CHARLEY BRADY
Ah yes, Mr. Blonde. Who can forget that guy? As played by Michael Madsen in Tarantino’s 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs he was probably responsible for putting people off the band Stealers Wheel for life. Steelers Wheel; ears in conjunction with razors; and being generally stuck in the middle with anyone, never mind you.
But he was also responsible for turning a whole new generation onto the immortal Lee Marvin, when in one memorable scene he said, with that laconic Madsen delivery:
“Boy, that was really exciting. I bet you’re a big Lee Marvin fan, aren’t you? Yeah, me too. I love that guy.”
I love that guy too; and even more so after coming across this little gem from director John Boorman, who worked with Marvin on that great 1967 movie Point Blank:
“Lee was always searching for a way of expressing the idea or emotion in a sharper, simpler, clearer way. These lessons were put to the test in our next film together, Hell in the Pacific, which had almost no dialogue since it was about the relationship of two men who could not speak each other’s language. Lee and I shared an admiration for the silent era of cinema and in this film, we had to relearn film-making from its beginnings.”
Oh yeah. That’s my Lee.
charleybrady@gmail.com