#joe e. brown

[citizenscreen]

Birthday remembrance - Joe E. Brown #botd

[hotvintagepoll]

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (Cabin in the Sky, You Can't Take It With You)—He's best known for his role as Rochester on the Jack Benny Show, but he's so so good as the lead alongside Ethel Waters in Cabin in the Sky. He has the BEST Scrungly little guy voice. You can't tell me otherwise. There's no contest, he's got the whole scrungly guy energy.

Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot)—Where to begin? Despite from all appearances being perfectly average sized, his Little Guy energy is off the charts. His rubber face leaves Jim Carrey's in an exaggerated Looney Toons-style dust cloud. He was an actual cartoon character on several occasions. His calling card was just randomly SCREAMING. He was 100% down to marry Jack Lemmon. I could go on.

This is round 2 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you’re confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Eddie Anderson:

Eddie Anderson was a comedic icon of the time, so famous for his portrayal of "Rochester" that he would often be co-billed with costar Jack Benny and highlighted on posters. One of the first Black film stars to be treated as a celebrity. [link to article on Anderson's career]

[Mild CW in that some people may find Anderson's performance in these clips stereotypical or offensive. As with many all-Black-cast films of this period that were produced with white supervision from the studios, Black talent were often limited by roles that played into prevalent stereotypes. While I'm including Anderson because he does scrungle very hard, I'm doing so with the acknowledgement that this role—like too many afforded to Black actors—was probably not intended to let him truly shine as an actor beyond the limited scope of the stereotypes racist white audiences felt comfortable with.]

Joe E. Brown:

The open-mouthed smile where he doesn't show his teeth automatically catapults to him to the top of my scrungly guy list, and that's without the absolute self-satisfaction and rapscallion energy of the final scene in Some Like It Hot. But come on. Look at him. THAT is a scrungly little guy. You've got to believe me

[peterlorrefanpage]

There's something so delicious about Peter Lorre in this promo pic from "The Comedy of Terrors" (1963).

I mean, he's always delicious. But taken out of context, there's a beautifully haunted sense of brooding about him as he stands there, his booted foot placed just so, his cloak folded around him, his strong, curved jaw, the way his lips are pressed together, his eyes shadowed by his hat.

One could make a whole different story out of that pose alone. Or I'm just dazzled by him as usual. :)

[oldshowbiz]

Beware Spooks! (1939)

[sigurism]

John Davis Chandler Route 66 -Journey To Nineveh Dir: David Lowell Rich

[belalugosi1882]

Bela Lugosi with Joe E. Brown and Marjorie White in Broadminded 1931

[aspirationalbrand]

a midsummer night's dream (1935)

[gatutor]

June Travis-Joe E. Brown "Earthworm tractors" 1936, de Ray Enright.

[nathalieskinoblog]

[liliana-von-k]

Buster Keaton, The Silent Partner, 1955

A friend just posted this at FB and I was fascinated to see the older Buster made up to look like the younger Buster, proving that he still had the comedy chops, and then some. He was sixty years old here, at a time when the median death age for American men was 66. I'm so glad we got to have eleven more years of Buster...though of course thanks to his extraordinary artistic output, we truly have him forever.

[citizenscreen]

Joe E. Brown and Ginger Rogers in Ray Enright’s THE TENDERFOOT (1932).

[hotvintagepoll]

Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot)—Where to begin? Despite from all appearances being perfectly average sized, his Little Guy energy is off the charts. His rubber face leaves Jim Carrey's in an exaggerated Looney Toons-style dust cloud. He was an actual cartoon character on several occasions. His calling card was just randomly SCREAMING. He was 100% down to marry Jack Lemmon. I could go on.

Anthony Perkins (The Trial, Psycho, Pretty Poison)—While Tony's scrungliest roles were in the 80s, there is NO SHORTAGE of scrungle in the vintage era! His portrayal of Josef K in The Trial is as soaking wet as they come. And of course, Norman Bates is his most iconic scrungle. I dare you to watch Norman getting wrestled to the ground in a dress while silently screaming and NOT feel the urge to wrap him in a blanket and give him some cocoa.

This is round 1 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you're confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Joe E. Brown:

The open-mouthed smile where he doesn't show his teeth automatically catapults to him to the top of my scrungly guy list, and that's without the absolute self-satisfaction and rapscallion energy of the final scene in Some Like It Hot. But come on. Look at him. THAT is a scrungly little guy. You've got to believe me

Anthony Perkins:

[yestergaze]

Margaret Hamilton and Joe E. Brown in "When's Your Birthday?" (1937)

[boscofuller]

[sigurism]

Buster Keaton, Joe E. Brown, Edgar Buchanan & John Davis Chandler Route 66 Journey to Nineveh Dir: David Lowell Rich

[belalugosi1882]

Bela Lugosi and Joe E. Brown in Broadminded 1931