His "role within a role" stuff is great too. His voice is so soothing and reassuring while his face is constantly assessing the situation or scanning the apartment.
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Its a tricky role, and Crenna was well up to that "two things at the same time" nuance.
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Also, I love that little moment where he opens the door to let "Roat Jr" in and he gives Arkin's nebbish disguise this "what the hell are you supposed to be" look. Makes me chuckle every time.
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Yes, Mike seems to split between being afraid of Roat and being just contemptuous of him...its a good, deflating dynamic. Mike's weak enough to be blackmailed (with pal Jack Weston) into this crime, but you always feel he's waiting for an opportunity to take Roat down.
In 1966 and 1967, after about a decade toiling in TV roles, Richard Crenna seems to have gotten an agent who made him a movie star...but pretty much for only two movies: The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen and Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn. Its possible that Crenna got his roles because McQueen and Hepburn were so expensive and therefore "cheaper talent" was necessary, but Crenna was rewarded with over-the-title billing and a certain respect for his talent.
Crenna's more of a jerk in "The Sand Pebbles"(a warboat captain with too little smarts and too much pride for the job), so Wait Until Dark is his legacy. Crenna was handsome enough...but a bit pock-marked and a bit flawed in the face(that's why he worked more in TV.) What's key about his casting is that even though Hepburn can't see Crenna's face -- WE can -- and its a nice, reassuring face, just like he has a nice, reassuring voice.
But he also shows just enough menace that indeed you wonder "if he will eventually get fed up enough and hurt Susy." Yes, that's a possibility, it seems -- but then he turns hero. And, of course, gets killed.
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ecarle (14979)
3 years ago
After Wait Until Dark, Crenna got a few more big movies(Marooned was one) but then found TV movies to be his bread and butter. (Crenna also said that "The Hollywood Squares" kept him fed during a career downturn.)
In 1981, Crenna got a small, good part as Kathleen Turner's tough, mean, crooked husband in ''Body Heat" and that paved the way for a "character star" career. (Funny, in 1979, two years earlier, Nice Guy John Forsythe played a tough, mean, crooked judge in "And Justice for All" and THAT gave Forsythe "Dynasty" and his own rejuvenated career.)
But in 1967, Richard Crenna was up there, over the title for Wait Until Dark, next to Audrey Hepburn(a longtime star) and Alan Arkin(a newly minted star) and...he held his own. We felt he belonged over that title.
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