The Warren Beatty thread

[Snarky Oracle!]

We have more "icon" threads about women, so let's have one about a guy obsessed with women: Warren Beatty, one of Hollywood's most infamous lotharios.

Beatty, the brother of Shirley MacLaine, was born on March 30, 1937 and, according to his own script for HEAVEN CAN WAIT, will die on March 20, 2025.

He started out in DOBEY GILLIS, was engaged to Joan Collins, starred with Natalie Wood in SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS and appeared with Faye Dunaway in BONNIE AND CLYDE. He's done many others -- and some movies, too.

And fans?

 

[DallasFanForever]

I thought he had terrific chemistry with Faye in Bonnie and Clyde.

 

[Crimson]

I like Beatty, although I'd stop well short of calling myself a fan. Since his big breakout in BONNIE & CLYDE, he's worked with discretion making films that were mostly well crafted and entertaining (ISHTAR notably aside).

I didn't bother with his most recent movie, RULES DON'T APPLY (2016) because the basic premise irked me. Beatty played Howard Hughes as owner of RKO Studios in 1958. I'm not sure how someone could go through the effort of writing a screenplay and producing a film without spending 30 seconds on Wikipedia to realize Hughes sold RKO in 1955.

 

[Willie Oleson]

without spending 30 seconds on Wikipedia to realize Hughes sold RKO in 1955.

I don't think it's an official encyclopedia?

But Warren, yes, very handsome. Like a Rodney Harrington with dark hair.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

And it's hard to buy unhardened (as it were) Beatty as mobster BUGSY Seigel.

I never actually saw ISHTAR but some people try to claim it's "better than they say" -- so I'm guessing that's a fib.

I thought BULWORTH was an important film but everybody went after it for ideological reasons.

 

[ClassyCo]

I always forget that Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are siblings. Every time I read that somewhere, I have to do a quick Google search just to make sure someone hasn't pulled a fast one on me.

As an actor, I don't really know if I qualify as a fan of Beatty. I like him well enough in BONNIE & CLYDE -- he and Faye Dunaway make a good star-duo -- and I remember seeing him in SHAMPOO when TCM aired it a few years back. Oh, and I liked him starring as Vivien Leigh's handsomely young escort in THE ROMAN SPRING OF MRS. STONE.

Other than that, I don't believe I've seen Beatty in anything else. From what I have seen, however, he seems to be a pretty good actor. I kind of wish he and Joan Collins would've worked out their kinks and married. For what reason, I don't necessarily know, but I guess I think it would've been "neat".



As a side note, my brother-in-law kind of reminds me of a young Warren Beatty.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

McCABE AND MRS. MILLER was pretty good, but it's been forever since I've seen it. I downright like his "small" film with Elizabeth Taylor, George Stevens' Vegas-themed THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN (the interiors were shot in Paris!) where he is really excellent playing a down-and-out piano-player(who loses your sympathy once he starts smashing Taylor's grandmother's little treasures).

And there's Alan Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW, a really good '70s political "paranoia" picture (like Redford's THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR) inspired by the increasing revelations coming forth at that time regarding CIA corruption of the most apocalyptic kind -- things we now have collectively forgotten, or shrug about, or, it would seem, even condone. (Spoiler alert: he's framed for murdering Jock Ewing). Made all the more unsettling by the way director Pakula later died in real life, in a bizarre manner consistent with the characters in some of his movies.

I kind of wish he and Joan Collins would've worked out their kinks

Joan suggests their "kinks" were one thing they had little trouble working out.

 

[ClassyCo]

I downright like his "small" film with Elizabeth Taylor, George Stevens' Vegas-themed THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN (the interiors were shot in Paris!) where he is really excellent playing a down-and-out piano-player(who loses your sympathy once he starts smashing Taylor's grandmother's little treasures).

I can't believe I forgot to mention THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN. I hadn't necessarily heard good things about the movie, but I recorded it when it was aired on TV several years back. I watched the entire movie once -- maybe twice -- before I deleting it. Beatty and Taylor shared good chemistry and I quite enjoyed the film itself.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Will Beatty succumb on March 20, 2025 -- just shy of his 88th birthday?

That's the day he dies in HEAVEN CAN WAIT, the vernal equinox, at 10:17am.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Happy 87th Birthday to Warren Beatty! --- only a year to live according to HEAVEN CAN WAIT.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

9 more days to live?

 

[Willie Oleson]

McCABE AND MRS. MILLER was pretty good, but it's been forever since I've seen it.

I watched that a few months ago. Nice scenery but apart from that it doesn't have much to offer and the characters are unwatchable.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I watched that a few months ago. Nice scenery but apart from that it doesn't have much to offer and the characters are unwatchable.

Yes, but will he die in 9 days???

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Will Mr. Jordan call Joe home today...?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

He must've survived!!

 

[Willie Oleson]

What a plot twist!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

89 years young!

 

[Snarky Oracle!]