A Matter of Motivation: Elisha Cook and Jack Palance in Shane
Dec. 25, 2012
Shane is in my top-five movie list. It has been for just under 60 years.
Walter Jack Palance, as he was billed, created the greatest of all Western villains. He got an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor for his role -- just a few spoken lines.
His entrance began with a slow ride into town. Palance could barely ride. No matter. The slow entrance was perfect.
Then came what I regard as one of the great scenes of any villain in history. It is incredibly low key. The key is the dog.
The dog knows. Avoid this guy!
The extent of his villainy is the scene with long-time character actor, Elisha Cook, Jr. Palance sneers with mastery.
Watch it. Watch the fear in Cook's eyes.
First, the scene is unique among Western shootouts. Cook's body leaves the ground because of the impact of the bullet. This is correct.
It was done by means of a wire around his chest. The stunt man yanked it at the right moment.
But the fear! Here was an actor. Here was a man who faked fear perfectly.
Actually, he had motivation.
George Stevens was a great director. He called Cook into his office. He told Cook that Cook was the worst actor he ever worked with. He told him that if Cook did not shape up, Stevens would see to it that he would never work in Hollywood again.
Cook really was scared.
After the shoot, Stevens told him that it was all a bluff to get him looking scared. He had never had any intention of spreading bad words about him.
The ethics of this was terrible. The effect was spectacular. This is one of the great scenes in Western movie history.
Cook was motivated.