IN MEMORIAM

Gregory Peck – Impassioned Actor Led Long & Varied Career (1916-2003)

By Sara Michelle Fetters

Talk about being the man of character, Gregory Peck embodied that more than almost any other actor for nearly his entire 50-plus year career. In fact, his only Academy Award win was for his lead performance as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, the penultimate man of character if there ever was one.

But, just because he took the moral high road more than a few times in his varied career, that didn’t mean Peck was afraid of getting down and dirty. From Duel in the Sun to The Guns of Navarone to The Boys from Brazil to The Omen, Peck could show a dark side with the best of them, unafraid to brandish his masculinity or make apologies for a forceful attitude. And while the actor’s career lagged as he got older, he was still able to light up the screen with brief supporting turns in movies as varied as Other People’s Money and remakes of Peck classics Moby Dick and Cape Fear.

When Peck died on June 12, it was almost as if the moral fiber of Hollywood was lost with him. The standard bearer for so long, it is hard to imagine another actor that could even think to hold such a mantle ever again. It is only a shame that his final lead role had to be in the hackneyed Old Gringo. An actor this wonderful and important definitely deserved a better coda to his career than that.

Here are ten of my all-time favorite Peck films. Most are available on DVD and the one that isn’t you should still be able to find on VHS (even if the colors are badly washed out). And, with a career as rich and varied as his was, these ten are only a starting place at best, many more riches out there to explore and find on your own.

Spellbound «««1/2 (1945, Alfred Hitchcock, Selznick International, Criterion DVD)

Nominated for six Oscars - Miklós Rózsa winning for his stirring score – Hitchcock was running on all cylinders with this tale of mistaken identity and amnesiac murder. Peck and Ingrid Bergman set off sparks that have been oft-imitated but almost never equaled.

The Yearling «««1/2 (1946, Clarence Brown, MGM, Warner DVD)

How can one not cry during this timeless tale of a boy and his dear? It’s impossible. Peck began his run of playing the morally straight man of conscious here, and it was a character he would play again and again for the rest of his career.

Duel in the Sun ««« (1946, King Vidor – six un-credited, Selznick International, Anchor Bay DVD)

One of the strangest western ever made, Selznick himself directed pieces of it after a meltdown with Vidor. Still, it truly must be seen to be believed, and Peck’s unhinged portrayal here makes for striking contrast with The Yearling.

Captain Horatio Hornblower «««1/2 (1951, Raul Walsh, Warner Bros, VHS only)

Long before A&E got a hold of the property, Peck tuck his turn as C.S. Forester’s famed naval commander in this early 50’s seafaring epic. One of my all-time favorite films to just sit back and enjoy, Walsh directs with a sturdy hand while the chemistry between the actor and Virginia Mayo as Lady Barbara Wellesley is simply divine. Top notch entertainment – nothing more, nothing less.

Roman Holiday «««« (1953, William Wyler, Paramount Pictures, Paramount DVD)

Remembered most for being the debut film of Audrey Hepburn, what people tend to forget is that Wyler’s film also featured some of the tenderest moments of Peck’s career. My vote for being one the greatest romantic comedies of all time, this is a trapped on a desert island movie if there ever was one and I can’t imagine living in a world where it doesn’t exist.

Moby Dick ««« (1956, John Huston, MGM, MGM DVD)

What can be said about Huston’s flawed, deeply ambitious take on Herman Melville’s classic adventure about the white whale and insane captain that pursues it? Not too much, really, other than the common thinking that Peck was miscast as the intense Captain Ahab just doesn’t seem to hold water as the film ages. Sure, the role is out of character for the actor, but that doesn’t mean he still doesn’t bring just the right amount of impassioned lunacy it requires to make it all work.

Pork Chop Hill «««1/2 (1959, Lewis Milestone, MGM, MGM DVD)

One of the few – and one of the first – films to deal with the Korean War, this combat film raised the bar in many ways for depicting down and dirty grunt infantry combat. Strong and stern, Peck is almost titanic as the Lt. Joe Clemons, pulling every trick he can think of out of his bag to lead his small group of men to victory and taking of the title hill.

On the Beach «««« (1959, Stanly Kramer, MGM, MGM DVD)

Peck’s second war film of ’59, this one takes a decidedly anti-militaristic take on the potential thought of nuclear annihilation. Playing the commander of one of the last remaining U.S. nuclear submarines, Peck and his crew find themselves in Australia tracking an on-coming cloud of radiation that will signal their doom and the eventual extinction of the human race. Deep, profound and unrelentingly bleak, On the Beach is one of the quintessential anti-war films ever made.

Cape Fear «««1/2 (1962, J. Lee Thompson, Universal, Universal DVD)

Of all the things Martin Scorsese got right when making his 1991 remake of Thompson’s classic, the one thing he absolutely could not top was the deliriously scary climax. Where Scorsese’s film fell apart into Freddy Kruger-esque theatrics, Peck and co-star Robert Mitchum face off in a confrontation so chilling it is nearly guaranteed to keep you up for days. As good as the star is as flawed everyman Sam Bowden, it is Mitchum’s Max Cady that steals the show. Any chance to see two actors this good playing off of one another should not be missed.

To Kill a Mockingbird «««« (1962, Robert Mulligan, Universal, Universal DVD)

One of the greatest and emotional films ever made, Mulligan cemented Peck’s reputation as true moral leader of his generation. Yet, what sticks out most in memory about this perfect piece of cinema is not the impassioned please of Atticus Finch the lawyer, but the quiet tenderness of a father trying to raise his children in a world that refuses to be color blind. A stirring work and a cinematic must for people of all ages.

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