edited by Jonathan Doyle

Classe tous risques (The Criterion Collection, 6.17.2008) Claude Sautet is best known for subtle interpretations of French bourgeois life in such films as Un coeur en hiver and Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud. Yet the director began his career with genre films. Classe Tous Risques, released in 1960, is considered the best of his early work and it's a fascinating companion to similar crime movies made around the same time by Jean-Pierre Melville. (continued)

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Diminished Capacity

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

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Full Battle Rattle

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A Man Named Pearl

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If you were studying Peter O'Toole just before Forest Whitaker was named the winner of the Best Actor Oscar, and then at the precise moment that it happens, it's clear O'Toole wanted to hear his own name very badly (who wouldn't?) and that he was pretty much primally shattered when he didn't. It's a look of "oh dear God, it's happened again."

O'Tooler recovers quickly and applauds Whitaker like a gentleman, but those facial spasms got to me. He wore that same haunted look in 1980 during the curtain call for a critically-despised Old Vic production of Macbeth that O'Toole was starring in. (Some in the audience were booing; others were half-clapping at best -- the rudest crowd I've ever been a part of.)

The sly old goat should have won on Sunday night. The reason he did (apart from his enervated campaigning and the fact that he started too late) is that Venus didn't deliver any lump-in-the-throat moments and wasn't that widely liked.

HIlary and "Casablanca"<< previous | next >>The Long Play

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on February 27, 2007 at 01:32 PM

comment #1

Breedlove says ...

The Oscars are such a funny window into human nature. This just seems so silly. Why in the world would a great artist like Peter O'Toole, a widely achnowledged master at his craft and the star of Lawrence Fucking Arabia, care about some bullshit meaningless political masturbatory high school popularity contest? Is this what art is about? And yet...I don't blame him. I'd probably want to win too.

Posted by Breedlove at February 27, 2007 02:19 PM

comment #2

erniesouchak says ...

Why does O'Toole look so waxy & embalmed? Is that a sign of facelift or something? It's freaky. "Venus" just isn't that good.

Posted by erniesouchak at February 27, 2007 02:22 PM

comment #3

Josh Massey says ...

He should have won for Club Paradise.

Posted by Josh Massey at February 27, 2007 02:24 PM

comment #4

actionman says ...

Venus was one of the best movies of the year and O'Toole was totally snubbed. He was PERFECT in Venus. Whitaker was great and all but c'mon, O'Toole is a fucking legend. And Jeff--what are u smoking? Venus wasn't well liked? Check out the reviews at rottentomatoes:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/venus/

100% cream of the crop...and everyone I know just adored the movie.

He should have won years ago and should have won this year. No class from the Academy to deny him yet again and to take close to 40 years to give Scorsese his due.

Posted by actionman at February 27, 2007 02:32 PM

comment #5

actionman says ...

and no lump in the throat moments? what movie were u watching? i never, ever get choked up during a movie and this one actually made my eyes water just a little.

Posted by actionman at February 27, 2007 02:34 PM

comment #6

Joshua Mooney says ...

Well said, Breedlove.

As for me, I cannot stand to watch the faces of the Oscars losers, even if the best person's truly won. It seems utterly intrusive and gratuitous, and I wonder who came up with the idea:

"Hey, I know! Let's put split-screen cameras on the faces of the nominees so we can catch the winner in his/her first moment of glory!"

---Uh, excuse me sir, but you'll have the faces of four losers on the same screen at the moment they lose. I mean, I'm just sayin'...

"That's the fucking POINT, you moron! Wallow in their despondency-- EVERYONE wants to see that! THAT's what America wants!"

I certainly didn't want a single nanosecond of O'Toole's losing expression and disappointment in any of the brain cells I might have left, so I LOOKED AWAY when the winner was announced. I turned my head in shame.

Jeff, did you personally SEE Peter's Macbeth at the Old Vic? It's certainly a legendary critical disaster. I've never heard a first-hand account of it, though I've read the reviews. I'd like to.

O'Toole rocks, far as I'm concerned. My wife actually had tears in her eyes when he lost. (We'd both seen "Last King" the week before).

Posted by Joshua Mooney at February 27, 2007 02:44 PM

comment #7

cjKennedy says ...

Is it possible Breedlove that actors are human beings who enjoy being appreciated by their peers however silly it may seem to those of us for whom the whole thing is just a horse race? He didn't do the pre-awards media circuit for his health and it's certainly not going to help his career at this point.

I didn't think Venus was all that great either, but ultimately I still would've liked seeing O'Toole win. Nothing against Forest Whitaker, but there you go.

Posted by cjKennedy at February 27, 2007 02:44 PM

comment #8

cjKennedy says ...

I agree showing the losers is evil and I'm also sorry to admit I couldn't help but watch for O'Toole's reaction.

Posted by cjKennedy at February 27, 2007 02:47 PM

comment #9

JD says ...

Speaking of showing the losers' reactions, I thought it was in really poor taste that Ellen approached Mark Wahlberg immediately after he lost to Alan Arkin. Wahlberg had a good sense of humor about it, but Ellen didn't know what she was doing and it was really awkward, I thought.

As for O'Toole never winning, people need to understand that winning an Oscar is a lottery -- in the sense that you never know who the competition might be -- and it isn't some terrible injustice if a great actor or director never wins. As someone else pointed out recently, O'Toole has had the misfortune of being nominated against some really incredible performances. He wasn't snubbed, he just had the bad luck of being faced with stiff competition. That said, I still thought his performance in Venus was much better than Whitaker's performance in Last King of Scotland.

Posted by JD at February 27, 2007 02:57 PM

comment #10

Mgmax says ...

BUT IT WAS THE YEAR OF THE SHOUTING BLACK MAN!

Posted by Mgmax at February 27, 2007 03:27 PM

comment #11

christian says ...

i have a different theory.

it looks like o'toole's face was registering due to lack of hearing. it took him a second to hear the name. he didn't look crestfallen. but then, i didn't gaze.

whose idea was it to show the other's faces after they considered it poor taste for years?

thank ziskin channeling mark burnett.

Posted by christian at February 27, 2007 03:35 PM

comment #12

Ray says ...

Well, I don't blame him for being hurt and disappointed.

At least he stayed there and enjoyed the evening and supported the winners, unlike one cocksucker I shall not name. Oh, what the hell - Eddie Murphy.

Posted by Ray at February 27, 2007 04:05 PM

comment #13

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Mooney: Yeah, I actually saw O'Toole in "Macbeth" at the Old Vic. I was in London in '80 to interview him for a GQ piece.

Posted by gruver1 at February 27, 2007 06:56 PM

comment #14

Terry McCarty says ...

In terms of VENUS not being widely liked (I certainly liked it), does that mean it wasn't considered by Oscar voters as "correct" enough in its sexuality or too "inside" in focusing on an aging actor in the twilight of his career?

Posted by Terry McCarty at February 28, 2007 01:12 AM

comment #15

Griff says ...

O'Toole interview? Can you post a link, maybe even digress from the giants of today (Britney and Eddie) to update your original interview with some additional thoughts, the kind of ruminations that age and experience can add?

Posted by Griff at February 28, 2007 06:55 AM

comment #16

adaml says ...

Well his facial spasms just prove he's not a good actor.

For someone with real ability look at Judi Dench's reaction. Her expression doesnt change a bit. I'm not kidding. Just no emotion, no reaction, nothing. To me it proved she deserved to beat Mirren. What an actress.

Posted by adaml at February 28, 2007 09:16 AM

comment #17

royalonemn says ...

"The Lion In Winter" O'Toole should have won for. That was the year the Academy made a big mistake. No better performance, just a better campaign by Cliff Roberston. (Note: I just noticed that in 1968, Alan Arkin and Peter O'Toole were both nominees for Best Actor, with Roberston winning. I think it is a shame that Arkin has an Oscar and O'Toole doesn't. Just my two cents.)

Posted by royalonemn at March 1, 2007 02:36 PM

comment #18