William Holden: A Different Kind of Hero July 2 – 15, 2008
"Masculine, moody and morally ambiguous, this beefy actor's characters were a perfect fit for the modern era of questioning authority." - Time Out New York
“Perhaps the only leading man of his generation to confront the decade's changing screen mores… In film after film his characters sold their souls, dealt with the devil, stirred impure thoughts in the innocent and impressionable, and looked out for No. 1” – Jim Ridley, The Village Voice
“Of all of the male stars of his generation, Holden embodied the anxious doubts and sometimes outright lies that are the dark underpinnings of movie heroism.” – Bruce Bennett, The New York Sun
See two films for the price of one!
Buy a ticket to any screening & see the following feature free. This offer is good only for films screening on the same day and may not be combined with the Series Pass.
William Holden was the kind of star that audiences could easily take for granted. An actor whose command of his craft was so seamlessly integrated with his being as to be virtually unnoticeable, who specialized in the kind of small-scale, observational work that is often overlooked when awards are doled out. Not that he didn’t get his share of recognition – he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Stalag 17, and he was named among the top ten stars of the year throughout the mid-‘50s to the early ‘60s. Nonetheless, he remains underrated, because in his best performances, he gave form to feeling with a mastery and a lightness of touch that far outclassed most of his fellow actors.
Check out the video preview of the series, courtesy of Manhattan Bureau.
There was that wonderfully rough voice, often poised on the edge of cynical disillusionment. There was that physique – athletic but on the verge of dissipation. And there was that face – smooth and innocent in youth, a little weathered and circumspect in adulthood, lined with worry, regret and beleaguered wisdom in old age. As we watched him age on the screen, we saw an ongoing portrait of intelligent American masculinity in progress, interrupted by his untimely accidental death in 1981 at the age of 63.
Holden was the perfect actor for so many varied directors: Billy Wilder, George Seaton, Sam Peckinpah, Blake Edwards. And whether he was playing an action hero or a flyer trying to summon up a little grace under pressure, a writer acerbically narrating his own death or a bandit making a last run against fate, he was quite simply one of the very best actors we’ve ever had.
Series programmed by Kent Jones, critic, author, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Associate Director of Programming. Listen to the "Moonglow" theme from Picnic followed by The Speakeasy with Dorian interview with Mr. Jones.
For a listing of the films in the series go to Program Overview.
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Calendar to view the schedule & purchase tickets online ($1.25 service charge per ticket). Series Pass: admits one person to five titles; $40 public/$30 Film Society members, available only at the Walter Reade Theater box office (cash only) ~ may not be combined with any other offer.
