Dork Hero: Gene Tierney

Dragonwyck

A while back, I popped in a DVD for a movie I knew nearly nothing about.  A little melodrama called Leave Her to Heaven.  It starred a lady named Gene Tierney, who I'd seen in a couple films before, but never thought twice about.  By the end of Leave Her to Heaven, I was a serious fan.  Not only was she jaw droppingly beautiful, but she lent depth and pathos to a monstrous character in a way I found continually surprising, refreshing, and unsettling.  That I still kind of pulled for her by the film's end is a testament to Tierney's ability to keep you enthralled and maybe a bit in love, even when she does awful things.  Watching a bunch of her other movies let me see other sides of her talent, including some lighter comedy stuff.  But Tierney will be forever tied to that bold, unhinged role in Leave Her to Heaven.  Plus, she worked with the always awesome Dork Hero, Vincent Price on several occasions.  That raises her cool factor, right there.

Leave Her to Heaven

Laura

-Matt

Dork Hero: Vincent Price

    Since my earliest days, Vincent Price has been an important person in my life.  As a wee lad, I would watch him introduce Mystery on PBS, and appear in The Muppet Show and others.  As I grew older, I began to enjoy his work with Roger Corman and the like, as well as some of his late life screen appearances (Edward Scissorhands being a favorite).  More recently, in the years since he passed, I’ve discovered his sometimes more serious work in early films, as well as his love of art and cooking.  He remains one of my all time favorite actors, and one of the only celebrities I ever felt genuinely, deeply sad upon hearing of his death.  I think the thing that always stuck with me was his attitude.  He always seemed to be having fun.  Today (May 27) marks the 103rd anniversary of his birth.  I think I might raid the DVD wrack tonight for one of his films.

Five Favorite Vincent Price Films:
5.  Laura
4.  The Masque of the Red Death
3.  More Dead than Alive
2.  House on Haunted Hill
1.  The Abominable Dr. Phibes

-Matt