Joseph Cotten - Unsung Movie Great

[scotrace]

It's funny how different actors affect us in different ways. And some actors don't affect us at all. For me J Cotten falls in this last category, he could have been there or he could not have been there and I would have never known. I don't mean he was a bad actor or anything, it's just than he never left a big impression on me. [huh]

Perhaps that is why he is the hero for we fellows who tend to be in the background, unnoticed.

 

[Miss Brill]

Another story - I believe I have it correct, if not please let me know - is how he took on Hedda Hopper. She had printed in her column that he was having an affair with a co-star. He denied it; said he was very devoted to his wife and would Hedda please quit printing such lies. She didn't, and the next time he saw her at some Hollywood gathering, he went right up to her and kicked her in the behind! It took a lot of guts to do that - at that time, Hedda, as well as Louella, could make or break a career. Given the type of stuff they frequently wrote about the stars, I'm sure Joseph Cotten was cheered by many a Hollywood actor for doing that - he was the only one with guts to do it!

Didn't he actually have an affair at some point & when his wife found out she tried to kill herself?

 

[FATS88]

HE WAS SO SMOOTH!!

Amazing!
I believed I was the only one of my generation (Babyboomers Class B)
That recognized how well he practiced his craft.
If I had chosen to be an actor, Joseph Cotton would be at the
very top of a short list of tutor/mentors, along with Jessica Tandy and Brock Peters,
that I would have hoped to study under.


Cheers
Thanks for reaffirming my great tastes!
Fats


PS
"Portrait Of Jennie"
is my favorite, of course I liked him in everything,
but especially his frequent appearances
in the television serials of the 1970's

 

[Bugsy]

Hey all,

I finally got around to watching Tora Tora Tora this evening. I know, I know, 35 years late, but I'm getting around to all of them as fast as I can. Great flick of course. Anyway, I'm watching the opening credits and ol' Joseph Cotten's name pops up and suddenly there he is playing Stimson. Coincidental to say the least because I have recently become very aware and intrigued by Cotten's discrete but important place in movie history.

When people talk of the Golden Era actors, you always hear of Wayne, Grant, Gable, Bogart, Stewart, Cagney, and Flynn. However, I recently came to the conclusion that Cotten, either wittingly or unwittingly, placed himself in a filmography that is not only prestigious, but in films that will forever be viewed and studied not only as classics, but filmmaking landmarks. He truly is the unsung hero of cinema. Here's just a sampling of his appearances off the top of my head - most of them of HIGH quality and very different from the norms of their times, ALL of them thought-provoking.

Citizen Kane
The Magnificent Ambersons
Shadow of a Doubt
Duel In the Sun
Gaslight
The Third Man
Niagara - (the only film where Marilyn Monroe wasn't a ditz)
Touch of Evil
Tora Tora Tora
Soylent Green

Cotten is like the Johnny Depp of his period. A penchant for working with a signature director (Cotten to Welles, Depp to Burton) and picking projects that aren't always mainstream or even necessarily marketable, but that provide opportunities for great performances in interesting roles.

The man, the myth, the legend, and in my personal Hall of Fame - COTTEN:

I always liked Joseph Cotton. He was always so glib and suave, but don't forget the evil turn he does in "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte.

 

[Tibor]

Absolutely agree. Joseph Cotton doesn't get the attention he deserves. That deep voice, slight curl smile, someone I find I can't turn off if his face pops up on the tube.

The Third Man and Gaslight are unforgettable. I don't much care for Under Capricorn, but he's great as always.

 

[Tibor]

Another interesting little picture that I almost forgot is "Portrait of Jennie" from 1948 with Jennifer Jones. Cotton does an excellent job making this a memorable little diversion with a bit of mystery blended in.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

Joseph Cotten, like William Holden, has a timeless, undated quality to his acting and watching him work is a constant, unfolding joy.