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They usually play the villain, but not in....

posted 8 years ago by Maddyclassicfilms
10 replies | jump to latest

Over the years some actors excelled at playing villains and heavies on screen. Sometimes they took on a role that saw them playing the good guy for once. What are some of your favourite such role reversals?

I love the following.

Lee Van Cleef as the distraught brother avenging his sister in For a Few Dollars More.

Christopher Lee as the heroic occult expert in The Devil Rides Out.

Charles McGraw as the tough detective risking his life in The Narrow Margin.

Go to bed Frank or this is going to get ugly .

[–] JR-TV (102) 8 years ago

Boris Karloff in "The Walking Dead" (1936) plays a ex-con that was framed for murder and sent to the electric chair. He is sort of brought back to life and sort of takes revenge on the people who framed him. I consider Karloff the good guy in this movie because he was just a poor guy with a rough past trying to return to society and be a law-abiding person after being in prison until the bad guys come along and offer him a job but really only want to frame him for a murder they plan to commit.

[–] telegonus (736) 8 years ago

Lionel Atwill, while not rigidly typecast as a villain, was unusually benign in Son Of Frankenstein.

John Carradine was way out of character virtuous as the preacher, Casy, in The Grapes Of Wrath.

Erich Von Stroheim, so often the loathsome "Hun" in the silent era was thoughtful and empathetic in Sunset Blvd.

Both Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet walked the dark side of the street more often than not, in films anyway, and were rather charming in Mask Of Dimitrios.

Screen hard guy Neville Brand went soft as the tough but fair prison guard in Birdman Of Alcatraz.