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Movie Villains

K.D. Lightner

Call Me a Cab
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2,354
Location
Des Moines, IA
Who are your favorite movie and TV villains, those guys --and gals --you just loved to hate?

Some made an entire career playing bad guys, others played a lot of heavies but could portray good guys, too.

A few of my favorites from years gone by were:

Jack Elam

Lyle Bettger (he was on TV a lot, getting punched out by a western hero)

Lee Van Cleef

Ernest Borgnine (who played good guys, too)

John Carradine (ditto)

Raymond Burr (remember Rear Window?)

Bruce Dern (could look absolutely psycho)

Dennis Hopper (ditto)

Lots of others, too! Who were your favorite screen villains?

karol
 

Flivver

Practically Family
Messages
821
Location
New England
As a kid, one of my favorite TV shows was Desilu's "The Untouchables". I think I saw nearly every episode in prime time (I wonder if parents would allow an 8 year old to watch a violent show like that today?).

My favorite villain in the show was Bruce Gordon who played Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti. To this day, for me, Bruce Gordon *is* Frank Nitti. No one else even comes close. Immagine my surprise, recently, when I found out that Bruce Gordon came from Fitchburg MA...only 15 miles from where I grew up!

In 1980, when I was doing a summer internship at GM in Flint MI, I was living in a GMI fraternity house. One of my room-mates was from Chicago. As it turns out, his dad owned a 1973 Olds Ninety-Eight coupe formerly owned by Nitti's son, Frank Jr. So on a trip to Chicago, we visited Al Capone's grave in Frank Nitti's car! I got a real (if perverse) thrill out of that!
 
Posted by Thora Zine

Child Catcher.

I've always wondered how one goes about getting this job. What a great career!

Tura Satana as Varla in Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!
tura1.jpg
 

Feraud

Bartender
Messages
17,190
Location
Hardlucksville, NY
Peter Falk - Crime Inc.

Joe Pesci - Goodfellas

Robert Mitchum - Cape Fear, Night of the Hunter

Richard Widmark - Street w/No Name, Kiss of Death

Nazis. Love to hate those guys in any WWII pic.
 

K.D. Lightner

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,354
Location
Des Moines, IA
Speaking of Cruella, Glenn Close can play some pretty nasty characters.

I have seen Joan Collins in some older movies and she was pretty wicked, not to mention her most famous role on TV (Dynasty, of course).

Barbara Stanwyck has played some villainous characters, Lana Turner, also.

I am trying to wrack my brain and see if there are any women in the movies who, like their male counterparts, just appear onscreen and you know there's going to be trouble -- you can't trust them any further than you throw a piano. Anybody out there think of some bad, bad gals?

Other guys:

James Spader

Royal Dano (the guy you'd choose to head up the local lynch mob)


karol
 

K.D. Lightner

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,354
Location
Des Moines, IA
Yes, Lizabeth Scott: I had forgotten about her.

I don't believe I ever saw a movie with Gloria Graham in it, she certainly looked like a film noir gal to me. Did she play baddies, or did she just look like one?

Some other women who could play baddies when called upon: Lauren Bacall, Anna Mae Wong, and, of course, Joan Crawford.

karol
 

GeniusInTheLamp

One of the Regulars
Messages
140
Location
Darien, IL
Clifton Webb: I've always liked the suave, cultured heavy, and Webb (in movies like LAURA and THE DARK CORNER) was always great in those roles.

Sydney Greenstreet: Another cultured heavy (in more than one sense of the word) who could play a mean battle of wits.

Kenneth MacDonald: A great smooth villain in those Three Stooges shorts (and in several B westerns) who also showed a fine talent for broad comedy.

As far as TV goes, I have to go with one of the most famous villains of the small screen: Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn) from WILD WILD WEST.
 

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