MovieChat Forums > Raid on Entebbe (1976) Discussion > Martin Balsam

Martin Balsam

posted 18 years ago by CmdrCody
4 replies | jump to latest

The movie was just shown again on the History Channel in the States. What a great picture. So many great performances. One of the best is the understated acting of Martin Balsam as hostage Daniel Cooper. Balsam was in so many movies before and since but in this picture, the camera has many close-ups of Balsam in several scenes with the terrorists where he expresses himself more with his eyes and less with his lines. His scene with Buchholtz behind the counter as the Israeli operators burst in and the terrorist begins to pull out his hand grenades...the eye contact...the moment of truth...an unforgetable scene.

He's great in so many other pictures. Here's a few he appears in:
"Seven Days in May"
"The Bedford Incident"
"Hombre"
"Little Big Man"

Great stuff!

CmdrCody

[–] TemporaryOne-1 16 years ago

Agreed, his facial expressions were overpowering, and the grenade moment was extremely subtle and powerful.

[–] lostinaction 15 years ago

Funny but Martin Balsam was also a Hostage in the 80's Action Movie Delta Force. Which also based on a Hi-Jacking.

"Well, nobody's perfect."

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

Indeed that was a powerful moment in the film.

I wonder whether it did occur IRL?

[–] jcjlf 14 years ago

He was also great in:
the taking of Pelham 123
Psycho (I)
Excellent actor