Noir Notes : Dan Duryea Nails His Noir
Paulette Reynolds
September 1, 2012
This month’s ‘Noir Notes’ features actor Dan Duryea, whose film career spanned almost 35 years.
Duryea, a graduate of Cornell University - with honors - delighted audiences in a variety of westerns and urban dramas, but he sparkled as the bad guy in countless noir classics, such as The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlett Street (1945), Black Angel (1946), Too Late for Tears (1949), Criss Cross (1949), and Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949).
In an interview with columnist Hedda Hopper in 1950, Duryea shared how he got down and dirty for his noir persona:
“Well, first of all, let's set the stage or goal I set for myself when I decided to become an actor ... not just 'an actor', but a successful one. I looked in the mirror and knew with my "puss" and 155-pound weakling body, I couldn't pass for a leading man, and I had to be different. And I sure had to be courageous, so I chose to be the meanest s.o.b. in the movies ... strictly against my mild nature, as I'm an ordinary, peace-loving husband and father. Inasmuch, as I admired fine actors like Richard Widmark, Victor Mature, Robert Mitchum, and others who had made their early marks in the dark, sordid, and guilt-ridden world of film noir; here, indeed, was a market for my talents. I thought the meaner I presented myself, the tougher I was with women, slapping them around in well produced films where evil and death seem to lurk in every nightmare alley and behind every venetian blind in every seedy apartment, I could find a market for my screen characters.... At first it was very hard as I am a very even-tempered guy, but I used my past life experiences to motivate me as I thought about some of the people I hated in my early as well as later life ... like the school bully who used to try and beat the hell out of me at least once a week ... a sadistic family doctor that believed feeling pain when he treated you was the birthright of every man inasmuch as women suffered giving birth ... little incidents with trade-people who enjoyed acting superior because they owned their business, overcharging you. Then the one I used when I had to slap a woman around was easy! I was slapping the over-bearing teacher who would fail you in their 'holier-than-thou' class and enjoy it! And especially the experiences I had dealing with the unbelievable pompous 'know-it-all-experts' that I dealt with during my advertising agency days ... almost going 'nuts' trying to please these 'corporate heads' until I finally got out of that racket!" *
* Dan Duryea : Charming Villian . by Frank Dolven. (April 1996 #250 . Classic Images : Lee Enterprises 2001) July 24, 2012.
https://classicnoirdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/dan-duryea-classic-images.pdf
Paulette Reynolds
September 1, 2012
This month’s ‘Noir Notes’ features actor Dan Duryea, whose film career spanned almost 35 years.
Duryea, a graduate of Cornell University - with honors - delighted audiences in a variety of westerns and urban dramas, but he sparkled as the bad guy in countless noir classics, such as The Woman in the Window (1944), Scarlett Street (1945), Black Angel (1946), Too Late for Tears (1949), Criss Cross (1949), and Johnny Stool Pigeon (1949).
In an interview with columnist Hedda Hopper in 1950, Duryea shared how he got down and dirty for his noir persona:
“Well, first of all, let's set the stage or goal I set for myself when I decided to become an actor ... not just 'an actor', but a successful one. I looked in the mirror and knew with my "puss" and 155-pound weakling body, I couldn't pass for a leading man, and I had to be different. And I sure had to be courageous, so I chose to be the meanest s.o.b. in the movies ... strictly against my mild nature, as I'm an ordinary, peace-loving husband and father. Inasmuch, as I admired fine actors like Richard Widmark, Victor Mature, Robert Mitchum, and others who had made their early marks in the dark, sordid, and guilt-ridden world of film noir; here, indeed, was a market for my talents. I thought the meaner I presented myself, the tougher I was with women, slapping them around in well produced films where evil and death seem to lurk in every nightmare alley and behind every venetian blind in every seedy apartment, I could find a market for my screen characters.... At first it was very hard as I am a very even-tempered guy, but I used my past life experiences to motivate me as I thought about some of the people I hated in my early as well as later life ... like the school bully who used to try and beat the hell out of me at least once a week ... a sadistic family doctor that believed feeling pain when he treated you was the birthright of every man inasmuch as women suffered giving birth ... little incidents with trade-people who enjoyed acting superior because they owned their business, overcharging you. Then the one I used when I had to slap a woman around was easy! I was slapping the over-bearing teacher who would fail you in their 'holier-than-thou' class and enjoy it! And especially the experiences I had dealing with the unbelievable pompous 'know-it-all-experts' that I dealt with during my advertising agency days ... almost going 'nuts' trying to please these 'corporate heads' until I finally got out of that racket!" *
* Dan Duryea : Charming Villian . by Frank Dolven. (April 1996 #250 . Classic Images : Lee Enterprises 2001) July 24, 2012.
https://classicnoirdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/dan-duryea-classic-images.pdf
COPYRIGHT 2012/2016. Paulette Reynolds. All CineMata Movie Madness blog articles, reviews, faux interviews, commentary, and the Cine Mata character are under the sole ownership of Paulette Reynolds. All intellectual and creative rights reserved.
