1) Adelina Poerio in "Don't Look Now" (1973) - if
you've seen the film you'll probably guess who it is (nothing to do with the
sex scene unless there's a longer cut version I'm unaware of!)... if you havent
seen the film I won't spoil it for you... and it's a film worth seeing (maybe
not right before a trip to Venice though...)
2) Mickey Rourke in "Body Heat" (1981) as Teddy
the arsonist... this is kind of cheating since Rourke went on to become famous,
but its a great debut... its a brilliantly written part, as a smart con with a
code of honour (Lawrence Kasdan's script is incredible) and Rourke's casting
makes it sing... you can see why everyone thought he was going to be a star...
3) Frederick Piper as the milkman in Hitchcock's version of
"The 39 Steps" (1935)... very clever writing... a model who to do the
comic thriller, perhaps the hardest genre of all to do well... Charles Bennett
did the bulk of the script (he's shamefully not credited in the play adaptation
of the film), though I'm not sure if he was responsible for that particular
scene... there is a scene like it in the original novel though not treated
comically).
4) Xander Berkley as Dr Lamar in "Gattaca"
(1998)... to go into too much detail would give away spoilers, so I'll just say
he has one of the most affecting lines (to me anyway) ever, "my son's not
all that they promised. But then, who know what he could do." (to get the
full impact you really have to see the whole film, which is worth it)
5) Estelle Reiner in "When Harry Met Sally"
(1989). You know the scene. You know the line. Magic. (An aside... it's a shame
Estelle Reiner never teamed up with Martin Scorsese's mother in a
film-director's-mothers-who-steal-scenes-in-their-son's-movies mega match.)
6) John McGiver as the clerk in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
(1961) - Mickey Rooney’s yellowface has tended to overshadow the excellence of
the support cast - Buddy Ebsen, Patricia Neal and McGiver ... who does wonders
in his one scene. An aside - is this the first Hollywood movie where two
prostitutes go off into the sunset together ?
7) Linda Rae Jurgens who plays Mrs Metcalf in “Top Gun”
(1986) - Tom Skeritt’s wife - she’s in the scene where Maverick, having his end
of act 2 crisis of confidence, comes to see Viper for a pep talk after Goose
has (spoilers but seriously?) died - he knocks on the door and Mrs Metcalf
answers it and he asks to see her husband and she says he’s out back and then
she lingers and asks how Maverick is and what he’s been up to and tells him to
come over for dinner sometime and Cruiser looks sort of awkward waiting for the
scene to end - and it’s so random - and I love i because it feels so obviously
like a bit part actor trying to drag out their bit with some impro(she clearly
doesn’t want to move out of shot ) but you can also see why they kept it in
because it does expand the world of the film eg life at Top Gun isn’t just
about flying comps and homoerotic volleyball games and singalongs it’s also
about families and going to have dinner at the homes of senior officers - and
her role raises all sorts of interesting questions (is this the life awaiting
Kelly McGills?, does she have a crush on Maverick ? Is it lonely for the women
of Top Gun with all the men playing endless games of volleyball and standing
around in locker rooms?). I wish I could find the clip - the actress is
lobbying on twitter for a role in the sequel and I say why not?
8) Joy Page in "Casablanca" (1942). You probably
don't remember the name - I had to google it - but if you've seen the film
you'll remember the scene. She's the Bulgarian refugee who asks Rick if she
should sleep with Major Strasser to get a visa. The scene is a marvel of
screenwriting to get around the censor. Maybe she's not the world's best actor
but she was effective. She got the gig because she was Jack Warner's step
daughter and didn't do much acting after that.
9) Michelle Joyner in
Cliffhanger (1993) - superb sequence and she’s amazing ... (I actually can’t
remember anything else in the film) ... and I can’t recall her in any other
movie ... but what a moment ...
10) Danielle Duclois who plays Denise, the daughter of
Robert de Niro in Midnight Run... possibly my favourite sequence/scene in a
great film. Wendy Phillips is outstanding as the wife too. Some of the reasons
why people love this film and moment - I love how director Martin Brest gives
the end of the scene to Duclois, and the storyline with Jack and his family
isn't resolve, and it does push the story forward.
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