Here was this movie star handsome guy, and all he ever got to play was sadists. My theory is that some big movie studio exec got beat up when he was a kid, and the kid who beat him up looked like Ryan. So, when the exec needed to cast a violent villain, Ryan was the first guy he thought of. I don't imagine it took the producers of Billy Budd five minutes to decide who to cast as Master at Arms Claggart.
sharegood point! robert ryan was always uncomfortable with playing bigots and sadists, as he was so far removed from that type in real life. his trouble was he was so good at it.
apparently, he always wanted to do cary grant type roles, which he would have carried off pretty well but i can't help feeling he would have been wasted in them (no slight on cary grant intended!)
he always wanted to do cary grant type roles,
See him in a Cary Grant role in the Nicholas Ray camp-fest "Born To Be Bad," where he is sexy beyond all belief.... and constantly clinching with Joan Fontiane. "On Dangerous Ground" is also a Ray film, and Ryan's best overall performance, where he gets to be a sadist AND a lover, by the end of the film. He did his best work for Ray, and I heartily recommend you catch "Born To Be Bad," for the Grantish Ryan, too.
Here is a link to the trailer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ11fM3e9LY
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne
And, here is the first link of the Carol Burnett spoof of it called "Raised To Be Rotten" Hysterical.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzTvug5O2k0
Robert Ryan could play anyone/anything. He played a violent cop here, but his character becomes a person who starts to care deeply about another person (Ida Lupino's character).
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Ellery Queen(Jim Hutton) == G E O R G E O U S
Well, he did look quite outstandingly menacing with that cruel glimmer in his eyes...
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Just for laughs, I'd love to have seen Robert Ryan do a cameo in a Jerry Lewis movie where Lewis does something like throw a pie in Ryan's face.
Absurdity: A Statement or belief inconsistent with my opinion.
Robert Ryan, like hundreds of actors before and after him, got typecast. He was good at playing tough guys and sadists, when RKO (the studio that made this) were going through the Rolodex looking for a tough guy or sadist, he was probably near the top of the list. If they wanted a nice guy who could do a little light comedy and some nice dance moves, they called Fred Astaire. Moody, possibly dangerous guys who underneath were good guys struggling to make it in this world, Robert Mitchum.
Etc. etc.
Probably would have been the last pie that Lewis would ever throw.
shareRobert Ryan was typecast really I suppose. But roles like the one that he has here are interesting to watch. He is a sadist it is true. But there is hope for his character at the end. So the violent undercurrent in his nature is not sure to destroy him this time. Robert Ryan was so good at those tortured grimaces.
share' Master of the scowl '!
shareI wouldn't call him a sadist (not in this role). His violence was limited to the bad guys. He was a cop on the edge and couldn't see the point of what he was doing anymore. Then, he goes out in the country and meets Ida Lupino's character who I thought was positively radiant in this movie. The way that he conveys his feelings about her with just the expressions on his face is just mesmerizing. I wish modern American movies would rediscover this kind of subtlety. Then again, the Coen brothers wouldn't be so special.
I agree with whoever else said that he was super hot in Born to be Bad, which is my favorite role for him.😜
I think he was one of three underrated actors to never claim an Oscar, but who were highly regarded by all their peers. Robert Ryan, Glenn Ford and Richard Widmark. Ryan and Widmard were nominated but not Ford. All three played mostly lead actors at some point in their careers and later second/character actors. Ryan in particular was unique in the fact he had been a Marine Drill Instructor and was 6'4". I have never met a DI who was not tough.
shareRobert Ryan always comes across as kind of tortured, to me. He was interesting in everything he did.
I don't know who Brando's heroes were, but he may well have liked Ryan's work.