MovieChat Forums > The Untouchables (1987) Discussion > Connery's Great Lines..Courtesy of David...

Connery's Great Lines..Courtesy of David Mamet

posted 2 years ago by ecarle (14979)
7 replies | jump to latest

Sean Connery got his only Oscar nomination -- and won his only Oscar -- in the Best Supporting Actor category for The Untouchables.

In some ways, that was ridiculous: Connery was the biggest star name in the movie at the time -- even bigger than DeNiro for bankability.

But it was, indeed, a "supporting" performance, as Connery came in to mentor both Elliott Ness(a new, wet behind the ears federal cop) AND the man who played him (Kevin Costner, as a new wet behind the ears movie star.) Connery had recently played a father figure to Christian Slater in The Name of the Rose, but The Untouchables "re-launched him" as a father figure to a whole roster of young male stars: Costner, Mark Harmon, Harrison Ford(James Bond as Indy Jones' father!) , Nicholas Cage...Wesley Snipes.

Oscar winner Jack Palance said that "the character wins the Oscar, not the performance," and Jimmy Malone gave Connery probably his best character outside of Bond -- and certainly with more heart, vulnerability and...mortality..than Bond. It was a great role for a great movie star actor.

I say that the "secret weapon" to Connery's performance was all those great lines that David Mamet wrote for Malone...all delivered in Connery's signature Scottish brogue even though he was playing Irish:

"You've just learned the first rule of law enforcement: always leave your shift at the end of the day alive."

"Here endeth the lesson."

"If you open the ball on these people, Mr. Ness, you'd better be prepared to go all the way.They bring a knife, you bring a gun...they put one of yours in the hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue..that's the Chicago Way!"

"Do you know what a blood oath is? Good, because you just made one."

"God hates a coward."

"This town stinks more than a whorehouse at low tide."

"You want to avoid getting a bad apple from the barrel...go to the tree."

"Carry a badge? Then...carry a GUN."

"How do you think he feels now? Better...or worse?" (After just beating a mobster up.)

"Aw, hell...you're gonna die of something" (My favorite line, right before the team decides to ride against the mob , on horseback.)

"Isn't that just like a wop? Bringing a knife to a gunfight!"

"What are you prepared to DO?"

--

Those lines are from memory -- I probably got some of them wrong. I also probably forgot some good ones.

But I sure feel good when I remember hearing Connery say them.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7702) 2 years ago

Personally, I like Sean Connery but I don't consider him an Oscar worthy actor. Let's face it. He's mainly known for being in the kinds of films the Academy snubs. Adventure/Action. Occasionally, those kinds of films get Oscar attention. The best examples of that were both the original Star Wars film and the original Indiana Jones film which were nominated for best picture at the Oscars. But of course they didn't win. Sean Connery's film the Man who would be King was probably the closest thing to an Oscar worthy film yet the most major thing it got nominated for that year at the Oscars was best adapted Screenplay. But generally speaking, it's usually dramas not Adventure and action films that get the major awards so of course he was never nominated because those are the kinds of films he usually does.

Hell, even The Untouchables which he won for got no nominations for best screenplay, best picture, or best director. Instead the Untouchables was nominated for Best Art Decoration-Set Decoration, Best Costume design, and Best Musical Score. I guess he's lucky to have won an Oscar for it. Personally though I'd have given the Oscar to either Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom or Morgan Freeman in Street Smart. But he wouldn't do a Drama film til Finding Forrester in the year 2000. The only straight up drama film he ever did.

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

Personally, I like Sean Connery but I don't consider him an Oscar worthy actor. Let's face it. He's mainly known for being in the kinds of films the Academy snubs. Adventure/Action.

---

Well, he was the first movie James Bond and that's as "action" as movies get, for sure. But when Connery left Bond, he proved to have what it takes not only to be a major movie star(his face, his size, his voice)...but the ability to act in "serious roles" -- which he took quite a few of: Hitchcock's Marnie, The Hill, The Molly McGuires, The Offence. And certainly The Man Who Would Be King. And also his aged, tragic take on Robin Hood in Robin and Marian(with Audrey Hepburn returning to the screen after a 9-year absence.)

Note that many of the other James Bonds never made it as stand alone movie stars: George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton. Pierce Brosnan DID make it, but not to Connery's level. Daniel Craig is a special case. He didn't do well outside of Bond until he got that "Knives Out" franchise and now he's a legitimate star.

As to other action stars and Oscar, a mixed bag. Sly Stallone got a Best Actor nom for "Rocky" but proceeded to make big money in big action and was never considered again. Arnold never had a chance for Oscar. Mel Gibson DID(Braveheart) but he had done serious films(The Year of Living Dangerously) BEFORE doing action(Lethal Weapon.)

CONT

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

Adventure/Action. Occasionally, those kinds of films get Oscar attention. The best examples of that were both the original Star Wars film and the original Indiana Jones film which were nominated for best picture at the Oscars. But of course they didn't win.

--

Yep, the Academy will NOMINATE action movies but they generally don't win. As I type this it is Oscar weekend and Top Gun 2 and Avatar 2 -- huge grossers -- are nominated but will likely only win in technical categories, and perhaps those two will take wins from each other.

I was trying to think of other examples of action movies getting Best Picture nods OTHER than Star Wars the first Indy(Raiders.) Only The Towering Inferno and Jaws come to mind. Close Encounters did NOT get a Best Picture nom. Famously The Dark Knight did not.

CONT

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

Sean Connery's film the Man who would be King was probably the closest thing to an Oscar worthy film yet the most major thing it got nominated for that year at the Oscars was best adapted Screenplay.

--

Oh, I think some of those serious movies I listed above were "Oscar worthy" -- like The Hill and The Offence -- but they weren't hits and had no "buzz" or support for nominations. The Man Who Would Be King is a fine John Huston film, but I think actually Michael Caine has the better role and gives the better performance than his co-star Connery.

---

But generally speaking, it's usually dramas not Adventure and action films that get the major awards so of course he was never nominated because those are the kinds of films he usually does.

---

That's right , and I'd say that's exactly WHY The Untouchables did the trick for him. Its a pop action movie at heart, but the character IS great (SPOILERS: and tragic , and sacrificial) and he DOES have a lot of great lines to read.

SPOILERS:

Think about it: Connery's strapping but aging Jimmy Malone is still a beat cop because he's too honest. To join up with Ness, he not only must take on Capone's gang but must "betray" the crooked Chicago cops all around him. In the end, he sacrifices everything(beating up his cop boss and threatening to kill him for information) and, likely in his heart, KNOWS he will die ("We're all gonna die of something.") And he gets a great death scene with sad music.

I think the Academy recognized that Connery MIGHT never get a role as good as Jimmy Malone, so it was time to salute him with the Oscar. Its a great memorable role, and a perfect fit for that actor at that age.

CONT

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

Hell, even The Untouchables which he won for got no nominations for best screenplay, best picture, or best director.

---

Well, the director was Brian DePalma, and I think the Academy hated HIM. Too many Hitchcock copycat movies. Mamet's screenplay surely should have been nominated, and I'd be fine with a Best Picture nom -- the whole movie was well crafted and serious ENOUGH to rise above the other cop movies that were so big in 1987. (Lethal Weapon, Stakeout.)

But at heart(and I LOVE the movie)
The Untouchables IS a 1987 cop action movie DISGUISED as a prestige picture. It ACTS like The Godfather but its really an action movie. And...often...a Western in disguise(especially when they are on horseback, and especially with a Morricone score.)

---

Instead the Untouchables was nominated for Best Art Decoration-Set Decoration, Best Costume design,

--

...for being a 1930's period piece...

---

and Best Musical Score.

--

Which was GREAT...so many GREAT musical motifs all in one movie..courtesy of Ennio Morricone, whose music here only SOMETIMES sounded like his Leone Westerns and other times gave us HEART with the stirring "Untouchables ride!" theme and the sad music for the deaths of certain good guys.

---

CONT

[–] ecarle (14979) 2 years ago

I guess he's lucky to have won an Oscar for it. Personally though I'd have given the Oscar to either Denzel Washington in Cry Freedom or Morgan Freeman in Street Smart.

---

Well, that's how the Oscars often works.."fairly." The voters knew Connery might never get so good a role again. They knew that Denzel and Freeman would "have other chances." (They did. Two Oscars for Denzel and one for Freeman, later.)

This happened in 1973 with Jack Lemmon(beating NIcholson and Pacino) And in 1974 with Art Carney (beating Nicholson and Pacino!) Nicholson and Pacino would win later -- THREE for Jack.

---

But he wouldn't do a Drama film til Finding Forrester in the year 2000.

--

13 years after The Untouchables! See how hard it is for a star to get a good serious role again?

--

The only straight up drama film he ever did.

--

And Finding Forrester wasn't as good as The Untouchables and Connery's character wasn't as good.

[–] ronatola (371) a year ago

He's deader than Julius Caesar - ROTFLMAO