Acting in The Big Combo
TO BEGIN TO explore the art of acting, study the opening eight-minute sequence from a film noir classic, The Big Combo (Joseph H. Lewis, 1955). The film was one of many "B" films mainly ignored by American critics but now ranked highly by auteur critics.
Though our focus in this eight-minute sequence will be on acting, do not ignore the film noir lighting by cinematographer John Alton, one of the most virtuoso exercises in low-key lighting in film history. Alton was a master of "painting with light" (the title of his book on cinematography), as is evident here. There are too many dazzling sequences to indicate here. But the opening sequence should be enough to show this man's mastery of low-key lighting effects. The more ambitious students will view the entire film and see a textbook example of film noir lighting at its best.
Because of the fluid nature of acting, it would be impossible to analyze the acting in an entire film, even by one actor. Instead, for home viewing, we'll focus on the opening eight-minute sequence in this film.
1. The chase sequence (the two gangsters, Fante and Mingo chasing Susan Lowell) should be viewed for its lighting and editing. Notice the long shots and deep focus too. The emphasis is on the shady environment rather than the chase itself, as if the world were a dark place, which (in film noir) it is. In this film, it's the most evil character, "Mr. Brown" (Richard Conte), who is the only person addressed repeatedly as "Mr."
2. After the chase ends, the composition shows the two gangsters on either side of Susan (Jean Wallace). All acting depends on what poet/critic T. S. Eliot called an "objective correlative": a visible form of an inner thought or feeling (Eliot coined the phrase discussing Shakespeare's play, Hamlet). The actor must give form to thought or feeling. Bad acting telegraphs thought or feeling; that is, forces the end result, instead of letting the thought or feeling show naturally by the actor being the part instead of acting the part.
This is part of Stanislavski's acting "method" (a system of finding real feelings for each "moment"); but all good actors know this, whether they were taught by the "Method" or not. It's the difference between telling a lie and believing the lie.
This is called "faith" and "truth" in acting: one believes (has faith) in the character's actions or dialogue and one's action or dialogue will be "true."
We now focus on the after-chase scene and the subtle breathing of the actors. Bear in mind, a film is not a stage play. What seems like a chase to the viewer is actually a tedious series of camera set-ups, pauses for relighting different parts of the scene, reframings, retakes, etc. There's also the chalk marks, which the actors must hit to stay in frame.
With all these distractions, the actors must live the "moment" (the inner thought or emotion) each time to be "true" in the part. We can illustrate with the three actors' subtle heavy breathing, barely noticeable. To force the end result (to "telegraph" or "indicate"), as in high school acting or melodrama, the actors would be breathing heavily to show they had just run. But in real life one tries to control one's breathing, which is what the actors do here.
3. Acting uses "business" (doing something with an object). Note how Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace) clutches her pocketbook to show a change of thought, giving inner life to the character.
4. In this same shot, note Susan's pause in the line "I've [pause] changed my mind." Then her almost whispered, "I don't want to see the fights."
The actor who believes the part, has faith in the character, uses all means to create each moment, whether action or speech. It's "as if" she were the character.
This is the magical "as if" Stanislavski spoke of. Mechanical actors don't act "as if" they were their characters; they just read the lines or follow the director's blocking (movement instructions). Good actors question each movement.
Alfred Hitchcock wearied of Method actors who questioned each movement. In response to such questions about "why" the actor moved to a certain spot, Hitchcock would reply with sarcasm, "Because it's in the script," or, "Because you're getting paid to do it!"
5. The police captain, Peterson (Robert Middleton) uses a lot of gestures when he enters the police station, mainly pointing his finger (at the door) and wagging his hand. These gestures help define the character and give him truth.
6. The captain's business (doing something while speaking) includes removing a piece of paper showing the expenditures of Leonard Diamond (the hero cop, played by Cornel Wilde).
7. Diamond (Wilde), pouring coffee, doesn't register reaction when Peterson praises him as "intelligent," etc. This is a choice the actor makes: when to register a response and when not to. This shows an "inner life" to the character. The mechanical actor has no inner life; he just reads his lines and reacts to all the lines of the other characters.
8. Star acting (and Wilde is the star of the film, though he never became a major star, nor did the other actors) often requires less acting than the supporting cast. The reason is the camera favors the star, the plot favors the star, and audiences favor the star (we look at Cornel Wilde, not his captain). This is especially true if the star is good-looking, as he or she usually is. So the star can subdue his performance. On the other hand, as the star, the most dramatic scenes are usually given to him too.
In general, notice that Wilde is more low-key than Peterson. The most emotional line he speaks is, "And I know his name!" (speaking of the gang's treasurer), which stands out by contrast with his previously low-key acting style.
Thereafter he starts using more gestures while holding an apple and tossing papers (part of acting "business").
In the same way Peterson uses his cigar as a prop to pace his dialogue and punctuate his lines (as when he begins to put the cigar to his lips and then stops before speaking).
Film acting is in many ways different from stage acting. The most important difference is that, due to economics, film scenes are rarely shot in sequence. For example, if Tom Cruise is the star, his scenes will be shot within the three-week period Cruise will be on location. Otherwise Cruise's salary would go sky high. Or a director may shoot an easy scene first to ease a nervous actor into the film. Or the opposite: a director knows an actress is scared of playing an emotional scene (for example, her mother dying) so gets that scene out of the way on the first day. The actress can relax for the rest of the film. Or all scenes using an expensive set may have to be shot together so the set doesn't have to be relit or (in some cases) rebuilt. Or all scenes on location (say, Paris or Taiwan) are shot together, though one scene occurs early in the film and the other scene occurs at the end of the film.
Say a Chinese daughter locates her biological mother after she's been adopted in America. She goes to Taiwan, has an emotional reunion with her, takes her back to America, then (at film's end) flies with her back to Taiwan for an emotional farewell. If location photography is important to add realism, those Taiwan scenes will have to be shot together, regardless of the emotions that intervene.
That's the nature of film acting. That's why a director is more important for film acting than for stage acting. The director reminds the actor of the "through line": "Remember, your father just died before this scene." Or: "Your girlfriend argued with you ten minutes before." "Remember, you just got out of jail."
The good actor will always keep the "through line" in mind, along with an "image" of her character, which helps to keep a "spine" to her role making a unified performance. The "spine" links her "moments" together with coherence: The tough cop at the beginning of the film talks softly to a juvenile delinquent after his own son, gone bad, dies in a shootout with police.
The camera is another important difference in film acting. Stage actors quickly learned they can't emote the way they do on stage because the camera picks up the slightest twitch (especially in close-ups). Staring looks like nothing on stage but can be very expressive on screen.
9. Notice the close-up on Diamond after the captain says, "Stop getting emotional!" Wilde (Diamond) does nothing; the close-up does most of the work. Of course, Wilde is still acting: he's "being" the part, which is acting. If he tried to telegraph or indicate or force an end result instead of having faith in his character and showing truth by being the part, he would look melodramatic.
10. Notice Diamond's pause while pouring coffee when the captain mentions Susan Lowell, whom Diamond is in love with, though she's the gangster's "girl." Inner thought or emotion is expressed through "business" (doing something).
11. There is a similar reaction when the captain says of Susan, "I'm not in love with her—you are!"
12. Finally, note the pause and how the shaver is used for business when the captain taunts Diamond about the relationship between the head gangster, Mr. Brown and Susan, and of the time they spent together: "A lot of days—and nights," at which point Diamond turns off his shaver as if to show how those words have affected his inner self.
This is only an eight-minute sequence. Imagine analyzing the acting in an entire film.
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