Top five performances
1. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
2. Wait Until Dark
3. Slums of Beverly Hills
4. Catch-22
5. Edward Scissorhands
Of those, I think he showed his genius as Yossarian in Catch-22. It's almost as if Joseph Heller had him in mind when he wrote the book.
shareI need to see it again -- he only reaches no. 4 on my list because I was not bowled over by the adaptation as a whole. But, years after seeing it, Arkin's performance remains etched in my mind. Certainly, it's hard to imagine a better Yossarian.
shareYes, the movie didn't quite capture the insanity of the characters, but then that would have been almost impossible to do, given the deliberately complex nature of Heller's writing. But Arkin WAS Yossarian. I think the man is probably a bit like that character in real life.
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