Another of the old crowd gone .... Farley though lived to be 85. Nick Ray's THEY LIVE BY NIGHT and Hitch's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN will certainly keep his memory alive.
His book "Include Me Out" was a good gossip, and like Tab Hunter's and John Fraser's showed how a (gay) actor keeps going once the hot 10 years are up. Farley was certainly a looker from the golden age and seems to have been quite upfront about his sexuality, admitting to being at least bisexu
al, which may have hindered his leading man appeal ?
al, which may have hindered his leading man appeal ?
Apart from the two Hitchcocks (ROPE was on afternoon tv again yesterday here in the UK, I didnt bother watching though would have if I had known he had died) his best movie is probably Visconti's SENSO from 1954 where he is the weak lover of countess Alida Valli (who gives one of the great performances).
I had just seen and enjoyed him in Visconti's Senso. Visconti originally wanted Brando in the role - even though Brando was a stronger actor, I think Granger fit the part of the handsome but weak Austrian soldier better. Its odd that his career fell off so drastically after the mid-50's. Perhaps it was because he gave off a rather obvious gay vibe back in that much more uptight era, which was too much in conflict with his leading man roles.
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