22 thoughts on “MCM: Kirk Douglas

  1. I’ve actually seen Lust for Life, Gunfight at the OK Corral and I think Spartacus. I’d like to see The Vikings for the man candy.

  2. There is also 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (as a kid it’s how I discovered Kirk!!:). It’s supposed to be set in 1868

  3. I have to share the love for “Man from Snowy River”, the costumes are pretty darned nice, in my memory (albeit with a woeful lack of hairpins). Sigrid Thornton is amazing in pretty much everything she does.

  4. Thanks for including Oscar. It’s a wonderful farce, (with surprisingly good costumes) and doesn’t get a lot of attention.

  5. I love The Big Sky, an very underrated Howard Hawks film. Kirk is so charming and fun in this movie, which includes a strong Native American woman, (actually played by Elizabeth Threatt, who was Cherokee on her father’s side) and a great speech by Arthur Hunnicutt, playing a mountain man : ”Blackfeet… proud injuns. They ain’t gonna let no white man spile their country. The only thing they’a feared of is a white man’s sickness.
    Boone Cardell: What’s that?
    Zeb Calloway: Grabs. White men don’t see nothing pretty unless they want to grab it. The more they grab, the more they want to grab. It’s like a fever and they can’t get cured. The only thing for them to do is to keep on grabbin’ until everything belongs to white men and then start grabbin’ from each other. I reckon injuns got no reason to love nothing white.”

  6. Just watched that iconic ‘I’m Spartacus’ clip and for the first time realised what a bunch of dickheads they all were…he says ‘identify THE BODY or the living person of Spartacus’ you morons, pick some corpse with its face conveniently hacked off, and DON’T get crucified! Bloody men mumble mutter moan

    1. On the other hand, it inspired some fine moments in “Life of Brian” (as in, approximately, “Welease Woger!” “I’m Woger!” “No, I’m Woger!”).

  7. This is kind of disgusting and harrowing on the day that Harvey Weinstein is found guilty of the same kind of crimes…

    1. AFAIK, there was one unsubstantiated rumor connected to Kirk Douglas vs. many, many corroborated direct accusations against Weinstein. Very different. Believe the victims, but belive them when they actually accuse someone of something.

      1. I really don’t get this either. One woman’s life destroyed is okay? Because there’s more evil monsters out there? There are good reasons that miss Wood didn’t (and couldn’t) sue Mr Douglas in her days, which makes it even more tragic that this site chooses to openly celebrate what a great and sexy actor her abuser was. History has been very unkind to women – you of all people should know that!

      2. So, basically, we have returned to not believing women who come out against famous men. Remember, the Weinstein accusations were also “unsubstantiated ” before a few years ago – any accuser was laughed at, their careers ruined. Let’s cut the misogyny (internal or otherwise) and call it like it is. It’s one thing to enjoy Kirk’s films, and I admit to liking a few myself. But we need to properly acknowledge the victims, separate the art from the artist, and (most importantly in this thread) not vilify those who choose to speak their valid disgust regarding this matter.

  8. Of the above, I’m only familiar with clips of “Spartacus” my teachers showed us. As such, I’m more interested in Saul Bass’ directing for the final battle. (Organic looking for Spartacus’ side, geometric and lifeless on the other.)

    The only Kirk Douglas movie I remember seeing all the way is “It Runs in the Family,” a very bland contemporary flick.

  9. Oh I’d forgotten about Lust for Life. Been ages but I remember really liking it. Also Spartacus is a classic. What’s interesting is Douglas basically picked Kubrick to direct it based on Paths of Glory…but wasn’t happy with the end result. So if a lot of the romantic scenes look like they were filmed on a sound stage, it’s because they were–Douglas shot a bunch more and added things in. Still a great film but I wish we could see Kubrick’s original vision.

  10. Did Man from Snowy River really just get dismissed like that? It’s a beautiful Australian movie with a fantastic score. While the costumes aren’t anything to get excited about, you at least get to watch Tom Burlinson be angsty and pretty and Kirk Douglas seemed to have a lot of fun with his dual role.

  11. My Favorite should be Lust for Life or Ulysses or Spartacus but it’s not an easy choice so I’ll let it on those three even if I think I like very much Mourning he’s a plus to Roz Russell and Katina Paxinou they both rock as mother and daughter rivals I really hope that you review it because more than getting decent costumes and hair that’s definitely one Roz top 5 best performances

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