Villains?

[laughingrat]

Whenever we're discussing "Singin' in the Rain," I surprise my friends by admitting that I feel sorry for Lina Lamont. Yeah, she's awful, yeah, she's obnoxious, but she's so pathetic!

Ten years ago, if you'd told me I'd wind up feeling bad for such a spiteful character, I'd've thought you were talking nonsense. Are there any movie villains you feel unusual sympathy towards? Any villains you've changed your attitude towards, over time?

Comments

[klia]

I can't say I really felt sorry for Lina, but I was glad she turned out not to be the stereotypical dumb blonde, and loved the scene where she pulled out her contract and told R.F. what's what.

Over the years, I ended up feeling sorry for Alex in Notorious, even though he and his mother were poisoning Alicia. That poor guy never had a chance, under the thumb of an obsessive, controlling mother his whole life.

Interesting question, though, because I think it takes a really good actor to pull off a complex, nuanced villain, and, generally speaking, I think a lot of villains in classic films were pretty two-dimensional.

[themis]

generally speaking, I think a lot of villains in classic films were pretty two-dimensional.

This is so true, and I think it harms a lot of movies. If you don't have a good villain, then the conflict isn't convincing and the audience has trouble getting involved/invested in the plot. There are some actors who made villains work, because of their own personal charm - Claude Rains, George Sanders - or other quality - Erich von Stroheim? Or even sex appeal (Sessue Hayakwa). Anyway, some force of personality which elevates the two-dimensional villain role, and hopefully the rest of the film.

But it certainly isn't always there on the page.

[klia]

Sanders was an excellent heavy because he was so smarmy, like in Rebecca. Rains was just flat-out amazing, playing every kind of role under the sun from Alex Sebastian to Dr. Jaquith in Now, Voyager.

Robert Montgomery (geez, I just read that he was Elizabeth's father! How did I never hear that before today???) was an amazingly good psychopath in both Night Must Fall and Rage in Heaven, especially considering he did mostly lighter romantic roles (I just saw 3 or 4 movies he did with Norma Shearer last weekend :D).

I adored Bogie was because I thought he was so versatile. I saw him first in the movies he did with Bacall, and stuff like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, so seeing him in The Petrified Forest was eye-opening. Same with Cagney -- even though The Public Enemy was one of his earlier films, I didn't see it until after years of seeing Yankee Doodle Dandy.

[themis]

Rage in Heaven is such a guilty pleasure for me! But he is a good villain in that - not one I sympathize with, though, he's an asshole - which is especially odd because allegedly he wasn't bothering to act, and also the "hero" is . . . George Sanders. Movies are funny!

[klia]

I don't have guilty pleasures -- I totally own that I sometimes like moves that aren't stellar. ;)

Yeah, it was bizarre to have Sanders as the hero and Montgomery as the psycho -- very topsy-turvy -- but that's one reason I liked it. Same with Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven -- very disconcerting! You'd expect Bette Davis or Joan Crawford in a role like that, but not Tierney.

[themis]

Lina is my favorite thing about Singin' in the Rain, probably because Jean Hagen is so funny.

Alex from Notorious, as the person above me said, is also a great example of a villain I sympathize with. Even though he's a Nazi! Blame my fondness for Claude Rains, I guess? Because I pretty much take Claude Rains' side in any movie.