Paul Muni. Am I the only one who thinks he is grossly overated as an actor? A good actor should be natural and believable in every role he plays, yet this guy wasn't. I remember reading that Warner Bros. cherished Muni and gave him an exclusive contract where he could pick and choose his roles.
Why was he so popular? I understand he came from a Yiddish theater background, so that explains his overacting. But it seems that his style of acting belonged to the stage rather than the screen.
1932's SCARFACE is hailed as a genre masterpiece, and it is in nearly every category, save for Muni's performance. As Camonte, he overacts, has the fakest sounding Italian accent, and has no charisma. Al Pacino had no problem topping this performance with his great take on the character in the 1983 remake. I imagine how much better the original would have been had a stronger and better actor such as Cagney or Robinson been offered the lead role.
Don't get me started on his leading in the GOOD EARTH. I actually bought Karloff as Fu Manchu, and Eddy G. as The Hatchet Man, but Muni just didn't cut it as a Chinese farmer.
His worst performance was probably in BLACK FURY were he does a laughably bad performance as a Polish immigrant, sounding more like Borat as he tries to play it straight.
I admit, he was good in I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, but that was the most restrained performance I ever saw him do. All I know, is that I thank God he never accepted the role of DRACULA in 1931.
Am I the only one who just doesn't undertand why Muni was held in such high esteem back then?
Why was he so popular? I understand he came from a Yiddish theater background, so that explains his overacting. But it seems that his style of acting belonged to the stage rather than the screen.
1932's SCARFACE is hailed as a genre masterpiece, and it is in nearly every category, save for Muni's performance. As Camonte, he overacts, has the fakest sounding Italian accent, and has no charisma. Al Pacino had no problem topping this performance with his great take on the character in the 1983 remake. I imagine how much better the original would have been had a stronger and better actor such as Cagney or Robinson been offered the lead role.
Don't get me started on his leading in the GOOD EARTH. I actually bought Karloff as Fu Manchu, and Eddy G. as The Hatchet Man, but Muni just didn't cut it as a Chinese farmer.
His worst performance was probably in BLACK FURY were he does a laughably bad performance as a Polish immigrant, sounding more like Borat as he tries to play it straight.
I admit, he was good in I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG, but that was the most restrained performance I ever saw him do. All I know, is that I thank God he never accepted the role of DRACULA in 1931.
Am I the only one who just doesn't undertand why Muni was held in such high esteem back then?
