Patricia Neal 1926--2010
What you remember about Patricia Neal is the tobacco-cured voice and appraising eyes that in a glance could take the measure of a man to the millimeter. In her two best roles, The Fountainhead (1949, as absolutist architecture critic Dominique Francon) and A Face in the Crowd (1957, as a radio journalist Marcia Jeffries who midwives a maleficent media personality), the way she looked at Gary Cooper's pneumatic drill and Andy Griffiths' acoustic guitar was positively indecent. And incandescent.
Patricia Neal 1926--2010
Carrie Rickey, Film Critic
What you remember about Patricia Neal is the tobacco-cured voice and appraising eyes that in a glance could take the measure of a man to the millimeter. In her two best roles, The Fountainhead (1949, as absolutist architecture critic Dominique Francon) and A Face in the Crowd (1957, as a radio journalist Marcia Jeffries who midwives a maleficent media personality), the way she looked at Gary Cooper's pneumatic drill and Andy Griffiths' acoustic guitar was positively indecent. And incandescent.
As a screen presence, she was not prolific. Apart from Fountainhead and Face, her most memorable movies were The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), where she was decorative, Breakfast at Tiffany's, where she was imperious, and Hud (1963), where she effectively won a best actress Oscar for resisting the charms of Paul Newman (and for surviving a debilitating stroke in real life). But she was forceful, no-nonsense, and built like a goddess. To watch her onscreen is to be transfused by her energy, transfixed by her beauty. (Patsy was the given name of the Kentucky-born Neal but her patrician presence inspired a director to rechristen her Patricia.)
If you've never seen A Face in the Crowd, take this as an occasion to honor Neal -- and one of the most acerbic social commentaries of the 1950s. Your favorite Neal performance? Why?
Your blog alleges that Ms. Neal won an Oscar for Hud and for surviving a stroke in real life, however that was in 1963 and she didn't suffer a stroke until 1965.— geobun- I just marvel at the way she survived her stormy marraige to Roald Dahl. I always thought Neal was great on screen, but off screen, she was even greater.— garyk
- Three strokes, one child who died from measles and another who almost died after being hit by a car. I'm guessing Ms. Neal had bigger things in her life than a dumb husband cheating on her with her best friend. :/ As for her best performance? You can't beat "A Face in the Crowd". But for me it was "Breakfast at Tiffanys." There is one scene where she knows the affair with George Peppard is over. She is standing there in the apartment talking to him about his life. Now I don't know if this was deliberate or not, but she truly looks like the Evil Queen in Disney's "Snow White." All that is missing is the apple. But it's the look in her eyes that I really remember. She is telling him that he will miss the way of life he has grown used to. She is angry. But if you look at her eyes you see she is also hurt and sad. She wants what he found and she knows her age is one reason he's leaving. All in one look. Amazing.— HokieBabe
- Geobun: You are absolutely right. I misremembered her 1966 appearance at the Oscars, where she was obviously recovering from her stroke, with her 1964 appearance to collect her Oscar for "Hud." Thanks for the correction. Since other commenters have mentioned her tempestuous marriage to Roald Dahl, may I recommend Neal's excellent memoir, "As I am," which mines the ore of that marriage from the placer.— carrierickey
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