uhoh! fealola is moving ahead by a nose...
wizard
Rank may of made crap movies but it kept many a film technician in street legal employment for many years. it was just as good and just as unimportant as the crap that got shovelled out of LA
Mel Gibson was left off my list for purely personal reasons. I'm certain he is likely No. 1, especially with Republicans.
Actually, they didn't produce many movies, crappy or otherwise -- it's just a play on words for bad movies from any producer.
The Rank opening logo was mainly for distribution and not production (actually producing few films that most people will not remember).
The box office figures are included -- "A Night to Remember" and "A Tale of Two Cities" are probably the two most people would note:
Sleeping Beauty - Distributor (70mm) 1959 2,253 $6M
A Night to Remember - Distributor 1958 6,828 $1.68M
Rooney - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1958 67,168
The Gypsy and the Gentleman - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1958 65,301
A Tale of Two Cities - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1958 18,662
Robbery Under Arms - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 93,990
The Bolshoi Ballet - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1957 161,729
The One That Got Away - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 29,388
Windom's Way - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 65,310
Hell Drivers - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 19,464
Retour de manivelle - Distributor (USA) (subtitled) 1957 131,316
Across the Bridge - Distributor 1957 48,125
The Secret Place - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 144,444
Night Ambush - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 35,388
The Gentle Touch - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1957 82,084
Campbell's Kingdom - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 73,639
Dangerous Exile - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 69,103
Your Past Is Showing - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 21,354
Mad Little Island - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1957 42,991
Pursuit of the Graf Spee - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 17,220
A Town Like Alice - Distributor (1958) (USA) 1956 20,469
Reach for the Sky - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 14,432
The Black Tent - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 73,622
The Third Key - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 42,987
Checkpoint - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 131,195
Triple Deception - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 78,963
Jacqueline - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 41,165
The Spanish Gardener - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1956 9,709
Smiles of a Summer Night - Distributor (1957) (USA) (subtitled) 1955 13,987
As Long as They're Happy - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1955 144,331
Out of the Clouds - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1955 85,563
An Alligator Named Daisy - Distributor (1957) (USA) 1955 35,385
Value for Money - Distributor (1957) (USA)
Ah, well -- they did produce the really bad "Caeser and Cleopatra," easily Vivien Leigh's worst outing. Sorry to hijack the thread for this little diversion, Letty.
You notice Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" was the final film they distributed -- that's because it bombed at the box office, bringing in only half of it's cost in ticket sales.
Mr. Wizard, you didn't hijack it, but I must admit that Liz Taylor's performance wasn't what I would call outstanding in Cleo either...
I am quite amazed that Richard Burton didn't make the list, but the entire poll was probably skewed somewhat. I remember as a kid watching Waterloo Bridge. I was so taken with it, that I understood for the first time, what horror the average person must have experienced in WWII.
fealola, Meg didn't make it, Nor did Hitchcock's Tippi Hedren..I think, perhaps, she was the worst actress that I've ever seen.
My favorite Burton performance is in "Becket," my second favorite as a tie between "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff" and third is "The Night of the Iguana." I actually like Liz in Cleo even though the production got a bad case of elephantitis (but perhaps when released as two films soon will come off much better -- the way Manckiewitz originally conceived it).
Actually, the 1931 James Whale "Waterloo Bridge" is a better film than the remake. Robert Taylor was alway a little too stiff in his performances for me.
Not my choices, except for Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor and Sean, of course.
Mel Gibson
Tom Hanks
Sean Connery
Humphrey Bogart
John Wayne
Cary Grant
Jimmy Stewart
Julia Roberts
Elizabeth Taylor
Bette Davis
ah, Raggedy. My researcher in the stacks...I don't know if the Harris poll is accurate. Guess we just know what we know.
and now, I must depart from this thread.
good night from Florida..
As far as the rank and file is concerned...I must vote for the cast of Matewan.
Moved? That woke me up pronto.
I was guessing what the poll might read but, of course it was colored by preference. I would put Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix on my list.
And the ladies, Meryl Streep and Barbara Stanwyke.
Right, Mr. Wizard.
I always thought it odd that Mel Gibson, whom I thought was from Australia, was really from the states, and Russell Crowe, whom I thought to be from the U.S. was really from Australia.
I was surprised that Spacey wasn't on that list, but we're looking at a strange type popularity as opposed to excellent acting, I guess.
Joaquin Phoenix is greatly underrated. He was far better than Crowe in The Gladiator.
Peter Ustinov is also outstanding, but as Henry Lewis Mencken said, "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
Very true -- I find Mel's acting well below par compared to any of the big name actors.
