Week 4 Acting and Acting Styles

When it comes to acting, anyone could do it, however, not everyone possess the talent and creativity to perfect a character the writer of that film has created. Acting is not simply pretending to be someone else in a film, it is working hard at totally emerging yourself into becoming a certain character, which takes practice, skill, and dedication. An actor also has to create or adapt a certain acting style. Most actors usually choose to play a character that they can somewhat relate to or one that they totally relate to; they may choose a character that is outside the norm. In the timeless black and white classic film It’s a Wonderful Life directed by the legendary Frank Capra, written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Philip Van Doren Stern (adapted from his short story The Greatest Gift), there are three major characters in this film that will be analyzed, James Stewart (George Bailey), Donna Reed (Mary Hatch-Bailey), and Lionel Barrymore (Mr. Henry Potter).

 

James Stewart was an actor that was a natural on screen; he usually was cast for characters with similar characteristics as himself such as kind, ambitious, purposeful, protagonist, or honest, in which all of them were “average middle class individuals who [were] unwittingly drawn into some kind of crisis” (IMDb, 2014). Mr. Stewart has been in over eighty films mostly classic ones (New York Times, 1997), in which he often starred in most of Frank Capra films, and was well-known for his naturalistic style of acting. He acted in classic films such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) (nominated for an Oscar), The Philadelphia Story (1940), in which he won an Oscar for best actor in a leading role, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (his favorite film; he was nominated for an Oscar), Rear Window (1954), and Vertigo (1958) (AFI, 2014), to name a few. Mr. Stewart can be classified as a star and personality actor.

 

Donna Reed was an actor with a sweet personality in which she was cast in several films to portray that type of character. Ms. Reed was in about forty one films (AFI, 2014); she had minor and major film roles in such movies as The Getaway (1941), Babes on Broadway (1941) (starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland), starred in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) (a romantic story), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (was her most memorable role; she was Mary the sweet and loving wife of George Bailey [James Stewart]), a leading role in Beyond Glory (1948) (starred with Alan Ladd), and From Here to Eternity (1953) (she won an Oscar for best supporting role) (IMDb, 2014). Ms. Stewart could be classified as a personality actor.

 

 

Last, is one of the most talented actors of all time who came from a family of talented actors, Mr. Lionel Barrymore; he was the oldest brother of Ethel Barrymore and John Barrymore. Mr. Barrymore was not only a legendary actor on screen but on radio too (he annually played Ebeneezer Scrooge); he was also an Oscar-nominated director for a film tilted, “Madame X” (1929), and a music composer (IMDb, 2014). He was cast in most films as a grumpy, rich character that was sometimes loving, villainous, heroic, or “comedic avuncular” (TCM, 2014). He was in over two hundred films during his film career. Some of the films he was most famous for was: Free Soul (he won an Oscar for best actor) (1931), Captain Courageous (1937), You Can’t Take It with You, (1938), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) (he played the grumpy, shrewd rich banker Mr. Henry Potter, which he was the antagonist), and Key Largo (1948) (IMDb, 2014). Mr. Barrymore could be classified as a character actor.

 

 

In the film It’s a Wonderful Life James Stewart (1946) was prodigious in his role as George Bailey. His character was a reflection of him off screen; he was able to naturally portray George Bailey as a selfless, generous, kind, and compassionate person. During the early parts of his career he was often cast for an average middle-class American that was ambiguous and lived life with purpose. His acting style in this film was realism because when he spoke his lines it was not as though they were rehearsed, his body movements showed him in a realistic sense as a man really going through an internal conflict with himself and with someone else (Mr. Potter), and his facial expressions were realistic . For example, in the scene above he realized what a shrewd and cunning business man Mr. Potter really was; he not only turned down the job he offered him but told him about his character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Refrences

 

8th AFI Life Achievement Award: James Stewart. (2014). Retrieved from AFI (American Film Institute): http://www.afi.com/laa/laa80.aspx

Biography: Lionel Barrymore. (2014). Retrieved from TCM (Turner Classic Movies): http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/10738%7C99559/Lionel-Barrymore/

Catalog of feature films: Donna Reed. (2014). Retrieved from AFI (American Film Institute: http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/SearchResult.aspx?s=&TBL=PN&Type=CA&ID=40401

Donna Reed biography. (2014). Retrieved from IMDB (Internet Movie Database): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001656/bio#trademark

Donna Reed: It’s a wonderful life, Photo. (2011). Retrieved from IMDb (Internet Movie Database): http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4182225664/nm0001656?ref_=nmmi_mi_tt_sf_2

It’s A Wonderful Life – Potter’s Offer.mov, Video. (2012). Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzX5cGKN6Eg

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) – James Stewart – George Bailey’s Speech to Potter and the Loan Board, Video. (2009). Retrieved from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ne13Zft9Q

It’s a wonderful life (1946), Poster. (2000). Retrieved from IMDb (Internet Movie Database): http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4166885120/tt0038650?ref_=ttmd_md_pv

James Stewart biography. (2014). Retrieved from IMDb (Internet Movie Database): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000071/bio#trademark

Lionel Barrymore (Biography). (2014). Retrieved from IMDb (Internet Movie Database): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000859/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

Longet, G. (1947). It’s a wonderful life (1946), Photo. Retrieved from IMDb (Internet Movie Database): http://www.imdb.com/media/rm493328384/tt0038650?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_sf_13

On this day: James Stewart, the hesitant hero, dies at 89. (1997). Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0520.html