Discuss Vincent Price
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Memorable, distinctive actor
posted by genplant29STAFFMOD on August 23, 2019 at 7:03 PM
Vincent Price (1911-1993) ranged from being an upper tier supporting actor to, often, the star.
Besides his many charmingly sinister, often whatever extent of droll, movie roles, and various prominent supporting parts, he's also well known, in the States, for having been the longtime (at least seems like it was for a number of years, but may have been for just 2-3 or so) host of PBS' (Public Broadcasting Service's) Mystery television series. Too, he provided the creepily wonderful speaking voice in Michael Jackson's megahit "Thriller".
Ah, what a voice. Price's rich, smooth, cultured voice is definitely a splendid one that you remember.
I've always enjoyed Price in anything he's appeared/participated in, no matter what it is.
Please check out the following list of titles and celebrities I've created TMDb threads for: https://www.themoviedb.org/list/118052
Reply by barrymost
on September 21, 2019 at 7:11 PM
Ah yes, I've long been a fan of Vincent Price. Some of my favorites of his are The Comedy of Terrors, The Fly, Twice-Told Tales, and, in a rare straight, non-horror, comedy role, Champagne for Caesar, starring the always-charming Ronald Colman.
I remember seeing "Thriller" about a year and a half back, and thinking to myself, "Dancing zombies. Now there's a novel idea."
Reply by rudely_murray
on September 21, 2019 at 8:05 PM
He is brilliant in Champagne for Caesar - he really should have received an Oscar nomination for that performance.
My favourite Price horror roles are The Masque of the Red Death and Witchfinder General.
Reply by genplant29
on September 26, 2019 at 3:44 AM
Another film I remember really liking him in (though has been years since I last saw it, therefore perhaps the performance isn't as good as I recall it having been) is 1946's Dragonwyck. In that he plays a very dashing character who goes increasingly insane.
Only Vincent Price was ever like Vincent Price - if that makes any sense; there's no other actor I am able to think of who had a persona type that was in the same ballpark as his. That wonderful voice and way of speaking lines had a whole lot to do with it.
Reply by barrymost
on September 26, 2019 at 12:42 PM
Ooh, I'll be sure to check it out! I'm always up for a good Vincent Price movie.
Yup, you're right about that: Vincent Price was certainly in a class by himself! Just as a funny side note, I read in a cinema book that he was once quoted as saying, "Sometimes it feels like I'm embodying the whole dark unconscious of the human race. I know this sounds sick, but I love it."
Reply by genplant29
on December 2, 2023 at 7:06 AM
I was just watching some of The Song of Bernadette (1943). In it, in at least one scene, Price seems to tower over actor Charles Bickford. Checking online, I've learned that he (VP) was 6'/4" [Bickford was 6'/1"]. I never, until now, realized he was so tall.
Recently the double-sided MGM Scream Legends DVD of Vincent Price's early 1970s The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again! films was added to my collection. Those both are weird and bizarrely watchable.
Reply by bratface
on December 2, 2023 at 5:14 PM
I loved the Dr. Phibes movies. I always preferred Price in the many horror movies he made.
Reply by northcoast
on December 5, 2023 at 10:08 AM
There was one other actor, in my opinion, who was in the same ballpark as Vincent Price. One. And that would be Peter Cushing. I've always thought the two of them were very similar. In fact, imagine it-- if a biopic of Price were ever made, it would seem Cushing could play him. I could picture it, anyway.
But, in reality, it could never happen, for the simple reason that the two men's lives strangely paralleled each other's in duration-- they both were born and died within very short times of each other.
(And now, cue Mr. Price's trademark "Thriller" cackle!)