![]() Emperor called for something else: a distillation of Lee Marvin individualism, that is, a character played viscerally.Ĭritics missed the point, for instance, when they viewed the film as contrived and pointless and which "glorified the bum and the freeloader." Marvin injected an air of nobility into a man who had nothing left but his own sense of self, nothing left but to be the king of the "bos." It was neither a pretty nor an arty film, yet Emperor contained interesting characterizations, great action sequences, and much humor (especially in the relationship between Marvin and Keith Carradine). For Point Blank (1967) and Liberty Valance (1962), his screen image he utilized to great effect. For films like Eight Iron Men (1952) and Hell in the Pacific (1968), Marvin called on his personal war experiences to draw himself into the roles. Marvin played A#1, king of the train-riding hobos who squared off with Shack (Ernest Borgnine), the brutish train conductor. Not coincidentally, Emperor of the North (1973) and The Iceman Cometh (1973) were helmed by two strong directors: Robert Aldrich and John Frankenheimer respectively.Įmperor of the North was a gutsy look at hobos riding the rails in the Northwest United States during the Great Depression. Yet, in 1973, he found himself in two films which could be said to represent his personal heights as an actor. His box-office appeal had faltered after Paint Your Wagon (1969) and a trio of borderline films – Monte Walsh (1970), Pocket Money (1972), and Prime Cut (1972) Marvin's good performances could not overcome weak story lines. But there are a handful that contained some of best characterizations and performances. A few that I did, more from curiosity, proved to be painful. One of my favorite actors, I found it difficult if not impossible to watch many of his later films. ![]() It is difficult to comment on the last fifteen years of Lee Marvin's career.
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