Cmoneyspinner
Do you miss the days when the lion roared? If you grew up during my generation you remember the excitement of getting ready to watch a movie and the first thing that appears on the screen is this proud lion roaring. Those were the days when, as far as I’m concerned, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) was king of the American film industry jungle. There were also the movies that began with that beautiful lady who looked like a Roman goddess (Columbia Pictures) or the world spinning (Universal Pictures) or the various spotlights beaming everywhere (20th Century Fox). Either way, when you saw those marvels, signs, and wonders you settled down in your favorite comfy spot to enjoy a really good movie!
Those were the good old days. I don’t believe we will ever get to relive them. Before I wander too far off topic, let me state the purpose of this discussion. This post is a throwback, and it’s about my favorite leading male actors from back in the day. When I say “back in the day”, I mean genuine vintage classic movies. Not movies made in the 70s or after. LOL.
They may not make an official list for Best Leading Men of ALL TIME, but they are on my list. The parenthetical note represents the movie in which these impressive icons in the movie industry starred or co-starred and left a lasting impression on my psyche. I wondered if it were possible to find any of the classic movie treasures on Twitter and share a list of tweets with you. Guess what? YAY!
NOTE: Some of these movies you will notice overlap, i.e. you will see the leading men that I named for one movie in other movies I named. What can I say? These guys were really good!! Enjoy!
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Richard Burton
(“Becket”; 1964 ~ true story about the shocking murder of the real-life Thomas Becket.)
Robert Taylor
(“QuoVadis”; 1951 and “Ivanhoe”; 1952 ~ love stories)
Gregory Peck
(“Arabesque”; 1966 ~ that shower scene was too cute!)
Anthony Quinn
(“Guns of Navarone”; 1961 ~ favorite line from this movie? “I’m not so easy to kill.”)
Yul Brynner
(The King and I”; 1956 ~ best scene in this movie? The one-on-one dance scene. OK. Yeah. I also liked him in “The Magnificent Seven”. But it wasn’t my favorite YB film.)
Peter O’Toole
(“Lawrence of Arabia”; 1962)
(NOTE: Omar Sharif deserves Honorable Mention.)
Sidney Poitier
(“In the Heat of the Night”; 1967 ~ “They call me Mr. Tibbs!”)
(NOTE: Rod Steiger deserves Honorable Mention.)
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Anne V. Coates edited the medieval masterpiece BECKET in 1964. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to concentrate cutting this film when Richard Burton and Peter O’ Toole were battling it out. She gives these two room to express and lets them linger without cutting. pic.twitter.com/jfDGttMfHz
— Dominique Lessing (@missclassicfilm) May 10, 2018
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https://twitter.com/CMovieTreasures/status/985907050432512000
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Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr in Quo Vadis(1951) pic.twitter.com/gLkmpbVbaM
— Ingrid Callebaut (@ingrid_grietje) July 8, 2018
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ROBERT TAYLOR #DOTD 1969 age 57
Quo Vadis 1951 •Johnny Eager 1941
Ivanhoe 1952 •Night Walker 1964
Rogue Cop 1954 •Conspirator 1949
Party Girl 1958 •Waterloo Bridge 1940
Return of the Gunfighter 1967
Knights of the Round Table 1953
The Law and Jake Wade 1958
Billy the Kid 1940 pic.twitter.com/nnMxZ6XILv— Peter Oxley (@oxley264) June 8, 2018
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https://twitter.com/Roy_Batty_Reply/status/979225474609053696
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https://twitter.com/skipbolden/status/1016809404266577921
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Photo: Gregory Peck seems bemused by Sophia's Loren's lack of clothes in this still from Arabesque (1966). pic.twitter.com/19dV97bTrZ
— Channing Thomson (@CHANNINGPOSTERS) June 3, 2014
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“So what? Let the whole bloody world come in and blow itself to pieces, that's what it deserves!”
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961)
Starring: Gregory Peck . David Niven . Anthony Quinn .
Director: J.Lee.Thompson
My Rating: 6 out of 10 pic.twitter.com/9IkHE1u7PB
— We Love Movies !!! 🎬 (@MoviePolls4U) July 14, 2018
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#FilmsoftheDay:
On the anniversary of the evacuation-
DUNKIRK***** (1250pm & 9pm Sky Hits, 2017)
& on the anniversary of Anthony Quinn’s death:
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE**** (9pm, Movies4Men, 1961) pic.twitter.com/8pA41VeMnl— CLASSIC MOVIES DAILY (@Bltmovies) June 3, 2018
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ANTHONY QUINN #BOTD 1915
Guns of Navarone 1961 •Zorba the Greek 1964
Lawrence of Arabia 1962 •Viva Zapata 1952
Lust for Life 1956 •Ox Bow Incident 1943
Lion of the Desert 1980 •Warlock 1959
Last Train from Gun Hill 1959 •Barabbas 1961
The Message 1976 •The Passage 1979 pic.twitter.com/luzcS21Xpq— Peter Oxley (@oxley264) April 21, 2018
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https://twitter.com/DancerOnFilm/status/1017122578522140672
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https://twitter.com/NetterM8/status/1016987706750992384
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Yul Brynner.
The Magnificent Seven (1960) John Sturges. pic.twitter.com/NPKGXR5p7Z
— Juan Ferrer (@JuanFerrerVila) July 11, 2018
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Peter O'Toole on the set of David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia (1962). pic.twitter.com/kVMj47xSG3
— Albert Galera (@AlbertGalera) December 14, 2017
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Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia directed by David Lean, 1962. pic.twitter.com/halovzNgwU
— Juan Ferrer (@JuanFerrerVila) April 10, 2018
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Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger on the set of In the Heat of the Night, 1967… pic.twitter.com/MzNrTAY74M
— Classic Movie Hub (@ClassicMovieHub) April 14, 2018
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75. In the Heat of the Night (1967): Another one from 60s film class. My first impression was that Sidney Poitier is awesome. My second impression is that Rod Steiger is also really good. #THEYCALLMEMISTERTIBBS pic.twitter.com/B8lDSbBVHG
— Anastasia M. (@anastasianoel) July 6, 2018
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https://twitter.com/largottes/status/985261280486277120
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Your list of these great classic films is magnificent. Yul Brynner is one of my favorite actors, don’t know why but remembered him best of all in “The Sound and the Fury”.
Indeed. That was also an excellent movie. Yul Brynner has such a commanding onscreen presence. Being totally honest when I say this. He was the first bald-headed guy that I thought was super handsome! LOL.
Thanks. My hubby popped in a videotape of an old movie he had recorded. It was my inspiration. I had so much fun doing this post! Twitter is LOADED with my memories!! LOL.