Such is the claim -- and it's got to be untrue -- that Entertainment Weekly makes for the case of the new "
Poseidon Adventure" film:
Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Josh Lucas (don't flame me; he's not A-list yet), Emmy Rossum, Andre Braugher (as the captain), Jacinda Barrett, Mia Maestro, Kevin Dillon (Entourage), Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under), and now, EW reports in next week's issue: Fergie! The Black Eyed Peas chanteuse is not only one of the passengers on the doomed ocean liner, but she's also contributing to the soundtrack three tunes she co-composed with John Legend and fellow Pea will.i.am.
Come on, commenters, name some movies with more awesome B-list casts. I mean, just to start off with the obvious, there's
the original "Poseidon Adventure" cast:
Gene Hackman
Ernest Borgnine
Red Buttons
Carol Lynley (of "Harlow" and "Bunny Lake is Missing")
Roddy McDowall ("Beware the beast man, for he is the Devil's pawn.")
Stella Stevens (Appassionata Von Climax!)
Shelley Winters
Jack Albertson (Grandpa Joe!)
Pamela Sue Martin
Even more stunning is the cast of "
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure":
Michael Caine
Sally Field
Telly Savalas
Peter Boyle
Jack Warden
Shirley Knight
Shirley Jones
Karl Malden
Slim Pickens
Veronica Hamel (Admit it: you were in love with Joyce Davenport!)
Angela Cartwright
Mark Harmon
(How many Oscars does that group have, by the way?)
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24 comments:
This is off the top of my head -- no cheating with IMDB. Academy Awards:
Hackman 2: French Connection/Unforgiven
Field 2: Norma Rae/Places in the Sun
Borgnine 1: Marty
Winters 1: Patch of Blue? Place in the Sun?
Caine 2: Hannah and Her Sisters and Cider House Rules
Shirley Jones 1: Elmer Gantry
Malden 1: Streetcar Named Desire
I think Buttons was nominated for "Sayonara" but I can't remember if he won and Boyle should've won for "Young Frankenstein."
As far as greater B-list? "Maltese Falcon." Bogart wasn't yet a star -- he was still B-list then playing Cagney's nemesis or the adult in Dead End Kids' movies. It was even John Houston's first film. But there was also Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Elisha Cook Jr., Ward Bond, and even Walter Houston in a bit part.
And Joyce Davenport had the most beautiful back in television. Not butt. Back. I can see it now. Yowza.
Dirty Harry: Also without checking, I'm certain Shelley Winters won an Oscar for "The Diary of Anne Frank," because I saw that Oscar displayed at the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam (and considered it a strange thing to have there).
And Kevin Dillon alone will be worth sitting through yet another completely unnecessary remake.
I still remember seeing the original at the theatre when I was 5. I never got Gene Hackman's death out of my head.
Ann: You're right. It's Anne Frank. And I think she only won that one.
I'd love you to blog someday about your visit to the Frank house when the mood moves you.
Just checked a few things: Buttons actually won an Oscar for "Sayonara."
Shelly Winters won for "Anne Frank" and "Patch of Blue." And she was nominated for "Poseidon Adventure" (and won a Golden Globe). She was also nominated for "Place in the Sun." (BTW, the Sally Field movie is "Places in the Heart.")
You're right about Malden. He also was nominated for "Waterfront."
How about "The Longest Day" or "How The West Was Won?"
Great casts but mostly A-listers: The Duke was in both, Jimmy Stewart, Mitchum, Red Buttons (again), etc...
Great Escape
Kelly's Heroes
hmmm...speaking of war pics, Saving Private Ryan?
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Do Rat Pack pictures count? If so, then you know the usual suspects.
Take a little comedy like Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion:
Sorvino (Oscar)
Kudrow (Emmy)
Camryn Manheim (Emmy, Golden Globe)
Alan Cumming (Tony)
awards...feh.
Mojican: Great choices. "How the West Was Won" has:
Carroll Baker
Lee J. Cobb
Henry Fonda
Carolyn Jones (not being ookie at all)
Karl Malden
Gregory Peck
George Peppard
Robert Preston
Debbie Reynolds
James Stewart
Eli Wallach
John Wayne
Richard Widmark
Brigid Bazlen
Walter Brennan
Andy Devine
Raymond Massey (as Abraham Lincoln)
Agnes Moorehead
Thelma Ritter
Russ Tamblyn
Whoops, should have edited out Brigid Bazlen, whoever she is.
Harry: I have a set of drawings from the Anne Frank house, with notes. I'll scan them sometime and put them up.
Greatest musical cast: "Till The Clouds Roll By?
June Allyson
Lucille Bremer
Judy Garland
Kathryn Grayson
Van Heflin
Lena Horne
Van Johnson
Tony Martin
Dinah Shore
Frank Sinatra
Robert Walker
Gower Champion
Or: "Ziegfeld Follies?"
Fred Astaire
Lucille Ball
Lucille Bremer
Fanny Brice
Judy Garland
Kathryn Grayson
Lena Horne
Gene Kelly
Red Skelton
Esther Williams
William Powell
Edward Arnold
Cyd Charisse
Hume Cronyn
William Frawley
Virginia O'Brien
Keenan Wynn
Van Johnson
Peter Lawford
I irrationally award it to "Till the Clouds Roll By" because Sinatra's in that one.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World jumped right to mind. The newer version 'Rat Race' also had quite the B-List cast.
Shelley Winters was actually asked to audition (!!) for the role in Poseidon Adventure. The story I heard is that she walked in with a little carpet bag, opened it up and removed her Anne Frank Oscar, slammed it on the table and said, "Here's my audition. There's some people who think I can act!"
MJB Wolf: Why are all the women lawyers named Davenport? There are so many other choices: Sofa, Couch, Loveseat, Settee, Divan, Chesterfield.
I'm beginning to think almost any "Star Wars" movie, especially the last 3, could be considered. About the only A-listers would be Harrison Ford and Alec Guiness. Ewan McGregor is borderline and (I think) get there.
If nothing else, the latest episode is probably the largest grossing movie by a B-list cast.
Elizabeth: The Oscar I saw was all beaten up, so maybe Shirley was always banging it around to make a point.
Robert Altman films anyone? In particular, Nashville and Short Cuts, although I'm sure you could throw in M.A.S.H. and Gosford Park as well.
Ann: Naming a woman lawyer character Loveseat is only possible in a Bond film!
and Divan is a flammingly gay guy, not a woman, who's worked in John Waters films....oh, wait, that's Divine...m'bad.
I wanna see a film where John Waters plays Steve Buscemi and Steve Buscemi plays John Waters...and John Goodman plays Divine!
And Veronica Hamel was in a couple episodes of "Rockford." That's two Davenports in an awfully small trailer.
Michael Caine is not B-list!! He's beyond list -- a working stiff of indestructible modesty. A (working) class act. You're not on a list unless you care.
What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?
James Coburn
Dick Shawn
Aldo Ray
Harry Morgan
Carroll O'Connor
Vito Scotti
Jay Novello
I don't think this was mentioned yet, but how about The Magnificent Seven?
It includes:
Yul Brynner,Eli Wallach,Steve McQueen,Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughan and James Coburn
Or what about Glengarry Glen Ross with:
Jack Lemmon,Al Pacino,Ed Harris,Alan Arkin,Kevin Spacey,Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Pryce
(Aside from Pacino, most of these could not carry a film).
Also, the film Magnolia has quite a few modern day B-listers, but talented ones.
I think some of the films mentioned kind of straddle the line between having a lot of B-listers, and having a lot of name actors period (like The Longest Day)
My favorite disaster B-flick of current years is instant classic
10.5.
Fred Ward riding a nuke dropped into the San Andreas Fault? The dialogue is hilarious, the acting wooden, the plot completely preposterous. Doesn't get much better than this, people.
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