“Seldom has Hollywood built someone up and then thrown him aside more quickly than Klinton Spilsbury. This is a tough town, but he got a kind of instant dose of just how cruel it can be. Must’ve been incredibly difficult. If I’d been in his shoes, I might’ve stopped acting, too.”
There is really nobody to compare Spilsbury to. George Lazenby, like Spilsbury, got only one shot at an iconic lead role in a big-budget film. But Lazenby merely screwed up his chance at international superstardom. He was a successful actor before and after his turn as 007. Spilsbury, in contrast, was completely unknown when he was cast – and never worked again. To make matters worse, his voice never appeared in the film at all. The filmmakers were so disappointed with his line readings that they hired James Keach to dub the entire role.
The only kinda-sorta comparable person I can think of is Kurt Thomas, the gymnast who tried to become an actor. He got the lead in Gymkata, then faded back into the athletic world. But two significant things make him different from Spilsbury:
(1) he was an athlete trying to act and failing. Spilsbury was an actor trying to act and failing.
(2) Gymkata was not a high-profile film, and Thomas’s role was not one that was coveted by all of Hollywood.
I have vague memories of seeing this movie in the theater, but can’t remember much about it. I thought I remembered the movie was released in 3D, but that was a different 1981 Western, Comin’ at Ya! I don’t think I particularly liked either movie. I suppose I could watch them today, but I just don’t care enough to do that.
There is a movie I saw as a kid that, intellectually, I know I should watch again. It won Oscars for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture and is #33 on AFI list of the top 100 films. But I hated it so much when I first saw it I have avoided it as an adult. I blame my father for that. Really, would any of you take a 7-year-old to a theater to see One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? My Dad liked to go to the movies but didn’t like going alone. So he took me. Most of the time I like that. For instance when he took me to see the Kentucky Fried Movie I had a great time. Low brow humor and lots of naked women, why wouldn’t a 9-year-old boy love that? My Dad did have a line though. I was forbidden to watch The Life of Brian because it was condemned by some Catholic group. I saw that film as an adult and it was great.
At least Spilsbury didn’t rob a bank and die in prison, a la Mark Frechette after “Zabriskie Point”.
As a 12 year-old, I loved the movie. I haven’t seen it since my youth and my guess is that it wouldn’t hold up well. I probably liked the idea of having a new Lone Range to root for (I used to get up at 6:30 a.m. to watch reruns of the TV show). I am also willing to bet that it is still more watchable than the latest incarnation.
Interesting read. Spilsbury kinda reminds me of Christopher Jones, one of the leads in Ryan’s Daughter. Jones had a successful career before that movie, but it effectively ended after it. And, like Spilsbury, he also had his voice dubbed by someone else. Wikipedia details all the crazy events that allegedly went on during the making of Ryan’s Daughter.
And it was surprising to see a quote from Stephen Collins until I saw the article was from 2013. He was exposed as a child sex abuser in 2014, which is another way to be thrown aside by Hollywood. Sometimes…
It kind of looks like it could be Henry Cavill under the mask.