Over this last week, both Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall passed away. They were of different generations, of course, but both starred in memorable, compelling films.
One often thinks of the films one liked most from an actor or actress. For Williams and Bacall, I’ve two favorites.
For Williams, it’s Moscow on the Hudson (1984). He’s better known for other films, but I think Williams was convincing as a Russian defector who simply wanted a better life for himself in New York.
The film was one of politics of course, but that’s not the heart of William’s portrayal – as Vladimir Ivanoff is a musician who defects, in a Bloomingdale’s store in New York, from the Soviet Union.
Bacall, aged eighty-nine, became a star in the black-and-white era of film, but that shouldn’t put off those who’ve not seen her films. We sometimes think that if a film’s not new, it’s not clever, compelling, or worth one’s time.
Oh, no – Bacall was clever and compelling in her time, as she would have been in any time.
The Big Sleep (1946), in which she stars with Humphrey Bogart, is as modern in its way as any film of our time. Bogart’s Philip Marlowe encounters Bacall’s Vivian Rutledge, and the encounter is … timeless.
Williams and Bacall will be missed, but we have the comfort that they’ve left a fine, enduring legacy.
Very nice eulogies for two exceptional people. May they both find peace.