Great Actress!
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Edwardslcn — 19 years ago(November 05, 2006 04:37 PM)
In addition to UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE and THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK, try to see THE FOX, the original SWEET NOVEMBER, and COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN. Truthfully anything with Sandy is worth a look. She brought distinction to every film in which she appeared.
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lqualls-dchin — 18 years ago(June 19, 2007 02:06 AM)
Why do people never look further? Kael's comment was made about Sandy Dennis's performance in "The Fox" (where Kael mentions how courageous it was for a rising star to take such a part, but then makes the crack about making a style out of post-nasal drip, and she admits that her comment is ungenerous) but Kael loved Sandy Dennis in "Nasty Habits", in "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean", in "Another Woman" (she panned the film, but Dennis was one of the only things she admired in it), in "Parents". When Kael reviewed "Nasty Habits", she wrote: "When Sandy Dennis appeared in 'The Out-of-Towners', she rang so many sad-sack variations on 'Oh, my God' that it was apparent that the movies had been wasting her in sniveling, suffering roles. This is her first real crack at screen farce, and she parodies her own mannerisms. It's bliss watching her" And in her review of "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean", she wrote: "Sometimes it may seem that not much separates a superb Sandy Dennis performnace from an irritating one, since she uses some of the same mannerisms in both. But when her tics are right for a role she can zoom off and come up with things no one else would have dreamt of. I found her impossible in her starring vehicles (the 1967 'Up the Down Staircase' and the 1968 'Sweet November') but a droopy joy in the 1970 'The Out-of-Towners' and unfailingly funny in the 1977 'Nasty Habits'. And she brought something weirdly human to last year's 'The Four Seasons.' (She was the only person in it I could have any feeling for.)"
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lqualls-dchin — 18 years ago(July 04, 2007 05:58 PM)
Not only was she fantastic, but she was (actually) very aware of her limitations. She had been highly acclaimed for her Broadway performances (A THOUSANDS CLOWNS and ANY WEDNESDAY; when the movies were made, Barbara Harris and Jane Fonda played the parts, respectively), and they were comedies. But because of her Oscar-winning performance in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, she was put into a series of dramas. I just watched her again in THE FOX, and she's very mannered, but she's also oddly touching. Many of the films in which she starred have not been available, such as SWEET NOVEMBER, UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, and THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK. I think she is at her best in the last two: in THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH, she is not at all mannered (and this was one of several British films which, curiously, starred an American; others from the 1960s include THE PUMPKIN EATER, with Anne Bancroft, and PSYCHE 59 with Patricia Neal), and this is quite a lovely film. In THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK (directed by Robert Altman just before his breakthrough with MAS*H), she loses her mannerisms, and is playing a very tight, controlled person (and she gives a tight, controlled performance). But i remember reading an interview with her sometime in the 1980s (it might have been around the time of COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME JIMMY DEAN JIMMY DEAN) and she was the one who mentioned that she began on Broadway as a comedienne and that she felt she was miscast when she was a movie star, because they were trying to make her a very serious dramatic actress, and she said she wasn't serious at all.
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fabGirl — 18 years ago(July 05, 2007 09:52 AM)
She did have a knack for drama. Her greateset roles were in dramatic films like Come Back To The Five And Dime Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean and That Cold Day In The Park.
I saw an interview with her in which she said the film she was most proud of was A Touch Of Love, which she was brilliant in. She also said she was really proud of The Fox and adored Anne Heywood.
Comedy wise, Nasty Habits is really funny and she got to star alongside her close friends Geraldine Page and Glenda Jackson (another legend). I'm not so keen on The Out Of Towners although I think she played her part with more control and conviction than Jack Lemmon.
In all she was a goddess. I think what was so rare about her was she truly cared for her characters and you could see that in the performance. Acting was important to her and she treat it like a job rather than exploiting it to follow fame and notorioty. A true legend and much sadly missed. -
Bishop_of_Battle — 14 years ago(November 13, 2011 12:36 AM)
I've liked her in just about everything she's done. Definitely a solid filmography. One question though. Why the hell was she wasting her time with 976-Evil? It's like a stain on her resume. I hope she was paid well for it.
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tomk1of1 — 11 years ago(September 28, 2014 03:09 PM)
I just saw her in sweet november.., there is no one like her! In virginia wolf of courseand come back to the 5 and dime..that just came out on blu ray(20014.,I see this is an old post).she blew me away in that..I was just a kid and I was mesmerized. I never, as good as goldie is, could replace her in the out of towners..I was just barely old enough to go the movies and an aunt took me as a babysitting thing, because she wanted to go..I remember her calling out GEORGE! Still to this daybut I've seen it a bunch of timesit was fun to see her again