The Evolution of Anthony Perkins Acting Style
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Psycho
ecarle — 9 years ago(January 27, 2017 05:48 PM)
To prepare for a remake of "Murder on the Orient Express" coming out later this year(I believe), I watched the 1974 original.
Its a fun watch if a rather static one. Its a lot of "photographs of people talking" as ace sleuth Hercule Poirot(an unrecognizable Albert Finney) interviews all manner of suspects on a motionless, snowbound train. That the suspects are more than 50% star names(big ones like Sean Connery and Ingrid Bergman among them) makes the talking interesting butits a lot of talk.
Anyway, Anthony Perkins is one of the suspects, named "Hector McQueen" which is one of his more interesting character names this side of Norman Bates, and interestingly tied to a much more macho actor of the era, Steve McQueen(though I assume that Agatha Christie made the name selection and heck, it was likely closer in time to Butterfly McQueen.)
Perkins is very entertaining in his role. Its only 14 years past Psycho so he looks a lot like he did in 1960but a lot NOT, too. I noticed for instance, that Perkins favored a very short haircut in this film. This was a time when men were fairly long-haired on the screen, Tony Perkins among them, and I recall it was a bit of a shock to me to see Perkins with such short-cropped hair. He was perhaps "ahead of a new trend" a return to male short hair that began, I believe, in the gay community and, well, that aspect doesn't look like Norman Bates, even if Norman had shortish hair in 1960.
Perkins is entertaining in the role because he here overdoes his nervous tics and flutters and stammers. This performance is far more close to what Perkins would become in Psychos II, III, and IV in the 80's/early 90's than what he did for Hitchcock in 1960.
I noted Perkins "newfound hammery" on display with one key line reading, talking of how his boss received "anonymous letters."
You have to see it and hear it but it goes kind of like this:
"WellI tell youmy boss began receiving (long pause, eyes widen, words splash out in a secretive, conspiratorial manner) "a-non-ymous LETTERS!" And then Perkins nods his head up and down, quickly as if to punctuate the importance of his reveal, and glances around nervously.
That was it. Boom. The Anthony Perkins of Psycho II; NOT the Anthony Perkins of Psycho.
I pondered.
I suppose that Perkins may well have decided to play Hector McQueen with these over-the-top flourishes as part of his characterization, to separate away from the more spooky and brooding Norman Bates so as to give THIS less heavy production more "flair."
Or perhaps "Express" director Sidney Lumet(who had worked with Perkins on "Lovin' Molly") requested the over-the-topness.
In any event, Anthony Perkins as Hector McQueen is perhaps much more the model for the "late Anthony Perkins performance" than what Hitchcock elicited from him in 1960. Simply put, the 1960 performance was better, more serious, more nuanced though not without humor.
I had recently watched Perkins in 1970's "Catch 22," in which his hair is fairly long(even for a WWII set film) and his performance is rather more like what he did for Hitchcock. Some of his line readings reminded me more of how Perkins acted opposite Janet Leigh and Martin Balsam than how he acted in Murder on the Orient Express and Psycho II and III.
So I guess I'll pin the blame on "Orient Express," four years after "Catch-22" for giving us a "new" type of Anthony Perkins performance. Its a funny one to be sure, and Perkins gives Richard Boone a run for Boone's money in flamboyant hand movements and pointing gestures the actor who knows how to talk with his hands knows how to entertain. -
Doc-McCoy — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 01:08 PM)
Perkins did not appear to age much between "Psycho" and "Murder on the Orient Express", and although his performance had many "tics" I think it's one of his top five of his career.
"Life is a scam"- Steve McQueen
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ecarle — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 08:49 PM)
Perkins did not appear to age much between "Psycho" and "Murder on the Orient Express",
That's true. The haircut's the main difference and that's not his physical being. Perkins stayed thin forever he was able to wear his original jacket from Psycho in Psycho II, 23 years later
and although his performance had many "tics" I think it's one of his top five of his career.
Yes. I don't mean to downgrade the actual performance. I found , watching "Orient Express," that Perkins was one of a handful of stars in it who made his EVERY appearance(and I mean, even standing around in the background) dynamic and exciting to watch. I'd put Sean Connery and John Gielgud in there, too. Their faces, voices, and manner are pure entertainment.
The ladies were good, but in a different way. Two beauties filmed at their most beautiful Vanessa Redgrave(practically radiant with smiling love for Connery) and Jackie Bisset(gorgeous, with the somewhat-gorgeous Michael York as her husband.) Two aged once-beauties(Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman) rather eating the scenery in juicy character roles.
But Tony Perkins really stood outand I don't personally think it was Norman Bates and Psycho that made THIS performance work. Its a lighter, faster, funnier performance
and it perhaps informed his later version of Bates too much. (Though here I would note that one poster made a good case that the "wackier" NOrman of the sequels is, frankly , a wackier guy, now a product of 23 years of institutionalization.) -
Doc-McCoy — 9 years ago(February 03, 2017 02:58 AM)
"Murder on the Orient Express" is a mixed bag for me. It's entertaining but many of the small roles filled by big stars to me wasn't necessary; too many of them have little to nothing to do. But Perkins' role was substantial and he really made the most of it, as did Richard Widmark, Gielgud and Martin Balsam, while others such as Connery and York were OK but just didn't have roles to justify their appearance. Like you say, Perkins always managed to stand out, even among a cast of heavyweights.
I agree with you about Redgrave and Bisset being the highlights of the female cast, others such as Rachel Roberts and Wendy Hiller were also very good, but I can't stand Bacall to the point of muting the TV when she appears, and never understood what was special about Bergman's performance.
I've been meaning to check out "Psycho II" for a long time now, having not seen it since its original release. I recall going in thinking it would be marginal at best but it turned out to be good, and again, Perkins was excellent. To his credit, Perkins did not try to emulate his performance of 1960, but as you point out, the "new" Norman is the product of 23 years in an institution and is a wackier guy.
"Life is a scam"- Steve McQueen