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| 1931 -- 202 |
To this day, I still think Lonesome Dove was my best part.
1) Lonesome Dove Simon Wincer, etc. 1989
2) Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola 1979
3) The Great Santini Lewis John Carlino 1979
4) Tomorrow Joseph Anthony 1972
5) Colors Dennis Hopper 1988
6) The Godfather Francis Ford Coppola 1972
7) To Kill A Mockingbird Robert Mulligan 1962
8) The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid Philip Kaufman 1972
9) The Apostle Robert Duvall 1997
10) Tender Mercies Bruce Beresford 1983
He rarely made a bad performance. Often, as in Apocalypse Now and The Betsy, he gave by far the best performance in the film. I want to stress the above rankings are not based on the overall quality of the film. Tomorrow is a poor film and I've never been too thrilled by either To Kill a Mockingbird or Tender Mercies. However, the sheer volume of his varied film work rivals any of his contemporaries, even Gene Hackman. I especially enjoy his work in The Chase, True Grit, The Rain People, MASH, Joe Kidd, The Outfit, The Godfather 2, The Killer Elite, Network, True Confessions, Rambling Rose, Geronimo..., Something to Talk About, Sling Blade, Assassination Tango, Thank You for Smoking, and The Road.
There was a chameleon quality to his work and he never suffered typecasting. He was not sought out for romantic leading man roles, but his turn in Assassination Tango showed he could command oodles of charm if need be. After he had established himself in Hollywood, he was often called upon for villainy at which he was adept: his Jesse James is the most vicious in film history and Duvall was also quite pungent in True Grit, Joe Kidd, The Killer Elite, and Network. His death scene in Colors is a model of his realistic understatement.
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