Assorted RIPs

Three more screen legends passed away this week.

First was Gloria Stuart. This talented actress had a prolific career in the '30s (The Invisible Man, The Prisoner of Shark Island) and was one of the founders of the Screen Actors' Guild, but largely vanished from the scene for decades afterwards. She had a nice cameo in My Favorite Year, dancing up a storm with Peter O'Toole. However, she'll probably always be remembered for her endearing, Oscar-nominated role in Titanic as Old Rose.

Next came director Arthur Penn, the enfant terrible and icon of New Hollywood. Readers of this blog will know that I'm no great fan of Penn's anti-Establishment posturing and puerile "criminals are just misunderstood" worldview, though I'll certainly concede he was a skilled stylist. Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man are good but flawed films, The Left-Handed Gun mediocre, and The Chase overwrought garbage. Still, his films were highly influential and the best have a lasting appeal beyond my griping.

Then was Tony Curtis. Never an especially great actor, he nonetheless gave solid performances when cast in the right film: Sweet Smell of Success, The Defiant Ones, Spartacus. His career highpoint is unquestionably his hilarious turn in Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot (1959) opposite Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe.

RIP to all three of these legends; they'll be missed, but their work lives on.