Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography

By Franklin Jarlett

Book Overview

This first in-depth Ryan work has two parts: The biographical provides behind-the-scenes information and never-before-published interviews with Ryan's children. The reference part contains a filmography (70+ films: plot lines, themes, technical aspects, casts, credits, criticism), and a listing of stage appearances, television performances, narrations, guest appearances, recordings and videocassettes.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786404760
• ISBN13: 9780786404766
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Ryan brought back to life

Although most Ryan devotees focus on his more famous "film noir" vehicles as evidence of his skill, Jarlett illuminates his performances in scores of less known films. In Horizons West, Ryan's interpretation of a disgruntled ex-Confederate major achieves more in his portrait than the sum of the film's parts. Return of the Badmen also featured Ryan's grim portrait of a cold-blooded bank robber that elevates an otherwise pedestrian horse opera to something nearly sublime. Other choice Ryan vignettes can be found in such early Ryan enterprises like Marine Raiders. Made in 1944 when America was fighting the Japanese, Ryan gives a stout performance that achieves real range, again raising a programmer to cult status. The author provides detailed film critiques from major publications (Time, The New York Times, Variety, etc.), providing readers with a glimpse at what critics of those time periods said about Ryan. I was pleased to note upon reading critical reviews of Ryan's character in Marine Raiders that film critic Manny Farber of Nation magazine compared Ryan with Gary Cooper, though in all honesty, Ryan easily outclassed Cooper as an actor. Perhaps Farber was referring to Ryan's quiet magnetism.Jarlett addresses the question of Ryan's status as the cinema's epitome of the "noir" protagonist, noting his contributions in such "noir" gems as The Racket, Act of Violence, The Woman on the Beach, Beware, My Lovely, Caught, On Dangerous Ground (John Houseman lauded his portrayal of a disillusioned cop as a "disturbing mixture of anger and sadness"). I cannot think of another actor who deserved a book devoted to his life and works besides Ryan. Kudos to Franklin Jarlett for giving us his gift.Jarlett illuminates the off-screen actor's life, noting that the actor and his wife founded the Oakwood School in California, which stills remains viable today as a solid, academically oriented institution of higher learning.Besides the fifty or so movie stills, Jarlett's book features interviews with those closest to Ryan, and a glowing preface by John Houseman, who worked closely with Ryan on various stage productions before they became a fad.

Ryan reaches out and grabs you from the pages!

You're watching an old black and white B picture and about to change the channel to something less cheesy and low budget. You notice a lanky, whiny, oatmeal-faced guy with beady eyes, who looks menacing, especially when there is an attractive female nearby. This guy is trouble. He's no good. But you can't turn away. You're hooked. He's wearing a bad costume: a 1950's leisure suit, a safari jacket, or more happily, a trench coat or a uniform. He looks awkward, slouching like he's embarrassed to be so tall. He's ruggedly handsome. Energy flashes from his eyes, his tense almost hysterical voice, his powerful physique. He's like coiled steel, a simmering cauldron, a smouldering oil well. A valve that's about to blow sky high. The ladies go to pieces around him. They do stuff they shouldn't do, things they'll regret in the morning. You notice he contributes a lot to good and not so good films even when he's got everything going against him. He doesn't need to be a likeable character, or have good lines, or a good costume, or anything. He infuses engergy and raw power into the movie, he makes it personal. Maybe they used him sparingly because they didn't know what they were dealing with. The Wild Bunch: Ryan turns up sporadically but his role is central to the plot. Best scenes: He and fellow outlaw William Holden are entertaining two scarlet women in their hotel room. Ryan, in a fancy waistcoat, is worrying that the law is in pursuit so he's not even paying attention to his female companion. Is that fair to the girl? Later, he is shown being flogged in prison -unfortunate, but an opportunity to see him with no shirt on. On Dangerous Ground: as a tough cop, he questions a hooker. She practically begs him to mistreat her: 'are you gonna squeeze it out of me with those big, strong arms?' You betcha. In another scene, he tries to flirt with a girl, is rejected for being a cop, and the frozen pain of rejection on his face is raw, as if he got sucker punched with an ice berg. Caught: he is a narcissistic neurotic millionaire who mentally torments a silly golddigger played lovably by Barbara Bel Geddes. Best line: 'What's wrong, don't you think I like you?' As usual he's in comically silly, Thurston Howell the Third type outfits, and as usual he rises above it all. Crossfire: preachy stuff about the evils of bigotry but worth enduring for Ryan as the least laid back guy ever in a Hawaiian shirt. The Naked Spur: not to be confused with The Naked Gun, in this Western he's an outlaw with a price on his head and cute little Janet Leigh as his girlfriend. Jimmy Stewart is taking him in for the reward money, and to get the girl as well. He puts Ryan on a burro, not only to hinder his escape but probably also to emasculate him in Leigh's eyes. Ryan is a rotten, dishonorable character, but Leigh seems mighty reluctant to part company with him. I wouldn't wonder... The Set-up: Ryan is a has-been boxer who- don'

Robert Ryan: A Special Actor-A Special Man

Robert Ryan, one of the most brilliant and versatile actors of his time, created a gallery of unforgettable characters during his thirty year career, yet never received the recognition he deserved. Franklin Jarlett's Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography goes a long way towards filling this void; it is a fitting tribute to a great performer, who by all accounts was as good a man as he was an actor. Jarlett's fascination with Robert Ryan began in childhood, as he watched Ryan's films on TV, and his "obsession" continued as he matured. Jarlett was especially mesmerized by Ryan's portrayal of Claggart, in Billy Budd, seeing it as "a chapter to an elusive text of which I did not know the title." Through college and graduate school, Jarlett continued his "quest" for the mysterious qualities which made Ryan so extraordinary. This book is the result, and the author's three years of extensive research, interviews with Ryan's children and many friends, and his in-depth study of the 77 film Ryan made during his prolific film career make this a fascinating and readable must for any Ryan fan's library. Written with an eloquence of which the very literate Ryan would surely approve, the book is loaded with photos as well; stills from nearly all of Ryan's films illustrate the book. By an ironic twist of fate, Robert Ryan, a quiet, self-effacing man, who often graciously accepted second billing to far less talented co-stars, is suddenly "Hot," thanks to cable television, and to the proliferation of VCR and DVD players, which make older movies new again.. Turner Classic Movies' recent "Star of the Month" tribute to Ryan certainly had legions of his blissed-out fans manning their VCR's, and won him many new fans as well. Ryan's Westerns and his war films play endlessly on TV, and he is such a film noir icon that many of the excellent books on the subject devote entire sections to discussions of his artistry. Jarlett's book is a perfect source for anyone who wants to know more about this complex and very private man who was such a compelling presence on screen. Ryan was a man of paradoxes. He graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in English Literature, but reigned as the undefeated heavyweight boxing champion throughout his four year college career. Though the product of a relatively prosperous family, Ryan sought out tough and demanding jobs: he worked as an engine room janitor on an African- bound freighter for two years, and as a cow puncher on a ranch in Montana, among other jobs, before finally finding his niche in acting. Ryan's World War II stint in the Marine Corps, though honorably served at Camp Pendleton where he was a drill instructor, sent him back into civilian life with distinctly pacifist leanings. Though Ryan could portray vicious, ignorant bigots with an almost frightening intensity, he himself was a tolerant, compass