Alan Ladd Rediscovered
We all have experienced changes in our tastes or preferences, be it for food, art, people, the way we want to spend our lives, et cetera. Having grown up with classic Hollywood films, my taste in genres and actors have changed over the years too. This is a natural result from exploring the unfamiliar and investing more time in an unknown genre or checking out the filmography of a certain actor whose first acquaintance might have been unsatisfactory.
Such an experience I had with Alan Ladd and the film Shane. It was the first film I'd seen him in, an encounter that took place in my childhood. The only thing of Shane that had stuck in my mind was that kid Brandon de Wilde yelling "Shane ... come back ..." which wasn't a good memory. When I rewatched Shane in October 2015 after decades, this western, which was supposed to be a masterpiece and which I had no memory of other than the whining boy (who still annoyed me), was again disappointing. I still didn't like Alan Ladd very much and I was a bit indifferent to the story of him and the boy. I was more focused on Jean Arthur and Van Heflin, Heflin's character being my favourite one of the film. I had also seen Heflin in Johnny Eager shortly before that and really liked him. So my attention was not directed towards Ladd at all.
Shane was forgotten again and so was Ladd. In January 2016, I watched The Proud Rebel, with Ladd playing a character similar to the one he played in Shane. I remember liking this film and I liked Ladd's interactions with his real-life son David but I primarily sought out this film for Olivia de Havilland. In the same year I also watched This Gun For Hire and The Blue Dahlia, for both Ladd and Veronica Lake. I did like Ladd and his chemistry with Lake but I wasn't sold yet. It didn't make me check out more of his films.
Last year I had the chance to see Shane on the big screen and this time it made more of an impression. I'm still not convinced that the film is worthy of its reputation and again I was more interested in Jean Arthur and Van Heflin than in Alan Ladd. I saw Ladd later that year in a small part in Joan of Paris but though he left an impression, he still wasn't my main focus.
The CHANGE came last month when I was watching Bonita Granville films and picked The Glass Key. It made me like Alan Ladd instantly, almost as if I had discovered a new actor. I decided to explore his filmography and also to read up on his life off-screen, since I knew nothing about him and was not even aware that he was such a big star in the 1940s and 1950s. (I'm also working on a post on his life story so stay tuned!)
Below you'll see the list of Ladd films I've seen so far, most films I have seen last March and this month. I love binge-watching films of a specific actor and spending time with that person and feeling that you get to know him. The more I watched Ladd, the more I liked his calm demeanour, his soulful and gentle eyes, the way he quietly takes in his surroundings. Also that beautiful deep voice, the delivery of his lines, and the genuine sweet smile (on the rare occasion he smiles). Yes, I'm afraid I have a little bit of a crush. (This is no rarity since it also happened to me when I was binge-watching films of Tyrone Power, or Herbert Marshall, or Brian Aherne, et cetera ....)
Alan Ladd films seen so far to this date, in watching order (with the month and year when I watched it):
*Shane (first seen in childhood, rewatched in October 2015, and on the big screen in March 2018)
*The Proud Rebel (January 2016)
*This Gun For Hire (February 2016)
*The Blue Dahlia (February 2016)
*Joan of Paris (October 2018)
*The Glass Key (March 2019)
*Appointment with Danger (March 2019)
*China (March 2019)
*Calcutta (March 2019)
*Lucky Jordan (April 2019)
*The McConnell Story (April 2019)
*Thunder in the East (April 2019)
*And Now Tomorrow (April 2019)
*Saigon (April 2019)
*Hell on Frisco Bay (April 2019)
*The Badlanders (April 2019)
*Branded (April 2019)
*Whispering Smith (April 2019)
*Beyond Glory (April 2019)
*Chicago Deadline (April 2019)
All films I've seen only once, except for Shane which I saw three times (and requires another viewing, now I love Ladd).
After publication of this post I might continue watching Ladd films for the remainder of this month. You can see what else I watched and read my thoughts on all films seen this month in my round-up post of April.
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
Shane was forgotten again and so was Ladd. In January 2016, I watched The Proud Rebel, with Ladd playing a character similar to the one he played in Shane. I remember liking this film and I liked Ladd's interactions with his real-life son David but I primarily sought out this film for Olivia de Havilland. In the same year I also watched This Gun For Hire and The Blue Dahlia, for both Ladd and Veronica Lake. I did like Ladd and his chemistry with Lake but I wasn't sold yet. It didn't make me check out more of his films.
Last year I had the chance to see Shane on the big screen and this time it made more of an impression. I'm still not convinced that the film is worthy of its reputation and again I was more interested in Jean Arthur and Van Heflin than in Alan Ladd. I saw Ladd later that year in a small part in Joan of Paris but though he left an impression, he still wasn't my main focus.
The CHANGE came last month when I was watching Bonita Granville films and picked The Glass Key. It made me like Alan Ladd instantly, almost as if I had discovered a new actor. I decided to explore his filmography and also to read up on his life off-screen, since I knew nothing about him and was not even aware that he was such a big star in the 1940s and 1950s. (I'm also working on a post on his life story so stay tuned!)
Below you'll see the list of Ladd films I've seen so far, most films I have seen last March and this month. I love binge-watching films of a specific actor and spending time with that person and feeling that you get to know him. The more I watched Ladd, the more I liked his calm demeanour, his soulful and gentle eyes, the way he quietly takes in his surroundings. Also that beautiful deep voice, the delivery of his lines, and the genuine sweet smile (on the rare occasion he smiles). Yes, I'm afraid I have a little bit of a crush. (This is no rarity since it also happened to me when I was binge-watching films of Tyrone Power, or Herbert Marshall, or Brian Aherne, et cetera ....)
Alan Ladd films seen so far to this date, in watching order (with the month and year when I watched it):
*Shane (first seen in childhood, rewatched in October 2015, and on the big screen in March 2018)
*The Proud Rebel (January 2016)
*This Gun For Hire (February 2016)
*The Blue Dahlia (February 2016)
*Joan of Paris (October 2018)
*The Glass Key (March 2019)
*Appointment with Danger (March 2019)
*China (March 2019)
*Calcutta (March 2019)
*Lucky Jordan (April 2019)
*The McConnell Story (April 2019)
*Thunder in the East (April 2019)
*And Now Tomorrow (April 2019)
*Saigon (April 2019)
*Hell on Frisco Bay (April 2019)
*The Badlanders (April 2019)
*Branded (April 2019)
*Whispering Smith (April 2019)
*Beyond Glory (April 2019)
*Chicago Deadline (April 2019)
All films I've seen only once, except for Shane which I saw three times (and requires another viewing, now I love Ladd).
After publication of this post I might continue watching Ladd films for the remainder of this month. You can see what else I watched and read my thoughts on all films seen this month in my round-up post of April.
Coming to the end of this post, I want to mention that I just rewatched the ending of Shane because in the YouTube documentary Alan Ladd: The True Quiet Man Ladd's son David says that the ending still makes him cry. I wanted to see how I would feel after having spent all this time with Ladd while watching his films and reading about his life, and I have to say, seeing him as Shane ride off into the distance, with the beautiful music playing, indeed made me teary-eyed too. (Gonna rewatch Shane in its entirety soon!)
I'm going to end this post on a happy note, with two gifs of the happy ending from Branded (gifs made by yours truly). Here Ladd looks happy — even though it's fictional — but I'd like to believe that despite all the hardships he had endured during his life (see upcoming post) he still found some happiness in his work and family life. He sure made a lot of people happy with his films and he will never be forgotten.
I'm going to end this post on a happy note, with two gifs of the happy ending from Branded (gifs made by yours truly). Here Ladd looks happy — even though it's fictional — but I'd like to believe that despite all the hardships he had endured during his life (see upcoming post) he still found some happiness in his work and family life. He sure made a lot of people happy with his films and he will never be forgotten.
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
*Alan Ladd;
*Shane (1953) with Alan Ladd and Brandon de Wilde;
*Shane (1953) with Alan Ladd;
*This Gun For Hire (1942) with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake;
*This Gun For Hire (1942) with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake;
*The Glass Key (1942) with Alan Ladd;
*The Glass Key (1942) with Alan Ladd;
*Whispering Smith (1948) with Alan Ladd and Brenda Marshall;
*China (1943) with Alan Ladd and William Bendix;
*Appointment With Danger (1950) with Alan Ladd;
*Appointment With Danger (1950) with Alan Ladd;
*Branded (1950) with Alan Ladd and Mona Freeman; (gif by me)
*Branded (1950) with Alan Ladd and Mona Freeman. (gif by me)