It amuses me how differently things are ranked here from my Ten Favorite Alan Ladd Movies list and my Ten Favorite Alan Ladd Westerns list. In fact, there are three characters on here whose stories don't appear on either of those lists! So interesting how I can love a character more than the movie they're in, or a movie more than the characters in it.
1. Shane in Shane (1953)
Shane has so much dignity, grace, courage, integrity... it's no wonder that this performance is the one Ladd is remembered best for. His past and future are mysteries, but we can tell he's haunted by his past, which clearly involved being a gunman.
2. Luke "Whispering" Smith in Whispering Smith (1948)
Luke Smith is a railroad detective, basically. He's another upright, brave, uncompromising guy who puts others above himself and stands up for what's right even if it means great personal sacrifice. It was watching Whispering Smith and Shane back-to-back that made me fall for Ladd in the first place :-)
3. Dan Holliday in Box 13 (1948-49)(radio show)
Holliday is a former newspaper reporter who decides to try writing fiction. To get ideas for his stories, he puts an ad in the paper that says he's seeking adventure and will go anywhere and tackle any problem. This leads to a whole lot of mysteries to solve, crimes to investigate, people to rescue, and other sundry adventures. I've actually been a fan of this radio show longer than I've been a Ladd devotee!
4. Choya in Branded (1950)
Choya is a drifting loner with a streak of decency. Even when he's mixed up in something illegal, he ends up doing the right thing to help and protect others. And standing up for others helps him realign his own moral compass in the process.
5. John Chandler in The Proud Rebel (1958)
Chandler is a kind, loving father who would do anything to help his young son be able to speak again. He's a former Confederate soldier who lost everything but his son during the war, and his attempts to build a new life for them both are heart-melting.
6. Captain Webster "Web" Carey in Captain Carey, USA (1949)
Web Carey is a brave and honorable guy who believes he was betrayed by the woman he loved back when he was a spy during WWII. When he discovers that everything he believed about that betrayal may have been a lie, he'll do whatever it takes to learn the truth. Even if that might break his own heart all over again.
7. Thomas O'Rourke in Saskatchewan (1954)
O'Rourke was raised by Canadian Indians, but is now a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He tries everything to keep peace between native tribes and white settlers, putting his own safety and reputation on the line repeatedly.
8. Dr. Merek Vance in And Now Tomorrow (1944)
Merek Vance is one of the characters Ladd played the most earlier in his career -- a cold, calculating man who is not interested in kindness or friendship or love... until he meets a girl who brings out the good parts of himself he's kept hidden inside. In this case, he's actually a good guy, a philanthropic doctor who spends most of his time treating poor people who can't afford his treatments. He just is more interested in science than his patients... until now...
9. Major Larry Briggs in Saigon (1947)
Briggs and his two pals, all ex-GIs, are only really interested in making money. He definitely doesn't like or trust women, as you can see from the picture above. He and his buddies are loyal to each other, but don't care much about anyone else until...
10. Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (1949)
Poor Jay Gatsby. Hopeful, yearning, always reaching for what he can't have, never ready to give up on his great dream. Betrayed, hurt, wistful... Gatsby is pretty much tailor-made for Alan Ladd to play.
This has been a really fun list to come up with, and I may have to do similar gatherings of favorite roles for other actors and actresses I love! It's rather different from just "favorite films," and I like that.
Happy anniversary! To be honest, I am only familiar with Alan Ladd in westerns. Interesting read no doubt. Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chrisk :-) As you can see from this list, I am pretty partial to his westerns myself!
DeleteI do love how characters can totally be separate from their movies. Great list! Happy Alaniversary!!
ReplyDeleteDKoren, it really does happen that way! I'm starting to eye my other favorite folks and wonder how such lists would turn out...
DeleteThanks :-D
Oh dear, I visited your blog too late, and now I'm a bit late to wish happy Alaniversary! However, I'd like to use this opportunity to thank you for all your Alan Ladd posts – it was SO GREAT to discover your blog and find out that I'm not alone as an admirer of Alan Ladd. Your blog, your reviews (so spot on) and the discussions mean a lot to me – and FYI, I actually got a DVD with the 1949 version of "The Great Gatsby", and since I'll be hosting a book club reading of the novel, I'm going to watch it tonight!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, it's never to late to celebrate Alan Ladd, right? :-)
DeleteI am so SO SO SO excited that you got to see The Great Gatsby at last! What did you think of it?!?
Ahem (blushing with embarrassment...), I am known for my tardiness and procrastination, but several months is a record even for me... I watched the Ladd version twice and later on the diCaprio version (and I have a faint memory of boredom watching the Redford version). My verdict: I like the 1949 version best. It's not perfect (well, what is...), but Alan Ladd is by far the best Gatsby – the shyness, the incurable romantic in spite of the mob connections, the wish to "recreate the past", the deep sadness in the midst of mostly very shallow people – and you also really pity the wonderful Howard da Silva as Wilson. I don't quite like (*SPOILER ALERT*) that Nick and Jordan seem to become a couple, but then, that's rather a minor quibble. Can't really remember much about the Redford version (enough said...) and I can't stand the party scenes in the Luhrmann version. So thumbs up for Ladd – he's my Gatsby.
DeleteDid you get my comment? Sometimes I see it right away and sometimes I don't – bit baffling.
DeleteAndrea, the reason your comments don't show up instantly on older posts is because I have my comments set so that anything posted on any post that is older than 7 days has to get approved by me first before it shows up. This keeps my blog from getting cluttered up with spam comments -- I simply delete those instead of approving them. But it means that, any time you comment on a post of mine that is older than one week, I have to approve it first before it is shared here. So, if I happen to see the comment come through shortly after it is left, it gets approved pretty quickly. If it's a few hours before I check my email next, it takes a while.
DeleteAnyway! Yes, I love Ladd's performance as Gatsby. I probably mentioned in my review that Ladd's own life story has a lot of similarities to Jay Gatsby's, with the poor midwestern childhood, sudden success that he may not have felt he deserved, and so on. Maybe that just makes ME see his performance as more poignant, or maybe it really does enhance his acting in the role -- or maybe both?
And I LOVE Howard da Silva as Wilson. My goodness, such heartache!
Nick and Jordan do end up together in this version, but since Jordan is much nicer than in the book, I don't really mind.
I haven't watched all of the Redford version because I honestly couldn't stop chuckling in every scene with Bruce Dern in it, as I'm so used to him being villains in westerns and so on, and... it was pretty tough to take him seriously as Buchanan.
But I like most aspects of the DiCaprio version, aside from the drug-fueled party, which was just unneeded and weird.
Is it bad I have never seen him in a movie.. thanks for this guide to the man himself.
ReplyDeleteGill, I wouldn't say it's bad. A little sad, maybe, but not bad ;-)
DeleteGoing to have to save this list! I have a link for Whispering Smith bookmarked on my ipad. I listened to an episode of Box 13 last year on an old radio show podcast and really enjoyed it. Then a couple weeks ago I decided to see if there were more on my podcast app and there were!! Definitely looking forward to listening to them.
ReplyDeletePhyl, oooh, that's fun! I think all of Box 13 is available on YouTube too. I really love old radio shows, and that one has such a unique premise :-)
DeleteI hope you like Whispering Smith, too!