Hobo Jungle

[sarge]

Not an American character but created by Americans.

[sarge]

Tramp, in all seriousness:

Bogart; "Maltese Falcon"
Bogart again; "The Big Sleep"
Rickles; "Kelly's Heroes"
James Whitmore; "Give 'em Hell, Harry"

To prove cool can be in comedy, Kelsey Grammer; "Down Periscope"

Dirt, Mate:

I'm afraid we'll have to point out that Peter Sellers, whilst very cool, is an Englishman!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

1st, you'll have any seat but mine when they show The Miles Davis Story! I periodicaly torment my research group with a day or 3 of just Miles all day long.........

Burt Lancaster -- too many movies -- 7 Days in May, The Train, The Hallelujah Trail, 1900.......
Kirk Douglas -- too many movies

but I do happen to like that one they did together and robbed the train.....Tough Guys

Robert Mitchum --- lots & lots, but The Big Sleep was good
Lee Marvin --- Cat Ballou and Emperor of the North
James Cagney - White Heat .......Yankee Doodle Dandy
Edward G. Robinson -- Little Caesar
Gregory Peck - Moby Dick
Clint Eastwood - Outlaw Josie Wales

Comedy............

Gee, The Marx Brothers in any of the 1st 4 movies
Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Moe, Larry, and Curly

there's British comedy and one of my favorite is Sellers in Being There, but there's something very distinct about American comedy...........

And a bit of a twist --- Depp and Landau in Ed Wood

[J. Smith]

Steve McQueen--Bullet-- smashing the underpinnings out of 3 or 4 Mustang fastbacks on the San Francisco hills
Clint Eastwood--Dirty Harry-- Do ya feel lucky punk? Well do ya?
Humphrey Bogart-- Maltese Falcon-- We'll always have Paris.
Bella Lugosi--Dracula-- Comb........here!

How cool is that?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I need the hobos to assist on a column I'm writing. Which movie and which actor typifies American cool for you? ...I'd appreciate your input. And if you can, please explain why your choice is the coolest. Thanks, lads.

This will make me the odd-man-out, I suppose, since I see most everybody else has mentioned males. Plus, you did say actor, but I must admit, two women came to mind immediately:

Bette Davis in "Now Voyager." She was a woman who was cruely dominated by a nasty mother; yet, she remained polite, respectful and self-controlled. She responded to help and later, at her volition, developed into a great woman who managed to focus her resources and attention on helping someone else and, therefore, being selfless, entirely. "...Let's not ask for the moon when we have the stars." It was the selfless giving that made her cool, in my book.

Sigourney Weaver in the original "Alien." She faced enormous, lethal, and horrifying danger, depended on her own resources, and helpd others survive. She was courageous, strong, and focused. To me, that's being very cool.

Murph

[rogruth]

Hey Murph,

I mentioned two women in my suggestions.I like yours but of course I like mine better.{Kathryn Hepburn and Jodie Foster.]


I hope that Tramp posts his article here for us to read.[Hint,hint.]

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Thanks Roger. I stand corrected. I went back and amended my post, after reading (sheeeesh, some English teacher I am! ) all the posts more thoroughly.
Murph
P.S. For being cool, I'm going to imagine you are referring to Jodie Foster's courageous character in "Silence of the Lambs" (?)
Also, Kate Hepburn, another of my favorite actors, too, was in so many movies it's hard to assume which one you may have felt exemplified her cool. May I suppose, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" ?

[E7]

Sigourney Weaver in the original "Alien." She faced enormous, lethal, and horrifying danger, depended on her own resources, and helpd others survive. She was courageous, strong, and focused. To me, that's being very cool. Murph

Murph, I think the Ripley character is worthy of mention, as Alien was a trend setting film. As for survivors I presume you mean the cat, as I don't recall any others!

[rogruth]

Murph,

No need to change anything for me.

Nothing specific for Hepburn and Foster.I just think that they are two of the best ever.Versatile.Good looking [nothing wrong with that].Fortunate to,usually,get very good roles.Etc,etc.

I think we better get back on track with Tramp.

[E7]

A couple other possibilities:

Samuel L. Jackson - Jules Winnfield in "Pulp Fiction"

Kevin Spacey - Verbal Kint in "The Usual Suspects"

Rich

[sarge]

As I was thinking about this more, I'll advance the idea that a character in a movie can't contain all the elements of (in this case) Cool. The result would be so complex as to take forever to develop in a single character in the context of a single film. As an example, I kept going back to (strangely enough) "Kelly's Heros".

Rickles, Sutherland, and Eastwood are all cool, but perhaps not complete. Each portrays a caricature of an element of American Cool. Rickles crafty, Sutherland free-wheeling, and Eastwood smooth. Put 'em all together, turn 'em loose in conflict, and you get Cool.

I'll also add a vote for Jerome Horwitz aka Curly. Way cool. Again, can't stand alone without Moe and Larry's elements to flesh the picture out though...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

As I was thinking about this more, I'll advance the idea that a character in a movie can't contain all the elements of (in this case) Cool. The result would be so complex as to take forever to develop in a single character in the context of a single film. As an example, I kept going back to (strangely enough) "Kelly's Heros".

Rickles, Sutherland, and Eastwood are all cool, but perhaps not complete. Each portrays a caricature of an element of American Cool. Rickles crafty, Sutherland free-wheeling, and Eastwood smooth. Put 'em all together, turn 'em loose in conflict, and you get Cool.

Particularly if you factor in Telly Savalas to make up a 4-some at the card table...........

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Sigourney Weaver in the original "Alien." She faced enormous, lethal, and horrifying danger, depended on her own resources, and helpd others survive. She was courageous, strong, and focused. To me, that's being very cool. Murph

Murph, I think the Ripley character is worthy of mention, as Alien was a trend setting film. As for survivors I presume you mean the cat, as I don't recall any others!

I don't mean that they actually survived, but that she endeavored - invested herself and risked her own safety - for the good of others to try to effect their survival. By the end of the first film, it may have been only she and the cat remaining, but didn't she work for the good of others all along? Also, I think I'm suggesting here an impression she left w/ me via both Alien films that she was a cool article - not easily rattled, calm, focused, determined, and not at all a screamer or hysteric - in other words, to me, she was cool.

[Tramp]

This subject seems to attract interest which bodes well for my column. Thank you all for your input. We've hit on some of the same people, but some are different as would be expected.

Shall I post the column here before it's in the paper? When I post without a link, the document will not be cut into paragraphs, which can be annoying to read.

Murph, of course I considered females as well. I thought Alien was a movie that played on our fear of getting cancer. That creature growing inside us. Weaver was tough but not quite American cool by my definition. The column is really about defining what American cool is. This was a real ball-buster to write.

[2railjon]

For "american cool" my picks would be John Milner in American Graffiti and Ken Wahl from the 1979 movie the Wanderers.