Movie Villains

[K.D. Lightner]

Who are your favorite movie and TV villains, those guys --and gals --you just loved to hate?

Some made an entire career playing bad guys, others played a lot of heavies but could portray good guys, too.

A few of my favorites from years gone by were:

Jack Elam

Lyle Bettger (he was on TV a lot, getting punched out by a western hero)

Lee Van Cleef

Ernest Borgnine (who played good guys, too)

John Carradine (ditto)

Raymond Burr (remember Rear Window?)

Bruce Dern (could look absolutely psycho)

Dennis Hopper (ditto)

Lots of others, too! Who were your favorite screen villains?

karol

 

[CharlieH.]

Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson!

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I love Peter Lorre

Oh, yes, Peter Lorre. Kismet in My Favorite Brunette. I named my saluki Kismet because of that Peter Lorre villian.
James Mason in North by Northwest.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

Edward G. Robinson, see.

 

[Lady Day]

Curella DeVille (the animated version). LOVE her.

LD

 

[The Wolf]

Lionel Atwill, Charles Middleton and Conrad Veidt. (Some speelings might be wrong.:eusa_doh: )

Sincerely,
the Wolf

 

[Jack Scorpion]

The Birds.

 

[Flivver]

As a kid, one of my favorite TV shows was Desilu's "The Untouchables". I think I saw nearly every episode in prime time (I wonder if parents would allow an 8 year old to watch a violent show like that today?).

My favorite villain in the show was Bruce Gordon who played Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti. To this day, for me, Bruce Gordon *is* Frank Nitti. No one else even comes close. Immagine my surprise, recently, when I found out that Bruce Gordon came from Fitchburg MA...only 15 miles from where I grew up!

In 1980, when I was doing a summer internship at GM in Flint MI, I was living in a GMI fraternity house. One of my room-mates was from Chicago. As it turns out, his dad owned a 1973 Olds Ninety-Eight coupe formerly owned by Nitti's son, Frank Jr. So on a trip to Chicago, we visited Al Capone's grave in Frank Nitti's car! I got a real (if perverse) thrill out of that!

 

[Sweet Polly Purebred]

Baron Bomburst and the Child Catcher.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Edward Arnold -- a man born to foreclose on widows' mortgages.

 

[Senator Jack]

Posted by Thora Zine

Child Catcher.

I've always wondered how one goes about getting this job. What a great career!

Tura Satana as Varla in Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!

 

[Feraud]

Peter Falk - Crime Inc.

Joe Pesci - Goodfellas

Robert Mitchum - Cape Fear, Night of the Hunter

Richard Widmark - Street w/No Name, Kiss of Death

Nazis. Love to hate those guys in any WWII pic.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Speaking of Cruella, Glenn Close can play some pretty nasty characters.

I have seen Joan Collins in some older movies and she was pretty wicked, not to mention her most famous role on TV (Dynasty, of course).

Barbara Stanwyck has played some villainous characters, Lana Turner, also.

I am trying to wrack my brain and see if there are any women in the movies who, like their male counterparts, just appear onscreen and you know there's going to be trouble -- you can't trust them any further than you throw a piano. Anybody out there think of some bad, bad gals?

Other guys:

James Spader

Royal Dano (the guy you'd choose to head up the local lynch mob)


karol

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Oh, boy, how could I have missed Dan Duryea?

karol

 

[BegintheBeguine]

A bad, bad gal: Lizabeth Scott.

 

[Elaina]

Michael Ironside. I love this guy, and always have.

And The Kurgan.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Yes, Lizabeth Scott: I had forgotten about her.

I don't believe I ever saw a movie with Gloria Graham in it, she certainly looked like a film noir gal to me. Did she play baddies, or did she just look like one?

Some other women who could play baddies when called upon: Lauren Bacall, Anna Mae Wong, and, of course, Joan Crawford.

karol

 

[Feraud]

A bad, bad gal: Lizabeth Scott.

The voice alone told you she was up to no good.

 

[GeniusInTheLamp]

Clifton Webb: I've always liked the suave, cultured heavy, and Webb (in movies like LAURA and THE DARK CORNER) was always great in those roles.

Sydney Greenstreet: Another cultured heavy (in more than one sense of the word) who could play a mean battle of wits.

Kenneth MacDonald: A great smooth villain in those Three Stooges shorts (and in several B westerns) who also showed a fine talent for broad comedy.

As far as TV goes, I have to go with one of the most famous villains of the small screen: Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn) from WILD WILD WEST.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Wow, how could I have missed Jack Palance!?

Was there ever anyone more menacing looking than that character he played in Shane, gunning down that innocent, hotheaded farmer, played by Elisha Cooke Jr. (who I think specialized in playing victims)?

That man looked like a rattlesnake about to strike.

http://www.altfg.com/Stars/s/shane-jack-palance.jpg

karol