Henry Fonda: Great or Overrated

[normabanana]

He is overrated to me. Just a moderate actor.
Good-looking and moderate act. But not talented and is uncharacteristic.

[Deleted]

Henry Fonda was great - A very strong stage preciseness .   

[Deleted]

He's one of our great ones. As a Korean you just haven't seen enough of his work on film.

Have you watched Grapes Of Wrath? My Darling Clementine? 12 Angry Men? My Lady Eve? On Golden Pond? Fort Apache? Advise and Consent? How The West Was Won? The Longest Day? The Ox Bow Incident? War and Peace? Drums Along The Mohawk? Jesse James? Jezebel? Once Upon A Time In The West? And my favorite, Mr. Roberts?

Please watch all these and then re-consider.

[rmichaelpyle]

Especially "Grapes of Wrath". I'm not sure that it's not the greatest American film ever made.

[Deleted]

It's a hard film to watch, it won't leave you in a "comfort zone". Then again, it's not supposed to.

[normabanana]

I watched Jezebel, Ox, Drums, Clementine,
Grapes, Lincoln, Apache, and 12 Angry Men.
But never saw his characteristic.

Well, I wanted to watch Jesse James three years ago.
But no Korean subs. However will try again.

[rmichaelpyle]

Aug 18, 2015 5:14:54 GMT normabanana said:

I watched Jezebel, Ox, Drums, Clementine,
Grapes, Lincoln, Apache, and 12 Angry Men.
But never saw his characteristic.

Well, I wanted to watch Jesse James three years ago.
But no Korean subs. However will try again.

I have a funny feeling that watching "Grapes of Wrath" with ANY subtitles will NEVER do it or Henry Fonda ANY justice...

[Deleted]

Not sure about that R Michael, I think reading subs from a movie that is pretty faithful to the book by John Steinbeck while at the same time watching the characters' behavior and faces as they act, can be just as powerful an experience. I don't think I lacked understanding of any foreign movie's story by having to read subtitles at the same time, unless they were badly done by hacks.

To me reading subs is like reading books with pictures. We did that at age 5 with Dr. Seuss, so we are perfectly capable of doing it in our older years.

I have about 200 old books that are Photoplay versions with pictures from films inside and other books with illustrations inside, like a lovely one for Jane Eyre, and those don't take away from the experience. In fact they enhance the books.

Just like words and music go together, so can subs with films. I would never want to miss out on any great films just because they happened to be made in a country where English isn't spoken. Otherwise we become very insular people if we don't know what other people around the world are thinking and feeling and expressing in their arts.

[dash]

I agree with your comments, but in the case of Fonda, I think I concur with R Michael's point. The inflection and distinct tone quality of his voice to me have a lot to do with his effectiveness— perhaps more so than with some actors. I'm thinking of Twelve Angry Men, for example. There isn't that much to look at there with Fonda, but a lot in how he says things. 

But you're right, viewing great films with subs can still be a totally satisfying experience.

[Deleted]

But the "inflection and distinct tone quality of his voice" doesn't change with time, it's etched into the film forever. Neither will be detracted from whether there are subs on the screen or not.

Even if foreign folks don't have subtitles to read in their own language when Peter Finch yells, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!" in Network, they know darn well that he IS mad as hell by the look on his face. If anything adding subs would help them understand the "I'm not gonna take this anymore" aspect of his statement, but even without them they would probably be able to guess he was feeling the second part of his statement.

It gives me the heebie jeebies to think what I would have missed if I had never seen A Tale Of Two Sisters from Korea with English subtitles, which began my intense love for Korean cinema and television dramas.