By Waiching Liu
'From Popeye The Sailorman To Good Morning, Vietnam Breakthrough Glory'
From the moment he set foot in Hollywood, Chicago-born Robin Williams managed to not only endear the world, America and his fans in making them laugh with his amusing antics on TV sitcom, Mork & Mindy, his stand-up routines, he also succeeded in being a convincing dramatic movie actor and in doing so with ease, efficiency and charm through his dramatic efforts.
Robin Williams's first major film role, which was initially filmed back in 1979, was as the spinach-eating children's character, Popeye in the self-titled 1980 Robert Altman musical, yet the film's commercial disappointment was not blamed on his role. His Popeye voice, however, had to be re-dubbed twice, as it was inaudible to some people who couldn't clearly make out what he was saying. He followed it up with the onscreen adaptation of the novel by John Irving, The World According To Garp as literary writer-to-be, T.S Garp. His performance as Garp won wave reviews and gave viewers a first real glimpse of what Williams could ultimately achieve as a dramatic actor.
In addition to The World According To Garp (which I thought was ok), he received praise for his amicable turn as a Russian saxophonist in 1984's Moscow on The Hudson (which, as a film, didn't do much for me, personally). Notably, he was nominated for a Golden Globe in Best Actor for that film. But he was savaged for his comedies (Popeye, The Survivors, The Best of Times, Club Paradise). When it came to his comedy films, critics and professional movie cynics were ready to pounce on and mock anything Robin Williams did, which wasn't a drama and whereby he undertook a less serious role. 1983's The Survivors was Williams's first major comedy film and second light-hearted project after Mork & Mindy & whilst it didn't set his career alight, I found it to be an enjoyable Black comedy-style romp. Alongside Walter Matthau, Williams played a young yuppie in Donald Quinelle, as the pairing rely upon one another in the unlikeliest of circumstances as they find themselves on the run from a robber in Jack (comedian Jerry Reed).
In regards to the box office bombs of 1986 in The Best of Times & Club Paradise, he'd mentioned he took on those films, believing they would showcase his talents to the full: ''I got suckered into a couple of films like that - The Best of Times & Club Paradise. I thought, 'well, they'll give me the freedom to do my thing, but they didn't'' (Rolling Stone). 1986's sports comedy achieved one thing if anything... And that is by showing off Williams's gridiron and American football skills that he obtained back in his High School days as a young player. Whereas for Club Paradise, little good can be said for the Harold Ramis directed Caribbean- based offering, which saw Robin Williams in a subdued role amongst the cast of SCTV members such as comedian Eugene Levy, that the comedy was just, flat. The TV movie, Seize The Day that charted the fall of a salesman, Tommy Wilhelm was just about elevated by Williams's great and unexpected turn; his performance was the difference in the film being a tad watchable.
Williams did state in a Rolling Stone interview back in 1988 that he had the odd habit of choosing films that were left field and the opposite of himself, and sometimes this was to the detriment to his talents and potential as a movie actor. He was also asked as to why it took him 8 years for Good Morning, Vietnam to finally be that film that would eventually propel him to stardom right into the 1990s and up to the early 2000s: 'well I made other choices. I wanted to go against what I was doing on TV - not just with Mork & Mindy but the cable stuff as well. I was saying, in effect, ''I'll act. I'll show you I can act''' (Rolling Stone). He experimented with different characters, story-lines and wanted to show what he was capable, as well as not capable of doing & achieving.
But it was Williams's incredible comedic and dramatic portrayal as DJ airman Adrian Cronauer in the loosely- based Barry Levinson war dramedy, Good Morning, Vietnam that not only turned things around for Williams and propelled him to Hollywood stardom and helped surge his popularity at last - that same performance also netted Williams a Golden Globe nomination & win for best actor whereby he went about his role by ad-libbing and improvising his lines, without relying on the script. Finally, after several attempts, Robin Williams secured a huge hit, one that was the breakout hit and one that he desperately needed to boost his career and further enhance his chances of success.
Two years after, he followed up his stellar one-man turn in Good Morning, Vietnam and wrapped up the 1980s - if arguably not one better, personally speaking, by starring in the 1989 drama, Dead Poets Society about an English teacher in a conservative all-boys school, who uses poetry to help inspire his students.
As he entered the 1990s, no one and probably Robin himself could have predicted his career would go the way it did, as he soared to newfound heights....
Notable Favourites: Good Morning, Vietnam, The Survivors, Seize The Day, The World According To Garp
Notable Non-Favourites: The Best Of Times, Popeye, Club Paradise
Sources:
Robin Williams, The Rolling Stone Interview, 1988
Robin Williams Biography
Robin Williams - Wikipedia
'From Popeye The Sailorman To Good Morning, Vietnam Breakthrough Glory'
From the moment he set foot in Hollywood, Chicago-born Robin Williams managed to not only endear the world, America and his fans in making them laugh with his amusing antics on TV sitcom, Mork & Mindy, his stand-up routines, he also succeeded in being a convincing dramatic movie actor and in doing so with ease, efficiency and charm through his dramatic efforts.
Williams' movie career up until the mid-1980s had been coming and going and fluctuating in places, as he embarked upon various phases that have been met with both box office and critical disappointment.
In addition to The World According To Garp (which I thought was ok), he received praise for his amicable turn as a Russian saxophonist in 1984's Moscow on The Hudson (which, as a film, didn't do much for me, personally). Notably, he was nominated for a Golden Globe in Best Actor for that film. But he was savaged for his comedies (Popeye, The Survivors, The Best of Times, Club Paradise). When it came to his comedy films, critics and professional movie cynics were ready to pounce on and mock anything Robin Williams did, which wasn't a drama and whereby he undertook a less serious role. 1983's The Survivors was Williams's first major comedy film and second light-hearted project after Mork & Mindy & whilst it didn't set his career alight, I found it to be an enjoyable Black comedy-style romp. Alongside Walter Matthau, Williams played a young yuppie in Donald Quinelle, as the pairing rely upon one another in the unlikeliest of circumstances as they find themselves on the run from a robber in Jack (comedian Jerry Reed).
Williams did state in a Rolling Stone interview back in 1988 that he had the odd habit of choosing films that were left field and the opposite of himself, and sometimes this was to the detriment to his talents and potential as a movie actor. He was also asked as to why it took him 8 years for Good Morning, Vietnam to finally be that film that would eventually propel him to stardom right into the 1990s and up to the early 2000s: 'well I made other choices. I wanted to go against what I was doing on TV - not just with Mork & Mindy but the cable stuff as well. I was saying, in effect, ''I'll act. I'll show you I can act''' (Rolling Stone). He experimented with different characters, story-lines and wanted to show what he was capable, as well as not capable of doing & achieving.
Two years after, he followed up his stellar one-man turn in Good Morning, Vietnam and wrapped up the 1980s - if arguably not one better, personally speaking, by starring in the 1989 drama, Dead Poets Society about an English teacher in a conservative all-boys school, who uses poetry to help inspire his students.
As he entered the 1990s, no one and probably Robin himself could have predicted his career would go the way it did, as he soared to newfound heights....
Notable Favourites: Good Morning, Vietnam, The Survivors, Seize The Day, The World According To Garp
Notable Non-Favourites: The Best Of Times, Popeye, Club Paradise
Sources:
Robin Williams, The Rolling Stone Interview, 1988
Robin Williams Biography
Robin Williams - Wikipedia
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