daneldorado — 10 years ago(February 09, 2016 06:30 PM)

Yes, I agree with all those who have said that Marisa Tomei actually
DID
deserve the Oscar she won for
"My Cousin Vinny"
(1992). Of course, it helped that her only competition for that statuette were all foreigners, not an American among them. But Marisa still outshined them all.
I still have fond memories of this film, and it's not just because of the stars. The supporting cast was brilliant from top to bottom, from Fred Gwynne to Maury Chaykin to "an actor's actor" Austin Pendleton.
One evening, the wife and I were watching
"My Cousin Vinny"
on our DVD and, when the character actor Maury Chaykin was called upon to take his place in the witness stand, we watched this old lump of Southern flesh make his way to the stand in a slow shuffle. Obviously, he was written as a fool, a fool that Vinny (Joe Pesci) would destroy in his cross-examination which he
does.
My wife stared at the TV screen, then asked me: "Who is this actor?"
I gleefully answered: "Why, that's Nero Wolfe!"
For those of you who do not know, Nero Wolfe is a fictitious detective, a genius who is usually quick to deduce the most arcane clues in any murder case. At the time, the show entitled
"A Nero Wolfe Mystery"
, starring Chaykin in the title role, was playing on one of the channels, so Elaine laughed and said, "ooh yes! I recognize him now!"
Then we both laughed at how versatile an actor Maury Chaykin is. As Nero Wolfe, he would sit on his favorite armchair in his resplendent home and pontificate over the clues he had unraveled. But here, in
My Cousin Vinny"
, he was playing a dumb hick, and doing a great job at it.
Chaykin, who is now deceased, was a favorite actor to many film directors. Another prize actor was Fred Gwynne, the small screen's Herman Munster; as was Austin Pendleton, who played the public defender; and as is Bruce McGill, who played Sheriff Farley, and who still charms us in his role as Sgt. Vince Korsak in the show
"Rizzoli & Isles."
Yes, Mona Lisa Vito DID deserve that Oscar. So does Marisa Tomei.
Cheers,
Dan
God Bless America!