I was amused by Emily’s assertion that they couldn’t make movies with antiheroes in the 1950s.
It’s called ‘film noir’. Common as dirt and very popular.
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Anthony Mann’s psychological westerns in the 50s as well. There was controversy at the time with the casting of Jimmy Stewart - could this actor, who they knew as a sweetheart and everyman, play a bastard? The answer was a firm “yes” and it was a new side to him he explored throughout the 50s, not just in the westerns but in pairings with Hitchcock, where his characters dabbled in gray areas, ethically.
1951’s The African Queen had a pretty good anithero in Charlie Allnut
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In the days of the Production Code antiheroes could only be anti- to a certain point before they’d have to end the movie in jail.
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My favorite Western features an antihero- The Gunfighter with Gregory Peck. Made in 1950.
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'sup.
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In Once Upon a Time in The West, the casting of Henry Fonda as a stone-cold murderer was meant to shock the audience.
“Henry Fonda wouldn’t shoot a child”!
“Frank” would beg to differ.
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My father saw that in the theater, he said it was one of the most shocking things he ever saw in a movie. Surprised the heck out of him… Wait, no, not Henry Fonda, especially not Henry Fonda with blue eyes!
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I know people today like everything to be grimdark, but I miss movies (and TV) where at least one character wasn’t a horrible person.
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So true. There are so many TV shows I either started watching and gave up on or just didn’t watch in the first place because all the characters are reprehensible. Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones are both examples of that for me.
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I agree with you two. I need a little spark of hope.
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