Sturdy
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blcmitchell — 12 years ago(July 20, 2013 08:29 AM)
escalera-2, we must run on the same wavelength! I came here after watching
Not of This Earth
and was surprised to see only one topic in this resilient actor's message board. Low and behold, you are the originator of said post.
I think he did a great job in
Not of This Earth
. His delivery was very enjoyable and his mix of threatening persona and naïveté made the film for me and my wife. Too bad he didn't actually finish the film (which of course I did not even notice until reading it on IMDB). His co-star Beverly Garland was also a stand out. -
escalera-2 — 12 years ago(July 20, 2013 12:06 PM)
Growing up, there used to be "fan" magazines. I never wrote a fan letter even though I may have greatly admired a person's performance.
My bouquets for Mr. Birch and others come too late and that is unfortunate.
Some people shake off this life never knowing how much they were truly appreciated, that their work was praiseworthy.
Well, I'm glad you were moved to make an entry with your kudos,
blcmitchell
. Maybe entries like these will serve to make glad surviving family members.
"Please use elevator, stairs stuck between floors." -
blcmitchell — 12 years ago(July 21, 2013 09:24 AM)
Yes, back in the day, sending a 'pat on the back' was not quite as convenient as it is now. Therefore not done as much, I would suppose.
My praise for Malachi Throne was days late and for Torin Thatcher, well that was decades late. They along with Paul Birch really don't have as much going on in their message boards as I would expect. However, I don't exactly have ordinary tastes, and I think I can safely assume that most of their work resides in things that don't really appeal to your average modern film fan.
It's a shame that solid guys like these three never got the recognition that they could have commanded. Too many small projects? Too many big stars in front of them? I2000 don't know, but these three never mailed in a performance. Always fun to watch, no matter how dreadful the production.
To me, anyways. -
escalera-2 — 12 years ago(July 21, 2013 09:47 AM)
Guys like Birch worked for a reason. Maybe he was some Hollywood
pezzo-novante's
cousin and he got called to work by way of that, but even if that was true, he went on to demonstrate real acting talent and the Big Shot would have gotten more than expected.
I like to try and find good points in even the cheapest movie (I have admiration for anyone especially the Poverty Row producers that can put a show together and see it to the end whatever the quality) and learn something from it. Sometimes its photography or the sets, maybe just script ideas.
With Birch, it was the acting. Maybe he got passed over for big roles but he really went flat out with the stuff that came his way.
"Please use elevator, stairs stuck between floors." -
Swift-12 — 12 years ago(November 20, 2013 05:31 PM)
"I can't believe this bunch. He ran right into him. He ran him right off the road."
I always think of Birch in this short cameo as a cop from "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World". His voice is so distinct, you can't miss him, even with a pair of binoculars blocking his face. -
telegonus — 12 years ago(November 21, 2013 03:00 AM)
Mr. Birch also makes a strong impression near the end of
Rebel Without a Cause
(an amazingly well acted movie all-round). Ed Platt got the better role as the boys counselor type cop, with some good scenes with Dean early on, but Birch crashed through for his five to seven seconds of screen time. As with Ian Wolfe (in the same film) Paul Birch was a welcome presence in everything I've ever seen him in. -
Swift-12 — 12 years ago(November 21, 2013 08:26 AM)
Just saw Birch in an episode of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, and his distinctive voice just jumped right out of the TV no mistaking him. I see his filmography includes some leads in Roger Corman movies, but they evidently had a falling out. I'd like to seek out some of those.
HGWT is a new habit, although I have the vaguest toddler-age memory of the show from when it first aired. Not much of a Western fan, but this one USUALLY fires on all cylinders, and Richard Boone is always fun. Very surprised at the quality of writing and level of acting. Lots of veterans got early experience on this show, and several guys show up many times: George Kennedy, Robert Blake, Ken Curtis, Ben Johnson. Makes me wish all the more that they'd release THE RICHARD BOONE SHOW, his follow-up anthology series.
(The message boards for RICHARD BOONE and HGWT have some strong die-hard fans a good resource for trivia.)
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telegonus — 12 years ago(November 22, 2013 03:06 AM)
You're a lucky dude, my friend. I haven't seen
HGWT
on any station I get for a dog's age. It's been literally decades since I've seen an episode of what was, when I was growing up, one of my favorite shows.
It's sort of cruelly ironic that
HGWT
, a cult classic in its day, sort of the
Peter Gunn
of westerns, was a big hit first run, then there was all that litigation and it was yanked from syndication, thus is never developed into a rerun classic, isn't as well known as
The Rifleman
, say, or
Wanted: Dead Or Alive
. -
Swift-12 — 12 years ago(November 22, 2013 04:33 PM)
I didn't know there was litigation problem what's the story? Supposedly David Mamet is now trying for a remake series, I think, not movie.
I get this on DISH network, EncoreWestern channel, I think it's called. They show some of the better known classics: Marshall Dillon, Bonanza, Lawman, Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, (Cheyenne?) But I've only been watching Richard Boone.
It also often runs old B-level flicks Gene Autry, Lash Larue, Buster Crabbe, etc. Good way for me to get acquainted with sidekick great, Al "Fuzzy" St John. But they also show higher grade stuff from 50s, 60s and 70s.
I originally tuned in to HGWT just to see why we had it on in the house. I was too little to remember anything other than that dramatic opening (I wonder if it was the parents' cue to send me off to bed.) But now I see why Dad liked it it holds up over the decades.
"The Richard Boone Show" however will NEVER be shown, I'm sure. He didn't want to do another season of HGWT, but they prevailed upon him under the conditions he could follow up the next year with his own anthology program. I've heard it was excellent with an ensemble of regulars, and each week was a brand new drama with new roles for the company. But anthologies were a thing of the past, and CBS never planned to keep it beyond the agreed-upon season. They lied and claimed the ratings were bad, and their B.S. set Boone at odds with them for ever after.
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dcgalloway1956 — 12 years ago(January 06, 2014 06:24 PM)
I noticed that the original name of Paul Birch was Paul Smith. I wonder if he had to change his last name because of the Screen Actors Guild rule that specifies that every actor have a unique name. The other actor named Paul Smith appeared in the Doris Day Show along with other television shows and films. He is still living today.
David C. Galloway