tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8927776634149172362024-03-12T21:52:18.874-07:00Notes from L.A.Random meanderings from a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California - raised on the movies and television, but I learned to read, too.Swingin' Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02252265642475646684noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892777663414917236.post-10135311799730738692011-07-04T11:42:00.000-07:002011-07-10T11:06:48.971-07:00Accent on OlivierThough Laurence Olivier flirted with Russian and French-Canadian accents in his earlier films (<span style="font-style: italic;">Demi-Paradise</span> and<span style="font-style: italic;"> The 49th Parallel</span>), and famously portrayed <span style="font-style: italic;">Othello</span> with his deep, African-Caribbean tones, he really hit his stride in the 1970's. His chilling portrayal of Nazi dentist Szell in <span style="font-style: italic;">Marathon Man</span> gave us the clipped and precise German accent and the memorable phrase, "Is it safe?"<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TPQ7KMCrPLE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /> Two years later, he would give us Ezra Lieberman, the Simon Wiesenthal stand-in, in 1978's <span style="font-style: italic;">The Boys From Brazil.</span> He began to take more and more character roles like these, and sadly, the accents used in each began to sound much the same as one another. The French con artist in <span style="font-style: italic;">A Little Romance</span>, the Dutch Abraham Van Helsing of <span style="font-style: italic;">Dracula</span>, and the Yiddish Cantor Rabinovitch of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Jazz Singer</span> were somewhat indistinguishable.<br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8aN0Ui_hIQw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br />Olivier's American accents often accompanied performances so hammy that the audience almost needed mustard - the southern patriarch of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Betsy</span>, and Douglas MacArthur in the ill-conceived <span style="font-style: italic;">Inchon</span>. Only when he returned to his native accent, even in such films as <span style="font-style: italic;">Clash of the Titans</span>, were we not distracted by his attempts to authentically replicate his character's regional American accents.<br /><br /><br /><br />The last non-British accent he would offer would be an American Jewish accent in <span style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson</span>, an HBO telefilm costarring Jackie Gleason.Swingin' Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02252265642475646684noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892777663414917236.post-27637375638958533742007-07-24T10:32:00.000-07:002007-07-24T10:34:10.435-07:00Starting OutHaven't the time to go into depth here; I'm just starting a blog as an alternate to the MySpace stuff. My friend SuperAmanda inspired me to create this profile here, where perhaps I can expound and pontificate on matters mundane, profound, esoteric, and common.Swingin' Bretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02252265642475646684noreply@blogger.com1