Ray Milland : Ray Milland - Top 30 Highest Rated

Ray Milland - Top 30 Highest Rated

Video countdown to Ray Milland's greatest movies 1934-1975


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlBr5Hz4dvE

Re: Ray Milland - Top 30 Highest Rated

hi Steve

This is an interesting one. Milland had such a long and varied career, which was also somewhat up and down.

The Good

I more or less totally agree with your top six. I would switch The Big Clock with Beau Geste. I recently got and watched Beau Geste on a Gary Cooper collection & found it just a pretty good movie. The Big Clock I find terrific. Just me, though, as I know many do REALLY love Beau Geste as some sort of ultimate adventure story.

The Bad

Reap the Wild Wind--I have a personal rule about rating movies. Any movie in which John Wayne goes villainous and gets eaten by a squid gets into anyone's top ten. You only came close at #11.

Three Smart Girls--this one got a best picture Oscar nomination & made Deanna Durbin a star. I found it a winning screwball comedy. I suppose not for all tastes, but not even in Milland's top 31? It should be in the top ten.

The Glass Key--This 1935 George Raft version is certainly one of his top ten, but he has such a small role as the murder victim that I can understand not considering it a Milland film.

The Ugly

I was very pleased to see the AIP horror/sci-fi films I watched at the drive-in back in the early sixties made an appearance. On the other hand, where is "Frogs"? Easily the most terrifying movie ever made. Can you imagine the horror of having your house overrun by frogs?
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But what a career. Went from a second-string Cary Grant to a second-string Vincent Price. Because he was a not a top-of-the-line leading man back in the day, he had a fascinating offbeat career for a major star, complete with loathsome villains and horror turns. And he endured into the mature TV era, as a villain on Columbo and in good made-for-tv flicks such as Black Noon.

Re: Ray Milland - Top 30 Highest Rated

Hi John, I was a bit picky when it came to his 1930s output, The Glass Key wasn't even on my master list, while a review for Three Smart Girls mentions that he is given little to do which was enough for me to ignore it. Sorry.
I included Bulldog Drummond because I was interested in that fictional character and noticed that a number of good actors had a go at playing him.

I think you moaned about Reap the Wild Wind on a previous video, it just isn't a top rated movie, it never was. A score of 6.8 was the highest I could get for it and that was from IMDB. Maybe people didn't like the fact Wayne gets eaten by a squid?

I have Frogs on DVD, it's been a while since I last saw it. 'Eco-horror' I think they were calling it. Great poster sad I didn't include it. The highest rating was from Rotten Tomatoes, 4.6.

Funny you should mention Vincent Price...

Re: Ray Milland - Top 30 Highest Rated

Hi Steve

Three Smart Girls--Milland was the leading man in the romantic subplots and had a major role.

Frogs--well, I was tongue in cheek about this one. My take is that it is the second worst "eco-horror" behind The Night of the Lepus, which tried to terrify us with bunny rabbits. Frogs just aren't scary to me. As you pointed out, Frogs is really a bad movie, but it raises a problem concerning movies for some of us. Frogs might not be good, but it is memorable. There are a ton a middle-row movies one watches and then totally forgets. Frogs you remember once you see it, and Milland is actually very good in it. So it is easily one of his top twenty most memorable films, but near the bottom in quality.

Reap the Wild Wind--There probably are folks who were turned off by John Wayne being eating by a squid. No accounting for a lack of artistic sensibility.
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