MovieChat Forums > Sybil (1976) Discussion > Patty Duke missed the audition. Duke wou...

Patty Duke missed the audition. Duke would live it vs. "act"

posted 7 years ago by InherentlyYours
3 replies | jump to latest

I know Field crawling around on the ground with her new found inner discovery was impressive to most, but it was manufactured. Duke would had gone to a deeper level ,like she has done in other times. Field's projection comes from her lungs, while Duke's comes from her gut. (to paraphrase Mia Farrow as a metaphor: "this is no nightmare, this is really happening!")

Field was fine with the lighter elements and her display of innocence, but the heavy drama is out of her depth. Not a bad performance, but overrated. Not do i think Streep could have done it.

[–] rascal67 7 years ago

IY, I would have loved to have seen Duke in this role, however, Field did do a fine job in parts, even if she could have been bested in the acting stakes. I do agree that with Field, it tends to be something she is only projecting from her exterior or mind self and not from the soul. I also think Shelly Duvall or Sissy Spacek would have been far superior than Field; but is that really such a hard task to ask?

Don't eat the whole ones! Those are for the guests. 🍪

[–] fiatlux-1 7 years ago

I disagree.
I thought Patty Duke was a superb child actress. Nobody could have portrayed young Helen Keller better than she.
But even though I found her compelling to watch in later films, she could be strangely...terrible...in some roles.
Whenever she gets emotional, Duke loses a little bit of her acting ability in my opinion. It may be because she just tries too hard.
But Field was superb in this role, she was completely believable as Sybil.

I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

[–] InherentlyYours 7 years ago

I feel Field "cannot" try too hard in dramatic roles because it's just not there; she's mostly "acting out" in some blubbery manner, and not conveying the intensity Duke could. It would not be fair of me to judge Duke based on one or two substandard performances. Because Field made on role, Sybil, memorable, it doesn't give her a key to the kingdom of greatness. Field, however has a softer quality--where Duke is more hard edged (which a director would need to rein in)

And ironically, even when Duke is overacting (like you said), she is still feeling the emotion, her power is evident. I didn't believe Field's speeches in Norma Rae or Places-- unless she was being understated. She cannot express anger; it sounds sophomoric or unnatural for her. And if it comes to awards, we also cannot claim the Oscars are a popularity vote for one actor, then contradict that for another.

However, I admit Duke lost some of that intensity after the 80's, for some reason, and had more of a pedestrian quality.