doll - Malden IS great in that somewhat neglected classic! The dynamic between him, Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach is somehow electric, scary and hilarious all at the same time.
Posted by: Brad W | July 01, 2009 at 10:08 PM
One of my favorite performances ever is Malden in On the Waterfront. As much as I love Brando in that movie, the real "moment" for me is when Malden's priest is at Tommy's side in the end, shouting, "You gotta get up! Tommy, you gotta get UP!" Man, I get so swell with that old Catholic pride.
Posted by: Dan Coyle | July 02, 2009 at 12:32 AM
Baby Doll was the turning point for me with Malden. Though I had thought he was excellent in Streetcar and Baby Doll (and Streets of San Francisco), nothing quite prepared me for Archie Lee.
He's also great in Pollyanna, of all things, and of course One Eyed Jacks.
Posted by: jbryant | July 02, 2009 at 05:08 AM
He IS great in Pollyanna, you're right jbryant.
RIP. All that, and a marriage that lasted 70 years. God bless him (and his wife and family) indeed.
Posted by: Campaspe | July 02, 2009 at 09:16 AM
My second mention of Baby Doll above should've been edited out. Then the sentence might've made sense.
Posted by: jbryant | July 03, 2009 at 03:37 PM