Redford in Three Days of the Condor
Effortless. Robert Redford, whose death was announced yesterday, was not a great actor but my goodness he was an effective one who was perfect in several iconic roles.
It’s impossible to imagine anyone else as The Sundance Kid, a role he was born to play in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This side of Steve McQueen there’s been no one cooler on the big screen. Again opposite Paul Newman he was similarly well-suited to the role of Johnny Hooker in The Sting. In retrospect it seems a shame that Redford and Newman didn’t make more than two films together especially given their close friendship.
Redford was also perfect as Bill McKay in The Candidate (a vastly underrated film). He was so good as the dashing young candidate for the U.S. Senate that you found yourself wishing Redford would run for office.
He also fit perfectly as Bob Woodward in All the President’s Men, surely the best of his films. He had the unenviable task of playing opposite Dustin Hoffman who embodied Carl Bernstein. He also shared screen time in that movie with Jason Robards, Martin Balsam and Jack Warden. Redford more than held his own. He always did.
For me his second best film was Three Days of the Condor a classic political paranoia film from the Seventies. His co-star was an in-her-prime Faye Duneway and they were a superb screen pairing. Condor called on Redford’s acting chops more than most films did and he was equal to the task.
Redford made many other films better such as Hot Rock, Little Fauss and Big Halsy, Spy Game, Sneaker, The Natural, The Great Waldo Pepper, Brubaker, Jeremiah Johnson, Barefoot in the Park and Downhill Racer. That’s not a bad list to go along with his best pictures: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Candidate, All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor. (Fifteen films that ranged from good to great.)
Redford stepped comfortably into roles. He brought incredibly good looks, an effortless charm and intelligence. When he had to he could play dumb as he did as Sundance or naive as he did as Hooker. In both cases he let Newman be the “smart one.” He played it very smart in All the President’s, Condor, Spy Game and Sneaker. He played it cool in almost every role especially Downhill Racer in which he made downhill skiing look even cooler than it does in the Winter Olympics.
Redford was a movie star in the truest sense of the word. He looked as good in a tux as he did as cowpoke or a CIA agent. His gait was easy. He was athletic enough without gym-built muscles. His voice was smooth and easy and when it was needed he could turn on a disarming smile.
It’s strange to think he’s no longer among us. For me he’s been around since high school. I suppose it was as Sundance that I first became aware of him. That role and that film were formative for me in my growing love of cinema. A few years later I was totally beguiled by The Sting and took people to see just to enjoy their reaction to the surprise ending. But of course it wouldn’t have been half the film without Newman and Redford. As a budding journalist I was inspired by him and Hoffman in All the President’s and was intrigued by Condor. I still am.
Redford never won an acting Oscar and I don’t think he was close to earning one. But he was still an important actor who’ll not soon be forgotten. You don't have to go all Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski to be effective on the big screen.
That he was politically aware and advocated for good causes makes him an admirable person in the bargain.
What a cool guy.
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