Tony Randall played Jerry Flagg to a tee.
The character of Jerry Flagg and all the characters he portrayed in 'The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao' are probably some of the most interesting that Mr. Randall ever played.
"I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than..a rude remark or a vulgar action" Blanche DuBois
He played an excellent portrayal of a commissioned salesman who figured big money would always come his way and bet his life on the come.
shareMartin Ritt got strong performances from everyone. Particularly Tony Randall in a non-comedy performance. really compelling. A thoroughly crushed dreamer.
shareRandall's Jerry Flagg reminded me a great deal of Jack Lemmon's amazing 1992 performance in "Glengarry Glen Ross" as Shelley Levene. The roles of Jerry Flagg and Shelley Levene were almost mirrored images.
You have to wonder if David Mamet used John McPartland's Jerry Flagg as a template to shape Shelley Levene. Many of Mamet's plays are influenced by Fifties era authors like John Cheever, Richard Yates and McPartland who wrote about the illusion of the American dream.
good call
shareHis character is the best. He's chasing his dream, but bound by responsibility. That idea he had could work with the right connections. It reminds me of a commercial that used businesses started in basements and garages, as a plug for cars. But Flagg couldn't devote 24/7 because of his family or his need to be rich quick. Had he been single, or waited for a family, he may have made his dream come true. Another difference I see is that he had so many ideas, unlike the game changers who made it. They focused on one dream to fruition.
If we can save humanity, we become the caretakers of the world
I almost turned this movie off when I saw Tony Randall's name in the title, along with the bouncy, throwaway theme music. I thought it would be one of his typical goofball performances, ala "The Yum Yum Tree."
Glad I stuck with it. He CRUSHES this part, and along with the young Joanne Woodward, owns this movie. As the deluded alcoholic used car salesman, Jerry Flagg, always dreaming of the sudden big score, he rolls hard into Jack Lemmon territory (see days of Wine and Roses, Glengarry Glen Ross).
This is the only film I can remember that takes a hard look at the flip side of the American Dream, 50's Southern California version. It shows the deep anxiety and pressure our parents and grandparents were under, strapped to a mortgage and payments for all of the accoutrements of "the good life."
This film is a time capsule of those heady days in a full employment economy, and could be viewed with interest in a course dealing with post WW2 American history/sociology. Even though it it somewhat soap operatic, it is an honest and worthy effort, with great performances by all of the cast.
___You have to remember this was around the time Randall was in top form as a comedian in films like Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter. So, in this film he shows how versatile he could be, and yet only a few years later he is down to playing supporting roles in Doris Day and Marilyn Monroe movies. Speaking of MM, in this film we have Randall's wife played by Sheree North as a very drab character. It's hard to see what FOX saw in her when they dyed her hair blonde and tried to threaten MM with her as replacement only a couple of years prior to this. No way! Of course, then they tried Jayne Mansfield, also with minor success.
shareHe played a drunk salesman later " The Hangover" ( Hadley Purvis) in a Hitchcock TV show. He's great as a drunk-- very convincing.
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