MovieChat Forums > The Thorn Birds (1983) Discussion > The acting is terrible!

The acting is terrible!

posted 10 years ago by live4coffee
10 replies | jump to latest

Just watching now; is this what passed for entertainment in 1983?

"The dead do not suffer the living to pass"
"You will suffer me"

[–] highpriestess32 10 years ago

It was one of those rare dramas that was heavily advertised and at the time it was something everyone seemed to want to tune in to (there wasn't a lot of choice back then lol). I do agree in that some of the acting was questionable but it is a great story so one can overlook a few flaws.

Did you manage to watch it all? If so I hope that you found it a little more favourable after the conclusion. It's one of my favourites from that era.

"Has anyone seen my wife?" - Columbo

[–] thbryn 10 years ago

Forget the script for a moment.
Barbara Stanwyck, Chamberlain, Jean Simmons, Ken Howard, Kiley were all quite strong. They could have not done better. Other's you can argue about but I have no problem with the cast (yes even Meggie).

[–] elenaoddmod 9 years ago

I thought the acting was top notch. Rachel Ward struggled a little with some of her scenes, but so did Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind. And I think Ward was perfect as Meggie.

[–] movie80 9 years ago

elenaoddmod
I thought the acting was top notch. Rachel Ward struggled a little with some of her scenes, but so did Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind. And I think Ward was perfect as Meggie.

I agree with you but I find Ward perfect. Overall I find everybody great and I particularly like the brothers.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] highpriestess32 9 years ago

I thought Leigh's performance in GWTW was flawless.

"These days you have to boil someone before you can sleep with them"

[–] pvd295 8 years ago

Apparently, this gig on TTB is what got Barbara Stanwyck the star on ABC's 'The Colbys' in 1985. Aaron Spelling loved her character of Mary, and tried to emulate it as 'Constance Colby' on his 'Dynasty' spin-off. Stanwyck's character never really came to full fruition (Staphanie Beecham's 'Sable' became the favorite), and she left after the first season - telling everyone how much she hated working on the show.

I believe Ken Howard's performance also got him the gig on DYANSTY in 1984, and then he moved over to 'The Colbys' in 1985.

I heard Richard Chamberlain was also wooed by Spelling to join 'DYANSTY' but it didn't happen.

"Splodey heads keep splodin' " - Sarah Palin, 7-1-16 

[–] tamarajessica 8 years ago

Mary Carson's acting was brilliant! Fee was great and was Ralph.

Meggie's acting was a disaster... good thing the story was so strong and the rest of the cast was good.

[–] Prelude (1443) 7 years ago

The only actor I really had a problem with was Rachel Ward as Meggie. In some scenes she did fine, in others she was both wooden and yet also "chewing the scenery" -- quite a feat! Some of her yelling scenes came off as very amateur, like simply turning up the volume to a harridan wail is good drama.

But everyone else was fine.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (5960) 3 years ago

Agreed. She started overacting for some reason. Maybe those were the scenes they shot first.