Rockford Files...Sorell Booke/Bo Hopkins

DeSica

DeSica

Well-known member
Best P.I. show ever.

There were some great guest stars on this series, and James Garner is one of the most under appreciated actors of the last 50 years. The dude is pure gold.

Boss Hogg is on tonight, at half his size, and so is Bo Hopkins...

ahh, F. Scott Fitzgerald was right...tender is the night.
 
The Rockford files had one of the best theme songs. I loved the way his answering machine picked up at the beginning, and then the music started.

Ba,da,do,do,do,do,doon......

Classic!
 
Garner is truly great, but I'm not sure I would call him unappreciated. He had a pretty long and full film career prior to Rockford. But there are so many guys from that generation who were true masters of their craft, but masters as just part of their jobs:

Garner, Bronson, Coburn, Caan, so many others who were simply masters of screen-acting.
 
not un...under

I'm a fan of those actors you mentioned, but most of them are better known to the general public.

Garner, though he has done such great work on TV like Maverick, The Rockford Files and Barbarians At The Gate, as well as films like The Great Escape, Grand Prix, Victor/Victoria and Murphy's Romance (for which he received an Oscar nomination), just hasn't really broken through to that level of acclaim, even though he deserves it.

He does drama and comedy so easily and looks so natural. Just take a look at Support Your Local Sheriff, Support Your Local Gunfighter, or even Marlowe (with a sinister Bruce Lee). The guy is great and the stuff is classic, yet still enjoyable today.
 
I think the fact that Garner has worked steadily into his 80s suggests a pretty good level of appreciation.

I also think his nomination/win list speaks to the other point, too:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001258/awards

So, maaaaaaybe there's some sort of argument to be made that he's underappreciated at some level (though I don't think so). But the "one of the most" underappreciated? Not even close.
 
I know people in the business respect and appreciate him. They pretty much have to, given his talent, although they didn't want to give him the part in Murphy's Romance because the studio executives thought of him as a TV actor. I think that is how the public sees him, too. He's that P.I. guy...that Polaroid commercial guy.

Like I said, I don't think the public really does get how good this dude is. Go back and look at The Great Escape. Alot of the guys who were mentioned earlier in the thread were in it with him.

Coburn wasn't exactly stellar, even with a smaller part. Bronson was okay, but I'd say Garner was better. McQueen was the only other actor who really stood out from the rest, and that is saying alot, given the amount of talent in the film.

Again, I'd say he was as good as Bronson or Coburn, but was he as well regarded by the public in general? I don't think so.
 
Well, you didn't say "the public" before -- but I'm still not sure on what basis you draw that conclusion. (How would you gauge it, anyway?) I can't imagine he spends too many nights worrying about it -- too busy.
 
When I made the original post, and when I made the statement about level of acclaim, I didn't mention the public...you're right. I took it for granted that it was implicit, but I can see how some people would have assumed I only meant critical acclaim and TV casting agents' appreciation, even though it's the public who decides how popular an actor is in the end.

The guy has been around so long, it would be cool to hear what jobs he didn't take, and some other behind the scenes tales from his days on the set with guys like McQueen and Bronson.

I'm happy he has found work at his age, even if it did mean having to share screen time with David Spade on stuff like 8 Simple Rules...
 
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