MovieChat Forums > The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) Discussion > Why didn't they replace Janssen with. . ...

Why didn't they replace Janssen with. . .?

posted 17 years ago by alxnrth
11 replies | jump to latest

Instead of the very wooden David Janssen, can you imagine what an improvement Gregory Peck would have made in that role? Other suggestions?

Dale

[–] TorontoJediMaster 17 years ago

The only trouble was Peck would have outshone even Quinn, as he was that good.

I agree that Janssen wasn't very good. He was a most unsympathetic character and was played very coldly by Janssen.

[–] usnjohn62 15 years ago

Just a matter of opinion, I have never found Jansen to be anything but wooden, in anything he has done.

[–] vpilutis 13 years ago

Funny Peck's name would come up as he once played Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty
in The Scarlet and the Black (TV movie)1983 based on a true story during WW II
Hugh help hide POWs etc in the Vatican, and guess who played Pope Pius XII?

John Gielgud

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[–] sass18 15 years ago

Gregory Peck would have been much better and made the movie better. His acting style was also of the "wooden" school, but he was much stronger than Janssen. I do think Janssen was great as The Fugitive.

[–] LPurch6636 15 years ago

>> I do think Janssen was great as The Fugitive. <<

I think that was a large part of the problem. The other actors are identified with "movies." David Janssen is identified with being a "t.v. actor."
It seems to me that I read that David Janssen was not the the first choice with the producer/director and casting guy.

Flanagan

[–] garp15-1 15 years ago

I like him at times, and grew up when The Fugitive was on TV. My parents didn't miss it.

Try and find "Nowhere to Run" which I think might be one of his best. It's sort of got a surprise ending, so be careful. I saw this a couple of times on TV years ago.

[–] eric-1501 14 years ago

Janssen was playing a wooden man in a wooden profession - - news reporter, and
worse than that, TV news. Living in his phony world populated by phonies, the
man's character is suppressed because he's become an "organization man" - -
the man in the grey flannel suit, as they used to say.

"Could be worse."
"Howwww?"
"Could be raining."

[–] n.debrabant 11 years ago

I never thought David Janssen as wooden. I always thought he was a fine actor, not great, but fine.

"Listen, I don't tan, I don't burn, I implode."

[–] charlesblank-2 11 years ago

It is a great irony that you mentioned"The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" because Mr. Peck starred in that movie.Also,Gregory Peck would have made a better U.S. President meeting with the Pope and arguing the pros and cons of a relief effort so both sides could be presented.The climax of the film where all Russian,Chinese,& American leaders watch the Pope announces the Vatican relief effort would have a great impact with President Peck watching,with hope of a peaceful end and a lessening of tensions.

[–] jaystarstar 11 years ago

Part of the whole point of Janssen's character was that he was emotionally cut off -- he had pretty much shut off his wife completely and his young-babe girlfriend constantly whined and whimpered for lack of attention (so much so it became very annoying very quickly).

Yes, Janssen was very wooden in many of his roles but I think in this one, it was conscious on both the part of the directors and Janssen himself.

Faber is supposed to be a very repressed, closed-in, button-down character. He was supposed to be a caricature of the 1960s "organization man" corporate drone.

FWIW, Gregory Peck was often criticized for 'wooden' acting too.

================

4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

[–] schappe1 9 years ago

He's a good actor, handsome and with charm he never got to show as either RFichard, (Diamond or Kimble). He should have gone on to be a movie star.

And people are right, he is "wooden" here because he's playing a TV reporter. It's the nature of the profession.

The problem is, his character is a fifth wheel in this story and his personal problems are uninteresting compared to the real story of the film.

The past is a series of presents. The present is living history we are privileged to witness