The Stripper! A Fine, Understated Actor in A Fine, Understated Film!
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Richard Beymer
caribeno — 15 years ago(July 21, 2010 04:47 PM)
I don't know if anyone has seen "The Stripper" but it is an excellent film that doesn't appear to have done well at the box-office. Ironically, it's based on a William Inge play that didn't do well on Broadway either, "And There Were Roses". It's not the fault of the material nor the acting, at least in the film. It is a daring film in many ways, especially considering when it was made and released: 1962.
All people in this film were not who I would've thought would be my first choice to play the parts they played but they were all not just good but excellent: Joanne Woodward, as the carnival girl who begins an affair with a young man she babysat and descends into stripping; Richard Beymer, as the general "good boy" who has his sexual awakening with Lila, Woodward's character; Claire Trevor, normally femme fatale or brittle sophisticate, playing a smart, intuitive Middle American mother; Louis Nye and Gypsy Rose Lee, as Lila's cohorts in the carnival business.
Richard Beymer played what, in lesser hands, could've been a mama's boy or pretty boy'd it in order to gain attention onscreen. Instead, he played the confusion, lust, desire, awe, and love that are often involved in one's first sexual experience/grownup love.
I'd like to hear from others, if they've seen the film, commenting about it and the actors' performances, especially that of Richard Beymer. -
BlueRoses47 — 15 years ago(January 06, 2011 02:50 PM)
This is a little late, but I was just checking out Richard Beymer's Imdb info after seeing him as a child in So Big on TCM yesterday. I wasn't aware he was a child actorthe first thing I remember seeing him in was Diary of Anne Frank.
I loved the movie THE STRIPPER. I saw it in the movies when it first came out, I was an adolescent at the time, I think. Over the years I've come to be a big William Inge fan. I love his plays and I have enjoyed all the film adaptations I've seen. Seeing it first as a young person, and a couple of times since as an adult, I really think it is a well made film, and I loved all the actors' performances in it. Too bad, few people seem familiar with it. It is really a little gem, I think.
As for Richard Beymer, I think he's a fine actor. He was really good in his role in So Big. I don't really connect him with his role in West Side Story, as many others seem to do.I really think of him first as that young man in THE STRIPPER. I really wish the title hadn't been changed to that, I prefer Inge's original title. Whoever decided to rename it, really did the piece a disservice, but I'm sure it was to get the public's attention and bring in more filmgoers. It's a stupid title.