ROBERT DUVALL: MY FAVORITES AMONG HIS OVERLOOKED STARRING ROLES

R.I.P. Robert Duvall. This year we say goodbye to this monumental actor like we said goodbye to his friend and fellow thespian giant Gene Hackman early last year. Most tributes will cover Duvall’s roles in his many, many films whose titles are household words. This being Balladeer’s Blog I’ll instead look at some of his overlooked gems.

TOMORROW (1972) – Robert Duvall – who called this one of his favorite performances – plays poverty-stricken farmer and sawmill operator Jackson Fentry of Mississippi. One cold December evening he comes across the pregnant Sarah Eubanks, a poor woman whose abusive husband has abandoned her because he wants nothing to do with raising their child.

The lonely Fentry nurses Sarah back to health and supports her through her baby’s birth. He promises to raise the child as his own and keeps his word even when his and Sarah’s relationship is cut short by her poor health. Fentry’s fundamental decency rubs off on the boy, who shows signs of being as compassionate as Jackson himself.

SPOILERS: Unfortunately, Sarah’s violent brothers eventually learn that “Jackson Jr.” (Johnny Mask) is their sister’s child and take him from Fentry by force. From then on, the boy grows into the same kind of violent criminal that his uncles are. Ultimately, the young man is murdered, and his killer is let off because the jury views the slaying as a public benefit given what a depraved criminal the late Jackson Jr. was.

Horton Foote (who adapted the screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird in which Duvall played Boo Radley) expanded one of William Faulkner’s short stories about lawyer Gavin Stevens into this film’s screenplay. A shorter version was first performed on tv’s Playhouse 90.

The film drags, but Robert performs brilliantly as a downtrodden man whose dignity and character shine through despite the deficient vocabulary his lack of education has left him with.

THE OUTFIT (1973) – Who does this movie have to sleep with to get the recognition it deserves? We viewers get Robert Duvall, Karen Black and Robert Ryan as the stars in a story based on one of Donald Westlake’s Parker novels.

The Outfit is sometimes compared to the Lee Marvin movie Point Blank and it’s a fair enough comparison. Duvall plays against type (as of the 1970s) as tough guy career criminal Earl Macklin. Earl is fresh out of his latest prison stint of 27 months and learns his brother Eddie has been killed.

It turns out Eddie was whacked by the Outfit, this film’s organized crime/ syndicate mob. The reason? The Outfit has learned that Earl, Eddie and their friend Jack Cody (Joe Don Baker) were the men who robbed one of their front banks without knowing it was used by the criminal organization.

Cold and calculating mastermind Earl teams up with Cody and with his (Earl’s) girlfriend Bett (Karen Black) to avenge Eddie and steal a fortune from the Outfit in the process. Our antiheroes kill or maim plenty of big boss Mailer’s (Robert Ryan) goons while stealing the criminal proceeds of various Outfit networks.

Duvall carries the film, with a supporting cast that includes Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Elisha Cook Jr., Joanna Cassidy and Anita O’Day as herself. The theatrical edit has an upbeat ending while the television edit was very, very downbeat.

THE GREAT NORTHFIELD MINNESOTA RAID (1972) – Robert Duvall serves up old west outlaw Jesse James like you’ve never seen him before. In this movie Jesse is part bandit and part preacher as he follows his “visions” in carrying out what he feels is his gang’s righteous mission against Yankee railroad barons and bankers.

Yes, it’s one of those flicks that heavily embellishes the fictional “heroism” of the James-Younger Gang, but Duvall’s unique depiction of Jesse has long fascinated me. Cliff Robertson is more of what fans of Westerns may expect in his traditional performance as Cole Younger, the often-overshadowed co-leader of the gang. 

We get treated to some of the James-Younger Gang’s other exploits before moving on to the machinations behind their ultimately disastrous attempt to rob the fat and loaded banks in Northfield, MN in 1876.

I feel that this incident was presented better in The Long Riders (1980) but it’s adequately rendered here. I’m mostly along for Robert Duvall’s riveting performance as Jesse James.

The supporting cast includes James Pearce as Frank James, Luke Askew as Jim Younger, R.G. Armstrong as Clell Miller, Matt Clark as Bob Younger and Wayne Sutherlin as Charley Pitts. Among the ladies are Inger Stratton, Valda Hansen, Mary-Robin Redd and Monika Henreid (Paul’s daughter).   

BADGE 373 (1973) – This time out Robert portrays rogue cop Eddie Ryan based on the real-life Eddie Egan, whom Popeye Doyle in The French Connection was also based on. I enjoy getting to compare and contrast the ways that Duvall and his buddy Gene Hackman each brought the character to life.

Ironically, even though Eddie Egan himself cowrote Badge 373 (his real badge number from his days as a cop) his fictional counterpart is much more unsavory here. To me that adds to Badge 373‘s appeal because it’s not a simplistic “good guys vs bad guys” story. It’s a more nuanced “both sides have plenty of faults” story. 

Many modern reviewers act like they need smelling salts administered due to the fact that Eddie Ryan uses ethnic slurs toward Puerto Ricans the same way that the Puerto Rican antagonists use ethnic slurs toward gringos. They should grow up and deal with the realistic depiction of human behavior in the time period. 

The story features Ryan/ Egan getting suspended when he is falsely suspected of “helping” a criminal he was pursuing fall off a rooftop to his death. During his suspension Eddie’s Hispanic partner GiGi (Louis Cosentino) is killed by Puerto Rican criminals, who slit his throat and leave him to die.

Duvall gets to do his version of a cop out to avenge his partner’s murder, but since this film is all about moral ambiguity it turns out the late GiGi was secretly a corrupt cop. He was in bed with Puerto Rican figures who want independence for the U.S. territory and they’re after 3 million dollars’ worth of guns and ammunition for their cause.

Former Puerto Rican street hood turned Harvard-educated millionaire “Sweet” William (THE Henry Darrow) is one of the masterminds and he delivers an impassioned lecture about colonialism that still holds up today.

Hopefully Duvall’s passing will prompt a reassessment of Badge 373, since Robert himself said one of the reasons he took the role was the realistic, heavily flawed depiction of the cop protagonist. The movie’s no French Connection, but it deserves to be much better known.   

IKE: THE WAR YEARS (1979) – This may be a television miniseries, but I consider it a terrific turn by Duvall. Abandon the notion that it’s some soap opera just because it’s based on the memoirs of Eisenhower’s driver and possible mistress Kay Summersby (Lee Remick).

In fact, if you’re expecting a romance you’ll be very disappointed. The creative team leaves the alleged affair in “did they or didn’t they” territory while periodically delving into the human (but not carnal) side of General Dwight Eisenhower.

The emphasis is on Eisenhower’s incredible leadership during World War Two. Duvall gives Ike the kind of Great Man persona that he’s usually denied in movies that instead focus on his delicate deference to some of the other towering figures he interacted with to keep the Allied armies going.

Duvall’s Eisenhower is forceful, not meek and accommodating. Being diplomatic does not make a man a wimp and Ike: The War Years makes that very clear.

And what a supporting cast! Darren McGavin as Patton, J.D. Cannon as Bedell-Smith, Stephen Roberts as FDR, Vernon Dobtcheff as DeGaulle, Bonnie Bartlett as Mamie Eisenhower and many more. Hell, BOTH Charles Grays show up as well!

Rest in Peace, Mister Duvall. You will be missed.