Robert Vaughan on his life
"I've made about 120 movies. I think maybe six are good. The two pictures that I'm most remembered for are two pictures I never thought would be successful. I thought The Magnificent Seven was going to be terrible. And I turned Bullitt down four times. I thought, 'This'll be another dumb picture with a car chase.'" -- Robert Vaughan speaking to The Observer's Sanjiv Bhattacharya.
What are the other four? My choices are The Young Philadelphians, The Man from Independence, The Bridge at Remagen and The Towering Inferno. None of these are wonderful, but they're decent.
"To to be a well-known actor growing up in Hollywood, and to have money in your pocket is like having died and gone to heaven. Hollywood is where every beautiful girl in the world between the ages of 18 and 22 comes to become movie stars. By the time they get to 24, most of them are gone, but we got them while they were there."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 8, 2007 at 4:32 PM
comment #1
Craig Kennedy
says ...
I'm going to go with S.O.B. Call it a guilty pleasure.
Posted by Craig Kennedy
at April 8, 2007 5:00 PM
comment #2
Arran
says ...
No love for BASEketball? Harsh.
Posted by Arran
at April 8, 2007 5:04 PM
comment #3
Silverscreenvideos
says ...
Robert Vaughn is one of the most intelligent actors in Hollywood, but my respect for him disappeared when he did those hire-a-lawyer commercials that air endlessly during the Jerry Springer show.
Posted by Silverscreenvideos
at April 8, 2007 5:21 PM
comment #4
Eddie
says ...
I've always liked Joe's Apartment, myself.
Posted by Eddie
at April 8, 2007 6:46 PM
comment #5
christian
says ...
i'm glad he's working again. he was a bad man in BULLITT...
Posted by christian
at April 8, 2007 6:50 PM
comment #6
Bob Violence
says ...
C'mon, people, Pootie Tang!
Posted by Bob Violence
at April 8, 2007 6:50 PM
comment #7
The Winchester
says ...
Dammit Aaran, first you say exactly what I was planning on saying in that smoking post, then you beat me to the BASEketball line. Damn you.
Or, the flip side, you and I are just two geniuses. I like that theory.
Posted by The Winchester
at April 8, 2007 7:11 PM
comment #8
Arran
says ...
Anyone ever notice how me and Winchester never post at the same time? Eerie. :)
Posted by Arran
at April 8, 2007 7:57 PM
comment #9
The Winchester
says ...
Anyone ever notice how me and Arran never post at the same time, either? Eerier.
Posted by The Winchester
at April 8, 2007 8:22 PM
comment #10
Arran
says ...
Ever notice...
All right, game's over. :D
Posted by Arran
at April 8, 2007 8:32 PM
comment #11
JD
says ...
He does have a uniquely bland filmography. I'll throw my hat in the ring for S.O.B., Battle Beyond the Stars (written by John Sayles!), Superman 3, and Demon Seed, although only his voice appears in that movie.
Posted by JD
at April 8, 2007 8:50 PM
comment #12
Terry McCarty
says ...
Haven't read it (yet), but Vaughn's ONLY VICTIMS--a history of the blacklist--has received acclaim.
Posted by Terry McCarty
at April 8, 2007 10:23 PM
comment #13
Cadavra
says ...
Come on, people! Surely we all haven't forgotten TEENAGE CAVEMAN???
Posted by Cadavra
at April 8, 2007 11:04 PM
comment #14
Arizona Joe
says ...
Come in Napoleon Solo, Mr. Waverly calling.
They should remake "Man from Uncle" with the sensibility of Matthew Vaughn, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels."
I guess paternity tests showed Matthew was an ersatz fils. Nevertheless, it makes sense.
Posted by Arizona Joe
at April 9, 2007 2:13 AM
comment #15
romeoisbleeding
says ...
Just watched Bullitt again after all these years because of the movie Zodiac. There is a great tiny scene in Zodiac where Avery(Downey) calls out to Toschi.."hey Bullitt"! loved it. The movie is interesting still. The car chase still holds up. There is an extras feature that goes into how it was filmed and it is very cool. Love comparing the San Francisco of the time that movie was filmed in with Zodiac. Damn good companion films. Totally going off topic here but I just watched Chinatown again. ( maybe I am watching so many old movies because there is so much crap out now) anyway.. there is an interesting comment made in the extras on Chinatown by Bob Towne about how that movie would not be made now. Not enough explosions .. pacing too slow etc. I loved it again.. great movie and it reminds me of Zodiac too. But back to Bullitt... I had a hard time finding a copy of it in the donkeytown I live in. That really hit me.. you can find scores of wretched movies in your local video stores but try and find a classic like Bullitt and the young staff goes huh?? I had to order it on line.
Posted by romeoisbleeding
at April 9, 2007 5:48 AM
comment #16
BNick
says ...
You're all forgetting about Superman 3!!
Wait...Superman 3 was horrible. Nevermind.
Posted by BNick
at April 9, 2007 6:01 AM
comment #17
The Winchester
says ...
Not for nothing, but I'd be damn proud to have "CHUD II: Bud the Chud" on my roster of films.
And I'm writing this without a hint of irony.
Posted by The Winchester
at April 9, 2007 9:30 AM
comment #18
Dan Revill
says ...
What? No love for the endlessly fun The Magnificent Seven?
Posted by Dan Revill
at April 9, 2007 9:43 AM
comment #19
frankbooth
says ...
Robert Vaughan? Yeah, pretty boring. At least he's able to realistically assess his body of work.
Looks like things are back to normal around here. Jeffrey must have finally run out of vitriol and collapsed. It was one helluva run. Very entertaining.
Posted by frankbooth
at April 9, 2007 9:47 AM
comment #20
Joe Leydon
says ...
What about all those Man from UNCLE "movies" -- which actually were extended versions of TV episodes? They played mostly in Europe, but I remember seeing a few in first-run theaters during the '60s. How about One Spy Too Many (with Rip Torn) or The Karate Killers (with -- no kidding -- Joan Crawford)?
Posted by Joe Leydon
at April 9, 2007 10:23 AM
comment #21
Patrick
says ...
At least Jeff has attacked his lackluster work
BEFORE he passes away instead of on the day of
his last breath!
Posted by Patrick
at April 9, 2007 10:25 AM
comment #22
thebuddha
says ...
I remember when Robert Vauggn came to my house in New Canaan with eyes on purchasing it. I thought he was the balls b/c of Superman III (I was six at the time, give me a break).
Little did I know he probably only there to stare at my sister's skirt.
Dirty, dirty old B-movie legend (is that phrase redundant?)
Posted by thebuddha
at April 9, 2007 10:59 AM
comment #23
christian
says ...
a post about robert vaughn?
now we're kickin' it old skool!
Posted by christian
at April 9, 2007 11:12 AM
comment #24
Rich S.
says ...
For some reason, my most vivid memory of Robert Vaughn in The Magnificent Seven is of those damn black leather gloves. I'm sure other characters in the movie wore gloves, but the only thing I can remember is Vaughn constantly fiddling with his.
I did think he was pretty cool in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., though. No Teenage Caveman, but still.
Posted by Rich S.
at April 9, 2007 11:33 AM
comment #25
Rich S.
says ...
IMDB says he was an uncredited extra on The Ten Commandments. He was, apparently, "Hebrew Spear Man near Golden Calf." That's got to be near or at #1 on the list.
Posted by Rich S.
at April 9, 2007 11:39 AM
comment #26
BNick
says ...
I also remember the leather gloves from the Magnificent Seven. His characther, Lee, was by far the most decked-out of the gang. He even had a fancy vest. But I think he was the only one with gloves out of the seven.
But his character was also the guy who had lost his nerve, and was frozen in fear against a wall for most of the fighting, before gathering the courage to kick in a door and free a group of kids being held by Calvera's men. Then he walked out of the door nonchalantly and got blown away.
Cool death scene, though. He was kind of propped up against the wall and, to paraphrase Frank Costello, "He fell funny."
Posted by BNick
at April 9, 2007 12:18 PM