Game #191: Star Search

[jarnon]

Why am I working on this at 1 a.m.?

I'm thinking it's an actor's first movie, paired with a co-star. Going down the list and consulting IMDB:

1. HENRY FONDA = The Farmer Takes a Wife with 94. JANET GAYNOR

4. OMAR SHARIF = Lawrence of Arabia with 37. ALEC GUINNESS

5. MERYL STREEP = Julia with 102. JANE FONDA

6. ROB LOWE = The Outsiders with 70. RALPH MACCHIO

In Omar's case, we have to exclude Arabic movies. There may be other parameters.

[jarnon]

8. GEENA DAVIS = Tootsie with 81. DUSTIN HOFFMAN

9. GENE KELLY = For Me and My Gal with 116. JUDY GARLAND

10. **** VAN **** = Bye Bye Birdie with 80. MAUREEN STAPLETON

11. SISSY SPACEK = Prime Cut with 89. LEE MARVIN

13. GENE WILDER = Bonnie and Clyde with 124. WARREN BEATTY

14. MARY STEENBURGEN = Goin’ South with 65. JACK NICHOLSON

15. KATHLEEN TURNER = Body Heat with 63. WILLIAM HURT

16. DON MURRAY = Bus Stop with 55. MARILYN MONROE

18. RICHARD WIDMARK = Kiss of Death with 106. VICTOR MATURE

19. JAMES EARL JONES = Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb with 77. PETER SELLERS

20. CAMERON DIAZ = The Mask with 97. JIM CARREY

21. TERESA WRIGHT= The Little Foxes with 98. HERBERT MARSHALL

23. ALBERT FINNEY = The Entertainer with 75. LAURENCE OLIVIER

24. ELIZABETH HARTMAN = A Patch of Blue with 109. SHELLEY WINTERS

Good night!

[silverscreenselect]

Duhhhhhh.

Eddie Murphy was 48 Hours with Nick Nolte
Shirley Booth was Come Back Little Sheba with Burt Lancaster
Lauren Bacall was To Have and Have Not with Humphrey Bogart
Julie Andrews was Mary Poppins with Dick Van Dyke
Angela Lansbury was Gaslight with Ingrid Bergman
Kevin Bacon was Animal House with Thomas Hulse
Paul Newman is Silver Chalice with Virginia Mayo

I would note that all of these premiere films are quite well known for various reasons, so it's not a matter of someone making a debut as Passerby #1 or something like that.

[franktangredi]

4. OMAR SHARIF = Lawrence of Arabia with 37. ALEC GUINNESS

In Omar's case, we have to exclude Arabic movies. There may be other parameters.

I did not exclude Arabic movies.

[jarnon]

4. OMAR SHARIF = Lawrence of Arabia with 37. ALEC GUINNESS

In Omar's case, we have to exclude Arabic movies. There may be other parameters.

I did not exclude Arabic movies.

Well there must be some criterion that I hope somebody figures out. According to IMDB, Omar made 23 movies that I never heard of before Lawrence of Arabia.

Ingrid Bergman is similar. She made 12 Swedish films (including Swedish Intermezzo) before Intermezzo with Leslie Howard. But I don’t see Leslie in the game. Maybe Ingrid is just here as a co-star.

[franktangredi]

4. OMAR SHARIF = Lawrence of Arabia with 37. ALEC GUINNESS

In Omar's case, we have to exclude Arabic movies. There may be other parameters.

I did not exclude Arabic movies.

Well there must be some criterion that I hope somebody figures out. According to IMDB, Omar made 23 movies that I never heard of before Lawrence of Arabia.

Ingrid Bergman is similar. She made 12 Swedish films (including Swedish Intermezzo) before Intermezzo with Leslie Howard. But I don’t see Leslie in the game. Maybe Ingrid is just here as a co-star.

There's no additional criterion. You nailed it.

[littlebeast13]

There is one particular circumstance in which someone could act in a movie and not be in this puzzle, but I can't think of any examples offhand..

Now that the Tangredi is solved, I am curious as to this particular circumstance. Would it be someone who was the only actor in their debut movie? As someone who is not a film buff by any stretch, are there any notable examples of movies that literally only had one actor?

lb13

[franktangredi]

There is one particular circumstance in which someone could act in a movie and not be in this puzzle, but I can't think of any examples offhand..

Now that the Tangredi is solved, I am curious as to this particular circumstance. Would it be someone who was the only actor in their debut movie? As someone who is not a film buff by any stretch, are there any notable examples of movies that literally only had one actor?

lb13

There are, but I couldn't offhand think of any that were well-known film debuts. (I didn't want to count concert films.)

Here are a few examples of movies with just one actor:

All Is Lost (Robert Redford)
The Human Voice (Ingrid Bergman)
Buried (Ryan Reynolds, though there are other actors who are heard but not seen)
Several monologue film with Spalding Gray

[silverscreenselect]

There is one particular circumstance in which someone could act in a movie and not be in this puzzle, but I can't think of any examples offhand..

Now that the Tangredi is solved, I am curious as to this particular circumstance. Would it be someone who was the only actor in their debut movie? As someone who is not a film buff by any stretch, are there any notable examples of movies that literally only had one actor?

lb13

This would be one-man or one-woman shows. The most notable example I know is Give 'em Hell Harry with James Whitmore as Harry Truman. The film was a live recording of the play that Whitmore had made famous. He got an Oscar nomination for the role.

[littlebeast13]

Thanks. I knew there were some TV episodes that were one-person acts, but didn't know if that gimmick could be expanded into a full length film (let alone movies that got Oscar nods)...

lb13

[earendel]

There is one particular circumstance in which someone could act in a movie and not be in this puzzle, but I can't think of any examples offhand..

Now that the Tangredi is solved, I am curious as to this particular circumstance. Would it be someone who was the only actor in their debut movie? As someone who is not a film buff by any stretch, are there any notable examples of movies that literally only had one actor?

lb13

This would be one-man or one-woman shows. The most notable example I know is Give 'em Hell Harry with James Whitmore as Harry Truman. The film was a live recording of the play that Whitmore had made famous. He got an Oscar nomination for the role.

"American Playhouse" did a TV episode of the one-man show "Tru" featuring Robert Morse, and Hal Holbrook was in "Mark Twain Tonight", another TV special.

[mellytu74]

Woo Hoo - nice job breaking the logjam!!

119. GREER GARSON = Goodbye Mr Chips with 52. ROBERT DONAT

49. ABBOTT & COSTELLO = One Night in the Tropics with 66. ALLAN JONES

30. FRED ASTAIRE = Dancing Lady with 67. JOAN CRAWFORD

86. CANDICE BERGEN = The Group with 24. ELIZABETH HARTMAN

[silverscreenselect]

Kirk Douglas in Strange Love of Martha Ivers with Barbara Stanwyck
Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween with Donald Pleasence
Marilyn Monroe in Don't Bother to Knock with Richard Widmark
Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd with Patricia Neal
Robert Duvall in To Kill a Mockingbird with Gregory Peck

[mellytu74]

45. PATRICIA NEAL = John Loves Mary with 72. RONALD REAGAN

76. MARIE DRESSLER = Tillie's Punctured Romance with 34. CHARLIE CHAPLIN

51. SUSAN SARANDON = Joe with 113. PETER BOYLE

[mellytu74]

63. WILLIAM HURT = Altered States with 42. BLAIR BROWN

80. MAUREEN STAPLETON = Lonleyhearts with 32. MONTGOMERY CLIFT

32. MONTGOMERY CLIFT = The Search with 96. ALINE MCMAHON

[mellytu74]

82. BARBRA STREISAND = Funny Girl with 4. OMAR SHARIF

123. KATHARINE HEPBURN = A Bill of Divorcement with 2. JOHN BARRYMORE

54. EVA MARIE SAINT = On the Waterfront with 125. MARLON BRANDO

124. WARREN BEATTY = Splendor in the Grass with 58. NATALIE WOOD

3. FRANCES McDORMAND = Blood Simple with 68. M. EMMET WALSH

[mellytu74]

7. SHIRLEY MACLAINE = The Trouble with Harry with 101. MILDRED NATWICK

104. SHIRLEY JONES = Oklahoma with 56. GENE NELSON

74. CYBILL SHEPHERD = Last Picture Show with 28. ELLEN BURSTYN

[mellytu74]

Could Princess Diaries have been Anne Hathaway's debut? That is a match with Julie Andrews and the second use of Andrews.

40. DOROTHY McGuire = Claudia with 100. ROBERT YOUNG

114. LANA TURNER = They Won't Forget with 47. CLAUDE RAINS

[mellytu74]

61. SEAN PENN = Taps with 36. TIMOTHY HUTTON?? Not sure if it's Penn's first role

[franktangredi]

7. SHIRLEY MACLAINE = The Trouble with Harry with 101. MILDRED NATWICK

104. SHIRLEY JONES = Oklahoma with 56. GENE NELSON

74. CYBILL SHEPHERD = Last Picture Show with 28. ELLEN BURSTYN

To settle this point: at the Tony Awards, Shirley Jones - who introduced a scene from the revival of Oklahoma! - cited it as the musical that launched her career.

[mellytu74]

7. SHIRLEY MACLAINE = The Trouble with Harry with 101. MILDRED NATWICK

104. SHIRLEY JONES = Oklahoma with 56. GENE NELSON

74. CYBILL SHEPHERD = Last Picture Show with 28. ELLEN BURSTYN

To settle this point: at the Tony Awards, Shirley Jones - who introduced a scene from the revival of Oklahoma! - cited it as the musical that launched her career.

AND I HEARD HER DO IT!! And remembered it.

Went right by me.

[mellytu74]

91. DIANE KEATON = Lovers and Other Strangers with 33. RICHARD CASTELLANO

You know something? If I had really been paying attention, this one should have done it. I saw her name and never put it together.

The kicker is, we were watching Pickup on South Street on TCM and we were talking about Richard Widmark and what a shit he was in Kiss of Death.

And, yes, Frank - you are absolutely right. You didn't think it was that hard … the clues were all there. :O :O :O


87. BURT LANCASTER = The Killers with 12. AVA GARDNER

64. JESSICA LANGE = King Kong with 95. CHARLES GRODIN

90. JANE ALEXANDER = Great White Hope with 19. JAMES EARL JONES

[mellytu74]

125. MARLON BRANDO = The Men with 21. TERESA WRIGHT

Lynn Redgrave had a small role in Tom Jones with Albert Finney but I don't know if it's her debut

[mellytu74]

92. JOHN AGAR = Fort Apache with 1. HENRY FONDA

88. AMY IRVING = Carrie with 11. SISSY SPACEK

[mellytu74]

I would note that all of these premiere films are quite well known for various reasons, so it's not a matter of someone making a debut as Passerby #1 or something like that.

Good point - I think we can safely say these are first credited roles.