What are your thoughts on Oliver Reed?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:14pm

What do you think of this hard-drinking/hard-living English actor?

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:16pm

I thought he was super-sexy. Even in his later films he could melt my knees...

Like Waylon used to sing:
'Cause ladies love outlaws, like babies love stray dogs
Ladies touch babies like a banker touches gold
And outlaws touch the ladies
Somewhere deep down in their soul.'

Updated On: 1/30/08 at 01:16 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:16pm

ooops - got posted twice, so I'll stick a pick in here instead (from the next 'angels' post):

Updated On: 1/30/08 at 01:16 PM

[madbrian]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:20pm

This made me wish I had included Bill Sykes on the thread about best movie villains.

[nmartin]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:25pm

Alive or dead, he and everyone else involved in Burnt Offerings need to be held accountable.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 1:59pm

He was probably the best excuse I've ever seen IN FAVOR of casting one's relatives.

Sure it was nepotism in "Oliver!" but I can't imagine anyone being a better Bill Sykes.

As far as his drinking or lifestyle? Not for me to say.

But the man had talent, and I always enjoyed him in movies. I just saw "The Three Musketeers" and "Gladiator" again recently, and he was so good in both!

[bobby_luvs_bway]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:04pm

What was the name of the film with him and Alan Bates nude wrestling in front of the fire place? It also starred Glenda Jackson. He was my first crush.

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:20pm

I just checked and it looks like they made 3 films together. I didn't see any of them but I'll take a wild guess that it's Women in Love.

The Class of Miss MacMichael (197
The Triple Echo (1972)
...aka Soldier in Skirts (1972)
Women in Love (1969)

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:27pm

Mmmmmm....WOMEN IN LOVE...rolling around butt-ass nekkid with Alan Bates.

[bobby_luvs_bway]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:28pm

Women in Love...that's it. Thanks Mamie. I must buy that on DVD. I don't remember much else about the film except that one scene.

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:31pm

Great actor. Talk about playing a good villain! Loved him in Oliver!, Women in Love, The Devils, Tommy, The Three Musketeers films among others.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:32pm

Can I make a confession? I've never seen WOMEN IN LOVE!

Aren't I just terrible? Is it available on the Netflix, ya think?

[miss pennywise]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:33pm

WOMEN IN LOVE is a superb film. One of the best cinematic versions of a classic novel ever made, in my opinion.

[lildogs]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:33pm

Scary...

In OLIVER! and THE DEVILS

Sexy...

TOMMY

[erikaamato]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 2:35pm

OK, first of all, I happen to love "Burnt Offerings." One of my favorites.

And I also think Oliver Reed was very sexy and talented.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 3:03pm

Burnt Offerings has some delicious moments, but my favorite: Eileen Heckart, the great, looking at Karen Black (which is in and of itself a challenge) with a big grin and saying "You've got an old gal, too?!" The old gal was Bette Davis, the movie is a classic of misplaced intentions and misued talent. And Karen Black, unless she's in FIVE EASY PIECES, really should just steer 747s.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 3:09pm

Funniest moment in BURNT OFFERINGS: When the chimney falls on that obnoxious child.

[erikaamato]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 3:14pm

LOVE. IT. It scared the crap out of me as a kid, and as a grown-up, I just adore the camp!!!! And it's still kinda scary...

[BDrischBDemented]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 3:41pm

My fantasy involves Oliver Reed in "Tommy". I strip him of his tacky shirt, rub oil all over his rolling stomach, and then he begins to croon to me in that voice that would make the angels cry.

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 3:49pm

Never found him particularly attractive in the sexual sense really. But that's just me, y'know. He's an excellent actor though! Love to watch his work.

[Taryn]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 5:02pm

Love love LOVE him in Tommy. Even considering his horrendous singing voice. And have you ever heard of the amount of alcohol he consumed shortly before his death? According to IMDB (which isn't always totally accurate, but it's worth listing): He died of a heart attack in a bar after downing three bottles of Captain Morgan's Jamaica rum, eight bottles of German beer, numerous doubles of Famous Grouse whiskey, and beating five much younger Royal Navy sailors at arm-wrestling. His bar bill for that final lunch time totaled 270 Maltese lira, almost £450.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 7:07pm

He was an underrated actor, I think. I developed a bit of a crush on him after seeing THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU LTD (with Diana Rigg, and no, it does not hold up at all, it is really pretty dreadful). He's excellent in Richard Lester's MUSKETEERS films.

And he's a very amusing Vulcan in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN.

[Mamie]

Posted: 1/30/08 at 9:52pm

I also saw on that IMDB bio that he came close to dying during the first Musketeers shoot. Remember the dueling scene? He was accidentally stabbed in the throat during that scene and nearly died. He had a relatively short and rough life.

[roquat]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 2:24am

I saw OLIVER at much too young an age, and had Oliver Reed nightmares through most of my childhood. Didn't most of us?

My favorite story about Reed is about an appearance he made on Johnny Carson. Shelley Winters was the first guest; after she left and Reed came on, he referred to her as a "typical feminist" (not in a complimentary way). Winters picked up a pitcher of water, marched back on the set, and dumped it over Reed's head, saying, "Next time it'll be hot oil."

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 1/31/08 at 2:27am

Yeah, his drinking sounded legendary.