Gentleman Joseph Cotten
“I didn't care about the movies really. I was tall. I could talk. It was easy to do.”
Binge-watching films of Joseph Cotten made me want to write a little blog post about him. (Since I've done the same for Alan Ladd and Robert Young ...) Cotten is one of those actors to whom I was a bit indifferent, even though I had already seen him in enough films to form an opinion. I didn't find him particular attractive nor did I really like his distinctive voice (now I do). I did consider him to be a solid actor (though he never excelled in a performance) but in films where he played the romantic lead, he didn't make my romantic heart beat faster.
The reason I wanted to see more Cotten films was because the Filmoteca had programmed The Magnificent Ambersons this month and it just reminded me that there were so many Cotten films I hadn't seen yet. I was especially looking forward to seeing Portrait with Jennie with Jennifer Jones. While exploring an actor's filmography I usually start liking the actor more than when I started the binge and I wasn't really surprised that the same thing happened with Mr. Cotten. Whereas I had never found him attractive before, I did swoon over him a bit while seeing some new-to-me films.
“Orson Welles lists Citizen Kane as his best film, Alfred Hitchcock opts for Shadow of a Doubt and Sir Carol Reed chose The Third Man — and I'm in all of them.”
Joseph Cotten (15 May 1905 – 6 February 1994) was born in Petersburg, Virginia, as the son of a well-to-do assistant postmaster. Young Jo (as he was nicknamed) preferred sports and theater over academics. He played semi-professional football in Washington and worked as a lifeguard at Wilcox Lake. After studying acting at the Hickman School of Speech and Expression in Washington, he found jobs as an advertising agent and a theater critic. The latter job led him to pursue an acting career on the stage and he made his debut on Broadway in 1930. Later on he would play the leading roles in the original stage productions of The Philadelphia Story (1939) with Katharine Hepburn and Sabrina Fair (1953) with Margaret Sullavan.
He is best known for his connection with Orson Welles, who gave him a start in Hollywood and with whom he became good friends. They met in 1934 and Cotten became a member of Welles' Mercury Theatre company in 1937. Welles later told Cotten: "You're very lucky to be tall and thin and have curly hair. You can also move about the stage without running into the furniture. But these are fringe assets, and I'm afraid you'll never make it as an actor. But as a star, I think you well might hit the jackpot." Cotten performed in Broadway productions and also did radio work. In 1938, he made his film debut in Too Much Johnson, a silent comedy film written and directed by Welles, which was never screened in public and was even believed to be lost until a print was found in 2008. The film eventually premiered in 2013.
Cotten and Welles worked together on three films, Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons and Journey Into Fear (which Cotten wrote). Citizen Kane became a commercial disappointment and The Magnificent Ambersons was also a box-office failure, though well received by the critics. Journey Into Fear became a minor hit, and Welles, who assisted Cotten with writing the screenplay (Welles went uncredited), was dropped by RKO Pictures after the production was completed. Cotten and Welles wouldn't work together until 1949 when they were reunited for The Third Man.
The collaboration between Cotten and Welles stopped (temporarily) in 1943 when Cotten mentioned to Welles that Selznick wanted to make a couple of films with him, whereupon Welles tore up Cotten's contract with Mercury Productions. Cotten signed up with Selznick and made films like Since You Went Away, I'll Be Seeing You, Duel in the Sun and Portrait of Jennie. Throughout the 1940s Cotten was a leading man, playing romantic parts in Selznick films, and having one of his most famous roles as uncle Charlie in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. He also starred with Welles in the highly acclaimed The Third Man.
The 1950s saw a decline in good film roles for Cotten, and though he stayed active in making films, he also ventured into television. One of his better films later on in his career was Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte with Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. In 1960 he got married for the second time, to actress Patricia Medina, after his first wife Lenore Kipp had died of leukemia (they were married from 1931 till 1960). Medina and Cotten stayed married until his death of pneumonia in 1994. Cotten wrote an autobiography Vanity Will Get You Somewhere: An Autobiography, published in 1987. He never got recognition for his film performances at the Academy Awards. The only award he ever received was at the Venice Film Festival, the International Award for Best Actor of 1949 for Portrait of Jennie.
So reading a bit about Cotten's life and seeing more of his films made me really like him. He also seemed like a nice person in real life and faithful in his friendships and marriages. His friendship with Orson Welles lasted until Welles' death in 1985 and both of his marriages lasted decades.
Apparently he held his hometown Petersburg and the townspeople dear to his heart and visited whenever he could. When The Progress-Index, the daily Petersburg newspaper, ran a story about Cotten's death in 1994, a certain Jean Minson told the paper about her meeting Cotten in the 1940s. He was visiting Petersburg at the time and she was a 15-year-old girl dying to meet him. When Cotten was leaving for the train station, his father called Minson to tell her that she should better get a move on if she still wanted to see him. Cotten was kind enough to wait an extra 20 minutes for her because he didn't want to disappoint her. Minson said about him: "He was very gracious, a perfect gentleman." And that he was, a gentleman. Also his screen image was that of an elegant man with a quiet manner, soft-spoken and kind. Even when he played the bad guy, there was a duality in his character, a good side opposite the bad one. He could easily switch between the two sides and his performances were often restrained and subtle.
According to Welles, Cotten preferred to play supporting roles and never felt comfortable as a leading man. Despite the fact that he starred in some of the greatest films ever made, he was never considered a big star and was actually underrated as an actor. I think if it hadn't been for Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten would pretty much have been forgotten today.
Well then, finally .... here's the list of the Joseph Cotten films I have seen so far, in watching order:
According to Welles, Cotten preferred to play supporting roles and never felt comfortable as a leading man. Despite the fact that he starred in some of the greatest films ever made, he was never considered a big star and was actually underrated as an actor. I think if it hadn't been for Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten would pretty much have been forgotten today.
Well then, finally .... here's the list of the Joseph Cotten films I have seen so far, in watching order:
*Gaslight (seen in childhood)
*Niagara (childhood)
*Shadow of a Doubt (childhood, and rewatched on the big screen in September 2018)
*Citizen Kane (watched with ex-boyfriend #3, so must have been between 2008 and 2011)
*September Affair (November 2014)
*Half Angel (April 2015)
*I'll Be Seeing You (April 2015)
*Since You Went Away (July 2015)
*September Affair (November 2014)
*Half Angel (April 2015)
*I'll Be Seeing You (April 2015)
*Since You Went Away (July 2015)
*A Blueprint For Murder (October 2015)
*Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte (June 2016)
*Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte (June 2016)
*The Man with a Cloak (February 2017)
*Peking Express (June 2019)
*The Steel Trap (June 2019)
*Love Letters (June 2019)
*Portrait of Jennie (June 2019)
*Walk Softly, Stranger (June 2019)
*The Farmer's Daughter (June 2019)
*Hers To Hold (June 2019)
*The Magnificent Ambersons (June 2019)
*Journey Into Fear (June 2019)
*Peking Express (June 2019)
*The Steel Trap (June 2019)
*Love Letters (June 2019)
*Portrait of Jennie (June 2019)
*Walk Softly, Stranger (June 2019)
*The Farmer's Daughter (June 2019)
*Hers To Hold (June 2019)
*The Magnificent Ambersons (June 2019)
*Journey Into Fear (June 2019)
NOTE: I have never seen The Third Man in its entirety and therefore will not list it as seen. Though I have it available to me, I want to wait until it will be shown on the big screen, some day. A first watch experience is something special and with a highly acclaimed film like The Third Man, it will be worth the wait. Of the films I've seen in childhood, I can't remember exactly which one I saw first but if I would have had to guess, I think Gaslight was the first film I saw Cotten in.
Gaslight and Niagara I can remember having enjoyed way back when but I can't really recall Cotten's part in them very well. Both definitely need a rewatch. I find Citizen Kane a bit overrated but I also want to rewatch it (preferably on the big screen). The cinematography by Gregg Toland is of course first-rate. Of the other films seen prior to this month I really liked I'll Be Seeing You and the romance between Ginger Rogers and Cotten. Also Since You Went Away was very entertaining, with a likeable role for Cotten. I was hoping he and Claudette Colbert would get together but the fact that they didn't and that he continued to be her friend, also her husband's (who in the end returned from the war), showed what a really great guy he was and Cotten played him well.
I can remember liking A Blueprint For Murder and The Man with a Cloak and I also totally enjoyed Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte. The last one wasn't as scary as I thought it would be but I can remember the gorgeous cinematography. Both Half Angel and September Affair were not very good. Half Angel is a silly comedy with Loretta Young sleepwalking and September Affair could have been a good and compelling drama if it wasn't for the unethical story premise. To fake your own death in order to escape a loveless marriage is not the way to go about things. Still, I want to rewatch it some day and maybe some of the other Cotten films as well, since liking him better now I'm bound to swoon over him during some of these rewatches.
For the Cotten films seen this month, read my upcoming round-up post of June with notes and thoughts.
Of course I hope to see more of Mr. Cotten's films, though I have seen the best ones already (except for The Third Man). I might even watch some more this last week of June after having published this post. But so far it's been an absolute pleasure!
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
Gaslight and Niagara I can remember having enjoyed way back when but I can't really recall Cotten's part in them very well. Both definitely need a rewatch. I find Citizen Kane a bit overrated but I also want to rewatch it (preferably on the big screen). The cinematography by Gregg Toland is of course first-rate. Of the other films seen prior to this month I really liked I'll Be Seeing You and the romance between Ginger Rogers and Cotten. Also Since You Went Away was very entertaining, with a likeable role for Cotten. I was hoping he and Claudette Colbert would get together but the fact that they didn't and that he continued to be her friend, also her husband's (who in the end returned from the war), showed what a really great guy he was and Cotten played him well.
I can remember liking A Blueprint For Murder and The Man with a Cloak and I also totally enjoyed Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte. The last one wasn't as scary as I thought it would be but I can remember the gorgeous cinematography. Both Half Angel and September Affair were not very good. Half Angel is a silly comedy with Loretta Young sleepwalking and September Affair could have been a good and compelling drama if it wasn't for the unethical story premise. To fake your own death in order to escape a loveless marriage is not the way to go about things. Still, I want to rewatch it some day and maybe some of the other Cotten films as well, since liking him better now I'm bound to swoon over him during some of these rewatches.
For the Cotten films seen this month, read my upcoming round-up post of June with notes and thoughts.
Of course I hope to see more of Mr. Cotten's films, though I have seen the best ones already (except for The Third Man). I might even watch some more this last week of June after having published this post. But so far it's been an absolute pleasure!
PHOTOS/GIFS IN THIS POST FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:
*Joseph Cotten; (2 photos)
*The Philadelphia Story (1939), a play with Katharine Hepburn and Joseph Cotten;
*Sabrina Fair (1953) with H.C. (Hank) Potter, Joseph Cotten, Margaret Sullavan and Samuel Taylor at rehearsals, October 1953;
*The Third Man (1949) with Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles joking around on the set;
*Joseph Cotten as best man at the wedding of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in Santa Monica, California, on 7 September 1943;
*Gaslight (1944) with Joseph Cotten;
*I’ll Be Seeing You (1944) with Ginger Rogers and Joseph Cotten;
*Since You Went Away (1944) with Claudette Colbert and Joseph Cotten;
*Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) with Olivia de Havilland and Joseph Cotten;
*September Affair (1950) with Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotten;
*Shadow of a Doubt (1943) with Joseph Cotten;
*Citizen Kane (1941) with Joseph Cotten.