criterionforum.org

Never Cursed wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 6:09 pm Robert Duvall

Wow. Truly one of the most remarkable careers in Hollywood. There are so many under seen gems in his catalog, and two that really are worth seeking out are Tomorrow (1972) and Convicts, which were both written by Horton Foote, who collaborated with him on Tender Mercies and To Kill a Mockingbird as well (I thought they were distant relatives, too)

Lonesome Dove doesn’t hold up as well as I thought it might, but it was one of the last major event miniseries for American network television, and he’s perfect in it

I recorded a commentary to Jerzy Skolimowski's The Lightship last year, and Duvall's performance is utterly mesmerising—and Skolimowski said he was a joy to work with; he'd never known an actor who had so meticulously prepared every single aspect of his part right down to the last detail (including the costume), so it was just a case of winding him up and letting him go.

(Klaus Maria Brandauer was much harder work!)

MichaelB wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 6:20 pm I recorded a commentary to Jerzy Skolimowski's The Lightship last year, and Duvall's performance is utterly mesmerising—and Skolimowski said he was a joy to work with; he'd never known an actor who had so meticulously prepared every single aspect of his part right down to the last detail (including the costume), so it was just a case of winding him up and letting him go.

(Klaus Maria Brandauer was much harder work!)

That’s a great performance. I remember hearing about him and Brandauer nearly coming to blows.

I still wonder exactly what the RadioTimes had against The Lightship, as they always gave it the lowest one star 'Poor' review whenever it appeared on the television. There must have been something in it that caused a visceral reaction, but it escapes me.

We really need the untampered original theatrical version of THX-1138 out there. And also in terms of sci-fi Duvall makes a brief, uncredited cameo in the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

colinr0380 wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 6:28 pm I still wonder exactly what the RadioTimes had against The Lightship, as they always gave it the lowest one star 'Poor' review whenever it appeared on the television. There must have been something in it that caused a visceral reaction, but it escapes me.

We really need the untampered original theatrical version of THX-1138 out there. And also in terms of sci-fi he makes a brief, uncredited cameo in the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

There is a scan of a 35mm pre-CG shit THX 1138 print out there

Thanks beamish14, at least that gives some hope it could turn up in some fashion in the future.

I mean, what a year for Warner Bros. 1971 was for hard-hitting cinema that still remains terrifyingly relevant: THX-1138, The Devils, A Clockwork Orange; as well as the release of Performance in the UK that year.

colinr0380 wrote: Mon Feb 16, 2026 6:44 pm I mean, what a year for Warner Bros. 1971 was for hard-hitting cinema that still remains terrifyingly relevant: THX-1138, The Devils, A Clockwork Orange; as well as the release of Performance in the UK that year.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller and the incredibly radical Dusty and Sweets McGee, too. Stop was ready to go but held up for its brief 1972 release, and Deliverance went into production

A true legend. Also, my dad looks like him so this oddly makes me even sadder than it might already

My go-to Duvall film is The Great Santini (1979). A powerful film with Duvall bringing to life hard-ass Col. Bull Meechum, who enforces strict discipline while rules don't apply to him. Some of the basketball scenes are nutso and kind of tough to watch. Terrific performance.

I really wish Criterion (or the BFI or Radiance) would license The Apostle and give it a revival. It's still my favorite film and favorite performance from Duvall, the crown jewel of a prolific decade that's all the more impressive coming from an already prolific actor. And he NEVER phoned it in - he was so good and so committed in everything he did, which spanned ridiculous Hollywood behemoths to shoestring indie films all at the same time.

From what I can tell, he was also an incredibly down-to-earth guy who never lost appreciation for his fans. Apparently news of his death was announced by his wife on his Facebook page, and he was pretty active on it. Recent posts show him celebrating his 95th birthday last month to doing things like weight exercises. He definitely looked very, very old, but he still had plenty of life running through him.

Colors (1988). In a film that's otherwise somewhat trite (and #problematic), Duvall gives one of the great understated performances...

Spoiler

and death scenes

Random observation - Duvall has the rare distinction of acting with Steve McQueen (the famous Hollywood star) in Bullitt and acting for the filmmaker Steve McQueen in Widows.

Revisiting a few Robert Duvall titles over the last few weeks reminded me of his supporting role in Falling Down, which in the continual cutting back from Michael Douglas's urban rampage to Duvall's about to retire cop constantly on the phone to his wife whilst monitoring the mayhem from a safe distance, until inserting himself into the narrative at the end constantly made me think he was doing a homage to the Spencer Tracy character in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!

I don't know if that was intentional or not, but it certainly makes me see Falling Down as much more of an, albeit dark and provocative, comedy than previously!

I like his performance in Ron Howard’s The Paper a lot. He has a few scenes with Michael Keaton’s character that stand out as showing his ability to shine and share with whoever he’s on screen with.

The extra scenes of his in the later cuts of Apocalypse Now are hilarious, and don’t take much away from the moment he tells Willard “some day this war’s gonna end”.

A couple of films I'd like to point out. First, The Apostle is possibly one of the best self-directed performances I can think of - a truly outstanding film. Also, James Gray's We Own The Night, as the police chief father to a cop (Wahlberg) and criminal (Phoenix). This was certainly the middle of Gray's peak as a filmmaker (kind of went downhill after Two Lovers, though The Immigrant has its moments).

thirtyframesasecond wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:44 am A couple of films I'd like to point out. First, The Apostle is possibly one of the best self-directed performances I can think of - a truly outstanding film. Also, James Gray's We Own The Night, as the police chief father to a cop (Wahlberg) and criminal (Phoenix). This was certainly the middle of Gray's peak as a filmmaker (kind of went downhill after Two Lovers, though The Immigrant has its moments).

I've never seen We Own The Night, so will prioritize. But just to nitpick: you didn't like Lost City of Z?

We Own the Night also has an excellent car chase scene that emphasizes anxiety over excitement (but I’ve liked all of the Gray films I’ve seen so I can’t co-sign the decline sentiment)

And just to give a third opinion I think he only really started succeeding with Lost City.

On Duvall, his supporting role in Kevin Costner's western Open Range is also worth noting.

colinr0380 wrote: Fri Mar 06, 2026 4:38 pm On Duvall, his supporting role in Kevin Costner's western Open Range is also worth noting.

Just a wonderful film

Just learned Duvall played Joseph Stalin (!?!) in a TV biopic directed by Ivan Passer… has anyone seen this? I suspect there’s no way I could improve my mental image of this movie by replacing it with the reality of watching it

domino harvey wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 7:19 pm Just learned Duvall played Joseph Stalin (!?!) in a TV biopic directed by Ivan Passer… has anyone seen this? I suspect there’s no way I could improve my mental image of this movie by replacing it with the reality of watching it

Yes! He’s actually very good in it. Duvall was a right-wing hawk who hated communism, so he was probably very passionate about the role, lol

My boomer father raved about when I was a child and we had a copy of it on VHS. It's very good for what it is I guess? It's certainly way better than a polemic that say, Dinesh D'Souza would put out but I wouldn't go in with the expectation that it's some hidden gem in his filmography.

beamish14 wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 7:26 pm

domino harvey wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 7:19 pm Just learned Duvall played Joseph Stalin (!?!) in a TV biopic directed by Ivan Passer… has anyone seen this? I suspect there’s no way I could improve my mental image of this movie by replacing it with the reality of watching it

Yes! He’s actually very good in it. Duvall was a right-wing hawk who hated communism, so he was probably very passionate about the role, lol

I remember him saying he’d never do anything at Dreamworks because Spielberg went to Cuba, whose response was that GWB asked him to go.