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Ricardo Cortez a terrific actor! Who knew?

posted 17 years ago by bgh48
4 replies | jump to latest

Having seen Cortez sporatically in various "B" mystery pics, his performance here as an unscrupulous lover is a revelation; whereas Beery painfully overacts as he always does, and Karen Morely is just adequate, Cortez is so natural; his line readings and mannerisms could be transplanted into any modern film of today. And what really raised him up in my estimation is that he was born Jewish in Europe, and finally got a chance to return to his ethnicity by playing the Jewish politico friend of Spencer Tracy in "The Last Hurrah" (probably as a favor to Ford) and by eschewing his former Latin Lover glamour boy image by letting us see his receding hairline, and by uttering such phrases as "We've got tsuris" (trouble in Yiddish) Way to go, Jacob!!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] bgh48 17 years ago

Thank you so much for those kind words, FilmSon. You know, I never knew Ricardo was Jewish either but yes, he did have that Valentino look about him.

I agree completely with your assessment of Basil Rathbone's performance in THE LAST HURRAH. Too bad he couldn't have continued with good scripts after that; I believe he was in THE BLACK SLEEP and some later horror clunkers. I find it interesting that after playing Mr. Murdstone in DAVID COPPERFIELD, he was then typecast as suave villians; then when given the Sherlock Holmes roles, he was typecast as the good guy detective for years.

You've probably seen the 1945 A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Another famous B-movie actor, Lloyd Nolan, gives a wonderful performance as Officer McShane. I don't believe he had a finer role. I was so taken with him here. This is one of my favorite films, and he adds so much to it.

Again, thank you for those kind words, and please keep in touch and continue to grace me with your film knowledge and perception.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] The_Dying_Flutchman 15 years ago

Nude dancing did much for him that and a name change.

What is the sound an imploding pimp makes?