Jackie Gleason as The Penguin

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John Mack
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Re: Jackie Gleason as The Penguin

Post by John Mack »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 4:53 pm Frankly, Gleason was not as versatile as Meredith; it takes a special level of talent to create a living, arrogant, even oddly threatening "bird man" from what one would guess was not the most detailed character references.

Like Gorshin as the Riddler, Sanders as Freeze and Newmar as Catwoman, Meredith was perfect casting being an actor who knew how to reach within and build on a concept to make it a signature role that has not lost its impact over 50 years later. There's no way to see Gleason achieving the same--or even knowing where to go with the Penguin.
Totally disagree. You can only speculate, not make blanket statements as fact. You have no idea what may have been. If Gleason had been cast as the Penguin, and his portrayal was considered ultimate, then the same things would be being said now about Meredith. All complete speculation and we'll never know, will we?
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dell
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Re: Jackie Gleason as The Penguin

Post by dell »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 4:53 pm Frankly, Gleason was not as versatile as Meredith; it takes a special level of talent to create a living, arrogant, even oddly threatening "bird man" from what one would guess was not the most detailed character references.

Like Gorshin as the Riddler, Sanders as Freeze and Newmar as Catwoman, Meredith was perfect casting being an actor who knew how to reach within and build on a concept to make it a signature role that has not lost its impact over 50 years later. There's no way to see Gleason achieving the same--or even knowing where to go with the Penguin.
Excellent analysis. I think one of the keys to being a good Bat-villain was to ignore the absurdity of the situation and play it straight, but with just enough tongue in cheek that you had fun with it. Gorshin, Sanders, Newmar and Meredith all did that. For a case of not quite getting it quite right look at Milton Berle's performance. It just falls flat.

Part of what makes Batman work as a show is that you are always rooting for Batman, but you also enjoy watching the villain carry out their plan. Olga and Egghead can be painful to watch as a team, but Egghead alone is fun. They simply bicker to much to make it fun.
dell
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Jackie Gleason as The Penguin

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

John Mack wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:12 pm
BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Mon Jan 07, 2019 4:53 pm Frankly, Gleason was not as versatile as Meredith; it takes a special level of talent to create a living, arrogant, even oddly threatening "bird man" from what one would guess was not the most detailed character references.

Like Gorshin as the Riddler, Sanders as Freeze and Newmar as Catwoman, Meredith was perfect casting being an actor who knew how to reach within and build on a concept to make it a signature role that has not lost its impact over 50 years later. There's no way to see Gleason achieving the same--or even knowing where to go with the Penguin.
Totally disagree. You can only speculate, not make blanket statements as fact. You have no idea what may have been. If Gleason had been cast as the Penguin, and his portrayal was considered ultimate, then the same things would be being said now about Meredith. All complete speculation and we'll never know, will we?
What are we doing in this thread? Offering opinions and conclusions based on existing evidence, so if anyone believes Gleason would have handled the role, its just as (allegedly) speculative as saying he would not. The point of it all is that there was no template for a live action Penguin character, and Meredith had to develop all of that, which means no other actor would have made the same choices, or approached it in the same way, hence no Penguin identity that instantly comes to mind thanks only to Meredith's creativity.
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robinboyblunderer
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Re: Jackie Gleason as The Penguin

Post by robinboyblunderer »

It's difficult to picture anyone but Burgess Meredith in the role. I think the big four were perfectly cast.

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